THEIR EYES WERE OPENED,

(Part 4)

A Stone For A Pillow

"And Jacob...departed into ⁽¹⁾Charrhan. And he came to a certain place and slept there, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down to sleep in that place. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder fixed on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descended on it. And the Lord ⁽²⁾stood upon it..." (Gen 28:10-13, Septuagint).

Jacob's sun had certainly gone down. He had to flee the wrath of his brother after he had taken the birthright and blessing from Esau. With his light having turned to darkness, he laid his head upon a Stone.

In the natural, a person would not think of using a stone for a pillow. That would not have been my choice. What about you? Have you ever slept upon the ground, and without an air-mattress, padding of some sort, or a soft pillow? If you have, I am sure you remember how hard and uncomfortable it was.

For myself, if I had been in the place of Jacob, I would have at least pulled up a small, moss-laden log to lay my head upon, or better yet, I would have gathered some soft leaves or a tuft of grass to cushion my head. But not Jacob -- although he could have folded one of his garments for a pillow -- he laid his head upon a stone. Rather than any similitude of the comforts of home that he had left behind, he chose a hard rock; for you see, he had entered Charrhan (Haran, KJV).

Jacob's hour of trial had begun. It was time for his subtlety to be dealt with. Charrhan was the place his supplanting character would be parched, melted down, dried to a crisp, and burned up. His old heavens would be rolled up like a scroll. At the beginning of this new venture, he saw that which would be his portion; but this would not be until he came to the end of himself. His ways of taking the kingdom would cease, and God's way of giving it would begin and reign supreme. With his eyes opened, he saw the Kingdom of heaven tightly fixed and established in the earth and with God over it.

The land of Charrhan would be the proving grounds to bring Jacob to the place where God would rule and not man. It would be there that his name would change from Supplanter (Jacob) to God Rules (Israel). He would know this, not by theory, but by experience, of course, and after the hollow of his thigh was touched by the man of God who had wrestled with him "till the ascending of the dawn" (Gen 32:24, Young's Literal Translation.

Twenty years prior to this, his eyes were opened when his sun went down. That was when he laid his head upon Jesus Christ, the Chief Corner Stone. But his name (or nature) was not changed until the rising of the sun. Of course, he did not relinquish his rulership easily. He struggled throughout the night, and as it has been for us -- he lost the fight! If you haven't lost the match, you will.

By losing, however, Jacob won. He became a proven man, a tried man, a trusted prince of God in the earth. In his loss, he walked victoriously as God's emissary, yet with a limp, forever with a limp. When God touches a man's strength, it remains touched. From that day forth, the smitten man must rely completely upon His Master.

I was once told to never trust anyone who does not walk with a limp. Sounds like strange advice; but I can see why it is not strange. If a person's self-willed, cunning schemes, and tenacious carnal strength have not been crippled, the man will walk strongly in his own might and for himself alone. He will be a subtle taker, a supplanting Jacob, rather than a meek, unimposing, trustworthy lamb of God.

All who walk without a limp, and especially by the light of their own candles, self-kindled fires, and momentary sparks will be as Jacob. They will attempt to storm the castle and take that which is theirs before it is time to receive it. "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" (Mat 11:12).

Until now the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence at the hands of the carnally-minded, serpent-inspired, earth-enlightened men who eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Until now the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence by the subtle schemes of crafty religious prelates. They subtly force themselves into the lives of the immature, the blind, the gullible, and the widows (those who no longer know that Christ, their Lord, is alive). Until now the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence; but brethren -- THE NOW IS COME! Jesus Christ IS COME -- NOW! He is THE I AM of your life and of mine! He is the EVER PRESENT reality of God! HE IS ALWAYS THE NOW OF GOD in you and in me! UNTIL NOW the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence; but THE NOW HAS ARRIVED! HE HAS COME, AND HE IS COME IN THE FLESH of you and me! (1 John 4:2). And with the eternal Now having been joined and made one with us, there will be no self-aggrandizing, self-illuminating, self-centered man to impress us by his feather pillows or self-made fires.

It is truly as Bob Laughlin mentioned while we were with him and Jan in North Carolina earlier this year. He said, "When Jesus came, He changed the order. From that day, the new order for the Kingdom was set. The violent could no longer take it by force."

Be advised, dear friends, the New Order is NOW! Therefore, the Kingdom comes according to that New Order, which is by giving and receiving. Jesus said, "...For it is your Father's good pleasure to GIVE you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). The takers may still be attempting to take the Kingdom by force; but they are not prevailing. They may be taking kingdoms; but they have no part with the Kingdom of God wherein we dwell. They are kingdoms of their own kindled fires with their own sparkling followers compassing them about. They are lords who walk tall and without a limp, and who rely upon their own precepts and the strength of articulate rhetoric.

It is not the same with those whose name has changed. After the hollow of their thigh is smitten, their name becomes it is not I but Christ who liveth in me. They know their strength does not come from their own resources; but comes from He who rules over the Ladder. It is in Him that they place their confidence. The subtle desire to take the Kingdom and to be someone important vanishes; for to be a bondslave is their very heartbeat. It is then that they are held trustworthy and can receive the Kingdom from God's giving hand. With all humbleness of heart and thanksgiving, they reluctantly receive that which is their Father's desire to give.

What a vast difference it is between the takers and receivers, the violent and the peacemakers, the proud and the humble, the forcers and the crossbearers, the enlightened sparks and the life-giving flames of Godfire, the violators of truth and the fiery oracles of the Living God.

The usurpers take from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They build their own fires. They walk in their own light, being enlightened by the light of that tree's revelation. And they compass themselves about with sparks who follow hard after them (Isa 50:11). Even though the kindlers of fire are loved by many, they are still thieves and robbers; for their anointing comes from the traducing serpent, and their ill-gotten enlightenment is manifested by taking that forbidden fruit.

The two in the Garden were thieves and robbers, which was due to taking and eating from that tree, and so is everyone who follows their lead. Those who plunder the Kingdom take the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and by taking it, they become thieves, and in doing so, they die along with the hundreds, even thousands, who receive the stolen fruit from their enticing hands.

Anyone who attempts godhood by any other way than by He who is the Way, is a thief and a robber. Anyone who attempts godhood by way of the eye-opening, self-serving tree of Knowledge is a thief, simple and true. Jesus made it clear when he referred to the religious leaders when he said, "All that ever came before me are thieves and ⁽³⁾robbers: but the sheep did not hear them" (John 10:8). And so it continues to this day with the violent who attempt to take the Kingdom by subtle force. And it is the same for those who receive from their hands. Truly, "...If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Mat 6:23). You see, the enlightenment from that tree will open eyes to new vistas, but such enlightenment comes by traduced devilations. Their eyes are opened to know themselves, rather than God, and they remain in great darkness.

Ah, but genuine illumination comes when their hearts turn from the darkness of themselves and to the brightness of the Lord. The veil is then removed from their minds, and the true light floods their souls like refreshing sunshine on a newborn day. When their soft, feathery pillows of human reasoning and traduced enlightenment becomes the hard Stone of Christ's reality, their eyes are opened to see things they never knew existed. They peer into a realm which resides in their very presence, yet having been in enlightened darkness, they did not know it.

With heads bruised and hearts turned, their focus will no longer be upon themselves, but upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather than seeing the single deity of themselves, they will see the one who deflates their I am ego. They will see beyond human comprehension. Standing before them will be the one like unto the Son of man. This man, however, will not be subtly naked as the first man. This man will be clothed with a garment of God down to the foot. His head and His hair (His mind, His rule, His authority, His Glory) will be of unmixed purity -- white like wool, as white as snow. And His eyes as a flame of fire -- penetrating, revealing, purifying, refining. His feet will shine like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace -- bringing judgment as he walks through their lives. And His voice will be as the sound of many waters of the countless thousands upon thousands of the Sons of God. Moreover, with the seven stars, the seven spirits of God, in His/their right hand of power, every word which proceeds from this many membered Man will be as a sharp twoedged sword from His mouth. And this Son of man which comes into view after the heart's turning, will be seen as the Son shining in his strength. There will be no individuals to remain standing after their hearts are turned and they see the voice of the many waters speaking to them. Where there was once a fragment of glory in their single fires, those flames become darkened in the shining glory of the Son of man. And they will fall as dead men at His feet. (ref. Rev 1:13-17).

They will cease from taking from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They will receive the broken bread of life from their Lord's nail-scarred hand. The covering of their minds will be rolled back, and rather than seeing themselves -- they will see Jesus, the humble Way, the Christ of God, the Ladder which reaches from the earth to the heavens. They will see the Mediator between God and man, the One who had always been there, but they knew it not. They knew it not; for the great "I am" of self had blinded them, obscuring their vision of the One worthy of worship and praise.

"And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord IS in this place; and I KNEW IT NOT" (Gen 28:16). The two men from Emmaus walked and talked with Jesus; but until they received His broken bread (until they laid their heads upon the Stone that the religious builders rejected), they knew it not (Luke 24:35.

Hear that saints! The Lord was in that place -- but Jacob knew it not! Likewise, with us, even when we are feeling, low, down and out with our mind fixed on carnal things, when we make our beds in hell -- the Lord is there, He is in our place even though we may know it not.

Prior to ⁽⁴⁾Jacob laying his head of carnal reasoning upon the Stone, the Rock of Offense, Jesus Christ, he was a taker. He was a supplanter, as his name indicates. As long as his head was the ruling factor, the captain of his own destiny, he took that which already belonged to him. Although he had a revelation of the Kingdom of God, it did not change him. Many today live similar lives. They have had a revelation of the Kingdom; but they have not been changed, and their impatience causes them to attempt to finish in the flesh what was started in the Spirit. They have become supplanters and are trying to take the Kingdom, and this grieves me.

Even though Jesus Christ is the only Lord over all heaven and earth, it is apparent that some are not unaware of His lordship. It could be, also, that they are confused as to how His lordship works, or they think too highly of themselves, thereby having a mistaken identity of who they are. There are other reasons; but the bottom line is that they insist on ruling. Some, no doubt, are simply following the leader. Regardless of whether it is supplanting or deception, they may call it their higher self who is ruling. Some will say that their higher self is "Christ," or "the Christ," but those terms are mere semantics which are void of substance. Moreover, if they have a higher self, then does that mean they have a lower self? Just asking. I've never heard them speak of their lower self, and if they do -- who is he?

We must understand that Jesus Christ is not our shifted consciousness, our I Amness, our universal oneness, our metaphysical self, our egotistical, sinless, Adamless, fleshless self, as we quoted from Bob Torango in last month's article.

Simply put, we must never over emphasize who we are in Christ, rather than who He is in us, and there is a difference. When the woman was enticed by the serpent, and she took and ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and then gave to her husband, their eyes were opened to look upon and know themselves. The emphasis was upon who they were. Such a deceiving fruit for the woman (1 Tim 2:14), and so deadly for them both.

It is extremely difficult to be impressed with anyone, which includes ourselves, when we truly see who Jesus Christ is. And please understand, it is not my desire to distract our attention from who we are in Christ. If we don't know who we are, we will not know that we are part of a vast family of many members. And we will not know that God is truly our Father. As long as we fail to know that we have been joined to the Lord and we are one Spirit, we will be bound by religious dogma and reality will surely pass us by. It is essential to know our Father and that we are not bastard sons, and this knowing comes from eating the broken bread. Knowing Him comes through a relationship with our Father, and a relationship helps to renew the mind. And that renewing comes only by the Spirit and not the flesh. Such brings change in our lives.

We know that we are changed from the glory of the flesh and of the law to the glory of the Spirit and of Life by having our hearts turned (2 Cor 3:16). It is then that we will be like Him; for we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). It is not by seeing ourselves, but by seeing Jesus that opens our eyes to see beyond the veil. This comes when our heads are bruised and our hearts turn. As long as the serpent's anointed throne (the carnal mind) remains alert, our hearts will be turned to ourselves. The bruising and turning, however, opens our eyes to see Jesus, the Gate of Heaven's Kingdom. We will then know that there is only One worthy of honor and glory and praise, only One to be worshiped and exalted above every name.

I speak of these things in the future tense, thing which "will come to pass," as if they are not presently with us. Please, let me be clear. It matters not whether God is in this place, His fulness is in this place, His Kingdom is in this place, or eternity from beginning to end is in this place -- if our heads have not fallen upon Jesus and our thighs have not been bruised -- we will neither see it nor will we walk, or limp, in it. Although all things may be declared as being finished, let us not feel pressured into confessing something that is not in our vision or is not a reality in our life.

We should not attempt to exalt ourselves into the Kingdom. It will only prove fruitless. To do so is nothing more than trying to find a way other than Jesus, the Door, the only Door, who is open to all. Therefore, let us walk into Him, sit down with Him, and drink the new wine and receive the broken bread of the Kingdom with Him. Let us eat the Lord's Supper and not the serpent's supper. It is then that we will know Him, rather than knowing ourselves.

Brethren, that should suffice, and for most it does; but for others, it does not. When it does not suffice, we can only conclude that they have not known Christ Jesus, and they delight in knowing themselves; for when He is not known, there is nothing left but to know one's self. Furthermore, since we are not their captains, we will not hinder them from their futile quest, and as we said last time, there must be heresies among you, and God is sifting, sifting, sifting. We will, therefore, rest in knowing that all is well.

With assurance and peace of mind, I will continue writing to those with an ear to hear, to those who will be sifted into the garner of the Lord, while others write to those who will be sifted otherwise.

I hear some questioning, "Brother Roach, what makes you think your sifting is for those going into the garner of the Lord? It could be the other way around." Hmm... I guess we'll just have to wait and see as the sifting continues. In the meantime, we will all be exercised in discernment and what rings true in the Spirit. If, however, I am wrong, I would much rather be wrong in exalting Jesus too highly, rather than exalting thieves and robbers, or myself. Ah, the sifting continues. Which way will we be sifted? It depends on which way our hearts are turned, I am sure.

In conclusion of this issue, let me share a letter from from Michelle Sperber.

"How timely your last publication was (#02.153, THEIR EYES WERE OPENED, AND THEY KNEW... Part 3, Behold, All Ye That Kindle A Fire)! I had the following vision in July while praying with a brother in the Lord: A might wind came out of the mouth of God and lifted us up to a place within a cave on the side of a mountain. We had lighted a fire and were warming ourselves near it when the Lord commanded 'NO!' and said: 'I don't want you to light your own fire.' We extinguished it as He had commanded, and sat there shivering. I wondered how we could ever make it to the top of the mountain; but then a volcano erupted. It brought us up to the top and then over. We just floated along on the molten lave like we were coasting abreast an ocean's wave. We were relaxed and at ease, paddling with our arms like you would on top of a float while the fiery lava continued on its way covering the earth.

"You wrote: '...When we are moved by that mighty wind and fire of God, we shall sweep over the earth with great power and unrestrained effect.'

"I think, for me, the lighting one's own fire represents trying to do the will of God in my own strength...." -- End quote.

In my answer to Michelle, I enclosed the following excerpt from: MYSTERIES FROM DARKNESS (Part 2) #97.99 ( mysteries2.html )-- Dwelling in dark Pavilions/Huts. I believe it compliments what she was saying:

"It matters not what we do in attempts to bring people together and motivate the Body into action -- every effort fails. There may be times when it looks as if the body is being assembled for action; but they are short-lived excursions. We may even see moves, or sparks of inspiration shooting into the heavens; but they are more like perspiration than inspiration, and after a time they are gone. These moves of God, as they are sometimes called, remind us of Isaiah 50:11 -- "Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow." The Amplified renders it -- "Behold, all you [enemies of your own selves] who attempt to kindle your own fire [and work out your own plan of salvation], who surround and gird yourselves with momentary sparks, darts and firebrands that you set aflame! Walk by the light of your self-made fire, and in the sparks that you have kindled [for yourself, if your will]! But this shall you have from My hand: you shall lie down in grief and in torment."

"There is little question why we don't see any long-lasting, earth-shaking moves of God today. They are, by and large, self-made fires and sparks of passing glory. Some may feel that these laughing revivals, or healing campaigns which fill huge stadiums with thousands of people will be what ushers in the kingdom of God for every eye to see. But please be assured, my travel-weary friends, these stirrings do not have the markings of what burns in our hearts. They are far from the beginning of God's Kingdom being manifested in the earth."

You see, it is not a matter of any particular religion, belief, or practice that determines whether one is taking from the tree of knowledge and knowing oneself or is receiving from the tree of life and knowing Him. The bottom line is determined on where one's head is positioned. Is it raised tall in the exalted heavens of self-knowledge, or is it laying and being broken on the Stone of Jesus Christ?

To be continued...

Elwin R. Roach

1. Charrhan: Charan, parched...to glow, i.e. literally (to melt, burn, dry up) or figuratively, to show or incite passion" (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance). [For Internet Explorer, hit Backspace key to return to text] 

2. was established (Septuagint foot note). [Internet Explorerusers,  hit Backspace key to return to text] 

3. robber: leistes...(to plunder); a brigand (Strong's). Brigand: from French brgare to fight...one who lives by plunder, usually as a member of a band, BANDIT. (Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary). [Internet Explorerusers,  hit Backspace key to return to text] 

4. Jacob: Ya'aqob...heel-catcher (i.e. supplanter), from H6117. 'aqab...to seize by the heel; fig. to circumvent (Strong's). [Internet Explorerusers,  hit Backspace key to return to text]