In Need of Vision: What We Look To, We Steer To
"Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction." (Proverbs 29:18 NIV)
We need vision, because what we look to, we steer to.
In Strong's Concordance, the number 2025 connects with two words. It is Strong's number for the Hebrew word harel, meaning "Mountain of God." It denotes "places of divine encounter and revelation." 2025 is also Strong's number for the Greek word epichrió, meaning "to anoint."
I believe there is an invitation this year to encounter the Lord in fresh ways. First, we must discard false images of the Lord that we've leaned on. This shaking and stripping is for the purpose of a fresh encounter with the Lord that imprints (smears, anoints) the identity of Jesus on our hearts—us being further conformed to His image.
Three Ways That Idols Can Creep In
Idols showed up in many ways throughout the Bible, and I feel the Lord is inviting us to learn from them and look for them in our own lives:
1. Shortcuts
First, idols appear as shortcuts. Seasons of waiting on the Lord are difficult, as Aaron found in Exodus 32. The pressure for answers causes us to choose: Will we stand on the Word of the Lord or will we opt for creating our own answers (like the golden calf)? Seasons of waiting may feel very still and inactive, but there is much going on under the surface.
On the mountain of encounter, Moses was receiving downloads for the next season, but because he was taking longer than they expected, they decided to create a false image of God to go before them. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
Don't let the wait obscure the image of who the Lord is. Don't take the bait of a self-reliant shortcut. Wait for the words on the mountain of encounter.
2. Alliances
Second, idols can come through alliances. I was struck as I was reading Judges 17. The commentary I read called it "The beginning of idolatry in Israel, Micah and his mother"
(Judges 17, Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible [Complete]). It's a strange story.
Micah's mother who (reading between the lines) had come to idolize her silver, consecrated it to the Lord and had an image made for Micah, which he kept in his house (Judges 17:3).
This was a clear violation of the commandments, but perhaps she had justified it because it was done in an attempt to honor the Lord.
When a Levite showed up at his door and Micah made him his household priest, the Levite adopted the image also. Then, when the Danites eventually came and took over the land, the eerie conclusion was that "They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh" (Judges 18:31 NIV).
The Danites likely never knew Micah's mother, yet they ended up entangled in the same idol, which came through a Levite—a trusted source. Similarly, idols can come through our families, our traditions, our cultures, or other alignments, and we become blind to them because they come lumped in with things of the Lord. But Micah would have seen past his false image if he had remembered the words from Moses on the mountain of encounter.
The only way to shake off these images and be reminded and restored to God's actual heart is to remember the words from the mountain of encounter.
3. Transactions
Third, idols come through transactions. One of the most impactful moments for me in cross-cultural ministry was when a former animist pointed out to me that she had been so struck by the heart of God because "God is the only one who gives freely as a gift." I realized just how many false gods and other religions were predicated on a transaction of making an offering to get a desired result.
We tend to like to fit God into a mold (image) because it masks our attempt to control. False images (idols) happen when we try to fit God into a system of "if I do this, God will do this." The antidote to this is surrender and a posture to receive. When we are fully aware of God's out-of-the-box ability in our situation, and when we are postured to receive His wisdom (because we know it's likely not what we could expect or deduce), we become our least capable yet our most strong.
God's Love Calls Us Away from What Isn't Serving Us
Some of you reading this may be in a season you'd describe as a "shaking." While God doesn't author most of the earthquakes in our lives, He promises that when we build on Him, we will be able to stand through them. Like a good wheat harvest being shaken, the shakings of the world only separates the chaff—what was a shell, dead and unfit for food. It keeps the grain. It keeps the seed. It keeps what is useful and nourishing. (Photo via Unsplash)
There is a love of God that is calling us away from what isn't serving us and is actually making us unsteady!
At a birthday party for our oldest son's friend, I was watching all the preteen boys cruise around the roller skating rink. By the end of the party, they had gotten pretty confident on their wheels, but for fun, a couple of the boys grabbed the walkers with wheels meant to steady beginners. They proceeded to race them but quickly found the walkers slowed them down, and they even ended up tripping them.
I felt the Lord say that we have things we've been putting weight on that are slowing us down, even tripping us up. He wants to take the walker away—the things we are leaning on—not to slow us down or trip us up, but to free us to put full weight on His Words. Just like the paralytic who was told to get up and take his mat, it is not until we put our full weight on the Word that the miraculous happens and we see the true heart of God (Matthew 9:6).
Get Your Vision on the Mountain of Encounter
This is your year of encounter on the mountain so you can hear what the Lord wants to build. Because every meeting on the mountain, from Moses to the Transfiguration, came with a deeper revelation of a way of life that would foster intimacy with the Trinity. Like Peter, sometimes we take a mountain encounter and try to build a structure for it. A move of God cannot be contained by our structures. The true purpose of the mountain encounter is to realign our vision with the image of Jesus so that we can be equipped for all that awaits us when we come back down.
Encounter Questions:
• Lord, what words do I need to stand on or remember that will bring me freedom?
• Holy Spirit, what false images have I made of You that You want to restore to Your true character?
• Jesus, what part of Your identity do You want to smear (anoint) me with to bring to the world that's waiting at the foot of my mountain of encounter?
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Sara Whitten
Arrows of Zion
Email: sara@arrowsofzion.com
Website: www.arrowsofzion.com
Sara Whitten is an author, speaker, and founder of Arrows of Zion Ministries which has been offering resources to equip to the Body of Believers since 2017. This ministry focuses on creating space to regularly encounter God's voice and live lives that are fertile soil for the Kingdom of God. Her writings are featured in many publications, including the Elijah List and Charisma. She also hosts "Hear God Every Day," a podcast with tools to help amplify the voice of God amidst the noise of everyday life. She and her husband currently reside in Kerrville, Texas with their three children.
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