In Psalm 27,8 David speaks about the call of His heart to seek the face of God.

 

8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek.

 

The search for the face of the LORD, aiming to find Him, entails a pure or sincere heart.

 

A special emphasis is also put on a sanctified lifestyle, because without holiness, it is impossible to see the LORD (see Matthew 5:8; Matthew 7:7; Hebrews 12:14)

 

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

 

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

 

14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

 

 

Living in holiness means, every single believer in Jesus Christ submits his soul to the order of the word of God. This applies to the areas of the will, emotions and mind. All three areas of the human soul should comply with the order of God's word which is found in the spirit (see Galatians 5:16-17).

 

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

 

The term “flesh” as mentioned in Galatians 5 => describes the thinking, desire and action of a person not being governed by God and His will, but solely by the fleshly being – namely by sin (see Romans 8:1-17; Galatians 5:13-6,12; Ephesians 2:3; Philippians 3:3-4). Here, the flesh – as opposed to the spirit – describes the fact that sin has taken a hold on man and his members to such an extent that his “flesh”, like a foreign power, governs his complete being; this in turn entails death (see Romans 7:5-25). <= (Part excerpt from the CD-ROM Bible Edition for the Luther Bible, 1984; word illustration number 10)

 

 

In order to understand the attribute of God's face better, we should take a close look at the Hebrew word for “face“, “pānîm” which means “faces“, as well as “the presence of a person, appearance and front“. (note: part excerpt from the Elberfelder Study Bible on the word “face- pānîm” with word key number 6574)

 

This Hebrew word, “pānîm“, is in the plural, hence it shows us that God is interested in speaking to us in a wide variety of ways. Not only does He has a face, but He also reveals Himself in different characters.

 

According to the biblical calendar we are in the new decade of “Pey“, which is connected to the “mouth”. Because the mouth is part of the face and plays a vital role in communication, it has special meaning for me.

 

Please note that the Hebrew word for “face” begins with the letter “Pey“.

 

In a prophetic context and in conjunction with the decade of “Pey” the mouth is an indication for the Holy Spirit leading us as God's people into the domain of the oral “expression of divine knowledge“.

 

This acknowledgment of divine knowledge can be expressed through the various facets of the “face – pānîm” of God.

 

The four revealing characters of God's face are:

 

 

God's knowledge is combined with concealment, as this belongs to the treasures hidden in Jesus Christ (see Colossians 2:3).

 

… 3 in whom (note: Jesus Christ) are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

 

Proverbs 25:2 declares that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it is the glory of kings to search out a matter.

 

2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

 

In order to be able to act from the position of a king in Christ, one has to meet the requirement of walking in the power of His blood and living in His sacrificial death on the cross.

 

We achieve this by personally receiving Jesus Christ as the Son of God by faith and following Him unreservedly (note: in faithfulness, with a sincere heart, in humility) with our lives.

 

This results in Jesus Christ living in us through His indwelling Holy Spirit, and thus His blood activates the kingship and priesthood (see Revelation 1:5-6).

 

… 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

 

When we intensify and nurture our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we will more and more see the Heavenly Father in Him and the way in which He appears to and communicates with us.

 

At this point, the scroll of Revelation can enlarge our spiritual capacity in the blessing, as it is stated there that blessed is the one who reads the words, hears them and takes to heart the prophecy therein (see Revelation 1:3).

 

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

 

Walking in the spirit is a basic requirement for understanding the revelations in this scroll, so that we are enabled to receive and comprehend spirit-filled teaching (see 1 Corinthians 2:13-14).

 

13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

 

This walk in the spirit primarily implies total surrender to and complete trust in the Holy Spirit (see John 3:8).

 

8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

 

In addition, walking in the Holy Spirit requires flexibility on our part and includes giving attention to the action of God and His guidance. As a result, we lay down our own ideas, plans or practices, should God choose to act in a different way.

 

Serving or ministering from a position as lover of God results in the release of favor, lifting the respective person into a special position. John, Jesus' disciple, had such favor. Even his name proclaimed the favor of God daily, merely by his presence (note: John => „YAHWEH is merciful“).

 

It was John, who was close to the heart of the Son of God (see John 13:23).

 

23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

 

Looking at the book of revelation we can see that, at the end of his natural life, John became a messenger to the “church – ekklēsịa” (note: seven churches).

 

This demonstrates to us that authority and power to issue directives arise from a sincere and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. It doesn't mean one is primarily a receiver of revelation, but rather a giver of revelation, that may contain a word of direction for the fellowship.

 

It is therefore up to us in which spiritual structure (note: “John” or “the church” => here it represents for one “relationship” or “fellowship“) we want to stay.

 

It was John, who was authorized by God (note: YAHWEH) to release favor and peace (note: Hebrew, Shalom) through various spiritual channels over the seven churches in Asia (see Revelation 1:4-5a).

 

4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5a and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth …

 

This release of favor and peace resulted in different manifestations in those seven churches in the province of Asia.

 

John released grace and peace through the following spiritual “channels“:

 

 

The manifestation of grace and peace through the above mentioned structures can mean the following:

 

 

From Revelation 1:4a and Revelation 1:8 we take it that God IS, was and is to come. It doesn't say that God was, is and is to come.

 

Because God is spirit, this statement means it is God's desire that we do not give first place to the past of our lives but rather walk in His spiritual “IS-STATUS => I AM“, and from this vantage point we should consider phases of life and times.

 

Past, present and future are not dead but completely alive for God, as He fills and encircles all times as the “I AM – YAHWEH“.

Walking in Him involves moving on in the spirit and in truth, as well as in His kingdom and government authority and rulership at all times (see Colossians 3:1-3).

 

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

 

Contrary to this, the four creatures in front of the throne of God are authorized to refer to the Almighty (note: Hebrew, “`ēl šaddaj“) in chronological order (note: “who was and who is and who is to come“).

 

This citation of the chronological order points towards the LORD speaking to us in various ways and various facets during various times of our natural life (see Revelation 4:8).

 

8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”

 

 

When Moses, for example, ascended Mount Sinai and stayed in the presence of God, it states that light radiated from the skin of his face, as he descended from the mountain.

 

The word used for “radiate” in this context is “qāran” and derives from the root word „qärän“, which means “horn, horns” (see Exodus 34:29-30). (note: part excerpt from the Elberfelder Study Bible on the word “radiate/glancing-qāran” with word key number 7328*, 7329).

 

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.

30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

 

From the above mentioned scripture we can see that the people of Israel were not familiar with this kind of face, because they were afraid.

 

This might also happen to believers in fellowships or churches, when leaders or persons with a mandate for revelatory preaching come across as disconcerting or strange by what they preach; however, this can not be attributed to the contents of the revelatory message.

 

Moses mirrored a piecework of the face of God in form of the bull, who points to God's strength. In this Moses spoke to the people of Israel with his face unveiled. This shows clearly that they got familiar with the face of God.

 

When Moses went up the mountain for the second time to speak with God, and then descended again, he covered his face while speaking to the people of Israel. This covering can point towards a new facet of the face of God on Moses, the people of Israel were not familiar with (see Exodus 34:34-35 i.c.w. 2 Corinthians 3:7-8).

 

34 But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

 

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?

By this we can see that it is crucial to be guided by the Holy Spirit in order to become more familiar with the “face – pānîm” of God, and to differentiate what kind of anointing is present, so we can adjust accordingly to be able to minister to the people in the right way (see 1 Corinthians 2:13-14).

 

13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm

 

Übersetzung: Margit Kelly