Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 5:00 a.m. – I woke to this song:
Something about That Name / Artist: Sonicflood
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There's just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away
But there's just something about that name
I also woke from A DREAM: There were two sisters that came to visit with me. They were going to start classes at the local university or technical college and they were going to join the Christian club on campus. So, I asked them about their church background. They told me the name of a denomination I had never heard of, so I asked them to describe their theology. They used another term with which I was unfamiliar. So, I asked if I could hear the names again so that I could write them down, so that I could look them up. I know that at one point I was looking through a window into another house. I recall there were children in there. END
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 12:
My Understanding: The words to this song of praise in chapter 12 of Isaiah must be understood in the context of the previous chapters’ messages:
- Confronting sin in God’s people – sins of rebellion, abandoning the people of God, sexual sin, false teaching, injustice, bloodshed, dullness of hearing God, hardened hearts, unfaithfulness, no fear of God, walking in darkness, idolatry, pride, arrogance, oppression, not acknowledging God for who He is, etc.
- Warnings of impending judgment and calls for repentance
- Declarations of God’s forgiving grace for those who humble themselves in confession, repentance, faith and obedience – a heart response to what Jesus did for us on the cross in dying for our sins and for setting us free
- Predictions of a future hope with Jesus, the Messiah, as our King reigning on the earth – promises of salvation, deliverance, freedom, safety, and peace
- God’s great name being exalted above all other names
“In that day” would thus refer to the day when Jesus returns and sets up his Messianic kingdom here on the earth. My NIV Study Bible says this:
“In that day. The day of victory and joy, the positive aspect of the “day of the Lord”. Israel is restored and the people praise God. Ch. 11 connects this “day” with the Messianic age.”
In that day the people of God will praise him, for although he was angry with his people (the nation of Israel as well as the church), his anger has turned away and now he will comfort his people. The people of God will give praise to him for his salvation that he has provided the people through his Son, Jesus Christ. The people of God will give thanks to the Lord and will call on His Name and His Name will be exalted.
The song that the Lord gave me this morning is “Something about That Name,” meaning the name of Jesus. The song goes on to state that kings and kingdoms will pass away, but that there’s just something about the Name of Jesus! His Name will be exalted throughout all the earth.
That, then, takes me back to the dream I had this morning. There were two sisters in this dream. Often in scriptures Israel and Judah are referred to as “sisters.” God has two sets of children – the Jews and the Gentile Christians. The unbelieving Jews have been divorced by God, but at the end of time, a remnant will return. I believe there will also be a remnant of Gentile Christians or professing Christians who have wandered away (prodigal or lukewarm believers) and whom God will bring back to himself.
In the dream, I was inquiring of these two sisters as to their church or religious background and they named the name of a denomination and the name of a theological following. I believe that denominations and specific theological followings are part of what angers God, too. He sees these as of men and are what cause divisions in the church. This one says “I follow Appollos” and another says “I follow Paul,” i.e. one says “I am a Presbyterian” and another says “I’m a Baptist,” etc. Just as the Lord destroyed the barrier between the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers and he made the two one, so the Lord also wishes to destroy these denominational barriers and these theological barriers that divide his church.
“In that day” men will say: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name…” Instead of the people of God describing themselves in terms of denomination or theology, they will instead call on the name of Jesus. Kings and kingdoms can refer to physical kings and kingdoms in the worldly realm, but they can also refer to kings and kingdoms in the spiritual world which men have established for themselves, and the names of these kingdoms are the names of denominations and theologies. The Lord is saying that they will also pass away and that the name of Jesus will be the name that is on the tongues of his children – both Jewish and Gentile believers.
The university classes referred to in this dream are symbolic of higher learning. Classes are places of learning and training. I believe the classes here are meant to represent this time of testing that is to come upon all the earth known as the Great Tribulation, and that as a result of people entering into God’s “university” of learning and testing, that people will be joining God’s eternal kingdom (the “Christian club”). At that time, God will destroy those barriers of religion that divide his people – Jew from Gentile – Presbyterian from Baptist, etc.
Lastly in the dream I was looking through a window into another house and there were children in this house. A window is often a figure of “revelation”. I believe that the window I am looking through is the revelation of scripture and I am seeing into another house, i.e. God’s eternal kingdom during the reign of Christ on the earth in the Millennium. And, I am seeing the children of God at play with one another – no more separation of Jew from Gentile or one denomination from another. We will all be one in Christ Jesus, which is what God has intended all along.
In that day you will say:
"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There's just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away
But there's just something about that name
We need to make the name of Jesus what we make known among the nations, not the names of denominations or the names of theologies. Kings such as Calvin and Luther and Wesley have passed away and their kingdoms will also pass away, but the name of Jesus will live forever!!
