Pilgrim Heart

What the Thunders Said

So what did the Thunders say? What was so amazing and wonderful that John was not permitted to record it? Well first let's consider the imagery of what is going on here. There are no new prophetic images in the book of Revelation - everything we find here has already been seen earlier in the Bible.

The Thunders were thundering in response to the lion's roar voice of the Mighty Angel. This angel should be taken as being Jesus himself, everything about his description points to that. Back in the book of the prophet Amos we read:

For the Lord does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:7-8)

So Amos shows us that when God roars, prophets prophesy. Amos uses the literary device of parallelism: the Lord revealing his secret to the prophets is the Lion roaring; and when the Lord speaks, prophets must prophesy.

Applying this illumination from Amos back to what we have read in Revelation, we can see that the Thunders are in fact the prophecies of God's prophets, which in one sense includes all members of the Church (see Numbers 11:29 and 1 Corinthians 14:31). This is why John was not permitted to record what the Thunders said; they were not speaking the eternal, inspired word of God: what they said was not Scripture. Remember what John was told:

And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down." (Rev 10:4)

Now contrast this with what John is told toward the end of the book of Revelation, which emphasises the distinction between Scripture and prophecy:

And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near." (Rev 22:10)

So, how can we know what the Thunders said? Because you've probably heard it many times before: whenever the Spirit-filled people of God gather as those who have an ear to hear the Lion's roar of heaven then you will hear those Thunders as men and women prophesy the now word of God out of the heavens and into the earth.

The Seven Thunders Revealed

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down." (Rev 10:1-4 ESV)

Ever wanted to know what the seven thunders said, and why John wasn't allowed to write it down? I'm currently preparing for a short trip to Norway this weekend where I shall be sharing at a prophetic conference. I will be sharing about the impact of the prophetic word and its part in God's restoration purpose.

I will post more fully when I return: I shall also let you know what the seven thunders said, and why John was not permitted to record it.

Trinitarian Patterns in Scripture 1

I am sure that most Christians will agree that God is revealed to us through his Word. Whilst I have no time for bible codes, sometimes there are deeper layers to the revelation of Scripture, for example the significance of different numbers or the various forms of parallelism in the OT.

One of these slightly "under the surface" aspects of Scripture seems to me to be the trinitarian nature of some passages. Paul is the most obvious in this way with scriptures such as:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

Here we see the unity of the work of the Spirit, Lord (Son) and God (Father). This emphasis in the unity of work and purpose of Father, Son and Spirit are of great importance to us today when many Christians seem to have 3 Gods rather than one, where as the Bible says:

"Here O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One!" (Deut 6:4)

I plan several short posts showing some of these trinitarian passages and what they reveal about the oneness of our wonderful God!

Northern Rock or Solid Rock?

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination. (Proverbs 18:10-11)

So the money markets are being shaken, who knows where it will all end, but God is still on his throne!

No need to comment much on the scripture above, save to say that the only place that wealth = security is in the imagination. If you are in trouble, run to God!

Parallelism in Isaiah 53:4-5

Here's something I was working on a while ago and thought some might find it of interest, whether or not you agree with my interpretation!

One of the keys to understanding how to read the prophetic scriptures is to be aware of something called parallelism. Hebrew Poetic Parallelism in its simplest form can be thought of as the repetition of ideas as a poetic devise. Often this can mean that consecutive lines have the same meaning: this form is known as synonymous parallelism.

However, Parallelism in the OT is often more complex than this, can be less obvious, and takes many forms. So Isaiah 53:4-5 could be analysed as being an example of a relatively common device of combining internal parallelism (i.e. parallels within a verse or phrase) and external parallelism (i.e. parallels between different lines which “wrap around” the passage).

So we can look at the passage like this:

Surely he took up our infirmities [a]

    and carried our sorrows [b]

        yet we considered him stricken by God [c]

        smitten by him [c’], and afflicted [c’’]

        But he was pierced for our transgressions, [d]

        he was crushed for our iniquities; [d’]

    the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, [b’]

and by his wounds we are healed. [a’]

So a and a’, and b and b’ are external parallels and c, c’, c’’ and d and d’ are internal parallels.

Unlike the NT the OT does present some form of punctuation to us, particularly in the poetic writings. This comes in the form of the lines of the poetry. The NIV represents these in the way it lays out the poetic passages of scripture. If this were not so it would be very difficult to analyse and interpret the poetic scriptures at all! So knowing how the lines of the poetry are to be read, we can look for uses of parallelism which the author may have intended when constructing the text.

We should note that parallelism is a deliberate literary device, not a “bible code” to reveal some unintended “truth” – although it is not always obvious which elements of the highly symbolic language were originally intended to be seen as parallels!

My suggested analysis of the above passage would obviously have a bearing on whether or not you take the passage to be referring to literal physical healing being in the work of Christ on the cross, or whether the healing language is meant to be figurative of the healing of man’s condition of separation from God by sin.

Of course, the idea of healing in the atonement (I prefer to consider healing in the cross) doesn't hang on this one passage, but as this is such an important verse with respect to Christ's atoning work it is well worth looking at in detail.

Sorry for the long post (if anyone actually managed to get to the end of it!)

Brought to you by the number...

I'm preparing something to post which features patterns of nines in scripture. I can't find that many nine-fold patterns or expressions: have you spotted any? Will you share them with me?

Thanks!

Heaping Burning Coals?

To the contrary, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." (Rom 12:20 quoting Pr 25:22)

This is probably one of the more puzzling scriptures: are we to feign kindness in order to add to the ultimate suffering of the unbeliever? Surely not!

How about this... First note that it is Paul who is quoting this scripture. If we consider the meaning of "head" in Paul's writings we see that he more often uses it figuratively than literally: figuratively someone's "head" is the person whose authority they are under. This is most obvious in the idea of Christ being the "head" of the church.

So who is the "head" of our enemies? The Devil!

Remember the promise God made him in the garden? "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Gen 3:15)

Our good works are redemptive: not for us, but for those to whom we perform them: so by loving our enemy we draw him to the Kingdom by the love of God in action. Romans 12 continues, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21). Our love in action is a means by which evil is overcome, the kingdom of darkness is driven our and the Kingdom of God comes.

As a result of this process the guilt and righteous punishment of the Devil is magnified - burning coals are heaped upon him.

So love your enemies, and bring condemnation on the evil one!

See What You Have

And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side. Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve." "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?" (Mark 8:13-21)

How you see yourself and your resources will determine your faith and expectation of God. The disciples got in the boat with ONE loaf of bread - not much between 13, but they had some bread. But they were discussing "the fact that they had no bread." I think this shows the contempt God has for the so-called "facts" of life (the leaven of the pharisees) - it wasn't even true naturally that they had no bread - they had one loaf.

Jesus then gets them involved in a little mental arithmetic: now if 7 loaves fed 4000 and left 7 baskets to spare, and 5 loaves fed 5000 and left 12 baskets to spare, does one loaf go into 13 hungry men?

"Don't you see, don't you understand?" he said. No they didn't! But they had everything they needed for a miracle, and a miracle they had recently experienced  - twice!

Here's the secret - never say that the little you have is nothing - you will lock up the power of God to impact your situation. Learn to see the little as the seed for a miracle. Be like the widow who had "just a little oil" or the boy with "just 5 loaves and 2 fish" or the woman who said "if I can only touch the hem of his robe".

Don't ever deny what you do have, but confess that our God is a God of increase, a God of multiplication: if we say we have nothing it doesn't matter how many times you multiply it you still have nothing! But God wants to work a miracle through your little thing - so see it for what it is - the seed to a miracle!

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

As the apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my love among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. he brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. (Song of Songs 2:3-4)

I had a minor "eureka" moment recently.

If my mother were still alive it would be around about now that she would start playing Christmas music around the house, and making suggestions as to what we should sing or perform at church this Christmas. She was surprisingly open-minded about such things (for someone who had studied at the Royal Acedemy!) and even arranged White Christmas is a swing band style for the choir one year.

Anyway... one of the songs I used to hear if I was at my parents' house was "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" - which although sung at Christmas doesn' really have anything to do with Christmas. I had always thought it a bit odd lyrically (it is often referred to as a mystical poem) but also strangely engaging and the melody (and well-known setting by Elizabeth Poston) is beautiful (you can hear a version of it here).

In reading Song of Songs again I suddenly realised that "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" is not merely a mystical poem, it is a meditation on the verses at the top of this post. For a more wordy meditation on the same verses see this devotion by CH Spurgeon.

So here is the song. It is only let down by the second line of the final stanza, which, if I ever use the song may find "dying" replaced by "living"!

The tree of life my soul hath seen,

Laden with fruit and always green:

The trees of nature fruitless be

Compared with Christ the apple tree.

His beauty doth all things excel:

By faith I know, but ne'er can tell

The glory which I now can see

In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought,

And pleasure dearly I have bought:

I missed of all; but now I see

'Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I'm weary with my former toil,

Here I will sit and rest awhile:

Under the shadow I will be,

Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,

It keeps my dying faith alive;

Which makes my soul in haste to be

With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

Passionate About Love

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised. (Song of Songs 8:6-7)

I have reading Song of Songs recently, and have been impressed by how passionate about love Solomon and his Bride are - they speak extravagantly and powerfully of their love and seem consumed by one another.

I thank God that he is a God of passion, and provides in marriage a sacred place to express our passions and desires for the husband or wife he has given us. (Just to be clear - that's a husband for a woman and a wife for a man!)

So (for those who are married) what are you going to do to express your love that is fiery, strong and fierce? (Please do not post your answers to that question in the comments!!!)