The Hidden Truth
By Douglas B.Clark
A few years ago there was a TV commercial for the Volkswagen, Jetta where a young couple where driving down the road with the windshield wipers moving to the beat of the music they were listening to. As they looked outside of the car they noticed everything was moving to the same rhythm, a boy bouncing a basketball, people walking, etc. Everything was in sync with what they were experiencing inside the car.
The more in sync we become with God, the more our eyes become single toward Him and we realize that everything around us is synchronized to His timing and that ALL THINGS are working together after the council of HIS WILL. Within this synchronization we see patterns and principles that reveal truth that goes unnoticed by most people.
Sometime ago I realized that certain passages in the Bible like Matthew chapter twenty-four and some of the book of Revelation pertained to the destruction of Jerusalem in seventy A.D. and not some futuristic end time, culminated by a one-world-government run by the antichrist. (This of course is not to be confused with the end of the age that we are currently experiencing.) Then after growing spiritually I saw the book of Revelation was also a revealing of Jesus Christ in us. I could also see an illumination of the many manifestations of the carnal nature that opposes the rule of God. Now, as I continue on my journey I am seeing ever increasing truth in familiar verses as the Holy Spirit reveals many things I could not see while I was focusing only on the earthly footsteps of Jesus Christ.
There are many passages in the Bible that tell stories that have long since happened, while also revealing great spiritual truth concerning God’s plan for Creation. I doubt those who were familiar with the story of Jonah, realized that one day Jesus Christ would take liberty with this story and declare to His generation that no sign will be given except that of the prophet Jonah who spent three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish. What did the story of Jonah have to do with that of Jesus Christ? The only similarity between Jonah and Jesus were the three days and nights that Jonah spent in the belly of a fish and Jesus in the confines of physical death. Both Jonah and Jesus were released after the three days were complete. It is this similarity that Jesus said was a sign that pointed to his death and resurrection.
Throughout the Bible and in everything that surrounds us there are many truths hidden within truth, seen only with spiritual eyes. All these patterns reflect truth of the Divine plan of God. We see it in the stars in the sky that foretold the birth of a great king, leading the wise men to Jesus. We see it in the trees planted on either side of the river of life whose leaves were for the healing of the nations. It was David who declared, “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall not wither;” (Ps. 1:3)
As we mature in Christ the Holy Spirit shows us these patterns and truths as they become relevant to where we are in our spiritual development. This is why it says in Revelation that it is he who overcomes that will be given the hidden manna. If you are not walking in the Spirit, these deeper truths will mean nothing to you other than another Bible story, for you will not see deeper meaning in them. Only the Holy Spirit can make the truth of God relevant to us.
Some who may read these lines will probably accuse me of creating a private interpretation to the scriptures. If I were to start the “Hidden Truth” church and find a flock of sheep that I could convince of my interpretations, then potentially it would just be a matter of time before we would be off to some remote location and then, of course, there is the matter of convincing everyone to drink the Kool-aid.
What God reveals to me or to you cannot be transferred from person to person. It is not an ideology that someone can teach us that we can conform to. Ultimately there is only one teacher and that is the Holy Spirit and the truth He declares is the life of the Father that resided in the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, but is now revealed in us who walk after the Spirit.
For many years we have heard that Jesus was the first born among many brethren. Now that He is revealing Himself in us, the Holy Spirit is quickening the same scriptures in us that once only applied to Him.
We will never know anything more personal or intimate than following after the spiritual life that resides in Jesus Christ, for if we truly are on the path to know Him we soon discover that same spirit that resided in Jesus Christ is within us. Our response to Him is always an individual experience and not a corporate one. It doesn’t matter what group we associate ourselves with, for it always comes down to, if any INDIVIDUAL will open the door He will come in and fellowship with him. This is why Jesus is seen outside of the church with all its pomp and circumstance, knocking on the heart’s door of the individual.
As our spiritual eyes are opened to the inner work God is doing in us we begin to see truth in the scripture that we have never seen before. For example, from the time of our beginning when mankind expressed the desire to be as God, implementing self rule, carnal man has continued to seek another way to reach the Divine other than the way of the cross.
Not too many generations had passed before an attempt was made to build a tower to reach the heavens. This was a corporate expression of carnal men trying to find their own way to godhood. God thwarted their efforts by confounding the languages so that they could only get so far before their communication began to break down. Throughout history mankind has built great empires seeking to take dominion over the earth and his fellow man. Each time man only gets so far before his efforts are toppled over.
One such kingdom was the Babylonian Empire ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. In the midst of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule he was reminded that his power and authority existed only because God allowed it. He saw the mighty hand of God prevail in the life of Daniel who was saved from the lion’s den and he also saw God’s providence with the three Hebrew children, Shadrach Meshack and Abednego, who were protected in the fiery furnace. I am not sure of the exact sequence of events, but Nebuchadnezzar spent seven years in a mental state of incapacity, after which time he realized that it is God who gives all power and authority. His heir to the throne did not have this same understanding and so the finger of God appeared, writing a message on the wall that the great Babylonian empire kingdom would be divided that very night.
The story of the Babylonian empire is a great history lesson of how fragile world dominance can be. I was told as a young boy in school that history repeats itself. This is evident as we look back across the portals of time and see attempt after attempt to rule and reign over God’s creation. Each time man only gets so far before things begin to breakdown as God continues to confound the language of man.
It was God who placed deep within us the desire to divide and conqueror, but this desire has been perverted by self-rule and self-worship. It is the nature of man to look outward, seeking to rule everywhere and over everyone else except self. From the beginning man has sought outward for the kingdom of God, this was evident when the Jews failed to recognize Jesus, their Messiah, sent by God’s to establish the kingdom with Him residing as King of Kings. They did not recognize the Son of God because they were looking outward for an earthly King. Mankind continues to this day to learn without coming to the knowledge of the truth, for the natural man is still looking outward. Not only do we look outward for King and kingdom, but we also look outward for the enemy, not realizing that from the very beginning the enemy has been hiding in us. He rules the universe between our ears, but thanks be to God, for He has given us the weapons to subdue and take dominion over the beastly nature of the self-life. The Spirit of God in us will subdue the beast, the false prophet and the spirit of antichrist, all of which manifest their evil ways within the heart of the unregenerate human race.
Douglas B. Clark