Bible Study with PASTOR LYNDA MacDONALD @ Word2day.com

KEEPING ON GOD’S TRACK

Pastor Lynda MacDonald, Nova Scotia

This article is all about visions. It is not to describe visions I have seen but the Biblical principle that there are spiritual visions that come from God as a directive warning.

Immediately, the scripture comes to my mind from Joel 2:28 “I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams; your young men will see visions.”

If one were to read the context of this verse, one would see that the preceding verses were about God’s warning to the nation of Israel-the real nation NOT the church, as some believe today.

Verse one and two reads 1 "Blow the shofar in Tziyon! Sound an alarm on my holy mountain!" Let all living in the land tremble, for the Day of ADONAI is coming! It's upon us! 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick fog.”

God is calling Israel to heed His voice that there is a terrible day coming and they must prepare. The chapter continues, “18 Then ADONAI will become jealous for his land and have pity on his people. 19 Here is how ADONAI will answer his people: "I will send you grain, wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you; and no longer will I make you a mockery among the Goyim. 20 No, I will take the northerner away, far away from you, and drive him to a land that is waste and barren; with his vanguard toward the eastern sea and his rearguard toward the western sea, his stench and his rottenness will rise, because he has done great things." 21 Don't fear, O soil; be glad! Rejoice! For ADONAI has done great things. 22 Don't be afraid, wild animals; for the desert pastures are green, the trees are putting out their fruit, the fig tree and vine are giving full yield. 23 Be glad, people of Tziyon! Rejoice in ADONAI your God! For he is giving you the right amount of rain in the fall, he makes the rain come down for you, the fall and spring rains - this is what he does first. 24 Then the floors will be full of grain and the vats overflow with wine and olive oil. 25 "I will restore to you the years that the locusts ate, the grasshoppers, shearer-worms and cutter-worms, my great army that I sent against you. 26 You will eat until you are satisfied and will praise the name of ADONAI your God, who has done with you such wonders. Then my people will never again be shamed. 27 You will know that I am with Israel and that I am ADONAI your God, and that there is no other. Then my people will never again be shamed.”

We quote so often from this chapter but forget to remember that it is directly aimed at Israel. Now, it is true that we as true believers are adopted into Israel (grafted in) according to Ephesians 2 so we can also look for direction from this but it is first to Israel as God’s Word.

Now, another verse is the one that I want to focus on in this article. It is a verse that also speaks clearly about visions.

It is Proverbs 29:18 “Without a prophetic vision, the people throw off all restraint; but he who keeps Torah is happy.”

When I first read this verse, I was a young believer worshipping in a very Evangelical church. It was one that took every scripture as if it were written exclusively for them. We were taught never to take scripture out of context but every time we read the Bible we did just that. We were Israel; we were the Chosen people; we were the Bride of Messiah. Just us!

In the past 5 years since we have lead a small fellowship of people, we have read scripture, –especially the Tanuhk (OT), as if it were the first time. Our eyes are seeing what before we missed. A wonderful friend of ours in ministry (Mike Clayton) explains this phenomenon this way “a Bible angel flies in to your house at night and places scripture in the pages of your Bible. That is why you never read them there before.” J Sure Mike! Of course, he is just kidding.

But back to this scripture about a vision- it is simple to understand that God is telling us that we need a “Prophetic vision” or a signpost for direction so to speak. Without it we have no idea what direction we are to go in our spiritual walk. However, the scripture says something even more important. It says that without a prophetic vision people cast off restraint. They walk in an unsafe condition. “Without restraint” shouts of chaos and confusion.

The answer is laid out for us in the last half of the verse. “But he who keeps Torah is happy.”

I know- this was just for Israel (then how come we keep quoting it for us when it is convenient?) And, I have heard more than once that it was for a time before Yeshua came and that now we are living free of the Torah (Law) that we live according to grace. So- let me get this straight. God send Torah to teach His kids how to walk in fellowship with Him. Yeshua came and lived by Torah (He came to fulfill Torah) and then for approx. 2000 years it was useless and then when Yeshua comes back to reign forever on this earth, he will teach Torah. (Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2) That sounds too ridiculous to me. Torah IS God in spoken Word. So, we need a vision to walk in a Godly direction. We get that direction by walking according to Torah. We are a happy people. That –folks- is a win-win deal.

I would love to finish this article with a favourite scripture of mine from Psalm 119:88 “in keeping with your grace, revive me, and I will keep your spoken instruction.”

I read His word (Torah) and I am happy! Are you?

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