In a funny little battle of wills with my wife, who would like to take down all our Christmas decorations the day after Christmas, and myself, who would prefer to keep them up the Twelve Days of Christmas, our outside angel came down today. Our tree made it until the Eleventh day of Christmas this year. It was the only thing left besides the angel until today. My wife is still winning, but I’m gaining a little ground.
Today is January 6th, Epiphany in Christendom, celebrating the arrival of the Magi from the east as recorded in Matthew chapter two. They came to King Herod’s court in Jerusalem, then on to Bethlehem, becoming the first gentiles to have an epiphany — the realization and revelation that Jesus was the promised Messiah, God in human flesh, the prophesied King of the Jews.
I attended a men’s Bible study this morning on the Book of Revelation. Our teacher noted the difference in appearance between angels coming from the presence of God and those fallen angels released for a time from the bottomless pit. That got us thinking about how life-changing it is to behold God.
I immediately thought of the Aaronic blessing, where the LORD told Moses to instruct Aaron, the High Priest, how to bless the sons of Israel. It’s a blessing repeated over believers for more than three thousand five hundred years now. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).
Similar verses came from men in the class. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (I John 3:2 NKJV).
We are told in the Bible that no man can look upon God’s face. “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Exodus 33:20). But we can look upon Jesus, as the Magi did, and start to live differently. Jesus said that’s why He came, to show us the Father.
I also think that every time a believer, with the help of the Holy Spirit, catches a glimpse of God while reading the Bible or by a revelation elsewhere, they become a little more like Him. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (II Corinthians 3:18).
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (II Corinthians 4:17-18).
Happy Epiphany! And may you have many more epiphanies in 2022. Godspeed and Shalom.
Don’t be overly amazed about this. Just experience it. Be willingly led by the Spirit wind as you come to apprehend or hear His leading and come to see what He is doing. Jesus told Nicodemus that he could. And he’s telling you that you can.
It’s not hard! You don’t have to understand it completely. In fact, you won’t! John 3:8 and Proverbs 3:5-6 tell us not to lean on our understanding, rather expect to be moved by the wind of the Spirit. You have to sense it and follow those leadings and impressions. By training your senses through obedience to what you hear, you will improve. It’s a sixth sense, one the world does not experience, but one the believer uses to see into the spiritual realm and bring heaven’s goodness to bear on earth.
You will learn to recognize synchronicities. You will know to pay attention to some dreams and reject others. You will expect visions. You’ll not be surprised when awakened at 3:33 AM anymore. You will get up and journal or meditate in silence and listen to what thoughts come to you. You will listen for what the Spirit might say. Through practice, you can learn to distinguish between your ideas and His thoughts. Through familiarity, you will learn to discern His voice from others, like you recognize the voice of a family member or close friend.
Hindrances to Knowing the Spirit
Does this spiritual exchange of information get to be foolproof? I’d say no, it does not. The Scripture would indicate that dark spirits can operate on these same frequencies or spiritual impressions. The Scriptures record that even “Satan can appear as an angel of light.” So that scares many away from desiring social intercourse with the Holy Spirit. But it shouldn’t. Trust God, He’s more powerful, and He is good. We know this spiritual communication is a fact of life, whether we want to bury our heads in the sand and ignore it or not? You have undoubtedly had bad dreams that disturbed sleep, had no rhyme or reason, and scared you. They seemed disjointed with no discernible message. Do you think those came from God? Yet, we know that dreams can be valid from the Scripture and shared human experience. They may warn us about something or someone. They may give us a glimpse into our destiny or what God intends for our future. We may need the help of interpretation or more dreams, but they don’t scare us, and we don’t forget them when we sense their validity.
Another thing that drives many with a western mindset away from this spiritual communication is the fear of making mistakes. What if I hear incorrectly? What if I hear from a dark spirit or my imagination? Fear of failure and fear of making a mistake robs us of life that might have been ours. Trust God. Get to know Him through His record of interacting with people in the Bible. Then you will know if what you hear sounds like something He would say. But don’t wait until you are a Bible scholar. Remember He also sent a guide, the Holy Spirit. He will help you. He will train you. He will show you the way you are to go. Sometimes it will involve courage. Obedience to what you hear will always require faith and trust. Each obedient action leads to better hearing, more confidence, more trust, more spiritual insight. Initially, the Spirit probably won’t speak to you the same way He spoke to Moses, Elijah, the prophets, the apostles, or Jesus Himself. But He desires to speak and commune with you. It’s both a gift and a learned skill to hear. It’s to your great advantage to listen, obey, and enjoy that relationship of intimacy, seeing, and adventure—godspeed on your journey.
The Joy of Knowing the Spirit
You will come to hear of someone having a word of knowledge and see it for what it is. You won’t be surprised, seeing it as the Holy Spirit wanting to illuminate something or help someone. I know of many examples personally, but not as many as I would like to see and experience.
It only stands to reason that if you know it happens and that it’s a valid expression or communication of the Holy Spirit, you’re going to participate in it by faith. All of the gifts work by faith and leading, by leading and faith, by hearing and obeying. Afterward, the spiritual power flows, and you see it, sense it, and are in awe of it.
There are times you are not aware of it. Only the person receiving your word of encouragement, word of knowledge, or prayer, is affected deeply by it. They may not even show you this outwardly. But inwardly, between them and the Lord, they know and are moved or stunned by what is said, prayed, or laid bare. It will affect their life, if not immediately, in the days to come, as they surrender or come to know the Spirit themselves. God is very understated like that. Expect it often to work this way. Have faith that you delivered the message and trust God with the results. When people sense a message is supernatural or from God, they’re seldom inclined to shoot the messenger. Relax, be humble, be caring, be loving, be gracious, be courageous. “… wisdom is proved right by her deeds” (Matthew 11:19b).
Again, it stands to reason that if you don’t understand how the Holy Spirit works, even a little bit, or haven’t seen Him in action, you’re going to stand by and gawk. You’ll be more in shock and doubt than a willing participant in God’s grace as it’s pouring out.
“…because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high.” Luke 1:78
I have eight examples listed in the journal I’m referencing right now. And I’d love to share them as demonstrations of what I’m talking about because they’re convincing and fun to recount. But I feel the Spirit impressing me not to do so, instead to let my words be few and leave the convincing between Him and you, the reader. He’s reminding me of the Scripture, “Your ears will hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21a).
In a men’s group recently, the discussion about the Holy Spirit was excellent! Most of the guys were open to new truth and revelation as long as it was in the Bible, but having a Baptist background like me, I wondered how it would go? The same could apply to many denominations, as you will note.
“Why,” it was asked, “does the church in the west, or we have trouble with the Holy Spirit?”
Honest answers proffered and discussed included:
Our educational system is Greek modeled, materialistic, and further influenced by the French Enlightenment, stressing the intellect and neglecting or rejecting the Spirit.
Our churches are affected and infected and have not understood nor taught what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is mystical and mysterious, so He’s not easy to know if you have the mindset mentioned in 1. and 2. above.
Because of excesses seen or reported, we’ve been skeptical of those sects or denominations who claim to have experienced the Holy Spirit. Some have acted like they have some corner on Him, or have Him in their box, so we’ve rejected them and their teaching, likely throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Why are our eyes and minds closed? Don’t we love the truth? Are we that afraid of error? Why wouldn’t we trust God our Father to lead us into all truth? One of the most important truths is that we can have and should have a relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual blindness is more rampant, embedded, and systemic in our lives and churches than we have thought! This omitted teaching and missing experiential relationship with the Holy Spirit is one area that demonstrates that fact. One member of our group just finished reading “The Heavenly Man.” It’s about Brother Yun, a leader of the underground church in China, who the Spirit constantly led. My friend brings it up often, and I can tell the book has changed his thinking about the place of the Holy Spirit in the church and his personal life.
In Isaiah chapter six, we find another clue why we in the community of believers haven’t known the truth about the Holy Spirit and are consequentially spiritually dull. The Lord is understated and doesn’t appear to those disinterested, but usually to those who are humble or desperate and hungry to know Him. Grace is free, but it is not cheap. Grace is costly, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer told the modern church in “The Cost of Discipleship.” He found the German church in his day asleep and deceived, like the Jewish nation of Isaiah’s day. The Lord told Isaiah to speak to the people whatever he heard from the Lord, but also told him the people would not hear, by and large. They had grown dull of hearing because of idolatry and the lack of intimacy.
Jesus on The Holy Spirit
What did Jesus have to say about the Holy Spirit? “Much!” is the answer. I’ll point out a few things for brevity. Let it serve as a springboard to do your research and study. It’s easy to see that the Holy Spirit was a significant focus for Jesus and an essential part of his plan for us.
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7 ESV).
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 ESV).
Paul on the Holy Spirit
The Apostle Paul had much to say and demonstrate about the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19, Paul going to Ephesus met a group of believers outside of town and asked them a meaningful, telling question.
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2 ESV). Doesn’t that describe or define the church in the West? In America? In our city? We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit, it seems.
At least we act like it. While we do experience the Holy Spirit from time to time, it seems we do so without being aware. It appears we are wired by God for 220 volts and are living on AA batteries.
There isn’t awareness. There isn’t the practice. There isn’t the experience. There isn’t the hunger. Biblical teaching on the Holy Spirit as an abiding part of our lives doesn’t exist in many churches. The Bible teaches that God sent the Holy Spirit in Christ’s name to dwell with us and in us, to be our Helper. Is He a part of your reality?
The Acts 19 account goes on to say there were about twelve men involved. That’s not a significant number. God is not into big numbers, apparently. I wonder what kind of wonders these twelve accomplished after that experience and for the rest of their lives? Later in the same chapter, we read, “God was performing extra ordinary miracles by the hand of Paul” (Acts 19:9 ESV). Paul continually said it was the Holy Spirit working through him.
We Should Know the Spirit
Back to our reality, the Holy Spirit goes about his work of refining us, convicting us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He is molding us into the image of Christ, to be his friends and his bride, the church, the “ecclesia?” the called-out ones. But it seems there is so much more available from Him for us and through us if we understand the working of the Spirit.
John chapter 3 is telling and instructive about the role of the Holy Spirit. Jesus talks to Nicodemus, “The Teacher of Israel,” a man schooled and skilled in the Bible, and tells Nicodemus there is more. Someone has said, “God did not leave us just a map. He left us a guide.” The map is the Bible, and the guide is the Holy Spirit. Scripture completely supports this convergence.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6 ESV). “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8 ESV).
Sundown this evening begins Rosh Hashanah 2021 or 5782 on the Hebrew calendar, the new year. It also begins the Feast of Trumpets, ten days called “The Days of Awe,” “Days of Repentance,” days of restoration of relationships.
According to Wikipedia, traditionally Rosh Hashanah is the “anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman according to the Hebrew Bible, and the inauguration of humanity’s role in God’s world.”
There is only one commandment regarding Rosh Hashanah, “Blow the shofar.” “The sound of the trumpet lets us know something is happening — something wonderful. It is an invitation to once again give our attention to the Lord and usher in His presence.” (268chruch.org)
Also the year 5782 is right on the threshold of the 6000 year mark the ancient Jewish sages and early church fathers thought would end man’s rule in the earth and usher in the 1000 year reign of the Messiah, King of the Jews. “Lactanius wrote: As there has been 2000 years from Adam to Abraham, and 2000 years from Abraham to Christ, so there will be 2000 years for the Christian Era and then would come the Millennium (the remaining 1000 year reign of Christ on earth)!” 2 Peter 3:8 CEV (thenational.com)
If the date of Jesus crucifixion was April 3, 33 AD, as I’ve come to believe after researching the matter,(some hold to an earlier date), then add 2000 years and you get 2033 as a possible starting time frame for the Millennium, probably in the fall, if the Feasts of Israel are God’s prophetic time piece as many suppose, around the Feast of Trumpets. Subtract 7 years for the seventieth week of Daniel or the great tribulation and you get 2026. Thus the rapture of the church could come at anytime prior or during these years according to many prophecy and eschatology scholars of the Bible. At any rate, 2000 years since Christ appearing is coming quickly!
Take up your trumpet! And blow it. Sound out the message of truth. Sound out the alarm.
When you hear the trumpet, react, awaken, repent, draw near, and welcome your King! He is coming. He is near…
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” I Tim 1:17 NIV
Good morning! As I arise at the cabin before sun up and see the breaking of dawn on the horizon, I am reminded that God is faithful — the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. It’s in Him I put my trust, and not in any man or political system.
That said, He has ordained and given us our unique political system and government for His purposes and to serve us. Today is an important day in which we get to select our leader for the next four years. Please exercise your constitutional privilege, your civic duty and VOTE!
Yesterday’s blog mentioned two things that seem to be at the forefront of this election for Christians; platform and character. Both are important, but in this election I said the platform or issues loomed much larger than character, and I spoke to the issues. They are so starkly different that any Christian should see that to vote one way is to choose secular humanism or man’s rule in the totality of life, and to vote the other way would be to choose God, His ways and His rule in our national life.
CHARACTER
But I said I would address the character issue and I will. First I will give you my short, simple version. Then quickly I will defer to an article a friend sent me yesterday by Wayne Grudem who discusses the same issue. I consider Wayne Grudem one of the best theologians and Bible scholars alive today. And he certainly hits this nail on the head, discussing the character issue in depth.
DWAYNE’S THOUGHTS
That we should be voting today between two men with low morals, according to the media and the campaign ads, says more about our country and ourselves, than it does about the candidates perhaps. So I would suggest a look inward, and upward, asking the Divine for help in righting our moral ship with His Trustworthy Compass.
But decide we must.
If one is in the business of throwing stones, both candidates loom large as targets. And their lives have been put under a media microscope, perhaps one more than the other. The critics of one point to pride and past sexual misconduct. The critics of the other point to bribes and corruption evidence, as well as someone who frequently says one thing and does another, or changes what he says about an issue depending on the audience .
I’m going to give my nod to President Trump as having the best character of the two. A man who has done what he said he would do when he ran four years ago and since he took office. Speaking the truth, and keeping your word to me are very important signs of underlying character.
And again, God is the ultimate judge of character and actions, not me, not you. We just have to look at our options and vote.
WAYNE’S THOUGHTS
Wayne Grudem’s thoughts are through, well thought out, and conveyed, typical of writers, scholars, and theologians. I’m only going to quote a few thoughts here that seem the most apropos to the issue and provide you the link. He writes (Bolding mine.):
“A candidate’s character and policies are both important to consider before voting. And I would agree that there are some character flaws so serious that they would by themselves disqualify a candidate (such as an avowed racist). But in most elections, and with most candidates, we have to choose between two rather ordinary human beings, both of whom have flaws. In that case, an evaluation of their policies becomes decisive. And that is the case in this election.”
“Here is the point at which people will make different political judgments, because human beings are extremely complex, and therefore an accurate assessment of a person’s character is difficult. It certainly should not be done quickly on the basis of small snippets of information. And complicating the task is the fact that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:20), so every human being has flaws that others can criticize.
Piper speaks of Trump’s character in entirely negative terms. Because of unbelievably hostile reporting in the mainstream press, other people can see no good character traits at all in President Trump. My assessment is different, and I think it is more balanced. I wrote this in 2016 and it still applies:
“’He is egotistical, bombastic, and brash. He often lacks nuance in his statements. Sometimes he blurts out mistaken ideas…that he later must abandon. He insults people. He can be vindictive when people attack him…He has been married three times and claims to have been unfaithful in his marriages. These are certainly flaws, but I don’t think they are disqualifying flaws in this election.’”
“On the other hand, I think some of the accusations hurled against him are unjustified. His many years of business conduct show that he is not racist or anti-(legal) immigrant or anti-Semitic or misogynistic – I think these are unjust magnifications by a hostile press exaggerating some careless statements he has made. I think he is deeply patriotic and sincerely wants the best for the country. He has been an unusually successful problem solver in business. He has raised remarkable children. Many who have known him personally speak highly of his kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity.”
“And now, after his nearly four years in office, I would add that he has shown remarkable courage of his convictions, faithfulness to his campaign promises, steadfastness of purpose in spite of an astoundingly hostile press, incredible energy in the performance of his job, dignity and even eloquence in many formal speeches and ceremonies at home and abroad, respect and appreciation for his wife Melania and his sons and daughters, and a wide-ranging understanding of the hundreds of different issues that every president faces. In contrast to his past life, during his term in office there is not been even a hint of any sexual impropriety. He is sometimes boastful but on a number of occasions I have seen him publicly give credit to many other people for things that have been accomplished. And I think he has shown mature and wise judgment in a variety of situations that he has faced as president.”
“With Trump, we will get good policies and character flaws, but with Biden we will get bad policies and character flaws.”
“It is easy to compare President Trump with a hypothetical “perfect” president and to conclude that he falls short, but that is not our choice. If Trump is not reelected, we will have President Biden, with an entirely different set of character flaws. The multiple allegations that Vice President Biden used his government office and influence to enrich members of his own family with millions of dollars from China, Russia, and Ukraine should be of deep concern, because using government power to enrich one’s own family is the consistent characteristic of corrupt leaders in many countries of the world.”
And lastly:
“The Trump administration has brought to prominence many leaders with exemplary lives.”
“Donald Trump is not the only person we are voting for. It is remarkable that the Trump administration has elevated so many self-professing evangelical Christians – far more than any in my lifetime – into positions of high influence in our government. They also provide role models for Americans. To vote for Trump as president is also to vote for Mike Pence as vice president, Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget, and numerous others. In addition, Trump has appointed numerous deeply committed Roman Catholics to various positions, the most recent being Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. The character of these leaders is also a role model for the nation.”
I hope you have found this discussion helpful. And that you will vote… wisely. For your own well being, as well as that of our children, and our grandchildren. America is in a moral free fall it seems, the kind that has produced collapse and judgment in the past, and this election will not fix that problem. Only the God that gave us life, and this nation birth, can do that. And He’s willing to help. But the outcome of this election will be a big step in one direction or the other. In letting Him know what we want. And showing us what we’re asking for?
May God give you wisdom, and peace, as you consider the options, and VOTE!
“Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.” I Kings 8:61
“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;”Col 4:2
“This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.” I Cor 7:35
Of course this isn’t to be my final Hallelujah, as far as I know; but my final thoughts after a week of reflection, study, and mediation on the poem and melody of Leonard Cohen entitled simply and profoundly, Hallelujah.
Of note to me, the song is going round and round in my head in this Christmas season 2019. I’m not sure why? But it gives me joy, peace, pause, and wonder.
I’ll share with you the best article I’ve found about the song, a 2015 Newsweek article by Zach Schonfeld. It’s insightful though written primarily about the song’s musical attributes and its popularity, from a secular point of view.
Schonfeld notes, “The album on which it appeared, the murky, mid-career Various Positions, had been rejected wholesale by Columbia Records in the U.S., and when it finally was released, “the song was still generally ignored,” as Alan Light notes in his 2012 book The Holy or The Broken.“
The Holy or the Broken? That’s an insightful title for a book about the song. It’s also telling that the album on which it first appeared was entitled “Various Positions” isn’t it? Since he’s Jewish, to begin with, and the song, albeit quite short, addresses simply and profoundly the issues of God, the Bible, human sexuality, the philosophy of life and one’s earth journey, admissions of struggle and failures, and yet seems to somehow point to God as the answer from start to finish. Purposely it would seem, and honestly, in a mysterious and understated way. And people definitely have “various positions” on these issues— he did apparently.
Light would go on to say, “John Cale and Jeff Buckley, then dozens and hundreds of others lifted the song out of obscurity” but it is “something more mysterious that cemented its status as a modern standard, appearing on American Idol and in synagogue services in equal measure. It has become ubiquitous. Tallying versions by Cohen and plenty of others, Light estimates “Hallelujah” has been listened to hundreds of millions of times on YouTube alone.”
The Newsweek article goes on to list “60 notable recordings of it that are readily available online and ranking them from worst to best.” 🙂 Feel free. For our purposes here I’m going to list and link my two favorites at the bottom, then one in Cohen’s own voice, as well as the lyrics he settled on and a few quotes that reflect on the man.
Etymology of Hallelujah
It doesn’t seem right to leave the song without a good look at the meaning of its famous title and course. It’s a Hebrew word lifted directly from that ancient language and dropped into English, simply transliterated as “praise the LORD.”
Wikipedia adds, “In the Hebrew Bible hallelujah is actually a two-word phrase, not one word. The first part, hallelu, is the second-person imperative masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb hillel. However, “hallelujah” means more than simply “praise Jah” or “praise Yah”, as the word hallel in Hebrew means a joyous praise in song, to boast in God.”
“In Psalm 148:1 the Hebrew says “הללו יה halelu yah”. It then says “halelu eth-YHWH” as if using “yah” and “YHWH” interchangeably. The word “Yah” appears by itself as a divine name in poetry about 49 times in the Hebrew Bible (including halelu yah), such as in Psalm 68:4–5 “who rides upon the skies by his name Yah” and Exodus 15:2 “Yah is my strength and song”. It also often appears at the end of Israelite theophoric names such as Isaiah “yeshayah(u), Yahweh is salvation” and Jeremiah “yirmeyah(u), Yahweh is exalted”. The word hallelujah occurring in the Psalms is therefore a request for a congregation to join in praise toward God. It can be translated as “Praise Yah” or “Praise Jah, you people”.
With Cohen’s Hebrew roots and his love for poetry, there can be no doubt the word was well understood and meaningfully used with sincere intentionality. When it’s sung and heard, it seems all creation and the Creator pause with a heart smile to take note. The best is yet to be.
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6)
Oddly, the summary I’m going to share is from the notes I wrote in one sitting after reading the lyrics before beginning all the meditation.
Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen is: A hauntingly beautiful melody Introducing A true confession. A humble confession. To all mankind From a fellow, broken pilgrim About a hidden God.
Whose love is an
Open Secret.
Too holy and too precious to
Be passed flippantly around.
But for the hungry, humble heart
There to be found.
All of this
Given by the God of Grace
To His broken vessel.
It’s the only kind He has. …But he who falls on this Rock Will be broken. (Matt 21:44)
Cohen seemed to struggle by himself… To know the Maker, Creator, Sustainer of All.
All the verses from Cohen’s Cutting room floor (80 or more) Would bear this out.
A struggle largely unfulfilled But grasped at To find the One Who Put eternity in our hearts.
Love is not a victory march,
Rather it’s hard fought.
Perhaps a priest at the end?
A Cohen at last?
Like Sampson fulfilling the purposes Of God for his life, After a mighty struggle marked with Many failings.
His song leaves us to decide if it is a Holy or Broken Hallelujah? And also to ponder the difference .
With a victorious note at the end He acknowledges the futility of Being one’s own king.
The many heartbreaks, disillusions, And disappointments of a life Without faith.
Yet one senses at the end A possible “Return of the Prodigal” (Luke 15:11) Or at least an acknowledgment Of a glimmer of faith In the Father, the Name, the beautiful Light —
Then a summary of the priest’s life comes in the last verse, along with his final confession. You may ask, “Why did you call Cohen a priest?”
The name Cohen in Hebrew denotes a priest. To be a priest may have been a call on his life or his job description from the Lord? His destiny? To make God known to the people and to pronounce forgiveness, restoring relationships between God and men. It is a high calling.
Yet the calling is not that different from that of David or Sampson or any of us. To know God and make him known, in the time and place God plants us. (Acts 17:22-32)
All He requests from us is an invitation to let him tabernacle within us. (Revelation 3:20 and Isaiah 66:1-2) To be His image bearers again and anew. Then we have this treasure in earthen vessels. (II Cor 4:7) And let him be the light that dwells in us and shines through the brokenness of our lives, bringing healing to us and all who behold it.
As someone has accurately said, “No one can go back and make a new start my friend. But anyone can start from now, and make a brand new end.”
Whether Cohen made a brand new start or came to know the Light or made peace with the Light is unknown. That is a mystery known only to God, like so many others. But the summary of his life in his song and his final confession in verse four gives me hope that he did.
It’s a humble confession and one that finishes strong!
“I did my best, it wasn’t much. I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch. I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you. And even though it all went wrong, I’ll stand before the Lord of Song, with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah.”
It’s almost as if he said, “I tried to live life on my own and figure out God on my own. I wasn’t successful, and I’ve told you as much. In fact I failed and it all went wrong.”
Then there is the blazing, strong confession at the end. Sort of like Job’s confession when he said, “I know that my Redeemer lives and He will stand at last on the earth.” (Job 19:25-27) Cohen says. “I’ll stand before the Lord of Song.” There will be a reckoning with the Almighty which he gently, and beautifully addresses as “the Lord of Song,” since he is a musician, but one senses he knows Him to be Lord of All.
“With nothing on my tongue but hallelujah.”
“God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.” (Ecc 5:2)
Then follows the ending, the gentle, powerful refrain; not twice this time but four times, followed by a single, “Hallelujah”—“Glory to the Lord,” as Cohen defined it.”
My dad was a wildlife officer for forty years, also an accomplished hunter, naturalist, outdoorsman, trapper, and explorer. He was at home in the woods, and the deeper the better. If he came across a wet sandy spot, a mud hole, or any watering hole; he could tell you every animal that had been by the place and about how long ago.
I’m at home in the spiritual woods and feel with some degree of accuracy I can see someone’s spiritual tracks and identify them. Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruit.” And Solomon said, “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters, but a man of understanding will draw them out.”
Leonard Cohen’s spiritual foot prints are complex and a little confusing, but telling.
As many people find his song depressing as find it hopeful. Many wonder how these words could have been written by a man of faith, yet with such admitted failure and questionable fruit in his life. Many see echoes of the thief on the cross, and an epiphany in his life.
It’s plain to any biblically-knowledgeable person, Cohen knew his Bible and had perhaps seen some deeper things about the Lord; as well as the end of life for every human being.
The Preacher says, “God has placed eternity in the human heart.”
Leonard Cohen gave voice and words to that reality. And it’s a voice and reality we humans recognize, whether we understand it or not.
It’s baffling to some and beautiful to others. It’s a mystery, like something God would do or say — a parable of Jesus or an instruction from the throne of God to the prophet Isaiah as recorded in Isaiah chapter 6.
The fact that Cohen recognized that about God and wrote like this is telling within itself. It’s evidence that he knew something of the understated ways and purposes of God.
Most telling for me is that at the end, he seems to throw himself, all that he is, on the mercy of God. And that my friend is the only safe and worthwhile place to throw oneself.
“I beseech you…by the mercies of God” writes Paul the first century Jew and Christian.
Covering the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle of Israel, there rested the all important “mercy seat “over the law, the manna and the rod of Aaron that budded. The very presence of God with man. Emmanuel.
Yes, Leonard Cohen’s life is a mystery of sorts, especially his spirituality and standing before God. It is. Maybe it is so for a reason. His life is like his song.
But I sense strongly that God loved Leonard Cohen, even has he ran away from Him. And journeyed far away from Him. In His merciful and all-seeing eyes He found something good in Cohen’s heart towards God.
God gifted him with this melody, I believe, and helped him pen these words. A modern parable of the kingdom of God perhaps. Something a priest can tell the people who want to know, about God. Millions and millions of people. Let him who has ears to hear, hear.
Thank you Leonard Cohen for painting your real life picture in song, a picture of us all, before God. Perhaps the strongest picture since Jesus painted with words the prodigal son and the incredible father in the trilogy of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coins, and the Lost Son. (Luke 15)
