Some Pictures from The Gathering
The Church in the Wilderness, the Bride in the Land
In Exodus 34:12, we begin to see the relationship God would begin with Israel when they entered into the Land. The laws God gave to Israel were not applicable to Israel in the wilderness, for they were still relating to God on the basis of reconciliation. It is important for us to notice this distinction in these Scriptures. Most of the laws that God gave to Israel in the wilderness were instructions for how they were to live in the Land. In other words, certain commands given in the wilderness were not applicable for wilderness living. God did not establish these orders with wilderness wanderers, for these things could not be maintained with a people only relating to Him on the basis of reconciliation. He made this covenant with His Bride – she who would enter in to what He had prepared for her.
Notice that the way the Lord is speaking in this passage is much like the way a husband would desire his own wife to dwell with him:
“Take heed to yourself lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you go, lest it be for a trap in the midst of you: But you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their idols…For the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:12-14)
It is God who declares Himself to be a jealous God, jealousy being the trait of a marriage and love, not part of a relationship based on reconciliation. Jealousy comes from love, and in the case of God, it is a love based on oneness. If God were coming from the basis of reconciliation, then His name might have been called “Holy” rather than “Jealous.” But if the only relationship you have with God is based on reconciliation, then you must realize that His name is holy. In that sense you do not go against a Holy God because if you do not obey His statues, walk in His laws, and keep His commandments, then you may become “un-reconciled.” In that kind of relationship, the people had better do what God said in order to stay reconciled with Him, for there is always the possibility that they could be separated again. But when they entered into the Land, He no longer says “I am holy” but “I am a Jealous God.”
There are many different Scriptures like those in Ezekiel 16 that talk about Israel playing the harlot. Those Scriptures are not speaking specifically to reconciled people but to those whom God holds dear enough to call “wife.” The great sin of Israel was not simply that she was doing things that would “un-reconcile” their relationship, but that her actions violated the oneness that had been established by her Husband. To the heart of God, this kind of failure has to do with her violating His love relationship with her rather than violating a holy God’s laws. She did not anger Almighty God but hurt the One who chose to marry her.
The Anger of God
Sadly, many Christians are in the same exact situation. Our ignorance of the relationship that He has established causes us to bring about violations that lead to His hurt, and we are never even aware of it. Most of the time we relate as though we were pagans trying to appease an angry God instead of a chosen Bride blessed to take our place with Him. This is why many times we are not aware and do not understand that we offend Him and cause Him to be hurt over certain things. Our thoughts run along the line of our being only a reconciled person who makes mistakes and wondering why God is so discouraged over our actions. But Jesus died to make us one; therefore many of our actions and attitudes appear to Him as if we are playing the harlot because we are not functioning as one with Him. A reconciled person is in danger not just of doing unreconciled things, but of failing to comprehend his oneness and union in the Lord. If this is the case, then at times that person may function in the manner of a harlot even though they are His Body and wife. And because this person may not be aware of how deeply this affects the Lord’s heart, they may simply think that God overreacts to what we might call “simple acts of sin” when His reaction is that of jealousy. At these times, the Lord’s responses may not make sense because the person only understands them from a reconciled mindset.
Anger can be read in many ways. We can view God’s anger as the displeasure of a Holy God. However, many times anger comes from hurt. We may need to examine the angry reactions of the Lord through eyes of oneness. Maybe the Lord is not pouring out wrath on a reconciled person but is deeply affected by that which His Bride has done. There is no intimacy that God can receive back in a relationship that functions only on the basis of reconciliation. He is jealous and desires for us to be with Him in oneness at all times. We may believe that we are with the Lord because we know that we have been reconciled. The Lord acknowledges that we are with Him in that reconciliation, but that manner of being with Him is not the fullness of what is in His heart, for He has desired to receive a Bride unto Himself. He does not require works but a certain response from our heart and an understanding of our union in Him. His heart is always settled in the reality that He loves us and will always love us in an eternal union of oneness. If we would just respond back to Him with just a few words that say, “You are precious to me Jesus,” it would minister to His heart. “Precious” is not a word we would use to describe the God of the reconciled, but rather it describes the treasure of our Husband who loves us and went to extreme lengths to make us one with Himself.
Reconciled unto Oneness
God could never have made us one until He first reconciled us. Reconciliation requires at least two, but oneness is just one. A mediator is of two, but God is one (cf. Gal. 3:20). Ultimately God mediates to bring two together so that it might be swallowed up of one (cf. Eph. 2:14, 16). Jesus’ goal was “That they may be made perfect in one” (Jn. 17:23). However, once we realize that God desires us to relate to Him in this relationship of oneness in Christ, it is still possible to not fully comprehend the wonder of exactly what God has brought us into. We may yet find ourselves working hard to maintain God’s favor and earn His blessing. If we believe that this is still needed, then our relationship is still outside of being found in Christ because we are seeking to maintain a righteousness of our own. Such a mindset has not yet left the wilderness, nor has it discovered the Land that flows with milk and honey. It is clear that we have yet to enter the time when the Jordan is rolled back for us so that we might enter into the richness of abiding in Christ as one.
In this great Land of dwelling in Christ, there are houses for us that we did not build, and there is fruit coming forth that we never planted. We did not have to put any effort into it, for Christ, the True Vine, is abundantly yielding fruit through His branches apart from our works and best efforts. We can see God’s heart in every ounce of these glorious things, and yet there are some who never comprehend this great love that has brought us into this Land of plenty in Christ.
Some people may be content with wilderness living. They may be satisfied with walking with the other tribes through the wilderness in a big, long line with Judah in the front, shouting praises to God that they were out of Egypt, away from Pharaoh, and out of the house of bondage. Certainly, this is a wonderful experience, and I take nothing away from it, but there is more that God has for us. No matter how wonderful it is, and even though everybody may be shouting at the top of their lungs in praise, this will never be the sound of the songs of Zion. There are no songs of Zion in the wilderness. Israel acknowledged this when they were charged to sing the songs of Zion while in captivity in Babylon (cf. Ps. 137:3-4). While Israel was in captivity they were still God’s people and reconciled, but they were not living lavishly in the Land their Husband had provided. This is because Zion and all it represents is not found bound up with the joys of reconciliation alone. Zion is New Jerusalem which is the Bride of the Lamb (cf. Rev. 21:9). You cannot experience the glory of Zion until your relationship with God is based out of union with no thoughts or fears of separation. When the Lamb decides to marry, that union is for life, and His life goes on forever.
Acknowledge His Love
It is our place as the Bride of Christ to acknowledge the heart of the Son that has pleaded with the Father to have us as His own. To be able to understand the prayer request of His heart that said, “Father, I am about to leave this world and those who have become reconciled. It is my desire that we may become one; that I may have the kind of oneness with them that you and I have always had. I want them to enter into the glory that I have in your eyes. Just the way that you look at me Father, I desire that you would look at them that same way with the purpose that they may know that you love them like you love me.”
May we behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the sons of God. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. May the reconciled realize that they are one in Christ. ***
