Repentance for Heirs

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)

As I explore the various aspects of this verse I see that repentance is an important element or attitude necessary in the heart of a legitimate child of God. As I saw yesterday, to be in line for an inheritance I need to be a real child, an heir. For in this verse it seems to be saying that the greatest disqualifier for Esau to be a legitimate heir and receive the blessing was his lack or inability to have repentance within him.

It would also follow to reason that the ability and presence of repentance in the mind and heart of a person may very well be one of the purposes of the discipline discussed at length earlier in this chapter. Again, the kind of discipline talked about here is not the perverted, selfish, punitive so-called discipline often practiced by earthly fathers but the pure, transformative discipline that induces and refines the likeness of God's loving, perfect character within us. It is the polishing of the mirror of our hearts so that as we gaze more intently and consistently on the life and character of God as displayed for us in the experience of Jesus, we will be transformed into thinking and acting more and more like He did.

I still want to have a much clearer understanding of the real meaning of repentance. It, along with so many other religious words, instantly evokes a great deal of suspicion in my mind whenever I hear religious people pushing their notions and demands for what they think is repentance. Most of those ideas are often distorted at best and many times are means by which those in position over others try to manipulate them and gain control over their lives. This abuse of authority darkens the true picture of God in the hearts of all affected and confuses the mind causing discouragement and bitterness. But there have been times also when I have heard some really good explanations of this word that have been very helpful and even refreshing.

As with all religious words and definitions, our tendency will be to gravitate toward a definition that favors and reinforces our current picture of God. That is why I have been finding myself in constant transition and continually challenging most of my definitions over the past few years, because my picture of God has been so radically shifting from the dark, fear-based views I grew up with to a completely opposite but unfamiliar realization that He is very different and far better than I ever dared to imagine before.

Now whenever I hear explanations about what a religious term means from others, or I check into the original language and consider all the possible definitions that could be applied to a word based on the context, I always keep in mind as paramount that the definition must complement the overriding truth about God's real character that He has been revealing to me. If it enhances and increases my respect and love for Him then very likely it is the correct definition to apply to the text. If it tends to increase my fear and apprehension or lessen the light of His glory that has been refreshing my soul, then very likely it reflects the darker, somewhat distorted views of God held by the translators who did not accept or believe more advanced views of God's goodness and truth when they worked on the passage.

I tend to keep my mind open to ever-increasing enhancements of the definitions that I adopt so that as my perceptions of God improve so too can my definitions and understanding of religious words. I also give great priority to looking within the context to find clues as to what a word potentially may mean as I believe that the Word of God is its own greatest authority as to how to define what it means in the words that it employs. Hence if I want to learn what repentance really means I not only need to look at what the original Greek (and Hebrew) terms meant but how they are used in the passage.

Another problem that I have noticed is that since I have only limited knowledge of original languages due to my lack of training, I am sometimes even suspicious of the definitions offered for those words. For the definition given by Strong's concordance is also limited to the picture of God that he had when he wrote those definitions. Some words have far broader possibilities for their potential meanings that I have learned when listening to other scholars who have done more careful research into the use of words in the context of the society of the times when the Bible was written. This may begin to sound like it could be impossible to ever figure out the real meaning of the Bible and could lead to great discouragement in some. But I am confident that God will utilize the Holy Spirit to guide me, and anyone who is willing to listen, not only to the best meaning of the words that are important for me to know Him better, but will also interpret the concepts that God is trying to convey through the very limiting restriction of using human language. When necessary the Holy Spirit will bypass words and convey the concept directly to my heart so that I can be more effectively transformed into His image.

I believe that the whole process of sanctification is leading everyone willing to be transformed toward the greater use of direct heart-to-heart communion that often will bypass words altogether. We may even be surprised to find that heaven uses far less language as we know it and far more spirit to spirit communication that has far greater capacity than language ever can convey. And for those who are willing to synchronize and do not resist God's work in their lives, they will begin to experience that kind of open, expanded capacity communion to some extent even now.

This leads me right back to where this text is leading throughout the rest of this chapter. It is trying to get me to realize the immense importance of paying more attention to the unseen – but more real things – and less attention to the externals of religion that have consumed so much of my attention all of my life. I can see the effects already in my life of the movement from one paradigm to the other. I am becoming disenchanted with the obsession with external emphasis by those who are trying to be religious and my desire is intensifying to connect with God much more with my heart and spirit. But I also need to be careful to not be impatient with those who do not share my level of desire or see the importance of the spirit over the material. If I do allow impatience to poison my spirit I immediately find myself thrown back into the performance world of religious routines again and find that yet another root of bitterness is trying trying to trip me up. Then I have to return to the throne of grace to tank up again.

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled. (Hebrews 12:15)

Father, fill me completely to my full capacity this morning with grace. I do not want to be short of any amount of grace today because I want to have plenty to share with others. Be a fountain of living water in my heart all throughout this day so that others will be attracted to Your loveliness and perfection. Fill me with Your humility, with true repentance (whatever that really means) and with selfless love. Cleanse me of pride and fear and selfishness. Speak through me today, glow through my face (that's a real challenge for You) and use me as a base from which You can launch more raids of rescue into enemy territory. Glorify Your name and reputation in my life today in anyway You choose.

(next in series)

Legitimate Inheritance

But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

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 12:8, 17)

As I looked at this verse again it suddenly came to me that this word inherit is linked back to the need to be a legitimate child in verse 8. And the relationship of being a legitimate child according to this passage is a willingness to accept and endure discipline from God and be subject to the Father of spirits and live. (v. 9)

While Esau may have been outwardly compliant with his father's requirements, at least when it came time to get ready to receive his blessing, his heart had long since rebelled from living under the authority of his father's God. He was not interested in aligning his life in any way with the Father in heaven. Even though his earthly father tried to arrange to pass on the birthright blessing to Esau in spite of the prophecy of God to the contrary before the boy's births, it could never happen because Esau had disqualified himself and nothing any human attempted to do could reverse that.

We so often think that God's dealings with us are arbitrary and have little or nothing to do with our choices about Him. But that is another one of the typical lies of the enemy that has permeated common religion. Even though the language of the Bible is written mostly from human distorted perspective and sometimes seems to make it appear that God does things arbitrarily without reference to our freedom, if we examine the big picture more carefully we will discover more and more that God fiercely protects and respects our freedom of choice about Him and reluctantly allows us to receive the consequences of our choices in the end. To believe otherwise is to blaspheme the reputation of God and His consistency.

The requirement for receiving an inheritance is very clear – one must be a legitimate child to be qualified to receive it. That idea is simply implicit in the idea of inheritance; it is the right and privilege of children or heirs particularly in early culture. The reason that Esau was rejected from inheriting the blessing was not because God was mad at him for something he did or said but because Esau was not a legitimate spiritual son in line to receive the spiritual inheritance of the blessing.

But even though Jacob on the surface appeared very messed up in his own thinking as well, there was still something deep inside of him crying out for a connection with God that continued to grow and intensify over the next several dozen years until it climaxed in really claiming that blessing with his heart after his struggle with the angel during the night. Jacob was a legitimate son of the promise, not because he was a good, obedient submissive kid growing up but because he was willing to live under the parentage of his father's God and receive the discipline designed to draw his heart into a deeper intimacy with the heart of his God.

Unlike Esau who is here declared to be unable to find a place in his heart for repentance, Jacob found himself repeatedly in a state of repentance all throughout his life. Yes it was a very long and torturous journey that he took to maturity and he made a lot of mistakes and produced a lot of collateral damage along the way. But even though Jacob needed a great deal of good discipline in his life that he likely failed to receive from his own parents growing up, he kept coming back to God each time he found himself in trouble or in need until he learned the lesson, like Martha's sister Mary, of staying with God. Jacob's life is a story of the transition from focusing on externals to resting on an internal dependence on the Father of his spirit.

Father, You know that my life has been a lot like Jacob's. I was raised with improper discipline that was sometimes lacking and sometimes too harsh. That has caused a lot of holes and sharp edges in my character that You have been working over the years to correct. I want to tell You that I appreciate You never abandoning me even though I have at times hated You in my heart. But You know that it was not really You that I hated but the false notions about You that I thought was You.

I am beginning to see that Your discipline is really designed primarily to disspell the lies about You that have tortured me for so much of my life as well as to re-shape my character to be more in line with You. Your desire is to re-create me in Your image so that I will be ready to fully synchronize with Your heart when Your glory and power is more fully manifested. Father, I submit myself to Your authority as my real Daddy who will never abuse me or hurt me needlessly. I am learning to trust Your heart and Your intentions for me – that You only and always work for my ultimate good and to deepen our intimacy together.

Fill me with Your Spirit today and dwell in my heart. Make me a channel of grace – a more open, expansive, accurate reflection of Your humility, Your patience, Your compassion, Your passionate love and caring. Father, reveal Yourself through me today in any way You desire and increase Your presence in this world through me today for Your name's sake.

(next in series)

Sabbath Rest

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled. (Hebrews 12:15)

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. (Hebrews 4:1 NRSV)

I spent some time this morning in Hebrews 4 because I felt that I wanted to understand better the rest that I am supposed to enjoy on this Sabbath. I know that very, very few people have much of a grasp on the real nature of the rest that God has designed for us to experience, either on the Sabbath or in our life in general. What I didn't expect to find was a striking parallel to what I have been flushing out in Hebrews 12 over the past few weeks.

Without spending a great deal more time uncovering all the potential parallels, I have immediately noticed the familiar phrase come short of which alerted me to potential insights that could be enhanced by comparing both of these passages. Sure enough, they have a lot in common and I find that what I have been learning from 12 translates well into learning about the rest in 4 and vice versa.

Some of the key ideas that are either identical or very similar are:

• The need to live from the heart focused more on internals than externals.

• The need to avoid hardening of the heart, which can come from external-oriented religion.

• The coming short of something very crucial to living successfully as a real Christian. In chapter 12 it was grace and in chapter 4 it is rest – quite interesting.

• The element of faith in both chapters. Chapter 12 follows on chapter 11, the famous faith chapter and 12 begins with the greatest example of faith ever – Jesus. In chapter 4 it is shown that the reason the rest was come short of was because the good news was not mixed with faith.

• The listing of examples of people on both sides of the issue.

The opposite of coming short of that rest (which is also experiencing grace) is found in verse 11. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11) I like the rendition of this verse from another translation.

Because of this, let us have a strong desire to come into that rest, and let no one go after the example of those who went against God's orders. (Hebrews 4:11 BBE)

I do not claim to be within the full definition of this rest at this point yet in my life. I believe that God is guiding me into that experience as I learn what it means to live from an unhardened heart, to know the real truth about what the good news is and then to mix that with faith. I think that means choosing to consciously apply it to myself. It also comes from understanding in these texts that rest and grace have a great deal in common with each other and I need to have a rich experience in both.

I am saddened as I look around at the lack of real spirit-rest in so many who claim to be “keeping the Sabbath” holy. They are convinced, as I have been for much of my life, that Sabbath-keeping is primarily an external exercise in figuring out what is acceptable and what is not and then trying very carefully to walk that gauntlet. This focus on the externals generally causes a strong distraction away from noticing the condition of the heart or paying attention to what is going on in our spirit. It often fosters a subtle spirit of bitterness to some extent and their spirit takes on an edge that can effect others, though they do not realize it themselves.

In our attempts to keep the Sabbath holy we become so obsessed with getting the appearances correct that we often make them more important than the way we treat each other or the feelings induced in those we are around. We somehow believe that God will overlook the damage going on at the heart level (of which we are usually unaware) if we just satisfy His strict requirements for getting our act right during the 24-hour period that comes around each week.

I am not just pointing the finger at others on these issues. I am just as guilty of external Sabbath routines as many others. However I am becoming aware of the false sense of security that many find in what they believe is proper Sabbath-keeping that is a counterfeit of the assurance of salvation that is only found in complete trust in the grace provided by Jesus Christ. We preach and teach and talk about grace and salvation but we very often still don't really get it. It is still true of us that we too have not yet entered into His rest.

Father, please enlighten me much more about how to really rest in You, to know the assurance of real grace, to be animated with the abundant life and joy of Jesus living inside of me. Mentor me in this business of entering into Your rest and make me an example of Your grace.

(next in series)

Jesus or Esau?

...He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. ...to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:10-11)

Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

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 12:14, 17)

As I move toward the end of this chapter and even the end of the book of Hebrews, I am seeing a stark polarization emerging. It is much like the parable of the wheat and the tares that Jesus told about. He said that they were to grow together until the harvest when it would be quite clear what the difference was between them and then the angels would separate them. In this passage the difference is starting to become more clear.

At the beginning of this chapter and as the grand finale of the list of people of faith from the last chapter, Jesus is set out as not only the ultimate example of faith but as the author and finisher of faith. This creates the background for one side of the polarization, those who live in submission to the discipline and discipling of God in order to share His holiness. This relationship yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness and is the process of sanctification in order that we may see God. By implication these are also those who have found a place for repentance in their hearts and are not rejected or repulsed from inheriting the blessing of God due to the infection of bitterness.

Those emerging on the other side of the polarization have a number of potential symptoms that may likely revolve around some sort of bitterness sooner or later. They may have some sin that they have allowed to keep them entangled instead of running the race toward God's face with endurance. They have not made Jesus the focal point of their attention and affections but instead have looked elsewhere, even to religion itself, for their inspiration.

These people may have lost heart from the weariness of the struggle against sin. They may have become weary of enduring the discipline of life under the parentage of the Godhead and aborted their privilege of being legitimate children under His authority. They may have nurtured resentment for the lameness and pain of disjointed knees or failed to engage in helping to straighten the paths toward God. Instead of following on to be healed they came short of the grace of God and became bitter instead. Ironically they may still be very religious and careful to do everything “right”, but their heart is growing cold and hard from neglect or suppression.

These latter ones did not lack the desire for the blessing, however. They were likely very interested in being saved, in going to heaven and enjoying all the benefits of salvation and eternal life. They may have even been very religious, pious or even careful in their upholding of doctrinal purity and strict lifestyle. They paid very careful attention to all the external symptoms of sin and worked very hard to perform every requirement to the best of their ability and even “with God's help”. They may have achieved wonderful results with their evangelism and good works. But in the day of judgment they will be shocked to learn that God had a completely different standard of measurement than what they had always insisted that He used. Jesus – the same Jesus mentioned at the beginning of this chapter who is the champion example of faith – will say to them after politely hearing their list of religious achievements, “I never knew you...” (Matt. 7:23) They will be shocked to find that they are lumped in under the ones represented by Esau instead of Jesus.

Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go; but if you stop here, they will avail nothing. Many will be lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians. They do not come to the point of yielding the will to God. They do not now choose to be Christians. {SC 47}

As I have looked at this word rejected over the past few days each time I visited this passage it always stirs something inside that bothers me. It has the ring of an arbitrary attitude of rejection on the part of someone other than Esau. It seems to reinforce the harsher view of God so common in religion and that I am becoming fiercely opposed to lately in my increasing awareness of the real truth about God. Is it really true that God just rejected Esau because he didn't qualify or measure up to God's high standards? When compared with the deceitful, conniving, slippery character of Jacob in the story from the Old Testament, Esau looks more like the victim than the problem if we weren't so biased by the rest of the stories that follow. What does this word rejected really mean?

So I looked it up this morning from the Greek original and as I expected there was a more consistent definition of this word that explains what is really going on here. These are the potential definitions of both the word and the two words that composes it.

Rejected

apodokimazo – to disapprove, i.e. (by implication) to repudiate: – disallow, reject.

apo – in composition (as a prefix) it usually denotes separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal, etc.

dokimazo – to test (literally or figuratively); by implication, to approve: – allow, discern, examine, (ap-)prove, try.

What can be clearly seen here is that God was not so much rejecting Esau as much as Esau was being repulsed from being able to receive or connect with the Source of blessing due to the disharmony of his spirit. It was not so much that he had failed to perform all the external requirements but that he had disqualified himself internally to be able to enjoy the vital connection with God necessary to participate in the blessing. It was almost like he had created the wrong magnetic field in his heart that when faced with close proximity to God's presence would push the two spirits apart.

Another reason we struggle to understand this story about the blessing passed on from Isaac to his sons is our almost total lack of awareness both of the culture of the mid-eastern mindset and the ways of God. Our own perceptions of religion and of God have become so distorted, particularly in western thinking, that religion has become primarily an external part of life based on intense intellectually strong opinions with emotions sometimes mixed in. We have only a vague idea at best of what the word blessing even means and usually associate it with external economic benefits and advantages over others. We may even think that being blessed by God may also include extra protection over our lives so that we feel somehow exempt from having to suffer ill health or mistreatment by others.

But if we line up our typical notions of blessing with the description of the complete list of those referred to in Hebrews eleven we would find that it does not fit very well at all with the things that happened to the great cloud of witnesses who have lived in faith before us. It is very clear that we need a lot of radical adjustments to pretty much all the religious words and phrases that we throw around so blithely. We must look much more closely at the Word and receive the warnings implicit here that can save us from the shock of those described by Jesus in Matthew seven.

What is becoming very clear to me here is the two classes of people represented by Jesus and Esau. The first class are in close relationship to God, are subject to the Father of spirits and are learning the importance of making the internal and unseen more important than the externals or the physical things that can be scientifically proven. The rest of this chapter is a blatantly clear description of the stark contrast between living a life or religion based on externals verses living in the spirit, living from the heart and focusing our attention of that which cannot be seen, touched, heard or perceived with any of our usual physical senses. This is admonishing us to radically change our ideas of what constitutes real reality.

Because Esau chose to depend on the physical, external world more than pay attention to the condition of his spirit, he discovered too late that he had lost his ability to be qualified to receive the blessing. He certainly did not lack the desire for it as evidenced by the fact that he even cried tears of agony when deprived of it. He even obeyed everything his father asked him to do in order to prepare for the reception of the blessing. But he had failed to nurture the inner life of the spirit which is the only equipment that humans have by which to receive the real blessing that God has for us. This is the same problem experienced by those described by Jesus in Matthew seven. No amount of religious accomplishments or doctrinal purity will qualify us one whit to receive the reward and blessing of God if they do not flow from the inner heart of a person who's spirit is open and in relationship with the Father of spirits.

The fountain of the heart must be purified before the streams can become pure. He who is trying to reach heaven by his own works in keeping the law is attempting an impossibility. There is no safety for one who has merely a legal religion, a form of godliness. The Christian's life is not a modification or improvement of the old, but a transformation of nature. There is a death to self and sin, and a new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit. {DA 172}

Priests and scribes and rulers were fixed in a rut of ceremonies and traditions. Their hearts had become contracted, like the dried-up wine skins to which He had compared them. While they remained satisfied with a legal religion, it was impossible for them to become the depositaries of the living truth of heaven. They thought their own righteousness all-sufficient, and did not desire that a new element should be brought into their religion. The good will of God to men they did not accept as something apart from themselves. They connected it with their own merit because of their good works. The faith that works by love and purifies the soul could find no place for union with the religion of the Pharisees, made up of ceremonies and the injunctions of men. The effort to unite the teachings of Jesus with the established religion would be vain. The vital truth of God, like fermenting wine, would burst the old, decaying bottles of the Pharisaical tradition. {DA 278}

Rather than give up some cherished idea, or discard some idol of opinion, many refuse the truth which comes down from the Father of light. They trust in self, and depend upon their own wisdom, and do not realize their spiritual poverty. They insist on being saved in some way by which they may perform some important work. When they see that there is no way of weaving self into the work, they reject the salvation provided.

A legal religion can never lead souls to Christ; for it is a loveless, Christless religion. Fasting or prayer that is actuated by a self-justifying spirit is an abomination in the sight of God. The solemn assembly for worship, the round of religious ceremonies, the external humiliation, the imposing sacrifice, proclaim that the doer of these things regards himself as righteous, and as entitled to heaven; but it is all a deception. Our own works can never purchase salvation. {DA 280}

We need to break up the monotony of our religious labor. We are doing a work in the world, but we are not showing sufficient activity and zeal. If we were more in earnest, men would be convinced of the truth of our message. The tameness and monotony of our service for God repels many souls of a higher class, who need to see a deep, earnest, sanctified zeal. Legal religion will not answer for this age. We may perform all the outward acts of service and yet be as destitute of the quickening influence of the Holy Spirit as the hills of Gilboa were destitute of dew and rain. We all need spiritual moisture, and we need also the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness to soften and subdue our hearts. We are always to be as firm as a rock to principle. Bible principles are to be taught and then backed up by holy practice. {6T 417, 418}

A legal religion has been thought quite the correct religion for this time. But it is a mistake. The rebuke of Christ to the Pharisees is applicable to those who have lost from the heart their first love. A cold, legal religion can never lead souls to Christ; for it is a loveless, Christless religion. When fastings and prayers are practiced in a self-justifying spirit, they are abominable to God. The solemn assembly for worship, the round of religious ceremonies, the external humiliation, the imposed sacrifice-- all proclaim to the world the testimony that the doer of these things considers himself righteous. These things call attention to the observer of rigorous duties, saying, This man is entitled to heaven. But it is all a deception. Works will not buy for us an entrance into heaven. The one great Offering that has been made is ample for all who will believe. The love of Christ will animate the believer with new life. He who drinks from the water of the fountain of life, will be filled with the new wine of the kingdom. Faith in Christ will be the means whereby the right spirit and motive will actuate the believer, and all goodness and heavenly-mindedness will proceed from him who looks unto Jesus, the author and finisher of his faith. Look up to God, look not to men. God is your heavenly Father who is willing patiently to bear with your infirmities, and to forgive and heal them. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). By beholding Christ, you will become changed, until you will hate your former pride, your former vanity and self-esteem, your self-righteousness and unbelief. You will cast these sins aside as a worthless burden, and walk humbly, meekly, trustfully, before God. You will practice love, patience, gentleness, goodness, mercy, and every grace that dwells in the child of God, and will at last find a place among the sanctified and holy. {1SM 388}

A legal religion is insufficient to bring the soul into harmony with God. The hard, rigid orthodoxy of the Pharisees, destitute of contrition, tenderness, or love, was only a stumbling block to sinners. They were like the salt that had lost its savor; for their influence had no power to preserve the world from corruption. The only true faith is that which "works by love" (Galatians 5:6) to purify the soul. It is as leaven that transforms the character. {MB 53}

...Those who take comfort in their legal religion, in their form of godliness that is devoid of the power, feel that they have been personally rebuked and injured by the repentance of those who have aroused and returned unto the Lord. Instead of humbling their hearts and confessing their backsliding, they resist and oppose the message the Lord has sent. They oppose their finite wisdom against the wisdom of the Infinite. They allow their prejudices and passions to hold sway; they work on Satan's side of the question. Thus the advocates of truth are brought into an unexpected conflict, and they are forced to bear witness to the truth, and to resist the hostility and hatred of those who would make the truth of God of none effect. Thus dissension comes in like a sword to divide believers and unbelievers. {BEcho, March 26, 1894}

There will be among us those who will so blind their eyes that they will fail to perceive the most wonderful and important truths for this time. Truths which are essential to the safety and salvation of men will be set aside, while ideas that are in comparison to the truth as the merest atoms, will be dwelt upon, and magnified by the power of Satan, so that they will appear of the utmost importance. The moral sight of those who forsake truth has become dim; and yet they do not feel their need of the heavenly anointing, that they may discern spiritual things. They think themselves too wise to err. But those who have not a daily experience in the things of God will not move wisely. They may have a legal religion, a form of godliness, there may be an appearance of light in the church; all the machinery – much of it human invention – may appear to be working well, and yet the church may be as destitute of the grace of God as were the hills of Gilboa of dew and rain. {RH, January 31, 1893}

(next in series)

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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