Man lives in the confines of time, but while God appoints times, He is not confined to time. All of our perceptions, even about most of scripture, are built around a measured past, present, and future, but God is not limited in this same way.
As I read the Word, however, sometimes I get the feeling that I am being shown glimpses of an eternity beyond the yesterday, today and tomorrow timeframe that we automatically relate to scripture. An example of this occurred during my reading of the following verses:
"Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck (soul). I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God...But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, in the acceptable time; O God in the multitude of Your mercy, hear me in the truth of Your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the floodwater overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth on me....Draw near to my soul and redeem it...My soul waits for the LORD more than those who watch for the morning- yes, more than those who watch for the morning...I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up (rise, depart, spring up) out of a horrible (noise, tumult, like a house crashing down, roar, destruction, waste, desolate, be in ruins, to cause to be desolated) pit (well, cistern, dungeon, lowest sepulcher of stone-root meaning: declare, make plain, letters on a tablet), out of the miry (mud, dregs of wine) clay (damp dirt, root meaning includes: demon, dirt to be swept away, destruction as being swept clean) , and set my feet upon a rock (a fortress, a refuge, a stronghold of security), and established my steps (follow the footsteps of God, go straight, be happy, be blessed, prosper)." Ps. 69:2, 13-15, 18, Ps. 130:6, Ps. 40:1-2
As I read these verses, I strongly felt that these words of David's could have been spoken by Adam to God in the midst of a desolated, empty, void that was in the beginning (Gen. 1:2) before the work of creation began. After reading the verses above, does anyone else feel that way?
I began to picture God, having heard Adam's cry, pushing back darkness, and speaking light, establishing mornings of hope and new mercies where there had been no mornings. We know from the Word that God established these mornings even before the sun was created (Gen. 1:5, 14-18). For whose benefit did God break out these supernatural mornings? Perhaps He did so in answer to a soul crying to Him from an abysmal, dark emptiness. The message of hope that these mornings would carry to such a soul would be, "I hear you. I'm coming. I will save you." God divided and restrained flooding waters until the dry land appeared. Later, God formed the man and blew His breath into the man's nostrils, and man became a living soul. The term "living" also includes the idea of quickening, reviving, repairing or restoring life. God then fastened a garden (enclosure, root meaning: to defend, to cover, surround, protect, hedge about) to the earth, and placed man in it to provide him with protection and security. This coincides in meaning with what David said, "He set my feet upon a rock".
This impression of God's rescue of Adam that I had while reading these verses from the Psalms would, if accurate, make the account of Adam's subsequent fall even more pathetic. God re-formed and recreated out of vast void and desolation to answer the cry of Adam's soul, yet Adam rejected His will after he was rescued, revived and safe. This similar falling away could also apply to many believers as well as we choose our will over His.
You may say that I am taking a giant leap from scripture into interpretation or impression, and I agree that I cannot prove my impression with specific scriptures. However, I can prove a scriptural precept and foundation which could include such a scenario. According to scripture, a spiritual place of foreknowledge exists in God that is more profound than even Einstein's physics of time and space. If you will bear with me a little further, I promise I will establish this foundation, and it is that foundation in truth that is most important, rather than personal "impressions":
-David is not just a psalmist, but a prophetic and Messianic messenger. One thousand years before the birth of Christ, David revealed the words that Christ would speak (Psalm 22), and many events that that would relate directly to Christ. If David had an intimate spiritual knowledge of the Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45, Rom. 5:14) before He became flesh, why couldn't David have intimate spiritual knowledge pertaining to the First Adam? Both Adams were connected to each other as "types" (figure, image: see Gen. 1:26, root meaning: wound, beat, smite, strike). Similarly, scripture also calls Adam "the son of God" (Lk. 3:38).
Is it possible for God to know a person before they are physically born or created? Absolutely:
- David wrote that God knew him before he was born: "My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skilfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." Psa. 139:15-16
-God knew Jacob, and his descendants, all of Israel, before Jacob was born (Isa. 44:2, 24).
- The prophet Jeremiah was known by God before he was born, even before the womb: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." Jer. 1:5
-The priesthood tribe of Levi was known by God, and offered tithes to God, generations before Levi was actually born, while his generation was still in his ancestor Abraham's loins (Heb. 7:9-10).
- WE were known before we were born, even before the creation- not only known, but called to salvation:
"...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love...being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.." Eph.1:4, 11(also see Rev. 13:8)
"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." Rom. 8:29-30. This is also why scripture can say that we were already crucified, buried, and raised with Christ, when He was crucified, buried, raised and living again (Rom. 6:3-8).
"...elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. 1:2
Regarding my impressions of Adam and his pre-creation cries to God as being the impetus of the startling creative work of God let me pose the question:
If God knew David, Jeremiah, Levi, and all of Israel before they were born, and knew and saved us even before the foundation of the world was established (and we were in Adam), why could He not also have known, heard, revived, and rescued Adam in the same manner?
I understand if you do not think that my impression concerning Adam is scripturally accurate, nor is it right for anyone to hang their faith upon any "impression", but upon the Word of God only. The speculation regarding Adam is not even the main point of this entry, which is the foreknowledge that God possesses, especially concerning our lives and purpose. This view of Adam as the impetus of the creation work of God that we read in Gen. 1 was only valuable because of the impact it had upon me, and the impression it made on me, to start me on a search that taught me something about the awesome magnitude of God our Father, and the depth of His omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, power and knowledge in eternity. It helped to illustrate for me His driven, unconquerable love to rescue and save us from before the foundation of the world. Its personal message to me is the assurance that He knew me in eternity and heard my cry, and moved heaven and earth to save me. I hope it has a similar impact for you.
Our Father knows and declares the end from the beginning.
"Morning Has Broken"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rifby1tVE8
This entry is for "the givers", and you know who you are. Many of us give faithfully to a ministry, a church or a synagogue, a leader of a congregation, a building fund, a denomination, a critical need, an emergency, a church program such as "missions", or the church food pantry, and so on. The needs are very real for ministries, but the "supply" often seems to fall short of the need. I think that in the times ahead, economic pressures on ministries may even increase. It is time to examine our giving.
For some of us perhaps, as conscientious as we try to be regarding the giving of tithes and offerings, we can often leave out the most important factor. Although we are sincerely trying to fill a need with what we have in our pocket, we are leaving out the Miracle Worker, the Multiplier, our Father in heaven. This is about the heart of the one who gives. We don't want to be like ones who honor God with their lips, but who have removed their hearts far from Him (Isa. 29:13, Mt. 15:8).
Paul said:
"Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus ("lovely, "devoted", root meaning-superimposition of time, place, order, etc.) the things sent from you, a sweet smelling aroma (fragrance of incense or the pleasing smell to God of sacrifice), an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches (root-to fill, to be filled) in glory (good opinion concerning (God) resulting in praise, honor, and glory, judgment, splendor, belonging to God) by Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:18-19
Our offering is made not to a church, or to a need, or to a leader, but to God. His riches in glory in this case, as Paul describes, are created from praise, honor, glory given to Him with our offerings. He then supplies us from those riches. This is a supernatural conversion of an act of loving worship from a giver's heart, into a miraculous supply. Our Father certainly knows when we have bypassed Him, and have tried to supply the need from our own natural riches, whether large or small. These needs cannot be met by natural wealth. These needs are met when we give in glory, honor and praise to the One who turns natural wealth into supernatural abundant provision. Natural wealth is depleted. The supernatural wealth of God in Christ never runs out. Give to God with all praise, honor, thankfulness, gratitude, love, devotion, loveliness, holiness, glory, and He will abundantly supply from the riches in His glory created by what our heart offers to Him. We make a great mistake when we leave our Father out of the picture of giving, when we leave Him out of our hearts in this activity of worship. He is the whole, miraculous, vital ingredient. Giving in God's kingdom is not about what is in your wallet, but about what is in your heart. The sweet savor that comes up to Him doesn't come from the smell of our money when we offer it. It comes from the sacrifice of love from the soul that should be offered to Him with and through that giving.
When even something meant for good, like giving, comes out of our own strength, it is limited by the flesh through which it was given. Giving out of our own strength is giving without Spirit, without the miracle life that it was created to have. In another place, the scriptures say, "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." Col. 3:23-24
It is also interesting that God, according to the Philippian scriptures, supplies us with His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. When Jesus performed the miracles of the multiplication of the fish and the loaves, He offered them first to God with a blessing to Him: "And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed (to give thanks) and broke and gave..." also, "Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them...and likewise the fish, as much as they wanted." Mt. 14:19, Jn. 6:11
I know Jesus did not offer empty words and feelings to His Father, but heartfelt thanks. From that kind of heart of giving, came the miracles of loaves and fishes by which He fed thousands, to be forever remembered throughout the earth. We also know the attitude and heart with which Jesus gave with thanks and love to His Father, even in the giving of His own life. In the breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine that represented His own body broken, and His own blood poured out for us, He gave thanks (1 Cor. 11:24, Mt. 26:26). The term, Eucharist, which we use in connection with communion, means "thanks". This is the heart that Jesus had toward the Father in giving, that He could give heartfelt, miracle working thanks to Him even in His own death. That very love and thankfulness assured the miraculous multiplication from the giving of Christ in His death, burial and resurrection that no man could have anticipated. That multiplication of souls and lives continues today, and will continue past the end of this age, and past the end of measured time itself. If I reduce my own giving from this height of glory to God, into an exercise of duty, or natural effort, thought and expectations, I remove it from the realm of exponential multiplication power in God's riches in glory.
When we are first saved, many of us are thrilled to be able to give something back to God. I couldn't wait to give. I would search for things to give, even after I had given in the form of money. All I wanted to do was to express my gratitude and love, even in this small way, for the supernatural thing He had done in my life. Have we lost that precious love and appreciation in our giving?
To one of the churches, Ephesus, Jesus said this:
"...and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love....repent and do the first works..." Rev. 2:3-5
From these verses, and from looking at my own experience, I can clearly see that the works we do out of our first love, are different than the works we do without that earnest love. This would include our giving as well. While Jesus recognized the natural, even obedient efforts that the church at Ephesus made for His name's sake, He warned them and us to return to our first fresh love and gratitude to Him, and the resulting works we had previously done. This is where the life is. This is where the miraculous is. This is where God's riches in glory are. Jesus said that the failure to restore that first love in Him would cause our lampstand to be removed from us (v. 5). What is a church or a believer without the lampstand of Christ in the midst? It is not much at all.
To all of "the givers" out there: If you can relate to what I am talking about, join me, and together we will stir up our first love in every work of faith, especially our giving, bringing us into the miraculous realm of our Father's riches in glory.
"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."
2 Cor. 9:7-8
Our Father is calling us back to our first love in our giving.
The Doxology
The Doxology (Another Version)
We are currently in the season of the last of the fall feasts of the LORD, as He commanded Israel. It is the Feast of Tabernacles. It is the feast that joyously celebrates the harvest, and recalls the time in the wilderness when God's people dwelled in tents, and God dwelled among them. This feast also includes the promise of God that He will dwell again in the midst of men.
We have an account of this feast, and Jesus' attendance of it, in the New Testament:
"On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." Jn. 7:37-39
Many in the crowd who heard Jesus that day thought that He surely was the Prophet, and the Messiah. There was, however, a great division among the people because of Him (v. 43). Even at the time of this feast, which was months before the Passover feast during which Jesus would be crucified, the leaders of the Temple had dispatched the Temple officers to arrest Jesus. The officers came back empty handed because they also were divided when they heard Jesus speak. The chief priests and the Pharisees asked them why they had not brought Jesus back with them, and the officers replied, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"
The Pharisees scolded them saying, "Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?" The leaders also pointed out that the crowd believed Jesus because they were ignorant of scripture (v. 32, 45-48).
Their argument was that if none of the rulers or Torah experts believed in Him, then it couldn't be so, and Jesus must be a charlatan.
The people's own ears and hearts were telling them, "He must be", but the Torah experts were saying, "He couldn't be."
One of the issues that the Torah experts clung to in denying that Jesus was the Messiah, and an issue that also divided the people, was the fact that Jesus was from Galilee. According to their knowledge of scripture, none of the prophets had said that the Messiah was to come from Galilee. Instead, the Messiah was to be from Bethlehem (v. 42, 52).
We know from the Gospels, that Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem as the result of an order from the Roman emperor to take a census of the people. Joseph, as a descendant of David, had to return to the birth town of his family, Bethlehem, in order to be accounted for and registered. He had to bring his very pregnant wife, Mary, with him. Thus Jesus did fulfill that Messianic prophecy, and many others.
As far as Galilee is concerned, the very great prophet Isaiah gave us a subtle hint regarding the mystery of Galilee:
"...In Galilee of the Gentiles...The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined."
And just a handful of verses later, we read:
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace..." Isa. 9:1-2, 6
The verses around Isaiah's prophecy regarding Galilee is a promise that the yokes of burdens will be broken. The staff and rod of the oppressor will be removed. Though Galilee was held in low esteem in Jesus' day, even the meaning of its name has a connection to the One whom we know as our Messiah, Jesus. In Hebrew, Galilee refers to a circle, or ring shape. Its root meaning includes "to roll (away) a stone". Those who know the details of the resurrection of Christ, will recognize the rolling of the stone away from the opening of the grave in which He had been buried (Mk. 16:1-4).
Though the Torah experts of Jesus' day could not find Him in the scriptures, He is present from Genesis through Revelation. Jesus told those who made scripture their study:
"You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."
Jn. 5:39-40
However, many of those who were unlearned in the scriptures, whom the religious leaders scorned for their ignorance (Jn. 7:49), were able to identify Jesus as the Messiah because of what they heard Him say, and what they witnessed Him do. Their souls identified Him, and knew Him. When the disciples came in contact with Jesus after His resurrection, but did not recognize His form, they realized that Jesus had been with them, and they exclaimed.
"Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the scriptures to us?" Lk. 24:32
The Messiah is also discerned in the heart.
The Feast of Tabernacles that Jesus attended was a time of division and debate, much like today. God the Son, the Messiah, the Savior, was in tabernacle with them in their midst, but the most scripturally trained could not, or would not discern it.
There's a lesson in that for all of us. As I was reading this account of the Feast of Tabernacles in scripture, and the tragically wrong opinions of those scriptural experts during that great feast, the thought occurred to me that just when we think we know the scriptures, we find out how little we really do know. That's the way it should be, I think.
Our Father fills our hearts, as well as the scriptures, with the knowledge of His Son.
More and more lately, I am thinking about prayer. I know most of us have learned a certain format for prayer, or maybe "pattern" would be a better word. Some are even given the exact words they must pray. I keep feeling the urge to "break out" of the pattern, though.
Jesus' disciples, born, raised and living within the Jewish faith, felt they had to ask Jesus how to pray. They had heard and, most likely, prayed all of their lives, yet they were asking to be taught how to pray. They knew that Jesus in prayer was different than anything they had ever witnessed in their religion and tradition. Jesus, going off by Himself, had unspeakably powerful and intimate prayer experiences with the Father. The disciples wanted this incredible spiritual experience that they witnessed placed into a learnable format. It seems strange, though, for prayer to have a format, when we consider how personal and interpersonal it should be with our Creator. Maybe our Lord is looking for a "prayer revolution"!
Scripture contains examples of some really strange "pray-ers" and prayers- prayer revolutionaries for their time. It is very likely that the people who prayed in these examples, and the manner in which they prayed, were considered unacceptable in their day, and possibly would not be considered acceptable in many churches, synagogues, or prayer groups today either. Yet these "inappropriate" people, and their "unacceptable" prayers, wrought the miracle power of God.
Jesus described prayer this way: He said to go into our innermost room, to shut the door, and "to pray to your Father who is in the secret place." Again, this was a departure from the usual prayer formula of the day, and from the example that was set by the religious authorities (Mt. 6:5-6).
Hannah is an example from scripture of someone who unknowingly ventured into a different realm of prayer. The LORD had shut her womb, so she could not bear children. Desperate, she went to the tabernacle in Shiloh to pray for a child. She prayed from a soul burdened with bitterness, and she wept in anguish. In praying for a child, Hannah made an oath to the LORD that if He would give her a son, she would dedicate that son back to the LORD for service to Him all the days of his life. The priest, Eli, seated at the doorpost of the tabernacle, watched Hannah as she was praying. Eli thought Hannah had been drinking because she prayed silently in her heart, with only her lips moving, and he scolded her for being drunk (1 Sam. 1:13-14). She answered Eli's accusation:
"No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine, nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked (daughter of Belial) woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now." v. 15-16
The religious of her day would have considered Hannah to have been a judged and cursed woman, since the LORD was the One Who shut her womb in the first place. She was also a woman coming by herself to the tabernacle of the LORD without a male, specifically her husband, Elkanah, to accompany her. Her manner of prayer was unacceptable. All of these assumptions might have been made by people because of the outward appearance and circumstances that Hannah presented that day. They would have been wrong.
God heard Hannah's prayer that day, and her son, Samuel was born. He became a prophet, a judge, and a minister to the LORD under Eli, the priest. He anointed kings, including David, who would establish the royal line of the coming Messiah. Samuel, who heard and obeyed the voice of the LORD, served the LORD in the tabernacle under the priest, even though he was not a Levite. Samuel was an Ephraimite - another pattern broken.
Hannah, after the birth of her miracle son, prayed a prayer that is one of the most powerful prayers of spiritual warfare and revelation, even the revelation of life from the grave, seen in scripture (1 Sam. 2:1-10). Hannah's very name means "grace, entreaty, prayer". The root meaning is "show favor, have mercy, seek favor, implore favor". The root also contains the meaning "to be loathsome". There's the paradox of Hannah: she is considered loathsome because of her circumstances, but from the misery of that condition, her soul poured out miraculous prayer that moved the hand of God. It could be said that God closed Hannah's womb for the purpose of bringing her to the very spiritual place and to the exact moment, in order to birth a Samuel (meaning "His name is EL", "Heard of God") in the earth. This Samuel was one who heard and obeyed God, but "Samuel" was also about God "hearing, listening to, obeying, granting requests to, agreeing with, yielding to, consenting with, hearing with attention to" man.
Another great prayer revolutionary in scripture was at the opposite end of the spectrum from our little Hannah. However, he was also one whom others would consider least likely to forge a prayer revolution because he was a king. David created prayer songs from his most personal experiences. Some of the prayers are of the most intimate nature-between himself and God, revealing his private heart, even though he knew that they would be sung in public. Out of David's personal circumstances of fear, victory, betrayal, shameful sin and deepest personal repentance, utmost joy, personal worship and reverence, came miracle prayers of deliverance, victory, healing, provision, salvation and more. Each psalm is different with no set pattern, beginning or ending. Of course, we have taken his prayers, and have included them into some of our prayer "format"! Maybe there is a greater lesson to be learned from those precious prayers of David than a formula.
Prayer is the eternal hope of man that he may speak to God. It is a personal, spiritual blessing given by the Almighty to man, which can never be silenced except by man himself. All creation depends upon the prayers of man. It is too big to be confined within the structure that we assigned for it. Eli would have sent Hannah away based upon his perceptions of who should pray, and how one should pray, and if he had done that, a moment and a miracle would have been lost.
God does not see as man sees. Men judge by the outward appearance, but the LORD looks upon the heart (1 Sa, 16:7). The LORD had to make this very correction to our miracle son, Samuel, when he would have anointed the wrong man to be king. Sometimes the most unlikely person may carry a miracle prayer in their heart.
I know that somewhere out there there are prayer revolutionaries. They are probably unknown and unrecognized, but they are in their prayer closets exposing their deepest heart to God. That's where I want to be also.
Don't be afraid to break out of the prayer box. Don't feel that you are insignificant in prayer, or that your prayer is not as valuable as others'. As with Hannah, each of us has been brought through personal circumstances, to a moment before God. We have carried this precious seed of prayer that is unique to each one. No one else can bring this same seed to birth like you can, or like I can, as a unique individual. We have been brought to these prayer moments with that seed, in order to birth a Samuel in the earth. Like Hannah and David, the "Samuel" we birth at any given moment of a day, might be a Samuel of thanks and gratitude, provision, healing, peace, life, hope, rest, salvation, repentance, forgiveness, resurrection, reconciliation, revival, revelation, justice, love, faith, renewal, restoration, mercy, grace, truth, holiness, righteousness - the possibilities are as limitless as a life, or as God, Himself.
Our Father is calling us to a prayer revolution!
"...You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty...You were the anointed (outspread wings, to smear, to rub with oil, to draw the hand over anything, to spread over anything) cherub (angelic guardians- flanking the throne of God, hovering over the ark of the covenant, chariot of Jehovah, angelic representations in the innermost part of the holy tabernacle and temple of Solomon) who covers (covering, defense, hedge in, join together, stop the approach, weave together, interweave); I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones (stones of fire) (precious stones, building stones, altar fire of God, splendor and brightness, wrath)." Ez. 28:11, 14
These verses above are, to me, some of the most pathetic in all scripture. Although it is written to the king of Tyre (rock used as a knife), these verses in Ezekiel 28 are directed toward Lucifer. It is a picture of wasted privilege, wasted gifting, calling and purpose, wasted glory, and position of trust and honor. The very one who had been created to be a covering, became the remover of covering, the accuser of the brethren, the accuser of the world. The one who was to be the defender, became the adversary. He had the privilege to be a covering to God, to the covenant of God, to the blood of sacrifice poured out upon the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies. The one who was the "light-bearer" of God, Lucifer, now only uses his light to masquerade and deceive (2 Cor. 11:14).
He is described as "anointed", the anointing being like spread out wings, and his purpose was to cover. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the anointed One, covers with His blood. Many of the anointed ones in scripture were priests and kings, again, those who "cover" the people, and the land. To be priests and kings, as you know, is also our calling (1 Pet. 2:9, Rev. 1:6, 5:10). This calling is not for the purpose of being exalted over others, but in order to cover.
Satan moved King David to number the people of Israel (1 Chron. 21:1). Instead of being a covering as king, David removed the covering over his people. We don't want to be likewise moved by Satan.
Remember, "anointed" here means to cover with spread out wings, to spread or cover with oil. Often, I think, as we consider ourselves "anointed" by God, we forget this meaning, being impressed instead by the privilege of anointing. The name Lucifer, is a lesson to us in itself, as well as being a prophetic decree of his own end. While his name in Hebrew means, "light-bearer, shining one, morning star, to be clear, to be brilliant", in the root meaning of this name, we see a descent from the heights to the depths. His name becomes "to boast, to make into a fool, to act like a madman". We see this similar descent in an earthly king who abused his charge to be a covering over God's people, Judah, while they were in exile. This was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (see Dan. 4). He fell from glory into insanity. As he humbled himself under heaven, God was able to restore him to his kingdom.
As God describes the glory and promise of this creature, the anointed cherub, through His prophet, Ezekiel above, we also hear the pathos and sorrow of a purpose thrown away. Iniquity caused this turning away from his glorious covering purpose (Ezek. 28:15). Iniquity means "injustice, violent deeds of injustice, injustice of speech, wickedness, depravity, iniquity as of a judge, (root) to deal unjustly, distort morally, turn away, turn aside". This is about judging gone wrong. It was not Lucifer's job to judge as the anointed cherub who covers. It was his job to cover. Lucifer judged men (Job 1:11, 2:4-5), and he judged God (Job 1:9). Lucifer's covering was to be a defense, a hedging about, according to the Hebrew meaning. Yet he mocked the hedging about of men by God:
"Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? But now, stretch out Your hand...and he will surely curse You to Your face!" Job 1:9-10
In all of these things, Satan judged falsely (Job 2:10).
In contrast is the life of Noah. He saw judgment coming, and built a covering by the instruction of God. Even as he covered, he was also covered. Those meant to find the covering, found it (Noah, his family, the animals chosen). Those who mocked and rejected the covering that Noah provided, remained uncovered in the judgment.
At the darkest, emptiest condition of creation, the Holy Spirit covered (Gen. 1:2).
Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, came to cover, although that covering was rejected (Mt. 23:37, Lk. 13:34).
The secret place of the Most High is found under the covering of His wings:
"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty...He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge."
Ps. 91:1-4
This secret place of the Most High is a place that I covet dearly. Yet, I cast others out of this precious place by carelessly exposing them and removing their covering. If I remove their covering, I will also be uncovered. I don't want to live all my life only to discover too late that I had turned away from the purpose for which God had anointed me as a priest and a king. I would rather err on the side of covering too much, if there is such a thing, than to be one who uncovers.
Noah, our hero of covering, fell into shame through drunkenness. He had three sons. One of his sons saw his father's shameful condition, and told his two brothers. Those two brothers, however, together backed into their father's tent, and covered their father's disgrace with a garment. God blessed the two sons who covered their father. The son who spoke of his father's disgrace was cursed, and his descendants lost the habitation of the land, Canaan. The covering action of the two sons may even have lengthened Noah's life, because we are told that Noah lived an additional 150 years (Gen. 9:20-29). We can choose to cover, or to uncover.
Part of the work of the anointing that covers, as we see in the verses from Ezekiel at the top of the page, is a "joining together, a weaving together, and interweaving". We see a beautiful illustration of this in Psalm 133. The unity of the brethren was like the oil of anointing that completely covered the high priest Aaron ("light bringer") from head, over beard, or covering of the chin, over garments, a covering of the body, to the feet and beyond. So even his covering was covered! This covering and joining together of the brethren is equated to the blessing of life forevermore. The anointing, the covering, the joining together, the blessing. One cannot be removed from the other.
However, often we uncover our spouses, our parents, even our own children, our spiritual brothers and sisters who are fellow members of the body of Christ. We uncover those who have been given spiritual responsibility for us. I try not to uncover, because I instinctively know the harm in it, but it comes out of my mouth sometimes anyway. Often, we uncover others in order to justify ourselves. There will always be those who rip away the covering. We need more of those who will rush in to cover.
God said that He found His chosen, Jerusalem, in a naked condition, and He covered her:
"...so I spread My wing over you, and covered your nakedness...Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk..." Ezek. 16:8-9
I want to be one who covers.
Our Father anoints us to cover.
Noah covered by his sons
Any gardener will tell you that worms are a valuable asset in soil. We don't give worms much thought, but they work diligently eating and digesting the decaying organic matter in the dirt, their castings enriching the soil and benefitting plants. Worms by their activity, also aerate the soil, breaking up the hardened dirt, increasing its oxygen content. Both soil, and the thriving plants that grow in it, are helped by the presence of worms.
God has a use for spiritual worms as well. Like the natural worm, these spiritual worms consume decaying organic matter. They feed on the carnal, or fleshly activities of man. We will see the details of that later on. First, we can look at an interesting account in Jonah:
In the fourth chapter of Jonah, the prophet has become very angry and exceedingly displeased. The LORD had compelled him to go to the city of Nineveh to warn of God's impending judgment for their wickedness. It turned out that the king and citizens of Nineveh listened to and believed the prophet, and sincerely repented of their wickedness before God. Therefore, "God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it." (Jonah 3:10). Jonah was so angry that God did not carry out the judgment of which he had prophesied, that he even wished for death. He said it was better for him to die than to live. As Jonah sat on a hill to see what God would do with Nineveh, God caused a plant, or a gourd, to grow over Jonah to give him shade, and deliver him from his misery. Jonah was thankful for that miraculous plant. However, God prepared (appointed, ordained) a worm that so damaged the plant that it withered and died. As the plant died, and the sun and wind beat upon Jonah's head, Jonah again wished that he might die. God asked Jonah if it was right for Jonah to be angry about the plant, and Jonah answered, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!" (Jonah 4:9). God declared to him that even as Jonah was able to pity the loss of a plant that he had not labored to grow, shouldn't God pity Nineveh with its many people, even for its lowly animals?
The word "worm" in Jonah's account has a Hebrew root ("towla/yala") meaning of "to speak rashly, talk wildly, to blurt or utter inconsiderately, devour". This particular "worm" appointed by God is connected to dangerously careless speech. Jonah's reckless words came from the anger in his heart towards God, because Jonah's prophetic warning to Nineveh did not come to pass. Jonah's spiritual pride was wounded, and it generated extreme anger and bitterness. This is all carnal thought, words and behavior. The Word says:
"The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will come through trouble." Prov. 12:13
This worm, with its roots in reckless speech, is the same Hebrew word used for the worm that Isaiah speaks of when he prophesies, "And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." (Isa. 66:24). Jesus also referred to the worms of this prophecy of Isaiah in Mark 9:44-48 when describing hell. Natural worms feed upon decaying organic matter. Spiritual worms feed upon decaying matter of fleshly words and attitudes.
There is another kind of worm appointed by God. An example is used in Isa. 14, as the prophet describes what will happen to the oppressive king of Babylon, but even more so, to his spiritual counterpart, Lucifer himself:
"Hell from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming; it stirs up the dead for you...They all shall speak and say to you: "Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us?" Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments (sound made by empty skin-bag used to hold liquids); The worm* is spread under you, and worms** cover you. How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" Isa. 14:9-12
The second mention of "worms"**, in the above verses from Isaiah, that will be under this king in hell, refer to the same worms that were mentioned in Jonah-the worms ("towla/yala") connected to rash and dangerously careless speech. The first "worm"** mentioned above, that will cover this king in hell, is a different kind of worm in Hebrew ("rimmah/ramam"). This worm is bred from the putrification of self-exaltation, self-magnification. We can see why this second worm was appointed as this king/Lucifer declared in his heart, "I will ascend into heaven...I will exalt my throne above...I will sit on the mount...I will ascend above the heights...I will be like the Most High" (v. 13-14). We can see how God has appointed this worm to devour the rotting flesh of gross pride, and arrogant, destructive spiritual ambition. Hannah, in her warning to the so-called mighty, prayed:
"Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth. for the LORD is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed." 1 Sam. 2:3
The third different Hebrew word for "worm" is found in Isa. 51:7-8, as the LORD says to the righteous:
"...Do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their insults. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; But My righteousness will be forever, and My salvation from generation to generation."
The worm mentioned in these verses, is appointed by God to devour decaying temporary things that the world relies upon and puts faith in as a covering. This is a warning to those who hold the opinions of men higher than the thoughts of God. Doing so, they trust in coverings that will be consumed into dust, rather than the everlasting nature of the covering of the salvation of God. This worm, by its meaning in Hebrew ("cac/cuc"), swallows up what it has been appointed to devour in the same manner that a leaping horse joyfully swallows up great distances over the ground. The root meaning for this worm also represents a chariot horse, or an outer appearance of great military strength, upon which man falsely relies:
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." Ps. 118:8
These different worms that we have looked at have been appointed by God to devour the dead and decaying, the works of those who have chosen the carnal and the dying over the eternal things of God. Even God's people, like the prophet Jonah, can be impacted by the spiritual worms of God's garden. The worms in His garden reveal our flesh to us, the flesh upon which we have foolishly relied, correcting us and helping us to grow in the things of the Spirit instead. By the work of the worms, we can easily see the end result of flesh and carnality. We are meant to walk not after the ways of the decaying flesh, but by the life quickening Spirit of God, and the work of God's spiritual worms helps us in these things. As we do walk in the Spirit, we are the sons of God:
"He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace...For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God..." Rom. 8:3-5, 13-14 (Gal. 6:8, Phil. 2:15, 3:3)
Our Father has prepared worms to benefit His beautiful garden of life and peace.
It's complicated. But is it supposed to be complicated? Does it have to be complicated?
I love the Word of God. It is so rich and deep. I can discover new things in it every time I look into it. One of my favorite moments in the Word is when something is revealed to me that I hadn't seen before, that makes me aware again of the awesomeness of God. I say to myself in these precious moments, "Wow!"
There are also moments in the Word when I get caught up in what I am supposed to be, but I'm not, what I'm not supposed to be, but I am, what I have yet to do, what I shouldn't do, what I need to get done, there's what Paul says, and what Peter says - well it gets so complicated. It's all true, it's all wisdom, it is all transforming and washing Word, but as I try to understand and apply in my life, mostly unsuccessfully, all of the righteous standards, warnings, and expectations of the scriptures, I find myself leaving behind, leaving out, forgetting, the most important part of the equation- the Lord, Himself. Paul said that he prayed this for us:
"...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (the fullness of all things in every way being fulfilled-Pure Word)."
Eph. 1:17-23
To me, the above is an example of one of those "Wow!" moments. In another place, Paul describes us in the following manner:
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10
Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by the details, that I lose the Big Picture, and I lose my relationship with the One who painted the Big Picture.
When I pray, I often come with my spiritual shopping list, instead of sinking into the One Who has already fulfilled all of the items on my shopping list. I don't mean to make light of prayer needs and requests, many of which are dire, by comparing them to a shopping list. However, if that is how I am handling them, then I am indeed trivializing them. "For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him...For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." (Mt. 6:7-8, 31-32). What was Jesus trying to tell us about prayer? Jesus would go off by Himself to pray all night, often to the top of a mountain, where He would just sink into His Father's presence, fulfilling and being fulfilled.
The Israelites got caught up in the system of burnt offerings, which they were given by God under the Law. In Psalm 50, the LORD asks them to "hear" Him. He doesn't rebuke them for their offerings, but they left Him behind. What He really desired from them was their thanksgiving, and to "call upon Him" (call or cry out by name (of God), encounter a person, to be made to meet a person, to cause to happen by an encounter). The LORD was trying to take them back to the Person, trying to get them to connect with Him. He told them, "I am God, your God!"
Jesus told the Pharisees, and the scribes of the temple that they didn't know Him, because they didn't know the One who sent Him (Jn. 5:37-38, Jn. 8:19, Jn. 15:21). They spent so much time searching and learning the scriptures to try to find eternal life, but they didn't understand that those scriptures are a Person, and are embodied in a Person, Jesus, Who is the eternal life for which they were searching so hard (Jn. 5:39-40, Jn. 11:25).
You may wonder why this topic came up: what "put this bee in my bonnet"? A visitor came knocking on my door the other day. It was a very hot day, and I had just brought a family member home from the hospital. I was in no mood for callers. My unexpected visitor was a little old lady. She had pamphlets, and wanted to tell me that the Kingdom was coming. I told her that I was a Christian, and she said, "That's OK, we'll talk to everybody." (?!). I had a short discussion with her, and no, I was not recruited! However, after she left, I was left to think about some things. She is looking for a kingdom, but she does not know The King- for where the King is, there you will find His Kingdom. As Jesus said, "...the kingdom of God is within you (in your midst)." She has her eyes on the 144,000 spoken of in Revelation 7 and 14, and she is trying to earn a place among them. However, those 144,000 have their eyes on The Lamb, because "These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes..."
I suddenly wondered to myself, "The Lamb goes somewhere? Where does the Lamb go, and what does He do when He gets there, and why don't I know about it?" It is evidently the Lamb slain who is doing the going, not the King of kings in all of His majesty. I thought that the Lamb must go to some of the most horrible and desperate places on the earth, and lays Himself down over them.
I wondered if I was like that little old lady, who had her eyes and efforts caught up in a lot of things, but was missing the very thing for which she should be looking: like Martha rushing and preparing in the kitchen, when she should have been sitting at the feet of Jesus, like her sister. Martha was doing and concerned with many things, but she was missing Jesus! (Lk. 10:38-42). I don't want to be like the ones who counted their steps in order to keep the Sabbath, yet did not know the Lord of the Sabbath. I don't want to be like one who continually searches the scriptures, but leaves out the Living Word, the Son of God, Who fulfills all scripture! I don't want to be one trying to attain the unity of the faith, the perfect man, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, in every way except in Christ! Those who have been given to the church to build us into that fuIlness, point us to the Person Who called them to begin with: apostles, who have been with, and show us the Person of Christ; prophets, who prophesy by the spirit of prophecy, Who is Christ; pastors, who shepherd by the example they have been shown by, and lead us to, the Good Shepherd, Christ; evangelists (root-messenger, angel, bringer or instructor in the good news of salvation in Christ), who bring us the good news of the One from Whom they have received it, Christ; teachers, who have been taught and teach by the Rabbi, Himself, Christ. All of those gifts to the church have been given in order to impart the Person of Christ to us in some aspect.
Paul said that men and nations should "seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being..." (Acts 17:27-28)
All of those very complicated things that I am occupied with, could really become very simple. They are all found and fulfilled in a Person. I need to find, and become one with that Person. I want to resemble one of those who follows the Lamb wherever He goes. I want to be one who encounters the holy One of Israel Who has said, "I am God, your God!", becoming changed myself by that encounter, and in turn causing change as a result of that encounter. I should have figured this out a long time ago. Thanks little old lady for knocking on my door on a hot summer day. I will carry you with me in my heart as I call upon (encounter), and abide in Jesus. I will take you to The King!
Our Father has created me in Christ, and I will abide in Him (Jn. 15:4, 7).
