Incantation and Incarnation
or The Art of Noise
Must be wizards week!
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (NKJV) Hebrews 4:12
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (NKJV) James 2:18
The firmament was a veil to hide God’s throne from Man until he was ready to see God face to face. Of course, we see types of this throughout the Bible, Job, Jacob and Moses being notable examples. But no man had seen God until after Christ ascended and was presented as Facebread.
Your face is a veil of flesh that hides your brain, the source of your intentions. Your head is a microcosm of the Tabernacle at one level, and your entire body at another. You are a Garden and a Land.
Deceivers mask their true intentions with facial expressions and body language. Good spies can even pass a lie detector test. Between their true intentions and the flesh that is supposed to be communicating it, there is a deliberate disconnect. As in the Garden, it is the mind of a beast speaking with the eyes and mouth of a man.
Made in God’s image, our words create or destroy. Christians understand this. Christian writings are a testimony to this. Christian publishing is crucial. The cultures that grew up around Israel and grow up around the church are cultures of words and books, crosswords and blogs. But in God’s economy, in the way He has made things, mere words are not enough. Words are swords. They are made to cut something, even when they are intended to build up and edify.
Politicians can stand and speak about HopeTM and ChangeTM, but, as Doug Wilson says, smooth words create hard hearts, both in church and outside of it. [1]
But God’s words never return to Him empty. Why is this?
It is the difference between incantation and incarnation. Muslim calls to prayer are very often not read “live” but broadcast recordings. Yet these recorded words do change reality. People obey. Creation. They obey because there is also a sword. Bodies move to mosques. Division. The word becomes incarnate. Hearts are cut because if they are not, flesh will be.
Christianity is the same, but entirely opposite. As mentioned in some recent posts, it is God’s messenger who is the cut one. The sword-Word passes through him first. He is displayed as a living sacrifice on the Altar. It is not coercion. It is a bridal invitation. This is where theonomy over-reaches its God-given intent. God’s Law is for God’s people. We can fill the world with books, but if we are not a people “cut” we might as well be an army of teleprompters. The veil has to be opened.
The religion of Mohammed is power religion. It is the religion of Jannes and Jambres. It is the religion of Saruman. It moves flesh by coercion. Anyone with experience in Satanism will tell you their life becomes filled and controlled by fear. Flesh must be moved, but Saruman hides in his prayer tower, with his words and his books. Pharaoh will feed divine meals to his gods, and then flays the Hebrews. Caesar will cut goats’ gizzards, and then torch Christians. This is power religion. The faces of these gods are permanently hidden. It is the manipulating faith of Cain, and many of us Christians are guilty of this hiding and manipulating and coercing, at home, in church, in business, in politics. I certainly am. Power religion, like Saruman, like Satan, doesn’t get out much. Too risky. Easier to pull strings, name-drop, work the room. The veil stays closed.
Dominion religion is the fearless offering of our bodies as living sacrifices. Jesus offers Himself to us, and then we offer ourselves to the world. When any tribe or city starts killing God’s people, it is almost a sure omen that conversions will follow. The Words of the martyrs (witnesses) never return void. They are carried on a firmament of flesh whose division ends the emptiness of the world and its words.
Books and words are crucial, but they are no good hidden away. God needs them written on flesh as well as stone. “Spells and smells” can be wonderful in worship, but those words and clouds must leave the building as the Warrior Bride. We must be preaching, singing and chanting the Scriptures. [2] If the worship stays indoors, our faith is only “sentimental,” as Oswald Chambers would put it. Sentiment must lead to action. It’s crucial that we get our worship right, but it doesn’t bring the powers crashing down unless the singing soldiers are marching into a (possibly) bloody battle. Then God does His magic.
Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. (2 Chronicles 20:22-23)
Yet the originating words are crucial. Good works without the accompanying truth also fall flat. Instead of returned mail, they are an envelope that is addressed and stamped but empty. Ahasuerus always sends out his fastest horses with a bill that can’t be repealed. Notice that the first section of Zechariah begins with warhorses doing a recce and ends with warhorses charging out of the Temple. It begins with the church in the (literally) “deep” and ends with a new message, a spring of hope rushing down from the mountain of God as four rivers. [3]
The Word becomes incarnate in us. We are called to worship. We are cut to the heart. We leave with an invitation but also an ultimatum. Unbelievers hearts will be cut because if they are not, their flesh will be. AD70 is testimony to that.
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[1] Smooth Words, Hard Hearts.
[2] See Liturgy as Prophecy.
[3] This is the background for the New Covenant blessings and curses, ie. the gospel, being presented as four horsemen in Revelation.
