“Yes,” said the teacher, “now think about it . . . Two thousand years ago, the Jewish people lost their homeland and their Holy City, Israel and Jerusalem, their ancestral possessions. But it was prophesied that they would return. In other words, it would be a prophetic Jubilee, a restoration to their ancient possession. So could the Jubilee hold the key to the mystery of that restoration?”
He placed the shofar in my hands. “In 1917, in the midst of the First World War, the British Empire issued the Balfour Declaration to give the land of Israel to the Jewish people. So the land would be restored to its original owners. But still missing was the restoration of the Holy City, Jerusalem. The Jubilee comes every fifty years. If we count to the fiftieth year from that first restoration, it brings us to 1967. It was in 1967 that the Holy City, Jerusalem, was restored to the Jewish people, to its original owners . . . the Jubilee. And in the same moment that Israel was restored to its ancient city, the sign of the Jubilee was manifested—the rabbi who accompanied the soldiers to the Temple Mount sounded the shofar. And do you know what the Temple Mount was when Israel first obtained it three thousand years before? A threshing floor . . . in Hebrew, a goren. And the man who sounded the shofar there in the day of restoration was named ‘Goren,’ Rabbi Goren. And do you know when he was born? In 1917, the year of the first restoration, the first Jubilee. So he who sounded the shofar of Israel’s Jubilee, the fiftieth year, was, himself, fifty years old, the living sign of the Jubilee. It had all happened in the exact place at the exact time. You see, God is the God of restoration. And to those who are His, He will restore all things . . . all that was lost will be found again…in their Jerusalem . . . and in their appointed time of Jubilee.”
The Mission: If you belong to Messiah, you have the power of Jubilee, the power to restore the lost and the broken. Today, live, speak, and use that power.
Leviticus 25:10–11; Joel 2:25–27; Zechariah 8:7–8; Luke 4:18–19; Acts 1:6
The Prophetic Jubilee
DAY 332
THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE ALTAR
THE TEACHER LED me into something of a hidden valley, small and hedged in by low-lying mountains on all sides. In the middle of the valley was a rectangular object, about seven feet across and about four feet high.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s an altar,” he replied, “an altar of sacrifice, a model of the brazen altar that stood in the Temple courts. Note the horns at its corners. The sacrifice would be tied to the horns, bound to the four directions of the four corners of the altar... as it is written in Psalm 118: ‘Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.’ It’s from the same song that Messiah and His disciples sang at the end of the Last Supper.”
“So they sang a song about the sacrifice on the altar the night before He would be offered up . . . as a sacrifice . . . but not on the altar.”
“But it was on the altar,” he said. “In Hebrew, the word for altar is mizbayakh. It means an instrument of slaughter by which a sacrifice was lifted up. Come.” He led me to the other side of the valley on which there stood another object behind a ridge in the mountain that obscured it. It was a large wooden cross, looking less like a religious object than an instrument of execution.
“Another altar,” he said, “of another sacrifice. The altar in the Temple was an object of four directions. So too the altar of Messiah was an object of four directions.”
“But the altar had four corners. I don’t see any corners on the cross.”
“Yes,” said the teacher, “the altar of sacrifice must have four corners. And it does. You’re just not seeing it. You’re looking for four corners pointing outward and framing the space inside, as on the rectangle of the brazen altar. But this is heaven’s sacrifice and heaven’s altar. The four corners of this altar are the opposite. They point inward and frame the space outside.”
And that’s when it hit me as I stared at the beams. “I see it now! The four corners are that of a rectangle turned inside out, converging on Him. And the space they frame . . . is the sky.”
“The four corners of the Temple altar contained a finite space. But the space contained by these four corners is infinite...it frames the universe...to cover every ground, every circumstance, every sin, every burden, every problem, every guilt, every pain, every tear, every shame, every heart, and every moment of every life...just as the life it sheds and the love it bears are infinite...It’s the altar of infinity.”
The Mission: Ponder this truth: The love of God is bigger than the universe, stronger than evil, and longer than time. In that, overcome all that you must overcome.
Exodus 40:6; Psalm 118:27; Galatians 6:14; Hebrews 13:10
The Lamb and the Altar
DAY 333
ENTERING THE HEAVENLY DIMENSION
THE TEACHER LED me into the Chamber of Vessels and to a section within it in which was a large reproduction of the Temple veil, that which marked the entrance to the holy of holies.
“What do you see,” he asked, “on the veil?”
“The cherubim.”
“An image of the cherubim embroidered on the veil . . . a two-dimensional representation of the cherubim . . . with height and width but with a missing dimension—depth. The reality represented by the image has, of course, more than two dimensions. But on a veil, one is limited to representing three-dimensional realities on a two-dimensional plane. Now let’s go behind the veil.”
So we passed through the veil and into a reproduction of the holy of holies.
“Now, what do you see?”
“The ark of the covenant,” I replied.
“And what do you see on top of the ark of the covenant?”
“Figures . . . of the cherubim . . . in gold.”
“And how many dimensions do they have?”
“Three.”
“So from outside of the veil, one sees the cherubim in two dimensions. But from inside the veil, one sees them now in three dimensions.
“So as we passed through the veil, another dimension was added. And where are you when you pass through the veil?”
“In the holy of holies.”
“Which represents the dwelling place of God, the heavenlies, and the secret place, the place you dwell in prayer and worship before God’s presence. Outside of that place you see the cherubim in two dimensions, but inside, you find another dimension. There are realities,” said the teacher, “that you can never know until you go beyond the veil and dwell in the presence of God, realities waiting in the depth of God’s presence, the depth of faith, and the depth of prayer and worship. Compared to that which lies in the presence of God, everything you’ve known in the world is like a two-dimensional drawing on a piece of parchment, and all your ideas of God are like two-dimensional images embroidered on a veil. Make it your aim to go beyond the veil, into the secret place of the holy of holies and dwelling of His presence . . . beyond the woven images of cherubim and into the reality of the Most High.”
The Mission: Enter this day beyond the veil, into the deep and deeper and deeper of His presence, to dwell in the dimension of the heavenlies.
Psalm 100; Hebrews 9:3–5; 10:19–20; 2 Corinthians 12:1–4
Entering the Heavenly Dimension
DAY 334
SPECIFICITY
FROM OUR VANTAGE point on a small hill near the school, we observed a young family of tent dwellers, a father, a mother, and their newborn baby, sitting outside a solitary tent in the middle of a large plain in the desert night.
“A poor family,” said the teacher, “holding their newborn baby out in the elements, under the stars. It could almost be a scene from Scripture, from Bethlehem. Can you fathom the miracle of it? The God who created the universe, now a helpless baby inside the universe He created . . . the Almighty become the weakest of beings . . . the hands that stretched out the heavens now too weak to even grasp the hand of His mother . . . the eyes that see all things now can barely focus . . . the mouth that spoke the universe into exi
stence now can only offer up the cry of a helpless baby. How amazing is that? It is the miracle of love . . . the humility of love . . . and the miracle of specificity.”
“Specificity?”
“God is omnipresent, everywhere at once. But in the incarnation He becomes specific to time and space, to only one point of space and to only one moment of time. God is universal, the Light of the World, the spring of all existence. Yet now He becomes specific to one culture, one people, one tribe, one house, one genealogy, one family, one life. The universal God of all existence becomes a Jewish baby, a Jewish boy, then a Jewish rabbi, walking in sandals on the ground and dust of first-century Judea. Everything He does is now contained in one specific place and one specific moment of time. He forgives specific sinners, embraces specific outcasts, multiplies specific loaves of bread, and touches specific people and heals them of their infirmities.”
“How does one apply that?” I asked.
“In order to know the power of God’s love, you have to receive it in its specificity, as specifically from Him and specifically to you, His sacrifice as specifically given for you, His Word specifically to your life, His blood and forgiveness poured out specifically for your specific sins. And so too you must live your life in God in specificity. Your love must manifest in specificity . . . in specific actions to the specific people who are here and now in your life . . . You must love and bless and live out your faith on earth . . . in specificity.”
The Mission: Manifest the love of God in specificity. Bless specific people with specific actions of love—specifically today.
Matthew 25:31–46; Luke 2:1–20; Galatians 4:4–5; 1 John 4:20–21
God With Us
DAY 335
DESERT RAINS
THERE HAD BEEN several rains in recent days, mostly during the night. The most recent night was no exception. But in the morning the sun came out, and the teacher invited me to join him on a hike through the desert, which I did. He brought me to a mountain ridge that overlooked a vast expanse of valleys, hills, and other mountains.
“Do you remember this?” he asked. “I’ve brought you here before.”
“But it looks completely different now,” I replied.
“What’s different?”
“When we were last here,” I said, “except for a few scattered desert plants, it was dry and barren. But now the valleys are green, the hills are green, and there are plants everywhere. And over there. That was a dry riverbed. Now it’s a river. It’s kind of miraculous.”
“It is,” said the teacher. “It’s what happens when the rain comes to the desert. And so God gave the prophet Isaiah this word: ‘The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice . . . For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert . . . There shall be grass with reeds and rushes . . . ’ It’s a prophecy of what would happen when the Jewish people return to the land of Israel. The barren land would blossom. And that’s exactly what happened. When they came back to the land, it was almost entirely barren. But then the barren land blossomed as a rose.”
“As did this desert,” I replied.
“Do you know why this desert blossomed so quickly? Because it was all there waiting to blossom, the seeds, the dry riverbeds, the potential was there waiting. Remember what you see here. It’s a picture of redemption. The barren wilderness represents our lives without God. And the rain is His Spirit, and the outpouring of His love and grace upon our lives. And the blossoming of this wilderness tells us this: it doesn’t matter how barren our lives have become or how hopeless any situation in our lives has become. It doesn’t matter how dry and lifeless. All it takes are the rains of heaven. And that which is dormant and that which is dead and that which is hopeless will blossom again. And the seeds that He planted will spring up, and our valleys will again be covered with green, and our riverbeds will again flow with rivers of living waters. The most barren of deserts is but a miracle waiting to happen . . . under the outpouring of the desert rains.”
The Mission: Your entire life is as a desert waiting for the desert rains to blossom, to flow, and to produce miracles. Seek today the desert rains.
Isaiah 35:1–2, 6–7; 43:19; 44:3–4
The Arabah
DAY 336
THE CALAH
WE JOURNEYED TO one of the desert’s tent villages with which the teacher was very familiar, but one I had never been to before.
“Do you see the woman there,” said the teacher, “with long wavy hair, dressed in brown and black? She’s the bride.”
“But she’s not the same as the other.”
“There’s more than one bride among these villages. And this one is at the end of her wait. Soon will be her wedding day. Do you remember how to say bride in Hebrew?”
“Calah,” I replied.
“Yes,” said the teacher, “but I never told you what it meant. The word calah contains a mystery. It doesn’t only mean bride.”
“What else then?”
“Calah also means the perfect one.”
“The perfect one? But if, in the mystery, we’re the bride and the Bridegroom is God, shouldn’t it be the Bridegroom who is called the perfect one?”
“That’s the point,” he said. “We’re born to be the bride, but we’re not born as the bride. We’re born imperfect and subject to imperfection throughout our lives. But we’re to become the calah, the perfect one . . . when we say yes to the Bridegroom . . . in the new birth.”
“And we become perfect?”
“Becoming a bride is about being joined to a bridegroom. So becoming the calah is about being joined to God. The more we join our hearts and lives to God, the more we become the calah . . . the perfect one. In Him and in our joining to Him is found our perfection. And do you know what else calah means? It means the completed one. To be completed is to be perfect.”
“But then how can we ever be perfect, if we can only be completed at the end?”
“The Bridegroom looks at the bride and sees her as she will be. God looks at you and sees what He made you to become, and as you will become. And the bride must see herself in the eyes of the Bridegroom. You must see yourself in the eyes of God, and then God compete His work. For the works of God are perfect . . . even the calah.”
The Mission: Marry every imperfect part of your life to the Bridegroom. Let Him fill in all that is missing. See yourself in the eyes of His love—as the calah—the perfect one.
Isaiah 62:5; Matthew 5:48; Ephesians 5:25–27; Revelation 19:7–8
The Mystery of the Calah
DAY 337
GOD ON THE BLUE PLANET
IT WAS EVENING. We sat on a hill overlooking the school. The stars appeared particularly bright and clear that night.
“Imagine,” said the teacher, “that we came from somewhere out there in the universe. And we heard that the God of the universe had visited this one particular planet, this blue planet . . . earth. Imagine we heard it reported that He walked among its people as one of them. And so we came to find out which life it was that He lived. How would we find that Person?”
“He would have the nature of God,” I said. “He would be the epitome of goodness. He would be holy, righteous, loving. And He would be humble, because humility is part of goodness. And He would exist to do good. His life would be about giving of Himself. His life would be a gift. It would answer the needs of man and give life to everyone it touched.”
“What else would it be?” he asked.
“It would have to be a unique life, the most unique life. It would have the greatest impact on this world of any life. It would be like a rock thrown onto the waters of a lake. It would cause reverberations throughout the world . . . throughout time. It would change the course of history and the world.”
“And would everyone love and praise this life?” he asked.
“No,” I replied. “Since it was a fallen world, He would be both
loved and hated. The forces of darkness would be against Him. He would become the focal point of all evil. And being the incarnation of good, He would have to come against evil. And being God, He would have to overcome it . . . If God came down to earth, then His life would have to become the most central life ever lived on this planet.”
“So,” said the teacher, “if God were to come down to this planet . . . then God has already come down to this planet. That’s something to celebrate. And how incredible that we could even come to know such a One . . . and that such a One would call us friend. And if we should have the life of that One inside of us, then . . . ”
“What kind of lives should we be living?” I said. “Lives of goodness and holiness, lives of giving and selflessness, that answers the needs of those around us, that goes against the flow of this world, that overcomes evil, and that makes a difference for having been lived.”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “So live that life . . . as if the life of God was, through your life, walking among us on the blue planet . . . and it will be so.”
The Mission: Make it your aim this day to live the life of God in this world. Live to bless, to fill, to save, to overcome, and to change the world.
John 15:14–16; Ephesians 1:20–21; Colossians 1:10–11; Hebrews 13:8
God on the Blue Planet
DAY 338
THE ATZERET
IT WAS THE late afternoon of a beautiful sunny day. We watched as the children of the tent village below us played in a warm gentle wind.
“All this passes away?” I asked. “In eternity is everything gone, the good as well as the bad?”
The Book of Mysteries Page 48
