Riddles

When Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses the Lord quickly called the three of them before him and said the following:

"When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord." Numbers 12:6-8

"Clearly and not in riddles." Moses had ascended to a measure of constant, clear speech from the Lord. But the prophets who were working their way towards Moses' level of humility found their paths littered with riddles. This is much the same for God's people today. As we walk towards greater intimacy with the Lord we find many of God's leadings at various points in our lives emerging in "riddle" form.

The Hebrew word for riddle in the previous passage is Chiydah. It means a puzzle, a hard question, a proverb or a riddle. A proverb or a riddle. What does the scriptures say about proverbs and riddles? It says they must be understood, not just heard.

"...for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles (Chiydah) of the wise." Proverbs 1:6

Why does the Lord do this among his people? I believe it is to simply give us things to focus on and draw us away from the world into a humble and dependent state. As we tarry with the Lord in prayer and throughout our day we find our minds more easily set on him when we are searching out a matter.

"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, to search out a matter is the glory of kings."  Proverbs 25:2

Peter experienced this in Acts 9 when he saw a sheet let down by it's four corners full of all types of unclean animals. It wasn't until he was at Cornelius's house in Acts 10 that he understood what the vision applied to. He wrestled with this riddle for 3 days. Seeing this vision/riddle and not immediately understanding it put him in a humble state of mind to seek the Lord. Through this he was prepared to be a conduit for the grace of God. He was in a suspended state of humility simply due to the fact that he did not understand the vision. In this stance of meakness and searching out the matter he was ready to serve God before Cornelius' household.

Waiting for and ultimately receiving answers to the prophetic riddles we receive from Jesus is simply a way of walking out the glorious path that has been set before us. It helps to keep us occupied in our thought-life so that we can more easily pull away from the impure distractions of the world. It is part of the process of overcoming (See 1 John).


Stand Firm - Ephesians 6:13

In my walk over the past 17 years I have found many riddles set before me by the Lord. The red cardinal, the ram, the hawk, "Durango", the #15, the #9, dry eyes, a shoulder stinger, the Spanish word Mariposa ...All of these things and more have been shown to our family, either in outward physical form or within the happenings of our own physical bodies. This has been for the purpose of both our our own relationships with the Lord and, at times, what the Lord was doing in the lives of people and circumstances around us.

At the beginning of October, 2011, the Lord began to show us that we would be returning to the United States. Truthfully, this caught us somewhat off guard. We were under the impression that we might never return. Part of this unveiling process included a few riddles. In the next post I would like to share a three-sided riddle that the Lord set before me in the following sequence of numbers: #17, #22, and the #40. Each number had a somewhat distinct yet slightly overlapping meaning in relation to the others.

In sharing this I hope it bears witness with the process that others find themselves in. I am specifically referring to the process of cleansing, discipline and preparation and how prophetic riddles guide us through all of that. I will share more on this in the next post.

God Bless,
J.E. and family