Light from the Crack--Chapter 6: The Return, Part 1

“Anava has returned to do Your will,” I said slowly and deliberately, as I approached the soft glow of light from the crack in the mountain. “Your will is my delight, because your law has been written on my heart.”

“Do you now understand the calling?” the Voice asked.

“Yes, I have heard the revelation, and Joshua has told me what to do with it.” I replied.

“Do you know your heart? Are you in agreement with My plan and My ways?”

“I am,” I said without hesitation.

The soft glow from the crack again whirled and gathered into a thin, small spear of light, resembling a bright nail. It hovered nearby for a brief moment and then thrust itself at me, piercing my right earlobe. Before I could recover from my surprise, it spoke into my ear, saying, “Do not fear. I am Vav; I am here to open your ear and to unite you to the Creator. Henceforth the light from the crack will be in your ear to guide you and instruct you in the way in which you shall go.”

The Vav then melted away, returning to its original state as a soft, misty glow. Then I heard the Voice of the Creator speak softly in my ear, “Build Me a kingdom according to the pattern which I have shown you.”

“Yes, Master. But where shall I build? Where will I find the resources necessary for such a work?” I asked.

“Seek first My kingdom, and all these things will come to you at the proper time. Remember always that this is My work and that I am faithful to compensate all labor that I have authorized. Do as you see Me do with justice and mercy, and above all, teach all truth with love. Always keep in mind who you are, Anava, and walk in that garment. Though many will oppose your work, you cannot fail, because I have decreed its success.”

“Your will is my will,” I responded.

The glow subsided, as if to return deep into the unknown passages of the mountain, and I knew that this encounter had ended. The divine earphone, however, gave me a sense of His presence, and I knew that I would never again experience the feeling of aloneness or separation or even of real danger. Just knowing that He was with me and would direct all my paths and knew all my circumstances and difficulties reassured me that all adversity was but a stepping stone toward His goal and that He would provide a way through every valley of the shadow of death.

As I walked slowly out of the cave, squinting at the bright sunlight, the cave closed up behind me, and the gaping hole was replaced by craggy rocks and tufts of grass, as if it had never existed. I felt a momentary regret, as one feels when waking out of a wonderful dream. But now I carried the light with me, for the Vav had implanted His presence permanently in my ear. There was now no turning back. Nothing would ever be the same again, but the new path that lay ahead was brighter and surer than any that I had known in the past.

As I followed the trail back to the lodge, my thoughts returned to Joshua and the things he told me while returning to the earth from our rainbow revelation. The first crack of the violet dawn of an age had arrived, along with a brighter future, not only for us but for the whole earth. We were part of a vast plan to implement the Creator’s purpose. While He might have done it all Himself by the power of His word alone, He had chosen to work through agents who would embody His word. The same irresistible, creative power that sent forth His word at the beginning of time was in those agents, forged in fire, tried in the crucible of wilderness experience, and matured by understanding. They were as living words, united fragments of a single Word, speaking in earth as it is in heaven, in order to reconcile all things and unite both worlds as one.

Joshua had told me during our descent from on high that he owned not only the balloon business but also the entire valley through which the river from Revelation Mountain flowed. Or rather, he said, it was owned technically by The Creator’s Trust. “I am just the manager of this Trust,” Joshua had explained. “Joseph is the chief steward.”

I resolved to talk with both Joshua and Joseph further about this, because I was told that the kingdom had already been established by this Trust. The manager and steward knew more than they had revealed. My heart was drawn to work with them to develop the kingdom.

It was close to noonday when I finally returned to the lodge. I found Joseph—or rather, he found me, for as soon as I walked through the door, he called to me from across the room, waving his arm to attract my attention. “Anava!” he shouted. “It’s good to see you. Come, we need to talk.”

“How are you today, my friend?” I responded.

“I am doing exceptionally well,” he said cheerily.

Having dispensed with our greetings, he motioned a receptionist to bring us coffee, and then ushered me into a small conference room having comfortable chairs positioned around a cozy fireplace. As we sipped the aromatic coffee, I recounted to him the morning’s encounter with the light from the crack and how that light had pierced my ear.

Joseph nodded knowingly. “I had the same experience some time ago,” he revealed for the first time. “My instructions, however, were to wait for the appointed time. Long have I waited for this day, for I could not do much until others had come forth to do their part. But now the time has come to build a kingdom for the Creator."

He paused, took another sip from his cup, and then continued. “Kingdoms have been built in days gone by, but they have all failed, for past stewards exceeded their boundaries and usurped it for their own use.”

“Why would they do such a thing?” I mused. “Disobedience is a form of madness, don’t you think?”

“They were not blessed with the Vav,” he explained. “Without hearing the perpetual Voice of the light, they remained mere servants without understanding, and often they acted as if the Creator Himself served them. As servants, they failed to follow the commands of the Creator, for they had eaten of the tree of knowledge. They thought that they had more wisdom than the Creator Himself and presumed to advise Him about how His kingdom ought to be managed.”

His pained countenance then brightened. “We may put all of that aside now,” he said with a hint of excitement, “because things have now changed. We are not mere servants of the Creator, but friends, for He has revealed His secrets to us. Because we returned, we were made perpetual bondservants, true friends, having hearts in agreement with Him. Because we delight to do His will, He has entrusted us with the deep concerns of His heart. This is why the Vav has opened our ears.”

“Yes,” I said fervently, “and that is our guarantee of success. I do understand. We now may eat of the tree of life, while having all the benefits of the tree of knowledge as well. When life takes precedence over knowledge, that is true wisdom. This truth has eluded men for many ages. Yet now the time has come to build a kingdom upon that wisdom.”

At that moment, the door swung open, and Joshua entered the room, holding a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. (Joshua likes coffee; I know, because I like coffee, and we are in agreement.) “Joseph, my old friend!" he proclaimed loudly. "Anava, my new friend! I have come because the still, small Voice in my ear told me we needed to confer about kingdom matters.”

“We do indeed,” Joseph answered. “Anava has just returned from the cave, where the Creator made him one of our company. He tells me that the time has come to build the true kingdom. It appears that the age of failure has ended. It is now certain that no flesh can claim success, nor can men glory in their own ability. We may now proceed with humility,” he said, looking at me and raising his cup of coffee as if to toast me.

Joshua too looked at me and added, “That is good news,” he said, raising his cup. “The fog dissipates. The veil is torn. The illusion of men’s ability is shattered. Pride is humbled, humility exalted. The Age of the New Covenant is upon us. There is much work to be done.”

He continued, “The second rainbow yesterday provided us with the final revelation needed to build successfully. All prior kingdoms were built by the commands of the lower rainbow, which men failed to obey, although they had agreed to its terms of stewardship. Our kingdom, however, is to be built by the promises of the upper rainbow, and the Creator has taken personal responsibility upon Himself to make this happen. We cannot fail.”

Speaking up for the first time since Joshua had arrived, I said matter-of-factly, “It appears, then, that I am a sign of change from the pride and ability of men to the humility of men and the ability of the Creator.”

“You are indeed,” Joshua said with all seriousness. “We have waited patiently with the Creator Himself for this moment of truth. It is the truth of grace and its less-known power of forgiveness. Because grace is so gentle, few comprehend its power to overcome all opposition.”

With sudden insight, I looked at Joshua and smiled broadly. “That is your other name, is it not? I am certain that I just now heard this in my ear. Joshua-Grace! The Creator has a sense of humor!”

“Indeed, He does,” Joshua said with a hearty laugh. “My earthly name is Joshua, but my New Creation Man was given the name of a woman. It is written in the laws of the Creator that some sacrifices were male and others female. I am both a male lamb and a female heifer. I represent all of those prophetic sacrifices, and so in different ways I unite both male and female principles in marriage as one body.”

“In the earth,” he continued, “we can be either male or female, but not both. Such are the limitations of earthly expressions. But in the spirit there is neither male nor female as we know it, for it is a higher realm and the laws apply differently. Even so, my spirit is known as Grace. It is mother of all living, and all must be birthed by this woman in order to have life.”

And so it was, that three witnesses, each bearing the image of the Creator in different ways, set forth to build a kingdom. Joshua and Joseph bore witness, and Anava set the timing as the third witness to clarify all that the first two had done. All things in heaven and in earth are established by at least two witnesses, even as the law and the prophets bear witness to the word.

But a third is also important. Humility comes from stark awareness of one’s failure, and then it steps forward as the great Timekeeper. As a psalm of praise, humility puts the words of the first two witnesses to music, having meter and beat, that all might enjoy and more easily remember the revelation.