Bible Tales

TUES., AUG. 14, 1990, 5:54 AM
FARM, STUDY

Yesterday you reread the two Ruminations that developed out of stories from My Holy Scriptures. You liked what you read, both what I had said to you and how you had responded to My Teachings. These were good issues, and, with Bible study coming up this year as a Sunday morning feature, you will need more guidance from Me on how to understand these tales of old.

In general, I’ll say again that these stories have a mystic quality. They are set in times thousands of years back, in cultures unlike yours in almost every way, and yet I still say they have much relevance to life now, in this culture. Also, continue to heed My assurance that it is all right to discern My spirit of fun and sense of humor in many of these stories. I urge you to think in ways that appreciate that a story can be both serious and funny.

For example, you reread the story, and comments thereon, of Moses and the burning bush. Seriously, I needed Moses for a tough task, and I had to get his attention. It did capture his attention, seeing a bush burn and not be consumed by the fire. Given the laws of physics and combustion you know this could not happen. The bush material, being burned, would turn into ash and be a bush no more. So, it was a miracle. It also was a kind of joke. It was both the power of God to put aside the laws of the earth and the humor of God to have Moses attracted to a strange phenomenon.

You have started Ezekiel, and I do want you to have read it through, with an underlining, before the actual study commences. You were put off by the descriptions of the “creatures” in Ezekiel’s first vision. The notion of 4 different faces and bodies like bronze and wheels… you thought it was rather silly. Change that to another example of My sense of fun in getting this new prophet’s attention. Now he’s going to have to prophesy. He’s going to have to say, “Thus sayeth the Lord!” So I need his attention. I wanted him to be serious, but for you to read the story with at least some amount of smile.

Consider what would happen if I offered you a vision this weird and then told you to describe it to your congregation, as a portent of God’s continuing judgement on them. You would predict that few would take you seriously. In your culture people who have visions such as this are said to “need help,” from counselors steeped in modern lore and unburdened by the realities of what I still do in this earth. Try to imagine what a modern version of this symbolic attention-getting “thing” might be. For I still have imagination, and I still do fun things with present day people.

At Synod School you told the story of trying to explain Holy Communion to a young Hindu who wanted to experience and understand Christian ways. You know that Holy Communion is the supreme sacrament of your religion, the symbolic remembering of My supreme sacrifice, as Jesus, the Christ. Even this solemn rite (about which you felt genuine sadness last winter in California) has a silliness to it. Your church uses fairly fresh baked white bread, well leavened. Others use a paper thin wafer, with no taste at all. You have experienced little cut squares of white, spongy bread, and little crackers in the form of fish. And all of these represent My flesh, as the dead but living Christ. My blood can be red wine, white wine, grape juice, or water. All of this can be sacred, but it’s also pretty funny.