Fivefold Not by Lineage
The image above of the ducklings (offspring) following the mother duck could be used to illustrate that the Fivefold Ministry does not necessarily follow natural lineage. The Ministry gifts are given randomly by God’s choice but not by natural human “decent” like a Levitical Priest under the Old Testament era.
Also, if the five ducklings above could be used to represent the New Testament Fivefold Ministry Gifts then possibly the yellow-color ducking could be used to represent the Evangelist whose gift is for use outside of the church among unbelievers. So the Evangelist is unlike like the rest (other four ducklings) because the other four Fivefold Ministry Gifts are all gifts used within the church for believers only.
There is some misunderstanding or misapplication of the Old Testament principle that the sons of Aaron the Priest inherited their priestly office simply by being born into the lineage of their father Aaron. Under the New Testament the gifts and calling of the Fivefold Ministry are not passed on by lineage from father to son (even though a calling from God is present at birth).
For example, I know of a man with a Fivefold ministry gift of Pastor/Evangelist who has a large church congregation with many thousands of members. This man however appointed his eldest son into the role a pastor simply by assigning this position to him by his own natural appointment. But this eldest son has no evidence or fruit of any Fivefold Ministry gift and I perceive by the “Discerning of Human spirits” that this Pastor’s son is not even called into the Fivefold Ministry by God. Furthermore, this Pastor’s son was never saved but only grew up in the church and is engaged in mental assent without spiritual regeneration. This adult son was divorced and was repeatedly exposed for having committed offenses of sexual immorality much like the sons of Eli did who slept with women at the tent of meeting. Also like the greed of the sons of Eli, this Pastor’s eldest reprobate son was repeatedly involved in scams involving money and brought much reproach to the church by channeling church funds into his stock investment scam that profited only himself by selling over-priced stocks to the church. He was able to authorize this activity simply because his father signed the paperwork without inquiring about the intentions of his son and this created a big scandal for the church making it appear as if his father was a crook (just like his unregenerate eldest son actually is).
One would ask the question, “How could such a wicked and greedy and immoral and unregenerate man ever receive the title and endorsement of being called a “pastor” in the church?” It is because people have misunderstood the Old Testament Priesthood passed on by “lineage” and misapplied this to the New Testament era and supposed that a son of a Pastor could also be a pastor by “lineage” simply by being born to a father who was a Pastor. But nothing could be farther from the truth!
Yes, the Levites and the Aaronic Priesthood (under the Old Testament) received their office by lineage so no one could intrude into that lineage who were born outside of that lineage. But the New Testament application for this is not that someone born into the Fivefold Ministry can pass the Fivefold Ministry gift onto his son by lineage. In fact, the proper application of this principle under the New Testament era is that just as the Levites and Priests were born into the office so also those called to the Fivefold Ministry are also born into their office with a calling and gift from their mother’s womb.
But at the same time this is not passed onto the Fivefold ministers by lineage from their natural father. This means that a son of a Pastor does not necessarily mean he is going to have a Fivefold Ministry Gift of being a Pastor himself (just by lineage). Sometimes a son of a pastor could have been given a Fivefold Ministry Gift by God but it is often the case the sons of known Fivefold ministers do not have a calling to the ministry and do not display any fruit of having a Fivefold ministry gift. It is a random choice by God to disperse or give Fivefold Ministry gifts to men at God’s own discretion so being born as a son of a man who has a Fivefold Ministry Gift has no bearing on whether or not his son will possess such a gift. It is by God’s discretion so a son of a Fivefold minister may or may not be born with a Fivefold Ministry gift just as a son of a layman (like a farmer) may or may not have a son who is born with a Fivefold Ministry gift. Not all farmers give birth to sons who are farmers and my own father was a farmer who had one son who was born with the gift of an Apostle/Teacher. Lineage has zero bearing on whether a man is born with a Fivefold Ministry gift because sons of a Pastor may or may not have a Fivefold Ministry Gift just the same as the sons born to a farmer may equally be born or not born with a Fivefold Ministry Gift. Lineage has no relation whatsoever for a man possessing a Fivefold Ministry gift.
Hebrews 5:4 (NASB)
4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.
This scripture has direct application to the Fivefold Ministry under the New Testament era because (like Aaron) those called into the Fivefold Ministry cannot take this honor to themselves or decide that they want to be in the ministry by their own human freewill. Only God gives the Fivefold Ministry gifts and these gifts are imparted from the mother’s womb and no man can choose to be in the ministry because it is a calling from God. If a man is not born with the gift then there is nothing, he can do to change that fact and he cannot make himself into a Fivefold minister even if he obtains a doctor degree in divinity at a seminary and puts a sign on his desk calling himself a pastor. If he is not called by God and born with the gift then he is not a Fivefold minister regardless of what he may say about it. The Fivefold Ministry Gift does not come by education or by human appointment or self-will of someone wanting to have the gift.
Psalm 68:18 (7KB)
18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your procession; you dispersed gifts among men, even among the rebellious– that you, O LORD God, might dwell there.
This scripture above was mistranslated in the original Hebrew to say that he (Jesus) “received” gifts from the rebellious but the correct word was supposed to be that he “gave” gifts to the rebellious. But the translators were confused not knowing why anyone would give gifts to the rebellious so they mistranslated it as he “received” gifts from the rebellious (like conquered rebellious foes giving tribute to a king who defeated them). But without a Fivefold Ministry gift of Bible Teacher these laymen bible translators were unable to see the true meaning of this scripture so they ended up mistranslating it.
This Old Testament scripture found in Psalm 68:18 was written by King David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is a prophetic scripture referring to Jesus the Messiah who died and went into the center of the earth and paid for the sins of all humanity by taking their punishment for them in hell. In the center of the earth there is also a place of comfort (located just across from the place of torment) and separated by a great chasm. On one side of the chasm was a place of comfort called “Abraham’s Bosom” which was a holding place for righteous Old Testament saints. These were men who died prior to the sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah so therefore they had to wait in this place of comfort until such time that Jesus was born on earth as a man and came to pay for their sins and redeem them.
See the link “Abraham’s Bosom” for more details.
Jesus died on the cross and spend three days and three nights in the center of the earth to pay for the sins of all humanity and then he rose from the dead. After rising from the dead, Jesus entered into this place of comfort called Abraham’s bosom and Jesus preached the gospel to all of the righteous Old Testament people (who died prior to his sacrifice on the cross). Abraham, David, and all of the righteous people of the Old Testament era then heard the gospel and were saved and then Jesus led them out of the place of comfort into heaven with him. Jesus then lead a procession of newly saved Old Testament era righteous people out of the place of comfort located in the center of the earth and brought them as firstfruits of salvation into heaven. Thus Jesus the Messiah led these righteous Old Testament saints (who were once held captive in the holding place called Abraham’s bosom) and he led these captives in a procession into heaven. Today the holding place in the center of the earth (located on the other side of the chasm across from the place of torment called hell) is now empty. Jesus led these captives out of Abraham’s bosom and into heaven to be with God after their salvation was paid for by the atoning work of Jesus sacrificing himself for the sins of all humanity.
The reason that God gave gifts unto men (even among the rebellious) was that these gifts were given to do the work of the ministry and these gifts were the Fivefold Ministry Gifts of Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Pastor and Evangelist. These gifts were given randomly by God’s choice even to rebellious men (like Saul) who was formerly a religious zealot who tortured and killed and tried to compel to blaspheme anyone was a believer. This rebellious Jewish man Saul received a gift of Apostle from his mother’s womb and he was born with that gift of Apostle. When Saul encountered the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus he was born again and become a believer and his name was changed to Paul the Apostle. It was then (when he was saved) that Paul realized the gift of Apostle that he was born with from his mother’s womb! Paul was formerly a wicked and rebellious man who fought against the Lord and tried to destroy believers and this rebellious man received the ministry gift of an Apostle.
This is what the scripture means in Psalm 68:18 when it says that Jesus gave gifts (Fivefold Ministry Gifts) and gave these gifts even to the rebellious (like Apostle Paul) who was born with the gift of Apostle (even as a rebellious man before he was saved). But the original bible translators could not make sense of this thinking it was not logical that the Lord would give any gifts to rebellious people so they altered the meaning to say that the rebellious people gave gifts to the Lord (much like rebellious foes who were defeated and paid tribute of gifts to the king who conquered them). Therefore, the original Hebrew translation was altered from what David said that the Lord “gave” gifts to the rebellious so these translators changed this scripture to say that he “received” gifts from the rebellious. This was a mistranslation found in the original Hebrew text of David’s prophetic writing of Psalm 68:18. But altering the word “gave” gifts and changing it to “received” gifts totally changed the meaning of this scripture! Originally David wrote the word “gave” not “received.” David wrote Psalm 68:18 under inspiration of the Holy Spirit (referring to the Messiah Jesus) who “gave” gifts (referring to Fivefold Ministry Gifts) and Jesus “gave” these gifts (even to rebellious men like Saul the zealot).
See the link “Received Instead of Dispersed” for more details.
The fact that these gifts given by the Messiah to men (including rebellious men like Saul) are Fivefold Ministry Gifts is revealed in the New Testament counterpart scripture of Psalm 68:18. This counterpart scripture is found in the book of Ephesians as seen below:
Ephesians 4:8 (7KB)
8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah led captives in his procession and gave gifts to men.”
This scripture refers to Jesus ascending on high (when he led the Old Testament era saints in procession out of Abraham’s bosom and into heaven) and at this time Jesus also dispersed Fivefold ministry gifts to men on earth to do the work of the ministry and to establish the church on earth. It is obvious that Psalm 68:18 is not referring to the Lord “receiving” gifts from the rebellious but rather the Lord “giving” the gifts of the Fivefold Ministry (even to those who were formerly rebellious) like Apostle Paul before he was saved and when he was still a religious zealot.
Ephesians 4:9 (NASB)
9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
This scripture speaks of Jesus ascending out of the center of the earth after he paid for the sins of all humanity but before he ascended from there her first descended into the center of earth into hell for three days and nights when he suffered the worst punishment hell had to offer and took the punishment that humans deserved on their behalf.
Ephesians 4:10 (NASB)
10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
So, Jesus first descended into hell to pay for the sins of humanity then he rose from the dead (after three days and three nights) and then he preached to the righteous men held captive in Abraham’s bosom. [It should be noted that these righteous men were not held captive as prisoners because they committed crimes but simply these righteous men could not enter heaven without being born again. So, these righteous Old Testament saints had to wait until Jesus came and paid for their sins. Then they heard the gospel from Jesus and were saved and then they were able to enter heaven as regenerated men after being born again.
Ephesians 4:11 (NASB)
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
When all of this was accomplished then Jesus dispersed the Fivefold Ministry Gifts among men so that some of these men were born with the gifts of Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Pastor or Evangelist. These gifts were given throughout every generation since the resurrection of Jesus and until today there are men who are found to have been born with Fivefold Ministry gifts whose job it is to build up the believers and establish the church on earth.
Ephesians 4:12 (KJV)-M
12 For the perfecting (maturing) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
The purpose of these gifts is to bring the believers (saints) into full spiritual maturity and to do the work of the ministry and to edify the body of Christ.
Galatians 1:15-16 (NIV2011)
15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased
16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.
The Apostle Paul said that God set him apart (as an Apostle) from his mother’s womb. Paul was born with the gift of Apostle and could not take this honor to himself to appoint himself as an Apostle. Also, Paul did not receive these gifts by lineage from inheriting them from his natural Jewish father. The Fivefold Ministry Gifts are given by God randomly (as God chooses) and no man can choose these gifts for himself.
Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NIV2011)
4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
The prophet Jeremiah also was called to be a prophet by God from his mother’s womb. Jeremiah did not choose to be a prophet or decide that this would be his occupation in life. It was a calling from God and he had no choice in the matter but to fulfill the call and most certainly Jeremiah did not call himself to be a prophet. It was in fact a calling of God given to him while he was still in his mother’s womb.
The same is also true for all of the Fivefold Ministry Gifts under the New Testament era because all of them are gifts from God and men are born with them and they cannot decide to have a ministry gift by their own human freewill.
Therefore, the correct application of the Old Testament principle of the Levites and the Priests being born into their lineage and office is not that a son of a Fivefold Minister is born with the same gift as his father. The Fivefold Ministry Gifts are not obtained by lineage but rather all of the Fivefold Ministry Gifts are dispersed by God’s will to the men at birth (without them having any say in the matter). It is a sovereign choice of God if a man is born with a Fivefold Ministry Gift irregardless if their father was a Fivefold Minster or a Layman (like a farmer) or any other occupation. The natural father has no bearing at all upon whether or not his son has been born with a Fivefold Ministry Gift.
See the Lesson “Fivefold Ministry Gifts” for more details.
Women who Push Their Sons into Ministry
A great revival swept over Korea just after the Korean war when people cried out to God in their great need and churches thrived as people turned to God. Since that time of revival it became popular for mothers to push their sons into the ministry because having a son who was a minister was considered a “status-symbol” for those mothers who were believers. They thought it a great honor as a mother if their son was in the ministry so many of them started to push their sons to become a minister.
I met many laymen in Korea who became a pastor only because their mother pushed them to do so. One of these men had a church on a small island off the coast of Cheju island. This man had formerly been a politician but his mother on her deathbed made him swear that he would become a pastor. So, he left his successful career as a politician and attended a seminary and become a pastor according to his mother’s wishes. But this man has no gift or calling to be a pastor and is unable to do biblical teaching or have any fruit evident of a calling from God. His work never grew and he has only a few members in his tiny church. His wife also left him because of his drastic change of careers so he was left alone and lost his successful job and lost his wife and was living in poverty in this tiny church with no gift to be a Pastor. He however was trying to organize people and got them to bring trees from the mountain and plant them in the church yard (which shows his ability as a politician to organize people to do natural activity or do social works). But that in no way provided for him to be a Pastor with a Fivefold Ministry Gift.
But the fact of the matter is that this man’s mother did a great disservice to her son in pushing him to be a pastor when he was not called by God to do this and has no gift or ability for this office. But this type of thing is common in Korean where mothers wanted to have a son as a pastor as a status symbol or sign of honor. This is all based on faulty logic that these mothers suppose that a man can choose to be a pastor himself without God calling him and granting him a Fivefold Ministry Gift of being a Pastor (or another Fivefold Ministry Gift). Some women have even made an idol out of pushing their laymen sons into the ministry because of the perceived honor they imagine to have for having a son in the ministry.
Daniel 11:37 (NIV2011)
37 He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.
This scripture above was also mistranslated often to imply that the coming Anti-Christ has no desire for women (supposing he is a homosexual) but in fact the proper translations is that the Anti-Christ has no regard for the one desired by women who is the Messiah. This reflects the fact that many thousands of Jewish women held hopes in their heart that maybe they might be fortunate enough to be living in the right time and generation to be honored to give birth to the Messiah. Any mother who would give birth to the Messiah would be the most blessed woman and honored above everyone else for all following generations. This awesome honor was given to the Jewish maiden Mary who become the mother of Yeshua the Messiah (also known as Jesus).
Luke 1:46-48 (NIV2011)
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
The reason that all generations of women on earth would call Mary (the mother of Jesus) blessed is because this mother out of all mothers on earth was blessed to have given birth to the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the entire world population! No woman can ever attain to a higher honor than to give birth to the Messiah as Mary the mother of Jesus did!
But the second-best thing would be for a woman to give birth to a Fivefold Ministry Gift and have her son born from the womb with a gift of Apostle, or Prophet, or Teacher or Pastor or Evangelist. These men hold a great position within the church on earth and so every mother who happens to give birth to one is honored above other women although no woman can ever attain to the honor of Mary giving birth to the most important child who was the Messiah!
Matthew 11:11 (NIV2011)
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Elizabeth the wife of the Jewish high priest Zechariah gave birth to John the Baptist in her old age. She was greatly honored by women (who understand spiritual things) because Elizabeth was fortunate to become the mother of John just as Hannah was also blessed to have been the mother of the prophet Samuel. John was the greatest man ever born among women (except that even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he). It was for spiritual things related to God’s kingdom on earth (to announce and prepare the way of the Messiah) that made John the Baptist the greatest man to be born among women.
Daniel 12:3 (NIV2011)
3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
The Fivefold Ministry Gift of Evangelist is one who possesses a gift to win souls of men. Reinhardt Bonnke (the late German Evangelist) had millions of souls won to the Lord in African countries like Nigeria. Men like this (who have led many to righteousness by faith in Jesus) will shine in heaven in great honor like stars forever and ever! It is no wonder that believer women would desire to give birth to a son born with a Fivefold Ministry Gift. A mother who happens to give birth to a Fivefold minister is highly exalted and honored among women even if they do not attain to the honor of both Mary and Elizabeth who gave birth to Jesus the Messiah and John the Baptist.
It is for this reason that it became fashionable among Korean women believers to push their layman sons into the ministry because it is considered a status-symbol or great honor for a mother to have a son in the ministry. But the fact of the matter is that they are basing this on faulty logic of supposing their sons can be persuaded or pushed into the ministry even when they are not born with a Fivefold Ministry Gift given to the by God at birth!
There was an American woman I know who and an idol about pushing her laymen sons into the ministry so that she would be honored above all women! This thing became and idol to her and caused her to serve this idol and everything she did in life was centered around this idol. She engineered everything she said and did and manipulated others all for the purpose of having this idol of being honored as a mother for having a layman son in the ministry.
See the link “Idols of the Heart” for more details.
The fact remains however that the Fivefold Ministry Gifts are distributed by God as God wills and no man can take this honor to himself by appointing himself to be one of the Fivefold Ministry Gifts. If a man is not born with the gift then he cannot be a Fivefold minister even if he obtains a doctor-degree in divinity and puts a sign on his desk calling himself a pastor! The Fivefold Ministry Gifts are not obtained by education or by having a degree from any seminary. These gifts are only given to those who are born with them from the mother’s womb.
Also, no mother can choose for her son to be a Fivefold minister and no layman can take this honor to himself either by choosing of his own human freewill to decide to become a Fivefold minister. If they are not born with a Fivefold Ministry Gift, they are simply not called and thus they are a layman intruding into the holy office (if they have put themselves into the ministry) of their own human freewill.
People have to understand that the Old Testament lineage of Levites and Priests speaks of the fact that their New Testament counterparts are also born with the gift. But it does not mean that it is related to lineage because the son of any man may (or may not be) born with a Fivefold Ministry Gift. It is all up to the sovereign will of God who disperses these gifts and no human can decide they will have these gifts and no mother can choose to have a son who has such a gift. It is only choice made by God when these gifts are dispersed at birth and only those born with such a gift are called into the ministry.