Personal Matters
I believe this message is a matter of prophetic priority. I usually place great emphasis on God as Father, but this morning in a marketplace prayer meeting I sensed the Lord talking about the reality of his “mothering”. Or as a theologian put it, God is a “motherly Father”. In a passage prophesying the sending of Jesus God declares, ““Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!”” (Isa 49:15). The nurture of God is a powerful revelation of his authority. This corresponds to a great need today. Here is a response to my previous teaching on righteousness in the marketplace, “sometimes I feel like I am working under Pharaoh in my workplace! I have been known to say “today we have worked like beaten slaves!. ..and all because we need to reach targets !””. Shortly after reading this while I was interceding with a businessman about finding a way to reach into the city I was overcome with a tremendous sense of the divine empathy and agony for the struggles of men and women in the working culture of today. Something is happening, and a key is found in the book of Revelation.
The Mother of Prostitution
A brother was praying aloud from Revelation 18, which describes the destruction of Babylon, a world system build on unfair trade, “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.” (vv.11-13). The man praying then went on to intercede about the trade in souls in our city; people are bought and sold to the highest bidder. This is the character of economic life to which we have become accustomed. John’s initial vision of Babylon takes us back to even more confronting foundational issues.
“Then one of the seven angels…said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters….And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.””(Revelation 17:1, 5 ESV). Babylon is certainly a mother, one who promises security, hope and a future, but all through worldly wealth. But her perverted power can only be a counterfeit answer to the genuine human need for nurture, comfort and refuge a genuine mother can provide. Babylon is a trader without a heart who can never provide the true care that a mother’s heart brings. Thankfully there is a true mother for those in need of unconditional care.
The Mother From Above
Some years ago I had a profound revelation through this passage, “the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labour! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”” (Gal 4:26-27). I could clearly “see” God building from heaven communities of glory on earth in city after city. The purpose of such communities is surely to fulfil the intention of Jesus’ prayer; ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”” (Matt= 23:37 ESV). Two thousand years ago the earthly Jerusalem rejected nurture in the shadow of God’s wings (Ps 36:7; Ruth 2:12); but in Christ today we have arrived at a place of eternal sanctuary. “we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf” (Heb 6:18-20). The “inner place” is the holy of holies in the heavenly temple, a place of indestructible security (Rev 11:19).
The Battle of the Mothers
The Satanic world system is an anti-Father one which despite all its pretensions is also anti-Mother. In the end a culture built on money and performance cannot be a nurturing refuge to those who are anxious and traumatised. Human beings need unconditional nurturing love. In a time of economic boom most people are so blind drunk with the prospects of monetary advancement they forget the constitutional frailty of their humanity. There are signs however that the days of prosperity are coming to an end.
Today’s local newspaper reports of an immigrant willing to pay up to $5,000 for help in securing a job on the Western Australian mines[1]. This case is not unique, and as people continue to flock into Australia’s wealth Mecca at the same time as the resources boom is coming to an end panic is likely to set in. In the holy war of old the LORD threw the enemies of his people into a state of confusion [2], this would seem to be part of the divine strategy today in his battle against the evil Babylonian forces that enslave humanity. God’s final purpose is not to traumatise, but to drive people into the everlasting arms of his nurturing love (Deut 33:27). If the direction of this teaching is correct, it is important that the people of God make intelligent and practical preparation for what lies ahead.
The text Paul cited in Galatians 4 about “Jerusalem our mother” is drawn from Isaiah 54; a passage which speaks of a tent being stretched out in all directions across the earth. Such a tent is prophetically to be a shelter from the ravages of life (Isa 4:5-6); in New Testament terms it is coming under the shelter of the presence of Christ (Rev 7:15). It is near time that the people of God sought his face about how to construct shelters which will provide nurture, compassionate love and care for the anxious, disappointed and lost in the days ahead.
Conclusion
The provision of places of refuge is a matter of prophetic priority, for the Spirit of the Lord is deeply pained by the emotional and relational cruelties accepted as normal and necessary in today’s corporatised working environment (cf. Gen 6:6). God’s pain always moves him to compassionate loving action to deliver those in bondage; even if they as yet do not know the depths of their enslavement or the power of Jesus to deliver. Will you join me in asking for revelation from heaven for practical strategies to provide a habitat for humanity in our city in its hour of need?