“What?”
“Jewish. What the world knows as Christianity, in its original and prototypical form, is a Jewish faith. But something happened in those first centuries. The more embedded and established the faith became in the mainstream of Western civilization, the more it lost its original and natural identity. What was a countercultural faith became a cultural faith, what was a radical faith became an established faith, what was a revolutionary faith became the faith of the status quo . . . and what was a Jewish faith became a non-Jewish faith. As the faith became joined to a non-Jewish Western culture . . . its Jewish disciples, messengers, and apostles began to disappear.” He paused at that point as if to delineate a change.
“But now we’ve come to the other side of the phenomenon. We are now witnessing the separation, the dislodging, and the disestablishing of the faith from Western civilization.”
“That’s not a good thing,” I said.
“And yet in one sense it is. The reverse of the phenomenon means that the faith will return to its original and natural state. From a cultural faith to a countercultural faith, from an established faith to a radical one, and from a faith of the status quo to a revolutionary faith.”
“But then there must be one more transformation,” I said. “The faith must change from its non-Jewish identity and form and return to its original Jewish form and identity.
“Yes,” said the teacher, “and we might also expect the return of Jewish disciples. So notice what this reveals. The more established and of the world this faith becomes, the weaker its spiritual power. But the more separate from the world it becomes, the greater its spiritual power. Apply this to your life. Disentangle yourself from all compromise, from worldliness, and from the status quo. And you will grow stronger in spiritual power. Remember, this faith, in its truest and natural form, is always radical and revolutionary. Live your life accordingly.”
The Mission: Divest yourself today from worldly attachments, that you might gain spiritual power. Exchange a comfortable walk for a revolutionary one.
Zechariah 8:3–8; Matthew 23:37–39; Acts 2:16–18, 39; Romans 11
The Mystery of the Rains
DAY 325
DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
HE TOOK ME up one of the desert’s high mountains. Only upon reaching the summit did he tell me why we had come there.
“We have no other purpose here,” said the teacher, “but to spend time in His presence.”
We spent hours there, each of us alone with God, in prayer, in the Word, in worship, in silence. The experience was exhilarating. I could have stayed into the night. But that wasn’t the plan.
“We must go down now,” he said.
As we began our descent I said, “I thought you brought me up the mountain to give me a revelation.”
“I did,” he said.
“Then why didn’t you give it?”
“Because this one’s not about the mountaintop . . . but about leaving the mountaintop.”
We continued our descent.
“The disciples spent more than three years in Messiah’s presence. But then He sent them out from Jerusalem to the world. In what direction did He send them?”
“Out from Jerusalem.”
“Down,” said the teacher. “Jerusalem is a city built on the mountains. So to go out from Jerusalem, they had to go down. They had to go down the mountain. So to send them out from Jerusalem was to send them down from Jerusalem. Just as important as it is to ascend the mountain is to descend it. In fact, that’s the direction of ministry . . . down the mountain.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you receive from God—His blessings, His love, His revelations, His Spirit, His joy, His salvation—you’re on the mountaintop. But you can’t stay on the mountaintop. Nor can the blessings of God stay on the mountaintop. You have to go down the mountain. That’s where your ministry is . . . at the bottom of the mountain . . . where the cities are, and the towns, and their marketplaces, and the fields, and the rest of the world. That’s where they are, at the bottom of the mountain. So you have to go down. You have to bring down His love to the unloved. Bring down His blessings to the cursed, His riches to the poor, His presence to the godless, and His salvation to the lost. Your calling was given in the Great Commission. And the Great Commission begins on the mountaintop. So there’s only way to fulfill it . . . by going down the mountain.”
The Mission: Dwell today on the mountaintop with God. Receive His blessings. Then bring them down the mountain to touch your world.
Exodus 34:28–31; Psalm 96:1–3; Isaiah 58:5–11; Acts 1:8
Down the Mountain
DAY 326
THE UNCAUSED CAUSE
DO YOU REMEMBER when we spoke of the necessity of the Uncaused Cause?”
“God.”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “And what does it mean that God is the Uncaused Cause?”
“It means that nothing is the cause of His existence, but He is the cause of all existence.”
“Yes, and what else is He? He’s love. God is love. Put it together. If God is love and God is uncaused, then . . . ”
“Love is uncaused?”
“Love, pure, absolute, divine love, is uncaused. It exists as God exists, of its own. And understanding what this means can change your life.”
“How?”
“It’s one thing to believe God’s love when you believe you’ve given Him cause and reason to love you. But it’s something else entirely when you’ve given Him no cause and no reason. But love needs no cause or reason. And God needs no reason to love you. He loves you because He is, and because love is. You can’t cause God to love you anymore than you could cause God Himself. Love loves without cause, except for the cause of love. So in your darkest pit, in your most unworthy, undeserving, sinful, and ungodly state, when you’ve given God absolutely no cause or reason to love you, He will love you still. And it is then, when you receive that uncaused love, that amazing grace, that it will change your life . . . and allow you to manifest the miracle to others.”
“How?”
“When others give you no cause or reason to love them and yet you love them anyway . . . you’re manifesting the miracle. When you love the unloving and the unlovable . . . you’re manifesting the miracle of His uncaused love.”
“Then love is not only uncaused . . . but the Uncaused Cause.”
“Yes,” he said. “So love is that which needs no reason, but gives reason to all things. So when you receive God’s love when there’s no reason for God’s love or for you to receive it, then the love of God will give reason to your life. For it is the love of God without cause and that makes no sense that, once received, causes our lives to make sense. For God is the Uncaused Cause. And God is love . . . So the Uncaused Cause is love.”
The Mission: Today, make it your aim to receive the love of God with no reason or cause. And love others the same way, with no reason or cause.
Luke 6:27–36; 23:33–34; 1 Corinthians 13; 1 John 4:7–12
The Unknowable Love
DAY 327
THE SEVEN MYSTERIES OF THE AGE
THE TEACHER LED me into one of the chambers in the main building in which stood seven pillars of light golden stone. Each pillar was capped with a square stone slab, on top of which rested an object or group of objects.
“The seven mysteries of the age,” he said. “We’ve looked at them separately, but now we bring them all together to see the mystery of the age itself.”
He led me to the first pillar on which was a cup and a piece of matzah.
“God has set up the present age according to the pattern of the sacred Hebrew year. The sacred year begins with Passover. Its mystery foreshadows the death of the Lamb that begins the age with salvation.”
He led me to the second pillar, on top of which was a sheaf of barley.
“The second mystery,” he said, “Yom Resheet, the day the firstfruits of the spring harvest is lifted up to God. Its mystery foresha
dows the second appointed event of the age, the Day of the Firstfruits. Messiah is lifted up from the dead, the raising up of the firstfruits of new life, the resurrection.”
On the third pillar rested sheaves of wheat and two loaves of bread.
“The third mystery, the Feast of Shavuot, the launching of the summer harvest. Its mystery foreshadows the third appointed event, the Feast of Pentecost, Shavuot, the giving of the Spirit, launching the harvest of the age.”
On the fourth pillar were grains, figs, grapes, and olives.
“The fourth mystery. The great summer harvest, the time of reaping the fields. Its mystery speaks of the harvest of nations, the time of the Gospel, of sowing, and reaping, and going to the ends of the earth with the word of salvation, the time that is now.”
On the fifth pillar was a shofar.
“The fifth mystery, the Feast of Trumpets, what is next to come. Its mystery foretells the sounding of the trumpets at the end of the age to herald the coming of the King.”
On the sixth pillar were a cloth, a piece of veil, embroidered with cherubim.
“The sixth mystery, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, man and God, face-to-face. Its mystery foreshadows the Day of Judgment and salvation, of man and God, standing face-to-face.”
On the seventh pillar were the branches of the lulav and a citrus fruit.
“The seventh mystery, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Dwellings. Its mystery foretells the age of the kingdom, when God will tabernacle among us and we with Him . . . And the mystery of the age will be fulfilled.”
The Mission: Time is framed by the holy days of God. Live today as a holy day, a sacred day, centered in the presence of God. And it will be so.
Leviticus 23
The Seven Mysteries of the Age I–VII
DAY 328
THE SUNRISE REDEMPTION
THE TEACHER HAD asked me to sleep out in the open, on the sand of a small plain from which one could see a vast panorama that included the school. While it was still night, he woke me. Once I realized where I was, he began to share.
“Do you remember what I told you about the sunset and Messiah’s death?”
“How He died and was buried as the sun was going down,” I replied.
“And why?” he asked.
“In the sunset we see the light of the world descending to the earth. At the same time, Messiah, the Light of the World, was descending to the earth.”
“So the sunset,” he said, “was a sign, a picture in the physical realm of what was taking place in the spiritual realm . . . the Light of the World was descending into the earth . . . a cosmic sunset. So as Messiah descends to the earth, He becomes the Sunset on our old lives, the Sunset on our sins, on our past, and on the old. And when a sunset is finished, everything fades away to black and disappears. And in Messiah’s Sunset, the past fades to black, the old life disappears, and the old creation is brought out of existence into nothingness. But what happened next?”
“The resurrection.”
“Each of the four accounts of Messiah’s resurrection contains a word that speaks of the dawn, the sunrise. And what is a sunrise?”
“It’s when the sun, the light of the world, rises up from the earth.”
“And what is the resurrection?”
“It’s the Light of the World rising up from the earth.”
We sat for some time in silence as it began to dawn.
“What do you see?” asked the teacher.
“From the darkness, everything’s beginning to appear.”
“And so the power of the Sunrise is the power to bring into existence that which did not exist, to bring forth, out of nothing, a new creation, a new being, a new identity . . . to bring hope from hopelessness, love from lovelessness, life from the death, and a way where there was no way . . . light from darkness. That’s why His rising is linked to the sunrise, because that’s what it was . . . the Sunrise of the new creation. It’s the miracle of bringing into existence that which was not . . . a new life out of nothing . . . And that is the power given and to be received by those who live in the light of the cosmic dawn.”
The Mission: Believe in God’s power to bring into existence that which is not. Live this day in that power. Speak that which is not as if it was.
Isaiah 60:1; Matthew 27:57–60; 28:1–6; Ephesians 5:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:5
The Divine Good Morning
DAY 329
PERFORMING YOUR SEMIKHAH
WE RETURN ONE last time,” said the teacher, “to the Semikhah. Tell me what it was.”
“The placing of sin on the sacrifice by laying hands on its head and confessing your sins over it . . . that which the priests of Israel performed on Messiah before they delivered Him to His death.”
“That’s correct,” he said. “But it wasn’t only the priests who performed the Semikhah. It was performed by whoever needed to be forgiven of their sins. In order to offer up a sin offering, you had to perform the Semikhah over it. You had to touch it with your hands and confess your sins over it. And by doing so, you became one with the sacrifice. Only with that total identification could the sacrifice die for your sins. Now if we’ve all sinned, and Messiah is the offering for our sin, what must there also be?”
“The Semikhah?”
“Yes. The one who needs their sins to be forgiven must perform the Semikhah. So how does one perform it? The same way it was performed in ancient times. You must touch the sacrifice and become one with it.”
“But how?” I asked. “The sacrifice of Messiah took places ages ago.”
“But remember, it is the one sacrifice that transcends time, that touches all time, past, present, and future. So the time doesn’t matter. The Semikhah can still be performed. You reach out your hands across time and space to touch Messiah on the cross . . . You confess your sins upon Him. You become one with Him there just as He was one with you in His sacrifice. That’s when it’s complete, when the two moments are joined together. That’s when your sins are forgiven and washed away.”
“It sounds like salvation.”
“It is,” said the teacher. “How do you become saved? You confess your sins, you bring them to the sacrifice, and you become one with the sacrifice as the sacrifice has become one with you on the altar. What is that? It’s the Semikhah. The act of salvation is the act of the Semikhah. You’re performing a cosmic Semikhah across time and space. Perform your Semikhah, and not only once. Touch the head of the sacrifice, place your sins upon Him, your burdens, your fears, your shame, your cares, join every part of your life to the sacrifice, and the sacrifice to every part of your life . . . that the two moments and the two lives be lived as one.”
The Mission: Perform the sacred Semikhah. Place your hands on His head. Lay your life upon His life. Release what must be released. And be released.
Leviticus 16:21; Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 5:7; 1 John 1:8–9
Footsteps on the Altar
DAY 330
HEAVENLY NOSTALGIA
WE WERE SITTING on a ridge on one of the highest mountains in the desert, overlooking a vast landscape of distant mountains and plains, more than one tent encampment, the school, and several shepherds tending their flocks.
“Imagine,” said the teacher, “that your life is over. You’re in heaven, paradise, seeing and experiencing things which before you couldn’t begin to imagine. If you were able, would you go back to earth?”
“No.”
“But there are things you’ll never be able to do again, even in heaven, things you could have only done in the time you had on earth.”
“Like what?”
“Faith. You’ll never again be able to live by faith.”
“But in heaven . . . ”
“In heaven you’ll see what you believed in. But you’ll never again be able to stand in faith or choose to believe God. Earth, not heaven, is the place of faith. And in heaven you’ll never again be able to choose to stand with God in the face of opposition. That too can on
ly be done on earth. In heaven you’ll never again be able to repent, or to bless God by turning down sin. In heaven you’ll never again have the chance to share salvation with the unsaved, or to bring a life out of darkness and into the light. They all know Him there. In heaven you’ll never again be able to help someone in need or to bless God by doing so. Heaven has no needs. In heaven you’ll never again have the honor of standing with God when it costs you to do so, or to share in His reproach. In heaven you’ll never again be able to sacrifice for God. There’s no loss there. And in heaven you’ll never again be able to overcome or become victorious. There’s nothing there to overcome. The place for victory is here. The place for all these things is not heaven—but earth. And the time for these things is not then, but now. You see, earth is a most awesome place. And every moment you have here is a most precious gift, one you will never have again, even in the eternity of heaven.”
“Let’s go down the mountain,” I said.
“Why?” asked the teacher.
“There are things I want to do . . . I’m not yet ready for heaven.”
The Mission: Live this day as if your life was over, but you were given a second chance to go back. Do now what, in heaven, you can never do again.
Psalm 90:9–12; John 4:35–36; 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18; James 1:17
Heavenly Nostalgia
DAY 331
THE JUBILEE MAN
HE WAS HOLDING a small shofar. “The sign and sound of the Jubilee,” he said, “the year of restoration. What do you remember of it?”
“It was the year in which the land would return to its original owners,” I said, “So if your family had lost its ancestral land, they would return home.”
The Book of Mysteries Page 47