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Index
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Index
I will ask,
and You will inform me
Job 42:4b Tanakh
By and large our first encounter with the Lord God is at the Academic Level. But if we are to find our calling in life, then it is necessary to make the jump to a personal encounter with the Lord. Sadly, today's failing churches are failing to recognise and enable that transition.
But then there is the matter of the church's relationship with the Lord. Are they on the same page, working towards the fulfilment of God's vision for the future? Or - as is the case today - are neither talking to the other because the church insists on going its own way?
See also: Job
The Book of Job underlines the insufficiency of academic knowledge. Having heard God's voice, Job says:
1 Job said in reply to the LORD:
2 I know that You can do everything,
That nothing you propose is impossible for You.
3 Who is this who obscures counsel without knowledge?
Indeed, I spoke without understanding
Of things beyond me, which I did not know.
(Job 42:1-3 (Tanakh))
Job puts his finger directly on the reason for his lack of understanding:
5 I had heard You with my ears (Job 42:5 (Tanakh))
The academic knowledge to be found in Scripture and the Covenant will only take us so far in our understanding of the Lord's plan for us. A more detailed knowledge of how we may serve Him will only come from discussions with Him. This applies at any level, whether at the level of the individual, group, or the whole church.
Having heard God's voice - (a one-sided conversation rendering Job silent) - Job says:
1 Job said in reply to the LORD:
2 I know that You can do everything,
That nothing you propose is impossible for You.
3 Who is this who obscures counsel without knowledge?
Indeed, I spoke without understanding
Of things beyond me, which I did not know.
4 Hear now, and I will speak;
I will ask, and You will inform me.
5 I had heard You with my ears,
But now I see You with my eyes;
6 Therefore, I recant and relent,
Being but dust and ashes. (Job 42:1-6 (Tanakh))
"I will ask, and You will inform me," (Job 42:4b T) is the key which will unlock discovery of our calling!
Job's education can only take him so far, because the Law - while providing a framework for conduct - has no knowledge of individuals or groups.
Only the Lord has that detailed knowledge of people or groups. And because of this, He can integrate those resources into His strategy for reaching out to those who are lost.
It necessarily follows that only those who discuss the Lord's plans with Him and obey Him, actually know and understand Him. Guided by the Lord, they will go out into the world and bear much fruit for Him.
Conversely, those who do not discuss matters with the Lord do not know Him as a person. He becomes an abstraction. These people do not know the Lord's plans for them, and so are unable to bear fruit. Hence, on the Day of Judgement, Jesus won't be able to remove them from His presence quickly enough:
[21] "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
[22] On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
[23] And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV)
Between them, Paul and the unknown writer to the Hebrews trashed the Covenant; at the same time trampling God's good name in the mud. These arrogant self-proclaimed 'experts':
[5] Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, [6] who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NRSV)
... proceeded to annul the Covenant on grounds that it was lethal:
[5] Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, [6] who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
[7] Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside (2 Corinthians 3:5-7 NRSV)
... was based on inadequate promises:
[6] But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6 ESV)
... was faulty:
[7] For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. (Hebrews 8:7 ESV)
... [and was] obsolete, ageing, vanishing:
[13] In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13 ESV)
Paul and the unknown writer to the Hebrews are effectively blaming God for a corrupt Covenant, at the same time making a mockery of the blood of the Covenant (sic)† and, by extension, the Blood of the Covenant (sic)‡.
Paul, having annulled the Covenant, asserts:
[28] For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. (Romans 3:28 NIV)
However, contrary to Paul, discussion with the Lord - and subsequent obedience - are an integral part of the Covenant.
And the degree of Paul's evil is rendered unforgivable because Paul attributes his 'doctrine' to the authority, power, and direction of the Lord Spirit:
[1] I speak the truth in Christ---I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit--- (Romans 9:1 NIV)
Paul's attribution is an offence which is sufficient to invoke enlistment in the Blacklist:
In chapter 24 of the Book of Matthew, Jesus mentions the betrayal which will take place during the Last Days. Yet here, in Paul's words in Ro. 3:28, we find that we have been betrayed already for the last two thousand or so years.
Inevitably, many will continue to hold defiantly to Paul's false doctrine. But that defiance will secure their enlistment in the Blacklist. Paul's doctrine should come with a public health warning! The sting in the tail is that once the Blacklist has been invoked, then it cannot subsequently be revoked.
God's people are required to serve Him in the community, whether on the local or the world stage. Living in a world of sin, they are required to go out - as directed personally by the Lord - and bring in the harvest of lost souls.
Fruit is necessary for salvation:
[19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 7:19 NIV)
However, it is imperative that the fruit be good.
[Essay: The future of the new-covenant church (a church which has been producing bad fruit for the last two thousand or so years).]
The yield is obtained through obedience to the Covenant, and through obedience to God's plans as discussed with Him.
See: Book of Life.
Accountability: one's terms of service and limits.
Accountability is defined:
The Book of Teaching will point to accountability in general terms - though for some roles, such as the Levitical Priesthood - which is an established, hereditary assigment - they are specific and comprehensive. However, discussions with the Lord will be needed to resolve such matters as, for example, baffling questions.
The context of an assigment may be established from the initial context in which the assigment was handed out. Thus, although unstated, the context of Paul's assignment† fell within the scope of the Messianically Amended Covenant. Note, too, the implied unity of the people of Israel and the Gentile converts:
[† [15] But the Lord said to him [Ananias], "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel" (Acts 9:15 NRSV)]
[Essay: Paul's assigment and accountability.]
Assigments are always handed out wrapped in a contract. This ensures that all parties are fully informed before the contract is signed. But before commitment, that contract must be fully understood and accepted. Accountability will fall within the terms and conditions of the contract: in particular the penalties which will be applied if the contract is broken.
The Lord will explain His plan in terms of generalities through the Covenant, and personally through direct discussion. If there is no discussion, then there is every likelihood of a descent into moralism. Without discussion, then there is every likelihood of being disowned on the Day of Judgement:
[21] "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' [23] Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)
The Covenant reveals God's plan for individuals/groups within a framework of generalities. However, the Covenant doesn't know the circumstances of every individual/group, so must necessarily leave that to their discussions with the Lord.
Although there is overlap, each person/group occupies a unique place in society. Face-to-face discussion with God will lead to understanding God's personal plan in those circumstances.
Faithful obedience to the Covenant Model, and faithful obedience to God's specific instructions, as detailed in discussions with Him.
If we are to know and understand God then it is necessary to make the jump from academic to personal encounter with Him.
Although there are recognised classes - such as the Priesthood in the Order of Melchizedek or the Levitical Priesthood - the Lord may, on occasion, create an ad-hoc subclass/superclass for a special purpose.
Note that some appointments - such as the Levitical Priesthood and the Priesthood in the Order of Melchizedek - may be hereditary in nature. For example, see The Two Olive Trees.
If there is no unity, then any attempt at discussion will fail.
We see this in the church today! Someone will pray ... perhaps most will say 'amen' at the end, then everyone will go away and believe and do their own thing. Is this the kind of unity Jesus was praying about before His betrayal and arrest in a garden across the Kidron valley? New-covenant doctrine that belief in Christ is sufficient for unity, comes no where near the demands made by Jesus:
[20] "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, [21] that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, [23] I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:20-23 NRSV)
[Essay: Baffling questions.]
[Essay: Collective discussions with the Lord.]
[Essay: The importance of shepherds after God's own heart.]
Version: 2024-08-11
‡ Jesus' blood shed at Calvary to make expiation, thereby appending - in blood! - His formal signature as a party to the Mosaic Covenant.