Our Creator’s obvious communication policy is one of intentional complexity. Images, visions, parables, dreams, complex rituals, allegorical miracles, four headed winged cherubim, a dragon with seven heads as well as a tail that sweeps one third of the universe’s stars to our tiny planet, and seven thin cows devouring seven fat cows all serve to validate this extremely obvious divine communication policy. Our Creator hides Himself. He veils His thoughts. If we want to find our Creator we have to pursue Him through a mental obstacle course offering a distinct disadvantage to our naturally self-worshiping hearts. A circumcised heart is the only defense against the default, instinctive error of oversimplification that diverts our attention from divine glory to personal glory. Oversimplification of divine expressions is the foundation platform for all forms of apostasy.
Divinely insulting doctrinal errors
Jesus obediently maintained the educational policy of his Father, teaching the crowds exclusively through parables that he would explain to his disciples only privately. Jesus explains the divine policy of intentional complexity to his disciples. He explains that this educational procedure gives to those who have, and takes away from those who have not (Matt 13:10-15). The non-stop symbolism and layered, inter-related divine expressions of Scripture all have to be interpreted. The uncircumcised human heart will always interpret everything in a self-glorifying manner. This is why literally every form of false doctrine improperly exalts the flesh and degrades the Creator. Without exception, false doctrine is always divinely insulting. In order to witness a greater measure of the currently veiled glory of our Creator that will eventually saturate creation we need to respect that intentional complexity. Every issue has to fit together perfectly, symmetrically and interdependently with every other issue. We have to remember the rule of God manifestation: everything affects everything else because it is all interconnected.
Respecting this intentional complexity vaccinates us from the degrading nature of underestimating divine communications. There is always more to see and understand. The infinite mind of our Creator cannot be fully plumbed by the pitiful, finite minds of men. The first step in witnessing the divine glory in the things that have been made is recognizing we are nowhere near as smart as we think we are. We miss far more than we ever figure out.
Pondering the rain
What do we think when we look at the rain falling from the clouds of heaven? A linear thought process might prompt a response to avoid getting wet. A wider range of thought might include the effects on groundwater tables, the forest fire index, the value to our gardens, soil erosion, a greener lawn, slippery driving conditions, possible flooding or simply the distressing cuteness of a smiling, muddy child. Perhaps we wonder about how that rain got up into the heavens to form the clouds, the accelerating temperature variance due to the rain and other meteorological considerations. All of these interconnections with the feature of rain have their basis in how divine truths and eternal principles are being subtly but powerfully projected by our Creator to for those who share His vision for creation.
The perfectly seamless application of the wide variety of recreational metaphors spanning the more than millennium and a half development of the Bible is an unchallenged validation of divine authorship. These consistent recreational metaphors are multi-layered and interdependent, as we will see with the lesson of the rain. The subtlety of this underground river of thought is intended to veil its divine glory from all but those who have, while those who have not will suffer even greater blissful ignorance.
The water of the Word
The initial spiritual identification of rain is quite simple, as is the case with the dominant foundation creation metaphors saturating Scripture (clouds, air, dirt, rocks, mountains, heaven and earth, light, darkness, fire, ashes, blood, etc). Rain is a form of water, just as clouds, steam, snow, ice, rivers, oceans and lakes are forms of water. All of these recreational variations of water share the same basic foundation spiritual identification with the Word of God, but with somewhat different spiritual applications corresponding to their recreational distinctions. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25-27). We see that ‘rain’ has this same ‘word of God’ identification. “Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass” (Deut 32:1-2). “ For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (Isa 55:10-11).
The clouds, rain, rivers and seas of the Word
The identification of water as the spiritual projection of the Word of our Creator opens the door to an endless consideration of the extended parallels between the written Word of God (Bible) and the spoken Word of God (creation). We can pursue the source of the rain being the clouds of our Creator’s presence power and glory that shielded Israel from Pharaoh’s murderous cavalry at the edge of the Red Sea; led Israel in the wilderness; filled the wilderness tabernacle at its dedication and filled Solomon’s temple at its dedication; overshadowed Christ on the transfiguration mount and serves as the frame for the earthly exit and the triumphant return of Christ (coming with power and glory in the clouds of heaven). We can pursue the application of the rivers and seas replenished by the pouring out of the rain that Scriptural represents the judgments of the word of God being both life and death. This is demonstrated in the flood waters that both destroyed the wicked and saved the righteous (1Pet 3:20); as well as the two seas in Israel projecting the opposing images of life and death, which are connected by the Jordan River. This illustrated the progression from life to death that reversed when the feet of the priests bearing the Ark stepped into those waters; and of course the baptismal waters that project the image of both death to the flesh and life to the spirit. We could also examine the relationship between the rain/word that germinates, nurtures and develops the earth’s fruit bearing plantlife, and that Scriptural projects the enlightened who are expected to bear fruit to the divine Husbandman. There are many multi-layered avenues of consideration that are all interconnected both creation ally and spiritually. Let’s isolate just one of the many possible avenues to demonstrate the parallel layering of this spiritual/physical bond. This is the law of the early and the latter rains.
We will have to wait for the next commentary to begin to see the how the law of the early and latter rains weaves through divine policy, geographical design and specifically prophecy. We are currently living at the end of the period between the early and latter rains, anticipating the latter rains of the pouring out of God’s Word from the heavens in its three applications: the spoken Word, the Word made flesh, and the Word in power.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One