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The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread

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Revelation 3:18 Therefore I counsel you to purchase from Me gold refined and tested by fire, that you may be [truly] wealthy, and white clothes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nudity from being seen, and salve to put on your eyes, that you may see.

Today is the twelfth day of counting the omer or the measure of barley grain coming from the harvest. Question is, Are you harvesting the “grain” of His Word? Which raises another question, Why are there so many references to bread in the Bible? Jesus was born in Bethlehem, or the House of Bread. Jesus referred to Himself as the Bread of Life. When Jesus was led in the wilderness by the Spirit – following being filled with the Spirit (Luke 4:1) – He told Satan that man does not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. I can keep going but I believe you have gotten the point. Unbeknownst to most wealthy Westerners, bread, or some form of it is a basic commodity of life. Most of the World’s poor can’t afford to slaughter their chickens, cows or goats every day – but they can afford grain to grind into flour to make bread. Which is an interesting concept. As I mentioned in a previous post barley grain is ground into flour by the impoverished to make bread. Barley bread is inferior to bread made from wheat. Wheat then is known as the bread of the wealthy, or more financially stable. Why is all of this significant and how is it connected to the counting of the omer? 

Revelation 3:18 is addressed to the wealthy, self-satisfied, “have no need” Laodiceans. One of the things Jesus counseled them to do was to purchase from Him “salve” to put on their eyes. How was that significant and relevant to the Laodiceans? The Greek word for eye salve is kollurion. Greek was the primary language spoken by the common, average, everyday person. That being understood the Laodiceans knew this word used by John contained a dual meaning. Kollurion could refer to the medicine produced in Laodicea used for treating various vision problems, or it could refer to a roll of bread. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament had this to say: The Greek term kolloúrion carries a fascinating dual meaning rooted in its physical form. The word derives from kollýra, which refers to coarse bread shaped like a cylinder. Jesus’ beatitudes commends those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God. 

How do we apply all of this to making the omer count? Only those who “see” their poverty of Spirit will recognize and hunger for the “bread” that not only feeds them – but heals the way they “see”. Are you poor in the things of the Spirit? Or are you so rich spiritually that you don’t need His Bread? Can you see Jesus? Can you hear His Voice? Can you recognize when He knocks? May I suggest paying the price to get alone with Him for Him to eat with you and you with Him? He really does prepare a table in the midst of your enemy. Are you hungry to hear His Voice? Hungry to see Him? Hungry to hear Him knocking?

Happy Anniversary!

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Psalm 18:6-9 In my distress [when seemingly closed in] I called upon the Lord and cried to my God; He heard my voice out of His temple (heavenly dwelling place), and my cry came before Him, into His [very] ears.7 Then the earth quaked and rocked, the foundations also of the mountains trembled; they moved and were shaken because He was indignant and angry.8 There went up smoke from His nostrils; and lightning out of His mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also and came down; and thick darkness was under His feet.

In this passage, which coincides with Jonah and this month of Elul, God does something amazing: “He bowed the heavens…and came down…” Psalm. 18:9

Jewish rabbis believe that during the season of Elul the King is in the field, and God is considered most accessible, allowing for personal meetings. God is seen as making Himself available to His people in their everyday lives – like a King visiting His subjects in the fields. Unlike other times when God may seem distant or require formal protocols to approach, during Elul, He is considered accessible and approachable. The season of Elul precedes the most momentous of events for Israel – the Giving of the Law. God came down to Israel, and gave them a “ketubah,” or marriage covenant, inviting them under the “chuppah” (hoopah), or wedding canopy of the Cloud of His Glory – to be wedded to Israel, and Israel wedded to God.

In the love story of Boaz and Ruth, Boaz goes out in the field and sees Ruth gleaning at the edges of his field. It is here that she gains his favor and he becomes her Kinsman Redeemer. What’s a kinsman redeemer? The kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who, according to various laws of the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to act on behalf of a relative who was in trouble, danger, or need. The Hebrew term (go el) for kinsman-redeemer designates one who delivers or rescues or redeems property or person. (Got Questions.org)

The season of Elul should be your wedding anniversary with Jesus. This should be a special time of intimacy, and remembering the One Who came down from His Throne to meet you where you were. This should be a special time of gleaning in His field of Intimacy in and through the “Barley”- Grain of His Word. Barley grain was the poor man’s grain that made the poor man’s bread. In Revelation 3:18 Jesus exhorts the wealthy Laodiceans to do something strange: ...and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. What does this mean? Vines Dictionary gives the following definition for the Greek word for eye salve: primarily a diminutive of (the Greek Word) kollura, and denoting “a coarse bread roll”. Coarse bread? Coarse bread is barley bread; the poor man’s bread.

Communication is the key to starting a friendship, nourishing companionship, and developing intimacy. In this season of seeking the Lord how would you rate your intimacy with the Lord? Stranger, Acquaintance, Friend, or Spouse (your wedded to Him). Are you poor in spirit, hungering for more intimacy with Him? Or have you been blind to His coming near? Are you strangers sharing the same house?