Valleys: Part 3

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

May 12, 2022

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

This is Part 3 of our messages on valleys. In Part 1 we shared about the Lily of the valley, who is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. Jesus is Lord of both the valleys and the mountains. In our previous message we shared some thoughts about the valley of decision and the valley of Achor or the valley of trouble. In this message we want to look at the Valley of Vision.

As an historical introduction, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, took them and dismantled them. Then, around 700 B.C., he set his sights on destroying Jerusalem. Hezekiah, king of Judah, then cried out to the Lord and the Lord honored his plea for help. The Lord said, in 

2 Kings 19:34-36, "For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh."

Now let us turn to Isaiah 22. I will read the first 8 verses and then come back and comment on each verse. 

1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.

4 Therefore said I, Look away from Me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort Me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of My people.

5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.

6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

8 And He discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.

In the natural realm, I believe that the burden of the valley of vision refers to the attempt made upon Jerusalem by Sennacherib, but is prophetic of the soon coming destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. However, I have very little interest in simply historical events that actually happened 2600 years ago. We should always be interested in what Scripture says to us Christians today. Toward that end we should always remember that God is no respecter of persons and because human nature never changes, history repeats itself. We mortals never seem to learn from history. Neither do we learn from the experiences of other saints. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God we read about in the New Testament. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

We can only understand the burden of Jerusalem, here called "the valley of vision," if we see its prophetic significance and fulfillment as it applies to us. Although the city is not literally in a deep valley, it is surrounded by mountains. Jerusalem is also called a "valley" and a "plain" in Jeremiah 21:11-13. 

Psalm 125:2 says, "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about His people from henceforth even for ever."

These eight verses in Isaiah 22 speak of Jerusalem, both in the natural realm in that day and in the spiritual Jerusalem today. Why is Jerusalem called the burden of the "valley of vision?" I believe the "valley of vision" is a valley of self in all its ugly forms into which the chosen people of God have gradually fallen over and over again. It speaks of a wretched valley in Jerusalem at the very moment when God's merciful grace was no longer able to contain and overlook their wretched sins. Isaiah described the sins of Jerusalem and Judah in Isaiah, Chapter 3, but I will read only the first 12 verses. 

1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,

3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:

7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory.

9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

Verse 10 says that the Lord will always have a remnant that will be faithful to Him. 

11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Those 12 verses describe the church world today in the United States. How do I know that? because I have seen examples of it first hand with my natural eyes. Now let us return to Isaiah, Chapter 22 and Verse 1.

1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

"The burden of the valley of vision." What is that burden? In the natural realm a burden is a heavy load or weight. A professing Christian's burden may indeed be heavy, but Jesus said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Christian man's burden is a sensing that our relationship with the Lord is not what it should be. Our spiritual eyes and ears are not as sharp as they should be. Apparently, few know what to do about it.

Those believers who dwell in the valley, who see the things of the Lord in only the natural realm, who mind fleshly things (Romans 8:5), like Lot did, will gradually get pulled into the ways of the world and are subject to the giants in the land. No one can see very far in a valley, but from a high mountain our vision is greatly expanded. We need a greater vision in this hour. My vision is too small; your vision is too small. More accurately, we need THE Vision in this hour. We need to know where we are going and how to get there.

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29:18 

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation [or judgment] to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 

1 Corinthians 11:29-30 

In Verse 29, the word "unworthily" does not appear in the original texts. The judgment of God is that many are weak and sickly and many sleep because they do not discern the Lord's body. Verse 29 has no relationship whatsoever to what men call a ritual of communion. If we read the verses that precede Verse 29, Paul is clearly addressing the fact that when the saints in Corinth gather for an agape feast, the rich are gorging themselves on scrumptious food and the poor have very little to eat. The more prosperous do not discern the Lord's body; they have no concern for those less materially fortunate. I witnessed a dramatic occurrence of that truth forty-seven years ago at an evening meal where every believer brought some type of food or drink to be shared among all. I was the next-to-last person (except for the hostess) to go through the food line. I could easily see that there was not enough food left for all of us. But the young man in front of me piled his plate as high as possible with food. When that happened, I saw the hostess pull out a jar of peanut butter. She had a peanut butter sandwich for her meal. The Lord took that young man home when he was 51 years of age.

So, where there is no vision, the people perish. Where there is little vision, the people are weak and sickly and many sleep. It is true that the valley looks very prosperous and appealing to the natural eye. We are all born in the valley, but in the valley, there is little or no vision.

A passage in Haggai 1:1-13 says the same thing as in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and much more.

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,

2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built.

3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,

4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?

5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.

9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of Mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.

10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.

13 Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.

Verses 4-11 are current events which will become more evident in the very near future. The judgment of God will soon be poured out in increasing abundance on America and on the churches. The economy in America will go bust. Prices of food and other necessities will soar even more. Jobs will become more scarce. When people get hungry there will be riots in the streets. That has been said many times before, but even Spirit-filled believers in America still find that difficult to believe. We still dwell in our cieled houses. We are still living prosperously. We are very comfortable. We cannot believe that more intense disasters are just around the corner. We accept doctrinally that "Judgment must begin at the house of God" (1 Peter 4:17), but our actions indicate that we do not believe it. Further, if we store up six months of food and water in order to "save" ourselves, I believe the Lord will cause it to rot.

So what is the answer? Note that Verse 8 says to "Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house." That word has nothing to do with the natural realm. "Wood" speaks of humanity. What is wrong with wood from the valley? It is too polluted with flesh. Also, the word does not say, "Go up to a mountain." "The mountain" is the kingdom of God. Only the wood which comes from "the" mountain can build the house. Jesus said, in 

Matthew 16:18, "upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 

Man always gets into trouble when we try to build the Lord's church.

Verse 9 is, "Birds of a feather flock together." We like to be with those believers who see things the same way we do. It is a very comfortable place to our flesh. That is a re-run of Genesis 11, which resulted in Babylon.

Those verses in Haggai are rather amazing! Haggai spoke the word of the Lord to the remnant of Judah and the people not only instantly believed him but the people did fear before the Lord. They repented, in Verse 12. They recognized the voice of the Lord in the words of Haggai. That could never happen today in the fragmented, divided churches in America. There is NO ONE in America today who could say what Haggai said and get the same results. Every reasonable Christian believer today will affirm that the fragmentation of churches in America is a bad thing ... an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. But who knows what we should do about it? Some might say, "Well every believer is welcome in our church." That is no solution at all. The "so-called" ecumenical "movement" is a work of the flesh. I have seen a gathering of quite a number of Spirit-filled pastors who fervently announced that they were going to do something about the fragmentation. Good luck! The coming together will occur only the Lord's way and in His time.

Back to Isaiah 22, verse 1 and the phrase, "What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?" "What aileth thee now" seems to imply that the chosen people of God had ailed before. It is like the Lord is saying, what is your problem now? I sovereignly delivered you, O Jerusalem, from the otherwise certain defeat at the hands of Sennacherib. Moreover, I told you many times, and in many ways, even during the time of Moses, what you should do. One of those times is recorded in Deuteronomy 30:15-20, 

"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

What is the cause of the commotion and tumult that exists in the city? The prophet throws himself at once into the midst of the excitement, sees the agitation and tumult, and the preparations for defense which were made, and asks the "cause" of all this confusion.

The Lord is still saying the same word to us today that He said to His chosen people in the time of Moses. The Lord still asks His chosen people the same question ... Why do my people seek me only when they get themselves into difficult situations? Therefore, the Lord says, in 

Hosea 5:15, "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early."

Isaiah 55:6, "Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near:" 

David said, in Psalm 27:8, 

"When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek."

In times of great confusion and consternation, the Jews went up to the housetops, that they might mourn, and look, and cry to Heaven for help. We might recall, from 

Acts 10:9, "On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:" 

Apparently, it must have been a Jewish custom to go up on the housetop to pray when things seemed a bit off. Perhaps being on the roof gave them a sense of being closer to God. That may be related to church structures which have tall steeples ... a symbol of man's attempt to reach heaven. Peter apparently was still enmeshed with some Jewish traditions at that point in his life.

John 4:21-24, "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

Back to Isaiah 22 and verse 2.

2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

This verse depicts the inhabitants of Jerusalem in a state of boisterous merriment. They were full of stirs, of tumult, of commotion, of alarm. It was formerly a city distinguished for the hum of business, and for pleasure; a busy, active, enterprising city. This verse indicates mingled alarm and consternation, and at the same time a disposition to engage in riot and revelry.

A joyous city - a city exulting, rejoicing, given to pleasure, and to riot. Isaiah speaks of the tumult, the alarm, and the rejoicing, in the same breath. This was undoubtedly because of the grace of God which sovereignly had delivered them from the hands of Sennacherib. Following the miraculous lifting of that siege because of the death of Sennacherib's army in a single night, instead of responding with an outpouring of thanksgiving to God and a renewal of faith and devotion, Jerusalem wholeheartedly engaged in a boisterous, sensuous outpouring of merriment and celebration, marked by scandalous and irresponsible behavior.

Back to Verse 3 of Isaiah 22.

3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.

All thy rulers are fled together. The general idea in this verse is designed to describe the consternation which would take place on the approach of the invader and especially the timidity and flight of those on whom the city relied for protection and defense. Instead of entering calmly and firmly into the work of defense, the rulers of the city are represented as fleeing from the city and refusing to remain to protect the capital. The phrase rendered "thy rulers" in the natural realm denotes either the civil rulers of the city or military leaders. They are bound by the archers. Strong passion many times has a controlling or disabling influence over the mind and body, where it takes away the energy of the soul, and makes one timid, feeble, helpless, as if bound with cords, or made captive - to imprison and then to bind with fear or consternation.

In the spiritual realm it means what we read earlier in the first four verses of Isaiah, Chapter 3. To repeat those verses ...

"For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them."

Let us go back to the last phrase in Isaiah 22, Verse 3, which says 

"All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far." 

The correct translation is that all thy rulers have fled far away.

In the spiritual realm, "thy rulers" speak of leaders in our organized churches. All of our leaders are fled together ... fled from what? from the whole truth of the gospel of the kingdom of God.

All of our leaders are bound by the archers and all are bound together. Who are the archers?Instead of using our carnal mind to try to figure out who the archers are, why not let the Bible tell us in black and white who the archers are? Would that be a good idea? A good principle when we are interested in the significance of any word or phrase in Scripture is to go back and see when that word or phrase first occurs. The first occurrence of "archer" in the Bible is found in Genesis, Chapter 21 and Verse 20. Everyone is familiar with the fact that Sarah told Abraham to, 

"Cast out this bondwoman [speaking of Hagar] and her son [who was Ishmael]: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." 

Then the Lord told Abraham to do what Sarah had said. Abraham obeyed the Lord. It may also be worth saying that Sarah herself did not cast out Hagar and Ishmael. That would have been out of God's order. That also emphasizes the importance of the father in every Christian family. Verse 20 says, 

"And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer." 

Now it is true that Ishmael, who had 12 sons, became the father of Islam and was venerated by Muslims as a prophet. But the real significance of Ishmael is that he represents all false religions, including every man-made religion. Why did God allow the archers to proliferate? For the same reason that God raised up Pharaoh ... to see which of those chosen by God would be faithful to Him. Today, we hear much off-center, humanistic teaching in our churches. They are all bound together. There is nothing new under the sun.

John 10:12-13, "But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." 

What is a hireling? Someone who gets paid for what he does. What is the true reward of every Christian? the Lord Himself.

Back to Verse 4 of Isaiah 22.

4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.

In this verse Isaiah pours out his heart in great sorrow on behalf of his fellowmen ... those in Jerusalem who should know better. He is saddened by the hardness of heart that makes the city refuse to hide under wings of the Lord. He joins Moses, Ezra, Nehemiah, Paul, and many other saints over the centuries who have identified with the Lord and with God's chosen people in real intercession. But Isaiah was simply echoing, by his words, the voice of the Lord.

Isaiah is appalled beyond words because he foresees the coming destruction of the city, which actually happened about 100 years later. Jerusalem was not taken by Sennacherib and Assyria in the days of Hezekiah. By a miracle of God's merciful intervention, the city was spared. However, it did not bring the inhabitants of the city to repent and return to God. Therefore, the city will be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.

The behavior of the people was what caused Isaiah's bitter weeping, because he realized that the inappropriate response of the people would displease the Lord and that the sure punishment and destruction of the city would follow, "because of the spoiling" - the desolation - the ruin that is coming upon them. In spite of all the terrible hardship and disasters that had come upon the Jews, they were still insensitive to the true demands of God. In the midst of their light-hearted festivities, therefore, he asked to be left alone that he might weep bitter tears over their coming destruction when he saw God's judgment coming against His chosen people. "Bitter" sorrow indicates excessive grief. The sense is, "My grief is so great that I cannot be comforted. No topics of consolation can help me. I must be alone, and allowed to indulge in deep and overwhelming sorrow and intercession at the calamities that are coming upon our nation and people." Isaiah said, "Look away from me." Do not look upon me. If God's people are going to behave like the heathen nations, they must suffer the same consequences for their behavior.

Why is Verse 4 so important to the modern-day church? because we are repeating the same mistake that the Jews in Jerusalem made 2500 years ago. We are now in the third year of the Covid pandemic, a pestilence which has killed one million people in the United States. During that time period, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of professing Christians have undoubtedly prayed that the Lord would take away the virus so we can continue doing our traditional church activities. That represents a total lack of understanding of the ways of the Lord. The Lord says to His chosen people, "If you will ... then I will ..." 

2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 

We Christians love to quote that verse, but walk in that truth? probably very few of us do that because we still do not see the need or we are deceived and believe that verse applies to many others but not to me. That attitude also reflects the lack of understanding of the body of Christ.

Many Christians have adopted the idea that God is on our side so we don't need to wear masks or get vaccinated. But Scripture is very clear from these eight verses in Isaiah 22, and from many other passages in the Bible, that God is on our side only if we are first on His side.

Back to Verse 5 of Isaiah 22.

5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.

It was a day of trouble ... the valley of Achor. It was a day of treading down when our enemies trample on everything sacred and dear to us and endanger all our best interests ... a day full of spiritual warfare, tribulation, and persecution. It was a day of perplexity in which they knew not what to do or where to look for relief. It was Divinely ordained by the LORD God of hosts; it came upon them under His providence and by His direction. It was a day of crying to the mountains for help. The shout or clamor of those engaged in building or defending the walls reached to the mountains. Where are the sons of Issachar today, men who have understanding of the times, who know what spiritual Israel ought to do?

6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

Isaiah sees the enemy preparing to invade the land. In the future, Nebuchadnezzar's army that attacks Jerusalem consists of an alliance of many peoples, including Elam and Kir. Elam is known for his archers, while Kir speaks of Medes with uncovered shields ready for battle.

7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

"Thy choicest valleys" were the most fertile and valued lands in the vicinity of the city, but they would be occupied by the armies of the enemy.

The Babylonian destruction is certainly in view here, for Sennacherib did not break down the walls and destroy the people. Isaiah strongly implies that the preparations Judah will make for that ultimate destruction will be just like those of Hezekiah; that is, they will depend more upon their own ingenuity and diligence than upon the blessing of the Lord.

Back to Verse 8 of Isaiah 22

8 And He discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.

The Lord uncovered or made them naked. As a result, the invading army exposed Judah to every kind of reproach. The land was thus laid bare, and unprotected. Judah looked to their armor and their planning as the last resort and as the only hope of defense. All kinds of precautions were taken to defend against a possible attack from the enemy. A city that foresees a long siege has to provide weapon supplies, water supplies and reinforcement of the walls. Their precautions were based on good intentions, but they depended on their planning instead of trusting in God. The people had no faith. They did not depend on Him who made all things. They never considered that all this came over them from His hand to bring them to repentance. They looked to human certainties and not to the LORD. It is the "destruction" of Jerusalem that will take place in the event prophesied here as indicated by the words, "God took away the covering of Judah," a disaster that did not take place during Sennacherib's siege, but in that of Babylon's a century later (586 B.C.).

Back in the late 1960's and early 1970's of the New Testament house church in Northern Virginia that we were part of, there seemed to be a sense that our "covering" was the local church itself. Then the Lord quickened to me the significance of Verse 8 of Isaiah 22. The "armor of the house of the forest" speaks of the "covering" by and of the body of Christ. Then, in Verse 11 of Isaiah 22, the Lord says, "but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto Him that fashioned it long ago." In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ is our covering, not any man or group of men. He is the head of the body. To say that the Pope is the head of the church is blasphemy. Likewise, to say that all those who join the Catholic church will go to heaven is gross error.

Agape love can only be experienced as Jesus is the center and is uppermost in all things. When the security in Christ alone is substituted by the fellowship and security of the body, the agape love becomes united with or substituted by phileo love; until what we have left is but a shadow of what God intended. We begin to treasure what He has for us, above Himself alone.

Someone said that "God always starts with a Man and uses him to begin a movement. Finally, and invariably, as it loses its simplicity and childlike faith and love, it becomes a machine, then a monument, and wists not, like Samson, that the Anointing has begun to wane." It has been said that the steps to spiritual downfall of groups during the ages have always followed this cycle:

Revelation, Inspiration, Evangelization, Organization, Education, and Stagnation, with this generally happening in less than one generation.

We are constantly straining to devise new methods, new plans, and new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the Gospel. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. He does not anoint plans, but men of prayer. This is a day when few voices cry for repentance.

Next week, the Lord willing, I plan to conclude our series on valleys with some thoughts about the valley of Baca.

Until then, may the Lord continue to bless you as you both labor and rest in His vineyard. Amen.