The Most Important Thing

As I was praying last night, the memory passed through my mind of when I was very young in Christ. I was convinced that I was supposed to be a prophet. Mind you, I was only about 2 years old in the Lord, and very naive indeed. But I was convinced, and I was also convinced that others were being told that I'm supposed to be a prophet. So I would ask others, "What is my calling?" Some said they didn't know, and others said that I was called to be a prophet. It was exactly what I wanted to hear.

But it wasn't what I needed to hear.

In all honesty, I don't know that I can say one way or the other who God has called me to be. What I have learned is the most important thing: being you. What I needed to hear as a youth in Christ, one who was still carrying around  much baggage and speaking from the flesh, is that God has made me to be a very specific individual. Whether we're talking about apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers, their calling does not supersede who they already are. God has made you for who you are, and there shouldn't be anything else to tell you what that is.

When I was in school, I was bullied.

A lot.

It actually was something that was painful enough that I can't remember most of my childhood. I assume that my mind has actually blocked it out to keep from the pain. One of the very few things I do remember is at one point contemplating suicide. I felt absolutely worthless, and no one would care if I gave up my life. Then the people started going through my mind of who would care, my sister, my best friend... I couldn't do it.

What exactly is the most important thing? What is it that I know now that I didn't know then?

God has made me to be me.

There are certain aspects of who I am that I have put upon myself, whether good or bad. There are certain ways that I act and react, both being defense mechanisms. There are certain habits that I have created for myself. My likes, my dislikes, my personality, my habits, my opinions, and all other parts of who I am stem from something. It either stems from the core of my being, the essence of who I am, or it stems from my reaction to outside forces. The most important thing is to pull back the layers, however painful that may be, and look into the very heart. For anyone, whether Christian or otherwise, the most fulfilling thing that we can do is to live from the very center of who we are.

However, there is a catch 22 here. We cannot truly live from who we are, and who we were created to be, unless we are surrendered to Christ who made us. To live from that core, that center, we must be yielded to something stronger than that core or center. We are too weak to live out of our center alone. The result is what got us wherever we're at currently. The result of living as I knew how got me into alcohol, promiscuity, and rock n' roll culture.

Our callings do not replace the very essence of who we are. I would actually contend that the very core of our being is what defines our calling. Whether we're called to be a pastor, teacher, apostle, or some guy that sits on the park bench and comforts the man who called him at midnight asking for help, the most important thing is that we discover who we are and live from that. We are each a different member in a very large Body, and the beauty of holiness is found when we can be ourself in the midst of it. When we can function as we are intended to function, and we don't get picked on or run over by others who have 'better' callings, we are acting like the Body.

When I was young in Christ, I wanted to be a prophet because I saw the glits and glam of the so-called prophets. I saw the authority of the prophets in Scripture, and the relationship they had with God. But I did not see the suffering and the torment they endured. I didn't see anywhere close to the full picture. What I thought a prophet was at that time was only the 'good' things, and none of the 'bad'. That's why I wanted it. For my whole life I had been picked on and beaten down, and if I were a prophet, then I would be looked up to. I didn't realize that the prophets were also beaten and kicked.

God is unchanging. But why is He unchanging? It is one thing to make the assertion and say that He is God, therefore He doesn't change. It is quite different to see why. He doesn't change because He is free. Freedom is not defined by whether we are allowed to do something, or whether the option is available. I think in our Christianity we define freedom the same way we define freewill: to option to choose right or wrong, obedience or disobedience. Freedom is living from who you are. When there is nothing that hinders or restrains you, you are free. God is unchanging because He is free. He is who He is, and He lives from that essence of His being. He will never act outside of who He is, because that would be forfeiting His freedom. He is pure and incorruptible for the same reason that He is unchanging. These are all interwoven in a way to show you what freedom is all about. For us to find who we are in our essence, that we are made in God's image and have been designed by Him to live according to who He has created us to be, is the first step to ultimate freedom. Living out of the core of your being, that very core that governs everything about you, is freedom. To put something upon yourself that is not you, but only a reaction to the outside world, is bondage.

I would like to sum up with a challenge. How much of your life is lived from who you are? How much is lived from who you think you are supposed to be? How much is lived from the habits and reactions that you have placed upon yourself as a response to the outside world, but are not who you are? These things don't define you. There is a core that defines you and speaks as to why you act and react in these ways. It governs the decisions that you make. To live from that core of who you are, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace offered by the blood of Christ, is to find true freedom. Nothing else matters. If you run your life into the ground because you have been living from your center, it is well worth it. It is better to find yourself and live in poverty and isolation than to continue to live out a lie with many friends and many riches. I hope that this is something to bring the same freedom to the reader that I have found simply by pursuing this. I haven't arrived, but I praise God for the growth that has taken place simply for taking up the challenge.

Israel's Purpose and Destiny

I have previously posted the question, "Is Current Israel under Blessing or Curse?" In it, I explored what the Scripture has to say about Israel's final redemption. No, I do not believe that Israel has come to that final redemption, as mentioned in Amos 9, but that in no way would give us reason to oppose Israel or the Jewish people. In this post, I want to further the thought by asking what is Israel's ultimate purpose? I think that this might be a key component to better understanding both Scripture as well as our place as the Gentiles that have been grafted into (but not replaced) Israel.

There are four main roots that I think many of the modern day heresies and fads come from. When we readjust our perception of these four roots, everything else in Scripture seems to come alive. The four roots are an inadequate understanding of the Kingdom of God, the heart of God, the principalities and powers, and Israel’s purpose. God has given us a plumb line unto which everything else must measure up. If our understanding does not measure up to embrace all of Scripture, then the issue is not with our understanding. The issue lies at the foundation. That foundation is ultimately Christ. Yet, we come to more fully perceive Christ when we better understand the backdrop of the Old Testament, and we can better understand the progression of God's Scripture.

It is said in Zechariah 2:8 that “whoever touches you (Israel) touches the apple of my eye.” That Hebrew word translated ‘apple’ is more properly translated as the pupil of the eye. When we mess with Israel, even in our doctrine, we are poking fingers into the very pupil of the eye of God. He takes His covenant with Israel extremely seriously. I would even venture to say that if we don’t know Christ Jesus as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then we don’t have a solid understanding of Christ.

God’s purposes with Israel might be one of the most controversial subjects in Christendom. On the one side of the spectrum are they that teach the church has replaced Israel. On the other side are those that are so Zionist that you could not tell them that Israel is in error. In between these two opinions are many varieties of beliefs, almost none of them being biblical. Our approach to Israel as Christians seems to be based on one of two things: arrogance or sentimentality. We either have great arrogance in claiming they are cast aside and we have replaced them, or we have only the most questionable sentimentality. 

Those who have only sentimentality to Israel will not even consider the possibility of another exile. These are the same people that when you try to explain that they will be uprooted from the Land and we will take them in as refugees, they want to play the rapture card. “Well, you can stay if you want to, but I’m getting out of here!” This kind of statement really shows precisely how loveless and non-biblical so many ‘saints’ truly are. Though they have the Bible and every possibility to reason and understand and love, they instead choose convenience.

We don’t get to choose whether we stay or we go. Either we will all stay, or we will all go. The question that truly needs to be asked is our willingness to stay through the Tribulation. Are we willing to endure suffering at the hands of men – possibly even Jewish men – for the glory and purposes of God? Are we willing to, for love’s sake, put ourselves in a place of danger? If the answer to those questions is no, then there is absolutely no amount of reasoning that I can perform to convince you of God’s eternal plans and our place in those plans. But for those that are willing to lay down their lives and live in a manner that would display love and truth to an entire nation, there is still hope that we might be able to come to reasonable conclusions together.

Nothing more shows the core of who God is than His plans concerning Israel. Some have called this ‘the mystery of Israel.’ I’m not sure that Israel’s role in eschatology is a part of that mystery, as some claim, but instead the mystery is simply found in the scandal of a God that would choose one nation over all others. When we can understand that mystery, it makes a lot more sense as to why God would use words like, “election.” Election doesn’t necessarily have only to do with ‘national Israel.’ It has to do with the people of God, foreknown from before the beginning of time. During the Millennial reign of Christ, and during the New Heaven and New Earth, there appear to be a people that are outside of that choosing, yet are not destroyed in the Judgment of Christ.

This issue is the issue of nations. God doesn’t destroy all nations. Nor does He cast all people into the lake of fire. There are those nations and people that do indeed get cast into the lake of fire, but how can we reconcile the notion of a people outside of election that are still able to come up and worship God? This is part of the mystery. It comes down to a few subjects that we’ll look at: covenant, centrality of Israel, and God’s nation. These three factors help us to better understand what it is that we’re looking at.

Covenant

God has revealed His covenant progressively. The first statement of it is in Genesis 3:15 – that a man will rise from the seed of the woman to crush the serpent’s head. From that initial statement, we don’t really gather a whole lot of information. We certainly don’t gather a bunch of messianic prophecy about a “greater than David” and how the messiah must be a priest and a king, and how Jesus will come twice, etc. Actually, the covenant made with Israel unfolds. It starts with a promise of a man to come that will crush a serpent’s head, and then eventually evolves into an eternal covenant that will be the redemption of all of creation.

I have absolutely no problem with saying that God had foreordained such a plan of salvation. We just don’t find the full statement and revelation of such a cosmic plan at the inception of Genesis. It progresses from that first statement to a promise that Canaan will be a slave to Japheth and Shem, and that Japheth will enter the tents of Shem (Genesis 9:25-27). It is after the incident at Babel, in the plains of Shinar, that God calls a man out of all nations in order to bless all nations (Genesis 12:3). That covenant is reiterated to Abram in Genesis 15:1-21, but the details are added that Abram’s offspring will inherit the land from the Nile to the Euphrates. That promise has yet to be fulfilled.

Now, before we go forward in the progression, lets deal with an issue. Paul quotes the promise given to Abraham. He mention that the word used for seed is singular, and not plural. This is a hint of one single man, Christ, that would be the seed of Abraham. We cannot take this knowledge and trade it for the whole progression of Scripture, though. The Jewish people today can equally claim that the wording represents Isaac, and not Ishmael. Yes, there is something to this, but no, the promise of Abraham was not solely for Christ. That is not to say that those with Jacob’s blood in them are saved according to the flesh. What it is saying is that we need to be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Once again, the statement of “through your seed” is given in Genesis 22:18. The context of the statement is in God’s provision of the lamb instead of Isaac as sacrifice. When we take this to mean that Israel has been replaced, we err in being terrible exegetes of Scripture. The statement is still resonating the fact that “God will provide a Lamb.” This is actually the heart of the covenant. From before Israel, and before Abraham, God established this covenant. It is an eternal covenant about a God that provides a Lamb.

The covenant is an eternal covenant. The eternal covenant is not solely with Israel, but with all nations. God has chosen a specific people for Him to put His name upon, and all other nations must come unto them in order to worship the Lord. The covenant unfolds throughout the Scripture gaining more and more detail, until finally it culminates in the man Christ Jesus – the true Israel and firstfruit from the dead. When Israel was given the promises of being called the firstborn of God (Exodus 4:22), we find the New Testament writers referring to Jesus as God’s only begotten Son.

How is it that God can make a statement about Israel being His son, but then that title is given exclusively to Jesus in the New Testament? It comes down to the mystery of Israel, which is the mystery of Christ. In the book of Isaiah from chapter 40 onward for about 15 chapters we read about a servant of the Lord. This servant is the Messiah in some places, but is clearly spoken of as Israel in other places. What is being communicated is: As with Israel, so with Messiah; as with Messiah, so with Israel. The Gospel of Matthew also communicates this.

We find in Matthew the “prophecy” that, “Out of Egypt I call my son…” Read Hosea. That isn’t a prophecy; it is a statement. The statement isn’t even a messianic statement. It is referring to Israel being delivered from the hand of Pharaoh. How can Matthew make such a big blunder? As with Israel, so with Messiah. The Gospel of Matthew continues that theme all the way through. Jesus comes out of Egypt, gets baptized in the Jordan (symbolic of Israel crossing the Red Sea), and is led into the wilderness for 40 days (Israel wandering for 40 years). At the beginning of Matthew 5, Jesus goes up onto a “mountain” to speak to His followers. This is reminiscent of Moses upon Mount Sinai.

The corporate Israel is made manifest in the man Jesus Christ. He is the true Israel that fulfilled all of the purposes of Israel. However, there is a flip side to that coin: as with Messiah, so with Israel. As Jesus fulfilled perfectly all of the commands of the Lord concerning Israel, so too must Israel do. God awaits a time reserved when He will establish His King upon the earth for 1000 years that Israel will finally come into her purpose: to be a corporate demonstration of Jesus. As the Body of Christ, we have this mandate. We have this mandate to be Jesus unto the Jewish people. They will have the mandate to be Jesus unto the nations, for “You will be a Kingdom of priests, and a holy nation,” Exodus 19:6.

Though the covenant was progressively revealed through the Old Testament, it was ever and always the eternal covenant (Jesus slain before the foundation of the world). Israel rejected that covenant at Sinai, and placed Moses as their mediator in exchange for personal relationship of God. Because of that exchange, the nation forfeited for a season their call to be the priestly nation as God had intended. This is why the prophets call the eternal covenant “a new thing” and “a new covenant.” It isn’t so much that it is a “new covenant” as it is the eternal covenant rejected at Sinai. Instead, they embraced a covenant that could be performed. This is why it is said by the religious leaders of that new wine, “The old is good enough,” Luke 5:39.

It is according to the covenant made with God at Sinai that Israel’s destiny hinges upon. God still holds them accountable to that covenant, though the Gentiles have not been placed under such a covenant. It is said in Deuteronomy 4:1, “Follow them (the decrees and laws) so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land…” Israel has been given the land promised to Abraham, but not that full amount promised in Genesis 15:18. That Land is to be inherited only. Israel cannot come into possession of that Land by coercion or military power. Because the Land must be inherited, for Israel to remain in that Land they must remain faithful to the Lord their God. If they don’t remain faithful, they don’t remain in the Land.

It was said in Deuteronomy 6:25 that the obedience to the Law is considered their righteousness. Where Paul has said that we cannot be saved through works, God seems to be indicating that they can be saved by works. However, Paul is actually expressing the fullness of this text. It is not the works of the Law that make them righteous, but the faith behind those works. In remaining faithful to God, which is to continue to put their faith and confidence in Him throughout all generations, their works are considered righteous. This is why God continues by saying, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse – the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God,” Deuteronomy 11:26-28.

The blessing does not come when Israel upholds the Law, but when they live by faith. The curse does not come with disobedience to the Law, but when they reject the Lord their God. The two are connected in a way that cannot be separated. Ultimately, Christ is the fulfillment of the Law. He is our offering and sacrifice. He was the anointed unleavened bread of Truth to be offered as our meal offering. He is our peace offering – that through Him we have peace with God. He is our sin offering, that if we sin, we have propitiation (1 John 2:1). He is our Passover Lamb. He is the drink offering, of which we can take and say, “This is His blood…” He is the fulfillment of the 613 laws outside of the Ten Commandments, including the dietary laws. It is in Christ and through Christ - specifically faith in Him that leads to good works (James 2:14-24) - that we, and Israel, are to keep the Law.

The Law is not something that is a burden to fulfill as believers because Christ is our fulfillment. It is apart from faith in Christ that the Law becomes impossible. This is the eternal covenant. We have stepped into this reality as Christians – something that Israel has yet to do nationally. That is why the command is given through Paul that we are to “drive the Jew to jealousy,” Romans 11:11. This is almost a parallel of the statement made by Moses, “I will make you envious by a people that are not a people; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding,” Deuteronomy 32:21.

How is it that Gentiles, they that were despised by the Jews, are the ones to live in the promises and blessings given to them? It is a Divine revelation of the character of God. He will go that far, to cut off the natural branches and engraft wild branches, in order to call the nation of Israel to repentance. While we’ve been content to live beneath the glory of God, Israel continues to be unmoved and not jealous. God has established the covenant with Israel so that He might use them as a nation to all the other nations. Our call is to be a people that are no people – a pariah.

By being slapdash saints we rob God. Our purpose and calling is to be nobodies. But we have the same complex that Israel had: we want to be like all the other nations. We want to be somebodies. Are you willing to take up the purposes of God for the sake of a greater reward in the next life? This cuts to the heart of every grumbling. We don’t expect to be somebody. Instead, we are content in all things. It is for the lack of understanding this mystery that even the church has been quite flabby. We are unchallenged and bored.

What might actually be the solution is the very thing we have refused to consider: we are to be a priesthood to Israel so that they might be a priesthood to the nations. Instead of embracing this calling, we have coveted their calling. We want to be the big dogs. Maybe the parable of Jesus speaking of the prodigal son is more literally true than we know. The elder brother that has always been with the father says, “I have slaved in your household for all these years…” He refuses to celebrate with the father because he thinks he is lacking in reward for his “enslavement.” Who among us are exact replicas of that elder brother? Who among us don’t want to even consider playing second fiddle, even though we’re of Japheth, the elder? Is not all righteousness performed in submitting as the elder under the younger? Has God not said that the least shall be the greatest?

Center of nations

Ezekiel 5:5 says, “This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.” I believe that the King James translates it as “set in the midst…” The Hebrew word speaks of “the middle.” Why is it that preachers insist on the ‘fact’ that “God’s not interested in real estate?” That isn’t what God says. He is very interested in this particular Land. He has even established that it should be the center of all nations. This is the pupil of God’s eye, at the center of all nations, to be a priestly nation to the nations.

God has chosen a specific place (Zion) for His rule. The classic chapter for blessings and curses, Deuteronomy 28, begins with the verse, “The Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.” From there, it is reaffirmed that “the Lord will make you the head, and not the tail,” Deuteronomy 28:13. These are promises of God, and the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Deuteronomy 32:8-9 doesn’t just imply, but blatantly states, “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.”

I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard this expounded. The very statement itself seems to drive something deep within me to repulsion. Would God be that specific? Would He truly set up the boundaries of the nations according to the sons of Israel? What does that even mean? It has been decreed that God would make Israel a priesthood. They are to show the nations the ways of the Lord. They are to separate the precious from the vile. It has been said in the prophets, and it is true unto this day, “Like priest, like people.” When Israel is disobedient to their God, the nations are disobedient and do not consider.

For God to redeem Israel is for Him to redeem the nations. There is something interwoven between Israel and the nations that shouldn’t be lightly disregarded. The way that Israel acts and interacts with the nations actually affects those nations. When she is a whore, the nations blaspheme the name of God. This is why it says in Ezekiel over and over that Israel has “blasphemed my name.” Even if there is not a technical blaspheming of God’s name by Israel, the very fact that they are causing the nations to blaspheme Him is likened unto the same thing in God’s sight.

We looked earlier at how Israel is called God's firstborn in Exodus 4, and then the New Testament exclusively gives that title to Jesus. I want to give a thought for consideration. This is not a "thus saith the Lord," but only an inclination. I am coming more to being convinced that Israel is God's firstborn son as a nation. Christ is the God-Man. He is also the Israel-Man. We find in Christ Jesus the fullness of God, but also the fullness of who Israel is called to be. But in regard to the nations, and not simply individuals, God still calls Israel His firstborn son. When that nation has come unto salvation in Christ Jesus, and they are walking out their calling of being the priestly nation, all other nations, as nations, must look to Israel as their mediator. We have Christ as our mediator, and I don't want to speak something against that. But as nations, and not mere individuals, the nations cannot come to God without Israel being their mediator to God. Israel will fulfill the position of mediator through the redemption of Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is part of the marriage of the Lamb. "The two become one flesh." When there is that kind of unity of deity and humanity found in Israel, and the Church alongside her, the Bride of Christ is promoted (exalted) to ruling and reigning alongside of Christ - not under Him, but beside Him.

I don’t know that I have fully come to understand and appreciate what God has communicated in these quoted verses. There are too many possibilities for me to grasp what God has in store. Whatever is being communicated in God establishing Israel as the center of all nations, it is at the heart of Israel’s primary purpose. When we can come to understand that mystery, we have come to understand the whole of eschatology. So much is stored away hidden in God that we cannot begin to even fathom what this seed will blossom into. The mystery of Israel is the mystery of Christ. As Christ, so also Israel. The impact of that statement alone can give us depth and insight beyond what I’m personally able to communicate.

God’s nation among nations

To conclude, Israel’s purpose is to be God’s nation among all nations. Just as Satan has taken his pick and placed his name upon Babylon, God has called out one man from all nations to make him a nation. This is not simply a political state. When God gathers Israel the final time, He will gather all Israel. Any and all of the Jews that are scattered abroad will be brought back to that Land. It is more than a political state – it is God’s nation and statement.

This has a few implications: priesthood, theocracy, display of God’s character, and His witness unto the four corners of the earth. In this is the summary of Israel’s call. Books and volumes can be written on those subjects alone to further understand the depth and magnanimity of God’s calling. “For you are a people holy unto the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession,” Deuteronomy 7:6. “Listen to me my people; hear me, my nation,” Isaiah 51:4.

“Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?” Deuteronomy 4:34. God has chosen this particular people above every other people. In order for us to even come into the faith we must be grafted into that root (Romans 11:11-25). God is jealous over Israel, and if we are to bear His name, we also must be jealous over Israel.

Prudent Speech

Do you see a man hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Proverbs 29:20


There are a select few that are sagacious with their words. Many of us pour out of our mouths streams of words. Many people have the gift of gab - the ability to speak on any subject. Once you start a conversation with them, they can carry it for days. Some don't have this gift, but still practice lingual negligence. We speak when we need to shut up. We don't speak when we need to scream. We put forth a plethora of words, many times without even thinking before about what is coming out of our mouths. How many of us are guilty of this?

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Christ Jesus was one that never minced words. In fact, by His own lips He said that His words are life because they are Spirit. He actually claimed that He says nothing out of His own mind, but everything comes from the Spirit of God. Then, at another time, Jesus said that we would be judged by every idle word that comes out of our mouths. Have you ever doted upon that? Mete on it for a moment. Every idle word... What about the words that are not idle? What about the words that are premeditated? I think the point is being made: every word, whether we think about what we're saying or not.

If Jesus was one that would not speak a single word without its inception being from the Spirit of God, what then shall we say of ourselves? Paul said that he desired to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. What shall we say of ourselves, who are not the Son of God nor apostles? We don't have such a caliber of character as they, and yet we find even they are making statements about a choosing of their words and understanding. If Paul desired to know nothing except Christ and Him crucified, what then must his words have been enriched in?

The art of prudence is lost to our generation. We often don't think about the future, let alone act according to that thought. Of the famous music on the radio currently, we hear song after song about not thinking about what happens next. Let's worry about that when it comes, for now we want to party all night and sex it up until our bodies explode from erotic bacchanal. If our actions are so unpremeditated and without intuition, how many of our words are the same?

Jesus had said that out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. That, of course, supposes that our hearts are overflowing. But what is it overflowing with? We simply need to check out our words to know the answer to that. Think back on the past conversations that you've had. Think back upon the arguments or the reactions that you've had. What comes out from your mouth - whether in the good or the bad moments? How much was simply verbiage to fill the air, or make your point, or show how the person that you're speaking with is wrong? How much was the weighty overflow of the Spirit of God that brings a glory out of your lips?

Out of the overflow of your heart, your mouth speaks. I'm becoming acutely aware of the need to speak less, yet in those fewer words speak much more. There are a few that I know that when they speak, it is some of the most precious words that you've ever heart. And when they listen to you speaking, they actually listen. There isn't the hope of listening so they can respond. There isn't the hope of listening so that they can then tell you their opinion. They actually listen. Why?

They listen to you because they themselves are more accustomed to not speaking unless they have something to say. When you have others around you that are in like manner, then when someone speaks up, why wouldn't you listen? This is the very heart and soul of the person. To listen to the words of what a man or woman speaks is to listen to the very heart of that person. When their heart is given over to vanity, their words will reflect it. But there is a glory that comes when we "desire to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified."

I'm striving for the latter. Many times I find myself listening to sermons, watching movies, talking to people, and I just want them to get to the point. They spend an hour talking, and yet there is barely anything said. The void isn't filled simply because we've spoken. I know some that can speak for five minutes and say more than those that get up on Sunday morning and speak for an hour. The biggest need in our day is not to teach people more information about the Bible and the Gospel. The people aren't 'over-gospeled.' They are actually under-gospeled. Our words aren't weighty enough because we haven't spent enough time listening to the Spirit and not speaking until that word is birthed in our heart out of the waiting.

It's not Good to be Alone

18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

23 And Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

In Genesis 2:18, we find the first mention of "not good." Throughout the entirety of Genesis 1, we read about the first day, and God says it is good. The second day, God says it is good. The third day, God says it is good. All the way through to the seventh day, God says, "It is very good." Now we reach the first time that God says, "It is not good..." Isn't it fascinating that the first thing God says is not good is loneliness? 

Notice that God does not say it is sin. It is not sin to be alone, or to feel alone. Loneliness is something that we have all experienced at some time. The Hebrew word is bad (bawd). It has the implication of a branch severed from the tree, a body part disconnected. This is not mere isolation, but a disconnect from the whole. 

God's response to this loneliness is to "make a helper." The Hebrew word is etser, which comes from the root atsar - to surround. Etser means "one who helps," but seems like the implications are companionship and camaraderie, not service or assistance. It is also more than someone to talk to and be around. This suitable helper is supposed to be one that can come alongside and fill out the areas in life that are incomplete. 

We have in verses 19-20 the scene of Adam naming the animals. This has two implications. First, it implies hierarchy. Adam was "over" the animals in that he names them; they don't name themselves. In Daniel 1, Daniel and his three companions are given new names. The king of Babylon does this to show he has ownership over those young men. He named them; he owns them. The second implication is found in what a name represents. The Hebrew word shem (pronounced shame) means character. Adam would have deeply searched the soul of those animals to name them precisely as they are. Their name is the essence of their being. It takes intimacy with that other being in order to name them. You have to know them in their deeps and see what the animal truly is.

We come to verse 21 and God puts Adam in a deep sleep. The Hebrew word is tardemah. It means a trance, or a deep sleep (as if dead). The Greek equivalent is used in Revelation 1 when John sees Jesus and falls down before Him as if dead. Daniel sees a vision in Daniel 10, and falls down on his face into a "deep sleep." This is the same thing. It's the idea of being unconscious or in a coma or something. It makes me think of Paul when he said, "Whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know..." 

This idea of Adam being brought into a deep unconscious slumber, as if dead, is all the more amplified by the verb in the following phrase. Yashen means physical relaxation/being languid, but figuratively implies death. God took a rib out of Adam and from that rib made a woman. She was called such because when Adam awoke, he said, "Woah, man..." (That was a pathetic attempt at a joke). 

In the wording, "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh," we actually have an idiom. To understand what this means, it is actually a comparison of bone and flesh. Whereas bone is hard, flesh is soft. Where I am weak, she is strong, but where I am strong, she is weak. We complete one another. This is the helper that Adam needed. This is the kind of relationship that was needed in order to not be "alone." In the case of Adam, it was a wife that was necessary. In the case of many people in our world today, it is not necessarily a wife or a husband. The implications of what it means for them to be a wife or husband is found prominently in the next couple verses.

Before we get to that point, lets further investigate this scene. The Hebrew for rib is tselath. It means side, but can be used in anatomy, architecture, or figuratively. Depending on the context, we would call it a beam, side, rib, plank, etc. It comes from the Hebrew tsala, which means "to limp." Tsala is used in Genesis 32:22-32 when Jacob wrestled the angel and walked away limping. For Adam to be put into a deep sleep, as though dead, and then a rib taken from his side, we're looking at a metaphor for resurrection. Just as Jacob transformed from Jacob to Israel, so Adam is transforming from man to humanity. It was male and female - He made them in God's image. There is something about man and woman uniting to bring forth the image of God.

The Hebrew for woman is ishah; the Hebrew for man being ish. The woman has a hey at the end of ishah. The man has a yod in the middle of ish. When you bring together the yod with the hey, you have yah, which is the name of God. To be truly united, we bring Christ in us to one another, the God that He invested inside of you. When I as a male bring the image of God in me to my wife, and she brings the image of God in her to me, we make a complete yah, and therefore have a three chord strand that is not easily broken. 

To build a relationship upon Christ instead of upon "I love her" is completely different. Notice in verse 23 that Adam never named the woman. There isn't a hierarchy. Adam is not over the woman. Paul notes that the woman was created for man, not visa versa. What's going on here? Paul cannot be saying that man is over the woman. Thus, it must mean that woman is to serve God with man, not as a lesser, but not alone either. The reason for this is because of what I've already mentioned the "bone of my bone" idiom stands for. In the ways of God, He has purposed that woman should serve Him alongside of man. We'll dive into this a little more deeply in a minute.

The word for one used in verse 24 is echad. Echad is used many times in the Old Testament to mean one. It does not mean a multiplicity of ones. I've heard the argument that it is like one bundle of sticks compared to one stick. The truth is, echad would be used to describe both the bundle as well as the single stick. But here is what we do know: Adam and Eve would not have ended up somehow mutating together to become one being. They were still two distinct entities: male and female. Never does Adam become one with Eve in the sense of a merging of the flesh to become one person instead of two. So echad, even though it means one, is being used figuratively to make a point.

When we read in the shema, we read that the word echad is used at the end (the Lord your God is one). Jesus prayed in John 17:21 that we would be one as He and the Father are one. In Ephesians 5:31-32, Paul says that this is a mystery that is speaking of Christ and His Church. The very words in Genesis 2:24 are somehow now being related to Christ and His Church. 

I said previously that for Adam, the loneliness was cured by a wife. But for we in the twenty first century, it isn't necessarily marriage that cures loneliness. It comes from two sources, both being related inseparably. We are to be married to Christ, which is to say that we are to be one with Christ. That sounds nice and all, but what does that look like and actually mean? The ironic thing is that this is where the second implication comes in. To be one with Christ is to be one with one another. When we are willing to be intimate with one another, to the degree that you cannot tell where the one begins and the other ends, we are now being united with Christ.

It is beholding in one another's faces that we move from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). We're given a clue in Genesis 2:25 as to what it would mean to be one with one another. They were naked and felt no shame. Nakedness is not simply stripping down. There is a stripping that is not of clothing. There is a nakedness that does not involve nudity. Nakedness is transparency. We read in James 5:16 to confess our faults one to another and to pray for one another. Paul says to carry each other's burdens, for when one part of the Body hurts, the whole Body hurts. That kind of openness of confession to one another, and that kind of love to pray for one another instead of lording over one another is completely other worldly. 

In openness and honesty and nakedness, there was no shame for faults and failures. In all things, man was innocent. Could you imagine what it would be like to be that kind of person to someone else? Are you able to conceive what it would mean to be able to unload your heart to someone, and instead of judging or condemning, they embrace you and say with heartfelt tears, "Me too?" We've all failed in one place, and even if I've never committed adultery, I'm no better than the one who has. I've done things that the adulterer or murderer would never conceive of. The visions in my mind sometimes are so perverted and evil that to confess it would be to expose myself. I'm not a good person.

Yet, it is in the midst of that kind of relationship to one another that we find healing and freedom. We find healing from our sins, and we find innocence because we're not looking to hide or deceive. To be united one to another, so that we are no longer male and female, Jew or Gentile, black or white, slave or free, but are all one in Christ requires that we would be transparent before one another. The cure to loneliness is not to be around other people. The cure to loneliness is confession.

When we're united to a Body of believers that is naked before one another, shame is not felt. Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame. This kind of innocence has been lost to us, but we can understand it and be a part of it through Christ. Honesty and transparency is being more naked than nudity would require. We don't like the idea of being that open and bare. We like to clothe ourselves and hide behind our fig leaves. It takes the Spirit of Christ itself to even get us to consider opening up and being real. 

The heck of it is that to be united to the Body here and now is actually more than just being united to the Body here and now. There is an unbroken continuum of saints that stretch back to Adam being a son of God, Abel offering a sacrifice that God accepted, Seth's descendants being the first mention of "At that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord", Enoch entering into eternity by faith, and all the other amazing saints that we're in line with throughout all ages. This is called the invisible cloud of witnesses. 

We are interwoven with this invisible cloud. Even when you feel alone, you are not alone. The others that have gone before you are ever and always about you. When we enter into the Body of Christ, we enter an eternal Body that spans from everlasting to everlasting. Before the foundations of the world, Jesus was the eternal Son of God. To enter into His Body is to enter into Him. To enter into Him is to enter into the Triune God. As the Bride of Christ, we are more than human. Divinity and humanity have been married, and in being united one to another, we are actually a fourth aspect of the Godhead. That isn't to say that we are divine as individuals, but to say that the marrying of Israel and the Church, Spirit and flesh, Heaven and Earth, and God and man brings us into an exalted place. We are somehow more than human, and even exalted above the angels, but not on par with Christ.

Just as the woman was created to serve God alongside of man, the Bride of Christ is to rule and reign alongside of Christ. The woman is not less than man, nor is she under man. She is not to be "ruled over", nor is she to be the head of the house. There is no "head" but Christ. When man and woman have been made equal and serve God together - one alongside of the other - we are displaying a mystery of how God has made the Bride to rule and reign with Christ in equality to Christ, and not in subjectivity or "underneath" Christ. 

Oh the depths and riches of our God! The tender mercies that would make man a little lower than the angels, but to be raised up unto Him as Sons and Daughters - co-heirs with Christ. Who is like the Lord? And who has been His counselor? To Him be glory in the Bride, forever and ever, amen.

When Darkness is Upon the Face of the Deep - Genesis 2:16-17

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”


In these two trees, we have the whole of the Gospel. Before looking at these two trees and what they symbolize, I would like to go back and take another look at Genesis 1:2. "Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God hovered over the waters." What we have in Genesis 1:2 is a chiastic structure. A chiastic structure is a form in literature where two things are being compared to one another. In the case of Genesis 1:2, we have the face of the deep being compared with the waters, and the darkness being compared with the ruach (Spirit). The question to ask is this: are they being likened to one another, or opposites?

Simple logic would say that the deeps are being likened to the waters, therefore the darkness is being likened to the Spirit of God. Now, lets take a moment and break down this Hebrew phrase ruach elohim merachepheth. The verb is merachepheth. It is a piel participle of rachaph. Rachaph means to relax, the piel conjugation simply meaning that we intensify the verb. This particular verb is only found in the piel participle one other time in Scripture: Deuteronomy 32:11. "Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions..." Notice here that the verb is being compared with a stirring up of the young.

The verb, scholars say, denotes an intense vibration. However, lets not lose the fact that it comes from the root rachaph, which means "to relax." There is something about the Spirit of God being at rest that caused for an intense vibration. My question is this: what was vibrating? Is it possible that the vibrations weren't from the Spirit, but instead from the creation? Obviously the verb is supposed to be describing the Spirit, but what if this is a better description of what the Hebrew word ruach is? Ruach is used in relationship to God, and only God. It is His Spirit, but it is sometimes translated as breath or wind. This movement of air, whether by breath or wind, might actually give us a clue.

I find it much more satisfying to translate this passage as "the Divine Essence (Spirit) stirred up the waters." Now, I want you to remember the whole verse. "Darkness was upon the face of the deep." So, what is being compared is still the Spirit with darkness. That isn't to say that God is darkness, but to say that there is a positive relationship between God and darkness. I think we've all felt formlessness, emptiness, and darkness. We've all felt the sensation of, "If God exists, then why would He allow this?"

It is precisely in those moments that we find the "Spirit stirs up the creation." What is being spoken here is an intense poetry. Every Christian can give their testimony of how God has helped them through even the darkest and most chaotic moments in life. This is the positive relationship between God and darkness. Even though He cloaks Himself in darkness, and speaks out of the cloud of thick darkness, He doesn't leave us there without stirring up those deeps and saying from the inside out, "Let there be..."

Now, when we get to Genesis 2:16-17, we need to keep in mind that those two trees represent the two opposites mentioned in Genesis 1:2. Though darkness and the Spirit are being likened to one another, God is still light. In Him there is no darkness. In order for God to have fellowship with His creation, He has had to clothe Himself in darkness. We cannot see Him in full unadulterated splendor and live. But the darkness is not permanent. In Revelation 21-22, we find that there is no darkness. So there is a glory still to come where we will see God as He is, and we will not be harmed.

These two trees represent the clash between choosing to serve in that final Kingdom without darkness, and desiring to have our own thoughts and opinions outside of God. To take of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to say, "I can decide this on my own. I have freewill, and God gave me a good enough mind to come to my own conclusions." At the center of what these two trees represent, we find the heart of all of our disputes in Christendom. Do we come to conclusions because of philosophy, intellect, or some other form? Or do we wait until Divine inspiration inserts the correct understanding into our hearts?

I know a lot of information. I have a good understanding of what the Bible says. But I could not tell you what my opinion is on whether we ought to follow the Law. My wife tells me all the time what it means to observe the Law, and how much we're required to keep, and that if I really want to know, I should just look to the words of Jesus. But there is a difference between mental ascent and revelation. I can mentally go through the doctrine and Scriptures and come to a pretty good conclusion. In fact, I have done that. But there is knowing and knowing. There is taking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and thus having an opinion and an understanding. Then there is taking of the tree of life, and because of the revelation of Christ, I am changed in the deepest parts of who I am.

What is it that you are content with? Are you content with a knowledge simply because you took a class, got a degree, studied it out for yourself, etc? Or is there something in you that says "deep calls unto deep," and until I know deeply, I don't truly know? This one thing alone will actually set you free from almost every deception. There is a phrase in the New Testament that actually expresses this concept perfectly: "A love of the truth." In 2 Thessalonians 2:10, we read that the only thing to keep us from deception and strong delusion is a love of the truth. That love is something deeper than a respect. We don't subscribe to doctrines, but desire the reality in the inner parts of who we are.

These two trees are two value systems. What do you desire more? Do you desire intimacy with God, or knowledge about God? Do you desire life or knowledge? The latter will come, but it only comes when God has shared His knowledge. If God doesn't share, and instead hides from us this or that understanding, we don't go to seek understanding on our own, but we rest in the fact that we aren't required to at this time know and understand. When that serpent comes to say, "I know something you don't know!" we respond with, "So?"

It isn't for me to know everything, and I thank God for it. The darkness upon the face of the deep is something that is difficult to wade through, but I'm not alone. I might not understand it now, but when I get through it, I'll be able to look back and see that God has been redeeming every moment.

Humanity's Ultimate Purpose - Genesis 2:4-15

4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LordGod made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
Genesis 2:4-15

What is humanity's ultimate purpose? We find the solution in the very beginning of the Bible I'd like to take the time to digest some of what is happening here in the Garden of Eden.

In Genesis 1, elohim is the name given to God. But in chapter two, it is jehova elohim (LORD God). Elohim is a suggestive pronoun. It denotes power, specifically the one that holds all power (or at least more power than anyone or anything else). Jehova is our English way of saying Yahweh, which is another English way of saying the YHWH. We aren't entirely sure how to say this name, so we gave it a label: the tetragrammaton. It is usually suggested that this name is from the verb hayah, which would give the interpretation "I am/exist." When we have two Hebrew nouns together, we place the word "of" in between them. So the Lord God is being titled, "I AM of Mighty Power." 

It is supposed from Genesis 2:6 that mankind was given the purpose to till the ground. We'll talk about problems with this later. Instead, I want to skip to verse 7. I this verse, we find Adam consisted of both heaven and earth, thus becoming a living creature. The Hebrew word used for the breath of God is not the same word used in Genesis 1:2, ruach, but instead nephesh (to blow).

Jesus, in John 20:22 blew on His disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit..." There is a hermeneutic principle that says when you see the first time a word or phrase is used, mark it down. We can learn what that word or phrase means from that first instance it is used. For example, I mentioned the word ruach. Ruach is translated spirit, breath, or wind. But there is a thing to note about ruach: it is God's Spirit. Ruach, to me, is much more properly defined as the energy (Spirit) of God that causes the creation to stir. This is why it is also sometimes denoted as wind or breath: the Spirit itself causes for the creation to stir when it is present. 

So, when we see in Genesis 2:7 that the Lord God breathed into Adam, we need to identify this. This is the God that breathes life. When John points out that Jesus blew on His disciples, John is making the statement that Jesus is not a mere man. He is the tetragrammaton in the flesh. This would also fit with the Holy Spirit being the ruach haqodesh (Spirit of holiness). The ruach is the presence of God that stirs up the creation. Why does it denote breath? Because it is a part of the God that gives life, or breath, to mankind. In order for God to transmute life and breath into Adam, He must be both living and breathing. This is a fascinating idea to think of a God that is both living and breathing, unlike the gods of stone, wood, money, and television.

In Genesis 2:8, we read of this living God as one who plants... Some have said that this is actually a contradiction in the Bible because God plants the Garden after He made man. But in Genesis 1, God made the trees, fish, birds, and animals before He made man. The solution is really quite simple that it's pathetic. Genesis 1:1-2:3 is a story of the seven days of creation. The author wasn't trying to give the intimate details of each day, but instead giving the overall summary of each day. Then, the author goes in and gives the details of day six when Adam and Eve were created. That is what we're reading about. There were trees, animals, birds, etc outside of the Garden of Eden, but God made this Garden specifically for Adam and Eve. 

Eden is the Hebrew word for delight. Because the Lord God had planted this Garden, and it was to be enjoyed and delighted in, we cannot then say that Adam was given the charge to "till the land." The only thing that Adam would have needed to till would have possibly been outside of the Garden. There is even a Jewish tradition that suggests maybe some of the trees in the Garden were bread trees. Adam wouldn't have even needed to made dough and bake the bread, because it would have already grown on the trees pre-baked and ready to eat. 

We know the story, so we know that Adam did get kicked out of the Garden. Obviously, then, this Garden does not cover the whole Earth. The Hebrew word used in Genesis 2:8 to say that Adam was placed in the Garden is sum (soom). It has absolutely no connotation to any effort on Adam's part, and complete connotation that God is the one doing the work. 

Out of the entire Garden, there are two trees named in verse 9: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. What was the first command given to Adam? The first command is in verse 16, which I didn't put here. It is that Adam is to eat of every tree of the Garden. The command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is actually the second command given to Adam. The first is to eat and enjoy all of the trees of the Garden. So, when we think back on the story and point out that God put a limit on Adam and told Him, "Don't do this," we actually misunderstand the story. The whole thing is pointing to the fact that God made Adam and put him in the Garden so that Adam could enjoy the creation. 

Now, we read in verses 10-14 about these four rivers. Pishon means to increase. Gihon means to burst forth. Hiddekel means rapid. Euphrates means fruitfulness. 

In verse 15, we have the Hebrew word yanach used to mean "put." So, in verse 8 we read that man was put (sum) in the Garden, and in verse 15 we read that he was put (yanach) in the Garden. What is the difference between these two words? Yanach is a synonym of nuach, which means rest. The definition of yanach is "to deposit," or "to allow to stay." 

Note the translation of working in the Garden. "Tend and keep it." It was already tilled and cultivated and worked by God. The Hebrew is le'abdah welesamrah. Abad means to serve, and is sometimes used in relation to being a bond-servant. Samar means to protect, or to hedge about. Samar is the word used in the Ten Commandments, "keep my commands" (Exodus 20:6). To keep is to protect, or to guard. 

Something else to note is that the Hebrew does not agree in gender to suggest this is Adam's purpose in respect to the Garden. This must be an abstract view unrelated to the Garden. Adam was made to serve and protect God/God's words. That is the ultimate purpose of humanity. We aren't called to somehow toil and work and struggle, but instead to be in rest and leisure. Out of that rest we are to fulfill our primary role and calling in life: to protect the words of God. We are to be in service to God, worshiping and adoring He who has given us such a place as the Garden of Eden.

But what about us today? We are far from the Garden of Eden. In the book of Genesis we find a Garden, but in the book of Revelation (chapters 21-22) we find a City. In the Garden there was a river that split into four different directions. In the City there is a river that comes out from the throne of God. In the Garden there are two trees mentioned. In the City there is one tree mentioned (tree of life) twice (one on either side of the river). The Garden of Eden and the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven are both related. These are the ultimate intentions of God for humanity. 

We have this strange thought that the New Jerusalem will be some future time that we can't understand anything about it now, but Paul speaks of it in Galatians 4:25-26. "Now, Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother." Do you understand? We are currently seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). We are currently called to be a part of that Holy City. But if we are thinking that we have to wait until that city is a literal reality in the New Heaven and New Earth, then we aren't ever going to strive to live according to that New Jerusalem. That New Jerusalem is free. It is free from fear, free from works of the Law, free from sin, and free from death. 

Upon our salvation, we are "placed" in that City. We are then bidden to stay in that City, to serve and protect the Lamb. Our protecting is to keep His commands, which is done by loving one another. Anyone who loves as Christ loved is protecting Him. To know His words and to know His commands, we only must love one another as Christ as loved us. This is the Law and the Prophets summed up: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. That is our high calling. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. We are all simply bid to come and enjoy, rest and serve. 

Revelations - New Heaven and New Earth

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

² And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

⁴ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

⁵ And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

⁶ And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

⁷ He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

⁸ But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

⁹ And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

¹⁰ And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

¹¹ Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

¹² And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

¹³ On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵ And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

¹⁶ And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

¹⁷ And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

¹⁸ And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

¹⁹ And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

²⁰ The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

²² And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

²³ And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

²⁴ And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

²⁵ And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

²⁶ And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

²⁷ And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Revelation 21

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

² In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

³ And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

⁴ And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

⁵ And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

⁶ And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

⁷ Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Revelation 22:1-7

I went ahead and posted the whole scene. I cannot find a good place to end to pick back up again. The whole scene needs to be viewed before we can start to digest it. And it seems like there really isn’t even anything to be able to comment on, for the whole thing is epochal and graphic. This might actually be one of the most symbolic scenes in all of Scripture where the scholars debate how symbolic and how literal to take any of it. What the Spirit reveals is so glorious that the only way to communicate it to we that are mortal and on this side of eternity is through such symbolic and terse statements.

What shall we say about the city coming down as a bride? I can’t help but think back to Genesis 2, where the beginning of this age is commenced with a marriage between male and female. The beginning of the age to come is commenced with a marriage between what is earthly and what is heavenly. Heaven and earth have become one. I can almost view this as a coming down, as an act of sexual intimacy, to complete and consecrate the marriage and unification of those two opposites.

Just as Adam and Eve became one flesh – one new thing – so too does heaven and earth become one new thing. They abide together for eternity as one and not separate anymore. This is a metaphor given for the image of God. He created them in the beginning male and female. It is in the unity and coming together of those two opposites and distinct beings that we find the character of God revealed. It is in the unity and community of the saints that we are to display God to the world (John 13:35, 17:21).

God somehow brings down this bride from heaven. But we know that her formation was here in the earth. How else could it be adorned? The description of this bride is that her streets are clear as crystal and transparent gold. This is what makes it adorned: it is as holy as the bridegroom. This Jerusalem is called the holy city. The purity matches that of Jesus our Messiah. There is no shadow. There is nothing that would counter the character and purity of the God that will abide there forever – eternally for His dwelling.

If you can imagine that, then you will be willing to be transformed from image to image. You will be willing to undergo the scrutiny of the Spirit to search out the quality of our life. You will be willing to question the motives and the attitudes that we have – even when performing religious things like invoking the name of Jesus. Not a scintilla of that will remain. She is adorned for the bridegroom.

Can you imagine a gold that is refined so pure that you can see through it? There is such labor that we have to extenuate to even get 10 karat, 14 karat, or 24 karat. But we have never purified gold until it is translucent. This takes a Master refiner that knows how to work those elements beyond any conventional wisdom of mankind. Anything contrary to its essential character is rooted out and cast away. The word impeccable is not even appropriate for the context of what God is describing.

Why is it that we are given this description at all? If we cannot comprehend, then why even make a statement like this? And what is the purpose for saying that we will receive a blessing for simply reading and keeping this (Revelation 22:7)?

We must see it. We must know it from the beginning unto the end. At the beginning, we see a Garden with a river and a tree of life and purpose for humanity (that Adam would tend to the Garden). We come unto the end, and we see the same great symbols: a river of life, a tree of life, and we rule and reign with Christ forever. There is something about these symbols that need to be appropriately understood and handled. We cannot make these things cheap and/or cliché.

Notice that at the end, we find these same symbols, but will more detail. We find the river given the details that it issues from the Throne of God – pure, water of life, clear as crystal. The Tree of Life is said to give 12 different kinds of fruit, one for every month, and the leaves were used for the healing of the nations. To what extent are these the same things that were at the first? I think that these are indeed the exact same things. The only difference is that in these last expressions – when darkness has passed away, and heaven and earth are married – they are able to come to full representation and fruition.

Even the tree of life is given healing to the nations. What nations? I thought that no one made it to heaven without being “saved.” I thought we had to come into God’s Kingdom and be God’s people and confess Jesus Christ is Lord. I thought that we were all going to be under His rule. Why, then, are we seeing here that there will be nations? This is important to realize and understand. We will all be under the same rule and under the same Kingdom, but we will all be within our own nations.

God has established the nations. He has set up and ordained their borders. This is not something that God despises. God doesn’t despise the nations. He doesn’t have plans of being the God of one nation. He is the God of all nations. Remember all of those passages I brought up earlier. He is jealous to make Himself known to and through all nations. And here in eternity, the nations find healing. This is something that apparently could not even be accomplished during the Millennial Kingdom. It takes something that even transcends and exceeds the Millennium.

Verse 4 of Revelation 21, “He will wipe away all tears,” seems to invoke that there will be tribulation, suffering, and tears of the saints right up to the end. All the way to the consummation of the age, there are sorrows. And isn’t this how it seems to be in every deliverance since the Fall? Any time that God has delivered or revealed Himself has been precluded by suffering, tears, anguish, and/or darkness.

Think about the exodus from Egypt. The Israelites were oppressed severely, and their oppression worsened before they were cast out. But the Egyptians were judged. In the midst of the plagues that God sent upon Egypt, the Israelites continued to be blessed. So it will be at the end. This is the pattern of God. Darkness was even upon the face of the deep when the earth was first formed. It was out of that darkness, and from the midst of the darkness, that God brought order and light.

Our obtaining to the purity that this city has is intrinsic to our suffering. In on sense, we hope that we don’t have to suffer. We pray that God would allow us to endure fewer hardships. But from what wisdom comes that prayer? Is it out of the wisdom of God that would desire for us this kind of purity being described in Revelation 21? I think this might be why we read it and that reading brings a blessing. It reveals to us the glory that we are to obtain. In knowing the future glory, we can take and endure any tribulation and hardship and persecution as momentary and light.

We are not naïve. We know that the end will have pain. We know that we will suffer bitterness and tribulation. We know that we are to undergo severe suffering. Thus, the Christian faith does not avoid suffering, but embraces it. Because we know the outcome of such suffering brings refinement and purity and glory, we are given the ability and endurance to stand firm to the end.

And from where does out persecution come? Jesus says, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved,” Matthew 10:22. Why is it that the world hates us? It is because they are under the rule and power and deception of Satan. The governing spirit over them is demonic. What other option do they have? To love you is to love the God that sends you. But they don’t love the God who sends you. They have been blinded and lied to by the devil, and therefore they continue to despise the works of God instead of be drawn to them.

We read in verse 6, “It is done…” Maybe another way that we can translate this and understand is, “It is finished,” the same wording of our Lord on the cross. Nothing of the old remains. We teach that we are new creations. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation – the old man has passed away. On that day, we will experience something else that has been made new and the old has passed away. We are to be people of the resurrection. Our lives are to be constituted by resurrection. We really are supposed to be free from sin. Nothing of the old lifestyle remains. Our old mindsets and attitudes are being conformed to the mind of Christ. This is the testimony of every believer.

When I woke up the next morning after being saved, I found a new wisdom that I had never known. No one had to tell me that I was in the midst of a war between good and evil. No one had to tell me my enemy was not with flesh and blood but with Satan. No one had to tell me that purity is the only option. I knew it. God had revealed it through His Holy Spirit. The logic of this love was to live in community and have all things common with those around me. The logic of this life He had given me was to vehemently oppose anything and everything that I found within self that went against His command.

In that day we will find another newness. We have obtained unto resurrection life now. But in that day we will obtain unto eternal and heavenly life. It is one thing to be resurrected. It is another to be married to Christ. This marriage embodies heaven and earth becoming one. We can say that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. It is a completely different statement to say that we are one with heaven. An experience with heaven does not aggregate oneness with heaven. In the same way, an experience with my wife does not constitute oneness with her. There is something supernatural that must take place for that to happen.

It is under the wisdom of God that we are granted this. It is in verse 7 that we read, “He that overcomes will inherit all these things…” Our inheritance of these things is not based upon our merit. If we read 1 Corinthians 2:8, we find that Paul makes a fascinating statement: “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Satan could not comprehend the wisdom of God. He still can’t. It was in God’s wisdom that through suffering, His Son might be glorified. It is true for us as well. The very means of our sanctification to be adorned in this manner for the bridegroom comes from the demonic attacks that we will suffer and endure all around us.

Maybe this is why verse 8 follows with the reminder of those who have no place in it. Those who were only too quick to be instruments of these demonic attacks have no place here. Those who were too quick to gratify the flesh and the lusts of it have no place here. Those who reject suffering and do whatever means necessary to avoid suffering have no place here. Those who create torment and hell for others are cast into torment and hell for eternity. They rebelled against the redeeming calls of God – like Cain – that sin is at the door and it has a desire for you.

Why would we discredit this verse? It has to be just as grabbing to us as the glory that we see the Bride to be. We ought to view these things as abominable. It needs to probe our minds and deeply penetrate into our inner beings the severity of this claim. For them is the second death. For them is the lake of fire.

What do you make of this in verse 9 that the angel that bids John to come up and see the heavenly Jerusalem is one of the 7 that brought upon mankind the bowls of plague? Why are we told that? Is God short of angels? He needs this one that has already performed something to perform something else? Or could it be that because this angel has poured out judgment upon humanity, it is given the grace to reveal the city to John?

I think it is the latter instead of the former. Because this angel has done the painful thing and not withheld himself from pouring out God’s wrath upon mankind, he is now given the privilege of taking John up onto the mountain to reveal the city of God. You know what this speaks to me? It would appear as though if we are called to speak hard words, then we are to be faithful to the uttermost. If we are called to speak the judgments of God, then we should not blush and candy coat. If we are willing to give the hard words and the words of judgment when called upon, then we will receive a reward given only to those that speak such a word. But as soon as I say this, I feel the need to also say that we cannot be overly harsh or strike with our words more than called upon to do so, for God has judged the nations because of that very thing.

It is at this point that we can discuss the question of what it means to “come down out of heaven.” Is that a geographical location? Is it north? Is it above the earth? Is it literal or is it metaphoric? I think it comes back to the idea of translucence. This purity that is obtained is obtained in heaven. Heaven is not to be taken as some place that we are called up to being in, but rather a lifestyle that we are called to living in. We are called to obedience unto God, within fellowship of the saints, suffering trials and tribulation, not cursing God, finding freedom and joy in this life, and being consecrated unto God in the various thing in which we find ourselves doing. That is heaven.

I don’t mean to reject a literal interpretation. It might very well be a literal coming down from heaven above. What I mean to stand upon and promote is that this purity that we obtain is not somewhere outside of the earth, but instead within the earth. As Leonard Ravenhill used to say, “This life is a dressing room for eternity; that is all it is.” Though we might obtain such things in heaven, it is not outside of the earth, but within the earth. It is in the here and now that we obtain our purity. It is through our present trials and tribulations, not some sort of later purification between the judgment and heaven.

It is as Paul reports. When we are judged, we are tried by fire. Anything built with hay, wood, or stubble is burnt up. Anything built from gold, silver, or precious stones remains. Jesus told us that if our right hand causes us to sin t cut it off, “For it is better to go into heaven maimed than to go into hell whole.” I think that any kind of purification between judgment and eternity will only be a cutting off and casting away. It will not be a refinement. There is no longer opportunity to be refined; there is only severing.

This all goes back to God’s rule and reign. Adam needed a helper. He couldn’t tend to the Garden alone. It was too great a task for him. And so it is with God that He will not rule and reign alone, but with a bride as a helper. Unlike Adam, He is fully capable to rule on His own. But He has decided in His mercy to allow us to join Him in His ruling.

We find the symbol of unity even in the dimensions of the city. It is 144,000 furlongs squared. Each side is 12,000 furlongs. In height, it is 12,000 furlongs. There are 12 gates, each representing a tribe of Israel. The wall of the city has 12 foundations, representing the 12 apostles. The measure of the wall is 144 cubits (12 times 12). Everything is in dimensions of 12. Nothing is rectangular. Nothing is bulged. It all is equal to the number of God’s choosing, which is 12. God seems to choose 12. He chose a people that were made up of 12 tribes. He chose 12 disciples, which became apostles. There are 12 “minor” prophets. There were 12 great priests in Chronicles. The altar was made of 12 stones. There were 12 loaves of permanent offering on the golden table (Leviticus 24:5). There were 12 branches to confirm the choice of Aaron (Numbers 17:21). 12 explorers were sent into Canaan (Deuteronomy 1:23). There were 12 administrators for Solomon (1 Kings 4:7). There was a sacrifice of 12 animals (Numbers 7:87, 29:17). The high priest wore a garment with 12 precious stones upon it.

12 is the number of God’s choosing. I think there is deep insight into why everything in this city is measured as a factor of 12. It is not only the place of His choosing, but it is also the full representation of Him. He chooses that which display Him. In God’s choosing we find a representation of His character. The why question is sometimes critical. It is in discovering why God chose this and not that where we discover something about the nature of God.

Isn’t it interesting that we find God right at the heart of the city? Dead in the center are the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb to be the Temple. They are within the city. We ought not to consider them to be outside any longer. They are within. In our New Testaments, we read that we are the Temple. The Holy Spirit dwells in us. I can’t comprehend that. But that doesn’t make it less true. In that day, God will dwell within His Bride in a way that will lighten the world. All the nations that are saved will walk by that light – which is to say the freedom and character of God. If clouds and darkness represent anguish and sin, then their opposites would mean freedom and life.

We see from Revelation 22 that we are to rule and reign with God. But who is it that is ruling and reigning? It is those that no more are bound by the curse, which see His face, and His name is upon their foreheads. Who is it that is being spoken of? It has to be the same 144,000 that were spoken of in Revelation 7 and 14. Within the context of Revelation, these are the only ones that received His mark upon their foreheads. This is why I concluded back in chapter 7 that they can’t be only 144,000 people. They are a type and symbol of something.

We find within verse 5 that this Bride does not sit on her thumbs all day. She reigns with Christ forever. She has a task. She is to rule with Her Husband over creation. But what does ruling mean? Are we talking about subduing nations or enforcing laws? Are we speaking of some sort of bureaucratic reign that is more oppression than freedom? It is making known the wisdom of God to the nations on how to live rightly. What is righteousness itself? This teaching does not come from those who have obtained academic understanding. It comes from a people that have been wrought in the deepest fabrics of their being what it means to be righteous.

Because we have come into a place of relationship with God that is able to rightly discern and promote such a heavenly view, we are able to rule over those nations that are not within that city, yet are still living according to its light. This is why we are called to speaking the truth in love. We need to be both able to discern and correct, but also to be corrected. It takes humility to acknowledge when we are in the wrong – no matter how embarrassing. It is that kind of a people that can rule over cities or nations. Too many of us believers could not even rule our way out of a paper bag.

This is the necessity of church discipline. And if you think that church discipline is simply to correct someone in blatant sin, then you are mistaken. Sometimes it isn’t blatant, and you’re the only one who sees it. What do you do in that circumstance? To ignore it could be to miss the eternal moment in which God is preparing you to rule with Him forever. You could be wrong in your judgment. It is still necessary to speak out your thoughts. If you are right, it will be your eternal joy. If you are wrong and get corrected, it will be your eternal joy. Either way, the perspective brought from this view of ruling with Christ shows us the importance of being purified.

I think our qualification that we will be in that city that brings light to the world is characterized by the first epistle of John. This light that the nations walk according to is the same light that we are told to walk according to now. How are we doing? Is our walking something that reflects that light? Or is it more correct in saying that we show the same sort of lifestyle that the world has, not withholding video games, television, Internet, and all other forms of entertainment? To what degree have you surrendered your life to walk according to that light?

This might be the very question to ponder when discussing those that see God face-to-face. In all other times of history it has been said that you cannot see God’s face and live. But here the special privilege is given to those that have walked according to the light now, so that after death they can see God’s face. I don’t think that this will be for everyone. There will be some that don’t receive that reward. Though they are not technically cast into hell, they are not given the same distinction and reward as those who labor to walk in the Light as He is in the Light.

It is a mercy of God to cast out those who have rejected the Light into outer darkness so that they might not suffer the anguish and agony of that luminosity. How unbearable must it be to stand before that Light when you have lived your life according to a lie and not given yourself over to that Light? It would be like when you come out from a dark room and into the sunlight. Your eyes start watering and you wince. For a moment you are blinded. But God will not allow for those that have not appropriately loved and walked in the Light to be tormented by it in the next age.

To walk according to the Light is painful before it is glorious. It reveals the wickedness in our lives. It shows our faulty intentions. It finds us out and roots up any falsity or sin.

Now lets cross-reference these texts.

¹⁷ For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

¹⁸ But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

¹⁹ And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

²⁰ There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

²¹ And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

²² They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

²³ They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

²⁴ And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 65:17-25

²² For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.

²³ And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.

²⁴ And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Isaiah 66:22-24

God is going to remake this world back to how He original made it. There won’t be curse or death. There won’t be disease or plague. All things will be made new. The former things will not be remembered. I think there are a lot of people that live their lives in fear because of something that was forcibly done to them that rejoice to hear that. Whether they are a rape victim or victims of government that sells children as slaves, there are many evils that people of this world wish they could forget.

⁸ And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

⁹ Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

¹⁰ And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

¹¹ He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

¹² And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

¹³ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

¹⁴ Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

¹⁵ For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Revelation 22:8-15

Here I wanted to just pause and let this sink in. Those that are not allowed to be a part of that city or to enter into it (for these are two separate things) are dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolaters, and whosoever loves and lies. Truth is the ultimate plumb line. Deception, manipulation, false motives and the like are kept outside and away from the city. There they cannot receive the light but are given over to the darkness.

¹⁶ I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

¹⁷ And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

¹⁸ For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

¹⁹ And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

²⁰ He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Revelation 22:16-21