Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Friday, May 10, 2013

A "Charley Horse" - Repost


Friday, April 13, 2012, 7:58 a.m. – As I began to wake up this morning, I stretched my leg, and I received one of those cramps in the calf of my leg that feels so painful, but thankfully does not last too long. I think it is called a “charley horse.” Now, I was definitely awake! My thoughts were on some relationship difficulties in my life, and how I should respond to this present trial in my life. Then, the Lord brought the song, “Wake Up!” into my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Zechariah 5 (NIV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zechariah%205&version=NIV

My Understanding: First of all, I believe the Lord allowed me to experience that leg cramp this morning as an illustration of a Biblical truth, kind of like a real life parable. He does that sometimes. A leg is a branch, and a branch is a division or a part of a whole. The cramp was in the calf of my leg. I immediately related “calf” to idolatry; the body, as a whole, to the body of Christ; and this calf of the leg to the idolatrous church (a part of the church). I believe the Lord is applying this passage in Zechariah 5 to the idolatrous church today.

The Flying Scroll

The scroll, in Zechariah’s vision, was flying. A scroll is what some of the Bible was originally written on, before they went to book form. The scroll’s size, the fact that it was flying, and the fact that it was open wide, i.e. that it was unrolled and apparently waving like a banner for all to read, caused me to think of the airplanes or blimps that fly banners through the sky for everyone to read. It was out in the open sky (air), and was visible to all.

Much of Zechariah’s writing was about the future, as well as the present, so if we think in our present time, a flying scroll could very much be what we are doing right here, i.e. the Internet provides the means for the words we write to be flown through the air, and to be seen by all the world on the Internet.

There is significance to the writing being on both sides, as most scrolls were written only on one side. Some commentators suggest that this is symbolic of the Ten Commandments, which was written on both sides of the tablets. One source suggests that the size of the scroll corresponds to “the Temple Portico, or the porch of the Temple where proclamations and judgments were declared to Israel.” [Source: http://www.answersintheendtimes.com/Sunday-School-Lessons/Pt-26-The-Sealed-Scroll]

The Lord has often shown me the Internet as a Portico of sorts where people can share the messages of God out in the open for all to hear (or read). And, it appears that the Lord is combining the portico and the scroll together here in that the message is written, not spoken, but it is also given in a place that is appropriate for people to make declarations or to share words that can be heard or read by all. The fact that the scroll is flying, gives even more credence to the present-day portico being the Internet. Where else on this earth can you write and have the whole world read what you write, and to have those words literally fly through the air like a banner? The scroll was symbolic both of the commandments of God and of messages of judgment for the breaking of those commandments.

The house that the scroll will enter, it appears, is the house of the adulterous church. The message is not merely written, nonetheless, for it is followed by the judgment that it declared. That takes me back to my “charley horse” from this morning. The cramp was in the calf (idolatry) of my leg (branch of the church). If you have ever had a “charley horse” cramp before, you will understand that it is one of the most painful cramps you can ever get, and it completely disables you from doing anything else until it subsides. I believe the Lord is using this cramp as a symbol of the judgment he will bring upon his idolatrous church, with the end result that the church will definitely be wakened, as I was wakened, only not physically, but spiritually.

The Woman in a Basket

Next Zechariah saw a measuring basket. Most commentators I have read agree that the basket (a household container) would be too small to hold a grown woman inside. The basket itself symbolized the sins of the people throughout the land. The woman inside the basket represented wickedness. The woman could possibly parallel over to the harlot of Revelation, which some believe to be the idolatrous church, which rides the beast (the evil world system), or she could merely represent the evil world system itself.

In a previous writing, the Lord gave me this understanding of the woman in the basket: “So, what was in the basket was literally the appearance of or the resemblance of a woman, which also represented the iniquity of the people – wow! I believe that may have been the original meaning God intended by this vision, for he was showing the prophets of old glimpses of the future (our today). That would explain why the prophet would have seen a woman in a household container that was truly too small to enclose a woman. He was most likely seeing a TV set and/or a camera or projector – something that captures images of people on film and then projects them somewhere else, which is why the basket was flying. The “basket” was used to symbolize a measurement of the corporate evil of the land. Wow!

“This also goes back to the flying scroll which was a curse that is going out over the whole land – every thief and everyone who swears falsely will be banished. I believe what the Lord is showing here by Zechariah’s vision, and then by the vision the Lord gave me as a modern-day understanding, is that TV shows, movies, the Internet, news shows, etc. – all this media via images projected through the air is filled with wickedness, corruption, falsity, lies, deception, etc. We cannot trust that what we perceive to be make-believe is really fake, and that it truly is not based in reality, nor can we trust that what we perceive to be real is truly real, and that it is not smokes and mirrors and images made to look real but are not. Satan is the great deceiver. We need much discernment in these final days to know what is real and what is fake, because Satan can use this technology to confuse reality from fantasy, and lies from truth.

“It was rotten, but we ate it anyway – TV shows, movies, news stories, people that we think are real when truly they are fakes - mere copies and images of real people, advertising, perceptions of the size of communism, alcohol as fun and enjoyment, our military as truly protecting us, politicians as who they proclaim to be, political races as though they are real when they are truly just for our entertainment, etc.”

The Judgment of God

The wickedness needed to be removed from Israel to a more fitting place. Israel today is the church collectively, but it comprises individual followers of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus wants to remove wickedness and idolatry from his church, and he will do it through judgment, if no other way. He is presently calling out to his idolatrous church to wake up, to turn from her sins, to be transformed in the attitude of her heart and mind, and to follow Jesus Christ in complete surrender and obedience. He is sending out his messages through his servants and via the Internet, so that a runner can run (or fly) with the messages, i.e. via the flying scroll. The messages are a call to repentance and to return to our first love. Yet, they are also messages promising judgment on those who refuse to repent; who refuse to turn from their evil ways, and so be healed.

The two women represent God’s chosen agents to remove the wickedness from the church and to take it where it belongs – to the world’s evil system. The purpose of removing the basket is to purge the church of its evil and to make the Lord’s bride holy and ready for the wedding with her husband. I believe the letters to the churches in Revelation are symbolic of the message on this flying scroll in that they call the fallen church to return to a right relationship with God, and to those who do not repent, judgment is promised.

This is a wakeup call! God is calling out to his church, i.e. to the branch of his church which has become idolatrous and is steeped in sin to wake up from her slumber and to turn from her evil ways and to return to her God. If she does not wake up, judgment is certain. Yet, we should not turn from sin just because we might face judgment. If we say that we know Jesus, then we should love him. To love him means to follow him wherever he leads us, to do what he says, to go where he says to go, and to say what he tells us to say, even if it is messages of judgment. It means that we love him like a first love. We want to be with him, talk with him, and sit at his feet and hear what he has to say. We want to share with him our whole lives and experiences, emotions, thoughts, etc. And, we want to tell others about Jesus, too, so that they, as well, can come to know him, love him, serve and obey him.

Wake Up! / An Original Work / November 25, 2011

Based off Ephesians 5:1-21; Revelation 3:1-6

Wake up, sleeper,
Rise from the dead.
Your God awaits
You to do what
He says to you.
Be not conformed
To your selfish will.
Trust in the Lord.
Do what He says.
He will give you victory.
Do not walk in
Darkness; come into
The light of love.

Listen to your
Savior calling
You to obey
All His teachings.
Repent of your
Sin, and Christ will
Shine His love on you.
He waits patiently
For you to
Heed His whispers to your heart.
Will you hasten
To obey Him;
Not from Him depart?

Live your life from
This day forward,
Walking in His
Love and mercy.
Let Him cleanse you
Of all your sins.
Dwell with Him today.
Do not insult
God’s grace to you.
Do not make light of your sin.
Let the light of
His truth come and
Free you from within.

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