“Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.” (Jer 15:16)
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” (Joh 5:39-40)
“You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; …
… in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.” (Exo 20:24)
Journal,
Of the 244 studies that I’ve provided in this blog journal, the most popular has been, ‘God’s Wings and the Blue Thread of Heaven.’ I’ll use that study as a backdrop for this study, along with variations that may come into play.
Without question there are mysteries in the Bible that when disclosed can become life gates of transformation in a believer’s life. Paul speaks of these mystery-wonders as steps from glory to glory. The point is that these mysteries are not hidden from us. They are hidden for us. They belong to all the children of God.
The greatest wonder and mystery of the Bible has to do with Christ Jesus Himself. Jesus is actually the very Word of God come to us in human form. He is the exact expression and impression of all that God is. Thus it can be said that Jesus Himself is the secret life of the Bible.
Here is a story from my earlier walk with the Lord.
The Book of Heaven
I was twenty-five years old. (Forty-seven years ago.) The Lord had already placed a call on my heart to the gospel ministry, but I was at a cross-road, and I wasn’t sure which direction to take. It had to do with my future and with secular work. What direction was my life to take?
What happened next was strange. It was in a church service. While listening to the pastor preaching, in a moment of time I became totally unaware of anything around me. It was like I was in a vacuum. But the vacuum seemed to have a godly purpose. I was to be unaffected by anything other than what was happening that moment.
This was when the vision opened, and the Lord began to show me the things that I could have in life. They were things of prosperity and blessings.
It wasn’t a scene of condemnation. It had to do with a choice He was giving me to make. The Lord would actually bless any secular work that I put my hands to.
But then I heard these words, “Or, you can preach My Word.”
The moment I heard those words, the scene of blessings changed, and an open Bible floated down before me right out of heaven.
As I looked at the descending Bible, the tears began to flow down my cheeks. I said, “Lord, I want to preach Your Word.”
The Lord said nothing else about future blessings, although they have followed me in life. Yet, the decision had been made. Everything else would be in the hands of the Lord.
The vision was over. Next thing I am back in the service and the pastor is still preaching.
But the vision was so real that I could hardly contain myself. When we returned home that evening I shared with Betty, what the Lord had spoken to me.
The Blessing in Service
That was forty-seven years ago. Has the Lord blessed Betty and me in our walk with Him? Yes, far beyond measure. Have we had struggles? Yes, they have also been there. Have I ever been regretful of the decision I made that evening? Not one time.
Have I had other visions since then? Oh yes. I’ve had dreams and visions and many other speakings of the Lord through the years. The Lord has often shown me beforehand things are were to come. But the Lord doesn’t show me everything about anything. He shares those things that help fit me for my calling to His service.
Here is what I want to get across.
It is important to understand that the Bible is God’s speaking book. The Bible we love is imbued with the Spirit of Jesus. And this is one reason that the assembling of God’s people in their respective flocks is so important.
The reason the Bible is God’s speaking book is because the Bible originates from heaven, and, secondly, Jesus is the Man from heaven.
Does this sound odd? Let’s see.
The Volume of the Book
There is a sense by which the Bible can be compared to the very garment that Jesus wears, and that His presence flows throughout His garment.
It is in this sense that the presence of Christ permeates the sacred writings.
Listen:
“Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God.” (Heb 10:7)
The apostolic writer is quoting from Psalm 40:7,8.
The term for scroll (kephalis) originally spoke of the spindle and knob around which the parchments were wrapped. This is why kephalis can also be translated as ‘volume‘ or ‘roll‘. The ancients saw Psalm 40:7,8 as referring to Messiah.
For them the Torah contained the very life of God and His Messiah. The problem, however, is that the religious leaders had largely been disconnected from the message of the book. They had become Torah worshipers without taking to heart that the Torah had a message about God’s Son, the Messiah.
This is why Jesus said to them,
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” (Joh 5:39-40)
In this we can see that the idea of God’s life being in the book isn’t new to the Christian faith. For the Jews the Torah was a living thing.
Let’s see how this carried through when Jesus began His public ministry.
The Tassel of His Cloak
There was a woman who suffered greatly from a female disorder. Hearing about Jesus, she said to herself,
“If I only touch His garment, I will get well.” (Mt9:21)
We don’t often catch what she was really saying. The part of His garment she wanted to touch was the fringe (probably the blue tassels) of His cloak.
The Jews had a tradition about the fringe that spoke of God’s Messiah. The background for this was God’s commandment to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.” (Num15:38)
The cord of blue was said to represent the throne of glory, or the heavenly life. Over time these tassels took on the term ‘wings.’
Let’s continue with the tassels. The tassels also carried another idea, called …
The Wings of God
Ever wonder why the Holy Spirit is pictured as a dove?
Keep the throne of glory and the wings of God in view and you’ll have a bit more insight into Scriptures that speak of God’s wings, and why the woman wanted to touch the garment (tassels) of Jesus. A great many of the common people saw Jesus as God’s Messiah.
Listen carefully to these Scriptures –
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty … He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge.” (Ps91:1,4)
And,
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.” (Mal4:2)
Then we hear Jesus say,
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” (Mt23:37)
Follow this with another Scripture:
“Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.“ (Mar6:56)
Now the question might be…
What do the fringes have to do with the Bible
It all comes back to the Bible being the book of heaven. It comes back to Jesus being the Word of God. It comes back to the Scriptures containing the very power of God. It comes back to Jesus speaking to us through the book of heaven.
In addition to our personal Biblical devotions, this is also why it is so important for believers to be under sound Biblical teaching.
It isn’t the Bible itself that causes miracles and gives us the answers that we need in life. It is the voice that speaks from the Scriptures. Make this distinction and you have the true essence of why we love the book of heaven.
Recall when Jesus opened the scroll of Isaiah and began to read,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Cf. Luke 4:16-22)
It says the people were wondering at the gracious words that were falling from His lips. What made the difference in this case? It was Jesus speaking from the Scriptures.
Did you catch it?
The people were hearing living words from a loving voice. It is the voice of heaven that makes the Bible the book of heaven.
Hearing the Words of a Book
The Bible explains this aspect of hearing God from the book. For example, Isaiah 29:18,19, says,
“On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the Lord, and the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”
Now back to the woman with the issue of blood. She had been taught that the blue thread in the fringe (tassel) represented the throne of glory and the heavenly life. She saw Jesus as that life.
We’ve also seen where the Bible itself can be likened to the garments of God’s Messiah. It can now be said that the blue thread that speaks to the throne of glory can be found running through the Scriptures.
Is the Bible heaven’s book? Does God’s Christ speak to us from the sacred writings?
Is Jesus is the living Torah, the book come alive?
Now let’s consider why attending church is essential to a life of faith.
The Flocking of God’s People
The word church in Greek is ekklesia. This word speaks to the new covenant community of the redeemed. It was used for Christians assembling.
In Christian usage, ekklesia has to do with the call out, called together people of God. Every true believer has been called out of darkness, and called to be given to a flock of his or her assignment.
The Church is the gathering place of God’s people to hear the ministry of His Word. To say that we don’t need the church is a grave mistake. The Church is the body of Christ.
The primary purpose of the ekklesia is for the breaking of the bread, that is, the ministry of the Word of God. Jesus is always present in His Word.
God has always congregated His people in family groups.
“You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.” (Exo 20:24)
Notice carefully the statement, “In every place where I cause My name to be remembered [Heb. Mentioned], I will come to you and bless you.”
This is fulfilled where Jesus said,
“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” (Mat 18:20)
The Disconnect of Unbelief
A problem remains. Unbelief in its various form will cut a person off from hearing the voice of Jesus.
But it should not be thought that the Bible is God’s only speaking place. What the Bible does is teach us how to hear from the Lord.
Whereas the Bible can be said to be His voice, we must also understand that God speaks to us in many ways, none of which will run contrary to what is said in the Scriptures themselves. This balance must always be maintained.
It takes awhile for the child of God to understand the principle of how God speaks to us. This is why it is crucial to spiritual growth that each believer be in the congregation of God’s appointment. As the man of God speaks from the Scriptures, we began to hear the Lord speaking to our own hearts.
It isn’t the man of God who is speaking to us. It is the Lord speaking from the book of heaven.
Notice what Jesus to the unbelievers –
“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.” (Joh 8:43)
To those who believe –
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (Joh 10:27-28)
Have You Heard From Jesus Lately?
Has Jesus ever spoken to you out from the book of heaven?
Everything rests upon how you view the message sent to us in a Book.
A Meditation on Mortality
Here is a song of years gone by, entitled, ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone.’ It was originally written by Peter Seeger in 1955. Seeger had communist leanings and yet he found inspiration for many of his songs from the Bible and from Christian teachings. Others later added verses to this song.
‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone’ speaks to life and how vaporous it is.
As you listen, think about your life and about what is happening in the world today…
A servant in Christ,
Buddy
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