Musings from a short verse

Its just a short verse in the early chapters of the bible.  I suppose it often goes overlooked by readers looking for more pronounced events, yet after it grasped my attention some years ago it has become a beloved statement of God's wonderful provision toward us all... a statement of His unending love for the fallen.

I've written about it, preached about it, and taught it to people in their living rooms.  It is a beautiful illustration of the great cost of redemption and when the spiritual impetus is present has often brought both the student and the teacher to tears.  It is a statement that brings the reader (if the meaning is caught) to a face to face understanding of the hopelessness that pervades all our lives... and with the means of hope that was mercifully placed within our grasp.

The book of Genesis begins with God creating all of the world we live in and all that live in it with us.  While not every individual thing created was mention, all things fit into the categories that are mentioned.  Light, atmosphere, land, plants, animals and man were all spoken of in creation's account.  The sun and moon and stars are all mentioned in the days of creation's record.  A garden home was spoken of and a serpent who invaded it.  But no where do we read that God made coats of skin.

Man and woman fell into sin and disobedience... and into the sentence already spoken... even before their misdeeds took place.  Shame fell upon their nakedness... guilt entered their consciousness.  They were lost in their dilemma and sought means to rectify it.  They sewed clothes together from fig leaves and their physical nakedness was covered.  But the nakedness of their exposed souls was not.

When the voice of God was heard nearing the Garden home of the sinners, they sought further refuge... refuge for their souls.  They hid themselves in the trees of the garden.  They were not ready to meet their friend... God.

God found them with both judgment and pity.  After a father confronted His children he declared their consequences and their means of restoration.  Without even saying the obvious... that the fig leaves would not cover them adequately... He covered them with something that would be.  He placed upon each of them something that was not His.  He did not create coats of skin.  They belonged to an animal... an animal that would die in the place of the garden couple.  We too would need to be clothed with the covering of the slain one... JESUS.

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.    Genesis 3:21

At Hand

The slight breeze from the lake had a pleasant cooling effect as it wafted by.  The sound of the waves slapping the sandy shore as they arrived at regular intervals added to the peace residing in the man who was making his way along the beach.  Boats could be seen in the distance.

The setting of the man’s stroll was not his focus, although it could easily have been.  It was a beautiful day filled with the pleasurable sights, sounds and smells of the place where water and land made their transition from one to another.  His thoughts were, however, on another transition.

The beach was an inspiring place for his meditations to be cultivated as he moved casually along the water’s edge.  But he was on the edge of something else... and he knew it.  He had told the crowd he had just talked to that a change was coming and they should prepare for it.  The spirit of the man was contemplating and anticipating that change.  The boats were closer.

The walk on the sandy shore seemed right.  Excitement was welling up in him as moved along the shore line and… in his thoughts.  It felt good to know he was where he was supposed to be both in the physical and in the spiritual settings of the day… and soon the two would rendezvous.

Preparation had been made for this saunter down the Galilean beach and shortly a revelation of its purpose would come.  Men on the boat were casting their net… for they were fishers.  He saw the men.  He saw their net.  Thoughts came.  These fishermen were brothers… Simon and Andrew.  Their nets caught fish.  The design of the Kingdom was present.

Jesus spoke… “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”.  He knew it was good… the walk, his thoughts, the nets and the men… “And God saw the (sight) and it was good.”  Kingdom principles were in place… brothers working together with nets catching fish.  The joining of many parts to make an effective means of gathering the prize.  Nets… not poles… nets.  Tied with knots and lengths of twine.  A single tool made of many individual pieces working together.  Three men continued a stroll down a transition path.  Another boat ahead… tied to a dock.

Three men walking and three men working near the boat.  James and John with their father Zebedee.  Brothers working together… they were mending their net.  Brothers making sure the net they would fish with was in good repair… Kingdom principles were in place.  Two brothers and two brothers becoming a net made up of themselves.  A net to catch fish with.  Fish with souls… souls that must be caught for the Kingdom of God.

Breathing Life into Your Project

You’ve no doubt felt the urge from time to time to take a chance… because you know that along with the risk of taking that chance there is a reward!  Something inside of you says this is going to work out really great.  Your belief at that moment outweighs the fear of failure.

You were experiencing the formation of faith to meet a specific challenge.  That experience was not unlike the Lord when He formed Adam from the dust of the ground.  God believed that this formed creature called man would “turn out great”.  The “clayman” had all the necessary parts to function.  A brain was in place to think with and eyes were there to see with.  Adam had feet to walk with and hands to hold with.  He had lungs for breathing, a stomach for digesting food, and ears to hear with.  In short, he was fearfully and wonderfully made. 

But until God acted on His faith (that man could function with the formed design before him) man (Adam) could do nothing!  Until God breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of Adam, the man (though perfect that he was) could do nothing except… well, what would have happened to Adam had not God breathed life into him?

The sun would have begun to bake his moist mud form, or the rains would cause the perfectly fashioned body to become distorted, and finally the wind would have scattered this elemental man, which was fashion in God’s likeness, across the kindred earthy landscape.  Adam would be no more!!

So it is… faith has a short shelf life.  One can believe for something out of his/her mind’s design, but if it is not acted upon it will never come to fruition.  Just as the elements would have begun to immediately erode the fashioned clay body of Adam, the spiritual eroding elements of doubt, analysis, and unbelief immediately begin their destructive efforts on our “faith visions”.  How many God inspired projects of faith have been deformed by the rains of carnal analysis, dried by the hot sun of doubt, and finally blown into desolation by the winds of unbelief?  What great things would God have done had we moved in our faith instead of double-mindedly debating with ourselves the merits of God’s perfect project?  How much stronger would the church be?  How much better your life?

In the words of the old folk song… “The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind… the answer is blowin’ in the wind.”

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

James 2:26 

Faith then is represented by the body and works by the breath (spirit).  We may tend to have it in reverse… but it must be in the right order to work.

For books by Sterling Dean Davidson

One more chapter

Chapter 16

Central Governments

As seen earlier in this writing, strong nations have elements in place giving them their strength.  These elements are language, borders, and a ruling spirit in authority.  However, “strong” nations do not necessarily mean “good” nations.  Many nations of the world have (as we have seen illustrated in Isaiah and Ezekiel) an association with a lead demonic spirit and rules its principality through the human, whom it exerts influence… sometimes almost total influence.  Old world spirits, especially those in the continent connecting area of the Middle East tend to have these kinds of strong spiritual controls.  Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, and even Jordan are examples of nations with these powerful spirits operating in conjunction with dominating human leadership… centralized leadership and government.  It would behoove the U.S. to consider the steps that are being taken toward that very type of leadership and government. 

These strong leaders exert tremendous and seemingly limitless power… they were once called kings.  Now we know them as dictators.  The law of the nations where these dictators rule is the word of the human tyrant leading that nation.  The bible states, that where the word of the king is; there is power.  Of course these men never admit to being in such control and do not use the title “dictator”, more subtle words describe their “office”.  Prime Minister, President, or even “dear leader” are examples of these subtle titles.

Another biblical example of particular interest is found in Ezekiel chapter 28.  Both the Prince of Tyre and the King of Tyre are addressed by God through the prophet and as the description of the two is given it is apparent that the Prince of Tyre is the “wicked one” (known as the antichrist) and the King of Tyre is Satan himself.

The description of the Prince of Tyre tells of one whose heart is lifted up “and has said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas…”  The prophecy continues by declaring the judgment of this prince; “… yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.” The prince of Tyre is a type of the wicked one in II Thessalonians… “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposseth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, Shewing himself that he is God.”  (II Thessalonians 2: 3&4).  It is evident the two are the same.

Ezekiel continues to give a description of what is very apparently the judgment of the antichrist (although this prophecy is also directed to a literal prince of Tyre who was a contemporary of Ezekiel).  “Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:  with thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:  by thy great wisdom and by thy traffick has thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.  They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.  Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God?  But thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.”  (Ezekiel 28:3-9)  (The strangers who are described as the terrible of the nations are the weapons of God’s indignation… we will look at these “weapons” later).

The book "The Unseen World" is now available on Amazon.com  This post is chapter 16 of that book.

Blessed are your eyes

Anticipation fills the room. Admirers of the master sculptor’s works have gathered with great expectancy. In a prominent place before the small crowd stands the latest work of the great artist. Hushed tones of focused conversations fill the atmosphere… all voices speak of that which will soon be seen. The partial shape and general size of the new work are evident to the anxious onlookers… but the beauty and craftsmanship of sculptor’s creation are not yet to be observed… there is a tremendous focus on the veiled object in front of them. They know that soon what cannot be seen… will be! The revelation of the master’s efforts is at hand… and the followers are on the highest level of anticipatory curiosity possible. They will soon see what only the master’s eyes have beheld! And… they will never forget what they see! There is a process to building the Kingdom. Jesus said He will it upon a rock. While He is (as He declared) the rock (of stumbling) there is a chosen process of building this spiritual building of which this “rock” is the chief corner stone. The building process is demonstrated in Matthew chapter 16, we see that Peter gained understanding, which moved him out of the category of “stumblers”. It is imperative that the “would be” citizen of God’s Kingdom understands this process… lest he stumble over the very thing he needs to build upon! To the fortunate few who are of a true Kingdom mind-set this stone is precious… to the disobedient this stone is disallowed… rejected… stumbled over! Upon Peter’s declaration of Jesus’ Messiahship, the Lord declares Peter to be blessed… then He explained why… “flesh and blood did not reveal it”. The revelation of Christ’s identity came by spirit. Paul wrote, “No man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost”. While one may read, study, memorize, and meditate on the scripture (and these are necessary to ascertain facts and to become familiar with God’s word) the building process is not complete until understanding is gained. It is possible to read and study but not understand. Paul wrote to the Corinthians concerning the nation of Israel, “But their minds were blinded: for unto this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day when Moses is read the veil is upon their heart.” (II Corinthians 3:14 &15) The Jews read and studied, but did not understand. In the words of the Apostle the veil was “untaken away”. The word “revelation” means to “unveil”! An unveiling of the rock is essential to understanding, there is a process to revelation… it is the Kingdom building process. The process is explained to Peter by Jesus. “And I say unto thee! Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell (death) shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever shall be bound on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Peter was given keys to both bind and loose (that’s what keys do!) The binding and loosening is done on earth, but heaven stands behind the process. The process of unveiling is twofold and correlates to binding and loosening. When Peter received understanding of Jesus’ identity the kingdom building process of binding and loosening was operating. As we observe the scene it may appear only one step was involved… revelation. However, revelation cannot happen until one’s attention is directed toward that which is to be revealed. For and unveiling to have full effect the veiled object must be presented (still veiled) and a curiosity to know what is covered by the veil must arise. Jesus masterfully directs the disciple’s attention toward the veiled object… the stone… Himself!!! “Whom to men say that I the son of man am?” “Whom say ye that I am?” The first key is the “key of mystery” (Who is Jesus?) This mystery is of heavenly origin… the mystery of the kingdom of heaven. It is an area of spiritual work so often overlooked by kingdom workers. We are so anxious to see people receive revelation that the first step of “kingdom mystery” is bypassed! The disciples were presented with a veiled truth that came to them in the form of the question; “whom say ye that I am?” This was the key of binding… or mystery… for they could not by natural means know the answer to it (see Luke 10: 21). Their minds were bound by the question… by the mystery. However, this enigma did have a spiritual purpose. The mind, not being able to come up with the spiritual answer, must give way to the spirit as quest for the answer is undertaken. The spirit of man then is loosed to receive by revelation coming by God’s Spirit to the spiritual riddle that has also come by the Holy Ghost to the seeker! We are able to see that which has only been seen by the master! And… we will never forget! “Blessed are the eyes that see the things that ye see” ~ Jesus For further reading on the subject check out my book: Receiving Revelation