We had some friends over for supper on Saturday evening, and the conversation came round to the subject of introverts and extroverts. Someone was surprised when I identified as the former but I am most definitely an introvert in the sense that I ‘need’ time on my own to recharge my batteries. Please don’t get me wrong; I love being with people but my battery eventually runs flat! Victor is the complete opposite – he comes alive and sparks when he is in the midst of people, noise and the randomness of more chaotic conversation.
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16th March 2020 is a date etched in my mind for it was the date when our Prime Minister Boris Johnston clarified that he was advising against all but essential travel and work in the UK. Speculation had been rife for several weeks as news headlines warned of the impending spread of Coronavirus. Panic and concern were everywhere on the streets; and justifiably so for the epidemic was spreading like wildfire, but one word was in my spirit and that was …Intimacy!
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Intimacy essentially means closeness and connection – usually between two people, but it can even be used to describe a cosy or private space which has an ‘intimacy’ about it. When I think of intimacy I maybe think of a roaring fire in the grate, the curtains drawn, the phone on silent mode and the television switched off. Locking the world outside for a time in the expectant hope that something better will be encountered on the inside.
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I know now that others also sensed that God was calling His Bride into a deeper relationship as the unknown threat of a worldwide epidemic approached and all of the appointments and work and plans which seemed to perpetually cram-fill my diary, were now deemed by Boris Johnston to be ‘non-essential’!
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As the New Year begins on our Gregorian calendar and the roads are quieter than usual with schools and colleges and businesses enjoying a Bank Holiday I feel a draw back to experience that intimacy with the omnipresent ever loving Father God who calls us back to Himself. Back to the Garden where Adam walked with God in the cool of the evening. The God who brought His people out of Egypt and made His presence felt in their midst as He led them by day with a pillar of cloud (and aren’t we blessed in Northern Ireland with pillars of cloud?!) and a column of fire by night. The God who met with Moses and Aaron and Joshua in the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting – meeting God…
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The Hebrew word for ‘Intimacy’ is ‘Qorban’ and it is also commonly translated as a gift or offering – something given to another in devotion – which is probably why we often give roses or flowers. As the priests approached the altar they brought a gift or offering – as they placed it upon the altar they were closer to God than anywhere else on earth.
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Qorban comes from the Hebrew root word Qarab which is spelt with the 3 consonant letters Qoph-Resh-Beit (QRB). The letters of the Hebrew alphabet are all hieroglyphics each containing a meaning.
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The letter ‘Qoph’ is the Hebrew word for an ‘ear’ and it carries the idea of intensely focussing in on something. The letter Qoph looks like an ear, but it also looks like a setting sun on the horizon when there is an intensity of colour which prophetically speaks of a Moed or appointed time – for such a time as this!
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The letter ‘Resh’ is the Hebrew word for ‘head’ – it looks like the back of a person’s head if they are moving from right to left. Hebrew is read from r-l so the Resh is a mindset or thought pattern which will control the way we lead our lives and the decisions we make.
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The final letter, the ‘Beit’ (or Beth) is the Hebrew word for a dwelling place or home. The hieroglyphic is the outline of a Bedouin tent from above. The Beit is literally where we live – where we ‘are’, where we have set up camp. Prophetically it speaks of the House, the Ecclesia, the Bride!
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Taking the 3 letters together the word Qorban (from the root word QRB) is essentially saying that when we focus and intensify our attention on what God is saying we discover that we are in the midst of a divinely appointed time where our thinking can be brought into line with what God is doing in our land and ultimately it will result in God’s Kingdom being established as we help the Bride prepare and realise and walk in her true identity.
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Soon the world will be battering on our doors again but to coin a phrase used by Boris – much of what occupies our time is ‘non-essential’ – we must plan ahead, and make time for Intimacy with God.
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- Written by Roz Mitchell
