Eye Spy – 1
The Insiders
“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” 1 Chron. 16:9
The Bible was written to be understood by word-search software, or by believers who think that way. There are many expressions and phrases that are used repeatedly—very deliberately—so that the reader makes connections.
Unfortunately, modern translations often disregard the literal meanings of words to soften the “clunkiness” of the original, or they use a number of different English words to translate a single Hebrew word used in different contexts. On top of this, modern Christians aren’t trained to read the Bible in this way. It is presented as a linear stream of “Herh-ly Data” and the recognition of literary allusions is discouraged or even anathematised. (Why is it that Christians are either too dumb to read the Bible as literature, or too smart to read it as literature?)
One of the repeated phrases is “to and fro,” and when combined with eyes it has the idea of a radar dish rotating back and forth. It is the 20/20 vision of the Holy God and His ministers.[1]
The Spirit of the Lord traverses the garden on Adam’s Day 7, His flaming eyes darting to and fro, scanning the topography line-by-line, “looking” for Adam. After the judgment, the singular flaming sword also moves “to and fro.” Like the eyes of God, it misses nothing. Its discernment is perfect.
After the flood, the raven flies to and fro, most likely surviving on floating corpses until the waters recede. As a symbol of the accuser, the demons as dirty birds are also servants of God, ministers of the curses of the Covenant. Scavengers feed on death, and their ravenous eyes, too, miss nothing. As a minister of God (on Adam’s usurped throne) Satan roamed to and fro on the Land, accusing the people of faith as a legal witness.[2]
At Pentecost, the accuser was thrown down and the people of God became the eyes of God, the seven flaming Spirits of the Lampstand before the throne. The battle against Gog and Magog prefigured this, fulfilled in the two day Jewish war in the book of Esther. Every Jew from India to Africa was a legal witness and executioner against those who sought to wipe them out. The people of God were fire from heaven (Ezekiel 39:6).
The world is under constant surveillance. With a human government now in heaven, the saints are the cherubim before the throne, the wheels filled with eyes carrying the throne of God to and fro across the Land, as Abraham claiming the territory, as Moses’ and Joshua’s spies eyeing off the cake of the Canaanites. Christians are legal witnesses against those who rebel against God, and Christians are Advocates for those rebels, like Rahab, who obey the Word from the spies and display the secret signal.
As the Eyes of God, we don’t get to blow stuff up, but we do get to do surveillance, present evidence and petitions before the King of Kings as His Covenant executives and work with Him to topple godless regimes. For the saints, the receding night is as the coming day. As spies for the crown, He requires unquestioning loyalty, constant sobriety, lightning reflexes, complete familiarity with the Law and a willingness to lay down our lives for the heavenly country. He also deals harshly with double-agents by handing them over to the enemy (1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:20). Consequently, as the kingdom grows, the staff turnover is very high.[3] However, to the chagrin of the enemy, this only seems to increase the annual recruitment.
As Abraham was, and as David was, the New Covenant holy priesthood is tried and tested and given miraculous wisdom, then included in the council of God. Though single cells are often compromised or destroyed, the operation centre, since the ascension of Christ, is totally beyond the reach of the enemy, unassailable, impenetrable and incorruptible.
Next episode… Behind Closed Doors.
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[1] The phrase is also combined with drunkeness a number of times, picturing a total lack of judgment.
[2] Satan hatches lies to tempt, then spouts truth to condemn. He carried both these roles out at the door (Genesis 4:7). The Lord also stands in the door to make a judgment (Exodus 12:23; Ezekiel 9:3; James 5:9, Revelation 3:20).
[3] The main character body count is even higher than on Spooks. More Christians were martyred in the 20th century than in centuries 1-19 combined. As one Christian writer recently put it, “If you’re a Christian and you’re still alive, you’ve some got explaining to do.” See Postmillennial Suffering.
