As with many of you, I have been reeling in the face of the US news cycles these last few days.
The violence is maddening, the anger and hatred are heart-breaking.
As a leader today it can be difficult to even know what to say that won’t be perceived by someone as bitter and divisive.
But speak we must.
In April, we published a prophetic message based upon Romans 11:4. God is challenging us to remove the names of Baal from our lips. As we remove the names of the Baal from our lips God promises to betroth himself to his bride:
Hosea 2:16-17 “And it shall be, in the day, 'Says the Lord, 'That you will call Me 'My Husband', And no longer call Me 'My Master'. For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more.' "
One particularly devastating name of Baal is Baal-Perazim, otherwise known as the Lord of Divisions. God promises, that in the process of becoming His bride, He will remove the spirit that produces division from the lips that would utter them. In order to be His betrothed, we must be willing to go through the deep, guttural process of striking Baal-Perazim from our lips and hearts.
God chastises the prophetic voices that have failed to address the divisions within Israel:
Ezekiel 13:3-5 “Thus says the Lord God: 'Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps (divisions) to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord."
The prophets were expected to go directly into the place of division and repair the gap in order to establish the house of Israel. From political ideology, religion, race, and economic class, the world is well versed in divisions. Our responsibility as disciples of Jesus is to find a way into the midst of those divisions to carry the Father’s heart and His message. To prophecy is to bring healing.
A failure to deal with and address issues of division (the gaps in the wall) was a symptom of weak and ineffectual prophetic ministry.
Foolish prophets they are called.
The term for divide in Hebrew (Perazim) carries with it the connotation of water breaking forth from a break in the bank. Thus the division can be seen as an outbreak of anger, the violent rushing forth of water that is unconstrained.
I watched John Paul Jackson (and many other leaders that have influenced me) see the hurt, anger, and pain in the Native American community and move right into that gap to help them repair the divide. I was a part of many reconciliation meetings with Godly men and women assuming responsibility for the pain and hurt that had caused great division within the native communities.
None of those men and women were directly responsible for what had happened to the native communities through the residential schools in Canada and the US. Nevertheless, there was prophetic urgency to find that gap and fill it with the Father’s heart.
Perhaps a renewed interest in finding ways to bring healing is in order?
One that sees the Father’s heart aching to bring healing to division, pain, and anger. After all, according to Paul, the ministry we have been given is one of reconciliation.
The Presence of God
I have been reflecting on the story of the paralytic lowered down through the ceiling in Luke 5. Jesus has gathered in a home with Pharisees, teachers of the law, and many who had come from Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. Just prior to this, He had been in the wilderness seeking His Father in prayer:
Luke 5:16 “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
And then, in the very next verse, amongst all these gathered to either test him or receive from him:
Luke 5:17 “And the power of the Lord was present to heal them."
You can’t really ignore the fact that “the power of the Lord was present to heal” comes on the heels of Jesus’ time with His Father in the wilderness. Perhaps the one informed the other?
When the man was lowered down, Jesus took one look at him and spoke healing to his heart:
"Man, your sins are forgiven you."
The pharisees and teachers are immediately offended, questioning the right of Jesus to stand in that place. The power of the Lord was present to heal, and it primarily came in the utterance of forgiveness in the midst of a divisive situation.
Perhaps we need a return to finding God in our daily routine. Maybe we would find ourselves imbued with His presence. Would we possibly find ourselves to be carriers of the “power that is present to heal”?
Christianity has the goods for unity, love, and peace. They are the beauty of Christ and the foot of the cross. Forgiveness and healing, as seen in the episode of the paralytic, are the means to deal with division. Those actions of the God-man Jesus healed the divide between God and man. Perhaps we could use a bit of that ethos today in the church?