A Place Called Home

For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. (Hebrews 12:17)

And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. (Revelation 12:7-8)

Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. (Genesis 8:8-9)

I am still intrigued by this phrase, found no place. So I looked up the words in the original which is helping me get a better grasp on what the real problem was with Esau that is the same problem we are warned to avoid here in Hebrews.

The place that is referred to here is not simply a spot to occupy. It has much deeper meaning than that. It means a place to belong and feel comfortable in, a home base, the place of security and acceptance that is the most likely place to return to after traveling. It refers to a harbor which, in the minds of a sailor would be considered the home port. It contains the idea of home in the more settled way of thinking.

I think it helps to see the other places where these words are used to get a better idea of what this is saying. First I look at the last verse listed here referring to the dove that Noah sent out from the ark.

The dove spent considerable time flying around looking for a place to feel comfortable other than the ark, which was by now probably not a place that a dove would particularly want to hang out given all the commotion and tension of hundreds of increasingly restless animals and people. But the dove could not find any such place no matter how intense its desire was to do so and it had to return to the very unpleasant conditions of the ark and wait for another opportunity. In its journeys it only found endless restlessness and devastation while the waters were still subsiding from the earth.

The second verse above from Revelation talks about the time when Lucifer and all those under his growing demonic influence left heaven. The very same Greek words are used here as in Hebrews. Many believe that somehow God and maybe the angels had some kind of pitched battle and Satan and his angels were forcibly expelled from heaven against their will. But in my growing understanding of the true nature of God and His dealings with all His created beings I am beginning to realize that such a view is completely inconsistent with the truth about God.

What I have been learning and realizing is that Lucifer, at that point becoming Satan (which simply means “accuser”) had made himself completely obnoxious and an irritation among all the loyal subjects of God remaining in heaven. Because he could not convince any more to agree with his ideas, the disharmony and emotional conflict of the sharp differences between his views of God and the truth believed by loyal angels prevented him from having any place where he could feel at home or could call his home base. Everywhere he went he basically found closed doors and closed hearts to the ideas that he believed and promoted and there was no longer any place where he felt welcome. Quite literally there was no place found for him in heaven, for heaven is where God lives and Satan was becoming so unlike God that living that close to His loving, unselfish presence and around so many beings reflective of that loving attitude was simply becoming very miserable. The only left for him to do was to leave and set up a new home base somewhere else where he could find more sympathetic ears. Unfortunately he created just such a place when he was able to deceive and induce that very sympathy in the minds of Eve and Adam and the rest is history.

With this context for the idea of no place found, the repentance that Esau needed to fully engage into the covenant blessing of God was not something that found a home in Esau's heart. The conditions fostered in his heart were not conducive to living in harmony with God's character of unselfish love and he had repeatedly spurned the gift of humility or the idea of turning to God when in need of help. He had fostered a spirit of fierce independence. He was a self-made man who was proud of his achievements and skills and did not need any mamby-pamby sissy God to take care of him like his sniveling, crafty brother. Unfortunately the favoritism practiced by both of their parents only tended to contribute to the problems of both boys. But Jacob still had a place hidden deep in his heart which God's Spirit could access. And though it took many years and an enormous amount of pain and troubles, Jacob finally began to see the attractiveness and began to value God's care and real desire for him and experienced genuine repentance while literally fighting the very God Who longed to bless him.

So what does this text mean for me personally?

Well, I sense that God is not finished sharing all the answers to that question with me yet. But raising a question also raises awareness and allows me to be more alert and receptive when situations or insights come to remind me of it. And come to think of it, maybe that is really what this lesson is all about – cultivating a place in my heart where God can feel at home and continue to work in me to transform me to feel more at home in His heart.

Again I am strongly reminded that the heart work is so much more important than the head knowledge or getting all the words in the right order. It is daily practicing the habit of opening my heart more and more to the influence of the Holy Spirit and cultivating the habit of turning to God for help, for advice, for emotional strength, comfort or just companionship at many times throughout the day. This does not require any formality or even physical, external adjustments, though at times I may feel moved to do that. But what is far more important is that I encourage my heart to move toward a more open, vulnerable attitude toward God and keep choosing to cooperate with His desires for me. I do not have to understand His plans, but I can choose to trust His heart.

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