Intimacy with God
Preface: Vision of the night
In the middle of a night in May of 2015 my wife Lisa and I had a clear visitation from the Lord. Lisa woke up and was surprised to see me with my arm extended up, pointed towards the ceiling. I found out later from Lisa that in the state of deep sleep, with my arm extended heavenwards, I audibly uttered the phrase "Intimacy with God".
She wasn’t aware of this at the time but at that exact moment I was in a dream where I was seated in a room with many Christians. We sat under a teacher that spoke with authority from Jesus. I couldn’t make out who it was or what was being taught but I knew the teaching was on the topic of "loving God". The meeting was filled with a thick tangible glory - kāḇôḏ of God that could be seen. I woke up from this dream with an immense peace and presence of the Lord - needless to say I slept very well that night.
[ Job 33:15-18 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man, He keeps back his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. ]
As I discerned through scripture to find evidences of God speaking through dreams I saw confirmation in [ Job 33 ] as quoted above. I perceived that the Lord intentionally concealed elements of my dream to make me pursue him more and keep me from pride. Admittedly there are still elements of that encounter that I still wrestle with and are unfolding to this day.
I believe genuine encounters should produce good fruit - at the time I recognised an immediate hunger for God and a passion to understand more of His word. I knew for sure that this wasn’t a pizza dream, something from the enemy or the flesh. This began a season of praying for [ Ephesians 1:17 ] – the Spirit of Wisdom and of revelation to facilitate an intense deep dive into scripture.
In the still unfolding journey that the Lord has taken us on we’ve come to the conclusion time and time again that there is so much more to pursue in God. Some of the bible teachers of this age have drawn walls within walls within scripture of what is deemed “legally pursuable” in the Lord and are in danger of quenching and putting out the Spirit's fire [ 1 Thess 5:19-21 ] – In the end they and we all do this because we ourselves have not walked in. [ Matt 23:13 You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to ]. The deeply entrenched anti-encounter and anti-experience rhetoric in some Christian circles is unfortunately a fruit of pharisaic dead religion and is markedly unbiblical - I have to use strong terms but I hope for better.
Passages from [ Revelation ] and [ Daniel 9-12 ] are famous for being “end times” scriptures. Daniel's seventy weeks, a birthing of a male child that will rule the nations with an iron scepter, a rising up of overcomers, a bridal company of believers and a final harvest. This was all great but what began to shift for me was God highlighting all of scripture as an end time prophetic book – there were realities, possibilities that Old Covenant believers walked into that New Covenant believers haven't even begun to grasp, where in the days, and Lord willing, generations to come we will begin walking into.
I believe there has always been a grace or provision for ‘Adam with God in the garden’ type of intimacy throughout the ages, but very few believers have been taught how or have been given permission to pursue God in this way. I am fully convinced in the Lord that in these “last days” God is calling the Church on a corporate and global level to come into this type of deep communion with Him in the midst of what is coming upon the earth.
It became clear to me that the Lord hadn’t just supplemented my pursuit of scripture and biblical prophecy with the visitation. He gave the primary key for not just surviving in the last days but thriving. The key was and always has been intimacy with God
So what are some scriptural themes that pertain to intimacy with God? Please join with me as I cover various aspects of these realities which I have learnt in this journey so far.
Bridal Paradigm
The Lord then began to unfold Old Testament understandings with passages related to the bridal paradigm in [ Ezekiel 2-7 ], [ Hosea ] and other passages. I recognised that the bride of Christ wasn’t some newly invented New Testament theme as God saw Israel as his “wife”. Here I saw the heart of the Father and His jealous, zealous yearning for His people. There’s more to this…
Jesus as the Bridegroom of the Song of Solomon
What was significant to me was the area of understanding with regards to the Song of Solomons or Song of Songs. Song of Solomons is interesting as portions of the Church have preached the plain reading ( which is completely valid ) but other portions have not touched the book at all - potentially because of its “questionable” general relevance in light of more important topics like the Great Commission - it is somewhat relegated to the sidelines. I believe [ 2 Tim 3:16 ] speaks directly to this. Albeit that, there are symbols, types and shadows within the Song of Solomons, that, when pieced together reveal a dimension, a depth of intimacy that Jesus desires with us that is likened to the marital intimacy of a bride and a groom ( for the record I'm not talking about being strange or inappropriate ). Song of Solomon's typifies this with a few prophetic pictures.
In [ Luke 24:27 ] it says [ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself ]. In other words Jesus, on the road to Emmaus, interpreted to the disciples a swath of Old Testament scriptures concerning himself. We aren’t made aware of the contents of the conversations he had but with a survey of the scriptures we see types ( - týpos ) of Jesus throughout scripture. In Genesis, Jesus was a type of Adam [ Romans 5:14 ], he was a type of Isaac ( or more specifically the ram caught in the bushes ) as God the father was a type of Abraham, he was a type of deliverer Moses, a type of savior Joshua and in the Song of Solomons; Jesus is the Rose of Sharon and the bridegroom that is leaping over the mountains to his bride.
“…In Jewish tradition it’s ( Song of Solomon ) been read as an allegory, each character a symbol. So the woman is Israel, the man is God and their love is symbol of a covenant between God and Israel made at Mt Sinai and the giving of the Torah.
This view flowed into the Christian tradition but the characters were swapped so it's about Christ's love for his people the Church. This interpretation was inspired by Paul's words in [ Ephesians 5 ] that a Christian's husband's love for his wife is a symbol for Christ's love for the Church… “ Timothy Mackie - Overview: Song of Songs [ Video ]. YouTube.
Out of this has flowed this beautiful explosion of psalmists and singers championing the heart of the bridegroom Jesus - songwriters that are singing to the heart of Jesus, not just about Him.
The Oil of Intimacy – The Ten Virgins
On the theme of the Bridal paradigm, the Lord began to quicken my spirit and highlight passages like [ Matthew 25:1-13 ] – the wise and foolish virgins. Some interpreters deem the five foolish virgins as non Christians but I believe the theme of virgins throughout scripture is quite clear – virgins represents Christians who are all born again believers who are cleansed by the blood of Jesus [ 2 Cor. 11:2-3 ].
Here are some more excerpts from ihopkc with regards to [ Matthew 25:1-13 ] which I resonate with:
“They took their lamps ( public ministry ) as virgins ( born again believers ) and went out to meet ( encounter ) the Bridegroom. Then the Kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ministries seeking Jesus as the Bridegroom. This refers to the End-Time ( v. 13 ). In other words, this is a picture of End-Time ministry with the revelation of Jesus as the Bridegroom God. The foolish ministries took their lamps ( ministries ), but took no oil. In other words, they pursued ways to increase their ministry with greater zeal than to cultivate the ‘oil of intimacy.’ The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps ( ministries ) as they pursued intimacy more than ministry“. Holy Spirit is inviting us to enjoy intimacy with God by allowing us to experience the deep things of His heart. The Holy Spirit discerns the deep things of God’s heart ( His emotions ) that we might know or “experience” them. God opens His heart wide that we would experience a lifestyle of active intimacy with His heart that energizes our heart with God’s power [ Eph. 3:16-19 ]. This speaks of receiving the anointing of the Spirit to walk in 3-fold love ( anointing to receive God’s affection for us and to return it to Jesus with an overflow for others ).
Main points of the wise and foolish virgins
[ ONE ] Contextually as the ancient Jewish celebration lasted several nights with each evening highlighting something different, so we understand that God is releasing different waves of the Spirit that are building up to the full End-Time revival culminating with the Second Coming which is the grand finale ( wedding supper of the Lamb ). God will release strategic waves of the Spirit and corresponding ministry anointing that is building up to a glorious End Times crescendo.
[TWO ] The essential point in this parable is that the foolish virgins would needlessly miss out on the first night of the wedding celebration. The principle is that many ministries will also needlessly miss out on part of the “End-Time revival wedding celebratory activities.”
[ THREE ] We must be watchful in order to be ready and equipped to fully participate in each ‘night’ of the End-Times revival ( wedding celebration ). God is now preparing leaders ( forerunners, remnant ) for the future waves of the Spirit. He insist that only prepared vessels with spiritual reality lead each wave. In other words, a lifestyle of pursuing ever increasing ministry opportunities while neglecting intimacy leads to missing the FULLNESS.” - Reference: Onething - The oil of intimacy, encountering the bridegroom Jesus
An aside - The Midnight Cry
Now, there are additional clues in this parable that indicate that there are other roles beyond just the ten virgins and the bridegroom. While both the wise and the foolish virgins slept there appear to be ones that weren’t sleeping - namely the ones that “sell the oil” in [ Matthew 25:10 ] and the ones that proclaim the “midnight cry” of [ Matthew 25:6 ]. Both of these roles could be the one in the same so I will refrain from conflating it here. Also, unlike the ten virgins, this voice appears to be awake and consequentially, obedient to Jesus’ command to “watch and pray” in [ Luke 21:34 ]. Not too dissimilar from John’s ministry during Jesus’ first coming, this voice appears to be a remnant that share the same “friend of the bridegroom” [ John 3:29 ] message as John; who, was sent ahead of the bridegroom to woo the bride into spiritual preparedness.
[ Matthew 25:6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ ]
[ John 3:29 …‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete…” ]
I believe these “voices calling out from the wilderness” have arisen during “midnight hours” of history past and are being raised up currently for future “dark of nights”. These “friends of the bridegroom” who don't fall asleep, walk in such intimacy with God which make them voices in and out of season. They are the forerunners before each “midnight season” and ultimately will be proclaiming the message of the bridegroom king before the second coming and historic visitations of Jesus.
A First Commandment People, The Lost Art of Ministering to God
In the evangelical church, there is this subsurface impression of the Israelite nation that much of what they partook in was “useless traditions”. Potentially because of passages like [ Hebrews 10:4 Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins… ] and others being quoted in isolation. If I were to put this type of impression into a order of teaching it would go something like "God desired Israel to do his will, but they couldn't, they always failed, none of their “works” mattered to God in the end. Don’t be like Israel and do what they did. But in some ways the Church is like Israel, we may try but we will always fail because we are not perfect so we need Jesus’ grace. It’s all about grace."
This generalised notion contributes to the idea that Israel is "works" ( sacrificial system ) and the Gospel of Jesus is "grace" ( no more/once and for all sacrificial system ). Not that that’s specifically wrong but there’s a certain level of shallowness to this oversimplified “grace/works” approach that maybe ignores the feat of what Israel was actually able to achieve whilst still under the lesser ( Old ) covenant. We have to avoid the temptation of extrapolating the concept of these “works” of “useless traditions” and “practices” to all of Israel’s past and history and shift into an understanding of what they were actually able to walk into and what that means for us today. Consequently [ Hebrews 8-10 ], when read in it’s fullness of context in light of the Old Testament, emphasises the immediacy of this access that New Covenant believers now have. The writer of Hebrews does not necessarily denigrate the Torah instituted physical ritual requirements but redirects them. There is an emphasis to the predominantly Messianic audience to their ceasure or renewal in light of the New Covenant and to the greater spiritual reality that the rituals pointed to - a reality that we are now invited to partake in.
Following along this thread, in the first temple period, not only did the nation of Israel walk into and obey the first commandment through the establishment of David’s tabernacle and ultimately Solomon’s temple, the nation reaped the blessing hundreds of years into the rebellious kings of Israel. David, a man after God's own heart developed his heart cry from his personal devotional to God during his years tending to sheep and his time of observation of the company of prophets. He witnessed the power of God's Spirit manifest ( to the point where an ungodly and demonised [ 1 Samuel 18:10 ] king like Saul started prophesying in their presence ) through a company of prophets that ministered to God [ 1 Samuel 19:19-24 ]. As a response David's heart cry was:
[ Psalm 132:4 Surely I will not enter my house, Nor lie on my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob." ]
…no doubt driven by this “one thing” desire…
[ Psalm 27:4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. ]
These ancient Israelites were a people who understood the foremost art of ministering to God, the literal tangible presence of God and responded by seeking to glorify God through creating a dwelling place for Him.
Restoring David's tabernacle - Loving God Corporately
In [ Amos 9 (OT) ] there is a ‘last days’ prophecy that God himself will restore the tabernacle of David. It’s again re-iterated in [ Acts 15 (NT) ] as a New Testament function of the Church. This “tradition” has now transitioned from the Old to the New Covenant “temple” not made of human hands [ Acts 7:48 ][ Acts 17.24 ].
Historically this has not manifested in a large, global scale in the body of Christ. Regarding the worship and prayer aspects ( yes, there are other aspects ) of David’s tabernacle; there were small prayer groups that mirrored this biblical reality like the Moravian night watch in 1727AD and pockets in revival history but for the most part, prayer movements have been sparse. One of the implications of why the New Testament passage in [ Acts 15 ] speaks about the restoration of the tabernacle of David ( theology, understanding ) is because its theology and understandings have ‘fallen’, essentially they’ve been lost or forgotten. I would argue that this was lost with the end of the apostolic church age.
Now, I want to take a step back here. There is an anti new-spiritual revelation dogmatism in some churches. I would state that quite frankly most of this isn't new because the early church would have understood these scriptural realities. And, much of our current modern Church liturgy is “new” compared to the practices of the early church. And, our “current” more resembles the post-Constantine, pre-Protestant, Catholic past, whether good or bad - so in many ways we need to be open to go back to the scriptures and the historical context and continue to “reform”. But, I digress.
At present praise and worship is relegated to an ‘entertainment’ piece on Sunday morning where we sing three songs about God. The shift with the tabernacle of David is ministering ( sing-praying, ministering then listening ) to God and facilitating an environment where God's presence can dwell and corporate ministry can occur. Think of pentecost at the upper room in [ Acts 1:12-14 ] which led to [ Acts 2:1-4 ] and also of the strangely foreign ( to many modern Churches, not all ) liturgy and biblical order of worship in [ 1 Corinthians 14:26-33 ]. Note the use of the Greek “leitourgeō” for “worship” in [ Acts 13:1-4 ] and also [ Hebrews 8:2, 10:11 ], linking it to the old covenant priestly duty. Ponder on the parallels to the company of prophets in [ 1 Samuel 19:19-24 ] who, even under the old covenant, worshipped without a temple.
Amongst others, examples of this reality in revival history appeared during the Welsh revival ( link ).
The extravagance of David in a modern context
The Israelites lived in a harsh and unforgiving land, were surrounded by enemies, and had to work hard to meet their basic needs. But even in the midst of these challenges, the nation, led by David, invested large portion of resources into the temple service.
Some scholars have attempted to estimate the finances of David’s tabernacle:
David gave over $100 billion (at modern prices) to God’s house. One talent is 75 lbs. or 1200 ounces (16 oz/pound). One talent of gold at $850/ounce would be worth about one million dollars. Thus, 100,000 talents of gold at that price would be worth about $100 billion. One talent of silver at $12/ounce would be worth about $15,000, so 1,000,000 talents at that price would be worth about $15 billion. The total of the gold and silver would be well over $100 billion.
2 Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold, silver for things of silver…
3 I have set my affection on the house of God…” (1 Chr. 29:2-3)
14 Indeed I have taken much trouble to prepare for the house of the LORD one hundred thousand [100,000] talents of gold and one million [1,000,000] talents of silver… (1 Chr. 22:14)
The Israelites were also giving their time, labor, and skills to the construction of the temple.
David established 4,000 musicians, 288 singers (12 x 24 = 288) and 4,000 gatekeepers. Thus, he financed about 10,000 people on his “full-time staff” to facilitate worship and offerings to God.
7 So the number of them, with their brethren who were instructed in the songs of the LORD, all who were skillful, was two hundred and eighty-eight [288]. (1 Chr. 25:7)
5 …four thousand [4,000] were gatekeepers, and four thousand [4,000] praised the LORD with musical instruments, “which I made,” said David, “for giving praise.” (1 Chr. 23:5)
It’s tempting to shun the excesses and extravagance of David. Maybe David understood something the wider body of Christ have not begun to grasp yet?
The Last Days Harvest - New Wine
Back to [ Amos 9 ] - there's this beautiful passage about a natural harvest and new wine ( fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit ). [ Amos 9:13 The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills ]. This natural harvest is a prophetic picture of a coming reality for the end times harvest. Where, the reaper ( evangelists or harvesters ) will actually overtake the plowman - the ones sowing the seeds of the Gospel through prayer and Church planting. This has actually happened in pockets in revival history but will manifest on a much greater scale in the days ahead. The context of this passage is during a time of restoration for natural Israel and a time where David's tabernacle will be restored [ Amos 9:11 ].
Houses of Prayer / Prayer Altars
As we speak we are witnessing a global phenomenon of 24-7 [ Biblical precedence 1 Chr 9:33 ] worship, prayer and day and night incense rise up to the Lord. One of the key aspects of the end time scenarios of book of Revelation is the increase of prayer represented by the incense filling the bowls in heaven [ Revelation 5:8 ] and [ Revelation 8:3-4 ]. Autonomous houses of prayer are being established in the West and the East. Coincidentally in Eastern nations and the African continent "prayer altars" are being raised up. These prayer movements are organic in nature and have no central apostolic head, or ‘hub’ apart from the Lord himself. If God desires to establish something, rest assured he will confirm and establish it through two or three witnesses. These prayer movements are birthed from the heart of God with the restoration of centrality of the first commandment in the first place, a key aspect of David’s Tabernacle. Ultimately, I believe this will be one of the end time expressions of the Church ( it’s not the end all ) where saints will fill their lamps with extra oil [ Matthew 25:4 ].
Hearing his voice - [ John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice… ]
Interestingly enough God has been speaking to me about "the voice of God" in the context of intimacy with God. Hearing God's voice has unfortunately become a trivial and even a controversial matter but it shouldn't be. The ironic thing, I feel, is the reason why certain doctrines of demons ( that piggyback the western rationalistic mindset ) have come into the Church is because certain theologians and bible teachers have not been able to discern the voice of the enemy. In listening to the enemies voice that "God doesn't speak to us today" we've neutered our direct connection with the Father through Jesus and relegated the phrase "it's a relationship not a religion" into a meaningless cliche. Rest assured God wants to speak to us, better, eagerly desires to speak to us more than we do. One of the other major reasons is because an “orphan spirit” has entered into the Church, with satan, the original orphan being the main perpetrator. It seems as though one of satan’s strategies to disconnect us from the Father is through a primarily intellectual pursuit in the understanding of scripture rather than through relationship causing many avid bible students to "theologise" [ John 10:27 ].
[ John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ]
God's response - The father's heart
In [ Malachi 4:6 ] Father God says he will send the spirit ( anointing, person ) of Elijah to [ turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction ]. To counter the orphan spirit in the ‘last days’ God is sending the spirit of Elijah.
Again the implications of why God is prophesying the restoration of something is because said reality has been lost to the point of requiring His intervention. Fatherlessness is a huge issue in the natural so much so that it is an epidemic that the secular world has picked up - just do research on “fatherlessness”. However [ Malachi 4:6 ] doesn’t necessarily just mean people without biological fathers around. It is speaking about a lack of true spiritual fathers in the Lord. Elijah typifies this because unlike for example a prophet like Samuel; Elijah produced Godly spiritual children - namely Elisha. True fathers in the Lord teach and pass on the heritage and realities of hearing God's voice through the leading of the Holy Spirit. In a New Testament context, Paul, like Elijah was also a spiritual father [ 1 Cor 4:15 ] who, exhorted his spiritual son Timothy to listen to the voice of God given through a prophetic word:
[ 1 Timothy 1:18-20 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare… ]
Reflections: Elijah House is a Christian ministry in Australia that specialises on inner healing. There is an acknowledged understanding ( I am well aware this is also denied in various circles ) that the lens we see our earthly fathers is often the same lens through which see the Father God. Many of us carry woundedness from our earthly fathers to differing degrees, even the more Godlier ones. I find the reality of woundedness is true with people of Asian heritage including myself and it seems that one of the manifestations of this is we run to theology/knowledge or gnōsis rather than or in exclusion from a deep relationship with God to impress our Father in heaven, similar to the way we pursue ‘study’ and ‘career’. You can easily substitute these for ‘ministry’. There’s probably more to unfold regarding this topic.
Our response
Because of sin, our woundedness can often distort how we view our heavenly father and the lens with which we approach scripture. To counter this I believe God is raising up true spiritual fathers in the Lord that will model His heart. This will produce generations that seek intimacy with God resulting in biblically strong Christian communities who are accustomed to hearing the voice and following the leading of God. Corporately, this intimacy with God will happen through the prophetic restoration of the tabernacle of David and a return to the first commandment. This centrality of the first commandment in first place (I mean really first place - time, energy, physical exertion, finances - not just an affection but, in a Hebraic mindset, an action) is the engine room of the Church and will cause it to be a dwelling place for God’s presence. Out of that overflow will be an organic harvest of souls, and, I might add will be more effective than any program or event alone can accomplish. I believe this is the biblical order God is setting forth for the days ahead.