This transcript and audio recording initiates a series that opens Uranda's meditations and explorations on the Shekinah Fire;
during this Class session, on the morning of June 14th, Uranda spoke about the Shekinah Pattern for the first time.
As we begin another hour of meditation let us have a moment of devotion. Our gracious LORD and KING, we thank Thee for the multitude of Thy blessings made manifest; for the holy privilege we have of yielding to the spirit of Thy Presence, and letting the patterns of Life be molded and shaped to the Divine Design, that we may truly share in letting Thy Kingdom come; that we may behold in the lives of others around us, and in our environments and circumstances, the evidence that Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory forever. In the Christ. Aumen.
In our hour of meditation last evening we read Psalm 107 and concluded with the 24th Psalm recognizing the way in which the LORD accomplishes great things in the lives of those who recognize the goodness of our God and who appreciate the fact that his mercy endureth forever. “O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.” And in this pattern we see how, in the Divine outworking, he gathers his children from the east and from the west from the north and the south and delivers them from the hand of the enemy, and brings them into a land, a place of habitation, a realm of living. And we recall that our Master taught men to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” We have recognized this Divine expression from the lips of our Master many many times, and yet it seems to me that we can, this morning, by meditation and yielding to the spirit of our LORD and KING, enter into a still deeper realization of the significance of these words in relationship to ourselves.
There are the more or less crystallized patterns in the world around us which to some degree, to some extent, we share. There are those things which human beings deem to be essential to themselves or to their comforts, desirable, pleasing, to which they tend to cling. As we meditate on this point we are reminded once again of that which the LORD expressed shortly before the flood, when the Great Ark was in process of preparation; for the LORD recognized that the imagination of men's hearts was only evil continually, and with the then-known civilization in danger from the vibratory results of man's own ill actions—for we must remember that the LORD did not produce the flood that brought such havoc and destruction to the world; man produced that flood—the LORD found a certain man and his family, as we recall the story, who were willing to disregard the patterns and circumstances, ideas and concepts, the crystallizations of that day. And in a place where there was only dry land, no sea nearby, this man began to establish an outer form that seemed to onlookers to be utterly incongruous, and the incongruities of the circumstance caused them to mock this man; for he was spending his time, his money, his energy, building an ark on the dry land in a position where it could not be readily gotten into the water. And so the people of the day mocked him. They took the attitude that he had lost his mind, that he had gone crazy. He was doing something which appeared to be utterly foolish, and yet he kept on. The pattern of that ark is a very interesting thing, which we might pause to consider for a moment this morning.
“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth…” I wonder what God sees in the earth today. “…and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”
The heart, the heart of love, the feeling nature of God, was grieved because "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord… And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits."
In the general pattern there was variation with respect to the actual length of a cubit. One cubit is generally considered to be two spans, and that was one foot and seven inches approximately, about nineteen inches per cubit, in other words, a little over a foot and a half. We recognize, then, that according to these measurements the ark would be over four hundred and fifty feet long; nearly five hundred feet. “And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.” But it is not so much the length or breadth or height, in the sense of measurement as we use it, we are interested in; it is in the symbolism of the figures themselves. “The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits… and the height of it thirty.” Here we note that both in the length and the height we have the figure three, signifying the three planes, or three primary phases, of man. “And the breadth of it shall be fifty cubits.” We recognize that the figure 5 carries the symbolical significance of the life factor, the expression of life. The length and the breadth and the height: of life and the three phases of being.
“A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.”
A three-story building in the shape of a boat, sitting in an area of dry land, and the people of that time felt that Noah was crazy, that he was a fool to spend all the time that he did, and the energy, building this peculiar, unwieldy, unsatisfactory building in the shape of a boat. We remember that water is the symbol of truth. And we also recall that after the flood there was the rainbow of promise which was given to man, the vision of the rainbow, carrying the promise that the earth would never again in that same sense be destroyed by water. But that which was symbolized by the water, truth, was yet to have its part to play. As Noah in his day built an ark of gopher wood and pitched it within and without to make it watertight—three stories high, correlating with the three phases of man's being—that he and his family and certain animals might be preserved from the overwhelming flood of water, so are we building an ark.
We remember the time of the children of Israel. They had what was called the Ark of the Covenant. It was a comparatively small box set upon staves so that four men could carry it. On the top of it there was the mercy seat and the cherubim—the Ark of the Covenant. First there is the ark of gopher wood as a means of protection against the flood of water, and then there is the ark of the covenant, designed to keep men from forgetting the covenant, designed to remind man of the divine purpose on earth. An ark, a symbol, which was supposed to keep man from forgetting. Along with this ark there was the measure of manna (symbolizing the bread of life), Aaron's rod which budded (suggesting the manifestation of life, the power of God), and the shewbread. In any case it was the place where the Law of God was supposed to be preserved, the Law of God preserved in the Ark of the Covenant. Those who preserve the Law of God in a true sense do not forget God's covenant. But this Ark of the Covenant was a symbol. As we see the first ark, Noah's ark, as a symbol, so is the Ark of the Covenant a symbol for you—the upright man or woman, symbolized by the staff, or the rod that budded. You are supposed to be a means by which God's love and truth and life are made evident in the earth. You are supposed to be a means by which the bread of life is preserved in the earth. You are supposed to be the means by which the Law of God is preserved to the children of men. Which is greater? Keeping a piece of stone upon which certain words were written, a piece of stone which was called the place where the finger of God had written His Law? Or that you, the living man or woman, having had a heart of stone, should become a manifestation of the Ark of the Covenant, preserving to the children of men the reality of the Law of God, giving evidence that the finger of God is written upon the stony tablets of your heart, the heart that is supposed to yield to God? That which is established in symbol is supposed to appear in fact. The evil of the world was destroyed by a flood of water, and water is the symbol of truth. Thereupon the rainbow of promise appears, establishing in the hearts and minds of men the assurance that evil shall be destroyed from the face of the earth by the truth, that the earth shall be cleansed and purified and sanctified by the flood of truth. And then the Ark of the Covenant, a symbol.
But men began to conceive the symbol to be a thing unto itself. They began to treat it as if it were God. They lost a consciousness of the significance of the mercy seat—“for his mercy endureth for ever.” They lost a consciousness of the significance of the cherubim which established between them a creative field, a place where the spirit of God could come to rest under the working of the Law of the Positive and the Negative, a place where the fire could appear, the fire of love above the mercy seat. Man lost sight of the fact that he is supposed to be the ark which can survive the flood of truth, that he is supposed to be the place where the Law of God is written in letters of fire, that he is supposed to be the revelation of Aaron's rod which budded, that he is supposed to give evidence of the eternal bread of life. Because man failed to properly understand and appreciate the symbol, the symbol was taken away from man. It was lost to man, and man has wandered in darkness and superstition for these hundreds and hundreds of years, failing to recognize that that which is symbolized is supposed to appear in fact, and that we are supposed to be building an ark, an ark the design of which comes to us from out of the east and the realms of heaven, an ark which is capable of surviving the flood of truth upon the earth, an ark which has a window above, a window which signifies the real connection between man and his Creator—the silver cord. And this ark not only has a window above, but manifest in relationship to the working of the One Law, the positive and negative poles of creative function as signified by the cherubim, the creative field where the fire appears, signifying the presence of God, yes, but God's love; for God's love signifies the presence of God. Man remembers the Shekinah Fire, dimly at least, but he has forgotten that that fire is supposed to appear in relationship to himself.
The fire—evidence of the Presence of the LORD. The fire that burns forever in the creative field where the Law of God is clearly established; not just tablets of stone in a box, even though that box be covered with gold leaf, but the Law of God made evident in the living of life. We see in these things how man back through the ages has tended to get into a state of crystallization: where the wickedness of man is great in the earth, where there is violence, and the evil imaginations of men's hearts are made evident. That which does not conform with the crystallized patterns is conceived to be evil by those who are evil. That which is not of the divine design of God, being evil, conceives all things which do not conform to itself to be evil and foolish. The ark, the Holy City, [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/we-are-holy-city.html] the place of divine habitation, the new Jerusalem which comes down from God out of heaven—whatever symbolical term we may use—describes the fulfilments suggested by the symbolism of Noah's ark, and the Ark of the Covenant at the time of the children of Israel; but human beings today are inclined to feel that, as it is put in Peter's Epistle, “there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the foundation of the world.”
Scoffers saying, “All things continue as they were. We have had this pattern of world activity a long time. There has been the rise and fall of empires; we have had birth and death, and suffering and misery; we have had times of prosperity and times of depression, times of peace and times of war. These things are natural and they'll just continue on that way. All things continue as they were.” That is what they said in the days of Noah. It has been man's theme down through the centuries. But things do not continue as they were. We either move toward God, in the fulfilment of His will, or we move away from God toward oblivion. We need to be prepared for the flood of truth, for it is the flood of truth that shall cleanse and purify the world. And the fire shall be made evident, the fire of God's love. Do we welcome that fire and let it manifest between the cherubim? Or do we try to keep that fire of God's love, the evidence of His Presence, far away? Are you an Ark of the Covenant? Is your life, in its pattern, unfolding an ark wherein there is a window above, an ark that is capable of riding out the turbulence of the flood of truth? It was written by Daniel that in the latter days knowledge shall be increased and many shall run to and fro. What is the evidence of the coming of the flood of truth? The increase in knowledge. The very fact that knowledge is increased and human beings are running to and fro provides us evidence of the coming of the flood of truth. We see how man has taken this knowledge and used it to his own purposes. He can produce a great fire, a fire which is so intense that it causes metal to be as if it had not been—the fire of an atomic explosion. But is the fire of an atomic explosion an adequate, satisfactory substitute for the fire of God's love? Can man's ability to produce this fire establish a control upon the earth that will cause evil men to withdraw from their evil purposes? This fire, the atomic fire, is available. Man has used it and contemplates its use. Well our enemy likewise has learned to produce this fire. Some thought, “Now that we have produced the atomic fire our evil enemies will cease to be evil. They will be afraid and they will stop and consider the importance of peace on earth.” Our enemies stopped to consider and they said unto themselves, "Let us learn how to make this fire and we will make a great fire and we shall have the greatest fire, the fire which shall destroy the fire of those who resist us." And so man proceeds, not to find the fire of God's love by which peace might truly come but to exert himself with all energy and speed to build, or to be able to build, a fire greater than the fire of his enemy.
The earth is reserved unto fire. What fire? The fire of an atomic war. The fire of an atomic war—not that God wills it to be so, but man insists that it shall be so. God knew that the flood of truth would come upon the earth in season and He sent the flood of many waters to cause man to consider the necessity of the divine design; but man soon forgot his lesson and the Ark of the Covenant did not make man remember those things which man should have remembered. What is it that produces the latter days? Human beings have acted as if they thought that when the latter days should come then certain things should manifest. What produces the latter days? The coming of those certain things. Why are they the latter days? Because with the outworking of the divine plan the former things shall pass away. It is written with respect to the time of the flood:
“And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.”
The latter days. People have imagined that upon the calendar of time God simply made a mark and said, "These shall be the latter days. And when the latter days come, why then this shall be produced and that shall be produced, in the latter days." That concept fails to recognize that the coming of knowledge, the forerunner of the flood of truth, is that which brings the latter days. The latter days of what? The latter days of man's evil rule upon the earth, the latter days of the crystallizations which man has developed and established on earth. These crystallizations must come to an end under the advancing flood of truth which has been let loose in all the earth upon all the children of men. Man, accepting the substitutes of atomic fire for the fire of God's love, is building for the fire of judgment, the fire that produces the latter days. But the fire, the ability to produce that atomic fire, is the result of the coming of the flood of truth; for without the increased knowledge, man could not make the atomic fire as a substitute for the fire of God's love that is supposed to appear between the cherubim, between those who establish points of polarity in the creative field by which the power of God might manifest.
These crystallizations, these humanly devised patterns and programs, must come to an end, and the former things must pass away. But those of us who have advance awareness, who have time to build an ark, who have time to know and to understand the reality of that which is taking place, have the privilege of letting the crystallizations, crystallized patterns, pass away from us so that we can move into the pattern of heavenly flexibility, which permits us to function according to the will of God on earth, letting the Kingdom of Heaven come. If we resist the passing of the crystallizations from us we simply establish for ourselves the judgment that we shall pass away with our crystallizations. The crystallizations shall pass away—from us, if we permit it to be so; but we shall pass away with them if we refuse to let the Kingdom come, to let the new patterns of being appear in our lives, to let the new elements of life control. And unless we let the fire appear in us and through us, unless we help to establish a creative field where the Shekinah Fire may manifest, we shall be subject to the atomic fire. Unless we, like Noah, have built an Ark of Being, capable of functioning in the flood of truth, we can never know how to let that Shekinah fire manifest; and the atomic fire of man's design is not, and cannot be, a satisfactory substitute. Man trembles in awe when he sees the mighty explosion of the atomic bomb. He beholds the fire and he recognizes that this fire could spread, through war, and destroy the great cities and the civilizations of the world. One fire or the other will control in our lives. Which shall it be? Shall we let the crystallizations that still limit and cramp and distort our lives pass from us easily and naturally, yielding to the fire of God's love and functioning in relationship to the creative field of His power? Or shall we resist, until the crystallizations shall be blasted into nothingness by the fire which man himself brings forth?
Do you think for a moment that in the world with two opposing camps, with both camps having the power to produce this fire, and considering the nature of our godless enemy, do you think that they will not, at a time which they conceive to be advantageous to themselves, start making that fire? Do you think they will restrain themselves?—men without God, like children without parental control, having a toy. Will they not use that toy? Do you think that the world can escape that fire, the fire which man produces and brings upon himself in self-judgment, even as he is judged? The furnace, the fire, the fire of atomic bombs. I do not emphasize this to produce fear but rather that we may face the facts, that we may cease deluding ourselves, that we may recognize that we must choose between two fires; for, whereas there was the flood of water, there is now the flood of truth which has been loosed upon the earth, and the frontal waves of that flood have been to man the increase of knowledge, and many are running to and fro. The latter days of evil are at hand, the latter days because the things of the unreal world must come to an end. The unreal realm of man is preparing to destroy itself. Only as we have the ark, the ark of the covenant or Noah's ark, only as we let the ark of reality be made manifest in and through us so that there may be the evidence of the heavenly fire, can we be in position to survive and function on the basis of the divine assertion: “Behold, I make all things new, for the former things are passed away.”
What shall it be for us individually, or all responding ones collectively? The former things are passed away and the time is at hand, and we do not have long to linger and wait in the building of the ark. When the floods came it was too late for those who were mocking to build an ark for themselves. The time is at hand. It is here. “Behold, I make all things new.” Let it be so in you.
Our gracious LORD and KING, we thank Thee for the wonder of Thy Love, the beauty of Thy Truth, and the glory of Thy Life, that we may truly share the coming of Thy Kingdom on earth; that as the former things are passing away we may not cling to them or identify ourselves with them, but being flexible in the working of Thy Spirit and Thy Will, we may be molded to the Divine Design and share in the outworking, as all things are made new, for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. In the Christ. Aumen.
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