LOT, THE GADARENES, AND THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD

 

In Amos, the question is asked: “Can two walk together except they be agreed ?”. This question is to a body of people whom the Lord had gone among, leading them from the bondage of Egypt, but this people desire to go their own way, and yet expect that the one who delivered them should still go among them, as though the savior is indebted to the saved. We live in times spoken of by Jesus, times which are “as it was in the days of Lot”. Those times tell us of Abram, called out of the land of his nativity, his country, and his father’s house. Called to go to an as yet unspecified destination. Called to go to a land that (said the Lord), “I will show you”, a land that will not be found to the mind that thinks and seeks for geography.

 

Abram left with all he had, and there left with him, his brother’s son, Lot. Both left together with all they had. They journeyed and walked together. The course of their journey and the events that took place, teach many things. But the subject of this writing, is the walk they had. At first it was together. Both journeyed in faith to an as yet unseen, and unspecified destination. Afterward, it was not together. In the course of time, their substance was multiplied. They had great flocks and herds, as well as silver, gold, and many servants. The individual who is apprehended of Christ can be compared to this. (Consider the increase in knowledge and understanding over the course of time, in the person with whom the Lord has made His abode, and “sups”). At some point in time, the size of both men’s estates grew such that the land could not bear them both in one place. And so, strife and contention arose between their herd men (much as groups of believers might gravitate toward certain “interpretation” or doctrinal disagreements, and no longer associate with one another. Both profess Christ, yet will not “walk together” because they do not agree on everything).

 

It was Abram who approached Lot, and pointed out that they were brethren, and it was not right that they should have this strife between them. Abram’s solution was indicative of his state of mind and his “walk”. Lot’s choice was indicative of his state of mind and “walk”. Already at work in Abram, was a developing awareness that no place, no geographic location, no well dug, no altar raised, ever lasted. No matter where he pitched his tent, he was destined to move on. This “place I will show you” seemed very elusive indeed. Eventually we read of Abram, how that he would come to regard himself a stranger in a strange land. He would hear the Lord say to him, “I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward”. He would eventually begin to set his affections on a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God. A city wherein dwelt righteousness. He would eventually comprehend that all of the promises to Abram and the people to come out of him, would be to one individual, and that the promises would be fulfilled in resurrection. That one individual, Jesus, would eventually say, “Abraham saw my day, and rejoiced”. In the course of time, Paul the apostle would write to the Hebrews, of all who had gone before in faith: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth”. To such an individual , persuaded of a better, heavenly estate, geography and real estate become inconsequential. So, Abram told Lot to look about, pick any place that suited him. And Abram would go in the opposite direction. At this point, the difference in Abram’s and Lot’s inner walk began to be revealed. Lot chose a geographic location based upon it’s abundance and lush provision. A place he could call home. A city whose builders and makers were men. A city whose foundational underpinnings were wickedness. These human conditions were incompatible with Lot’s sensibilities, so he set about to change the behavior of the people in his adopted land.

Now, there is nothing to say that Lot was required to lay down the walk of faith, and choose the walk of sight. What Abram and Lot needed was space, elbow room; in other words, a “walk” that was no longer conjoined. Consider that Jesus , about to be glorified, had said, “In My Father’s house are many abiding places, and I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you to Myself”. This He said signifying that by the Spirit, the Promise of the Father, would become a house of many houses. And this is entered into now, not later, on the other side of the grave. In the Spirit, we each walk with God. The body of His resurrection is many membered, yet each member, a member in particular. Not a single, cavernous, all indwelling space, but each with his/ her own space wherein the Lord makes abode and sups with you as a body of individuals, and not a commune. In fact, attempting to make a communal experience out of our walk with Christ, will produce the sort of things that led to the frictions between the households of Abram and Lot. We are a body of unique individuals, not clones, not proselytes. When we, each of us, walk in the light, as He is in the light, THEN we have fellowship one with another, according to the saying of the apostle John, that verily, truthfully, our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son. The one common denominator, the one thing which binds us as one people, is the Spirit of Christ. To Nicodemus, a “ruler of the people”, Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear the sound of it, but you can not tell where it comes from , and you can not tell where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit”. I have looked at and examined many a cluster of grapes growing on the vine. I have never yet found one grape attached to the vine through another grape. Each grape drinks into the vine through it’s own supply. The form of “fellowship” that is often taught in religious circles, is the head of the dog, bighting his own tail, running around in a circle. It is the blind bumping along in the ditch, with a pyramid like network, clinging to the coat tails. To them that are young, we speak a word of wisdom. To them that are of age we speak wisdom. There is nothing wrong with “marking” , observing them that walk. But the mark of the prize, the objective of the pursuit of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, is the individual complete in Christ.

[Heb 12:22-24 KJV]

“ But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than [that of] Abel”.

In light of the above verses, it is useful to study the very word, “Jerusalem”. It is a plurality, and has in it’s meaning, the idea of two dwelling together in peace. Jerusalem above is a Jerusalem of many Jerusalem(s). There is room and estate for each:

[Gal 4:22-31 KJV]

“ For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond maid, the other by a free woman. But he [who was] of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman [was] by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which genders to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, [thou] barren that bears not; break forth and cry, thou that travails not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him [that was born] after the Spirit, even so [it is] now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free”.

 

When Elijah complained to God that Jezebel had slain all the prophets of the Lord, and that he only was left, and Jezebel sought his life to kill him, was was the answer of God? “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him”. Seven thousand , a meaningful number, all known of God, all walking with God, yet not known to Elijah, and likely not known to each other. Think on that when you sometimes feel like the only “act” in town. And consider that the spirit of Elijah, was and is, the Spirit of the Lord. The same spirit by whom the Lord walked with “seven thousand” , each known of the Lord, yet unknown to Elijah.

The concept of people or places being separated by barriers is often used in scripture to teach. Rivers, bodies of water, waste places and wilderness, mountains…all have meaning. A people crossing the Red Sea, for example. The Lord is able to part waters and cause some to walk across uninhibited by the water, while others are denied the passage and drown if they persist in the effort. Flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God. Yet in faith, some “cross over”, not deterred by it. Others, walking by sight, are prevented by it. In one such example, Jesus is walking and teaching in a place where he is welcomed. In another place, separated from Jesus by the sea of Galilee, was a place called the country of the Gadarenes. Jesus spoke all day , teaching always in parables, expounding later to his disciples in private, inasmuch as the Lord is not a proponent of “group think”…the “Legion” think where many are self tortured with imposed thinking that is foreign to them. Such are bound with controls…mental chains and fetters of doctrinal dogma, with the very name “Gadarene” looming large. It means “reward at the end”. Believe what you are taught, don’t bother trying to make sense of it, someday, if you behave yourself, you will “die and go to heaven”, where then, and only then, will it all fall into place. Is this what one may expect from a Father and Son, dwelling in you now by faith? To one taught that everything is on the other side of the grave, dwelling in the tombs would be the closest place one could imagine to his/her inheritance in the Lord. It is an insidious lie, and I know some in that very state. Read the account of Mark 5, and see the compassion of Jesus, crossing over to one in such a state, dwelling among a system where Jesus may be spoken of from afar, but His person and presence feared and not wanted. They don’t want to know Him now. They want Him to fit into their dogmatic understanding. This man, naked, self tortured, is found clothed, and in his right mind (his own mind) sitting at the Teacher’s feet, he and the Lord reasoning TOGETHER (the very definition of being one’s right mind). This man at least knew something was not right. A sadder condition, wherein the miserable wretched, poor, blind and naked rejoice in that state, can be read in Revelation 3 where Jesus testifies to the Laodiceans, also standing without the assembly and knocking:

[Rev 3:14-22 KJV]
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches”.

The Omnipotence of God means that God, not doctrine, determine His estate. Where He is, where He is not, what He does, what He does not. All of the endless volumes of books , all of the sermons and doctrines amassed that presume to define and explain God, where He is, His comings and goings, etc., can be replaced with this:

Psalm 115:3 “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased”.

 

There are no magic formulas, no verses of scriptures to use as incantations. The Lord has not been outmaneuvered in His own book by sages and learned men. No one, no thing, has the Almighty over a barrel. If He operates in any arena under any limitations, they are self imposed.

Hebrews 4:7 “Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”.

Regarding His chosen rest and habitation, it is not found in the imaginings of men, no matter how well intended. It is found in one individual who came out of David according to the flesh, but was declared to be the Son of God , according to the Spirit, by the resurrection. The Lord’s habitation are a people of resurrection. A people who may say this:

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”.

In Noah, the Dove found no rest unto the souls of her feet and returned to him. After a time, she returned not to Noah, and so, he knew the waters were receded from the new land. This pointed to something. From the time of Genesis, when the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the deep, the place of God’s rest was not found until this:

Luke 3:22 KJV

“And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased”.

Jesus, the resurrection, the Son of the Highest, and a people begotten to God , in Christ’s resurrection, are the habitation of God by the Spirit, which is all the declaration of Psalm 132:

PSALM 132

“A Song of degrees. LORD, remember David, [and] all his afflictions: How he swore unto the LORD,[and] vowed unto the mighty [God] of Jacob; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, [or] slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty [God] of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool. Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy. For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed. The LORD hath sworn [in] truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired [it] for his habitation. This [is] my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish”.

Omnipotence is Omnipotence. Omnipotence is where Omnipotence wants to be. The influences of vain philosophies and traditions, creeping into the thinking of the church world, teaches that God is omnipresent…that He is everywhere and in every thing. But this doctrine does not compel He who is omnipotent. He sets the bounds of the sea, and says to it’s raging waves, “you will come this far and no farther”. He drove Cain the murderer from His presence, into the land of wandering. He walked with Enoch and took him. He spoke to Abraham concerning Lot’s chosen abode, saying, “I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know“. He chose out David and walked with David in Spirit, and David prayed, “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me”. (Psalm 51)

 

 

Psa 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”.

 

Psa 139:8 “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there”.

If I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, if I ascend up into heaven, if I make my bed in hell, I find Him in every place if the Father and the Son have made their abode with me.

He is not “everywhere” because sages and scholars, yogis, rabbis, priests , preachers and imams say He is. The Lord is where the Lord chooses to be or not to be. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. Before He was crucified , it is written of Him that in Him dwelt (past tense) all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now in His resurrection, it is written of Him again, “In Him dwells (present tense) all the fullness of the Godhead bodily AND you are complete in Him”. We are added to Him in resurrection. In the days of Noah, all that entered the ark were saved. All that did not, perished. In the days of Lot, all who went out of Sodom were saved. All that did not, perished. These present days of the coming Son of man are like those days. To abide in Him is also to leave the world and the things in it. The doctrine called “ultimate reconciliation” is false. All things IN CHRIST are and will be reconciled to God. To teach otherwise, is to love and perpetrate a lie. No one, absolutely no one, comes to the Father, but by Him.

Can two walk together except they be agreed? If I, In Lot-like fashion, leave off the pursuit of the heavenly, make my abode in this age, setting about to modify it to suit my sensibilities, if I being then risen with Christ, set my affections on things below, will I be any less vexed in soul, day after day, seeing and hearing, judging and meddling with the world and it’s filthy conversation? No. If I choose to “walk” in a place where the Lord will not “walk” because He chooses not to, is He beholden to “walk” there with me? No.

In the days of Lot, everything that survived the flood of the days of Noah, came out of the ark with Noah. In these present days of the coming of the Son of man, everything that survived the burning of Sodom, was in Abraham’s bosom by faith. Everything here, that shall be party to the ages to come, is in Christ.

[Col 3:1 KJV]

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

“Hid” is “kryptos”….”Encrypted”. If you then be risen with Christ, you are encrypted, written together with Christ, no more to be known after the flesh, yet to be revealed together with Christ at His unveiling. Invisible, encrypted to the world, yet know and seen of God in Christ. All the expectation of the creation itself awaits the manifestation, the Revelation, the “Apokalypsis”, the UNVEILING, of the Sons of God. The orchard is in the Almonds. It will not come from afar off. It will come from the Almonds. Aaron’s rod was not raised alone. Research it.

Jesus was often asked concerning the “last days”, His “coming”. Jesus said that these things, the Father has in His own Power. And Jesus immediately said “you shall receive Power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you”.

The fullness of what is in you, in Christ Jesus, will the Father reveal at the moment of His choosing. But understand, if so be it is in you, it will come and be revealed from within you, not from without.

[Luk 17:20 KJV] “ And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

 

Where the Lord is or is not, what He chooses to see or see not, where He chooses to walk or walk not, are all academic, if He is not abiding in me.

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A FEW VERSES

 

[Gen 4:16 KJV] And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod (wandering/exile), on the east of Eden.

[Gen 5:24 KJV] And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him.

[Exo 25:2 KJV] Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.

…[Exo 25:8 KJV] And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

[Psa 68:18 KJV] Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, [for] the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell [among them].

[Eph 2:22 KJV] In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

[1Co 3:16 KJV] Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

[Jhn 14:23 KJV] Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

[Rev 22:15 KJV] For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

[Col 3:1 KJV]

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

[Luk 17:20 KJV] And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.