THE SOUND OF THE LORD
Part 5: THE SPIRIT OF SOUND
Hiya, Folks!
We are in the midst of change -- lots of change! In the days ahead -- and even now as I write -- we are moving River Worship Center and our entire ministry from Sunnyside to Prosser, Washington -- a distance of some 18 miles.
Prosser has always been our target location, but we honestly didn't expect to make the move quite this soon. Recent developments with our sister ministry, Iglesia de Cristo Miel (the Spanish-language ministry operating under the leadership of Cesar Lopez), have prompted this move. Both of us using the same space at different times for different types of ministry necessitates the use of equipment, instruments, and office equipment that take up a considerable amount of room, and that -- in turn -- restricts the amount of space for seating people who come to worship.
For the past several weeks, Cesar has had standing room only on Saturdays and Sundays, and has had to open the vestibule doors so folks could stand out in the vestibule in order to hear and participate. Although we had expected to purchase this building ourselves, Cesar has requested the option of purchasing it and enlarging the place to meet the growing need for space.
At the same time, an opportunity has presented itself for us to make the move to Prosser now and relocate to new quarters on the Yakima River. Interestingly enough, the majority of the families in our fellowship already live in Prosser. The timing is ordered of the Lord, and the details of this move have been being worked out smoothly and easily. That said, we expect to complete the relocation of River Worship Center and Capener Ministries before or by the first of March.
We will keep you apprised as things progress. As the time approaches for the move of our office and equipment, we will likely not publish a Coffee Break for a week or two during mid-February.
OK. Time to get on with the day. Told you I'd let you know what I thought of this Marques Estate Harvest coffee that our daughter, Shelley, brought us. I would classify it as a medium roast coffee. That said, it works just fine when blended in a 1:2 ratio with either very dark roasted Columbian or French Roast. As a standalone coffee, however, it's a bit too tangy for my tastebuds.
Let me begin today with something that maybe you've never thought of. Words are spirit containers. It matters not who is speaking, the words that come forth from a person's mouth contain spirit. The Hebrew Midrash translates the text of Genesis 2:7b/c as, "and {God] breathed into his being the breath of life, and man became a living, speaking spirit."
Jesus made the following statement: "It is the spirit that quickens (zoopoieo: energizes, makes alive); the [natural, carnal] flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63)
Then Paul adds, "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak." (II Corinthians 4:13)
Are you seeing the connection? Words come from spirit. Words are spirit containers. They carry spirit with them. As spirit containers, words have power. They bring with them the authority to energize life or initiate a sentence of death.
If the motivating spirit is faith, then the spirit of faith is what comes forth in the words. If the motivating spirit is love, the words that come forth carry that spirit of love. When the motivating spirit is operating in and through the Holy Spirit with His power and authority, that is the sound that goes forth; and it is a sound of life, health, wholeness, healing, deliverance and provision for every need. The words that are spoken articulate the specific ministry the Holy Spirit is bringing.
By the same token, if the motivating spirit is fear, unbelief, doubt, anger, hate, etc., the words that come out of a person's mouth will contain those spirits. The words -- driven by evil spirits working in agreement with the individual human spirit -- will articulate what the evil spirits are attempting to enact.
There is a truth here that many folks seem to miss. Words -- no matter what spirit motivates them -- have no power on their own: until the sound of those words goes forth they remain thoughts, concepts or ideas. It is the sound of those words which articulates the purpose and intent of the spirit behind them. Hence, words are containers of spirit.
Evil spirits have no power of their own to function or enact anything in any realm except they operate through, and with the agreement of, men or women. Evil spirits have no creative power or authority of any kind. The only way they can enact their agenda is through human agency. All evil spirits, whether they be low-level "foot soldiers," or demonic rulers of darkness (kosmokrator: world rulers of darkness -- Ephesians 6:12), operate through and by human flesh working in agreement with them.
They operate in a spiritual dimension, to be sure, but they still require human flesh in order to accomplish their agenda. Satan has no ability on his own other than that which God created for him in which to function. We'll come back to this momentarily.
I don't want to get too far astray in today's discussion, but let me take you to an event in Daniel that illustrates this picture.
"Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia."
"Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come."
Notice that the angel's description of his opposition is the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" -- NOT the king of Persia. Nowhere in the Word is Satan -- or any other demonic force -- EVER described as a king. Rather, you have a demonic force of wickedness working in, through and with the agreement of a prince. A prince is not just some flunky. He has authority, and he exercises it to the fullest
In this instance this prince (the demonic power working through him) saw the angel of the Lord going forth on a mission. His ability to withstand the messenger of God was sufficient enough as a delaying tactic that Daniel wasn't getting what he was praying for. The angel reports to Daniel that Michael the Archangel came to defeat this demonic prince, and during the conflict that ensued the messenger remained "with the kings of Persia."
The phrase, "kings of Persia," is NOT a reference to earthly kings but rather individuals who had intercessory power and authority and functioned in their place of Godly authority providing a place of safety for the messenger of God during the spiritual conflict. Let's not forget that history tells us that Daniel had established a "school of prophets" who clearly understood what it meant to wait on God, wait on His Word, engage in prayer and intercession, and rehearse among themselves every prophetic utterance concerning the coming of the Messiah. I've no doubt that the real "kings of Persia" came from this group.
Revelation 1:6 bears out this concept with the statement, "And [He] hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
Understand? Satan is no king. He is nothing more than a prince -- and a thieving prince at that! He is nothing but a disembodied master spirit who still must have a body (or bodies) through which he can exercise his agenda. He exercises his deception, his trickery and his theft through people.
Why? The answer is found in Psalm 115:16, "The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men." Yup. That's it! Satan does not own the earth. The apostle Paul refers to him as the "prince of the power of the air" -- not even the "prince of this earth!"
I noted earlier that Satan has no power on his own other than that for which he was created. He was created Lucifer, an archangel whose specific function and duty was to minister before the Throne with the sound of praise and worship, and to envelop the Throne of God with that worship. It is worth noting that after his rebellion and eviction from his place in Heaven, he corrupted that sound of praise and worship and used his only creative ability to generate a sound of opposition ("wrestling," if you will) to God. We see and hear that opposition 24 hours a day in the entertainment media of today.
I've really gotten astray from today's discussion, but what I'm getting at is the fact that evil spirits do not have a voice of their own. They must utilize people in order to have access to the creative or destructive power of the human tongue.
We've quoted this before, but once again, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life." (Proverbs 18:21 Amplified Version)
It may seem like I'm beating this topic to pieces but I'm trying to make it abundantly clear that all creative (or destructive) sounds come from the human tongue (or, in the case of music, from the hands that play instruments). Human agency is, therefore, an integral part to all creative or destructive sound, and by spiritual involvement, likewise integral to the implementation of spiritual power and force.
In the same way that evil spirits (or Satan) require human beings operating in agreement -- knowingly or unwittingly -- in order to accomplish their agenda against God (and mankind), so also has God -- by His own choice and Will -- elected to use man (operating in knowing agreement with Him) to accomplish the establishing of His Kingdom and His purposes for men and women.
All sound, therefore, which emanates from the human voice conveys a spiritual force. There is no such thing as a word spoken which does not convey some spirit. For that reason, Jesus made a point of dealing with this principle. The KJV (Mark 4:24-25) records it like this:
"And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath."
Allow me to translate it from the Greek and amplify it a bit more:
"And He said to them, Be careful of what you are hearing or what you listen to. The measure of esteem, thought, meditation or consideration you give to that which you hear will be the measure of virtue and/or revelation [of good or evil] that comes back to you -- and even more will be given to you who hear. For to him who has [the substance of faith or virtue] will more be given; and from him who has nothing of substance, even what he has will be forcibly taken away."
A bit windy, I know, but you get the picture. Not only is it important to guard that which comes forth from our mouth, what we hear is of equally critical consequence. There is spiritual significance and weight to the sound.
I had thought to finish up this series today, but it is important to give you some real-life examples of the spiritual power and force that comes through sound -- and particularly, words as spirit-containers. We'll do one more Coffee Break dealing with the Proofs of Spiritual Force in Sound.
Finally, in the light of Jesus' instruction, let me ask you a few questions. What do you spend your day listening to? Do you watch a lot of television? Do you listen to pop music on the radio a lot? Are you a talk-radio addict? Are you addicted to heavy rock or rap? Do you walk around all day plugged into an iPod or some other mp3 player listening to the stuff that passes for "popular music?"
Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not condemning ALL popular music. I'm not opposed to talk-radio on its merits. I enjoy reruns of Star Trek or Stargate, and 24. What I DON'T do is make any of it a steady diet. It does not fill my day.
I enjoy Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity from time to time, but I won't listen to them continually. I won't sit in front of the television set hour after hour after hour every day and consume everything that passes for entertainment. I rarely listen to the radio anymore and doubt that I've actually listened to a total of one or perhaps two hours of radio programming in the past two years.
Della and I limit the music we listen to. Other than the rare and occasional moment to listen to some Big Band music of the 1940's, and once in a very great while a bit of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin or Handel, if you check the CD carousel in our sound system you'll find nothing but praise and worship -- or perhaps a teaching series by Keith Moore, Neville Johnson, Kenneth Copeland or some other faith-filled teacher.
We have a huge music library built up over many years, and I have live and original recordings that date back nearly 70 years. Della and I have learned throughout the years that it is important -- and becoming increasingly so -- that we guard our ears (and our eyes, as well). As we come to the end of this age and see the imminent return of Jesus Christ upon us, we want to ensure that there are no contaminants in our spirits -- no impediments to the flow of the Holy Spirit.
For that reason, I encourage you to guard what you hear and listen to. Begin using the discernment of the Holy Spirit given to you. Pay attention to the spirit behind what you hear. What are you meditating on? What are you thinking about? What thoughts or feelings or emotions are you experiencing as a result of what you hear? Do the things you listen to promote the satisfying of your human desires, feelings and imaginations, or do they draw you into the fulfilling and life-giving presence of the Lord?
See what I mean?
We will continue this again in a week or so.
What I hear I think about. What I think about is generated in my heart. What is generated in my heart I speak. What I speak comes to pass. Out of the abundance of my heart, my mouth speaks. Death and life are in the power of my tongue.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: THE SOUND OF THE LORD, Part 4
THE SOUND OF THE LORD
Part 4: THE ONOMA OF SOUND
A belated Happy New Year and Good Morning to you!
Thanks again to those of you who have been faithful readers and subscribers! Today's edition begins our fifth year of publication.
During the weeks of the Christmas and New Year holiday break, we have added somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 new readers despite the fact that we have not published any new Coffee Breaks since just before Christmas. Guess that means these Coffee Break discussions are making a difference in the lives of some people, and that's a blessing! By the way, if you are among the newly subscribed and are wondering why you haven't been receiving any Coffee Breaks, it has been an extremely busy break period as I have been trying to archive the past four years worth of these writings in one place, as well as taking care of some needed maintenance here at River Worship Center.
Let's get started with today's discussion and pick up where we left off in talking about sound -- and specifically, the Sound of the Lord.
Before we do, make sure you've gotten the day kick-started with some good dark-roasted java. Della and I are trying a new coffee today. Our daughter, Shelley, gave us a large bag of Marques Estate Harvest coffee from Brazil. It looks good and smells good. Haven't seen this coffee before, but because Shelley is a chef she has access to coffees and sources of coffee that we don't normally see. After we've had a few days of trying this and comparing it, I'll let you know my assessment.
We have quoted Paul's statement from Ephesians 6:12 throughout these discussions on sound, and let me start there again today.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Once again I remind you that the word translated "wrestle" in the KJV ("struggle" in the NAS) is the Greek word, esti-pale (from its root, pallo: to vibrate). It is a musical term which describes two or more notes or sounds in opposition to each other which create a resulting noise or cacophony the ears cannot stand. This is a significant concept in the overall picture of spiritual warfare.
Each sound has an onoma -- a shem -- a striking personality and character that drives it.
Onoma is a Greek term (shem is the Hebrew term which has the identical picture) which most often gets translated "name" but the image and thought behind this word go far beyond the simple idea of a "name." The "name" is intended as a snapshot, if you will, of a certain character, a personality, the essence of who one is, one's makeup, their rank, power and authority, their behavior, their integrity (or lack thereof), and so forth. The "name" is a marker for a vision that encompasses all that a person is to be. It is a prophecy of their future. All of this is encompassed in "onoma."
Let me draw some illustrations for you.
We have a graphic picture in Acts 19 where the seven sons of the Jewish priest, Sceva, saw and heard the apostle Paul casting out evil spirits in the "onoma" of Jesus. They took the names of Jesus and Paul as some kind of religious formula and, thinking they could simply bandy those names without being "in the onoma" therewith, uttered the phrase, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth."
Because they were simply using words as a formula and not understanding either the power, the authority, or the character and essence behind the "name" of Jesus, "Jesus" became a weapon they didn't know how to use. The evil spirits came out, all right. They came out of the demonized individual and tore them to pieces.
There's another example of this in Matthew 7:20-23 where Jesus says, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Notice what is happening. People want to be included in the Kingdom, and say to the Lord, "We've prophesied in your name. We've cast out demons in your name. We've done lots of miracles in your name."
The essence of Jesus' response is, "No you haven't. You've used religious formulas and seen success because of the power of my name, but you've used my name as a formula. You've twisted the very essence of my onoma into something that serves your kingdom. You haven't been in my onoma!"
There are many professing Christians today who spout the name of Jesus, lay hands on the sick and prophesy. They pay tithes, they do good deeds in public, the feed the hungry and provide shelter for those who are in poverty. But here's the kicker. They are not doing it in the onoma of Jesus!
There is no abiding in Him. There is no intimate love-relationship with Him. There is no willingness on their part to meet His conditions in order to bring the Kingdom of God to realization on earth. There is no thirst for the life and presence of the Lord in their lives. There is no "Katy-bar-the-door," no-holds-barred drive in their spirits to see that Jesus Christ receives His inheritance in them. They are filled with religious doctrines which satisfy their flesh and place no requirements for the spiritual growth and maturity that Jesus is looking for in a Bride who will be His Counterpart, His Other Self.
Understand the difference?
Religion uses formulas. Religion uses nice phrases. Religion sounds good. It often says all the right things, but there is no power and authority to back up what it does. The manifestation of the life and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is missing.
And here's the issue I'm getting at in this discussion on the Sound of the Lord. The Sound of the Lord brings with it the onoma, the very shem of the Lord Himself! His sound transmits His character. It communicates the absolute essence of Who He is!
Think about all the "church" music you've heard throughout the years. How much of it really communicated and transmitted the very life of the Lord Jesus Christ? How much of it simply communicated the flesh and carnality of the people singing and playing? How much of it was real ministry to the Lord? How much of it was dry and lifeless?
Are you beginning to see the picture? Music which comes out of the Spirit of the Living God communicates His presence. Music that just "sounds good" entertains you for a minute or two, maybe it makes you feel good, but it leaves you without any sense of the character and makeup of the Lord Himself. The reason is because of the onoma that is creating that sound. It may have all the right words. It may have a very skilled and professional sound. But it isn't the Sound of the Lord!
Why? Because there's no rhema of the Holy Spirit in it. It's just not what the Lord is saying to or through His people at the moment. If it isn't what He is saying to His people NOW, it lacks the power and authority.
Extrapolate that to the words you listen to. What are you hearing on radio or TV? What are you hearing in the pulpit?
Let's take this concept to another dimension.
There is a unique aspect to the Sound of the Lord and His onoma that most folks are not aware of. Uri Harel discovered that there is a musical sound or tone to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet corresponding to its numerical value. (For those of you who don't know Uri, he was born in Haifa, Israel. Uri attended college in Buffalo, New York, where he graduated with a degree in education. After moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 1977, he began what would become a life-long passion to explore and share with others the unique beauty of the Hebrew language. I commend his work to you which you can find at www.c-bh.com, and www.musicfromgod.com)
Each word of the Old Testament has a sound that goes with it. That sound is a part of the Sound of the Lord. Quoting from Uri's website, "According to an old Hebrew tradition about the creation of the world, God used the Torah as a blueprint for the work of creating the universe. The 22 Hebrew letters in pre-determined combinations were used to accomplish this task. Those letters therefore represent the physical forces used in the Creation process. All of creation reflects the Divine order, which in turn is represented by the Divine language and its symbols - the Hebrew alphabet."
Those forces are manifested in sound. That sound, as we all know, is the sound that went forth when God spoke the worlds into existence. That is the same sound that came forth with the very first words, "Light BE!"
Now, let's take this picture to the onoma of the sound of opposition.
Think about all the sounds that fill our daily lives. How about TV commercials? What about sound tracks for TV programs or movies? What about the music you listen to?
We've already talked about Lucifer, his function in Heaven prior to his rebellion as the preeminent orchestrator of the sound of praise, worship and adoration; followed by his removal from his archangelic office. His name was changed from Lucifer to Satan. In the same way that the name of the Lord incorporates His shem, His onoma, so also does Satan's name draw a graphic picture of his character, his essence, his makeup and his behavior.
We've already discussed the fact that Paul's use of the representative term "vibrating" in opposition draws a graphic picture of sounds in opposition. Opposition is part of the onoma of Satan. The Hebrew word, satan, (pronounced saw. tan) is a primitive root in the Hebrew language. It draws a picture of opposition, of (false) accusation; to take an adversarial stance, to resist. It denotes one who lies in wait to ambush, an enticer, a layer of snares or traps.
The Greek satanas parallels the Hebrew satan, drawing its origin from the same Chaldean definitions. J. H. Thayer, in his Greek-English Lexicon, adds that satanas is "the prince of evil," and "an inciter to apostasy." Thayer defines the onoma of satanas as "the source of affliction, infirmity, disease and sickness."
Consider, therefore, the sound of his onoma! Is it any wonder that people who spend their days and nights listening to hard rock music, acid rock and rap, just to draw a few examples, are among the most sickly, the most diseased, the most afflicted and tormented people on the face of the earth? Is it any wonder that the overwhelming majority of them rarely even make the allotted 70-year sin lifespan because ("our days are passed away in thy wrath")? (See Psalm 90:9-10) [Note: Despite God's promise that man's "days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Genesis 6:3) Moses makes note of the fact that sin and iniquity cut it back for most folks to seventy years, or eighty "by reason of strength."]
Pretty drastic cut, don't you think? It's no wonder that Jesus made clear that "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." (John 10:10a) That is precisely what the sound of Satan's onoma does: it steals, it kills, and it destroys! What a rip-off! And some folks even enjoy it while they're being systematically deprived of their health, their long life, and their welfare. Satan has so effectively programmed the masses with his mind-control that they see nothing harmful in listening to his sound. They don't even see it as the sound of Satan.
What's even worse, we have folks who come out of this scene into the body of Christ; they accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Redeemer and yet they think they need to hang onto that sound. They try to put the message of the Gospel into the onomatopoeia (sorry for the pun, but it's accurate) of Satan, and then wonder why there is so little change of lifestyle, character, makeup and personality in those they seek to "minister" to with that sound.
God's people really need to get a hold of this understanding!
I've said this before and I'll say it again! Will someone please tell me how you use the sound of opposition to the Gospel to preach the Gospel? The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn't just words you can put to any old sound! There is an onoma to the sound! No wonder Paul refers to this as "wrestling!"
That's not how Jesus did things, folks! He came with a different sound. He came with the sound of life. He came with the sound of healing and deliverance! He came with the sound of Salvation! He came with the sound of prosperity and wholeness in every part of life. He came with the sound of Heaven.
You just can't have it both ways. Trying to mix the holy and the profane, the Godly and the Satanic is folly! Pretending that it is "just sound" and that "it makes no difference" is akin to the ostrich hiding it's head in the sand.
We're almost done with this series, but I want to touch on one more aspect of sound before we move on. We've dealt thus far primarily with the sound itself, and we have touched briefly on the message or the words that come with the sound, but we need to take another look at the words themselves and how they cooperate with (or oppose, as the case may be) the sound of the Lord.
Our next Coffee Break discussion will deal with THE SPIRIT OF THE SOUND. See you again in a few days.
Things are not what they seem to be: they're what God says they are. The sound of His Word going forth is what determines the difference between light and darkness, life and death, health or sickness and disease, poverty or prosperity.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
Part 4: THE ONOMA OF SOUND
A belated Happy New Year and Good Morning to you!
Thanks again to those of you who have been faithful readers and subscribers! Today's edition begins our fifth year of publication.
During the weeks of the Christmas and New Year holiday break, we have added somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 new readers despite the fact that we have not published any new Coffee Breaks since just before Christmas. Guess that means these Coffee Break discussions are making a difference in the lives of some people, and that's a blessing! By the way, if you are among the newly subscribed and are wondering why you haven't been receiving any Coffee Breaks, it has been an extremely busy break period as I have been trying to archive the past four years worth of these writings in one place, as well as taking care of some needed maintenance here at River Worship Center.
Let's get started with today's discussion and pick up where we left off in talking about sound -- and specifically, the Sound of the Lord.
Before we do, make sure you've gotten the day kick-started with some good dark-roasted java. Della and I are trying a new coffee today. Our daughter, Shelley, gave us a large bag of Marques Estate Harvest coffee from Brazil. It looks good and smells good. Haven't seen this coffee before, but because Shelley is a chef she has access to coffees and sources of coffee that we don't normally see. After we've had a few days of trying this and comparing it, I'll let you know my assessment.
We have quoted Paul's statement from Ephesians 6:12 throughout these discussions on sound, and let me start there again today.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Once again I remind you that the word translated "wrestle" in the KJV ("struggle" in the NAS) is the Greek word, esti-pale (from its root, pallo: to vibrate). It is a musical term which describes two or more notes or sounds in opposition to each other which create a resulting noise or cacophony the ears cannot stand. This is a significant concept in the overall picture of spiritual warfare.
Each sound has an onoma -- a shem -- a striking personality and character that drives it.
Onoma is a Greek term (shem is the Hebrew term which has the identical picture) which most often gets translated "name" but the image and thought behind this word go far beyond the simple idea of a "name." The "name" is intended as a snapshot, if you will, of a certain character, a personality, the essence of who one is, one's makeup, their rank, power and authority, their behavior, their integrity (or lack thereof), and so forth. The "name" is a marker for a vision that encompasses all that a person is to be. It is a prophecy of their future. All of this is encompassed in "onoma."
Let me draw some illustrations for you.
We have a graphic picture in Acts 19 where the seven sons of the Jewish priest, Sceva, saw and heard the apostle Paul casting out evil spirits in the "onoma" of Jesus. They took the names of Jesus and Paul as some kind of religious formula and, thinking they could simply bandy those names without being "in the onoma" therewith, uttered the phrase, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth."
Because they were simply using words as a formula and not understanding either the power, the authority, or the character and essence behind the "name" of Jesus, "Jesus" became a weapon they didn't know how to use. The evil spirits came out, all right. They came out of the demonized individual and tore them to pieces.
There's another example of this in Matthew 7:20-23 where Jesus says, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Notice what is happening. People want to be included in the Kingdom, and say to the Lord, "We've prophesied in your name. We've cast out demons in your name. We've done lots of miracles in your name."
The essence of Jesus' response is, "No you haven't. You've used religious formulas and seen success because of the power of my name, but you've used my name as a formula. You've twisted the very essence of my onoma into something that serves your kingdom. You haven't been in my onoma!"
There are many professing Christians today who spout the name of Jesus, lay hands on the sick and prophesy. They pay tithes, they do good deeds in public, the feed the hungry and provide shelter for those who are in poverty. But here's the kicker. They are not doing it in the onoma of Jesus!
There is no abiding in Him. There is no intimate love-relationship with Him. There is no willingness on their part to meet His conditions in order to bring the Kingdom of God to realization on earth. There is no thirst for the life and presence of the Lord in their lives. There is no "Katy-bar-the-door," no-holds-barred drive in their spirits to see that Jesus Christ receives His inheritance in them. They are filled with religious doctrines which satisfy their flesh and place no requirements for the spiritual growth and maturity that Jesus is looking for in a Bride who will be His Counterpart, His Other Self.
Understand the difference?
Religion uses formulas. Religion uses nice phrases. Religion sounds good. It often says all the right things, but there is no power and authority to back up what it does. The manifestation of the life and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is missing.
And here's the issue I'm getting at in this discussion on the Sound of the Lord. The Sound of the Lord brings with it the onoma, the very shem of the Lord Himself! His sound transmits His character. It communicates the absolute essence of Who He is!
Think about all the "church" music you've heard throughout the years. How much of it really communicated and transmitted the very life of the Lord Jesus Christ? How much of it simply communicated the flesh and carnality of the people singing and playing? How much of it was real ministry to the Lord? How much of it was dry and lifeless?
Are you beginning to see the picture? Music which comes out of the Spirit of the Living God communicates His presence. Music that just "sounds good" entertains you for a minute or two, maybe it makes you feel good, but it leaves you without any sense of the character and makeup of the Lord Himself. The reason is because of the onoma that is creating that sound. It may have all the right words. It may have a very skilled and professional sound. But it isn't the Sound of the Lord!
Why? Because there's no rhema of the Holy Spirit in it. It's just not what the Lord is saying to or through His people at the moment. If it isn't what He is saying to His people NOW, it lacks the power and authority.
Extrapolate that to the words you listen to. What are you hearing on radio or TV? What are you hearing in the pulpit?
Let's take this concept to another dimension.
There is a unique aspect to the Sound of the Lord and His onoma that most folks are not aware of. Uri Harel discovered that there is a musical sound or tone to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet corresponding to its numerical value. (For those of you who don't know Uri, he was born in Haifa, Israel. Uri attended college in Buffalo, New York, where he graduated with a degree in education. After moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 1977, he began what would become a life-long passion to explore and share with others the unique beauty of the Hebrew language. I commend his work to you which you can find at www.c-bh.com, and www.musicfromgod.com)
Each word of the Old Testament has a sound that goes with it. That sound is a part of the Sound of the Lord. Quoting from Uri's website, "According to an old Hebrew tradition about the creation of the world, God used the Torah as a blueprint for the work of creating the universe. The 22 Hebrew letters in pre-determined combinations were used to accomplish this task. Those letters therefore represent the physical forces used in the Creation process. All of creation reflects the Divine order, which in turn is represented by the Divine language and its symbols - the Hebrew alphabet."
Those forces are manifested in sound. That sound, as we all know, is the sound that went forth when God spoke the worlds into existence. That is the same sound that came forth with the very first words, "Light BE!"
Now, let's take this picture to the onoma of the sound of opposition.
Think about all the sounds that fill our daily lives. How about TV commercials? What about sound tracks for TV programs or movies? What about the music you listen to?
We've already talked about Lucifer, his function in Heaven prior to his rebellion as the preeminent orchestrator of the sound of praise, worship and adoration; followed by his removal from his archangelic office. His name was changed from Lucifer to Satan. In the same way that the name of the Lord incorporates His shem, His onoma, so also does Satan's name draw a graphic picture of his character, his essence, his makeup and his behavior.
We've already discussed the fact that Paul's use of the representative term "vibrating" in opposition draws a graphic picture of sounds in opposition. Opposition is part of the onoma of Satan. The Hebrew word, satan, (pronounced saw. tan) is a primitive root in the Hebrew language. It draws a picture of opposition, of (false) accusation; to take an adversarial stance, to resist. It denotes one who lies in wait to ambush, an enticer, a layer of snares or traps.
The Greek satanas parallels the Hebrew satan, drawing its origin from the same Chaldean definitions. J. H. Thayer, in his Greek-English Lexicon, adds that satanas is "the prince of evil," and "an inciter to apostasy." Thayer defines the onoma of satanas as "the source of affliction, infirmity, disease and sickness."
Consider, therefore, the sound of his onoma! Is it any wonder that people who spend their days and nights listening to hard rock music, acid rock and rap, just to draw a few examples, are among the most sickly, the most diseased, the most afflicted and tormented people on the face of the earth? Is it any wonder that the overwhelming majority of them rarely even make the allotted 70-year sin lifespan because ("our days are passed away in thy wrath")? (See Psalm 90:9-10) [Note: Despite God's promise that man's "days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Genesis 6:3) Moses makes note of the fact that sin and iniquity cut it back for most folks to seventy years, or eighty "by reason of strength."]
Pretty drastic cut, don't you think? It's no wonder that Jesus made clear that "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." (John 10:10a) That is precisely what the sound of Satan's onoma does: it steals, it kills, and it destroys! What a rip-off! And some folks even enjoy it while they're being systematically deprived of their health, their long life, and their welfare. Satan has so effectively programmed the masses with his mind-control that they see nothing harmful in listening to his sound. They don't even see it as the sound of Satan.
What's even worse, we have folks who come out of this scene into the body of Christ; they accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Redeemer and yet they think they need to hang onto that sound. They try to put the message of the Gospel into the onomatopoeia (sorry for the pun, but it's accurate) of Satan, and then wonder why there is so little change of lifestyle, character, makeup and personality in those they seek to "minister" to with that sound.
God's people really need to get a hold of this understanding!
I've said this before and I'll say it again! Will someone please tell me how you use the sound of opposition to the Gospel to preach the Gospel? The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn't just words you can put to any old sound! There is an onoma to the sound! No wonder Paul refers to this as "wrestling!"
That's not how Jesus did things, folks! He came with a different sound. He came with the sound of life. He came with the sound of healing and deliverance! He came with the sound of Salvation! He came with the sound of prosperity and wholeness in every part of life. He came with the sound of Heaven.
You just can't have it both ways. Trying to mix the holy and the profane, the Godly and the Satanic is folly! Pretending that it is "just sound" and that "it makes no difference" is akin to the ostrich hiding it's head in the sand.
We're almost done with this series, but I want to touch on one more aspect of sound before we move on. We've dealt thus far primarily with the sound itself, and we have touched briefly on the message or the words that come with the sound, but we need to take another look at the words themselves and how they cooperate with (or oppose, as the case may be) the sound of the Lord.
Our next Coffee Break discussion will deal with THE SPIRIT OF THE SOUND. See you again in a few days.
Things are not what they seem to be: they're what God says they are. The sound of His Word going forth is what determines the difference between light and darkness, life and death, health or sickness and disease, poverty or prosperity.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: THE SOUND OF THE LORD, Part 3
THE SOUND OF THE LORD
Part 3: WHERE THE SOUND OF OPPOSITION BEGAN
Greetings, Salutations, Solutions, Felicitations, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum!
That ought to fire up your juices today!
Oh, and it is very, very dark-roasted Colombian in both the French Press and the Expresso Machine today. Come on by and have a cup with me.
This discussion has obviously stirred some folks -- so far not too many negatively, it appears -- and for people whose lives revolve around sound, whether it be praise, worship, intercession, teaching, preaching, or just sharing, this is an extremely important area of revelation and understanding.
We've been using this translation (mine) from the Greek text of II Corinthians 10:3-5 in each of the past two Coffee Breaks and I want to start there again today.
"For the weapons and instruments of our war and executed actions [against Satan] do not have their origins and [weak, impotent] operation in natural flesh and human abilities, but they are skillful, potent and powerful – like dynamite – through God to the demolition and extinction of all fortified and guarded places of opinions in opposition,"
"Bringing down violently and demolishing (to total extinction) all mental reasonings and thought processes, and every mental barrier or arrogant and self-elevated attitude that justifies itself in opposition to the knowledge of God; bringing into captivity and making a prisoner every perception of the intellect and every mental purpose or determination to the compliance and submission of Christ and His anointing."
Let's also review Paul's statements in his letter to Ephesus.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
In order to get to the root of why Paul expresses himself like this, and why he uses a musical term (esti-pale (from its root, pallo: to vibrate) in Ephesians 6 in talking about "wrestling" we need to go back to Ezekiel's prophecy (chapter 28:12-16) where he takes up God's judgment against what he refers to as "the king of Tyre."
As Ezekiel commences his prophetic discourse it becomes very obvious that he isn't referring to the literal king of Tyre but rather Lucifer. Pay attention to the wording and the phraseology chosen here.
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created." This terminology is highly significant as you will see.
"Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
"By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire."
Now let's lay some foundations and then take a look at some of these words and phrases in the original Hebrew text.
1. First Ezekiel describes him as "sealing up" (the Hebrew word for this is: chatham: to make an end, to be the ultimate in perfection) the sum, being full of wisdom and perfect (kaliyl: entirely consumed, the finished product to exacting specification) in beauty.
2. Then he notes that he was in the Garden of Eden with the Lord God. This fits well when you realize that the Garden of Eden was a copy of what exists in Heaven. Adam and Eve were originally instructed to "be fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth." Genesis 2:15 tells us that they were commanded to "dress" the Garden (the Hebrew word is 'abad: meaning: to work it like an artisan [who creates a thing of beauty] and cause it to serve you by growth and multiplication) and "keep it" (shamar: meaning: to hedge it about, to preserve and protect, to ensure its future [so it is able to produce]).
3. Next he draws this phenomenal picture of Lucifer's dazzling appearance showing him as being covered with nine precious stones and arrayed in gold. No wonder Isaiah refers to him as "Son of the Morning" for brightness! (See Isaiah 14:12)
4. But now we begin to get down to the nitty gritty. Now Ezekiel says that "the workmanship (the Hebrew word here is: mela'kah: better translated: employment, ministry, that for which one is deputized) of thy tabrets (ta.phaph: tambourines, timbrels, percussion drums, percussion) and of thy pipes (neqeb: this word has a double meaning and can be used to describe both a socket or setting for gemstones, and/or something which has been bored through, such as a flute, piccolo and the entire family of wind-instruments) was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."
In case you haven't quite grasped the picture yet, Lucifer was created specifically as the ultimate in beauty and music. But the picture becomes even more clear in Ezekiel's next phrase.
5. Twice Ezekiel refers to Lucifer as "the anointed cherub that covereth." Three Hebrew words in this phrase draw a picture that our English language fails to capture in direct translation. (a) The first is: mimshach: which is derived from mashach: and it denotes the anointing with oil. In this application, however, mimshach is the anointing that encompasses or overspreads. (b) The second is the word kerub: which is transliterated "cherub" in English. What gets missed in our transliteration is the fact that this word -- in the Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldean and Phoenicio-Semitic languages -- describes a being who guards and ministers to the Throne of God; a powerful angelic being near to the heart of God. [The popular myth of the cherub being some kind of cute, baby angel is about as far from reality as anything can be.] (c) The third word in this phrase is sakak: to entwine, to cover over, to surround.
We have three words assembled in Ezekiel's prophecy which draw a complete picture of Lucifer's ministry to the Throne of God. All of them denote "covering," or "creating an envelope" around the Throne. But that was only part of Lucifer's assignment and employment. His principal occupation was to minister in praise and worship. He was the perfection of music and he was created specifically to surround the Throne and permeate it with the finest praise and worship in a dimension our natural perceptions and hearing are simply not equipped to understand.
Since Lucifer was created as a being who would create sound -- the sound of worship -- we begin to see the picture Paul was drawing in Ephesians 6:12 when he uses the Greek term for "vibrate" to describe the spiritual "wrestling."
We won't take time today to explore all of this prophecy other than to touch on one more descriptive phrase. Ezekiel goes on to say, "Thou hast sinned; therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God." The Hebrew word translated "profane" is chalal. Students of Hebrew will note that this word is a minute variation of the word halal, which we translate as loud, boasting, celebratory praise. The slight difference in the two words is the use of a diacritical mark which alters the meaning from "celebratory praise" to "profane sounds" or "corrupted praise" [or worship]. The Hebrew chalal also denotes an arrogance or haughtiness.
It takes no great rocket science to see and understand that with his arrogance in thinking he could be seated "upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north," (Isaiah 14:13) (more on this in a minute) Lucifer's very arrogance corrupted the sound that came forth from him. It instantly became the sound of opposition to the Throne of God. It became a sound which opposed the anointing and the presence of the Lord. Thus, he was cast out of the mountain of God (a descriptive phrase often used to describe the Throne and the presence of the Lord) with his corrupted sound.
The phrase that Isaiah uses, "the sides of the north," is one which he borrows from Psalm 48:1-2 where the Psalmist describes "the mountain of His holiness" and "Mount Zion, on the sides of the north."
I have shared this picture before, but very quickly let me say that as part of a triumvirate of archangels (Michael and Gabriel being the other two named in Scripture), he was privy to the counsels of God. When the Godhead engaged in the plan to create a species of being who would be like God, imbued with His creative abilities, have the capability of free choice, be given the power of authority and dominion, and be specifically created and designed for fellowship and communion with Him, Lucifer -- as the one created being closest to the Throne -- became jealous and arrogant in pride.
Lucifer had one ability and created purpose that the other archangels did not have: the ability to create in the realm of music. His whole purpose had been the sound of Heaven. He existed for sound. That God would overlook him and not choose him for this special place of intimacy and communion -- and dominion -- angered him. He became rebellious against God.
Ezekiel describes what happened to him like this: "Thou wast perfect (tamiym: sound, complete and undefiled) in all thy ways (derek: course of life, manners, mode of action or activity) from the day thou wast created, till iniquity (evel: -aval: to distort, to twist, to become perverse) was found in thee." And Ezekiel continues.
"By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee."
This is a picture too lengthy for me to describe in any detail in this Coffee Break, but let me quickly define a few of the key Hebrew words used in Ezekiel's prophetic discourse.
He says that because of the "multitude of thy merchandise" (rekullah: trade [in music]) Lucifer was filled "with violence" (chamas: to maltreat, to shake off, to imagine wrongfully) [Note: the Palestinian terror organization, Hamas, gets its name from this word) and that he would, therefore, be cast "as profane" (we've already noted this word, chalal, represents "corrupted praise") out of the mountain of God.
By now, you will easily see the pattern in the kind of sound that now began to come forth from the former Lucifer. His trade (or merchandise) was the sound of praise and worship. He twisted it, made it become violent and shaking and filled with vain and wrongful imaginations. And now you begin to see the significance of Paul's statements in II Corinthians 10:3-5.
That his name was changed from Lucifer (the illuminated one, the morning star) to Satan (the accuser, the one who wrongfully imagines evil against God's people, the one who attacks) becomes very clear.
Once more we come back to I Corinthians 14:10-11. "There are [and seem to be] so many generated and varied sounds in the world, and none of them is without articulated and tonal purpose. If, therefore, I do not know or perceive the power of the sound, I shall be a moral and mental ignoramus to the one giving forth that sound; and he that utters or creates the sound a rude and unlearned foreigner."
No sound "is without articulated and tonal purpose." No sound is without power. It is the source of that sound that determines its tonal purpose. It takes no genius to realize that so much of the music (or that which passes for music) in today's society is the sound of Satan. It is filled with violence. It is filled with hate. It is filled with sexual innuendo, lust and enticement. It is filled with fear, doubt and unbelief -- all of which are Satan's. Today's music is the sound of Satan's opposition to all that represents the Lord Jesus Christ and His message of redemption.
This next statement is not meant to offend, and I apologize in advance for those who take it that way. I have personally marveled at folks who -- in ignorance of the purpose and power of the sounds Satan generates -- seem to think it is OK to take the sound (or sounds) of Satan -- add words which speak of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and think they are doing a good thing by "reaching the younger generation."
It is sheer deception to think one can use the sound that Satan originates to preach the Gospel. It compromises the Word and mixes the holy with the profane. It treats the Gospel as "common" and ordinary -- not life-changing, not the source of salvation, deliverance, healing, health, prosperity and wholeness in every area. It justifies using the sound of hate and the "noise of thy viols" (as Isaiah describes it: 14:11) simply because "that's what the world listens to, and if you want to reach them you have to give them the kind of music they will hear."
Will someone please tell me how you use the sound of opposition to the Gospel to preach the Gospel? The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn't just words you can put to any old sound! There is an onoma to the sound (and that's where we will go with our next Coffee Break). No wonder Paul refers to this as "wrestling!"
That's not how Jesus did things, folks! He came with a different sound. He came with the sound of life. He came with the sound of Heaven. Angels announced His coming with a sound that filled the skies.
When Jesus entered the sanctuary of the Temple and heard the sound of commerce and the selling of redemption, it stirred Him to anger. He drove those who thought they could cheapen His covenant by selling it for money out of the Temple. They were doing exactly what Lucifer thought to do in Heaven: defile the sanctuary(ies) "by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic." There was no compromise in anything Jesus ever said or did.
In our next Coffee Break, we will address THE ONOMA OF SOUND.
I'd expected to break before this for the Christmas season, but wanted to bring this discussion to this point before recessing. This will be our last Coffee Break for 2008, and it will be the final Coffee Break posted on any MSN discussion boards. We will resume publication in mid-January.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Things are not what they seem to be: they're what God says they are. The sound of His Word going forth is what determines the difference between light and darkness, life and death, health or sickness and disease, poverty or prosperity.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
Part 3: WHERE THE SOUND OF OPPOSITION BEGAN
Greetings, Salutations, Solutions, Felicitations, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum!
That ought to fire up your juices today!
Oh, and it is very, very dark-roasted Colombian in both the French Press and the Expresso Machine today. Come on by and have a cup with me.
This discussion has obviously stirred some folks -- so far not too many negatively, it appears -- and for people whose lives revolve around sound, whether it be praise, worship, intercession, teaching, preaching, or just sharing, this is an extremely important area of revelation and understanding.
We've been using this translation (mine) from the Greek text of II Corinthians 10:3-5 in each of the past two Coffee Breaks and I want to start there again today.
"For the weapons and instruments of our war and executed actions [against Satan] do not have their origins and [weak, impotent] operation in natural flesh and human abilities, but they are skillful, potent and powerful – like dynamite – through God to the demolition and extinction of all fortified and guarded places of opinions in opposition,"
"Bringing down violently and demolishing (to total extinction) all mental reasonings and thought processes, and every mental barrier or arrogant and self-elevated attitude that justifies itself in opposition to the knowledge of God; bringing into captivity and making a prisoner every perception of the intellect and every mental purpose or determination to the compliance and submission of Christ and His anointing."
Let's also review Paul's statements in his letter to Ephesus.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
In order to get to the root of why Paul expresses himself like this, and why he uses a musical term (esti-pale (from its root, pallo: to vibrate) in Ephesians 6 in talking about "wrestling" we need to go back to Ezekiel's prophecy (chapter 28:12-16) where he takes up God's judgment against what he refers to as "the king of Tyre."
As Ezekiel commences his prophetic discourse it becomes very obvious that he isn't referring to the literal king of Tyre but rather Lucifer. Pay attention to the wording and the phraseology chosen here.
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created." This terminology is highly significant as you will see.
"Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
"By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire."
Now let's lay some foundations and then take a look at some of these words and phrases in the original Hebrew text.
1. First Ezekiel describes him as "sealing up" (the Hebrew word for this is: chatham: to make an end, to be the ultimate in perfection) the sum, being full of wisdom and perfect (kaliyl: entirely consumed, the finished product to exacting specification) in beauty.
2. Then he notes that he was in the Garden of Eden with the Lord God. This fits well when you realize that the Garden of Eden was a copy of what exists in Heaven. Adam and Eve were originally instructed to "be fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth." Genesis 2:15 tells us that they were commanded to "dress" the Garden (the Hebrew word is 'abad: meaning: to work it like an artisan [who creates a thing of beauty] and cause it to serve you by growth and multiplication) and "keep it" (shamar: meaning: to hedge it about, to preserve and protect, to ensure its future [so it is able to produce]).
3. Next he draws this phenomenal picture of Lucifer's dazzling appearance showing him as being covered with nine precious stones and arrayed in gold. No wonder Isaiah refers to him as "Son of the Morning" for brightness! (See Isaiah 14:12)
4. But now we begin to get down to the nitty gritty. Now Ezekiel says that "the workmanship (the Hebrew word here is: mela'kah: better translated: employment, ministry, that for which one is deputized) of thy tabrets (ta.phaph: tambourines, timbrels, percussion drums, percussion) and of thy pipes (neqeb: this word has a double meaning and can be used to describe both a socket or setting for gemstones, and/or something which has been bored through, such as a flute, piccolo and the entire family of wind-instruments) was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."
In case you haven't quite grasped the picture yet, Lucifer was created specifically as the ultimate in beauty and music. But the picture becomes even more clear in Ezekiel's next phrase.
5. Twice Ezekiel refers to Lucifer as "the anointed cherub that covereth." Three Hebrew words in this phrase draw a picture that our English language fails to capture in direct translation. (a) The first is: mimshach: which is derived from mashach: and it denotes the anointing with oil. In this application, however, mimshach is the anointing that encompasses or overspreads. (b) The second is the word kerub: which is transliterated "cherub" in English. What gets missed in our transliteration is the fact that this word -- in the Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldean and Phoenicio-Semitic languages -- describes a being who guards and ministers to the Throne of God; a powerful angelic being near to the heart of God. [The popular myth of the cherub being some kind of cute, baby angel is about as far from reality as anything can be.] (c) The third word in this phrase is sakak: to entwine, to cover over, to surround.
We have three words assembled in Ezekiel's prophecy which draw a complete picture of Lucifer's ministry to the Throne of God. All of them denote "covering," or "creating an envelope" around the Throne. But that was only part of Lucifer's assignment and employment. His principal occupation was to minister in praise and worship. He was the perfection of music and he was created specifically to surround the Throne and permeate it with the finest praise and worship in a dimension our natural perceptions and hearing are simply not equipped to understand.
Since Lucifer was created as a being who would create sound -- the sound of worship -- we begin to see the picture Paul was drawing in Ephesians 6:12 when he uses the Greek term for "vibrate" to describe the spiritual "wrestling."
We won't take time today to explore all of this prophecy other than to touch on one more descriptive phrase. Ezekiel goes on to say, "Thou hast sinned; therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God." The Hebrew word translated "profane" is chalal. Students of Hebrew will note that this word is a minute variation of the word halal, which we translate as loud, boasting, celebratory praise. The slight difference in the two words is the use of a diacritical mark which alters the meaning from "celebratory praise" to "profane sounds" or "corrupted praise" [or worship]. The Hebrew chalal also denotes an arrogance or haughtiness.
It takes no great rocket science to see and understand that with his arrogance in thinking he could be seated "upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north," (Isaiah 14:13) (more on this in a minute) Lucifer's very arrogance corrupted the sound that came forth from him. It instantly became the sound of opposition to the Throne of God. It became a sound which opposed the anointing and the presence of the Lord. Thus, he was cast out of the mountain of God (a descriptive phrase often used to describe the Throne and the presence of the Lord) with his corrupted sound.
The phrase that Isaiah uses, "the sides of the north," is one which he borrows from Psalm 48:1-2 where the Psalmist describes "the mountain of His holiness" and "Mount Zion, on the sides of the north."
I have shared this picture before, but very quickly let me say that as part of a triumvirate of archangels (Michael and Gabriel being the other two named in Scripture), he was privy to the counsels of God. When the Godhead engaged in the plan to create a species of being who would be like God, imbued with His creative abilities, have the capability of free choice, be given the power of authority and dominion, and be specifically created and designed for fellowship and communion with Him, Lucifer -- as the one created being closest to the Throne -- became jealous and arrogant in pride.
Lucifer had one ability and created purpose that the other archangels did not have: the ability to create in the realm of music. His whole purpose had been the sound of Heaven. He existed for sound. That God would overlook him and not choose him for this special place of intimacy and communion -- and dominion -- angered him. He became rebellious against God.
Ezekiel describes what happened to him like this: "Thou wast perfect (tamiym: sound, complete and undefiled) in all thy ways (derek: course of life, manners, mode of action or activity) from the day thou wast created, till iniquity (evel: -aval: to distort, to twist, to become perverse) was found in thee." And Ezekiel continues.
"By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee."
This is a picture too lengthy for me to describe in any detail in this Coffee Break, but let me quickly define a few of the key Hebrew words used in Ezekiel's prophetic discourse.
He says that because of the "multitude of thy merchandise" (rekullah: trade [in music]) Lucifer was filled "with violence" (chamas: to maltreat, to shake off, to imagine wrongfully) [Note: the Palestinian terror organization, Hamas, gets its name from this word) and that he would, therefore, be cast "as profane" (we've already noted this word, chalal, represents "corrupted praise") out of the mountain of God.
By now, you will easily see the pattern in the kind of sound that now began to come forth from the former Lucifer. His trade (or merchandise) was the sound of praise and worship. He twisted it, made it become violent and shaking and filled with vain and wrongful imaginations. And now you begin to see the significance of Paul's statements in II Corinthians 10:3-5.
That his name was changed from Lucifer (the illuminated one, the morning star) to Satan (the accuser, the one who wrongfully imagines evil against God's people, the one who attacks) becomes very clear.
Once more we come back to I Corinthians 14:10-11. "There are [and seem to be] so many generated and varied sounds in the world, and none of them is without articulated and tonal purpose. If, therefore, I do not know or perceive the power of the sound, I shall be a moral and mental ignoramus to the one giving forth that sound; and he that utters or creates the sound a rude and unlearned foreigner."
No sound "is without articulated and tonal purpose." No sound is without power. It is the source of that sound that determines its tonal purpose. It takes no genius to realize that so much of the music (or that which passes for music) in today's society is the sound of Satan. It is filled with violence. It is filled with hate. It is filled with sexual innuendo, lust and enticement. It is filled with fear, doubt and unbelief -- all of which are Satan's. Today's music is the sound of Satan's opposition to all that represents the Lord Jesus Christ and His message of redemption.
This next statement is not meant to offend, and I apologize in advance for those who take it that way. I have personally marveled at folks who -- in ignorance of the purpose and power of the sounds Satan generates -- seem to think it is OK to take the sound (or sounds) of Satan -- add words which speak of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and think they are doing a good thing by "reaching the younger generation."
It is sheer deception to think one can use the sound that Satan originates to preach the Gospel. It compromises the Word and mixes the holy with the profane. It treats the Gospel as "common" and ordinary -- not life-changing, not the source of salvation, deliverance, healing, health, prosperity and wholeness in every area. It justifies using the sound of hate and the "noise of thy viols" (as Isaiah describes it: 14:11) simply because "that's what the world listens to, and if you want to reach them you have to give them the kind of music they will hear."
Will someone please tell me how you use the sound of opposition to the Gospel to preach the Gospel? The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn't just words you can put to any old sound! There is an onoma to the sound (and that's where we will go with our next Coffee Break). No wonder Paul refers to this as "wrestling!"
That's not how Jesus did things, folks! He came with a different sound. He came with the sound of life. He came with the sound of Heaven. Angels announced His coming with a sound that filled the skies.
When Jesus entered the sanctuary of the Temple and heard the sound of commerce and the selling of redemption, it stirred Him to anger. He drove those who thought they could cheapen His covenant by selling it for money out of the Temple. They were doing exactly what Lucifer thought to do in Heaven: defile the sanctuary(ies) "by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic." There was no compromise in anything Jesus ever said or did.
In our next Coffee Break, we will address THE ONOMA OF SOUND.
I'd expected to break before this for the Christmas season, but wanted to bring this discussion to this point before recessing. This will be our last Coffee Break for 2008, and it will be the final Coffee Break posted on any MSN discussion boards. We will resume publication in mid-January.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Things are not what they seem to be: they're what God says they are. The sound of His Word going forth is what determines the difference between light and darkness, life and death, health or sickness and disease, poverty or prosperity.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: THE SOUND OF THE LORD, Part 2
THE SOUND OF THE LORD
Part 2: The Power of Sound
Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning!
How you be this fine day?
Coffee's on. Mine's poured. I'm just kinda sittin' here, enjoyin' the wonderful aroma from those dark roasted Colombian beans. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............................
OK, Maury, I got it right this time: Colombian -- not Columbian! We don't get our beans from some place on the Columbia River. Hehehehehehe...............
Got a ways to go today, and we've got a lot to cover so let's get right to our discussion.
Some folks questioned the connection between the quote in our last Coffee Break from II Corinthians 10:3-5 and "The Sound of the Lord," and it may seem a bit far afield, but bear with me. I'm getting there.
Let's begin today with a look at something the apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Ekklesia in Corinth. As I did with the quote from II Corinthians 10:3-5, let me translate this passage from the original Greek text.
As part of his teaching and discourse on speaking in tongues, Paul makes some rather revelatory statements. Our English translations miss expressing the true sense of the Greek. Take a look at I Corinthians 14:10-11.
"There are [and seem to be] so many generated and varied sounds in the world, and none of them is without articulated and tonal purpose. (more on this concept momentarily) If, therefore, I do not know or perceive the power of the sound, I shall be a moral and mental ignoramus to the one giving forth that sound; and he that utters or creates the sound a rude and unlearned foreigner."
Did you catch that? The way Paul phrases this is that every sound has tonal purpose! Maybe that seems odd, but let's put that in its proper context.
Go back to something that David did in his final year as King of Israel, prior to turning the throne over to Solomon.
"Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals:" (I Chronicles 25:1)
The Hebrew word translated "prophesy" in this instance is naba': to sing, to create a declarative sound. In this command of David, he instructs Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun (the three heads of families who have spent the past 33 years in continuous praise and worship around the Tabernacle of David) to alter their function and purpose in praise. Instead of simply offering up praise and worship, now they are to prophesy with their instruments.
How, pray tell, do you prophesy upon an instrument? If you understand the power of sound -- especially under the anointing of the Holy Spirit -- you begin to realize that vast, creative power and authority is at your fingertips.
David clearly understood this when he sang, "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight." (Psalm 144:1)
How was David using his hands to war? Simple. On his harp. On whatever instrument he played. His fingers were engaged in the fight in and by the way they plucked the strings. The sounds that came forth were prophetic. These were tones -- musical notes -- that had specific meaning and purpose. They had the authority and power of Heaven itself backing them.
Sound, all by itself, carries a certain power with it. Perhaps you've been to a large gathering where folks have been praising and worshiping. Let's take the Lakeland Outpouring as an example where Roy Fields would camp on certain notes on his synthesizer keyboard. If it seemed repetitious and boring, that's only because you didn't understand that he was prophesying with certain tones or notes. The sound of the Lord was going forth. The Holy Spirit was sending forth a sound that literally was causing the gates of Hell to shake.
Let me illustrate this another way. Most folks have seen it in person or at least seen a televised demonstration where an opera singer will hit a certain note. As she holds the note, glass shatters. Crystal flies apart and disintegrates with the force of the sound.
How does that happen? The note hits a certain frequency and resonance. The glass is susceptible to that frequency and begins to vibrate harmonically. The harmonic vibrations cause the molecular structure of the glass or crystal to come apart and lose their cohesiveness.
That's in the natural or visible realm. That's a small sample of what happens in the realm of the spirit. Sound -- ALL SOUND -- has a force and power behind it. You may think I'm going too far with this illustration, but go back to what Paul wrote, "none of {the sounds] are without articulated and tonal purpose."
Let's take this illustration forward to something Paul wrote to the Ephesians. (5:18-19)
"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."
The Greek word translated here "making melody in your heart" is: psallo: to twitch, to pluck, to twang, to rub the surface of strings. And the Greek text expresses it more accurately "with" (your heart) rather than "in." Thus one's heart is absolutely in the sound.
I will also remind you of the statement in Ephesians 6 where Paul writes, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood...." and the word used is esti-pale (pallo), meaning: to vibrate; to create a sound in opposition [to that of the Enemy]. Are you beginning to see the picture? Do you now understand that we as sons and daughters of the Most High have within our beings the Sound of the Lord -- a sound and tonal quality which opposes [and has the authority, ability and power to destroy the sound of Satan?
For those folks who understand the power of the sound in the realm of the Spirit, we have the ability to cause to disintegrate the thrones where Satan rules. The Sound of the Lord going forth through us causes the molecular structure (you'll pardon me for expressing it like this) of Satan's strongholds to be broken.
Let me take Paul's statement here and put it into the overall context of what he is saying. Go back to Ephesians 5:8-13.
"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:" (Remember the sound/light/life illustration in our last Coffee Break?) "Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord." How do you prove what is acceptable to the Lord? Easy. With the Sound of the Lord. Take a look at the next verse.
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."
THERE'S your command to "vibrate" in opposition to the sound of the Enemy. You reprove, you expose, you make visible and apparent for all to see, and you do so with the Sound of the Lord, "speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Music, you see, is the communication -- the sound, the tones, a language, if you will -- of the spirit.
OK, OK! I know I've applied these verses a bit differently than you may have been previously taught -- and they do have other applications -- but it is perfectly appropriate to apply Paul's instruction within the context of the Sound of the Lord. We'll come back to this application shortly.
Now let's revisit II Corinthians 10.
"For the weapons and instruments of our war and executed actions [against Satan] do not have their origins and [weak, impotent] operation in natural flesh and human abilities, but they are skillful, potent and powerful – like dynamite – through God to the demolition and extinction of all fortified and guarded places of opinions in opposition," Yup. The weapons of our warfare ARE skillful, potent and powerful -- especially when we understand that the Sound of the Lord available in and through us is the means by which we wield those weapons.
"Bringing down violently and demolishing (to total extinction) all mental reasonings and thought processes, and every mental barrier or arrogant and self-elevated attitude that justifies itself in opposition to the knowledge of God; bringing into captivity and making a prisoner every perception of the intellect and every mental purpose or determination to the compliance and submission of Christ and His anointing."
Yessir! The Sound of the Lord does just that! You don't simply think other thoughts in order to deal with thoughts and mental reasonings: you only demolish thoughts and human rationale with the Sound of the Lord -- whether that sound be the speaking forth -- the rhema -- of the Word, whether that sound be singing in the Spirit, or whether that sound literally be tones or notes that come forth from your voice or an instrument in your hands.
My friends, it's time for the people of God to wake up and recognize how simple and yet how elegant the authority and power of God is in us and to exercise it against Satan. This is not a fantasy. This is life. This is light! This is the Sound of the Lord!
I said this before and I'll say it again. Sound. Light. Life. They are inseparable. They go together. You can't have one without the other. Light exists because of sound. Sound exists with light. Life is both light and sound.
There's another side of this that perhaps you've begun to see as well in this midst of this discussion. Darkness has a sound. Satan has a sound. Satan's whole existence is sound, and it is a sound that is inferior to and subject to the Sound of the Lord. What is his sound? The sound of doubt. The sound of fear. The sound of unbelief. The sound of questioning.
We expose, we reprove, we make evident and we chase the sound of the Enemy with the Sound of the Lord. Let me take you back to an example in the life of Israel in Moses' time.
Psalm 68:1 opens with, "Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him."
What is not obvious in this King James Version translation is the fact that this was a cry that went forth every time Israel began to move. The cloud which was the manifestation of the presence of the Lord God in their midst would begin to lift from the top of the Tabernacle indicating that God was ready to move His people onward. A cry would go forth at Moses' command that could be heard throughout all of tribes of Israel. (See also Numbers 10:35)
Long shofars would be blown like giant trumpets and men with strong voices would shout from the highest elevations available, "God is arising! God is arising! Let His enemies be scattered! Let His enemies be scattered! Let all those that hate Him flee before Him. Let all those that hate Him flee before Him."
Then the cry would ring across the countryside until all heard it and began to move. It was a sound that the heathen inhabitants of the land came to fear and dread. Because God had so defended His people during their years in the wilderness and the stories of His mighty deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the annihilation of Pharaoh's armies and other such victories had spread throughout the nations of the region, that sound generated great fear among God's foes. There was a power in it that defied description.
Many of you are familiar with the event recounted in II Chronicles 20 during the time that Jehoshaphat was King of Judah. The armies of Moab and Ammon, coupled with an army from Idumaea (the Edomites), came against Judah, outnumbering the armies of Judah by some estimates as much as a hundred to one. Following a period of fasting and a prophetic word given by Jahaziel, a descendant of Asaph (one of the three principal singing and praising families), Jehoshaphat sent out the praisers and worshipers before the armies as they headed to Engedi, the site of the expected battle.
II Chronicles 20:21-22 tells us, "And when he [Jehoshaphat] had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten."
But this was no ordinary destruction of the enemy.
"For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped."
This was total annihilation of the enemy. Not one single soldier of Moab, Ammon or Mount Seir came out of it alive.
This was the Sound of the Lord at work! In the midst of the sound of God's people praising and glorifying Him, the Lord "set ambushments" in the midst of the enemy's camp. (Just as a side note, the Hebrew word which describes this is: 'arab: In its various forms, this word (from whence we get the modern "Arab") means: to lie in wait, to lurk, to ambush, ambusher, an ambuscade.
The Scripture does not indicate where God got these "ambushers" and we don't know whether they were Moabites, Ammonites, or Edomites panicked by extreme fear, or what, but the Sound of the Lord coming forth from the singers and praisers was strong enough to trigger self-destruction among the enemies of God's people.
What we've just described is a tiny drop in the bucket of the power that goes forth in the Sound of the Lord.
Next: Where the Sound of Opposition Began (and why Paul describes it as "wrestling" in Ephesians 6).
Things are not what they seem to be: they're what God says they are. The sound of His Word going forth is what determines the difference between light and darkness, life and death, health or sickness and disease, poverty or prosperity.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th StreetSunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact.
Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
Part 2: The Power of Sound
Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning!
How you be this fine day?
Coffee's on. Mine's poured. I'm just kinda sittin' here, enjoyin' the wonderful aroma from those dark roasted Colombian beans. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............................
OK, Maury, I got it right this time: Colombian -- not Columbian! We don't get our beans from some place on the Columbia River. Hehehehehehe...............
Got a ways to go today, and we've got a lot to cover so let's get right to our discussion.
Some folks questioned the connection between the quote in our last Coffee Break from II Corinthians 10:3-5 and "The Sound of the Lord," and it may seem a bit far afield, but bear with me. I'm getting there.
Let's begin today with a look at something the apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Ekklesia in Corinth. As I did with the quote from II Corinthians 10:3-5, let me translate this passage from the original Greek text.
As part of his teaching and discourse on speaking in tongues, Paul makes some rather revelatory statements. Our English translations miss expressing the true sense of the Greek. Take a look at I Corinthians 14:10-11.
"There are [and seem to be] so many generated and varied sounds in the world, and none of them is without articulated and tonal purpose. (more on this concept momentarily) If, therefore, I do not know or perceive the power of the sound, I shall be a moral and mental ignoramus to the one giving forth that sound; and he that utters or creates the sound a rude and unlearned foreigner."
Did you catch that? The way Paul phrases this is that every sound has tonal purpose! Maybe that seems odd, but let's put that in its proper context.
Go back to something that David did in his final year as King of Israel, prior to turning the throne over to Solomon.
"Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals:" (I Chronicles 25:1)
The Hebrew word translated "prophesy" in this instance is naba': to sing, to create a declarative sound. In this command of David, he instructs Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun (the three heads of families who have spent the past 33 years in continuous praise and worship around the Tabernacle of David) to alter their function and purpose in praise. Instead of simply offering up praise and worship, now they are to prophesy with their instruments.
How, pray tell, do you prophesy upon an instrument? If you understand the power of sound -- especially under the anointing of the Holy Spirit -- you begin to realize that vast, creative power and authority is at your fingertips.
David clearly understood this when he sang, "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight." (Psalm 144:1)
How was David using his hands to war? Simple. On his harp. On whatever instrument he played. His fingers were engaged in the fight in and by the way they plucked the strings. The sounds that came forth were prophetic. These were tones -- musical notes -- that had specific meaning and purpose. They had the authority and power of Heaven itself backing them.
Sound, all by itself, carries a certain power with it. Perhaps you've been to a large gathering where folks have been praising and worshiping. Let's take the Lakeland Outpouring as an example where Roy Fields would camp on certain notes on his synthesizer keyboard. If it seemed repetitious and boring, that's only because you didn't understand that he was prophesying with certain tones or notes. The sound of the Lord was going forth. The Holy Spirit was sending forth a sound that literally was causing the gates of Hell to shake.
Let me illustrate this another way. Most folks have seen it in person or at least seen a televised demonstration where an opera singer will hit a certain note. As she holds the note, glass shatters. Crystal flies apart and disintegrates with the force of the sound.
How does that happen? The note hits a certain frequency and resonance. The glass is susceptible to that frequency and begins to vibrate harmonically. The harmonic vibrations cause the molecular structure of the glass or crystal to come apart and lose their cohesiveness.
That's in the natural or visible realm. That's a small sample of what happens in the realm of the spirit. Sound -- ALL SOUND -- has a force and power behind it. You may think I'm going too far with this illustration, but go back to what Paul wrote, "none of {the sounds] are without articulated and tonal purpose."
Let's take this illustration forward to something Paul wrote to the Ephesians. (5:18-19)
"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."
The Greek word translated here "making melody in your heart" is: psallo: to twitch, to pluck, to twang, to rub the surface of strings. And the Greek text expresses it more accurately "with" (your heart) rather than "in." Thus one's heart is absolutely in the sound.
I will also remind you of the statement in Ephesians 6 where Paul writes, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood...." and the word used is esti-pale (pallo), meaning: to vibrate; to create a sound in opposition [to that of the Enemy]. Are you beginning to see the picture? Do you now understand that we as sons and daughters of the Most High have within our beings the Sound of the Lord -- a sound and tonal quality which opposes [and has the authority, ability and power to destroy the sound of Satan?
For those folks who understand the power of the sound in the realm of the Spirit, we have the ability to cause to disintegrate the thrones where Satan rules. The Sound of the Lord going forth through us causes the molecular structure (you'll pardon me for expressing it like this) of Satan's strongholds to be broken.
Let me take Paul's statement here and put it into the overall context of what he is saying. Go back to Ephesians 5:8-13.
"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:" (Remember the sound/light/life illustration in our last Coffee Break?) "Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord." How do you prove what is acceptable to the Lord? Easy. With the Sound of the Lord. Take a look at the next verse.
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."
THERE'S your command to "vibrate" in opposition to the sound of the Enemy. You reprove, you expose, you make visible and apparent for all to see, and you do so with the Sound of the Lord, "speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Music, you see, is the communication -- the sound, the tones, a language, if you will -- of the spirit.
OK, OK! I know I've applied these verses a bit differently than you may have been previously taught -- and they do have other applications -- but it is perfectly appropriate to apply Paul's instruction within the context of the Sound of the Lord. We'll come back to this application shortly.
Now let's revisit II Corinthians 10.
"For the weapons and instruments of our war and executed actions [against Satan] do not have their origins and [weak, impotent] operation in natural flesh and human abilities, but they are skillful, potent and powerful – like dynamite – through God to the demolition and extinction of all fortified and guarded places of opinions in opposition," Yup. The weapons of our warfare ARE skillful, potent and powerful -- especially when we understand that the Sound of the Lord available in and through us is the means by which we wield those weapons.
"Bringing down violently and demolishing (to total extinction) all mental reasonings and thought processes, and every mental barrier or arrogant and self-elevated attitude that justifies itself in opposition to the knowledge of God; bringing into captivity and making a prisoner every perception of the intellect and every mental purpose or determination to the compliance and submission of Christ and His anointing."
Yessir! The Sound of the Lord does just that! You don't simply think other thoughts in order to deal with thoughts and mental reasonings: you only demolish thoughts and human rationale with the Sound of the Lord -- whether that sound be the speaking forth -- the rhema -- of the Word, whether that sound be singing in the Spirit, or whether that sound literally be tones or notes that come forth from your voice or an instrument in your hands.
My friends, it's time for the people of God to wake up and recognize how simple and yet how elegant the authority and power of God is in us and to exercise it against Satan. This is not a fantasy. This is life. This is light! This is the Sound of the Lord!
I said this before and I'll say it again. Sound. Light. Life. They are inseparable. They go together. You can't have one without the other. Light exists because of sound. Sound exists with light. Life is both light and sound.
There's another side of this that perhaps you've begun to see as well in this midst of this discussion. Darkness has a sound. Satan has a sound. Satan's whole existence is sound, and it is a sound that is inferior to and subject to the Sound of the Lord. What is his sound? The sound of doubt. The sound of fear. The sound of unbelief. The sound of questioning.
We expose, we reprove, we make evident and we chase the sound of the Enemy with the Sound of the Lord. Let me take you back to an example in the life of Israel in Moses' time.
Psalm 68:1 opens with, "Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him."
What is not obvious in this King James Version translation is the fact that this was a cry that went forth every time Israel began to move. The cloud which was the manifestation of the presence of the Lord God in their midst would begin to lift from the top of the Tabernacle indicating that God was ready to move His people onward. A cry would go forth at Moses' command that could be heard throughout all of tribes of Israel. (See also Numbers 10:35)
Long shofars would be blown like giant trumpets and men with strong voices would shout from the highest elevations available, "God is arising! God is arising! Let His enemies be scattered! Let His enemies be scattered! Let all those that hate Him flee before Him. Let all those that hate Him flee before Him."
Then the cry would ring across the countryside until all heard it and began to move. It was a sound that the heathen inhabitants of the land came to fear and dread. Because God had so defended His people during their years in the wilderness and the stories of His mighty deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the annihilation of Pharaoh's armies and other such victories had spread throughout the nations of the region, that sound generated great fear among God's foes. There was a power in it that defied description.
Many of you are familiar with the event recounted in II Chronicles 20 during the time that Jehoshaphat was King of Judah. The armies of Moab and Ammon, coupled with an army from Idumaea (the Edomites), came against Judah, outnumbering the armies of Judah by some estimates as much as a hundred to one. Following a period of fasting and a prophetic word given by Jahaziel, a descendant of Asaph (one of the three principal singing and praising families), Jehoshaphat sent out the praisers and worshipers before the armies as they headed to Engedi, the site of the expected battle.
II Chronicles 20:21-22 tells us, "And when he [Jehoshaphat] had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten."
But this was no ordinary destruction of the enemy.
"For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped."
This was total annihilation of the enemy. Not one single soldier of Moab, Ammon or Mount Seir came out of it alive.
This was the Sound of the Lord at work! In the midst of the sound of God's people praising and glorifying Him, the Lord "set ambushments" in the midst of the enemy's camp. (Just as a side note, the Hebrew word which describes this is: 'arab: In its various forms, this word (from whence we get the modern "Arab") means: to lie in wait, to lurk, to ambush, ambusher, an ambuscade.
The Scripture does not indicate where God got these "ambushers" and we don't know whether they were Moabites, Ammonites, or Edomites panicked by extreme fear, or what, but the Sound of the Lord coming forth from the singers and praisers was strong enough to trigger self-destruction among the enemies of God's people.
What we've just described is a tiny drop in the bucket of the power that goes forth in the Sound of the Lord.
Next: Where the Sound of Opposition Began (and why Paul describes it as "wrestling" in Ephesians 6).
Things are not what they seem to be: they're what God says they are. The sound of His Word going forth is what determines the difference between light and darkness, life and death, health or sickness and disease, poverty or prosperity.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th StreetSunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact.
Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Christians and Non-Christians > General Discussion
Christians and Non-Christians > General Discussion
THE SOUND OF THE LORD
Part 1: INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT
Great getting' up mornin' to ye, Folks! Blessin's on Ye!There, how's that for a good morning greeting. Awwww, well... Anyway...grab that fresh cup of coffee from your French Press coffee maker, or that cup of super hot Expresso.
Maybe you've been wondering when we're going to finish the discussion on Kingdom Economics -- and really, I thought I'd get back to it before this -- but it looks like it will wait and resume after the first of the year.
It was nearly four years ago that I published a series of Coffee Breaks titled, "The Science and Spirit of Sound." That Coffee Break series was predicated in large part on an earlier OPEN LETTER TO THE EKKLESIA I had written and distributed back in the mid-1990's in which I dealt with the significance of sound and the spiritual force behind it.
Many of you know that I've had a long background in engineering and research, and -- for a period of several years -- in the field of audio research. Got to thinking about it this morning and realized that I was probably around seventeen years of age when I first began seriously experimenting in the field of acoustics, playing with loudspeaker cabinet design and acoustic-wave theory.
My audio research continued on through some of my college years and beyond, and in the mid-to-late 1960's a former college buddy, Allen Parker, and I formed an acoustic research company -- Alpac Audio. We developed together what we referred to as "3-Dimensional Sound" -- an early predecessor to today's Dolby Surround -- and traveled around the country introducing the concept to various manufacturers.
"3-Dimensional Sound" was actually achieved with only two, albeit perfectly balanced and accurately phased loudspeakers. We were able to create a soundstage far wider than the speaker placement and reproduce the sounds which appeared to be coming out of thin air where no speakers existed. I won't get into the technical issues or specs on the system because that's not what this Coffee Break is about. I simply share this as a foundation for where I want to take this (and perhaps one or more additional Coffee Breaks) discussion and to perhaps establish a basis in both scientific fact and spiritual law.
As a lifelong musician and recording engineer, sound has been an integral part of my life. At least nine out of every ten mornings, I will a waken with the sound of Heaven flowing through my spirit with new music. It is and has been perhaps the most actively creative part of my life. (Some people think it is my writing, but that's just because they haven't been around me much. (Grin.)
Della is likewise creative when it comes to music. There are many times when she sits down at the synthesizer keyboard, closes her eyes, and just begins to worship as the Spirit of the Lord flows through her with new sounds and new words. We flow together this way. But there is purpose and direction in the sound that comes forth. Between the two of us, the Holy Spirit has given hundreds of new songs -- Psalms (set to new music), Hymns, and Spiritual Songs -- more than a few of which have become part of the repertoire of praise and worship in churches around the world.
We understand that literally everything God ever created began with the sound of His voice. We also understand that we've been created in His image and likeness and imbued with His same creative ability.
Our world today has so corrupted and contaminated sound that we've lost sight -- and in large part, the creative use -- of the ability God gave us. We are surrounded with so much sound it has become cacophonous. It is nothing but destructive noise!
We turn on the television and get bombarded with every kind of sound -- most of it (as noted in previous Coffee Breaks) designed to entice, persuade and manipulate us into believing things that are not true, have no life, and deceive us into committing sin, buying something we don't need or want, or wasting time in unproductive endeavors.
Why is this? What has happened to the human race? More than that, what has happened that the Body of Christ has so lost sight (and use) of the gift of God He has made available to us through Jesus Christ?
I've shared this personal translation of the Greek text of II Corinthians 10:3-5 before but let me refresh you.
"For though we live, deport and comport ourselves by that which we see, hear, taste, smell and touch, we do not contend with, war after and execute military strategies [against Satan] by that which we see and hear, know intellectually, or have opinions of: For the weapons and instruments of our war and executed actions [against Satan] do not have their origins and [weak, impotent] operation in natural flesh and human abilities, but they are skillful, potent and powerful – like dynamite – through God to the demolition and extinction of all fortified and guarded places of opinions in opposition,
"Bringing down violently and demolishing (to total extinction) all mental reasonings and thought processes, and every mental barrier or arrogant and self-elevated attitude that justifies itself in opposition to the knowledge of God; bringing into captivity and making a prisoner every perception of the intellect and every mental purpose or determination to the compliance and submission of Christ and His anointing [in the same way that He complied with the will and desire of the Father]."
Now, let's put that together with Ephesians 6:12. The KJV reads like this: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
The phrase, "we wrestle not" is an extraordinary phrase in the Greek text. The Greek uses a musical term -- or more accurately, a conjunctive word which denotes "sound," esti-pale (from its root, pallo). This word more literally translates: to vibrate; and it draws a picture of two sounds in opposition to each other. The wrestling, literally, is the opposition of the sounds of Satan against the sound of the Lord. (We'll come back to this, momentarily.)
From a purely scientific perspective, all energy beginning at 0 cycles per second (or hertz) and increasing in frequency through the audio spectrum, the sub-RF and RF spectrums, electro-magnetic energy, HF, VHF, UHF, Microwave and beyond into the realm of visible and invisible light -- all of it -- is sound-based. If we had ears that could hear at those frequencies, we could hear light.
I was just thinking back to a discussion I had with a Canadian astrophysicist in 1994 when the comet, Shoemaker-Levy, after breaking apart, struck the planet Jupiter 21 times over a period of seven days. He noted that -- were it possible for sound to travel in space -- this event created a series of low-frequency electro-magnetic shock waves equivalent to sound that spread throughout our galaxy. Though our ears didn't hear it the earth did, and there were both tidal and weather phenomena that followed in the months thereafter.
Sound, whether we hear it or not, is an integral part of our existence. Sound holds things together. Here's how the apostle Paul put it.
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:1-3)
Did you catch that? He is "upholding all things (the Greek word used here is phero: meaning to energize and hold together cohesively) by the word (rhema: sound of His word, the speaking forth) of His power (dunamis: force, might, miraculous power)." He energizes and holds everything together cohesively by the sound of His Word going forth. Because He is God, it is the sound of His power, not the other way around.
Most folks think of it as the power of His Word, but that's not the way Paul phrases it. It is the Word, the Sound of His Word of the power inherent in His very being. Thus we exist because of sound -- the Sound of the Lord.
When you stop to consider, this is how creation began. With sound. The sound of His Word went forth, "Light BE!" And light was. Everything about the creation of this world and all that is therein (with the exception of man -- and we'll get to that) began with sound going forth -- the sound of His Word.
Light, therefore, began with sound. Maybe you think I'm wearing this issue thin, but bear with me. There is a point to this.
Jesus put it like this, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth after me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)
Again He said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:5)
Now, juxtapose those statements with the way John began his Gospel.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made."
Then John puts sound and light together.
"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."
Are you seeing it? Sound. Light. Life. They are inseparable. They go together. You can't have one without the other. Light exists because of sound. Sound exists with light. Life is both light and sound.
Ever notice the difference at Creation between the way God made the earth, the universe, and all that is therein, and the way He made man? Genesis 2:7 tells us that God "formed" (the Hebrew word is yatsar: to mold, to squeeze into shape, to fashion with determined purpose) man. It is the first time during the entire creation sequence that God departs from the declarative commands to "BE" in order to accomplish His creative design.
Thus God took particular care and purpose in man's creation. After all, the entire creative operation was intended to create an environment for man in the first place. Man was not simply a generic part of creation; he was the reason. And the objective for man's creation is revealed in Genesis 1:26-28.
First of all, Father, Son and Holy Spirit took counsel together in this. It was the unified decision that a species of being would come into existence who would be exactly like God, functioning in three dimensions simultaneously and having the power of creative speech and creative sound -- just like God!
Thus, man's existence came into being first by God taking deliberate and specific care in creating him.and molding him. Then He breathed into man His own breath -- that same breath with which He generated the commanding sounds of Creation. (See Genesis 2:7) And the very first thing man heard was the sound of the Lord's Voice creating in him the empowerment to do what God did: create with His voice.
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28)
Do you see it? The very first thing God did was to bless them -- to declare and decree in them the empowerment to prosper, to accomplish everything they desired. The second thing God did was to declare and decree dominion in them -- His authority -- to rule over every living thing upon the earth (except man, of course, and that's an important distinction we'll get into later).
Next the Lord says to them, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat:" (Verses 29 & 30) And He finishes it off by confirming, "and it was so."
Thus God confirmed the decrees of blessing He had imparted with the sound of His Voice into man.
In our next Coffee Break, we will expand on this concept and show the relationship between the sound that comes forth from us and the creative power of God that operates in and through us.
See you again shortly.
Things are not what they seem to be: they're what God says they are. The sound of His Word going forth is what determines the difference between light and darkness, life and death, health or sickness and disease, poverty or prosperity.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th StreetSunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
THE SOUND OF THE LORD
Part 1: INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT
Great getting' up mornin' to ye, Folks! Blessin's on Ye!There, how's that for a good morning greeting. Awwww, well... Anyway...grab that fresh cup of coffee from your French Press coffee maker, or that cup of super hot Expresso.
Maybe you've been wondering when we're going to finish the discussion on Kingdom Economics -- and really, I thought I'd get back to it before this -- but it looks like it will wait and resume after the first of the year.
It was nearly four years ago that I published a series of Coffee Breaks titled, "The Science and Spirit of Sound." That Coffee Break series was predicated in large part on an earlier OPEN LETTER TO THE EKKLESIA I had written and distributed back in the mid-1990's in which I dealt with the significance of sound and the spiritual force behind it.
Many of you know that I've had a long background in engineering and research, and -- for a period of several years -- in the field of audio research. Got to thinking about it this morning and realized that I was probably around seventeen years of age when I first began seriously experimenting in the field of acoustics, playing with loudspeaker cabinet design and acoustic-wave theory.
My audio research continued on through some of my college years and beyond, and in the mid-to-late 1960's a former college buddy, Allen Parker, and I formed an acoustic research company -- Alpac Audio. We developed together what we referred to as "3-Dimensional Sound" -- an early predecessor to today's Dolby Surround -- and traveled around the country introducing the concept to various manufacturers.
"3-Dimensional Sound" was actually achieved with only two, albeit perfectly balanced and accurately phased loudspeakers. We were able to create a soundstage far wider than the speaker placement and reproduce the sounds which appeared to be coming out of thin air where no speakers existed. I won't get into the technical issues or specs on the system because that's not what this Coffee Break is about. I simply share this as a foundation for where I want to take this (and perhaps one or more additional Coffee Breaks) discussion and to perhaps establish a basis in both scientific fact and spiritual law.
As a lifelong musician and recording engineer, sound has been an integral part of my life. At least nine out of every ten mornings, I will a waken with the sound of Heaven flowing through my spirit with new music. It is and has been perhaps the most actively creative part of my life. (Some people think it is my writing, but that's just because they haven't been around me much. (Grin.)
Della is likewise creative when it comes to music. There are many times when she sits down at the synthesizer keyboard, closes her eyes, and just begins to worship as the Spirit of the Lord flows through her with new sounds and new words. We flow together this way. But there is purpose and direction in the sound that comes forth. Between the two of us, the Holy Spirit has given hundreds of new songs -- Psalms (set to new music), Hymns, and Spiritual Songs -- more than a few of which have become part of the repertoire of praise and worship in churches around the world.
We understand that literally everything God ever created began with the sound of His voice. We also understand that we've been created in His image and likeness and imbued with His same creative ability.
Our world today has so corrupted and contaminated sound that we've lost sight -- and in large part, the creative use -- of the ability God gave us. We are surrounded with so much sound it has become cacophonous. It is nothing but destructive noise!
We turn on the television and get bombarded with every kind of sound -- most of it (as noted in previous Coffee Breaks) designed to entice, persuade and manipulate us into believing things that are not true, have no life, and deceive us into committing sin, buying something we don't need or want, or wasting time in unproductive endeavors.
Why is this? What has happened to the human race? More than that, what has happened that the Body of Christ has so lost sight (and use) of the gift of God He has made available to us through Jesus Christ?
I've shared this personal translation of the Greek text of II Corinthians 10:3-5 before but let me refresh you.
"For though we live, deport and comport ourselves by that which we see, hear, taste, smell and touch, we do not contend with, war after and execute military strategies [against Satan] by that which we see and hear, know intellectually, or have opinions of: For the weapons and instruments of our war and executed actions [against Satan] do not have their origins and [weak, impotent] operation in natural flesh and human abilities, but they are skillful, potent and powerful – like dynamite – through God to the demolition and extinction of all fortified and guarded places of opinions in opposition,
"Bringing down violently and demolishing (to total extinction) all mental reasonings and thought processes, and every mental barrier or arrogant and self-elevated attitude that justifies itself in opposition to the knowledge of God; bringing into captivity and making a prisoner every perception of the intellect and every mental purpose or determination to the compliance and submission of Christ and His anointing [in the same way that He complied with the will and desire of the Father]."
Now, let's put that together with Ephesians 6:12. The KJV reads like this: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
The phrase, "we wrestle not" is an extraordinary phrase in the Greek text. The Greek uses a musical term -- or more accurately, a conjunctive word which denotes "sound," esti-pale (from its root, pallo). This word more literally translates: to vibrate; and it draws a picture of two sounds in opposition to each other. The wrestling, literally, is the opposition of the sounds of Satan against the sound of the Lord. (We'll come back to this, momentarily.)
From a purely scientific perspective, all energy beginning at 0 cycles per second (or hertz) and increasing in frequency through the audio spectrum, the sub-RF and RF spectrums, electro-magnetic energy, HF, VHF, UHF, Microwave and beyond into the realm of visible and invisible light -- all of it -- is sound-based. If we had ears that could hear at those frequencies, we could hear light.
I was just thinking back to a discussion I had with a Canadian astrophysicist in 1994 when the comet, Shoemaker-Levy, after breaking apart, struck the planet Jupiter 21 times over a period of seven days. He noted that -- were it possible for sound to travel in space -- this event created a series of low-frequency electro-magnetic shock waves equivalent to sound that spread throughout our galaxy. Though our ears didn't hear it the earth did, and there were both tidal and weather phenomena that followed in the months thereafter.
Sound, whether we hear it or not, is an integral part of our existence. Sound holds things together. Here's how the apostle Paul put it.
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:1-3)
Did you catch that? He is "upholding all things (the Greek word used here is phero: meaning to energize and hold together cohesively) by the word (rhema: sound of His word, the speaking forth) of His power (dunamis: force, might, miraculous power)." He energizes and holds everything together cohesively by the sound of His Word going forth. Because He is God, it is the sound of His power, not the other way around.
Most folks think of it as the power of His Word, but that's not the way Paul phrases it. It is the Word, the Sound of His Word of the power inherent in His very being. Thus we exist because of sound -- the Sound of the Lord.
When you stop to consider, this is how creation began. With sound. The sound of His Word went forth, "Light BE!" And light was. Everything about the creation of this world and all that is therein (with the exception of man -- and we'll get to that) began with sound going forth -- the sound of His Word.
Light, therefore, began with sound. Maybe you think I'm wearing this issue thin, but bear with me. There is a point to this.
Jesus put it like this, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth after me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)
Again He said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:5)
Now, juxtapose those statements with the way John began his Gospel.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made."
Then John puts sound and light together.
"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."
Are you seeing it? Sound. Light. Life. They are inseparable. They go together. You can't have one without the other. Light exists because of sound. Sound exists with light. Life is both light and sound.
Ever notice the difference at Creation between the way God made the earth, the universe, and all that is therein, and the way He made man? Genesis 2:7 tells us that God "formed" (the Hebrew word is yatsar: to mold, to squeeze into shape, to fashion with determined purpose) man. It is the first time during the entire creation sequence that God departs from the declarative commands to "BE" in order to accomplish His creative design.
Thus God took particular care and purpose in man's creation. After all, the entire creative operation was intended to create an environment for man in the first place. Man was not simply a generic part of creation; he was the reason. And the objective for man's creation is revealed in Genesis 1:26-28.
First of all, Father, Son and Holy Spirit took counsel together in this. It was the unified decision that a species of being would come into existence who would be exactly like God, functioning in three dimensions simultaneously and having the power of creative speech and creative sound -- just like God!
Thus, man's existence came into being first by God taking deliberate and specific care in creating him.and molding him. Then He breathed into man His own breath -- that same breath with which He generated the commanding sounds of Creation. (See Genesis 2:7) And the very first thing man heard was the sound of the Lord's Voice creating in him the empowerment to do what God did: create with His voice.
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28)
Do you see it? The very first thing God did was to bless them -- to declare and decree in them the empowerment to prosper, to accomplish everything they desired. The second thing God did was to declare and decree dominion in them -- His authority -- to rule over every living thing upon the earth (except man, of course, and that's an important distinction we'll get into later).
Next the Lord says to them, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat:" (Verses 29 & 30) And He finishes it off by confirming, "and it was so."
Thus God confirmed the decrees of blessing He had imparted with the sound of His Voice into man.
In our next Coffee Break, we will expand on this concept and show the relationship between the sound that comes forth from us and the creative power of God that operates in and through us.
See you again shortly.
Things are not what they seem to be: they're what God says they are. The sound of His Word going forth is what determines the difference between light and darkness, life and death, health or sickness and disease, poverty or prosperity.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th StreetSunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
Monday, December 1, 2008
ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: INTERCESSION, Part 3
Intercession, Part 3
And a Gooooooodddd Morrrrrrrnnnnniiinnnnggg to you!
Yup. It is! And I'm already into my second cup of French Roasted Columbian Supremo -- made in the French Press, of course. Got yours, yet? Well whaddaya waitin' for? Christmas? (oooopppsss...that's just around the corner.) Hehehehehehe........
When I first started this discussion on intercession, I didn't expect it to stretch out like this, but because the Lord has really compelled Della and me to intercede more and more and more in the past weeks, it seems like there is a lot more understanding unfolding for both of us in this realm. That being the case, it is appropriate for me to share this continuing revelation for your growth and understanding as well.
In our last Coffee Break, I quoted from I Timothy 2:1-5: "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, 1-supplications, 2-prayers, 3-intercessions, and 4-giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
We talked about the four specific commands embodied in Paul's instruction: (1) Supplications, (2) Prayers, (3) Intercessions, and (4) Giving of Thanks.
For the sake of short review, supplications comes from the Greek word, de.esis; meaning petitions or requests. Prayers, in this instance, is taken from proseuchomai, a covenant term better translated: worship. The third word -- intercessions -- is a term we would better frame within the context of a courtroom; and it comes from the Greek enteuxis; and means: to present a legal argument based in Law (that is, to confer with, to mediate on behalf of, or to deal with an unresolved issue). The fourth command -- the giving of thanks -- is another covenant word in Greek eucharistia. This word defines gratefulness, gratitude towards God for His keeping covenant with His people.
Each of these words or phrases are drawn from the picture of the Covenant God made with Abraham. The event is told in Genesis 15 (you can read it for yourself) but I will simply draw the picture for you. We know from all of the references in Scripture that this is the fifth time the Lord has appeared to Abraham. But this time is different. In each previous appearance, God has spoken to him and made some very singular promises. What separates this fifth appearance of the Lord from all previous events is the fact that God now makes a promise to Abraham that -- for Abraham -- is simply impossible to enact by any means of calculating or reasoning. Sarah has been barren in all the years of their married life, and Abraham is well past the age of male fertility; and yet, God promises that Abraham's seed -- of his loins -- will be innumerable as the stars in the heavens and the sand of the seashore.
Verse 6 of this chapter tells us that in spite of the impossibility of the event, Abraham believed God. Now God is going to etch His promises to Abraham in the form of a Legal Covenant, the likes of which Abraham -- and all his generations thereafter -- will clearly understand and be able to relate to: a Covenant of Blood.
I remember during my growing-up years hearing about "the Blood, the Blood, the Blood" and singing all those songs (Oh, the Blood of Jesus; The Old Rugged Cross, Power in the Blood, Nothing But the Blood, etc., etc.), wondering why there was so much importance put on the blood of Jesus being shed. Sure, I knew all the usual things: He died to save us from sin; He paid the price for our freedom, His death and resurrection restored what was lost when Adam and Eve sinned and brought a curse to mankind; but the real significance of what took place on the Cross was not something any of us really understood at the time, and the concept of "Covenant" simply was lost on us.
It never occurred to me that blood was shed from the time Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden. Consider for a moment that when they lost their "covering" and clothing of Glory, they were naked. Yet God made a covering for them of animal skins -- a poor substitute for the Glory of God, but a covering nonetheless. In order for God to provide those animal skins, the animals had to die and their blood be shed in the process. It was to set the future pattern for "covering," protection, blessing and redemption.
Now God gives seemingly strange instruction to Abraham.
"Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not."
There's a prophetic picture in the choice of these animals (and one I don't have time to delve into with all the specifics today) but God's command to Abraham in choosing these animals was very deliberate. These animals would represent every spectrum of the promises to be made, and every kind of character and personality in the generations to follow. The number (5) of animals chosen would -- again -- be prophetic. It denoted kheseed: that remarkable and astonishing grace of God which represented His Blessing, His lovingkindness and tender mercy, His favor, His total covering, protection and provision for every conceivable need or situation.
Now God puts Abraham into a vision-state. He cannot permit Abraham to actually see Him physically, so He places Abraham in a position that will allow him to see what takes place without endangering him by the Glory of His actual physical being. And God shows up in person to enact this Covenant.
What Abraham sees is what Moses and the Children of Israel will see some 400-plus years in the future as God takes them out of bondage in Egypt: a pillar of smoke and a column of fire. And God now walks up and down, back and forth in the blood that is flowing between the divided halves of the animals. As He does so, He declares and decrees His Covenant promise to Abraham.
"And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full."
"In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
God had already made this same promise to Abraham, but now He seals it in an unbreakable Covenant. This Covenant is a legal act, a decree which cannot be altered or broken.
As Paul notes in his letter to the Hebrews, "For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could sware by no greater, He sware by Himself, saying Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee." (Hebrews 6:13-14)
It is important to note that in a Covenant relationship, both parties literally give their all to the other. They become "joined at the hip" to use the old metaphor. Whatever one party to the covenant has, the other is entitled to without question. Each acts for and on behalf of the other. Each watches out for the other.
This is a covenant of blood. Since as we all know "The life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11), a covenant of blood meant "life for life." If one party were to violate the covenant, his life was forfeit.
That God fulfilled His part of the Covenant -- and continues to this day to fulfill it -- is evident in all that we have and receive through Jesus Christ. Abraham, however, fulfilled his part of the covenant in a way most folks today would find impossible.
During the years, God had withheld nothing from Abraham. He was easily the Bill Gates of his day being the richest and arguably the most powerful man on the planet. It mattered not what Abraham required, God met that need. But now it is God's turn to ask something of Abraham -- and if he is going to perpetuate this extraordinary covenant blessing in the generations to come, he must -- without hesitation -- give God whatever He asks of Abraham.
And God asks him to offer up his only son -- the son in and through whom God has promised the Covenant Blessing would be implemented -- as a burnt sacrifice to Him. Sounds nuts, doesn't it? Sounds like a contradiction! Why would God ask Abraham for the very thing through which His Covenant Blessing was promised?
Easy. Isaac represented literally the whole of Abraham's life, his future, the generations to follow. God had withheld nothing from Abraham. Now Abraham must likewise withhold nothing from God. And here is the crux of the whole picture, the focal point of the Blessing of Abraham, the essence of Covenant with God.
Watch.
"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." (Hebrews 11:17-19)
See it? Abraham's absolute and resolute trust and faith in God and in His Word was so great that even if Isaac died on an altar of sacrifice to the Lord, he knew without question that God would raise Isaac from the dead in order to keep His Covenant Word.
But here's the best part!
Jesus came as the "Seed of Abraham" AND as the Son of God so that both ends of the Covenant were met at once in a single moment and in a single person. God did not require the sacrifice of Isaac from Abraham in order for Abraham to keep his part of the Covenant, but provided him a ram instead at the last second to offer in Isaac's place.
Some seventeen- or eighteen hundred years later, Jesus came along. By reason of his being brought into the earth through Mary, he qualified legitimately as the Seed of Abraham. By virtue of His having been conceived through the Holy Spirit, Jesus was the Son of God. In Him, God offered up His ultimate sacrifice -- the sacrifice of His Only Son. At the same time, as the Seed of Abraham, he was able to legally fulfill the price of Abraham's part in the Covenant of Blessing -- the offering up of his seed to the Lord.
Jesus' willingness to become the fulfillment of the Law of the Covenant on both sides meant that all who come to God through Him have complete and total access to every part of the Blessing, by the Law of God!
OK. Now that we've drawn this picture of the Abrahamic Covenant, let's take it forward in time so that we understand the covenant nature of Paul's command in his letter to Timothy, and how intercession is so intricately woven into covenant.
In the apostle Paul's letter to the Galatians, he writes, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." (Galatians 3:6-9)
Paul continues, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3:13-14)
Have we gotten there, yet? Are you seeing the progression from Abraham to us? We are recipients of the Blessing of Abraham (1) by and through the blood that Jesus shed, (2) our acceptance and acknowledgement of Him as the redeemer and mediator of the Covenant, and (3) our participation in that Covenant by faith.
That being the case, let's return to the four commands Paul gives in I Timothy 2:1-5. The first, of course, is the presentation of the petition. The petition, however, is presented because of the Covenant we have with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Our request is presented with the full faith and trust of God's Word backing our petition.
What is the nature of our petition? We are coming before God as intercessors, as People of the Covenant, on behalf of God's Word. We are bringing Kingdom Authority into this natural world, overruling the works of the flesh, defeating Satan and his army of demons and demonic princes, and implementing the Kingdom of God on His behalf "for all men, for kings and all that are in authority" so that "all men" will have the opportunity to respond to the redemptive plan Jesus made available.
We are "standing in the gap" putting our lives, all that we have, and all that we are on the line so that Jesus receives His inheritance in us. If we do not stand in the gap, God must (because He is righteous and just) execute His wrath upon "the children of disobedience."
To stand in the gap means that we present ourselves before the Lord in and on His behalf. We do so, both presenting ourselves as an act of worship, and also actually worshiping Him -- "in Spirit and in Truth." Thus the second part of Paul's instruction -- translated "prayers" in the KJV -- is actually "worship." But this isn't simply worshiping the Lord because we want to spend time with Him. This is worship in the context of our Covenant with Him. As the Author, Implementer and Finisher of the Covenant, He is worthy of our worship. He is due that worship.
Our worship recognizes and acknowledges Him and the fact that without the redemptive work that Jesus Christ did on our behalf, we could not come before Him at all!
It may seem a bit incongruous that we now intercede in the midst of the worship, but let's put this all in its proper context. We are in the Courtroom of the Universe. This is a legal situation, and we are here for the purpose of implementing God's Word in an environment that is hostile to Him and resists submitting to His Word at every possible instance. We are here to enforce the Word.
Intercession is nothing more and nothing less than presenting our legal arguments before God. What makes those arguments lawful and enforceable is the very Word God has Himself spoken. We come, therefore, into this August Presence armed with the Word, reminding God of precisely what He has decreed and spoken. His Word is the Final Authority. Everything that happens is based on what He has already spoken.
It is important to note that we waste our time and God's time if we attempt to come before Him with requests and petitions NOT based in His Word. That means we'd best KNOW what He has said and be able to declare that Word before Him. As God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, "Put me in remembrance; let us plead together; declare thou, that thou mayest be justified." (Isaiah 43:26)
He, therefore, makes it clear that He wants us to remind Him of what He has already spoken. Our ability to do that means that we are not coming before Him frivolously, that we KNOW His Will, and that we are desirous of implementing it. It isn't that God has forgotten what He said. Far from it! He simply wants us to know and understand just exactly what we actually can do!
And what we can actually do is to stand in the blood of Jesus! Doing so reminds both us -- and the Father -- that we have legal standing in this Court.
Finally, having presented His Word to Him as the legal basis for our petition, faith in Him and faith in that Word we have presented now demands that we offer thanks -- even before we've seen the manifestation of that for which we asked. Thanksgiving -- at this stage -- is again a Covenant act. It is a statement of faith. It is a declaration that we know with absolute assurance He has heard us, we've come before Him with His Word, and He has responded accordingly.
Thanksgiving -- in the Courtroom of the Universe -- acknowledges that our petitions have been heard and that God has ruled in our (and not coincidentally, in His) favor! John put it like this in his first general letter to the body of Christ.
"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His Will, he heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." (I John 5:14-15)
So, there you go!
We've presented our petitions. We've come before the Throne of the Universe in worship. We've presented our legal document. We've come before God, standing in the blood of Jesus, and demonstrated that we not only have the right to stand before Him with our petition, but also that our request has the merit of His own Word and the promises He has made. Lastly, we've exhibited absolute and implicit trust and faith by offering up our gratitude and gratefulness for His having ruled in our favor concerning our requests.
That, folks, is exactly what intercession is all about. We put our lives on the line. We put all that we are and all that we have on the line so that God will stay deserved judgment against those who are rightfully due that judgment.
This is the Thanksgiving season in America. If you've been presenting your requests before the Lord, you know that you have both standing, and a sound legal argument before God predicated in His Word, then spend these days in thanksgiving before Him. Worship Him! Pour out your whole being in love to the Lord, KNOWING that you are operating according to His Will and functioning in the Covenant of Blessing God originated through and with Abraham.
See you again in a few days.
The purpose of Covenant is to place God's mark in your forehead, that is, to mark your mind. That Covenant is as valid today as it was in the Garden.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives will shortly be available at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
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CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com. We earnestly desire people to stand behind us as prayer partners.
And a Gooooooodddd Morrrrrrrnnnnniiinnnnggg to you!
Yup. It is! And I'm already into my second cup of French Roasted Columbian Supremo -- made in the French Press, of course. Got yours, yet? Well whaddaya waitin' for? Christmas? (oooopppsss...that's just around the corner.) Hehehehehehe........
When I first started this discussion on intercession, I didn't expect it to stretch out like this, but because the Lord has really compelled Della and me to intercede more and more and more in the past weeks, it seems like there is a lot more understanding unfolding for both of us in this realm. That being the case, it is appropriate for me to share this continuing revelation for your growth and understanding as well.
In our last Coffee Break, I quoted from I Timothy 2:1-5: "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, 1-supplications, 2-prayers, 3-intercessions, and 4-giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
We talked about the four specific commands embodied in Paul's instruction: (1) Supplications, (2) Prayers, (3) Intercessions, and (4) Giving of Thanks.
For the sake of short review, supplications comes from the Greek word, de.esis; meaning petitions or requests. Prayers, in this instance, is taken from proseuchomai, a covenant term better translated: worship. The third word -- intercessions -- is a term we would better frame within the context of a courtroom; and it comes from the Greek enteuxis; and means: to present a legal argument based in Law (that is, to confer with, to mediate on behalf of, or to deal with an unresolved issue). The fourth command -- the giving of thanks -- is another covenant word in Greek eucharistia. This word defines gratefulness, gratitude towards God for His keeping covenant with His people.
Each of these words or phrases are drawn from the picture of the Covenant God made with Abraham. The event is told in Genesis 15 (you can read it for yourself) but I will simply draw the picture for you. We know from all of the references in Scripture that this is the fifth time the Lord has appeared to Abraham. But this time is different. In each previous appearance, God has spoken to him and made some very singular promises. What separates this fifth appearance of the Lord from all previous events is the fact that God now makes a promise to Abraham that -- for Abraham -- is simply impossible to enact by any means of calculating or reasoning. Sarah has been barren in all the years of their married life, and Abraham is well past the age of male fertility; and yet, God promises that Abraham's seed -- of his loins -- will be innumerable as the stars in the heavens and the sand of the seashore.
Verse 6 of this chapter tells us that in spite of the impossibility of the event, Abraham believed God. Now God is going to etch His promises to Abraham in the form of a Legal Covenant, the likes of which Abraham -- and all his generations thereafter -- will clearly understand and be able to relate to: a Covenant of Blood.
I remember during my growing-up years hearing about "the Blood, the Blood, the Blood" and singing all those songs (Oh, the Blood of Jesus; The Old Rugged Cross, Power in the Blood, Nothing But the Blood, etc., etc.), wondering why there was so much importance put on the blood of Jesus being shed. Sure, I knew all the usual things: He died to save us from sin; He paid the price for our freedom, His death and resurrection restored what was lost when Adam and Eve sinned and brought a curse to mankind; but the real significance of what took place on the Cross was not something any of us really understood at the time, and the concept of "Covenant" simply was lost on us.
It never occurred to me that blood was shed from the time Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden. Consider for a moment that when they lost their "covering" and clothing of Glory, they were naked. Yet God made a covering for them of animal skins -- a poor substitute for the Glory of God, but a covering nonetheless. In order for God to provide those animal skins, the animals had to die and their blood be shed in the process. It was to set the future pattern for "covering," protection, blessing and redemption.
Now God gives seemingly strange instruction to Abraham.
"Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not."
There's a prophetic picture in the choice of these animals (and one I don't have time to delve into with all the specifics today) but God's command to Abraham in choosing these animals was very deliberate. These animals would represent every spectrum of the promises to be made, and every kind of character and personality in the generations to follow. The number (5) of animals chosen would -- again -- be prophetic. It denoted kheseed: that remarkable and astonishing grace of God which represented His Blessing, His lovingkindness and tender mercy, His favor, His total covering, protection and provision for every conceivable need or situation.
Now God puts Abraham into a vision-state. He cannot permit Abraham to actually see Him physically, so He places Abraham in a position that will allow him to see what takes place without endangering him by the Glory of His actual physical being. And God shows up in person to enact this Covenant.
What Abraham sees is what Moses and the Children of Israel will see some 400-plus years in the future as God takes them out of bondage in Egypt: a pillar of smoke and a column of fire. And God now walks up and down, back and forth in the blood that is flowing between the divided halves of the animals. As He does so, He declares and decrees His Covenant promise to Abraham.
"And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full."
"In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
God had already made this same promise to Abraham, but now He seals it in an unbreakable Covenant. This Covenant is a legal act, a decree which cannot be altered or broken.
As Paul notes in his letter to the Hebrews, "For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could sware by no greater, He sware by Himself, saying Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee." (Hebrews 6:13-14)
It is important to note that in a Covenant relationship, both parties literally give their all to the other. They become "joined at the hip" to use the old metaphor. Whatever one party to the covenant has, the other is entitled to without question. Each acts for and on behalf of the other. Each watches out for the other.
This is a covenant of blood. Since as we all know "The life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11), a covenant of blood meant "life for life." If one party were to violate the covenant, his life was forfeit.
That God fulfilled His part of the Covenant -- and continues to this day to fulfill it -- is evident in all that we have and receive through Jesus Christ. Abraham, however, fulfilled his part of the covenant in a way most folks today would find impossible.
During the years, God had withheld nothing from Abraham. He was easily the Bill Gates of his day being the richest and arguably the most powerful man on the planet. It mattered not what Abraham required, God met that need. But now it is God's turn to ask something of Abraham -- and if he is going to perpetuate this extraordinary covenant blessing in the generations to come, he must -- without hesitation -- give God whatever He asks of Abraham.
And God asks him to offer up his only son -- the son in and through whom God has promised the Covenant Blessing would be implemented -- as a burnt sacrifice to Him. Sounds nuts, doesn't it? Sounds like a contradiction! Why would God ask Abraham for the very thing through which His Covenant Blessing was promised?
Easy. Isaac represented literally the whole of Abraham's life, his future, the generations to follow. God had withheld nothing from Abraham. Now Abraham must likewise withhold nothing from God. And here is the crux of the whole picture, the focal point of the Blessing of Abraham, the essence of Covenant with God.
Watch.
"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." (Hebrews 11:17-19)
See it? Abraham's absolute and resolute trust and faith in God and in His Word was so great that even if Isaac died on an altar of sacrifice to the Lord, he knew without question that God would raise Isaac from the dead in order to keep His Covenant Word.
But here's the best part!
Jesus came as the "Seed of Abraham" AND as the Son of God so that both ends of the Covenant were met at once in a single moment and in a single person. God did not require the sacrifice of Isaac from Abraham in order for Abraham to keep his part of the Covenant, but provided him a ram instead at the last second to offer in Isaac's place.
Some seventeen- or eighteen hundred years later, Jesus came along. By reason of his being brought into the earth through Mary, he qualified legitimately as the Seed of Abraham. By virtue of His having been conceived through the Holy Spirit, Jesus was the Son of God. In Him, God offered up His ultimate sacrifice -- the sacrifice of His Only Son. At the same time, as the Seed of Abraham, he was able to legally fulfill the price of Abraham's part in the Covenant of Blessing -- the offering up of his seed to the Lord.
Jesus' willingness to become the fulfillment of the Law of the Covenant on both sides meant that all who come to God through Him have complete and total access to every part of the Blessing, by the Law of God!
OK. Now that we've drawn this picture of the Abrahamic Covenant, let's take it forward in time so that we understand the covenant nature of Paul's command in his letter to Timothy, and how intercession is so intricately woven into covenant.
In the apostle Paul's letter to the Galatians, he writes, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." (Galatians 3:6-9)
Paul continues, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3:13-14)
Have we gotten there, yet? Are you seeing the progression from Abraham to us? We are recipients of the Blessing of Abraham (1) by and through the blood that Jesus shed, (2) our acceptance and acknowledgement of Him as the redeemer and mediator of the Covenant, and (3) our participation in that Covenant by faith.
That being the case, let's return to the four commands Paul gives in I Timothy 2:1-5. The first, of course, is the presentation of the petition. The petition, however, is presented because of the Covenant we have with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Our request is presented with the full faith and trust of God's Word backing our petition.
What is the nature of our petition? We are coming before God as intercessors, as People of the Covenant, on behalf of God's Word. We are bringing Kingdom Authority into this natural world, overruling the works of the flesh, defeating Satan and his army of demons and demonic princes, and implementing the Kingdom of God on His behalf "for all men, for kings and all that are in authority" so that "all men" will have the opportunity to respond to the redemptive plan Jesus made available.
We are "standing in the gap" putting our lives, all that we have, and all that we are on the line so that Jesus receives His inheritance in us. If we do not stand in the gap, God must (because He is righteous and just) execute His wrath upon "the children of disobedience."
To stand in the gap means that we present ourselves before the Lord in and on His behalf. We do so, both presenting ourselves as an act of worship, and also actually worshiping Him -- "in Spirit and in Truth." Thus the second part of Paul's instruction -- translated "prayers" in the KJV -- is actually "worship." But this isn't simply worshiping the Lord because we want to spend time with Him. This is worship in the context of our Covenant with Him. As the Author, Implementer and Finisher of the Covenant, He is worthy of our worship. He is due that worship.
Our worship recognizes and acknowledges Him and the fact that without the redemptive work that Jesus Christ did on our behalf, we could not come before Him at all!
It may seem a bit incongruous that we now intercede in the midst of the worship, but let's put this all in its proper context. We are in the Courtroom of the Universe. This is a legal situation, and we are here for the purpose of implementing God's Word in an environment that is hostile to Him and resists submitting to His Word at every possible instance. We are here to enforce the Word.
Intercession is nothing more and nothing less than presenting our legal arguments before God. What makes those arguments lawful and enforceable is the very Word God has Himself spoken. We come, therefore, into this August Presence armed with the Word, reminding God of precisely what He has decreed and spoken. His Word is the Final Authority. Everything that happens is based on what He has already spoken.
It is important to note that we waste our time and God's time if we attempt to come before Him with requests and petitions NOT based in His Word. That means we'd best KNOW what He has said and be able to declare that Word before Him. As God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, "Put me in remembrance; let us plead together; declare thou, that thou mayest be justified." (Isaiah 43:26)
He, therefore, makes it clear that He wants us to remind Him of what He has already spoken. Our ability to do that means that we are not coming before Him frivolously, that we KNOW His Will, and that we are desirous of implementing it. It isn't that God has forgotten what He said. Far from it! He simply wants us to know and understand just exactly what we actually can do!
And what we can actually do is to stand in the blood of Jesus! Doing so reminds both us -- and the Father -- that we have legal standing in this Court.
Finally, having presented His Word to Him as the legal basis for our petition, faith in Him and faith in that Word we have presented now demands that we offer thanks -- even before we've seen the manifestation of that for which we asked. Thanksgiving -- at this stage -- is again a Covenant act. It is a statement of faith. It is a declaration that we know with absolute assurance He has heard us, we've come before Him with His Word, and He has responded accordingly.
Thanksgiving -- in the Courtroom of the Universe -- acknowledges that our petitions have been heard and that God has ruled in our (and not coincidentally, in His) favor! John put it like this in his first general letter to the body of Christ.
"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His Will, he heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." (I John 5:14-15)
So, there you go!
We've presented our petitions. We've come before the Throne of the Universe in worship. We've presented our legal document. We've come before God, standing in the blood of Jesus, and demonstrated that we not only have the right to stand before Him with our petition, but also that our request has the merit of His own Word and the promises He has made. Lastly, we've exhibited absolute and implicit trust and faith by offering up our gratitude and gratefulness for His having ruled in our favor concerning our requests.
That, folks, is exactly what intercession is all about. We put our lives on the line. We put all that we are and all that we have on the line so that God will stay deserved judgment against those who are rightfully due that judgment.
This is the Thanksgiving season in America. If you've been presenting your requests before the Lord, you know that you have both standing, and a sound legal argument before God predicated in His Word, then spend these days in thanksgiving before Him. Worship Him! Pour out your whole being in love to the Lord, KNOWING that you are operating according to His Will and functioning in the Covenant of Blessing God originated through and with Abraham.
See you again in a few days.
The purpose of Covenant is to place God's mark in your forehead, that is, to mark your mind. That Covenant is as valid today as it was in the Garden.
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22) Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
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