“I guess it would alter the world.”
“It would do more than alter the world,” he said. “It would alter the sun. If the sun shone only on the good, the beautiful, and the worthy, then it would, to that degree, cease to be a light. In the same way, if you love only those who love you, then it alters you; then you cease to be a light. The sun must shine regardless of the world, and a child of God must love regardless of circumstances and bless regardless of the world. You must never let your circumstance define who you are or the darkness around you determine your shining. Love the good, the bad, and the unworthy. Love those who hate you . . . not because of who they are, but because of who you are. Shine regardless and shine no matter what . . . For you are the light of the world. And the necessity of the light . . . is to shine.”
The Mission: Live like the sun today, as the light. Shine God’s love on all, regardless of people and circumstances. Shine rather because you’re the light.
Isaiah 60:1–3; Matthew 5:14–16, 44–45
The Sunrise Commandment
DAY 145
THE SILENCE OF THE TRUTH
WHAT IS TRUTH?” I asked.
“Ah,” said the teacher, “a question asked by philosophers for ages. Do you know what the word philosophy means? It comes from two Greek words: sophia, which means knowledge, and philo, which means love. So philosophy can be taken to mean the love of knowledge or wisdom. Man has been pondering and seeking after the truth for thousands of years. And after all those years, do you know what the conclusion of philosophy is?”
“No.”
“No conclusion,” he said. “They all came up with different answers . . . no answer. And yet in the midst of all this, the question was once posed, in a very unique context and not by a philosopher, but by a man of bloodshed. He asked the question to one of his prisoners. The man was Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, and the prisoner was the Messiah. So Pilate posed the question, ‘What is truth?’ Then he went outside to the multitude and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against Him.’ So what was the answer to the question?”
“He didn’t give an answer,” I said. “There was no answer.”
“But there was an answer. In the absence of the answer was the answer. It came in the silence of the truth. It was in His not saying anything, that He said everything, in His not answering, that the question was answered. Truth is deeper than words. The truth wasn’t the truth about something, or even the truth about Him—it was Him, standing there right in front of Pilate’s eyes, in flesh- and-blood reality. You see, the idea of truth, the talk of truth, and the study of truth . . . is not the truth. Philosophies and religions may be about the truth, but that which is about the truth can blind you from seeing the truth itself. Never let yourself end up in the realm of the about and lose that which the about is all about. The truth is that which is . . . as God is. The truth is Him. And so the only way to know the truth . . . is to know Him . . . directly, personally, in His presence, face-to-face, heart to heart . . . What is truth?” asked the teacher, “He is the truth. And what is the answer to all philosophy, the love of knowledge? It is to know Him. It is to love the truth. Therefore, the answer . . . is to love Him.”
The Mission: Today, leave the “realm of the about” and go beyond the talk and words to the bare truth of His presence. Be still and know that He is God.
Psalm 46:10; John 18:38
Him
DAY 146
THE WINGS OF MESSIAH
HE LED ME into the Chamber of Garments. There he found a prayer shawl, white with blue stripes, and draped it over his head.
“Do you know what this is?” he asked.
“A prayer shawl,” I replied.
“It’s called a tallit. The most important part of the tallit is its corners and the fringes of its corners. Look,” he said as he pointed to the cloth. “In the law of Sinai, it was commanded that the children of Israel were to wear fringes on the corners of their garments. The corner itself is called the kanaf. And the fringes on the corners are called the tzitzit. In the New Covenant accounts there are no physical descriptions of Messiah. We don’t know what He looked like. But we do know what He wore. He wore on His garments the kanaf and the tzitzit. In one of the most famous of the Gospel accounts, a woman touches the hem of Messiah’s garment and is instantly healed of her infirmity. This was not a onetime miracle. In fact, it’s recorded that everyone who touched the hem of His garment was healed. But they didn’t just touch the hem of His garment. The word in Greek for what they touched is kraspedon. Kraspedon is a translation of the Hebrew words kanaf and tzitzit.”
“So they weren’t just touching the hem of His garment; they were touching the sacred corner and fringe of His garments as ordained in the Law.”
“Exactly. And at the very end of the Hebrew Scriptures is an amazing verse. It is written, ‘The sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.’ But in Hebrew, it doesn’t say wings. It says, ‘The sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His kanaf’—the very word that also means the corner and fringe of His garment. So they touched the kanaf, the corner, the fringe, of the sun of righteousness, Messiah, and they found ‘healing in His wings.’ Therefore, never be afraid to touch God. If God puts fringes on His garment, it means He is touchable. He is not afraid to be touched. So touch God with your infirmities, your wounds, your uncleanness, your sins, with the darkest part of your life, and you will be changed. For the Sun of Righteous will arise with healing in His wings . . . with healing in His kanaf.”
The Mission: Touch God today with the darkest, most painful, most ungodly part of your life—that you might find healing in His wings.
Numbers 15:38–40; Malachi 4:2; Matthew 9:20–22; 14:35–36
The Kraspedon Mysteries I–IV
DAY 147
THE MYSTERY OF THE YEHUDIM
DID YOU EVER wonder,” asked the teacher, “what the word Jew means or where it comes from? In Hebrew, the word for the Jewish people is the Yehudim. It comes from the Hebrew word for praise, thanksgiving, and worship. A Jew is one whose identity is based on praising God, giving thanks, and worshipping the Almighty. A Jew is one whose very existence is a praise and witness to the existence of God.”
“It’s strange,” I said, “that a name linked to praise should become a word of vilification, that a word linked to worship should be used as a profanity, and that a word linked to thanksgiving could be used for cursing.”
“It’s a strange world,” he said, “where those born to praise and give thanks should be so hated, cursed, and warred against. When Messiah died, what was written over His head?”
“King of the Jews,” I replied.
“‘King of the Yehudim,’ said the teacher. “His life was the epitome of the word Jew. His life itself was praise to God. Everything He did was to bless, to worship, to glorify God.”
“And the world crucified Him whose life was a praise to God.”
“A strange world,” said the teacher again. “It was the forces of darkness that crucified Him. And yet even in the crucifixion, He didn’t stop being the King of the Jews, or the epitome of the Yehudim. Even the act of dying was an act of praise, a glorifying of God. He never succumbed to the evil but overcame the evil with good. He blessed those who cursed Him and even gave His life to save His enemies.”
“And those who follow Him,” I said, “those who are His, must do likewise.”
“Yes. You must never be overcome by the darkness or let it stop you from giving praise, nor let evil stop you from blessing. You must give thanks in all things and give praise at all times. You must bless in the face of cursing. You must make your life a praise no matter what. For if He who is King of the Yehudim is your King, then you too must, in some way, be of the Yehudim.”
“Jewish?”
“One whose very existence is a praise to God.”
The Mission: Today, praise God, give thanks, and bless. No matter what the circumstance, no matter what goes
on around you or against you, praise God.
Psalm 34:1–3; Romans 2:29; Philippians 4:11–13
The Yehudim
DAY 148
THE AVANIM: WEIGHTS OF THE BALANCE
THE TEACHER LED me into a chamber he had never shown me before. It was illuminated by the light of oil lamps and filled with round stones of varying sizes. We sat down by a small table. He opened up a cloth bag filled with small stones and poured them out onto the tabletop. They were round and light in color, and each was engraved with what appeared to be ancient letters.
“What are they?” I asked.
“They are the avanim,” he said, “the weights of the balance. And this is the Chamber of Measures. These were the measures and standards used in ancient times to determine values, weights, and quantities.” He then took out a second bag and emptied its contents on the table. “These look the same as the others, but they’re not. These are false measures, altered weights. The inscriptions have been changed so that they no longer match the weight of the stone. This one says shekel, but it weighs less than a shekel. It would be used by a corrupt merchant to make an item appear to be heavier or greater than it was. The merchant had redefined the measure to conform it to his will and want.”
He picked up one of the stones, then continued. “Altered weights not only concern corrupt merchants . . . but corrupt civilizations. When a civilization redefines its values, when it changes the meanings and definitions of reality away from God and away from the created order, when it alters the measures of morality, of right and wrong, to conform them to its will and desires, it is dealing in altered weights, false measures, deceptive balances. It is turning the objective into the subjective, and man into God.”
At that he emptied another bag of weights onto the table and began reading their inscriptions. “This one says Good, and on the other side Evil. This one says Life, and on the other side Death . . . Idol, and on the other side God. Male and Female . . . Sacred and Profane. This one says Marriage. And this one says Child in the Womb. They’ve all become altered weights, false measures, changed values, signs of corruption.”
“So how do you escape the corruption of altered weights?”
“Never bend the truth to fit your will. Bend your will to fit the truth. Never alter the Word of God or conform God to your image; alter your ways to the Word of God and conform your life to the image of God. Beware of false standards . . . and stay far from altered weights.”
The Mission: Conform today your will to the truth, your ways to the Word, and your life to the image of God. Uphold the weights of the balance.
Proverbs 11:1; 16:11; Isaiah 5:20
The Weights of the Bag
DAY 149
THE SUMMER FRUITS
WE STOOD AT the edge of the school grounds in a dry summer wind. The teacher was holding a sheaf of wheat bound in the middle by a cord of straw.
“The firstfruits,” he said. “In ancient Israel this was cause for great celebration. During the Feast of Shavuot, the people of Israel would come from all over the land bringing the firstfruits of the summer harvest to Jerusalem. They would place them in baskets, load them onto oxen, and lead the oxen in a great procession to the Temple to be presented by the priests before the Lord. The presentation of the firstfruits would stand for all the rest of the harvest yet to be reaped. By dedicating the firstfruits to God, the rest of the harvest fruits were deemed holy.”
He paused to look at the sheaf, then continued.
“Two thousand years ago God’s Spirit was poured out on one hundred twenty disciples in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost.”
“Some consider it the birth of the church.”
“And what is Pentecost?”
“The Greek name for the Feast of Shavuot.”
“Yes. And Shavuot . . . is the day when the firstfruits of the summer harvest are presented to the Lord. So who were the one hundred twenty on which the Spirit fell that day?”
“The firstfruits,” I said, “the firstfruits . . . of the summer harvest!”
“They were the firstfruits of new life, and they were gathered together on the same day when the firstfruits of the summer harvest were gathered together before the Lord. It was now God presenting His firstfruits to the world . . . the firstfruits of the age . . . and in the city of Jerusalem where the firstfruits must be presented and consecrated as holy.”
“So the pouring of the Spirit on the one hundred twenty, that was the consecration.”
“Yes, and the consecration of all the other fruits.”
“The other fruits?”
“The people of all nations and ages who would yet come to new life.”
“And that’s why they spoke in the tongues of foreign nations . . . because as the firstfruits, they represented everyone else, from every tongue and nation.”
“Exactly,” he said, “a sign that all who come after them would likewise be consecrated as holy to God . . . and would be given the same anointing and the same power, just as it was given to the firstfruits, the first believers . . . that they . . . that we too could live in the power of the Spirit and overcome the world.”
The Mission: The apostles were the firstfruits. Live this day in their anointing and power, to spread the light, to touch the earth, and overcome the world.
Leviticus 23:16–17; Acts 2:2–4, 39; Galatians 5:16, 22–25
The Passover-Shavuot Resurrection Power
DAY 150
MOVING THE UNIVERSE
WE WERE OBSERVING one of the desert tent camps from a nearby hill. It was late afternoon, and the women were coming to draw water from the well.
“It was a similar scene,” said the teacher, “nearly four thousand years ago. When Abraham sent his servant to the city of Nahor to find a wife for his son Isaac. His servant stood by the well and prayed that God would show him the right woman by having her come to draw water at the well and offer to draw water as well for his camels. Before finishing the prayer, a young woman named Rivkah, or Rebekah, came out to the well and did exactly as he had just prayed. So when did God answer the servant’s prayer?”
“When Rebekah came to the well.”
“But in order to come to the well, Rebekah had to have already been on the way to the well before the servant saw her, and before he prayed.”
“Then when she left her house.”
“But before she left her house, she had to plan her day to go out to the well exactly as she did in order to arrive exactly when she arrived. And for that to happen, every event of that day had to take place exactly as it did. The slightest delay or lack of delay and it wouldn’t have happened. You see, behind every event are countless previous events in an incalculable chain of time leading up to and causing the event to happen just as it does. And it is not only a chain of time, but of space. Surrounding every event are countless other contributing events, countless interactions and confluences—a gust of wind, a drop of rain, a random thought, the movement of the sun and stars, and the gravity of a galaxy. They must all work together with absolute precision for any specific event to happen as it does. So for God to answer the servant’s prayer and bring Rebekah to the well that day, He had to make those things work perfectly together in time and space. To answer that prayer, He had to move the universe . . . And so it is for you, and for all His children. For God to answer even one of your prayers, even the smallest of your prayers, He must direct all things and move and coordinate all events of time and space to make it happen. He must move the universe. And for you He will move the universe . . . For that is how much He loves you . . . with a love greater than time and space . . . greater than the universe.”
The Mission: Think of your answered prayers. God worked everything together to make it happen. Ponder that love, that He would move the world to bless you.
Genesis 24:1–28; Romans 8:28, 32
The Isaac Rebekah Wedding Mystery I–III
DAY 151
THE MYSTERY WRESTLER
IT WAS EVENING.
The school was having an outdoor tournament, lit up by torchlight. The teacher and I were watching a wrestling match involving two of the students.
“Why is wrestling included in the curriculum?” I asked.
“It’s a part of life,” he said, “even in God.”
We continued watching for a time. Then he broke the silence.
“Israel is the name of God’s people,” he said. “Do you know where it came from?”
“No.”
“From a wrestling match . . . in the night. It is recorded that Jacob was alone and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of dawn. Finally the man said to Jacob, ‘What is your name?’ He answered, ‘Jacob.’ The man then replied, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.’ That’s how the name Israel came about and the name of God’s people and nation. It all came from a wrestling match. But the man who wrestled with Jacob wasn’t just any man. Jacob would call the ground on which it all took place Peniel, which means the face of God. For he had ‘seen God face-to-face.’ What happened there that night was a prophecy. No nation has ever wrestled with God and man in this world as has the nation of Israel. And in that wrestling match is contained the mystery of the Jewish people. They are called Israel because they wrestled with a man who turned out to be God. That is their prophecy. And so they have wrestled for ages with one particular man, whose name means Messiah and who, in the end, turns out to be God. But they aren’t the only wrestlers. The Scripture say that everyone who is born again becomes a citizen of Israel.”
The Book of Mysteries Page 22
