Two weeks ago, I posted on the Crux or Cross of the Unifying Theory of Baptisms. What began as an attempt to synthesize some of the elements of Passover, the Nativity, and the Crucifixion has yielded several new theoretical insights.
The insights began to emerge when I put together the Hebrew letters alef, mem, and tav. At the time, it seemed to be the perfect combination to represent the three-sided cross of Jesus.
After I put the triune word emet together, I discovered that alef and mem form the word for "mother" or "birth," as the letter mem alone stands for water.
This was an exciting discovery and confirmation as water is one of the three baptisms in The Unifying Theory. I wondered if mem and tav combined meant anything. To my surprise, yes they did! Mem and tav spell "death."
What began to emerge was a cyclical pattern starting from birth to death around the cross. As mentioned in my previous post, the letter tav itself is a picture of the three-sided lintels of Passover and the three-sided cross of Jesus. Thus, this leg stands for "death" (i.e. bloodshed).
At this point a triangular pattern began to appear in the cross forming a complete thought. The only thing that was needed to fully confirm the Unifying Theory was the idea of "spirit."
The idea came forth after researching the Hebrew letter alef and its combination with tav. Scripture records a unique triune metaphor of God involving the letter alef. According to what I found on Hebrew4Christians and rabbinical sites, there are only three instances in Scripture where God is described metaphorically to something as opposed to someone or a personal entity: 1. Deuteronomy 4:24 says that "God is a consuming fire," 2. Isaiah 10:17 and 1 John 1:5 says that "God is light," and 3. 1 John 4:16 says that "God is Love." Further study reveals that all three metaphors begin with the letter alef and all three are tied to the Holy Spirit.
If "alef to tav" means "from beginning to end," then "tav to alef" means to go from the end back to the beginning. When this idea is combined with idea of "birth" and "death," the last leg of the triangle becomes complete. The top of the three-sided cross and triangle symbolically means to go from death back to life. It literally spells "spirit resurrection," "born again," and "eternal life."
"I tell you the truth [the emet], whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24)
"So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)." (John 19:17)
"he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:5-7)
Interestingly, the combination of tav-alef, figures prominently in an Ashkenazi piyyut or liturgical poem known as Akdamut. Each line of this piyyut concludes with the combination tav-alef. According to tradition, the intended meaning celebrates the perpetual learning of Torah from the end back to the beginning. Furthermore, Akdamut is read on Shavuot (Pentecost) by Ashkanazi Jews who use it in commemoration of the giving of Torah. Thus, the idea of recycle and spirit is spot on.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18At this point, the cross of the Lord spoke a triune message of birth by water, death by cross, and resurrection by spirit all in one cross. As I sat in church on Sunday December 16th and opened my Bible and looked up at the cross above our pastor, I thought of the Gospel message in the third Chapter of John. The dots began to connect and once again confirm that the cross spoke all these ideas with just one glimpse. It also provided me with more confirmation that the Lord indeed had been showing me something over the last two weeks.
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2)
"In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.' 'How can a man be born when he is old?' Nicodemus asked. 'Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!' Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.' 'How can this be?' Nicodemus asked. 'You are Israel's teacher,' said Jesus, 'and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." (John 3:3-15)The confirmations were almost to much to bear as I remembered what the Lord had shown me back in 2004 and 2006:
In Jesus the Baptist, I have attempted to consolidate a few of the countless references that confirm that baptisms, atonements and new birth experiences are synonymous concepts. We can see this in the great Covenant acts. We can see it in the Day of Atonement...One of the greatest evidences is the Church, the supernatural Body of Christ and Nation belonging to God who was born and revealed through a Baptism on the Day of Pentecost! Another fascinating inter-relationship between these truths is that all of them require a death of sorts to be put into effect. Each new birth requires a death of the old. This demands a study all its own. My emphasis in this article is to express a unity between the concepts of baptism, new birth, blood, water, Spirit, and the Atonement. When Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus, I believe He was pointing both to the past and to future concepts of rebirth and baptism. The very blood of God in the form of Jesus stood before Nicodemus and spoke of being born again in water and in the spirit. He spoke of His own blood being poured out in a offering for the world (John 3:16).May the Lord be praised!
But there was so much more to learn. It took a Christmas vacation trip to Kauai to see that there was much more to the cross than meets the eye!
As I snuggled next to my oldest son a few days before leaving, I asked the Lord to fill in the blanks between alef, mem, and tav. What about all the other letters in the Hebrew alphabet (i.e. aleftav)? How did they fit into the three-sided cross?
I could not understand how the other letters were to run from alef to mem and then from mem to tav. Did they run along the top crossbeam (patibulum) halfway and then proceed down the middle (stipes) to mem? From mem did they come back up the stipes midway and then end at tav? Was I trying to read something into the cross that wasn't there to begin with?
No, I felt there was definitely more.
As I sat praying and meditating on the cross of the Lord, it suddenly flipped upside down! I then saw for the first time that the letter mem was a representation of a fountain that flowed from top to bottom. Then, the rest of the letters filled in from the right of the patibulum to the end of the stipes then back down to the left tip forming a perfect triangle. The cross was actually three-dimensional!
Now, this may seem weird to some, but I could not quite understand what was going on and could not discern the pattern. So I asked the Lord quite innocently to show me again because it did not make sense.
In my mind and in the upside-down cross, I saw a column of water flowing down its height in a cross-section view of what appeared to be a pyramid. I also saw this fountain fan out in lines and water the square base of the pyramid. A still small voice spoke as the moving image unfolded and asked "do you see it now?"
I must pause to state that what was happening is by no means the norm in my walk with the Lord. In fact, as of this writing I am still struggling to climb out of a spiritual desert and valley. I responded "yes, I see it now Lord." My eyes began to tear and my lips began to tremble as I thanked the Lord for His Spirit guiding to me into uncharted truth (i.e. emet).
What was the Lord showing me?
It was then that I was reminded of a story I had read after writing Jesus the Baptist. It was about visitations to heaven by Chinese orphans in pre-Communist China. Their transcribed accounts were compiled by missionary H. A. Baker in his booklet Heaven and the Angels. In this booklet, Missionary Baker theorizes that Heaven can be either a perfect cube or a pyramid based on the orphans' descriptions of Heaven.
Was I seeing an outline of the great city of Heaven? Was I seeing a fountain from the top of the city flowing down to its bottom foundation?
After seeing a glimpse of the city, it appeared to be a monolithic mountain1. The pieces began to fit together in rapid succession. After thinking about the base of this great mountain, I thought it's none other than the Alpha and Omega (ie. Alef and Tav) Himself!
"He said to me: 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life...'" (Revelation 21:6)But I asked myself "how can there be a perfect triangle formed with 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet?" There is no symmetry in an even number for a triangle. And what about Revelation 21:14:
"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:11)
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." (Ephesians 2:19-21)
"The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. "I further theorized that there must be a missing letter, because 22 letters can not form a triangle.
And there is! It's found in the longest verse in the Bible, Psalm 119 (e.g. NIV) and in a mystery of the Hebrew alphabet. The twin letters sin and shin coalesce together when in linear progression, but when you stretch the letters into a triangle they separate to provide the missing letter to yield twelve letters going up (including the apex) and twelve going down (including the apex). Thus, there are 22 Hebrew letters in linear progression and 23 in triangular progression, both resulting in perfect symmetry.
There in the pyramid formed by 23 letters one can spell out the names of the prophets and apostles as well as the entirety of the Word of God. When viewed side-by-side as pairs going from bottom-to-top, there are eleven pairs. But which letters are at the top?
When kept in the original alphabetical order, the letter lamed is at the apex. This is tremendous confirmation in and of itself. Why? Because lamed is the "tallest" letter in the Hebrew alphabet; it is the only letter to rise above the baseline when written. It rises in exactly three legs to tower over the other letters and it does so exactly in the middle only when there are 23 letters (and not 22).
Thus, there are eleven pairs rising up on each side and one apex, which together make exactly twelve floor levels symmetrical in height. When the Word of God says "the wall of the city had twelve foundations" it is referring to a wall of jasper that extends from the bottom of the pyramid to its apex stratified by twelve unique foundations, yielding twelve unique sections of the wall.
Each foundation and wall section forms what is known as a Millo or supporting terrace. King David built these Millos in the ancient City of David. It is now apparent to me that King Jesus has done the same for His city.
"David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the supporting terraces inward. And he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him." (2 Samuel 5:9-10)These terraces and wall sections are truly enormous. Given an approximate pyramid height and side length of 1,400 statute miles and equidistant foundations, each terrace would measure approximately 116 statute miles (1,118 stadia) in vertical height2!
"Then he [King Hezekiah] worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David..." (2 Chronicles 32:5a-b)
"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:2-4)
"For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Hebrews 11:10)
Theoretically, each foundation creates an entire floor level of this mountain city, forming twelve pyramid bases that get successively larger in area as one goes from top to bottom. This architectural motif is not without Scriptural precedent:
"The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirty on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple. The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor. I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits." (Ezekiel 41:6-8)Given this motif, the only feature that cuts through consecutive floor levels (the twelve foundations) is the fountain of water that I saw. Given this scenario, the fountain acts as a "staircase," or elevator, as well as a spring for each city floor. This fountain is the city's central water supply and River Jordan. It is the Spring of the Water of Life!
"Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water." (Exodus 15:27)Given their theoretical vertical height of 116 statute miles, it is entirely conceivable that each wall section supports its own population center much like a modern-day skyscraper supports unique clients on each floor. But to see this one has to have an appreciation for what their vertical height would mean on earth.
"Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, the City of David. On that day, David said, 'Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those 'lame and blind' who are David's enemies.'" (2 Samuel 5:7-8b)
"Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom." (2 Chronicles 9:17-19)
"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?" (Psalm 24:1-3)
"O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires [lapis lazuli]." (Isaiah 54:11)
"...but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14)
"He said to me: 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life...'" (Revelation 21:6)
Consider just these five facts: 1. the tallest skyscraper on earth, the Burj Dubai, at 1,964 feet stands less than half a mile high, 2. the Troposphere, where most of the earth's weather occurs and where the breathable portion of our atmosphere is found, extends only 11 miles above sea level, 3. a 50-mile high circum-swath from sea level around the Earth contains 99 percent of the total mass of Earth's atmosphere, 4. in the 1950's, the United States Defense Department awarded the rating of "astronaut" to anyone who flew 50 miles above sea level, and 5. the Kármán line, which demarcates airspace and outer space is 62.5 statute miles above sea level.
At 116 miles in vertical height, each wall section and foundation has more than ample vertical room to accommodate its own mini-world and even atmosphere. Thus, it is conceivable that there are twelve population centers, camps or districts within the mountain city.
"After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain." (Exodus 19:2)Although the sections of the walls are impressive, the top of the pyramid city represented by the three letters kaf, lamed, and mem tell an even greater story3, one that could confirm these theories:
"The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 'The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family.'" (Numbers 2:1-2)
"So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day." (Joshua 4:8)
"Solomon also had twelve district governors over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year." (1 Kings 4:7)
"Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, 'Your name shall be Israel.' With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD" (1 Kings 18:31-32a)
"'The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city. It will extend westward from the west side and eastward from the east side, running lengthwise from the western to the eastern border parallel to one of the tribal portions.'" (Ezekiel 45:7)
"Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish." (Mark 6:39-43)
"Since Lamed towers over the other letters from its central position, it is said to represent melech hamelakhim, the King of Kings. This idea is supported by the idea that the preceding letter [kaf] stands for kisea hakavod, "the throne of Glory," and the following letter [mem] stands for malkhut, "kingdom." The sages also point out that the three central letters can spell the word melech, King." (The Letter Lamed, Hebrew for Christians Site)Thus, the apex formed at the top of this alphabetical pyramid and the three-sided Cross of Emet, from which it was derived, depicts the Throne of God. I could thus see the Lord seated on the throne at the top of this high mountain. The triangular train of His glory literally spans the height, width, and depth of the entire city from the throne at the top to the city's foundation at the bottom. He sits as the temple of this great city both among and above her population - His Bride. Behold the City of Emet, the Kingdom of God and of Heaven4!
"The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. (Psalm 29:10)A few days later, I began to replay the motion picture of the pyramid city and the fountain flowing from the apex down to the middle of its square base. I wanted to see how the city was laid out within the pyramid, so I began to draw out how the river coursed through its streets. The only thing that made sense to me was that it flowed from the center outward in four directions, but the confirmation of this theory and the best configuration would have to wait until after our trip to Kauai.
"Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell." (Psalm 43:3)
"... I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple." (Isaiah 6:1)
"The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD." (Isaiah 65:25)
"This is what the LORD says: 'I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.'" (Zechariah 8:3)
"And he said to them, 'I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.' After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them." (Mark 9:1-2)
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God...' He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' He said to me: 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.'" (Revelation 21:1-3, 5-6)
"'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.' And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." (Revelation 21:9b-14)
"I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." (Revelation 21:22)
While in Kauai, we were awestruck by the beautiful cascading waterfalls and mountains that we saw. One of the falls, Wailua Falls, was the famous backdrop to the television show "Fantasy Island."
I could not help envisioning the golden city as I peered across Waimea Canyon at the breath-taking high mountains enrobed with clouds and mist. I even managed to capture a rainbow on film making its way through one of the distant canyons.
At the opposite end, we caught glimpse of a far-away waterfall cascading down the summit of a monolithic peak. Its waters were blown like hair into fine mist by the wind swirling through the canyon, which is known around the world as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." All these sights served to paint a vivid picture of paradise on earth.
Back at the hotel room, I could not shake the image of the great city. In my mind's eye, I redrew a cross-section of its square base. In the middle, I envisioned both the Tree of Life and the river flowing with its water.
But there was a puzzle to this picture. I could not marry the Tree of Life, the Throne of God, and the River. Then, the thought hit me: the Throne of God is within the Tree of Life and the river flows from it and around it on each side! I had never heard of such a thing.
I dashed for the drawer under the telephone hoping to find a Bible. Thank God for the Gideons! There as only King James English could phrase it I found my answer:
"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:" (Revelation 22:1-3 KJV)I could see the Water of Life flowing from the floodgates of heaven, the fountain of the Alef and the Tav suspended high overhead on His Throne, down to earth. I now saw a significance and connection between the Cross, the Throne, and the River and the Spring that flowed from it that I had never known before. While driving through the countryside of Kauai the next day, I looked over to my wife and said "it blows me away to think of it this way, but when the Romans were crucifying the Lord, they were actually enthroning Him."
"For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth." (Genesis 7:17)When we came back from Kauai, I pondered long and hard as to what the Tree of Life looked like in Heaven. I remembered a connection to the Throne of God and the Ark of the Covenant made in a book written by the Christian author and explorer Bob Cornuke (The Lost Ark of the Covenant). Then the answer came to me: the Tree of Life looks like the Ark of the Covenant5!
"'The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!'" (Psalm 118:16)
"I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up..." (Isaiah 6:1b KJV)
"See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him — his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness — so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand... Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him... But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-2,5)
"your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10)
"After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, 'Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.' Then he climbed into the boat with them..." (Mark 6:46-51a)
"'I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.'" (John 3:12-15)
"So Jesus said, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.'" (John 8:28-29)
"'But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.' He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die." (John 12:32-33)
"Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal." (Revelation 4:6)
"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him." (Revelation 22:1-3)
"'Have them make a chest of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it... Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.'" (Exodus 25:10-11, 17-22)It was then that I saw the following: 1. A seat in the middle of the trunk forming the Atonement Cover or "Mercy Seat" 2. Two main branches of the trunk forming the bodies of the cherubim 3. Four branches with Leaves spreading upward in the form of wings (two on each side) and finally, 4. Twelve crops of fruit on the leaves (seven in the seven colors of the rainbow and five in what I theorize to be yet undiscovered colors). Just as in the case of the Ark of the Covenant, the Throne and the winged canopy are one piece, because they are one tree. Similarly, just as in the case of the three-sided cross and the throne apex of the Mountain of God, the Tree is roughly pyramidical in shape. From the front, it is visually three-in-one: one seat and two sets of wings, which means at the center of it all is the Atonement!
"David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark." (2 Samuel 6:1-2)
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings..." (Malachi 4:1-2)The image that struck me was the similarity this tree and its multi-colored fruit had with the familiar Christmas Tree6. I quickly researched the earliest origins of the Christmas Tree and was shocked to discover the account of Saint and Martyr Winfred Boniface. After a few more clicks of a search engine, I was blown away completely by the connections between: 1. The Tree of Life, 2. The Tree of Paradise, 3. "Christmas Pyramids" or lichstocks erected by German Christians, 4. Upside-down fir trees representing the Holy Trinity, 5. The message of Eternal life, and 6. our modern-day Tannenbaum better known as the Christmas Tree.
"On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 22:2b-c)
"His young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon. O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me." (Hosea 14:6-8)Not only had I discovered good reason to keep my Christmas Tree on display year-round, but in it I now saw so many truths in one simple tree that I had never seen before: 1. The City of Truth (Emet), 2. The Ark of the Covenant, 3. The Throne of God and of the Lamb, 4. The Atonement, 5. The Holy Trinity, 6. The upside-down and right-side-up Three-sided Cross of Jesus, 7. The Tree of Life, Death, and Resurrection, 8. The healing in His wings and in the leaves of His Throne, and 9. The twelve crops of multi-colored fruit. I'm sure there so much more meaning!
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'" (Galatians 3:13)
"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24)
After this dizzying array of connections, the only missing piece that remained for me, at least this Christmas, was whether there was any confirmation in Scripture that the river of the water of life in fact flowed in four different directions from the center of the city. In all my previous drawings, I had the water flowing from the center in four directions to successive square rivers. It was the only way I could marry: a single tree, standing on "each side of the river," in a city square, with a river flowing from it. But was there any connections in Scripture between the Tree of Life, Heaven, and a four-sided flow of a river? To my amazement there was!
"...In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates." (Genesis 2:9c-14)
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7)
"THEN HE showed me the river whose waters give life, sparkling like crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1 Amplified Bible)
And so that is how the vision of The Cross, The Tree, and The City ended just in time for Christmas. Every item that the Lord had shown in the weeks leading up to Christmas was unplanned and unintentional on my part. It was a Christmas miracle!
I started this post as a love gift to the Lord on His birthday, but I have come away blessed beyond words. Thank you, Merry Christmas, and Happy Birthday Lord Jesus!
"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'" (John 4:13-14)
Light the Fire Ministries ©2007
Notes:
1. Scripture ascribes mountains with great spiritual significance. Many like Mount Sinai, Mount Carmel, and the Mount of Olives are considered holy unto the Lord and "mountains of God." It is entirely conceivable that holy mountains and their man-made miniature cousins, altars, are primal representations of the one mountain city in heaven. The connection becomes even more exciting when one considers that God has poured out His blood, His water, and the fire of His Holy Spirit upon us His Children as he has done with His holy mountains and altars.
As mentioned in the article Jesus is the Baptist!, "that altar is you and me! We are the altars of living stones (1 Peter 2:5). We like Noah's mountain, Sinai, and the Temple Mount on the Day of Pentecost, are the Mountains of His new Covenant. We are the temple and tabernacle of God." Given these connections, the words of the Apostle John describing the holy city should take added significance to us all: "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband" (Revelation 21:2).
Beyond holy mountains and altars representing the mountain city in heaven, they are also pictures of God's throne. If one were to take a snapshot of a blood sacrifice burning and smoking atop a pile of wood in the midst of an assembly, one would have a picture of the Lamb of God slain from the creation of the world in the midst of the four beasts and elders in heaven (Revelation 4:4-5). Moreover, the scene would be complete with lightning and the glory of the Lord (the fire on the altar), the clouds that surround him (the smoke from the fire), and the Tree of Life (the wood) (Psalm 97:2). The picture would not be complete, however, without the Spring, River, and Sea of Atonement that flows from God's Throne to cover mankind (the blood of the sacrifice).
Taken in this light, it is easy to see that altars are man's attempt to glorify the Lord seated on the Throne, memorialize his timeless sacrifice, symbolize His atonement, and to make contact and establish fellowship with Him. Furthermore, it is equally easy to see why altars to other gods are the utmost perversion and affront to God's honor and the blood of His Son, the Lamb of God. "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5:12b-c). Amen!
2. This vertical height calculation (cf. slant height) of a wall section was derived by simply dividing the approximate Biblical height of the city, 1,400 statute miles, by its 12 foundations.
3. Although Lamed is at the static apex of the pyramid, I theorize that the top three letters are actually a dynamic apex and move around in what can best be described as an "electron cloud" atop this mountain (see Isaiah 14:13-14). The distinction between them blurs as they spin at some unknown speed or vibration (e.g. c = the speed of light). At this point, they form a unified whole. This theory is consistent with the idea of the Holy Trinity and the Atonement presented in The Unifying Theory and throughout Jesus the Baptist.
Another interesting feature of the apex is the constitution of its foundation - amethyst. This gemstone's primary color is purple, the color of royalty (Song of Solomon 3:10, Daniel 5:29, Esther 8:15, Mark 15:17, 15:20, John 19:2, 19:5). Thus, the apex says "throne" in color as well. Purple, however, is only part of amethyst's luster, because it has secondary hues of blue and red. Moreover, purple is a combination of equal parts of blue and red. When one considers that light is needed to see amethyst's color, and its unified color constitution of blue and red, this foundation not only says "throne level" it also says "Trinity" (see notes 2 and 3 below).
4. This depiction of the City of Emet is a frontal view only. The pattern of the 23 letters theoretically repeats itself on each of the four sides of the great pyramid. This means that each cornerstone is an alef-tav, or Alpha and Omega, exactly as the Word of God says (Zechariah 10:4, Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Peter 2:4-8, Revelation 22:13-14). Furthermore, this great pyramid, like all square pyramids, has three sides and four faces equaling a unified shape of seven.
This depiction further shows the color of the city to be that of jasper (red) as described in Revelation 21 verses 11 and 18. The other prominent colors of the city, as evidenced by their observation at great distances by the Prophet Ezekiel and the Apostle John are blue and gold (see note 3 below). This chromatic observation is significant because red, blue, and yellow (gold) constitute the subtractive primary color set. It is also highly likely, given the life in the city and its description as "paradise," that the color green is prominent as well (Psalm 23:2, Mark 6:39, Luke 23:43, 2 Corinthians 12:3-4, Revelation 2:7).
If this is the case, both the subtractive and additive primary color sets are prominent in heaven. As discussed in The Throne Matrix, these color sets all say "blood, water, Spirit" or put another way: "Father, Son, Holy Spirit."
5. The connections between the Ark of Noah, the Ark of the Covenant, the Tree of Life, the Cross, the apex of the pyramid City of Emet, and the Throne of God and of the Lamb are truly mind-boggling. They are all related concepts and all say "throne."
For instance, their construction is similar in that they are built of three parts: three decks in the Ark of Noah, three pieces to the Ark of the Covenant (poles, chest, and Atonement Cover), three sides to the Cross of Jesus, three-letter sequence of the apex (kaf, lamed, and mem), and finally three facets to the Throne and Tree of Life (seat and twin branches/wings full of fruit and healing). All were/are lifted up above the earth and all have baptismal floods associated with them: the Ark of Noah was lifted up above the flood, the Ark of the Covenant was lifted up above the River Jordan, the River of Life flows on either side of the Tree of Life, the Lord underwent a baptism on His Cross, mem which stands for water is at the apex of the pyramid city, the Lord is enthroned above a flood (Psalm 29:10) and the River of the Water of Life flows from His Throne.
Given these staggering connections, it is now apparent:
1. Why these objects were/are thee-in-one piece
2. Why trees and their wood are significant features or play significant roles in these objects
3. Why the Ark (aron) of the Covenant and the Ark (tebah) of Noah were mysteriously translated into English using the same word "Ark"
4. Why the poles had to remain in the Ark at all times (Exodus 25:15 - to maintain 3 in 1)
Even the fact that twelve stones were taken from the middle of the River Jordan in the exact spot that the Ark of the Covenant had stood over is testimony to these connections (Joshua 4:9).
If one were to take a snapshot of the Ark of the Covenant over the twelve stones in the riverbed it would be a picture of the Throne of God (Tree of Life) over the twelve foundations in the middle of the River of Life. Similarly, if one were to take a snapshot of the Ark of Noah, the mountain on which it landed, the altar, and the rainbow it would be a picture of the Ark of the Covenant, the pile of twelve stones, the priests elevating the Ark like a high mountain, and the glory of the Lord between the Cherubim. The same could be said of the Cross of Jesus, Golgotha (Mount Calvary), the Son of Man glorified on the cross (John 12:23), and the baptism (pouring out) of blood, water, and spirit that took place at the crucifixion (Luke 12:50, John 19:34, Matthew 27:50, Titus 3:5-7).
What is even more amazing is the graphical connections these objects have with the experiences at Mount Sinai and the Mount of Transfiguration. The next time you read about the Throne of God high and lifted up, the Crystal Sea in front of it, the River of Life flowing from it, the peals of thunder coming from it, and the rainbow encircling it, you can think of the Ark of Noah and the Ark of the Covenant. When you picture the Ark of the Covenant, you can think of Noah's Ark atop a high mountain with a rainbow over it. The connections truly go deeper and further than is possible to explain in just one article.
6. I depict the combined Ark, Throne, and Tree of Life using the colors of a terrestrial tree (i.e. brown and green) for two reasons: 1. its exact colors are unknown and 2. my attempt is to synthesize the familiar image of a tree with the golden Ark of the Covenant and a throne.
Biblical references to the colors of God's thrones are either sapphire (Ezekiel 1:26 and 10:1) or white (Revelation 20:11). The Prophet Ezekiel's description is particularly interesting, because the gem he refers to is lapis lazuli. The name of this gem is a cognate of the Latin word for "stone" and the Arabic word for "blue" (taken from the Persian place name of a famous quarry site from which it was mined). Thus, the gem the prophet used to describe God's Throne literally means "stone of blue."
Another interesting aspect of lapis lazuli is that it has inclusions of white calcite and pyrite (better known as Fool's Gold). Thus, the gem is known for both bluish streams and sparkles of white and gold. When shined upon with a bright light, it literally looks like a waterfall on a sunny day (the Prophet Isaiah may have made the connection between water and lapis lazuli in Isaiah 54:11).
Incidentally, the spray and mist from the City of Emet's waterfall would give off a truly breathtaking iridescent expanse just like an airspace full of sparkling diamonds suspended in air. Could it be that the diluvial fountain and spring of the theoretical City of Emet, as well as its expansive iridescent spray, belong to the throne that the Prophet Ezekiel saw from his vantage point looking up (Psalm 29:10; 36:5-9)?
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