No Form

No Form

“And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.” Deut. 4:12. “Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire . . . .” V. 15.

In the first instance this applied to carved images—idols—as was the custom among the heathen. However, we read about Jesus not having a form in a different sense: “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” Isa. 53:2.

In this sense of the word Jesus was a complete contrast to the Pharisees. It is written about them: “But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’” Matt. 23:5-7.

In light of the above we can also see how today’s religious masses attempt to fabricate a form—to create an appearance that can attract people, which is in essence contrary to Jesus’ Spirit and right in line with the essence and the spirit of what the Pharisees represented, according to their power and their means.

We can just look at the Catholic and Lutheran churches and other churches and meeting halls. They spend millions to give it a form and an appearance to which people are attracted.

The Pharisees desired to have the best seats and to be called “Rabbi.” We see how religious leaders make and decorate platforms and pulpits in the same spirit in order to be elevated above the people, and how they like to be called priest, bishop, pastor, elder brother, etc., according to their power and their means, all according to the opportunity they have. In addition to this, there are all kinds of events to create a form and an appearance which attract the people.

All this is idolatry, and in the midst of all this idol worship they fail to hear God’s and Jesus’ voice—the voice of the Shepherd. We read how Moses stressed the fact that they heard only the sound of the voice, but saw no form. Isaiah prophesied this of John the Baptist, who also said about himself: “I am ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness . . . .’” John 1:23. And Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:27.

In these days people try to bring about revivals and gather people to Jesus by means of organizing and making the worship of God as attractive as possible outwardly. You hear expressions such as: “We have a wonderful Savior, so we must have a beautiful meeting hall.” “I have a great Savior; therefore I have a large Bible.” Such Bibles are called “Preacher’s Bibles.” “Our churches have to be a testimony to the fact that we have a rich Father,” etc., etc. With all this idol worship they fail to hear the voice of the Shepherd, and consequently they do not gather Jesus’ sheep; on the contrary, they build Babylon the Great. It is nothing but the worship of man, his talents, and his own works. When the hour of God’s judgment comes (Rev. 14:7-8), Babylon the Great will have fallen, and then “Alleluia” will be shouted in heaven. Ch. 19:1-3.

The apostles, on the other hand, followed in Jesus’ steps. They did not covet any external glory, whether by word or by their conduct.

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God . . . I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power . . . .” 1 Cor. 2:1-5.

On the other hand the Corinthians, who were carnal, had quickly become kings, and were rich; but the apostles’ behavior was totally different: “For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.” Ch. 4:8-12. “But his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” 2 Cor. 10:10.

Here we can see the Spirit and the nature of Christ. All idol worship was eradicated, but then the apostles had the voice of a shepherd instead. They did not have a form of godliness, but rather Spirit and power.

May God give us grace to regard seriously the matter that Moses put on Israel’s heart. Then we will not only see through the pagan worship of figures of wood and stone, but we will also recognize today’s religious idol worship. We will see not only the Phariseeism in Jesus’ time, but also see the Phariseeism in the worship of God in our days. May God give us grace that no one among us has a desire for vainglory, trying to gain a form in the brotherhood so we provoke one another, but that our ministry in the church must be as the voice of the Spirit. Gal. 5:26. Then we will gather Jesus’ sheep—those who can hear His voice. They are the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are with the Lamb on Mount Zion when Babylon the Great has fallen. Rev. 14:1, 8.