This truth was given to me by the Holy Spirit: “I have hidden my Word in your heart, that you might not sin against me” and “my Word is a lamp to guide your feet and a light for your path” (Psalm 119). In other words, it struck me that while I am personally responsible for ingesting the Word, the Holy Spirit is the one who carefully and strategically hides it away in my heart that I might wield it as the Sword of the Spirit against the enemy and against fallen flesh. By his Word, the Holy Spirit has offered us all a lamp to guide us and a light for our path.
Have you thought about this recently? In a world so full of shifting shadows, half-truths and outright lies the world calls “truth”, and in a world where the enemy shamelessly prowls around pretending he is the light, and is even now using the Word of God to deceive many, we must firmly and deeply understand where our source of light comes from. His Word!
But I must eat the Word daily and take it into my body for the lamp to be given and for the light to guide me; such a sweet and delicious Word! But be on your guard! The Word is sweet like honey to the tongue, but turns the stomach sour. The only way for the light to be in us is to eat the Word daily and to allow the Word to root out all evil intent and darkness within us; this can be painful to the flesh, but illuminates the spirit. Let those of you who have ears, hear, and those of you with eyes, see.
Do you understand what I am telling you? The Word is Jesus. Jesus is the Word. He is the written Word. He is the spoken Word. He is the very Word of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)
Please understand me. I will go a little deeper with you here. There is no such thing as an “Old Testament God” and a separate “New Testament Jesus”. They are both one and the same. Let me put it this way. You cannot separate the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from Jesus of Nazareth. In other words, you cannot understand Yahweh without also understanding Jesus. Furthermore, you cannot comprehend Jesus, unless you also comprehend and know Yahweh; they are one and the same. There is no God of Judgment and a separate Jesus of Grace. There is only one God, the Father, who manifested his authority through Jesus, the Son, and finds his home in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. He is both Judgment and Grace. He is wonderfully and mercifully good, but he is also terrifying. Do you hear what I am saying?
You cannot divorce the old from the new. You can only understand the old by the new. For the new is the fulfillment of the old.
Every word spoken in Holy Scripture, the Law of Moses and the Prophets of God, are all the very heart, mind, soul and spirit of God. When the prophets spoke, Jesus spoke. When the psalmists sang songs, Jesus sang through them. When the law was given, it was given by the very finger of Jesus. For Jesus was in the beginning and is the Word.
For it is written: “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 through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and this life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5)
I love the words of Jesus as spoken through Moses and the other prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. It can be so easy to gloss over these, but do you not realize that every word spoken reveals the heart of God? And in so doing, these words also reveal the very heart of Jesus!
As I was reading Ezekiel 16 (NLT), I began to weep. The Spirit of the LORD is crying out in love and sorrow over Jerusalem, which represents the Bride of Christ; as gentile believers, we are members of the Bride, and the Bridegroom desires a pure and holy Bride who loves him and keeps his commands. Because of her unfaithfulness, the Spirit of the LORD is grieved with heartbreak, frustration and righteous indignation. As I listened, I could hear the heart of my Savior, who still cries out today. Can you hear his love for you?
“‘On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die. But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you,’ says the Sovereign Lord, ‘and you became mine.’” (Ezekiel 16:4-8 NLT)
Jerusalem did not take her covenant with the LORD seriously and prostituted herself to other men. Oh, Church, how often have we prostituted ourselves for the things of this world?
Yet we see in verses 60-63 of Ezekiel 16 that God remembers his covenant with his wife and establishes an everlasting covenant through Jesus for all generations. And not just for Jews, but also for the gentiles too! For it is written: “I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant.” and “Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored.” Hallelujah!
How can we keep on sinning when the very words of Jesus through the prophets tell us of the deep anguish, pain, sorrow and suffering it causes our Saviour? I once thought to myself: “I just want more of Jesus, but there are only four Gospels. I need more Gospels!”
The Spirit of the LORD corrected my thinking and reminded me today: “Did you see me in Genesis? I created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. Did you notice Egypt? I was in the burning bush and demonstrated my magnificent power through Moses. Did you understand what I was saying in Leviticus? I long for my people to be holy, set apart, that you might obey my commands and have life abundant! When the prophets spoke, I spoke through them. That was me! When the Psalmists sang, they sang my song. Do not limit me to the words of new, for both the old and new reveal a more perfect image of my glory.”
Oh, how he longs to hide his Word in our hearts! Will you eat his Word with me today? Will you take it in and allow it to guide you? It is sweet as honey to the tongue, but will be sour to your stomach; not a single word is eaten in vain. As the Word turns the stomach sour, illuminating all impurities of the flesh, it will strengthen the spirit and you will begin to grow in faith, in maturity and you will walk in the Spirit. Hallelujah!
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