"Prepare Ye the Way of the LORD"

 

 

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Prepare ye the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

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"Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; Even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts.      Isa. 40:3-5, Mal. 3:1

 

This above cry comes forth out of the wilderness. If you think of yourself as part of a church that seems to be in a wilderness, it is very likely that this cry is coming from you right now. It is a cry that is calling out to all to "get ready", to prepare. It is a cry that we feel compelled to shout out.

This year, during this season before Passover and Resurrection, it seems especially urgent.

In the days before Passover, a Jewish household is cleansed of leaven, and prepared for the Feast. Similarly, we need to prepare our spiritual houses, ourselves.
The term "prepare" used in the scriptures above refers to a "turning back, a turning toward something, and a turning away from something, an approach of evening, to clear from things in confusion, to put a house in order, to face, to approach, to behold."

The "way" that we are to prepare as used above, is a journey, a road, a manner, a conversation, a custom, a way of life. Most interestingly, it also means to express wine or oil by treading down with the feet. Wine and oil have great meaning in God's Kingdom, one of which is their use in comfort and healing. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan uses wine and oil to bring healing to the wounds of the man he finds beaten while the Samaritan is on his journey (way) in Lk. 10:33-34.

 

 

                                           

Oil is also used to represent the Holy Spirit, and the anointing and presence of the LORD. The oil is used to light lamps, including the Lamp of the LORD in the Temple.
Jesus pointed out that not only were we to be a light, but a light by which all can see through the darkness. That light is to be lifted up, placed on a lampstand, that those who enter may see it, in order to relieve that darkness, and bring glory to God:

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp, and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house...that those who enter may see the light... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven."      Mt. 5:14-16, Lk. 8:16

Jesus warns us about being unprepared, caught without oil in our lamps, when the bridegroom suddenly comes, with a shout, or a cry:

"And at midnight a cry was heard: "Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!" Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out"...And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut."                Mt. 25:6-10 (abridged)


                                                      


The wine produced by preparing the way of the LORD is a symbol of the blood, the atonement of Christ, the redemption, the reconciliation, the beautiful new covenant between God and man. It is also a symbol of the gladness of the LORD. It is the miracle done at the wedding in Cana. ("Cana" happens to have the root meaning of a measuring rod, the beam of a balancing scale, the shaft and branches of a lampstand)

In the treading down process, the way that belongs to the LORD presses the oil out of the olive, and the wine from the grapes. This is what is to be pressed from our lives also. We turn back to those things of God that allow the oil and the wine to come forth from us. Jesus called Himself The Way. He is the One who produces this oil and wine from each one of us, if we will submit to Him in this pressing process.

The cry is going out from the wilderness: Now is the time to prepare, now is the time to have our lamps filled with the oil which is produced from the way of the LORD. Now is the time to have that light in us shining for all to see the way out of the darkness, and into His marvelous light. Let our temple storehouses be filled with the oil and the wine of the Spirit. It is time to make our crooked places straight, to raise up the valleys in our lives, and pull down those mountains that have exalted themselves in us, to smooth out those rough places, to prepare His way. All of these "preparations" have a direct impact on the soon and sudden coming of the Lord, according to our scriptures above. 
As we prepare the way before Him, He will enter in.