To Know the Heart of God

Hi Everyone,

I am writing today about three visions that the Lord gave me in the past few days. They concern our commitment to the Lord, and our devotion to him.

The Visions

The Tables

In this vision I saw two tables, each with a center pedestal and a four legged base.  These tables looked just like the ones at a church where I attended for several years.  Every Sunday these tables were moved from the aisles in the sanctuary back into the cafe area for services and fellowship.  And each Wednesday they were moved after the class from the cafe back into the sanctuary to allow for the cafe to be used for an exercise/dance class.

In the vision two women were trying to move these two tables as if they were joined at a point tangent to each other.  It usually takes two women to move one table, but in this vision, they were lifting and carrying both tables at the same time. 

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:  If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help him up.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

The two tables in the vision were joined at a tangent point so as to resemble the number 8.  According to biblestudy.com, the number 8 represents new beginnings:

The number 8 represents a new beginning, meaning a new order or creation, and man's true "born again" event when he is resurrected from the dead into eternal life.

In the vision of the tables, the two women carried them so that the table top was perpendicular to the floor, unlike the normal way of lifting a table with the top surface facing up.  The 8 that was made by the two tables appeared to be laying on its side, which would then represent the symbol of infinity.  So what I believe is being shown is the idea of eternity which is life that never ends.  It begins the moment we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. This is a new beginning when we receive the Holy Spirit and “all things become new!” The infinity symbol is continuous, just as a  figure 8 has no end.

The women I believe represent the church as believers that are in fellowship with each other.  They are working together to perform a task.  The work that the church does that has eternal value is sharing the gospel.  So the tables represent that very work, bringing the good news of the gospel, the forgiveness of sins through belief in Jesus, and the reconciliation with the Father through the atoning sacrificial death of the Lord on the cross. This work is what we have been called to do, and its effects are everlasting.

I believe that the Lord gave me this vision, to encourage each of us to take on this task, to work with one another and make a difference in the lives of people for now and for all eternity.

The Egg Carton

In the second vision, I saw a woman take an egg carton, place it on the floor and stand with her two heels in the wells of the empty carton where the eggs would have been.  Then she attempted to turn to the right. The movement seemed very awkward to me.  I thought, “What is she trying to do?”

I went to prayer to understand what this vision meant.  Now I believe that I understand.

The egg carton was at one time full of eggs.  An egg represents life.  But the carton that once held eggs and protected the eggs is no longer needed.  It is thrown away because there are no eggs.

I have spent many hours recently in the company of a Jewish family and their friends and relatives, for their loved one, a friend of mine, had just passed.  I was friends with him and his wife now for 23 years, praying for them and their family to come to know the Lord as their Messiah.  

But they have resisted my attempts at sharing the gospel.  They cling to their notions of God, and the traditions that have been passed down through the generations.  Even as I visited yesterday, my friend continued to reject the Lord, even when I tried to give encouraging scriptures from the Old Testament.   

As a group, with all their friends and family, I could see that their faith was not based on knowing God personally, but based on the teachings of rabbis. The readings were in Hebrew so I doubt that they knew what they were reading.  How I wished that they would be willing to “taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8)

Long Ago…

After the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, the Jews scattered among the nations could no longer practice their faith according to the Law. They did not have a temple, or the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. So they created their own ways of worship and followed their own traditions.  Today, they take their rules and holidays seriously, but they continue to reject their own Messiah. They have followed their ancestors whose holy city and temple were utterly destroyed, but refuse to come to the Lord in repentance. It is confounding why they cannot read the Old Testament scriptures and discover for themselves the error that their ancestors continually made. When they rejected the prophets who spoke about the Messiah, and rejected Him in the flesh, and now 2000 years later they reject those who share the heart of God for them. What are we to do?

The Lord has given me what I believe is a supernatural love for these people. My clients in Chicago were all Jewish. And I have such a desire to see them come to the Lord. Since God is love, and his love never ends, we must continue to hold them in prayer.

“Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.”  Luke 23:34

This scripture also came to mind:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.  John 5:39-40

In the vision the egg represents life.  The carton represents something that is no longer needed.  It is the Old Covenant.  The covenant that was made between the people of God under the leadership of Moses and the Lord Almighty was a covenant of circumcision, and the Mosaic Law.  By following these laws, and with the sacrificial system of the sprinkling of animal’s blood on the mercy seat made atonement for their sins.  They could receive eternal life by faithfully adhering to these laws and placing their faith in God alone.

In the story of the Rich Young Ruler, the man approached Jesus and asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus told him to obey the Ten Commandments.  

 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

So He said to him,  “Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

 He said to Him, “Which ones?”

Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’  ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Matthew 19:16-22

In answer to the young man’s first question, Jesus gave the answer that he would have expected:  “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 

The young man thought that he had kept the law and the commandments, but still wanted the assurance that he wasn’t missing anything that was needed.  So he asked “What do I still lack?”  What he was missing was the heart for God.  Jesus gave him the opportunity to see his heart, and what he truly valued.  Could he possibly give up what he thought was important in this life, to attain a greater treasure in the life to come?  But as we see, he was unwilling. 

While Jesus was still alive and teaching in the synagogues and in remote places, the Old Covenant was still in effect. To have eternal life, one needed to following the law and the Ten Commandments.

But after Jesus’ death and resurrection the Old Covenant was made obsolete.  And within that generation, just 40 years later, the temple and Jerusalem were both destroyed, just as Jesus had prophesied. During the Jewish War between Rome and the Jews, AD 66 to AD 70, a period of three and a half years, the sacrificial system was utterly terminated.  The people were slain, or died of starvation and disease.  Whoever was left in Jerusalem was  either killed or deported to the nations under Roman rule.  

The egg carton, which once held life, as shown by the eggs, represents the Old Covenant.  The cardboard carton is now worthless, for it is no longer needed.  The Old Covenant is also no longer needed.  It has become obsolete.

 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.  But God found fault with the people and said:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God,     and they will be my people.  No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.  For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.  Hebrews 8:6-13

The Old Covenant did disappear with the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem.  The Law was fulfilled by Christ, at his death and resurrection, but the termination of the Jews’ ability to perform sacrifices in the temple was forever ended in AD 70.

It was the closure of an age.  The Old Covenant Age ended, and the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus was formally initiated.  We are now in that age.

What the vision shows also is the foolishness of standing on something that has passed away.  It seemed foolish to stand on a cardboard carton of eggs and to try and turn, or move.  It is foolish for people to stand on the promises of a covenant that has been fulfilled by the Lord. And replaced by a new and greater covenant with better promises.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” Matthew 5:17-18

When Jesus came on the cloud in judgment against Jerusalem and its leaders during the 3.5 year siege, not one stone was left on another and “all was accomplished.” The Old had passed away and all things were made new.

But today, there are so many Christians that do not understand the purpose of Jesus coming on the clouds. Somehow they missed the whole point. They ignore Matthew 23 and believe that 24 and 25 speak of something in the future. God came in judgment to put an end to one age and begin a new age.

The Jewish people are lost and somehow Christians are not concerned. Too many think that the Jews will go through “the tribulation” and then they will be saved. The church on the other hand will be up in heaven eating bon bons and painting their nails!

Jesus himself said:

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. John 17:15-21

But some Christians do not understand God’s purpose and his plan was to make the two one. The Jews do not have another gospel. They either believe him as everyone on this planet must do to have eternal life. There is only one gospel.

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse! As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!” Galatians 1:8-9

We were given the testimony of Jesus. We cannot be derelict in our mission to reach the lost for Christ. We must share his teachings, his miracles, and the truth spoken by him and of him in both the Old and New Testaments.  There are more than 350 Old Testament  prophecies fulfilled in Christ.  How can one read the Old Testament passages like Isaiah Chapter 53 and not recognize Jesus was and is, the Messiah? We have to share where there is an open heart to receive.

Who has believed what he has heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken,     smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.   Isaiah 53

There is no one who has suffer for the sins of the people except the Messiah.  Jesus did just that.  By his death he justified many.

“He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.”  Romans 4:25

And we must keep in mind:

“Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.” 1 John 2:23

and what Jesus said:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

The Green Pearl Earring

In this vision, I saw a close up of the right ear of a woman.  Her earlobe was pierced and  adorned with a green pearl earring. 

According to biblestudy.com the color green represents verdant, new, fresh, flourishing, and prosperity.

And what came to mind when I saw the earring was the passage of scripture in the Law of Moses that spoke of a bond-servant that wants to commit his life to serving his master.

But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you, then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way.  Deuteronomy 15:16-17

In the vision, I believe that the woman represents the church.  The earring represents this special commitment made by a servant to her master.  Paul speaks of this special relationship that we have with the Lord who is our master.  

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.  Galatians 1:10

Jesus set the example that we are to follow:

 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  It shall not be so among you.  But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Matthew 20:25-28

So the vision was given to show us that when we become born again, and have been made alive in Christ, as represented by the color green, we are to follow Jesus.  As he came to serve, we are also to serve.  If we love the Lord, and know that we want to be with him for all eternity, we accept the green pearl earring as a sign that we have given ourselves to the Lord.  We have surrendered our will to his will, and have given him our full love, and obedience.  We are choosing to serve him with all our hearts and for all eternity.

For the rich young ruler, this was too great a commitment.  But Jesus was willing to die for us, shouldn’t we be willing to live or die for him?

“Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”  Mark 8:34-38

Following Jesus will bring difficulties. Even our own families may be against us, but we must remember that Jesus is our Lord and no matter what the cost to us, he paid the ultimate price for our salvation. He have eternal life in him. When we stand before Him, his blood covers our sins and his righteousness becomes ours. We are forgiven, and put in right standing with the Father. If we continue with the Lord to the end of our lives, we will hear those precious words:

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:23

Thanks for reading.  Please share this post with others who need to understand the heart of God.