And the Word became flesh and lived among us

Hi all,
This week my thoughts have turned to John 1:14: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us." I'd like to share what that meant to first century readers of the gospel of John, and what it should mean to us.

Once upon a time there was a boy...
Samuel was born in the days of the book of Judges, a spiritually dry time in Israel. Though various righteous judges had risen and fallen over more than 300 years, there was little revelation flowing from the Lord.

But that's about to change, and the change established how the Lord would reveal himself to the prophets throughout the rest of the Old Testament, and even into our day.

I Samuel 3:1 sets the stage: "And the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no open vision."

You know the story; the Lord called Samuel 3 times, and each time the boy thought it was Eli calling him. Verse 7 says the reason he didn't recognize it was the Lord was this: "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him."

On the 3rd time Eli realized it was the Lord and instructed Samuel to say "Speak Lord, for your servant listens." (v9) And I love verse 10: "And the Lord came, and stood and called as at the other (3) times." Again, this is the Lord, not an angel. It is Christ making an Old Testament appearance.

The Lord came and stood...after telling Samuel some things concerning Eli, verse 15 says that Samuel "was afraid to tell Eli the vision." So the Lord came and stood, Samuel saw him, but Samuel's eyes had to be opened to the Spirit realm to see him - the visitation was a vision.

Verse 21 establishes this new thing: "And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the Word of the Lord." From Adam to Samuel he revealed his various redemptive names, but now he is revealing himself as 'the Word of the Lord.' (caps mine)

This pattern of visitation as 'the Word of the Lord' is the way he would appear to all the prophets from here on out in the Old Testament. So when we see the phrase 'the word of the Lord came' in the prophetic books we know it is Christ appearing in a vision to give them a word, just as he established with Samuel.

The prophets didn't receive a word like some mystical hand guided their pen onto paper. They don't mean they were alone in the wilderness and heard the voice of the Lord. They mean as with Samuel, the Word of the Lord appeared in a vision and spoke to them and often showed them visions of future things. When they say "the word of the Lord that came to...", they mean the Word of the Lord, He, CAME to them.

Here is a sampling of the Lord appearing as the Word of the Lord to the prophets:

Jeremiah: "The words of Jeremiah...to whom the Word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah...then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, Before I formed you in the belly I knew you...then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth..." (1:2, 4, 9)

Joel: "The Word of the Lord that came to Joel..." (1:)
Amos: "The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel...thus says the Lord..." (1:)
Obadiah: "The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning..." (1)
Jonah: "Now the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying..." (1:1) "And the Word of the Lord came a second time to Jonah saying..." (2:1)
Micah: "The Word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite...which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem..." (1:1)
Nahum: "The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite." (1:1)
Habakkuk: "The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see." (1:1)

I particularly like Habakkuk because he describes the Lord in 3:4: "And his brightness was as the light; he had shafts of light coming out his fingers (hands): and that was the hiding place of his power."

Deuteronomy 9:10 says the Lord wrote the 10 Commandments in solid rock for Moses "with the finger of God." What Habakkuk describes as beams of concentrated light coming out the Lord's fingers, we would liken to a laser beam. Well, that explains that! Amazing.

Zephaniah: "The Word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah..."
Haggai: "In the second year of Darius the king...the Word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet...thus saith the Lord of hosts saying... (1:1-2)
Zechariah: "In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius...the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah...", which began a series of 10 visions, and even later in the book he continues to say "the Word of the Lord came..." as it relates to still more visions and visitations.
Malachi: "The burden of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you says the Lord..."

So you see...
The men who wrote the prophetic books of the Old Testament were reporting their visitations with the person of the Word of the Lord. That's how they knew him; the Word of the Lord. To them, that was his name.

Time to leave heaven and come to earth: The Word of the Lord was made flesh
What I'm about to share is an experience that remains the most sacred, intimate, and holy visitation I've ever had. I'm often torn between two emotions when I write or speak of some visitations and visions, and for that reason I rarely share this one.

First, they are between me and the Lord or me and the Father. Part of me wants to hold them in my heart as a treasure for me and me alone. But the larger part of me is compelled to share what I've been shown because to that I have been called. I must be transparent, I must share the ways of the Father, but it isn't always easy giving away what I've seen to what is for the most part, people who don't know me. So hear my heart, and if you don't believe me, just put it on a shelf for now, or reject the vision I share, but not the messenger.

During a visitation when my angel gave me a word from the Father, I asked him about heaven, and in particular how angels relate to Jesus. As I share in Pursing the Seasons of God, he told me this: "You have to understand, we know him as Creator (you know him as Savior)...Though we knew what was taking place when he left heaven, we did not personally understand. We had no way of comparing his great act of love for you with anything we had ever experienced, or anything we had seen him do."

I was then taken in the Spirit to heaven to a an event that happened over 2000 years ago; the moment Christ left heaven to be conceived in Mary's womb to become the baby named Jesus. I was merely a bystander in the midst of a huge crowd of angels before the throne of the Father in heaven. As far as I could tell I was the only human there.

The Father's throne was bright light, so bright I could barely make him out, and I could barely see the Lord standing next to him, yet out of that light as if coming from the brightest part of the sun, Jesus slowly walked away, which was in the general direction where I was standing in the crowd.

Every angel and even the cherubs around the throne were silent, and as Jesus walked through the crowd every angel would either kneel down on one knee or bow at the waist as they parted to let him pass. I've never experienced such a mixture of somber seriousness and pure awe and wonder. Every angel understood the seriousness, though they couldn't comprehend it mentally. Their Creator was about to become one of his creations.

Of all the times I've seen the Lord, angels, and been to heaven, this was the only time I felt like I didn't fully belong. I felt like a kid given permission to stay up way past his bed time to witness his parent's party. Inside I felt like that kid peeking around a corner trying not to be seen by the adults while at the same time wanting to take in everything happening around me.

The privilege I felt was beyond words, humbling, awe-inspiring. Though through the Holy Spirit I was allowed to see an event that took place long ago, it was not like this was a recording played back for me. The I AM, the Ever Present One allowed me to be present in the most wondrous and sacred of moments to both understand the awe the angels experienced which answered my initial question, and witness a very intimate moment between Father and Son.

As Jesus walked away from the throne he never looked back nor said a word. As if observing the thousands upon thousands of angels silent in awe and wonder weren't enough, the greatest impact I felt was what was going on between Father and Son. That is where I felt I was eavesdropping on a most sacred and intimate moment.

Nothing was said, and I wouldn't describe the mood as sad, yet the overwhelming sense that everything was about to change between the two of them was palpable. It was clear there was an unspoken and very serious mission, the details of the plan of salvation held within the two of them.

Hebrews 10: 6-7 records what the Lord said as he left heaven for conception in Mary's womb, and these were the only words I heard Jesus say as he walked past me in the vision, before I was suddenly back in my living room, all alone, tears welling in my eyes as I was overcome with the Father's presence and great love:

"In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure. Then I said, 'Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me (Old Testament), to do your will O God (Father).'"

So you see, when the apostle John penned the opening words of his gospel, he was trying to communicate all of this in these beautiful words: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men."

"And the Word became flesh and lived among us."

And this is why the angels said to the shepherds in Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and good will towards men."

They weren't saying 'all you humans start getting along'. They were saying the Word of the Lord who had appeared to all those prophets down through the centuries, has now become flesh, a baby in Bethlehem.

God in the highest is saying peace to the earth, He has good will and intentions for you!

That's what we celebrate this time of year. And when he appears to us today in visions, he is still appearing as the Word of the Lord. Even Revelation 19 says at his return his vesture will say "The Word of the Lord". Amazing and awe inspiring!

Blessings and Merry Christmas, ("Weekly Thoughts" will return in 2 weeks)

John Fenn
www.supernaturalhousechurch.org