´¯`•. December 23, 2004

God and Patterns

– why I believe He works in cycles

I’m no Bible scholar.  I do a lot of studying of scripture, and I find a lot of things interesting, but asking questions and actually having the training to decipher the Bible are two different things.  ((Although I must admit that, looking at what comes out of seminaries – I’m not sure I haven’t got the upper hand.  There are some STOOPID theologians today.))  But a while ago my pastor said that God doesn’t work in cycles.  And I balked outright.  I couldn’t BELIEVE he would say such a thing.  Because the patterns, the circles start in Genesis and go all the way thru the Bible.

The Adam/Jesus Cycle.  I don’t have space to talk about everything, but let’s look at a few examples.  Adam was the first man.  He was originally perfect.  He blew it, and because of his oops, sin became the demise of mankind.  Through Adam’s choice, all men came to be sinful.  Since God is holy and perfect and cannot stand sin, He had to provide a way for man to return to that sinless state.  He could’ve created another tree – the Tree of Absolution or something.  He could’ve given us an obstacle course, and those who jump through the hoops get to be washed of their iniquities.  But not God – He uses cycles and patterns.  To break the Adam cycle, He simply repeats the process, substituting His Son.  Just as through Adam’s choice all men came to be sinful, Jesus came and – through His choice – all men can be redeemed from that sinful state.  There’s a fascinating chapter about this in the Bible – Romans 5… it’s tough reading, but it’s awesome and it spells out exactly this pattern.  ((Romans is often called the most difficult theology in scripture to grasp, but it’s also the richest.))  Well worth the look.

The Cycle of the End.   Noah lived 1000 or so years after Adam.  By the time Noah’s generation came around, God declared that they were about as wicked as people could get (which is amazing, because it’s been several thousand years since then, and we’re still working on getting worse).  God chose to destroy the earth.  He sent the flood waters.  ((Which, IMO, consisted of a water layer within the earth and a water layer around the earth – which would explain the splitting of the continents/plates, as well as the longevity of people because of the protective layer around the planet.  But that’s neither here nor there…))  God unleashed His power thru natural disaster, and wiped out all of mankind, excepting Noah and his family.

The Bible promises that God will destroy mankind again.  And He’s not limited in His means – He could snap His fingers and we’d be gone.  He could send angels and cover the earth in ‘goodness’, like thousands of TinkerBells out of Neverland.  But not God – He uses cycles and patterns.  The Bible is clear in what will happen… He will take the redeemed out seven years before, leaving the wicked to themselves, and after that, He will unleash His power thru natural disaster (although in this case it will include drought, because of His promise not to destroy the earth with water).  See the pattern?

The Cycle of the Feast.  Waaaaaayyyyyy back in Leviticus 23, God gave (thru Moses), appointed feasts.  In the NT, (Colossians 2:16-17, to be exact) it says that these feasts were a ‘shadow of things to come’.  Meaning that God had a plan, but He wanted His people to be aware of His plan.  It isn’t a secret.  The Bible is clear that His own will know what’s going down at all times.  So He gave us seven feasts.  Each feast has things His people were commanded to do that were symbolic of what was going to *actually* happen in the future.  Take the first feast – Passover – for example.  The people were to slay a pure and spotless white lamb, cover the doorway of their home with it’s blood, and remain inside, within it’s protection, so that death could not get them.  They would eat and drink and pray and worship, and they would leave a place at their table for the coming Elijah who would make ready the way for the Messiah.

In 33(ish)AD, Jesus Christ, the pure and spotless ‘Lamb of God’ was slain ON PASSOVER.  The purpose?  That all that ‘cover’ their sinful hearts with His blood and stay within it’s protection will have eternal life.  They eat and drink and pray and worship within His atonement.  And 30 years before that cycle was completed by Jesus?  John the Baptist – the one coming to herald the Messiah – the one Jesus called ‘the Spirit of Elijah’ – was born, quite possibly ON PASSOVER.  ((I also have a hunch the two witnesses will appear ON PASSOVER, since that’s another coming of Elijah, but we’ll just have to wait and see.))

And that’s just one of SEVEN feasts… the four that have been fulfilled so far have been fulfilled TO THE DAY.  ((and actually, if you believe that Jesus was born on Sukkot, then there’s another partial fulfillment, yet to be completed.))  Which is why I’m so ADAMANT about people learning about the feasts, the Jewish traditions, the purposes for the symbolism behind them.  Because God works in patterns, in cycles, and this is another prime example of that!

I could go on and on about this.  Nimrod/Christ is another example.  Antiochus/Anti-Christ is another pattern/cycle.  The Seven Churches/Church Ages are another example.  There are more than I have room to get into, and these are just the biggies.  No kidding.  I’m constantly saying that God is a God of order, but seriously, if you read the Bible, the patterns are there.  The cycles are glaringly obvious.  And it’s true.

If this isn’t reason to KNOW your Bible – to KNOW the Truth, KNOW the future, KNOW God’s plan, then I don’t know what is.  And to say that God doesn’t have a pattern, doesn’t work thru cycles, has no rhyme or reason… that’s to outright lie.  And to lead people into complacency.  Face it, if someone told you there was nothing to Pachabel’s Cannon in D but slow, boring music, you’d turn it off.  But if someone told you it was a short theme, and each repetition/cycle after that was a variation on the original pattern, if you realized that each time a layer was added to it… wouldn’t that make you listen twice, pique your interest, make it richer and more meaningful?  Do you see what I mean?

The Bible is like that.  That’s why I can’t get enough of it.  That’s why I encourage you to look again.  See the patterns.  Watch the cycles.  Find it richer and more meaningful.  Because it’s sooo worth it!!!

Posted by annamatrix on December 23, 2004

https://annamatrix.wordpress.com/2004/12/23/3825/