BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
August 12, 2012
MF Blume

  Scripture Text:


Genesis 8:7-13  And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.  (8)  Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;  (9)  But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.  (10)  And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;  (11)  And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.  (12)  And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.  (13)  And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

Song of Solomon 2:8-15  The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.  (9)  My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.  (10)  My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.  (11)  For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;  (12)  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;  (13)  The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.  (14)  O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.  (15)  Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.


We left off last service with the comparison of Noah leaving the ark to our need to arise to walk in newness of life.
·    We mentioned the dichotomy of the flesh versus the Spirit in the picture of the raven versus the dove in Noah’s manner to learn when to leave the Ark.
·    All of that was to indicate to us how there is a crisis when we come to the place of readiness to actually walk in newness of life.
·    We need to learn to stop following after the signals from the flesh, which is bent on self centredness and therefore death, and learn to be led by the Spirit instead.

We spoke of how Noah heard the same words that God first spoke to Adam about kingdom dominion in the earth after Noah passed through the flood and followed the guidance of the dove while ignoring the raven’s message.
·    It was then that Noah removed the covering of the ark, like the need to remove the VEILING so we can enter into the most holy level of life by walking after the Spirit.

This is basically what I am realizing is the purpose of our entire ministry in Portage.and Winnipeg.
·    It is to teach the saints of God how to mature spiritually and walk in newness of life.
·    Kim and Mary Anderson witnessed to that in a prophecy they gave to me regarding my ministry of writing and teaching FOUNDATIONAL truths.

There are the prophetic ministries that are more or less required for the problems in life that we go through that supernaturally are helping us to deal with hurts and wounds, etc.
·    We get discouraged, and God supernaturally uses someone to address that very thing.
·    We need that.
·    It brings tears to our eyes to know God knows the number of hairs on our heads and can actually tell someone about our immediate needs so they can minister to us.
·    It brings tears to my eyes to think that God knows us that much to supernaturally pick the very thing we need to hear at the moment and tell someone to speak of that.
·    And that is much needed.
·    But there is also the ministry that God has chosen to operate through me in our two locations, which is bringing us to spiritual maturity so that we can actually deal with life’s problems and overcome them.
·    The prophetic gifting are a blessing to help us as we get discouraged and need direction.
·    But when we become spiritually mature, we encourage ourselves in the Lord and become like houses on rock that cannot fall in storms of life.
We cannot make it a steady diet of always having need of a prophetic word, though.
·    Those things are there for the weaker brethren.
·    We can get to the place where WE give people words of ministry.

This is another lesson on how to actually WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.
·    We are between two entirely different worlds after we get saved.
·    We are out of the world of sin, like Noah was out of the wicked world around him and inside the ark taking him to a brand new version of the world.
·    But we are not yet in the actual lifestyle of walking in newness of life.
·    We get discouraged and require encouragement.
·    We cannot really reach out and help others, but constantly require someone else to help us.
·    We are not yet able to deny ourselves to such an extent so as to not allow offenses and problems in life eat up all our attention and time, but we are instruments for God to use to help others who are crippling along.

Spiritual maturity is when you are no longer struggling all the time to overcome your situations, and keep yourselves coming to church if you are lucky enough.
·    It is when you have spiritual strength to overcome the battles life throws at you.
·    SELF has been dealt with in order to deal with all the other things.
·    The devil gets us running a treadmill that never ends when we are so concerned over our personal struggles that we have no time to minister to someone else.
·    When we get victory over our own struggles so that we can minister to other people’s struggles, then we are spiritually mature.
·    So many are so caught up in their own struggles that they come to church to minister to no one, but because they need ministering for themselves.
·    Imagine if the pastor was spiritually weak and always struggling.
·    He’d never have time to minister to you things that deal with your struggles.
·    He can only minister to others if he truly gets some personal victory over things in his own life.
·    Apply that to you, also, for the pastor is not the only one required to become spiritually mature.

Noah was instructed by the Holy Ghost in symbolic form when the dove came to the window.
·    There was only one window in the ark and it was high above Noah’s head.
·    He could not see through it to view the surroundings after the rains stopped.
·    He knew it would take a very long time for the flood waters to abate and reveal the land again for Noah’s existence.
·    So he had to wait and depend upon the voice of another.
·    He had to choose between the raven and the dove.

The Song of Solomon shows precisely the same picture.
·    And by comparing it with Noah’s account, we can actually gain more insight about how WE PROGRESS INTO SPIRITUAL MATURITY.

As Noah’s ark rested on a mountain named Ararat, that HITCHCOCK’S BIBLE NAMES defines as THE CURSE OF TREMBLING, and “the curse reversed: precipitation of curse" according to the NAS Hebrew Lexicon, the woman’s beloved is skipping across the hills.
·    Arar means curse.
·    It’s like the picture of .enjoying the first areas of dry land after the flood, the tops of the mountains.
·    And the beloved comes to the WINDOW.

Song of Solomon 2:8  The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.  (9)  My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. 

Like the dove coming to the window of the ark.

Genesis 8: (10)  My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Resurrection is implied here.
·    Rising up.
·    From a place of sleep to leaving.
·    This is so much like the tomb of Jesus, the second phase of our spiritual growth from death to burial.
·    After burial is resurrection!
·    Standing in the ark is standing between two worlds.
·    We are in the tomb of Jesus.
·    We need to resurrect and walk in newness of life.
·    Leave the ark.

Gen 8:(11)  For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;  (12)  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;  (13)  The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. 

This is precisely the description of the state of the world after the flood.
·    When the dove returned to the ark with the olive leaf in its mouth, it meant that there were PLANTS GROWING ONCE AGAIN ABOVE THE WATER.
·    Noah was waiting to know when to leave the ark.

Not only does the washing away of the wickedness and life on earth that existed before the flood tell us that the old is gone, but it also speaks of OUR OWN LIVES where there is PERSONAL WICKEDNESS and fleshliness in our hearts.
·    That must be washed away.
·    It must be removed.
·    God has to work in our hearts and erode away the ugliness in them.
·    There needs to be FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT growing in our lives where we are PATIENT when there was only impatience.
·    WE MORTIFY THE DEEDS OF THE BODY THROUGH THE SPIRIT.

Notice that the voice of the turtle is in the land.
·    That means TURTLEDOVE.
·    The voice of the dove is the voice of the Spirit.
·    It is a world of hearing the Spirit speak.

Revelation 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Revelation uses that phrase seven times in chapters 2 and 3. 
·    That is significant since it is the BOOK OF REVELATION.
·    Revelation is when you hear the Spirit speak to you.
·    The Spirit is speaking something different to every church and to every time period of the church age.
·    We need to hear what the Spirit is saying.
·    It is wonderful that the FIRST THING we read about when the phrase HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH is used in Revelation is EATING FRUIT OF LIFE!

A world of revelation is the new world the dove symbolically spoke to Noah to resurrect and enter.

The FIGS and GRAPES are mentioned.

Gen 8:(13)  The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. 

Jesus spoke of figs and grapes, too, and look what he was speaking about.

Matthew 7:15-20  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  (16)  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  (17)  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  (18)  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  (19)  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  (20)  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

The GOOD FRUIT is compared to figs and grapes.
·    And these were the very two fruit mentioned in Song of Solomon when speaking about the NEW WORLD Noah should enter.
·    A world where the SPIRIT REALLY EXISTS AND PRODUCES ITS FRUIT THROUGH PEOPLE.
·    True spiritual maturity.
·    Fruit represents maturity.
·    The false prophets are not there.
·    They produce THORNS AND THISTLES.
·    That is why Jesus called them workers of iniquity even though they prophesied and performed wonders.
·    IT IS THE FRUIT YOU NEED to be mature, not the gifts.

(14)  O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 

Notice two things here.
·    Hidden in the clefts of the rock and secret places of the stairs.
·    He wants to hear the woman’s VOICE.

The cleft of the rock speaks of place where the rock was “CLEAVED”.
·    Notice that this is where we are before we walk into newness of life in real spiritual maturity.
·    It is an important place to be.
·    We have to come to this place for salvation.
·    Jesus is the ROCK.
·    And He was smitten.

Isaiah 53:4-5  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  (5)  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Moses was in such a place.

Exodus 33:21-23  And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:  (22)  And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:  (23)  And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Jesus is the rock who was SMITTEN in death on the cross.
·    We need to be baptized into this DEATH of Jesus in order to be saved from sin.
·    Moses had to stand in the cleft of the rock.. where the rock was smitten… in order to see glory of God.
·    Noah was there in the ark when he ignored the raven and then saw the DOVE WITH THE OLIVE LEAF IN ITS MOUTH.
·    After you resist the ravenous flesh, you will start to see something.
·    You will receive a message in the mouth of the dove.
·    The dove did not have that leaf in its mouth the first time Noah rejected the raven and followed the dove’s lead.
·    But because he followed the dove’s lead he then later was able to see something in the mouth of the dove.
·    That leaf was not there the first time.
·    You do not immediately hear the voice of the Spirit the first time you choose to follow Him.
·    But keeping your attention on the Spirit takes you to a higher level and you see the MESSAGE!

From the ARK Noah saw the dove’s olive leaf.
·    From your place in the cleft of the rock, the stricken aspect of Jesus, you will eventually come to grow so that you can leave the ark and walk into newness of life.
·    This place was also called the SECRET PLACE OF THE STAIRS.
·    Again a MOUNTAIN is implied.
·    There would be ledges up the sides of mountains where doves would be hidden.
·    Although the dove was partway up the incline of the mountain, showing spiritual growth and RISING to higher heights, the dove was till hidden, and not at the top yet.
·    It was in the secret places of the stairway.
·    There are places in Christ where we are climbing, but we are also still hidden, and we need to climb further and become VISIBLE!

He wants to SEE US!
·    Remember that Noah had to remove a covering!
·    Cove rings cover and hide!
·    God wants to see us walk out into spiritual maturity and newness of life.

(14)  O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 

He wants to HEAR OUR VOICE.
·    What WORDS did Paul say we have to SPEAK in order to leave the place of death with Christ so we can actually be led by the Spirit and arise in newness of life?

Romans 6:13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

We TELL GOD that we KNOW we are alive from the dead, and our bodily members are instruments of his righteousness.
·    He wants to hear us SAY THAT!
·    He wants to hear our voices.
·    Presenting and yielding ourselves to him is showing him our countenance.

(14)  O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 

(15)  Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

When this occurs YOU FINALLY DEAL WITH ALL THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MESS YOU UP SO EASILY!
·    They kill the tender grapes – the grapes that are young and just starting to grow!
·    Like thorns and thistles choke the word!
·    They’re little foxes because they’re the little SUBTLE AND SLY THINGS that kill us!

And the beloved is the DOVE BUT HE CALLS HIS LADY A DOVE AS WELL!

(14)  O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 

If the HOLY SPIRIT is like a DOVE, and man is SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY, then what is God referring to when he calls us A DOVE AS WELL?

SPIRIT TO SPIRIT.
·    God’s Spirit to Human Spirit.
·    When your SOUL leads your life, you are SOULISH and NATURAL.
·    NATURAL is literally SOULISH in the Greek used in the NT.
·    CARNAL is fleshly in the Greek.
·    Soulish people get upset with emotional things in life and with other people.
·    CARNAL people get messed up with physical things like sex outside marriage and drugs and so on.
·    SPIRITUAL PEOPLE are those who mature and overcome the fleshliness and grow strong.

God calls to the SPIRIT part of you to RESURRECT!
·    Arise and be so led by the Spirit that you mortify the deeds of the body!

Romans 8:13-14  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  (14)  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.


Never forget that we mortify the deeds of the body THROUGH THE SPIRIT, and when it says THOSE LED BY THE SPIRIT are mature sons of God, it means LED BY THE SPIRIT TO MORTIFY THE DEEDS OF THE BODY!