August 24, 2022
Good Morning Yahweh! Thank you for the unlearning. You’ve shown me so much of who you are and what you desire that is different to what I grew up with. A friend sent me a song last night after we spoke about some of the things that we’ve had to unlearn, or are in the process of unlearning. The song? “Undoing” by DOE.
And the truth is, you have taken the time to peel back the layers of religion to reveal parts of you that I didn’t even know existed and I am here for it. I am thankful for it. I still hold fast to the belief that denominations are a man-made concept and that you have one church: those who believe and accept you as Lord and Saviour. And they can choose to worship, to congregate with any community of believers that they choose (but hopefully, they/we allow you to lead). So many of us want to cherry pick which part of the Bible that we want to apply to our lives and truthfully, the churches do the same thing. But you are the living word. The whole word. It all applies to you and honestly, it would be better to discard the whole word rather than pick some and discard some, because you desire all of us – not some of us.
There is still so much of who you have revealed of yourself for me to know that it can be overwhelming. But it’s the same way we still work at knowing our spouses or a friend. We don’t stop one day and decide, “That’s it! There is nothing else I can possibly learn about you,” and then call it a day. The relationship will grow stagnant because without that time spent to keep knowing more, we lose connection. The difference though with you is that in our sinful state it would be impossible for you to reveal everything about you because our minds cannot comprehend. You can’t even reveal your true self or we would all die. Though I’m curious: in scripture when you speak about face to face was it your true face or a glamour or was it a metaphorical face to face?
Deuteronomy 5:4-5 – The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain. I stood between the Lord and you to tell you the Lord’s word, because you were afraid of the fire and didn’t go up on the mountain. The Lord said:
Hmmm. I guess the first general observation is that Moses said “face to face” but it’s not what we consider as “face to face” today because they stayed far and Moses was between you and the Israelites.
Face : panim/paneh : accept, countenance, in the presence of, because of, to stand before.
Deuteronomy 34:10 – There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord dealt with face to face.
Numbers 12:8 – I speak with him face to face, plainly and not in riddles. He even sees the form of the Lord. Why weren’t you afraid to criticize my servant Moses?”
So. The word used here for face to face is difference from Deuteronomy 5:4-5 and 34:10.
Face : peh : mouth, an organ of speech, sound, according to.
What does this mean especially when the entire scripture is looked at where he says – plainly and not in riddles. He (Moses) even sees the form of the Lord.
Plainly : mareh : sight, appearance, vision, openly.
Form : temunah : likeness, image, similitude, embodiment.
Your definition of face to face is clearly different from ours (but then again, you do say your thoughts are not my thoughts). But you do speak. You speak to all of us who is willing to listen, but how much you reveal of yourself at a time is dependent on our personal relationship with you. How much time is spent in your presence. There are times Moses just sat in your presence for days (Exodus 24:16). No words, just sat until you revealed yourself to him. Your voice – which sounded like thunder to the Israelites. And I believe it truly represents how things are with you. The more time spent in your presence, the plainer you speak to us/or the easier it is to understand what you are sharing in that moment. Gideon “met” you face to face, but the word used is “panim.”
Judges 6:22 – That’s when Gideon realized that this had been the Messenger of the Lord. So he said, “Lord God! I have seen the Messenger of the Lord face to face.”
While this was a total encounter with you, it wasn’t that he spent an inordinate amount of time in your presence. You spoke with him after, but there isn’t another face to face mention. But with Moses, there are several times when “face to face” is spoken of.
Psalm 27:8 – When you said, “Seek my face,” my heart said to you, “O Lord, I will seek your face.
The word used here? Also “panim”: to be in his presence. It’s not the literal face of Yahweh but the presence of Yahweh. But while in his presence, as we draw closer to him, we can hear his voice plainer – no riddles or dreams that require interpretation. We can even see his form: a representation of who he is. But only as we spend time with him.
You know how you can pick out your spouse in a crowd? How is it you can just see the shape of them and know it is them? Because you spent time (I hope) with them. That’s what Yahweh desires. That we spend time in his presence. Getting to know him for ourselves. Not what religion has taught us, but what he has revealed. The sad truth is, a lot of what is taught in religion was/is not found in scripture. It was not revealed by Yahweh, but because we are so used to it, we hold on to it. It does not mean we aren’t saved because we do accept Yahweh as our Lord and Saviour, it just means that there are parts of Yahweh that he longs to share with us that we don’t experience because we aren’t in his presence long enough.
Yahweh, help us to spend time with you. To know you. To hear you, to see the form of you. That’s an awesome thought: no riddles, no vision. Plain talk. I pray for the grace to also accept where others are in their walk with you. And I think this is something we have to be very careful with, “so you don’t know that?!!” type of attitude that can turn others off from even desiring to know you. I pray that with each step, each encounter that we don’t see ourselves as better than, but that we need to show the love that you have shown us to others: the fruit of being in your presence.
Thank you for wanting to share who you are with us. Thank you for your love. I love you. And I’m excited to know you even more. Yahweh, remember your daughters. Help us to seek your face. To spend time with you – not with regurgitated food (and that is such a disgusting visual), but with you – the food that comes directly from you. After all, you open your hands and everyone is satisfied (Psalm 145:16). You desire that everything is satisfied and that satisfaction comes from you. Knowing you. In your presence.
Gossip
Proverbs 16:28 – A devious person spreads quarrels. A gossip separates the closest of friends.
Proverbs 13:3 – Whoever controls his mouth protects his own life. Whoever has a big mouth comes to ruin.
Today was the greatest evidence of what happens when someone gossips and when someone does not control their words. It truly tears apart a community and unless they are able to recognise their ways, it won’t change. Pray for us, Yahweh, we need you.
