The ‘church in the wilderness’, representing the Passover church was fed manna’. Manna literally means, ’What is it?’ It was something ‘utterly other’ to anything they had experienced heretofore.
On the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out in ‘the Upper Room’ it again provoked among observers the question, “What is this?’ Once again it was something ‘utterly other’ than anything they had known to date.
Peter’s answer quoted Joel “THIS is THAT which was spoken of by the prophet Joel.’ (Acts.2:16)
Now as we transition into the age of Tabernacles should we not again be prepared to encounter something ‘utterly other’ than that which we have been used to?
I was recently at a leaders meeting where the ‘latest ‘summit’ was being talked about as promising the be ‘the latest and the greatest’ yet! It sounded to me however, like a familiar formulae. Another conference, another set of meetings with worship times, speakers, and ministry times, which no doubt God will bless.
‘But what else is there? ‘ You might ask.
It is entirely understandable that we look to the future through the lens of our past experience. This is the only framework we have to use. We’ve had 2,000 years of viewing things through a Pentecostal lens. However unless we in honesty and humility end up having to ask the question, “What is it?’ It probably isn’t the ‘it’ that we are all longing for in terms of the THIS of God’s next move’.
This is why I believe the message Johnny Enlow brings comes into the category of ‘utterly other’. Religion is only one of the the seven mountains, so the ‘Religious Revival’ many are hoping for can only be one aspect of a much more fundamental and far reaching global and societal change that accompanies the dawning of this new ‘kingdom age’ The last two Unfiltered episodes #75 and 76 on Elijah Streams once again present something that is quite ‘different’……challenging and hopeful.
Stephen Jones has on his blog at God’s Kingdom Ministries has been reporting recently on a number of world governmental leaders asking for his help in establishing an ‘utterly other’ approach to the mountain of government, now that the bankruptcy of the fraudulent western ‘democracies’ is being exposed as merely a neo-colonialism managed by an elite few evil ‘puppet masters’ in the shadows. It is indeed time for ‘the saints of the Most High’ ’to come into their own. (Dan.7:18)
When Zerubabbel rebuilt the temple we read that those who remembered the old temple wept. They couldn’t help but look back and compare ‘THIS’ to ‘THAT’’. THIS however was NOT THAT.
It was like today, a new day, requiring a new way of perceiving how God is working.
‘Behold I am doing a new thing;’ is an oft quoted scripture. But it continues, ‘now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?’ ( Is.43:19)
I will write next about how we encountered THIS is THAT in our perception of events on our first day home in Ireland.
P.S. It’s a Jackalope of course!