Waves in Scripture

It is really remarkable how God's character shines through in everything, from His creation to His word. He is completely consistant, being Alpha and Omega, meaning He is the same now as He was and as He will be. This is reflected in so much, but just recently I've been seeing how His character is reflected in waves. He created waves in nature, designated how they should behave, and it is a reflection of His Word.

There are many different kinds of waves in nature, and I've seen many different kinds of periodic similarities throughout scripture that resonate in different ways. Take, for example, most messianic prophesy. I see it as a kind of sine/cosine wave combination where the fulfillment is measured not by amplitude but by time. Many of the prophesies were fulfilled partially in David. It's really remarkable that most of the prophesy in the Bible seems to have a short term partial fulfillment and a long term complete fulfillment. How I picture it in my head is that you have a dashed cosine wave, just slightly offset from the sine wave, which is solid and cresting further in the future than the cosine. Like the Sabbath, the cosine is a shadow of what is to come. David was a shadow of the ultimate King of Israel and the world, Jesus Christ. He fulfilled some things, Christ fulfilled them all. Just as Revelation was partially fulfilled in Nero's time, yet will be completely fulfilled in due time.

Then there's also the ripple effect, like when you throw a stone in a pond. With original sin, it was like that stone striking the water, causing a spike as the water compressed into the void with great force. The impact of sin entering into a perfect world was enormous, and the ramifications, such as Kain killing Abel, were huge at the time. As you go through the Bible, though, further and further...I don't want to say sin becomes more acceptable, but rather the consequences here on Earth in scripture become less severe in the immediate. When Kain sinned, he was exiled immediately, no questions asked (figuratively speaking). Yet, in First Samuel 15, when Saul acts against God's commands and then categorically denies any wrong doing until Samuel gets right in his face, at which point Saul gives a very unrepentant apology, God did take back Saul's anointing as King of Israel, but waited years to replace him. At the same time, you have the reverse, where the ripple starts out long and slow, and culminates into a huge impact on the world, such as with Christ. There are so many events throughout the Old Testament (and New, I expect, though I'm still torn on how to interpret Revelation due to the reason so many Jews didn't except Christ when He came -- they had an expectation, and when God's actions didn't meet that expectation, they continued to persevere in their false expectation rather than conform and recognize God's Truth) that foreshadowed Christ's triumph. They started slowly, with things like the snake on the staff with Moses, or God's proclamation to Satan about Eve's heel, but as the time got nearer and nearer, the ripples got higher and closer together, with Isaiah and Daniel as examples.

Finally, there's the recurring themes throughout scripture. Generally the same story where the names and faces were changed to help the guilty. In the Hebrew language, there is an interesting way of emphasizing something. When you really want to drill home a point, you repeat the word. We still do it today, but not in the same way. It is along the lines of saying, "truly truly I say to you" (Aramaic, but still...), or if with Isaiah 6 containing the only point in all of scripture where a word is repeated 3 times ("holy holy holy is the Lord Almighty"). Like the language, God's Word has recurring themes that have just the same impact and happen over and over, as periodic sine waves, drilling home the point again and again. What's really interesting is the different reactions the players have and the result. For example, we had Saul going against God's command for him, Samuel confronting him, and Saul not being repentant. Later we have the next king of Israel, David, doing awful things to Uriah and Bathsheba, killing him and stealing her driven by lust. David here knew God's command (adultery is bad) just as Saul did, yet David did it anyway. Then came Nathan to rebuke David for his actions (speaking in a parable, which is another example). Unlike Saul, David was crushed by his own actions. Though he didn't do what he said should be done to the person in God's (through Nathan) parable, he truly was sorry for what he did. Another interesting parallel out of this is that Christ's ancestry included Solomon, David and Bathsheba's second son. Yet another example of God's grace and true forgiveness of sin, leaving the past behind (though there are still worldly consequences for our sin even after we have been forgiven by God) and bringing good from bad.

Thank you for writing this.

Funny how we often think we are much different from biblical people...

::I look around::

"yup not much changed."

"Nothing new under the sun."

I dislike the everyday drama... Because I think to myself. "This has been done before! bahhh! I know how this is going to end!" -hehe

I love the beach and as a child you could not get me out of the ocean. Your comparison to waves I can really relate to. Everything in nature has a palse.. a wave. Like your actions or lack of actions start a effect that will ripple through time...

"You never get away with anything."

Thank God for forgiveness.

I like that you foreshadowed Jesus the Christ as the fulfillment of the laws. That is what the old testament is showing humanity. "Their, my, yours" need for a savor.

Thank you, if anyone has read this far. I know I jumped around like a rock skipping across a pond.

"What you do and do not do matters."

Love one another.

I'm glad you enjoyed it It was actually last week that a friend told me about this concept after I had mentioned that learning more about quantum physics really reinforces my faith in God. I started to do research into the theory because the concept fascinated me, and it's transformed how I perceive scripture in a way. I had looked at messianic prophesy in this way, but never really the rest of scripture.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, seeing God's fingerprints all over everything in existence is remarkable! If you think science and religion are mutually exclusive, you've been blinded either to God's character or His creation.

Great post, Jake! I totally agree--although most traditional denominations like to say 'pantheism' is 'wrong'--how can God be ALL and not be literally ALL?

When we choose to see something as evil--it is our eye that is evil, not that which we gaze upon.

Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
(Matthew 20:15)

And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
(Mark 7:20-23)

And then, years later, Paul writes:

Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
(Titus 1:15-16)

It's not what we say, it's what we do.

And so it is not what we 'see' that defines God--it is what we 'see' that judges us on His behalf.

God is a wave, like you say--His very Spirit and Mind permeate every proton and wave that is our environment--both seen and unseen. He is the Energy--we see the 'work' and then judge the 'heat' in various ways. But that judgment is false--we are all part of just ONE thing. All of us.

Whose side are we on? Well, truly, beloveds, there is only ONE side--we must step back and see the 'coin' for what it is.

1 (on earth) + 1 (in heaven) = One (house)

I think you misunderstood my point, QueenAnnie. It wasn't to say that God was a wave, or even that waves alone dominate every element of scripture, either. As I noted, while common themes come up through scripture, the responses of those individuals to God tend to be dramatically different, as does God's reaction to them.

Nothing we say, see, or do defines God in any way; God is already defined. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end. He is unchanging, He is "I AM". He doesn't change based on how we see Him, He is always constant. He is not a wave, because waves fluctuate, whereas God never does. He has created us. Nor is His judgment based on our perception. He is constant, He is just, He is lawful. He has defined the rules. We try to change them to fit what we want to do or believe, but our changing the rules doesn't mean God's going to cater to our pride. He never does, He despises pride. Who are we to tell God what He can and cannot do? Who are we to tell our creator, the one who allows us to take our very next breath, how He should judge us? Does a court of law not hold you to the law because you explain to the judge that you see the law differently? Surely not, and God operates the same way.

There are two sides in this battle. There is God's side who desires for us to do His will for both our benefit and to glorify the master of the universe, but then there is Satan's side, trying to lead us astray and detract from that glory due to God. It is the enemy, Satan, who wants to corrupt us and turn us away from God. If this wasn't the case, what was Jesus doing in the desert right before He began His public ministry?

Originally posted by junglejake
I think you misunderstood my point, QueenAnnie. It wasn't to say that God was a wave, or even that waves alone dominate every element of scripture, either.

I didn't say that you did, Jake. I was merely adding my own reflections on what you said--not trying to redefine your words. And I said, from my own POV, that GOD is ALL.

Nothing we say, see, or do defines God in any way; God is already defined.

My God isn't defined--can't be defined. God is not in a box.

He has defined the rules. We try to change them to fit what we want to do or believe, but our changing the rules doesn't mean God's going to cater to our pride. He never does, He despises pride.

He turns pride into humility--and that is how His work is done in the world. He's got ONE rule: hearken to His voice.

Who are we to tell God what He can and cannot do? Who are we to tell our creator, the one who allows us to take our very next breath, how He should judge us?

Ask yourself that, not me. That's something I've been through, time and time again.

Does a court of law not hold you to the law because you explain to the judge that you see the law differently? Surely not, and God operates the same way.

That is legalism. God is not legalistic. He is merciful and long-suffering--patience and loving-kindness brings us to repentance. Eventually all of us.

There are two sides in this battle. There is God's side who desires for us to do His will for both our benefit and to glorify the master of the universe, but then there is Satan's side, trying to lead us astray and detract from that glory due to God.

No, that is your pride. Human pride. Temptation doesn't = transgression. Missing the mark is transgression.

It is the enemy, Satan, who wants to corrupt us and turn us away from God.

Who is God's enemy? Man is God's enemy, not Satan. Romans ch 5.

If this wasn't the case, what was Jesus doing in the desert right before He began His public ministry?

Studying to show himself approved--being strengthened in heart by God--learning to discern good from evil--he was in the furnace of affliction.

The world is Christ's--always has been, from the start. He came into it as the first anointed to suffer, not to reign. But being a fleshly being automatically brings pride of life and mortal fear. Even at the end, He feared a gruesome death. He sweated blood. But he overcame temptation--the temptation to avoid the death and proceed to the throne. He could have--but He chose to submit to the plan--for the world's sake, not His own. His satan was his, and it was an inward battle.

Have you not fought this battle, yet, Jake? It is armageddon. I have been satan in my wilderness--for 30 years! I've only just overcome (at least damn near, because I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know the face of my enemy) my inner duality. Unity is the only absolute truth, Jake--taking sides is not the end of the journey--its just the start. Of course, you can just skip the furnace, too--free will is ours to sacrifice to our King. But it's more rewarding, in this case, to be a slave. A slave owned by Christ--because He owns the world.