The 25th March was the day after Boris Johnson declared a nationwide lockdown regarding the Coronavirus. The same day my wife went to work as a nurse in the hospital as she normally does. That was when the possible consequences of the pandemic really hit me.
I awoke with anxiety in the very early hours. I asked the Lord to send his angels to protect the face masks of Royal Surrey County Hospital workers. And the Critical Care Outreach Team. I hadn’t prayed long and a scripture came to me.
‘The angel of the Lord encamps around them that fear him and he rescues them’.
Psalm 34.7
The angel of the Lord in the old testament can be identified as the pre-incarnate Jesus.
I was exhorted to not fear the virus but to fear the Lord. He is life itself!
The note in the Bible software I read talks about the Lord being an army. That’s the picture here in the verse.
The angel of the Lord is also known as the chief of angels or commander of the angels. So to my mind there’s more than one entity surrounding the camp of those that trust in the Lord.
The camp is made up of more than one set of camps. It forms a protective wall around the people.
Imagine that defense, Jesus and the angels surrounding you in this difficult time!
The first step to setting up the tent was to arrange the poles. The tent poles were sharpened at one end (and could be used as a weapon) and were driven into the ground.
Jeff Benner from Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible.
Another line came to me:
The lord will fight for you, you need only to be still…
Various references: Bible Hub
I went off to sleep as I had peace in the comfort of the verse. I then had this dream:
I was in a large stately home. Not sure what I was doing. The ceilings were very high in the room I was in. One of the very large pictures had an evil presence about it. There were other smaller pictures in the room.
I heard in the dream that something happened to the person who put the main picture up, the one with the presence, so I was very wary of it. I sensed there was quite a story about the picture. It turned out I was doing some work in the room where it was.
This same picture started spinning and moving. It had when it came off in the past come off in a position which I was avoiding. I hid in a narrow alcove. The picture had moved towards me. It was like it was angry. I think it ended up destroying itself. I managed to get out of the room before it did.
When I left the room there was a horrendous din and lots of other objects in the room came down.
The household owners who were very rich came down to see my work when I was in the hallway, but I was too afraid to speak. They had delighted faces as they prepared to go into the room. They then saw the devastation….
On waking my initial thought was an idol has been destroyed. A big one and things are about to change!
My first impression that the picture was an idol. That was a strong impression. The words God of this world has been cast down came to me. I knew that was somewhere in the Bible.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Messiah have now come, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out: the one who accuses them before our God day and night. Rev 12.10
The Lord is at work in the dream house. He’s the one tearing down that which has been held in high regard in the house. It has been put in too much of a high place but something out of sight has made it mad and causes it to fall and be no more.
Haggai 2:4b–9 (LEB): Do the work, because I am with you,’ ⌊declares⌋ Yahweh of hosts, ‘according to ⌊the promise⌋ that ⌊I covenanted⌋ with you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit ⌊is with you⌋; do not be afraid.’ For thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and dry land. I will shake all the nations so that the treasure of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says Yahweh of hosts. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ ⌊declares⌋ Yahweh of hosts. ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says Yahweh of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace’ ⌊declares⌋ Yahweh of hosts.’ ”
Haggai 2:4b-9 (LEB)
Watch out that you do not refuse the one who is speaking! For if those did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, much less will we escape, if we reject the one who warns from heaven, whose voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.” Now the phrase “yet once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, namely, things that have been created, in order that the things that are not shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be thankful, through which let us serve God acceptably, with awe and reverence. For indeed our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:25–29 (LEB)
The main action in the dream was my observation of what was happening. The setting was in a house. My feeling was of awe and wonder that the evil was being torn down and I didn’t really have anything to do with it apart from being hidden safely in an alcove.
⌊And⌋ when my glory passes over, I will put you in the rock’s crevice, and I will cover you with my hand until I pass over.
Exodus 33:22 (LEB)
The dream is a representation of what is happening around me. It is a fearful thing to behold what is happening across the world. Yet the enemy has been cast down and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. The enemy knows his time is short.
The breaking and shaking of the picture affects the commoner and the wealthy person and family alike. The whole establishment with all the other pictures is brought down in the wrath of the idol.
As I considered the dream in the light of the angel of the Lord verses I realised something. The picture is an image. We are meant to be imagers of God but due to our condition as those who are sinners that image has been marred. But as believers in Jesus now we have been crucified with Christ. The old has gone the new has come. That truth suddenly hit me in a fresh way in the light of this dream.
I recognised that I or the ‘i’ has been in the wrong place and showing off me instead of Christ. But thanks be to God through Jesus that idol as I mentioned earlier has been destroyed. The real me or the real I is now in Christ!
All the other little pictures are subsets of the bigger picture. The false self is deposed in Jesus and all the little things, the little pictures that come from that false self, that false image are also brought down, destroyed, removed.
The work that I was doing in the room was my work. Not the Lord’s work. I was unable to do it any longer. This has been brought home to me in real life. I have had to stop my work temporarily My life is no longer my own. I have been brought with a price. Christ in me the hope of glory.
The house that I refer to earlier is I believe the temple. This is the place where God dwells. The old order has been removed in Jesus. When the temple curtain was torn in two it became possible for the family to enter into that room, the temple, the presence of God.
That which has happened in the past in regards to what Jesus did at the cross is relevant for today. This whole shaking of nations and people due to the coronavirus is an opportunity for more people to see how great God is and enter in to his house, his temple and be part of the body of Christ, the family of God which does include his people the Jews. (Romans 11).
: ‘…God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth’.
1 Timothy 3:15 (CSB)
‘This is a significant verse in the letter. It states Paul’s reason for writing and provides a threefold description of the church’s identity and mission. Household refers to the church as God’s family with reference to the governing of the family. The phrase church of the living God highlights the church as the gathering where God most clearly shows his presence. The church as the pillar and foundation of the truth means that God has entrusted to the church the task of promoting and protecting the gospel‘.
1 Timothy 3:15 (CSB study Bible) Logos 8 Bible Software
During the editing process I came across something from the podcast ask NT Wright Anything connected to Premier Christian Radio. I thought it was relevant to put it here. The relevant bit is a question that is asked regarding penal substitution verses Christus Victor. Listen in from 19.14 mins to 28.51 mins, the key bit is around 25 mins to 28.51 mins:
NT Wright in the sound clip talks about Jesus winning a victory over the dark force which has usurped God’s rule over the world. He goes on to speak about the worship of idols and what happens when we do that as human beings. His words are that God has won the victory over Babylon.
Only in Jesus are we able to fully be imagers of God.