Hi there,
So Jesus quoted a verse from the old testament to His disciples (gospels) "I will strike the Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered", but what you may not have considered, is that this can be reinterpreted from a different angle. Test this in the Holy Spirit and see if it makes sense to you: "the Sheep-dog (the Holy Spirit) can unite the sheep and not be phased by the wolf's (Devil's) attacks". The point is that the Sheep-dog, the Holy Spirit, is always prepared to bring the sheep together for the Shepherd; the Sheep-dog does not cut and run at the sight of the wolf, but rather attacks the wolf and drives him away from the sheep. No attack of the wolf can persuade the Sheep-dog to give up the sheep - He loves the Master/the Shepherd.
Now, the reason I want you to think about this, from a personal perspective, is that the idea that all scripture can be reinterpreted, is fascinating to me. I think the versatility of the Word, is as infinite as God, indeed it is as infinite because God is infinite (and God is the Word). The question is, what is the wisdom of the interpretation we have been given? By focusing on the striking of the Shepherd, we are asked to consider our relationship to the Shepherd - in other words it is good for the soul, to think about the suffering of being apart from the Lord. If we were told, "the Holy Spirit will keep us one" how easily might we have lost faith? How quickly might we have doubted that anything would come of the Lord? So it is, that we are told what edifies, rather than what charges.
But do we go without charging (the spirit within us)? The Holy Spirit is promised to be within us, and we are compelled to do God's will, therefore we can expect that the Holy Spirit will charge up conviction within us, when the time is right. The question is will He attempt to charge our conviction, if we do not first have a relationship with God? The answer is 'no'! This is the importance of keeping the oil of edification ready to the brim, before the Holy Spirit seeks our conviction. Waiting for conviction, after the Bridegroom has already come, is futile; if you don't have edification, when the Holy Spirit sees the need to charge conviction, He won't have any material to go on. This is the importance of staying in all of the Word, too - if we don't have teaching, we can't be instructed; if we don't have recollection, we can't recognise gathering and so on and so forth.
Of course, there comes a time, when the Holy Spirit needs to stand against the wolf, the Devil, who beguiles the sheep and seeks to lead them astray. Then we need confidence that the Holy Spirit will succeed. But even so, if the Shepherd is not struck, because the Holy Spirit defends the sheep, then being gathered to Him (the Shepherd) will be a strength. In other words, we can always leave uniting the sheep to the Holy Spirit, we don't need to study scripture to know that He is working - because He works within us, not seeking to be known by the scripture, but seeking to know the Lord (the Shepherd).
Anyway, I just thought a small diversion from scripture would be interesting. I hope this has been some encouragement (I hope I have made clear that I am not trying to distort or minimize scripture).
God bless.
So Jesus quoted a verse from the old testament to His disciples (gospels) "I will strike the Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered", but what you may not have considered, is that this can be reinterpreted from a different angle. Test this in the Holy Spirit and see if it makes sense to you: "the Sheep-dog (the Holy Spirit) can unite the sheep and not be phased by the wolf's (Devil's) attacks". The point is that the Sheep-dog, the Holy Spirit, is always prepared to bring the sheep together for the Shepherd; the Sheep-dog does not cut and run at the sight of the wolf, but rather attacks the wolf and drives him away from the sheep. No attack of the wolf can persuade the Sheep-dog to give up the sheep - He loves the Master/the Shepherd.
Now, the reason I want you to think about this, from a personal perspective, is that the idea that all scripture can be reinterpreted, is fascinating to me. I think the versatility of the Word, is as infinite as God, indeed it is as infinite because God is infinite (and God is the Word). The question is, what is the wisdom of the interpretation we have been given? By focusing on the striking of the Shepherd, we are asked to consider our relationship to the Shepherd - in other words it is good for the soul, to think about the suffering of being apart from the Lord. If we were told, "the Holy Spirit will keep us one" how easily might we have lost faith? How quickly might we have doubted that anything would come of the Lord? So it is, that we are told what edifies, rather than what charges.
But do we go without charging (the spirit within us)? The Holy Spirit is promised to be within us, and we are compelled to do God's will, therefore we can expect that the Holy Spirit will charge up conviction within us, when the time is right. The question is will He attempt to charge our conviction, if we do not first have a relationship with God? The answer is 'no'! This is the importance of keeping the oil of edification ready to the brim, before the Holy Spirit seeks our conviction. Waiting for conviction, after the Bridegroom has already come, is futile; if you don't have edification, when the Holy Spirit sees the need to charge conviction, He won't have any material to go on. This is the importance of staying in all of the Word, too - if we don't have teaching, we can't be instructed; if we don't have recollection, we can't recognise gathering and so on and so forth.
Of course, there comes a time, when the Holy Spirit needs to stand against the wolf, the Devil, who beguiles the sheep and seeks to lead them astray. Then we need confidence that the Holy Spirit will succeed. But even so, if the Shepherd is not struck, because the Holy Spirit defends the sheep, then being gathered to Him (the Shepherd) will be a strength. In other words, we can always leave uniting the sheep to the Holy Spirit, we don't need to study scripture to know that He is working - because He works within us, not seeking to be known by the scripture, but seeking to know the Lord (the Shepherd).
Anyway, I just thought a small diversion from scripture would be interesting. I hope this has been some encouragement (I hope I have made clear that I am not trying to distort or minimize scripture).
God bless.
