Sometimes God shows us things we don't fully understand. The prophet Zechariah in the Bible recorded eight distinct visions. Most were confusing to him, and so he was constantly asking, "Lord, what does this mean?" Sometimes God answers that kind of query immediately and provides understanding. Other times, God lets us stew on it for a while, so we keep asking. So we keep pressing in. So we learn to patiently wait. (No, No, No! I HATE waiting!)
Recently God showed me something that I still don't fully understand. I saw a boiling pot on the stove. Technically, it was a 2 quart tempered Pyrex measuring cup. The burner was on, and water was just starting to boil over onto the stove top.
The symbolism of a boiling pot appears in several places in scripture. One of the key ones is in Jeremiah 1:13-16, quoting from The Message:
GOD's Message came again: "So what do you see now?"
I said, "I see a boiling pot, tipped down toward us."
Then GOD told me, "Disaster will pour out of the north on everyone living in this land. Watch for this: I'm calling all the kings out of the north."
GOD's Decree.
"They'll come and set up headquarters facing Jerusalem's gates, facing all the city walls, facing all the villages of Judah. I'll pronounce judgment on the people of Judah for walking out on me -- what a terrible thing to do! -- and courting other gods with their offerings, worshiping as gods sticks they'd carved, stones they'd painted..."
God used this imagery of a boiling pot tilting over to warn the people in advance of the pain of God's coming judgment on Jerusalem through foreign invasion by the Babylonians. Then when it actually began, God used the same boiling pot imagery again. But this time, He used it with the prophet Ezekiel, exiled 500 miles away in Babylon. In Ezekiel 24, God tells Ezekiel a parable -- a story with a moral -- to relay to the other exiles to make a point about purification:
In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. Tell this rebellious house a parable and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
" 'Put on the cooking pot; put it on and pour water into it. Put into it the pieces of meat, all the choice pieces- the leg and the shoulder... Pile the wood beneath it for the bones; bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it...
God goes on to describe the the meat being cooked and cooked until it is done, the bones charred, and the pot encrusted with their nasty residue. Then the empty pot is placed on the coals until the copper glows red hot and the impurities are burned away. God finishes the story by interpreting it in verse 14, quoted from The New International Version:
" 'I the LORD have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
As I see it, boiling in scripture symbolizes judgment, pain, and purification at a corporate level. Back in Jeremiah 1:14, the collective nature of the coming suffering is emphasized:
"From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land..."
But for Ezekiel, the suffering was also personal. In the very next verse, Ezekiel 24:15, God told his prophet that his wife was about to die, but that he was not to lament or weep over her in public. He was to be a symbol to the rest of the people that they were about to go through such heavy losses that they would have no more tears left. We sometimes erroneously think that as God-fearers, we should be exempt from suffering, but this is not the case. If it was God's will that the Messiah Jesus should suffer (Isaiah 53:10) why should we be free from it? We live in a fallen world, and suffering is a universal part of it.
In my vision, I noticed that the boiling water was in a big measuring cup, as opposed to a saucepan or stock pot. I was journaling about this, and asking God what the significance was of it being in a measuring cup. Is it that the water-- the pain or difficulty symbolized? -- is carefully measured, as in limited by God in scope or duration? As I was asking God about this, I opened at random to Jeremiah 13 in The Message, and was staring at verses 24 and the first part of verse 25:
"I'll blow these people away-- like wind-blown leaves.
You have it coming to you. I've measured it out precisely."
GOD's Decree.
My thoughts turn to Baruch, the private secretary for the prophet Jeremiah. He was dealing with some stuff, and God gave him a private Word through his boss Jeremiah. It is recorded in Jeremiah 45:1-5, quoted from The Message:
"These are the words of GOD, the God of Israel, to you, Baruch. You say, 'These are bad times for me! It's one thing after another. God is piling on the pain. I'm worn out and there's no end in sight.'
"But God says, "Look around. What I've built I'm about to wreck, and what I've planted I'm about to rip up. And I'm doing it everywhere-- all over the whole earth! So forget about making any big plans for yourself. Things are going to get worse before they get better. But don't worry. I'll keep you alive through the whole business.' "
God was telling Baruch that his pain was carefully measured. That more pain-- more struggles-- were in his future. But there was a limit to it. He WOULD survive the coming hardships.
Regarding my own vision, I interpret it as follows. At a corporate level, pain and purification are coming. (See the "everyone" language of Jeremiah 1:14) but on both the corporate and the individual level, the pain is "measured out precisely." There is a definite limit to it. (See Jeremiah 13:25a and Jeremiah 45: 1-5.) Also, I noted in my vision that the water was just starting to boil over. I interpret that to mean that this boiling over -- this purification -- is imminent. It's about to start, so get ready.
So maybe this message is for the church as a whole, or maybe it is just for some us as individuals: purification is coming and it is imminent. But this time of difficulty is carefully measured out by God, and will be limited by Him in its scope and duration. We are to trust Him through the process.
"Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him..." -- Job 13:15
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