In the same way that God is awakening Africa, I believe he is gently awakening his bride, the Church to the beautiful new day that awaits in his presence. As you gaze at the Church you may be forgiven for thinking that she is barely alive, only the periodic inrush of the breath of revival disturbs her, she sees dimly- her eyes are mostly closed. However she is not dead merely asleep. She lies dreaming of days past and of glories to come whilst her groom lovingly watches and gently kisses her eyes, urging them to open and greet the day. She stirs, but continues to cling to the dreams entertaining her rest. His kisses are becoming more insistent and soon his love will drag her from the cocoon of slumber and it will be time to rise and greet the new day, the day of Mystery which her lover has planned.
For millennia God has awaited this dawn, the dawn of Mystery. Now is the time when the angelic declaration of Revelation 10:7 is ringing out over the earth.
“There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
The mystery of God will be accomplished…just as he announced to his servants the prophets. What is this mystery that he announced? Well let’s consult the prophets to whom it was announced.To do so we need to travel back to another dawn, in the time of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Undoubtedly the most powerful man of his generation, feared far and wide, Nebuchadnezzar has awoken in a bad mood. His sleep has been troubled by a dream which he can neither banish nor understand. He has sought out all the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and practitioners of occult arts that they may unravel the mystery of his dreams. No one has the wisdom the king is counting on, and in a fit of regal rage Nebuchadnezzar condemns every “wise man” to death. However before the harsh decree can be carried out a captive from Judah is ushered in, he claims that he can get the answer the king needs. One one more day passes, and in the light of the new day Daniel, God’s prophet, arises to praise God for revealing the secret of the Kings dream, saving his life, and promoting him in one moment. He says;
During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said:
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, Oh God of my fathers:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.”
This incident is the first recorded instance of Mystery in the Bible, this is the Mystery of God in the Bible. Long in advance God reveals that all wisdom and power are his, he is the one who changes the times and the seasons, raises empires and then blows them into the dustbin of History. He can see what lies in the as yet dark of tomorrow but he reveals those things to his servants the prophets.
I believe we are at the dawn of the most incredible age of human history, God has announced a change of time and season and it is about to be rapidly accomplished. The wise men of this age like those in Nebuchadnezzar’s time cannot comprehend what is coming for it is, as I said in my previous post, unprecedented in all of human history. To understand what it is all about we need to return to Nebuchadnezzar’s bed chambers to hear the interpretation of the Dream.
“As you were lying there, Oh king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, Oh king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 “You looked, Oh king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 You, Oh king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”
In a very real way this was not Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, it is God’s dream he just shared his intentions with the king. The Mystery of God is this: the Kingdom of God. Kings, kingdoms, empires and emperors have come and gone, they arose for their brief hour of glory in the sun until the world turns, the scene changes and a new day rises. However in a small province of the Roman empire a child was born and with this child the Kingdom of God returned to earth. The Kingdom did not come with splendour, power, wisdom and glory from a human perspective. Even those who had picked up the fallen mantle of Daniel in the East, the Magi, and spent their lives anticipating the arrival of this promised one went looking for it in the wrong place. They found themselves kneeling before Herod surrounded with all the glories of earthly power and wisdom, seeking the newly arrived king amongst the scented gardens and beauties of wealth and power, instead they found the promised one as they knelt in the soiled straw of a stable in the backwater of Bethlehem. As they presented their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh and smelt the odours of the animals that surrounded the promised prince, I wonder if they had doubts that they had found the right child? If, even for a moment, they asked themselves “Is this really the child we have waited for for so long?” However, wise men that they were, they knew that God always hides his treasures in unlikely places so they humbled themselves and presented their gifts to a baby in a manger. A new day had come.
It is light outside now, the day stretches out in front of me full of possibilities, full of promise. The trees which a short time ago wrestled against the horizon have emerged from dawn’s dark, dusty blankets. Upstairs, another child of promise is feeding in her mothers arms and I can see clearly. God has given us the treasures of darkness, he loves to hide his Mysteries in unlikely places. A new day has begun, the day God accomplishes his promise to cover the earth with his glory. When Mystery was born I was comforted by the visit of some shepherds of God’s flock here, some wise men brought gifts, and right now if you will close your eyes and listen you will hear angel’s rejoicing. Yes, It is going to be a very good day!