Book Three
The Upper Room
ONE:
Man/Son of Man
Part Two
I have had dreams of an upper room at the top of winding stairs. The stairwell became more difficult to navigate until, at the top, it was quite narrow and the entrance straight. Invariably, that upper room was the representation of my mind and the attainment of higher mentality. As I approach a more thorough study of spirituality, it will become increasingly clear that mentality and spirituality share common attributes. I have asserted that our cognitive abilities are spiritual, that ‘spiritual’ and ‘communication’ go hand in hand, that there is no action without communication. In this third book, we will zero in on those cognitive abilities.
The road we walk, as ever, will twist upon itself in serpentine fashion, and lest we be continually dazed, we must remember that we climb an upward path from man, through children of men, to the son of man. If we are temples, then Christ is the pattern shewed us on the mount. I think that when we reach our zenith, that pattern will be realized.
Marching men and marching angels; we march toward the union. The history of the children of men is a forward momentum of mentality. The spiritual strides that we will see in the children of men are meant for nothing less than an uphill struggle, and the trained eye will see this one intriguing fact: that we are, at once, both pushing and pulling ourselves forward.
We are men and children of men. We do cry out to our blind eyes that we see. Open your eyes to Psalms 107:8, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!”
This is a trait of the children of men: we think about, we focus on the Lord. We rise above our earthly limits as we reach for the morning star of our inner man.
See Psalms 115:16, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath He given to the children of men.”
There is a definite connection between God and the children of men: if you will, we are God’s work in progress.
God is keenly interested in us; He is keeping an eye on us, as recorded in Psalms 33:13, “The Lord looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men.”
Note the hopeful allusion to ‘son of man’ as seen in the plural ‘sons of men’. Our attraction to the spiritual accomplishes within us that which is more nearly spiritual, as when gold is laid upon silver. A transmigration of molecules takes place so that the silver is infused with the nature of gold. As we
become more aware of the spiritual by way of infusion, we become more at ease with, and more trusting of, those truths unseen by the naked eye.
The shared nature produces the confidence that is seen in Psalms 36:7, “How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings.”
Some of us know what it is to be brought up with a childhood friend that carries over into maturity, or even a brother or sister that becomes a friend. Such relationships guide lives. I know that in some of my relationships, the other person was like a lighthouse to a wayward ship. Such an influence they had on me that I took on many of their defining traits. I may still be somewhat of a wayward ship, but now I have my own spotlight - and sometimes I shine it on others.
I want to take a close look at a verse from the book of Proverbs. It is like a cupcake with sprinkles. We seekers love our sprinkles; they are the unexpected treats on top of something already dear to us. Count the sprinkles on Proverbs 8:30-31, “Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.”
First of all, to whom does this verse refer? It refers to Wisdom. Who is Wisdom with? Wisdom is with the Lord. Actually, this entire chapter is a necessary read, and I recommend it to all earnest seekers of truth. Wisdom is here presented as a feminine companion or sibling to the Lord as if they were raised together the way children are raised.
It is interesting that the term “brought up with Him” is used. It takes my mind back to a previously cited verse where God claimed that no God was ‘formed’ before Him. When we think of children being brought up, one of the expressions we resort to is ‘formative years’.
Secondly, a relationship is described. It is sweet and impassioned: the Lord ‘delighted’; Wisdom ‘rejoiced’. The word ‘delight’ implies choice: wisdom was the Lord’s chosen favorite: she was His delight. Wisdom, then, rejoiced in that state of favor. This is the beginning of a tiered design. I say that for the fact that wisdom’s rejoicing “before” was a location that just happened to be in the inhabited climes of earth.
Moreover, Wisdom’s “delights” (chosen favorites) were the “sons of men” (there’s that hopeful allusion to the son of man, again).
It follows that the children of men will rejoice in that state of favor. How can we rejoice in things unseen? We are, after all, infused with those invisible glories. Finally, there are two thoughts arising from this verse: they may be no more than interesting asides, but, one is the word ‘always’: if it speaks of completeness, as in eternity, and we have yet to reach the end of the linear timeline, then it is worthy of further investigation. It may only mean ‘at every opportunity’, otherwise, it may reference a nonlinear timeline.
The second thought is of the expression ‘habitable part of His earth’. To my mind, that sounds experimental, as in a colony: His part being an intrusion into an established hierarchy. What a nature we have! - that we are both ‘men’ and ‘children of men’ - that within us is not only the loam of the beast but the tended seed of Christlikeness.
That may seem, at once, both downbeat, and a very good reason to yearn upward.
See the sons of man in Ecclesiastes 3:18, “I said in mine heart concerning the estate (gift, endowment, inheritance, birthright, legacy) of the sons of men, that God might manifest them (the sons of man), and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.”
Of that dual nature, Psalms 53:2-3 has this to say, “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back (to the loam of the beast): they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Dare we call man two-faced? I ask, is ‘beast’ anything more than hollow invective? Is it primitive name calling, or is there any substance to the primal nature in ‘man’?
Check out Daniel 5:21 for a reversal of nature, “And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart (his thinking) was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that He appointeth over it whomsoever He will.”
We see contemporary reversals of nature each time a man or woman returns to an addiction or a destructive lifestyle. We see the beast in violence; we see the beast in ignorance. Beyond individuals, we see the forfeiture of our better nature each time society engages in war or terrorism. Within our dual nature, the thoughts of the beast may be found each time we imagine revenge: someone put the eye on the little lady; someone violated the turf; someone showed disrespect.
Our son-of man-ness is hard won, and easily lost! Nature reversal is, moreover, a cycle that may quickly spiral out of control. It is an un-state that negatively affects all things around us. Its origin may be found in the departure from rejoicing in the delights of Wisdom.
See Joel 1:12, “The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.”
Anyone who has been in prison or boot camp knows that while these institutions are extensions of the societies they are linked to, they are nothing like them. They are more like worlds unto themselves; they are as different from surrounding society as oil is from water. Why do we yearn upward? It may be that we all innately sense that life, this present world, indeed, all of corporeality is a confinement.
It seems a part of our very nature from childhood to test limitations, to push the envelop, to seek and strive to move beyond ourselves. That may well be our initial introduction to spiritual infusion, for they are, after all, mental qualities. There are many less than upbeat opinions about this world we live in, but there are also scriptural indications that life is less than rosy. Are the children of men prisoners of this planet? Is earth a prison?
See Lamentations 3:32-34, “But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men, to crush under His feet all the prisoners of the earth.”
Imagine that! - God causing grief to the children of men. If He does not do it willingly, as it is said (that is, capriciously), then there must be a reason for all the really bad stuff that goes on. Prison is only one type of confinement. Another type is boot camp. I’ve been there, and I can attest to the fact that some very bad things are deliberately done to those who happen to be stuck there. I think the worst of all is that one has absolutely no autonomy. But, hey! They say it makes good soldiers.
See them run the obstacle course in Ecclesiastes 3:10, “I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.”
“The seed of men.” On the surface, this seems no different from the sons of men. Ah, but underneath that matte exterior! - a subdivision of the sons of men. They are set to one side as if they are not men at all. They certainly look and act like the ‘sons of men’, but perhaps their looks deceive us. Whatever they are, they are intrinsically nested deep within the worldly powers and stand highlighted as different from the rest of us poor earthly prisoners. They are platoon leaders; they are prison bulls.
They are mentioned in Daniel 2:38-44, “And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”
It is just too interesting to pass over. They walk among us, being alien, and call themselves by our names. Yet, their faces are only imitations of our own. They sit in seats of power, yet they count themselves among the common seed. There are plenty of so-called secret societies, but their manner of dress is easily spotted; their language, too - well, that may be secretive, but we know that it is not about the potatoes in the back garden. If we have angelic others, perhaps our taskmasters also have angelic others: fallen angelic others. In closing, let me just point out that another walked among us. He, too, was very different. And just like all the rest of us, He was called man.
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