BELLS AND BERRIES
"And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around" (Ex 28:33,34)
The Lord had instructed Moses to make a special robe for the high priest to officiate in.
In this rather strange passage the priest was to wear a robe which had a
border of small golden bells between linen replicas of pomegranates (fruit). No
explanation is given, except that the priest could not minister without this special robe. I
think the explanation comes in the New Covenant. We are priests and Jesus Himself is our
High Priest. A priest is someone who is a go-between. The priest represents God to man
and man to God.
All New Testament ministry is to be an expression of the ministry of Jesus Christ. As the
Old Testament high priests could not minister to the Lord or on behalf of the people
without the special robe so we cannot function as representatives of the Lord without
being correctly dressed as the Lord. Among many other things, we must have a
bell and then a pomegranate and then another golden bell all around the hem of our
priestly robes. To do otherwise is to MISrepresent the Lord.
As the high priest moved about in his duties a beautiful sound was produced. This was
not produced by the golden bells alone but by the fact that there was a small linen
pomegranate next to each bell. Let's look at the bells first.
There are nine "bells" listed in I Cor 12. These are the gifts or manifestations of the
Spirit. These announce the arrival of the power of God in the congregation or wherever
the Lord moves. Paul tells us that if a person comes into a meeting where there is
prophecy "the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on this face, he
will worship God and report that God is truly among you" (I Cor 14:25). Powerful!
The manifestation of the Spirit should help produce humility, worship, and a report going out
into all the land that testifies that God is alive and at work among His people. How we
need this today! How this is missing today. To not have this power at work among us
is to have no true humility, no real spirit-led worship, and certainly no report going out
witnessing to the reality of God among His church. Without the bells or the
manifestations of the Spirit we MISREPRESENT God. We give a perverted picture
of the Lord to the world. We state (by what we are corporately) that God is different than
how the Bible states He really is. What a crime! We are going about our priestly duties
and making NO sound in the spirit realm. No one knows that Christ dwells among us
because His presence is not being announced in the way that the Father has ordained.
How can we remedy this situation? Realize we NEED the Holy Spirit and His gifts.
However, this will not be enough. God does not respond to need. He only
responds to faith. He makes provision for us because He sees our need but He
does not move until there is one essential thing: DESIRE! Forgive me for
shouting but WE MUST HAVE HEART-WRENCHING, UNDILUTED,
UNPERVERTED, WHITE-KNUCKLED, FLOOR-POUNDING, RAW LUST after the
power of God in our lives and in our midst. Because it is only desire born of faith that
releases the manifestations of the Spirit. Stop praying, "Lord, I need you". Start praying,
"Lord, I want you". If that seems difficult, there is a serious problem in your heart. Ask
the Lord to produce in your heart hunger and thirst for the things of the Kingdom. He will
answer that prayer.
As the high priest moved about the temple performing his sacred duties he had more
than just golden bells on the hem of his robe. Between each pair of bells there was a
small pomegranate. Because of these little fruits the sound from the priest's robe was
magnified and purified. The pomegranates tempered the sound from the golden bells.
These pomegranates, of course, represent the fruit of the Spirit described in a list of nine
items in Galations 5:22,23. Remember, the gifts of the Spirit are also described in a set of
nine. What is the fruit of the Spirit? It is the nature of God and the character of Christ. It
is how God is. If on our priestly robes, in which we represent God to a lost world, we
have only the bells and no fruit then we "have become sounding brass or a clanging
cymbal" (I Cor 13:1). If, in our service for the Kingdom, we have no fruit of the
Spirit we produce a sound which is not a correct expression of the King. It is the sound of
metal pieces banging together. It is harsh and cold. Jesus is not this way.
If on the other hand, however, we have no bells on our robe we produce the sound of
MUSH: ripe fruit squishing and smacking together. This likewise is a perversion of the
character of Christ and the nature of God. The fruit without the gifts proclaim a weak god
to the world; a god who likes everyone and who wants to help, but he can't. He's
powerless. A church with the power gifts and manifestions but without the fruit of the
Spirit portrays a god who is harsh, cold, and crazy. A god who could help people but
who would rather just make it thunder and rain instead.
I was driving one evening and I felt something come into my spirit but I did
not understand what it was. Soon, a message came up into my mind and I laughed out loud when I heard it, "Some people have
more bells than berries." How true! Christian friends, let's look down at our robes. What
are we ministering in? What is on our border? How are we representing God? Do we
understand Him ourselves?
I Cor. chapter 12 deals with the manifestations of the Spirit. Chapter 13 talks about the fruit of the Spirit, specifically Love. Then chapter 14 describes the gifts of the Spirit again. So, it is a gift and a fruit, a gift and a fruit all around on the hem of the robe.
Unlike the gifts which must be sought, the fruit of the Spirit is
something produced by yielding. As we give ourselves to the life flow within us and to the
pruning action of the Word, the fruit just happens. You have never seen an apple tree
grunting and straining to push an apple out from one of its branches. It simply lets the life
force within produce the fruit without noise or anxiety.
It is reported that Adolph Hitler announced that he was a
messenger of Jesus Christ. Did this lie needlessly offend anyone? Yes, several million
people at least. They say there were signs in the execution ovens stating "You Are Being
Killed In The Name of Jesus Christ". As we minister in Jesus' name let's go in His robes. Let's make sure we are correctly representing the
Lord of Power and Love.
David Stewart Nov. 28, 1997
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