THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS

 

(c) Morris E. Ruddick

 

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." Psalm 23:4

 

Paul explained to the Galatians that "in the fullness of time, God sent His Son."

 

The "fullness of time" Paul referred to was one of chaos and upheaval. It was a time when God's people were without direction, with those wielding the mantle of God's authority using their positions for personal gain. Jesus described them as "an evil generation." While mobilizing an unlikely band of followers to pass the baton to, He pointedly judged the religious leaders misusing their positions and authority.

"Surely tax collectors and harlots will enter the Kingdom of God before you. For the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people bearing the fruits of it." Matthew 21:31, 43

 

The fullness of time was the passage into monumental change. It was the gateway into a full-scale confrontation between the forces of evil and the power of God.

 

The Recurring Error

At the foundation of appropriately wielding the Kingdom mantle is our identity in God. Yet over the ages, acquiescing to the world's order of things has been the recurring error of God's people. In the days of Samuel, the people asked for a king, so they might be like everyone else.

 

The identity struggle morphed and then peaked in Jesus' day, as the Pharisees curried the favor of the Roman power brokers. Even today, we speak of the Kingdom, yet for the most part, we model success after the world's standard; and justify it by being nice people and brandishing a notch-up in our ethical standards.

 

Covenant with Death

The core conflict between good and evil is at the heart of the identity issue. One of the most deplorable stages in God's people acquiescing to the world's order was the alliance between Ahab and Jezebel. It was an alliance with sorcery that conformed to the world's standard. God's chosen had digressed to the brink of aligning themselves with the bondage of corruption.

 

It was a time when black was deemed white and white black; when evil was deemed good and good evil. It was a covenant with death, as the power of God and the forces of evil converged in the standoff between Elijah and the prophets of baal. Years later, the prophet Isaiah foretold hard times that would change the order of things.

"Your covenant with death will be annulled and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through --- it will be a terror just to understand the report." Isaiah 28: 18-19

 

The alliance with death creates an illusion from which spiritual realities are masked. It strips away the simple truths that confound the wise and replaces them with deceptive buffers that mesmerize God's people into being like everyone else.

 

You Can't Argue with Success

In his letter to the Romans, Paul referred to zeal without knowledge. Within the Body today are those who cannot be faulted for their lack of zeal. Despite that, decision-circles bearing on the Kingdom embrace the subtle assumption that you can't argue with success. Yet, this was the very premise that resulted in Ahab calling Elijah the "troubler of Israel ."

 

Our model for success has not only become distorted, it had lost touch with reality. The subtlety of that distortion is driven by a central premise of free enterprise. Roughly a hundred years ago, an author by the name of Max Weber wrote a short book titled "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." That book has become the accepted wisdom for almost every business school within American universities. The assertion is that the free enterprise phenomenon is the result of the work ethic and ethical standard applied in the post-reformation era, but especially in the early years in America .

 

However, the free enterprise system, in its purist sense, was not birthed from the Protestant ethic or the capitalist approach undergirding the formative years in America . It was based on something much, much more. The Protestant ethic and capitalist approach to what became known as "the American dream," was modeled by Abraham, with its principles outlined in the Jewish Torah.

 

Abraham's model, of a God-centered, entrepreneurial community, forms the basic elements of the Kingdom imparted by Jesus. Based on the dynamic of God at the center and the increase through business that builds community, the Torah outlines all the elements that brought blessing to the economic foundations of the American phenomenon: private ownership, profit, customer relations, employee relations, diligence, liberty, honor, opportunity, trust, charitable righteousness, community responsibility and more.

 

The Narrow Path and the Valley

The narrow path of the Kingdom, that Jesus spoke of, will take those walking it into what the psalmist describes as the valley of shadows. It represents, to appearances, an uncertain pathway that has a proximity to evil, death and destruction. It portends vulnerabilities. Yet, in reality the valley of shadows navigates the course toward the still waters of God's Kingdom rule.

 

Moses arrived at that juncture of the narrow path in his encounter with the burning bush. He was hemmed in. There was no going back to his former position as a prince of Egypt . His choice involved risking it all. His calling required a total identity with God and a confrontation from which the exit could only be through a narrow corridor between life and death.

 

Moses' mantle was not to be like everyone else, but to confront the culture. His mantle was to deliver God's people from their bondage and onto the pathway toward the still waters. The steps toward that path began with crossing the line on the identity issue into the confrontation of culture in the valley of shadows.

 

The illusion today is that the still waters are represented by the American dream or reaching the top of some other comparable system. The other deception is that the still waters referred to by the psalmist are meant to begin on the other side of eternity. In the words of Jesus, "Let Your Kingdom come here on earth, as it is in heaven." The still waters reflect the culture when God's Kingdom rule is in operation.

 

Jesus came to restore the order of God's Kingdom rule. He refocused the priorities back to God's original mandate of dominion: of God's people ruling over the work of His hands in cooperation with him. The central theme of what Jesus imparted to His disciples was how to reestablish, on earth, the operation of God's Kingdom rule. He passed on the keys to breaking the bondage of corruption. Nothing less would do it.

 

The Culture Conflict

The true operation of the Kingdom has always been and is supernatural. It pivots on our unique identity in God and the paradoxical, Kingdom order that runs counter to the way of the world. In our weakness, His power is made manifest. Honor comes from humility. We are to love our enemies and pray for those who abuse us. At the heart of true community are trust and the dynamic of charitable righteousness-tz'dakah. We lead by serving; we live by dying to personal ambition; we gain by giving away, and wisdom comes from simplicity.

 

For both the identity issue and restoring Kingdom order, culture is foundational. The Kingdom is the original blueprint, not the other way around. Without God fully at the center, the culture will be a flawed counterfeit, a shadow of the original that entices God's people to conform to the world's standard.

 

The issue evolves around authority; the restoration of God's authority on earth as it is in heaven. The Joseph calling is not about being like everyone else; it is not about becoming king of the mountain. The story of Joseph represented a most unlikely, yet desired result of this clash of cultures. In this most extraordinary encounter, Pharaoh acquiesced his authority to Joseph, and honored God by completely entrusting this slave/prisoner with his authority, because he recognized the authority of God operating through Joseph.

 

Then, generations later, after God's people had been totally assimilated into Egyptian society, the Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt , do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put in your hand." Nothing less than confronting the culture and its authority structure would break the bondage.

 

Unveiling the Shadows

Hebrews describes God as a consuming fire. So He is. As the "fullness of time," in which Jesus arrived, reached its juncture, it brought a most pivotal confrontation. This confrontation unveiled the shadows masking the culture of the Kingdom and the mingling of the religious and world's order. The culture of the religious and the worldly power brokers was an alliance of death, the intent of which was to assimilate and absorb God's people.

 

At the heart of Jesus' confrontation with the religious leaders who were bearing the mantle of God's authority were these words: "you neither understand the scriptures nor the power of God." The grasp and balance of both was and is necessary for the operation of God's Kingdom rule.

 

The restoration of authority from Jesus' confrontation with death restored the mantle of God's Kingdom rule to God's people. With this mantle, those wielding the Kingdom model would bring the transforming hope and change described by Paul in Romans: "for all creation longs for the revealing of the sons of God, that it might be delivered from the bondage of corruption." It is the mantle that penetrates the veil of culture.

 

The necessity of the confrontation is reflected in Jesus' words: "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force." Entrance into the Kingdom was not only out of the box, but beyond the standards of religious tradition. It is the door to those willing to step beyond the standards of conformity and the world's distorted view of success.

 

The Time of the End

From the fullness of time when Jesus released the Kingdom mantle, we now approach the "time of the end" described in Daniel 12: "In the time of the end, many will be purified and refined, but the wicked will do wickedly and none of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand."

 

Before us is a narrow pathway through the valley. Like previous cultural encounters between evil and the power of God, it marks a time of God's people bringing change.

 

Our cultural identity as citizens of the Kingdom is tied to traversing the valley of shadows. Jesus spoke of the turbulence that would manifest as the time of the end approaches. Globally, those confused from the conformity standard are looking to recover from the recent downturn. However, there is a second dip yet to manifest.

 

The pathway is deeper into the valley. The cost involves everything. It is a time to touch things lightly. Yet it is the path marked by His presence that will release new beginnings. It is where the shadows disperse. The valley is where the birthing will take place. The valley of shadows marks the Kingdom alignment on the pathway to still waters.

"Then the Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matthew 13: 41-43

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Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God in the marketplace. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling" and "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.

 

Mr. Ruddick is also the founder of the Global Equippers Entrepreneurial Program, which imparts hope and equips economic community builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world. To schedule a speaking engagement, sponsor a workshop, make a donation or to get more information on how you can help, contact Global Initiatives at 303.741.9000.

 

2009 Copyright Morris Ruddick - info@strategic-initiatives.org

 

Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check: http://www.strategicintercession.org

 

 

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