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Perspective

Leave a Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

In these times of national crisis, we need a Jesus perspective, a glimpse of the big picture and a shift in focus.

From a cripple to a powerful preacher

When Joni Erickson Tada was just 17 years old she dived into shallow water and broke her neck. Although she was a quadriplegic from then on, she became one of the most well-known and effective Christian motivational speakers in the world.

These of some of the more memorable things she said:

“Sometimes God allows what he hates to accomplish what he loves”.

“True wisdom is found in trusting God where you can’t figure things out”.

“Perspective is everything when you are experiencing the challenges of life”.

The last quote is particularly pertinent to this article. Perspective is the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance, and we certainly need this in the days in which we live. These are times when we can’t figure things out and so need to trust God for what we cannot understand.

Vital texts rather than tired cliches

I am not going to suggest that you see the glass as half full instead of half empty, or that you learn to make lemonade from lemons. Cliches like this are not particularly helpful when you are facing life’s challenges, are they? Rather, I would like to take you to two passages of scripture that give us wonderful perspective.

Elisha’s servants change in perspective

The first passage is 2 Kings 6:15-17, which tells the story of Arams at war with Israel. Elisha the prophet was Israel’s secret weapon and each time the king of Aram sent out his army Elisha told his king exactly where the enemy soldiers would be. Eventually, the king of Aram found out what was happening and immediately sent a battalion to capture Elisha. One morning the prophet’s servant awoke, went outside, and to his horror saw that their village was surrounded. Verses 15-17: ‘”Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha’.

The servant saw the enemy cavalry and was afraid, but Elisha saw things from a different perspective, “Don’t be afraid”, he said, “ those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then he prayed that God would give his servant the same perspective and God opened the man’s eyes and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire.

The two realities

Two realities are presented here; a real hostile enemy and real spiritual beings of greater power and number. The servant got perspective when he moved his attention and focus from the physical to the spiritual; from the army of Aram to the army of Heaven; from the threat to God’s provision.

So, with this glimpse of perspective shining in our eyes let’s move to the New Testament account of two disciples traveling the road to Emmaus on Easter Sunday.

The unrecognised fellow traveler

Jesus died at 3 pm on Passover Friday and only 40 hours later two unknown disciples left Jerusalem to return home to Emmaus, a 2-hour journey by foot. The scriptural account does not say that these two were returning home, but they likely were. They must have been afraid, disappointed, confused, sad, and angry. Their Messiah had died, their leaders were in hiding behind locked doors (level 5 Lockdown), and the dream was over. I can imagine them saying, “Let’s leave Jerusalem and go home before we too get arrested!”. Luke 24:13-32 tells the story.

As they walked they commiserated with each other. Jesus joined them, probably just after they left Jerusalem, but they were so busy ‘looking down’ that they didn’t recognise him. Jesus asked why they were so downcast and one of them replied: “Are you the only one living in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have happened there in these days?” Now consider for a moment just how outrageous this question was. They proceeded to tell Jesus what had happened to him! Forgive me, but this sounds a lot like how we sometimes pray; we tell Jesus all about our difficult circumstances as if he doesn’t already know and hasn’t experienced far worse.

The greatest bible study ever

Jesus’ response is recorded in verses 25-27: ‘”How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself’.

Jesus gives them perspective by showing them the big picture presented in the scriptures. But the greatest moment of revelation for them came when they sat down to eat supper together. As Jesus broke the bread they must have seen his nail-pierced wrists and realised just who their companion was. The one who had given them biblical perspective was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

As a result of this encounter with a greater reality, these two men got up and rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the Apostles what had happened and to be part of what God was doing there. They were filled with enthusiasm and passion and keen to once again be with God’s people. And how blessed they must have felt because God was about to birth the church in the greatest Holy Spirit revival ever!

Perspective on the road we walk

In our strange and distressing times, we too need to see the big picture, the Jesus-perspective. We need to realise that something bigger is happening of which we can be part. Perhaps God is sounding out the last great warning that he will give to rebellious humanity; a trumpet blast of “Repent and turn to me!”

Perhaps millions will heed his call and turn back to God and we will see and be part of the greatest revival seen on this planet since the day of Pentecost!

We also need to grasp the fact that the spiritual world in which we live is just as real as the physical world on which we usually focus.

We need to realise that in this alternate reality the forces of God are greater than the forces of destruction confronting us in the material realm.

Do you recall what Jesus said to Peter regarding this when the Apostle cut off the High Priests servant’s ear in Gethsemane? He said,

“Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels (70,000)?”

Finally, the greatest shift in perspective we need at this time, is that the one who could command 70,000 angels in a moment is the same one who walks with us on our Emmaus road through this strange world. His name is Jesus and he has told us that “In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world!”

“Yes Joni Erickson Tada, perspective is everything… if it is a Jesus-perspective”.

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Model and Reality

Who needs a Time Machine when we have the book of Revelation?!

The fascinating yet frustrating idea of traveling back in time was popularised by H. G. Wells in his story The Time Machine, published in 1895. Since then many books have been written and movies produced around this idea. So, in this spirit, let me ask you a question: If you were able to travel back to Moses’ time (1250 BC), how would you describe the solar system to him? Planets orbiting in three-dimensional space at different trajectories around the Sun! In all probability you would have to construct some sort of physical model and walk him through it. This would give the venerable Moses some idea, but how could he be expected to really grasp the fact that the sun is a star, and that Jupiter is 300 times larger than the earth and 588 million kilometres away? Just by thinking of this we get some idea of the difficulty the people of biblical times must have had in comprehending a revelation of spiritual realities – to this day we still struggle with this. In Moses’ case God helped him understand something of the heavenly dimension by giving him the plans to construct a Tabernacle, a 3D model of a multidimensional realm.

The High Priests were the people in charge of the Tabernacle, and the author of the book of Hebrews wrote about their duties: ’They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain”.’ (Hebrews 8:5) Here is a plan of the Tabernacle:

The thing I want you to note first is that the Tabernacle was laid out in three areas: (1) The Outer Court, (2) The Holy Place, and (3) The Holy of Holies.

The outer court was where the public ministry of the priests took place and contained a huge basin for ritual washing along with an even bigger alter for making the vast number of sacrifices required by the ceremonial law. The first of the two ‘inner’ areas was called the Holy Place and entrance was restricted to priests. This area contained a table on which stood twelve loaves of bread, a seven-branched candelabra known as a Menorah, and a small golden incense altar. A thick curtain separated this area from the most sacred space of all, the Holy of Holies. This cubic area contained only one item, the Ark of the Covenant and only the High Priest could enter on just one day of the year, the Day of Atonement.

Here is what the seven items I have mentioned symbolise for us today:
1. The Outer Court represents the public aspect of the church where all, saved and unsaved alike, have access.
Item 1: The great Brazen Alter of sacrifice = The cross of Calvary where Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God shed His blood for our sin.
Item 2: The Bronze Laver/basin also known as the Bronze Sea = The ritual washing away of sin – water baptism.
2. The Inner court, the Holy Place, represents the membership of the church to which only born again disciples of Jesus have access.
Item 3: The Table and the twelve loaves of bread = the fellowship of the church epitomised in the Lords Supper/Holy Communion.
Item 4: The Golden Menorah = The light of revelation through the Scriptures/Bible.
Item 5: The Golden Incense Alter = The prayers and worship of the believers/church.
Item 6: The curtain through which the Holy of Holies is accessed = The separation between God and man open for us through the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
3. The Holy of Holies represents the place of communion between God and believers.
Item 7: The Ark of the Covenant – a golden throne = The presence of God.

Now, if you read through Revelation 4 carefully you can pick up much of the layout and contents of the Tabernacle. Here is a picture to make this clearer:

The angels form the wall of the outer court, the elders constitute the wall of the Holy Place/Inner Court, and the Living Creatures form the wall to the Holy of Holies. In this inner sanctum is a representation of the Ark of the Covenant/Throne and the presence of God. The seven-lamped Menorah (vs 3) is in the Holy Place and you can pick up a reference to the Incense Alter in Revelation 8:3-4: ‘Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand’. The Bronze Sea is referenced in Revelation 4:6.

What’s missing in this depiction of Heaven? Firstly, the Altar of Sacrifice is not there because the cross of Christ applies only to our earthly realm – it was here on earth that Jesus gave up His life as an atoning sacrifice on the Cross. The Table of Bread is also missing because this is embodied in the fellowship and communion of the church on earth. Heaven comes to earth, to a degree, in the church!

The Tabernacle was the physical model of the heavenly realm and the portrayal in Revelation takes that model into a higher dimension… but it is still not reality. The heavenly realm is multidimensional and timeless, as we understand dimensions and time, and is far beyond our ability to fully comprehend. The depiction in Revelation does however help us to understand a little of the glory that awaits us.

In my next post I am going to describe another layer of meaning built into Revelation which was better understood by the people of John’s time than by us. So, it’s time to revisit this ‘revelation’… next week.

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