The Book of Mysteries
Page 7
“Yes. And if you can grasp what this means, it can change your life. Most see God as distant, unapproachable, One we must convince to forgive us. Most religions are based on that . . . on all we have to do to get God to accept us. But the truth is radically different. God is the Khatan. What it means is this: It is God who wills to join Himself to you. It means it is His nature, His heart, to join His life to yours. It means that you don’t have to convince Him to love you. He already does. The Khatan is love, and the One who becomes one with you. And it is not you who must approach Him . . . but it is He who approaches you. And in the mystery of the Khatan is the mystery of everything . . . the mystery of salvation. For God is the Khatan. And so He has joined Himself to us. He has joined all that is Him to all that is you. So there’s no part of you that He will not join Himself to . . . no matter how dark it is, no matter how sinful, no matter how ungodly. Because He is the Khatan, He has even joined Himself to your sins. And so what is the death of Messiah on the cross? It is the Khatan, He who joins Himself, joining Himself to everything you are, even and especially to the most ungodly parts of your life. And because of this miracle, there is now nothing that can separate you anymore from His love. For He is the Khatan, the One who has joined Himself . . . completely, totally, and forever . . . to you.”
The Mission: Bring the most ungodly, dark, and untouched part of your life to the Khatan. Let Him touch it, and every part of your life.
Song of Solomon 5:10–6:2; Isaiah 54:5; 62:5; John 3:29
The Mystery of the Khatan
DAY 37
THE MYSTERY OF THE ZEROAH
WE WERE SITTING around the campfire by night, the teacher and I, and a number of the other students.
“One of the most mysterious objects on the Passover table is called the Zeroah.”
“What is a Zeroah?” asked one of the students.
“It is written in the Hebrew Scriptures that the Lord made the heavens and the earth by the Zeroah. So it was by the Zeroah that everything you see, the universe itself, came into existence. When God brought the Hebrews out of Egypt on Passover, with miracles and wonders, it is written that He did so by the Zeroah. And concerning salvation, it is written that the Lord will make known His Zeroah and all the earth will see the salvation of God.”
“But what is the Zeroah?” I asked.
“The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah contains a prophecy of One who will be wounded and crushed for our sins, who will die for our judgment, and who, by His death, will bring us healing, life, and redemption. The ancient rabbis identified this One as the Messiah. But the opening verse of that chapter, Isaiah 53, is this: ‘Who has believed our report? And to whom has the Zeroah of the Lord been revealed?’”
“So then Isaiah 53 itself is the revealing of the Zeroah?” I asked.
“Yes,” said the teacher. “So the Zeroah is the One who dies for our sins.”
“You said that the Zeroah was also an object on the Passover table. What object?” I asked.
“The Zeroah is the bone of a lamb. It has to do with the death of a lamb.”
“The death of the lamb would be the death of Messiah,” said another student, “and that would connect it back to Isaiah 53.”
“But what was the Zeroah before that,” I asked, “if it was there at the creation?”
“The Zeroah is the power of God,” he said, “that which accomplishes the will of God, the arm of the Almighty.”
“The arm of the Almighty,” I said, “weak, broken, and dying on a cross . . . ”
“Yes, the love of God,” said the teacher. “There is no greater power than that.”
The Mission: Today, take part in the power of the Zeroah. Let go to apprehend, surrender to overcome, and die to yourself that you might find life.
Deuteronomy 5:15; Isaiah 52:10; 53:1–5; 59:16
The Mystery of the Zeroah
DAY 38
THE DOOR OF EVIL
HOW DO YOU deal with temptation?” he asked.
“You resist it.”
“Yes,” he said. “But how?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t know what he was looking for.
“The Book of Proverbs reveals how to deal with the temptation of sexual sin, the seduction of an adulteress. It is written: ‘Keep your way far from her. And do not come near to the door of her house.’ What does that reveal?”
“Stay away from temptation.”
“The best way to deal with temptation is to not deal with it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If you keep yourself away from the temptation, there’s less chance of being tempted. But the Scripture goes farther than that. Listen again. It says, ‘Keep your way far from her. And do not come near to the door of her house.’ This is an even greater key. What it reveals is this: It’s not enough to stay away from temptation—you must make it your aim to stay away from the door of the temptation. Think about it; which is more alluring, a person trying to seduce you or a door?”
“The person, of course.”
“Which is more tempting, a substance that would addict you or a door?”
“The substance.”
“And which is more likely to harm you or make you fear, a dangerous situation or a door?”
“The dangerous situation, of course.”
“Exactly. So instead of dealing with the person, or the substance, or the situation of danger, deal with the door. Deal with the door and you’ll avoid the temptation.”
“And the door is what exactly?”
“The door is not the temptation, nor the sin. It’s that which would lead you to the temptation and the sin. That’s the key. Make it your aim not only to avoid the temptation. Locate the door to the temptation and then stay as far away from it as possible. For it is the wise who, instead of dealing with temptation and sin, deal with doors.”
The Mission: Today, make it your aim not just to avoid temptation, but to avoid even the door that leads to it. Focus on the door, and stay far from it.
Proverbs 5:3–8; 1 Corinthians 10:13
Hedges
DAY 39
THE CELESTIAL SEED
HE WAS HOLDING in one hand a cloth bag and in the other a small shovel. He led me to a spot of soil that had been marked out for planting. He reached into the bag and placed in my hand a sample of its contents.
“Seeds,” he said. “Potential miracles. Each one is filled with the potential for life, growth, blossoming, and fruitfulness. It’s all there in the seed—the plan, everything it will become, the plant, the flower, the tree. It’s all there inside the shell. Now what happens if the seed stays in the bag?”
“Nothing. Nothing happens.”
“Exactly. All its potential stays unrealized. But if we take the seed and plant it in the soil, everything changes. The seed becomes one with the earth. The shell opens up and the life inside the seed joins itself to the soil around it. It puts out roots and draws in life from the earth. The plan is activated, the promise unlocked, and the potential becomes reality.”
“So you’re going to plant the seeds?”
“Yes,” he said, “but that’s not why I brought you here.” Reaching into his pocket, he took out a book and handed it to me. It was a Bible.
“What’s inside this?” he asked.
“The Word,” I answered.
“Seeds,” he replied. “The Word of God itself refers to the Word of God as a seed. The Bible is the container of many seeds. And every seed, every word is a potential miracle. And as is a seed, so is the Word of God. Each Word has the potential to produce life, growth, blossoming, fruitfulness, and a miracle. It’s all there inside the seed, inside the Word.”
“But if the seed stays in the bag . . . ”
“If the Word stays on the pages and is never sown to life, then its life stays unlocked, unrealized. So the Word must be sown.”
“Sown to what soil?” I asked.
“Sown to the soil of life,” he replied. “To the lives of others. And t
o the soil of your life. The seed must become one with the soil. The Word must become one with your life. So you need to sow the Word into every situation of your life and let it become one with that soil—the soil of your heart, your thoughts, your emotions, your life. For when the Word becomes one with your life, then its shell will break open, its plan will be activated, its promise unlocked, its life released, and its miracle begun.”
The Mission: Today, take a seed from the Word of God and plant it in the soil of your heart. Let its promise be unlocked and bear its fruit in your life.
Matthew 13:3–23; 1 Peter 1:23
Secrets of the Sowers
DAY 40
THE MYSTERY OF THE SECRET ANGELS
HE LED ME up a high desert mountain and into a cave near its summit. Inside the cave, not far from its entrance, was an engraving of a human-like figure with outstretched wings.
“What is it?” I asked.
“An angel,” said the teacher.
“What do you know of angels?”
“They’re heavenly creatures . . . sent by God . . . with wings.”
“They don’t all have wings,” he said. “There are many different kinds of angels . . . cherubim, seraphim, warring angels, ministering angels, and then . . . there are the other angels.”
“The other angels?”
“The earth angels,” he said, “those who walk the earth in flesh and blood, His earthbound division . . . different from the others but angels nonetheless.”
“I thought an angel was a being not of flesh and blood.”
“The Scriptures say differently. The word for angel in the Hebrew Scriptures is malakh. And in the New Testament Scriptures, the word is the Greek angelos. It is written, ‘Then spoke Haggai, the Lord’s malakh.’ And of the man known as John the Baptizer, the Messiah said, ‘This is he of whom it is written, “Behold I will send My angelos.”’ Haggai and John were both of flesh and blood, and yet they are both called angels—angels of God. What is an angel? It is a being sent by God, a messenger, an emissary on a divine assignment, bringing God’s message, especially to those who dwell on earth.”
“So who are the earth angels?”
“Those who are born again,” he said, “born from above, born from heaven, those who bear the message of heaven to those who dwell on earth.”
“And the message?”
“The good news. In Greek it is called the euangel, in English, the evangel, as in evangelism. Within each of these words is another word. Do so you see?”
“The word angel.”
“Exactly. It is no accident. For if you will bear the message of heaven to those of earth, your life will become angelic. So take up your angelic assignment and bring good tidings, the divine message, to those of earth. For you are His earth angel.”
The Mission: Today, start fulfilling your angelic mission. Bear the heavenly message to those on earth. Live this day as His earth angel.
Haggai 1:13; Malachi 3:1; Mark 16:15; Luke 7:24–27
The Mystery of the Secret Angels
DAY 41
THE NAZARENE MYSTERY
THE TEACHER HAD given me an assignment based on this Scripture: “And He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene,’ might be fulfilled.”
“It’s from the Book of Matthew,” he said. “Your assignment is to search the Scriptures and find the prophecy where it is said that Messiah would be a Nazarene.”
Several weeks passed before he brought it up again. But then the day came. “Have you found the prophecy of the Nazarene?” he asked.
“No,” I replied. “There’s no prophecy calling Messiah a Nazarene.”
“Did you notice,” he said, “that it doesn’t say ‘what was spoken by the prophet’ but ‘what was spoken by the prophets’? So the answer lies not with one prophet or prophecy but in the collective voice of the prophets. And what do the prophets say of Messiah? They speak of Messiah as the Branch. Why the Branch? For one, He would appear on earth in littleness, in weakness, growing up as a shoot or a sprout. He would be born among us on the genealogy, the tree of humanity. His presence on earth would then grow, becoming greater and greater and bear its fruit to the world. In Hebrew, one of the words for branch is netzer. It’s the word used by Isaiah in his prophecy of Messiah as the branch that would come forth from the line of David. If you add an ending, the word becomes netzeret. Netzeret is the Hebrew name for the place you know as Nazareth.”
“So Nazarene speaks of Messiah the Branch. And Nazareth would mean . . . ?”
“Nazareth would mean the place of the branch . . . the place of the branching forth.”
“The perfect name,” I said, “for the place where Messiah would grow up . . . as a branch . . . and from where He would branch out.”
“It was considered a nothing place, the most obscure and unlikely of places.”
“Then why did God choose it?”
“For that very reason. God loves to choose the unlikely and because it’s not about Nazareth—it’s about that which comes through Nazareth. In the same way, it’s not about who we are. Nor does it matter how likely or unlikely, how imperfect or sinful our life has been . . . only that we receive. For whoever receives Him, through that life, the life of God will come. And from that life He will branch out to the world. For we are each called to be His Nazareth.”
The Mission: Let Messiah’s life come through your life. Let His love come through your love and your life become His branching—His Nazareth.
Zechariah 3:8; Isaiah 11:1–2; Matthew 2:23; John 15:1–5
Messiah the Branch
DAY 42
HOW TO MULTIPLY BREAD
IT WAS MIDDAY, just about lunch time. Most of the students had gathered in the common hall for lunch. The teacher and I were sitting outside.
“Messiah was ministering to a multitude of thousands,” he said, “when a crisis arose. The people were hungry and had virtually no food, only two fish and five loaves of bread. ‘He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks, broke them and gave them to the disciples to give to the multitudes. And they all ate and were filled, and the disciples collected twelve basketfuls of leftover pieces.’ It is called the miracle of multiplication. Starting with just two fish and five loaves of bread they fed thousands of people. But how did He perform that miracle?”
“It doesn’t say.”
“But it does,” he said. “Listen again: ‘and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks, broke them and gave them to the disciples . . . ’”
“He gave thanks?”
“Yes. He looked to heaven and gave thanks. He gave thanks and the miracle happened. That’s the secret. That’s the key to miracles.”
“Giving thanks?”
“Giving thanks is crucial to a life of fullness and blessing. On top of that, it also gives you the power to perform the miracle of multiplication.”
“How?”
“By doing what He did. You don’t look at how little you have or how big your problem is or how impossible the situation is. You don’t panic, you don’t complain, and you don’t get discouraged over not having enough. You take the little you have, whatever good there is, no matter how small or inadequate it is, and you do what Messiah did. You lift it up to the Lord and you give thanks for it. And the blessings you have will multiply, if not in the world, then in your heart. The more you give thanks, the less you will hunger, and the more full and blessed you will be.”
“So in order to perform miracles, I need to . . . ”
“Give thanks. Whatever you have, no matter how much or how little. Give thanks even for what is not enough, and it will multiply to become what is enough . . . and what is more than enough . . . Practice this key. Then get started multiplying the bread.”
The Mission: Stop seeking more and stop living in the realm of “not enough.” Today, practice giving thanks for everything. Perform the act of multiplication.
The Power of Giving Thanks
DAY 43
THE ASHAM
HE LED ME into the Chamber of Scrolls but now behind the wooden ark to the shelves where many more scrolls were kept. He removed one of them from its shelf and placed it on the table.
“This,” said the teacher, “is the scroll of Isaiah. And this,” he said, pausing until he had unrolled the particular spot, “is the fifty-third chapter, the prophecy of the dying Messiah.”
He passed his finger over the Hebrew text and began reading it out loud. “‘Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and to afflict Him, if He would make His life an offering for sin . . . ’ In ancient times,” he said, “one of the sacrifices offered in the Temple was called the Asham. The Asham was the guilt offering. It removed the guilt of the one who offered it up.”
“So Asham means the guilt offering?”
“Yes, but it has another meaning as well. Asham also means the guilt.”
“The guilt offering and the guilt? It seems contradictory.”
“Yes, but it goes together. The guilt offering could only take away the guilt of the one offering it by first becoming the guilt.”
“And what you read from the scroll, how does that relate?” I asked.
“Isaiah’s prophecy describes the Messiah as wounded, pierced, and crushed for our sins. But in Hebrew it goes further. It says that His life would become an Asham. It’s an amazing thing because Asham is the same word used in the Book of Leviticus for the animal sacrifices offered up by the priests to redeem the guilty. But here it’s used to speak not of a sacrificial animal but of a human life—Messiah. Messiah is the Asham. The Asham is Messiah.”
“And that means that He not only dies to take away our guilt, but He becomes the guilt itself.”