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43. Chasing Shadows

1st September 1992 by Arthur Eedle

When I was a young lad of about 12 I can clearly remember my Headmaster, who was also our Greek teacher, telling us a strange tale from ancient times, told by Plato in his Republic, at the start of Book VII. It concerned the fate of some characters who were chained up behind a pillar in a cave, so that they were unable to turn their heads to see anything but that which was before them. The cave entrance was behind them, and some yards in front of them was a wall on which were thrown all the shadows of those who passed that way, produced by a fire blazing at a distance above and behind them. When people passed between the fire and the cave, their shadows were thrown onto the wall of the cave, and were witnessed by the prisoners. Plato then asked his audience what would happen if suddenly these prisoners were disabused of their error. Will they not be perplexed? Will they not think that the reality is still contained in the shadow, rather than the solid person who forms the shadow? Might they even try speaking to the shadows, rather than to the people? Will it not take them some time to re-adjust to that which is real, rather than their shadowy existence?

The Bible has a few very instructive mentions of shadows. Take for example, Heb.8:5. The Priests “served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.” The Tabernacle in the wilderness was solid enough, and the priestly services were recorded in amazing detail by Moses, who had been given the whole pattern on the Mount. But even so, the whole exercise was but a shadow. The reality was in the unseen, and heavenly world.

When David was preparing for the Temple to be built, he told his son Solomon that he should construct it in exact accordance with the pattern given to him by the Lord. And when Ezekiel, in captivity, received a vision of a yet future Temple, again he was given very specific instructions. In each case the visible building was to serve as a shadow of some heavenly reality. Even in Revelation 11, John is given a measuring reed, and told to measure the Temple of God and the Altar, and when the New Jerusalem was shown him, the exact measurements were given, even though he was now seeing the heavenly ‘model’. But this model was not itself the reality, but similar to what Moses saw on the Mount, a representation.

I have noticed with interest that various Biblical journals have recently carried articles about the intentions of the Israelis to build a Temple in Jerusalem. . Many Christians have shown great enthusiasm about these stories. What should our attitude be? Before attempting to answer that question, another Biblical reference to shadow is found in Col.2:16-17. “Let no man judge you in meat or in drink, or in taking part in a feast day, or a new moon, or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body (i.e. the reality) is of the Christ.” Once again, we see that aspects of the Old Testament law are called shadows. And this time it is not just the ceremonial law of offerings, but parts of the moral law as well. The Sabbath Day was part of the Ten Commandments. “Christ didn’t enter the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true, but into heaven itself.” Heb.9:24 “For the law is a shadow of good things to come, and not the image itself of those things.” Heb.10:1 And concerning the ceremonial law which was fulfilled by our Lord on the cross,“He takes away the first in order that He may establish the second.” Heb.10:9 The ‘first’ was the Old Covenant, and the ‘second’ the New Covenant. Whilst the Tabernacle or Temple was standing, the people of God were required to attend to the laws of the offerings. They were required by divine legislation to observe the “shadow” of better things to come.

But it is patently obvious that when the Reality (Jesus) came, they didn’t recognise Him. Why was that? Because they had distorted the shape of the shadow. The shadow no longer gave true information about the Reality which cast it. The shape was distorted. Man had added to God’s law, and twisted the meaning of laws which were not quite to his liking, so it is little wonder that they failed to recognise our Lord. In fact He was a serious embarrassment to them.

So let us return to the question. What should OUR attitude be to the news that the Jews are preparing to build another Temple in Jerusalem? The answer must surely rest on whether we are looking at shadows, or the realities behind the shadows. And even if we ARE looking at shadows, are they of the correct shape? First of all, Jesus told the woman at the well that the days were at hand when all true worship would be ‘in spirit and in truth’, and it wouldn’t be centred in Jerusalem or in the mountain where she lived. In other words, because the ceremonial law was about to be fulfilled in our Lord’ssacrifice, there would be no further need of a Temple, or even a geographical location. All would henceforth be spiritual.

Peter (in 1 Pet.2) and Paul (in Eph.2) both showed that believers are ‘living stones’ in a spiritual Temple structure. As such, to look for any earthly Temple would be to go back in time, whereas, to use the words of a well-known hymn, “our God is marching on.” As the days advance, so God is giving more light. His return will herald the entrance of even greater floods of light, and we must prepare ourselves for that. If we don’t, then we may get caught out, like the Jews who didn’t recognise the Reality, because they had distorted the shadow.

Many believers find it wholesome to think of the Body of Christ as a spiritual Temple consisting of living stones. They find no problem with that. How is it then that they find such interest in the activities of Jews who are still ardently opposed to Christ? When the Deliverer returns to Zion and turns away ungodliness from Jacob, those same Jews will find no further interest in building a Temple. They will then understand the spiritual truth behind their ancient scriptures. And as Isaiah forecast, “They shall call YOU, ‘The city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.'” 60:14. In other words, even the city of Jerusalem will be understood as a shadow, a symbol, or a figure of the true. Its reality lies in being a PEOPLE, not a PLACE. In the coming days those other words of Isaiah will also come true. “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and there learn of His ways, for the word of the Lord will go forth from Jerusalem, and His laws from Mount Zion.” 2:2-3

Where will these people be going? To literal Jerusalem in the land of Israel? No, they will be looking for God’s people in resurrection, the resurrected living stones, who will become God’s teachers in the coming days of His Kingdom. This is why Jesus told the Pharisees that it was useless for them to spend time in close scrutiny, and careful searching, for the Kingdom of God to arise. “The Kingdom is within you”, He said. God is not concerned so much with geographical locations, and purpose-built structures, as with CHANGED HUMAN BEINGS. Everything external is of passing value. That which is seen is temporal, but that which is unseen is eternal. Our desires should be towards the establishment of God’s own character in our lives, so that we may have a share of His Kingdom when He comes. This involves taking our eyes away from the shadows, and learning the truths of the realities behind them.

Take the Sabbath Day as an example. Our readers will know from our previous Telegraphs that we observe the 7th day as our Sabbath, as it was in Biblical times. But our observance is by no means like that of the over-zealous Jews of Jesus’ day. Saturday is the Lord’s Day, and He is the Lord of the Sabbath. But what does the Sabbath-shadow signify? It speaks of the thousand-year reign of Christ, God’s Rest. Our present concern is not just to keep the Sabbath Day per se, but to honour it before God FOR WHAT IT SIGNIFIES, one of those “better things to come.” To reject the Sabbath Day may in fact cause believers to close their own eyes to the truths concerning the Millennial Reign of Christ, and how it will be administered.

If this be true, then there is also good reason to spend time thinking and praying about the meaning of the important feast days of the Hebrew year, Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. It isn’t a matter of “keeping” them, as the Jews used to, but in waiting on the Lord for wisdom and understanding about their future significance. The same goes for the New Moon, and the laws about clean and unclean foods – there is much teaching in all these, but they don’t find very much part in the average believer’s study time these days. In fact the Church, which is the “shadow” of Christ at the moment rather than His Body (which it will be in resurrection) is sadly distorted in shape, so that the world cannot recognise the true Lord who is its Head. But those who have been changed into His image will find a place in God’s Kingdom, and then in resurrection the people of the world will actually WANT to seek them out to learn about God, a far different state of affairs to that which prevails now.

Brethren, we hold no preconceived ideas about our own attainments. We have not written these things because we believe that we have ARRIVED at the conditions we speak about. In teaching the truths of the SHADOW and the REALITY, it has been necessary to speak as we have. But our own personal prayer and heart-direction is for the Lord to complete His work in all His children to His own glory. In practice we find many things that require God’s hand of discipline upon us, and our own sense of weakness is constantly before us. We pray for you who read these lines, and we ask that you will pray for us. Together in the bond of true spiritual love we may uphold each other before the throne of grace until God has completed His work in us all. And the desire for this completion is not for our own personal pleasure or position, but rather that we may become instruments in God’s hands towards the restitution of others in days to come, even as the firstborn son’s privilege of double blessing was not for personal enjoyment, but for assisting his brethren in their time of need.

Filed Under: Original Series

About Arthur Eedle

Arthur was born in 1931, and became a Christian in 1948. At London University he gained a 2nd honours degree in Physics. He went on to get a Teaching Diploma, and throughout his career life taught physics in England, Kenya, and Hong Kong. Coupled with his love of science, he was a keen student of Greek and Hebrew, and gave many lectures on Biblical subjects. Read more

The Prophetic Telegraph

1a. Why settle for half the gospel?

2nd April 1986 By Arthur Eedle

1b. The time has almost run it’s course

1st May 1986 By Arthur Eedle

1c. The Apocalypse of Abraham

1st June 1986 By Arthur Eedle

2. The New Bus

1st July 1986 By Arthur Eedle

3. Lifting the mat

1st August 1986 By Arthur Eedle

4. Sleep and Dreams

1st January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

9. The Law

1st January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

10. Atonement

2nd January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

11. Which Temple? Which City?

2nd January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

12. Which Nation?

3rd January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

5. Man’s Sensory Apparatus

1st February 1987 By Arthur Eedle

6. Gods of the market place

1st February 1987 By Arthur Eedle

7. Protocol & Etiquette

1st February 1987 By Arthur Eedle

13. The House of the Soul

1st February 1987 By Arthur Eedle

14. The Fence Makers

1st May 1987 By Arthur Eedle

15. The Fence Breakers

2nd May 1987 By Arthur Eedle

8. Worship

1st June 1987 By Arthur Eedle

20. Every Knee shall Bow

21st March 1988 By Arthur Eedle

22. Behold He Comes!

1st September 1988 By Arthur Eedle

23. Jesus the Firstborn

1st May 1989 By Arthur Eedle

24. An Ancient Scroll is Found

1st June 1989 By Arthur Eedle

26. Discipleship

1st November 1989 By Arthur Eedle

27. A God of Justice

2nd November 1989 By Arthur Eedle

28.Enmity

3rd November 1989 By Arthur Eedle

30. Noah’s Vineyard

1st October 1990 By Arthur Eedle

31. God’s Pleasure

1st December 1990 By Arthur Eedle

32. Chasing the Glory

2nd December 1990 By Arthur Eedle

33. Glory

3rd December 1990 By Arthur Eedle

34. Money Lovers

1st January 1991 By Arthur Eedle

36. On Your Toes!

1st February 1991 By Arthur Eedle

37. Flesh & Spirit

2nd February 1991 By Arthur Eedle

38. Babylon & Jerusalem

3rd February 1991 By Arthur Eedle

39. The Human Will

4th February 1991 By Arthur Eedle

40. The Mirror

1st July 1991 By Arthur Eedle

41. The Image

2nd July 1991 By Arthur Eedle

42. I Believe!

1st December 1991 By Arthur Eedle

43. Chasing Shadows

1st September 1992 By Arthur Eedle

44. National Identity

2nd September 1992 By Arthur Eedle

45. The “Full” Gospel

3rd September 1992 By Arthur Eedle

46. Confession and Torment!

1st October 1992 By Arthur Eedle

47. “Too Hard”

2nd October 1992 By Arthur Eedle

48. Freewill

1st November 1992 By Arthur Eedle

49. Vengeance

2nd November 1992 By Arthur Eedle

50. The Golden Section

1st January 1993 By Arthur Eedle

51. The Dark Day of May 1780

2nd January 1993 By Arthur Eedle

53. The Power of Thought

1st February 1993 By Arthur Eedle

16. Hidden Treasures of Genesis. Part 1

1st July 1994 By Arthur Eedle

54. A Gross Exaggeration

1st July 1994 By Arthur Eedle

17. Hidden Treasures of Genesis. Part 2.

1st August 1994 By Arthur Eedle

55. Millenial Kings and Priests

1st August 1994 By Arthur Eedle

56. Is This the Antichrist?

1st September 1994 By Arthur Eedle

57. The New Blindness

2nd September 1994 By Arthur Eedle

58. Exclusivism

3rd September 1994 By Arthur Eedle

59. Armageddon

1st October 1994 By Arthur Eedle

60. Perplexity, Confusion & Polarisation

1st November 1994 By Arthur Eedle

61. In Praise of Little Things

1st January 1995 By Arthur Eedle

62. Character Reference

2nd January 1995 By Arthur Eedle

64. The Exaltation of Christ

1st March 1995 By Arthur Eedle

65. Comparison and Contrast

1st July 1995 By Arthur Eedle

66. Adam and Eve

1st September 1995 By Arthur Eedle

67. “The Big Noise”

2nd September 1995 By Arthur Eedle

68. The Evil Eye

3rd September 1995 By Arthur Eedle

69. “Christian Theatre”

4th September 1995 By Arthur Eedle

71. In Pursuit of Excellence

1st October 1995 By Arthur Eedle

72. Capernaum, Bethsaida & Chorazin

1st November 1995 By Arthur Eedle

74. The Secrets of the Lord

1st December 1995 By Arthur Eedle

75. Caterpillar Magic

2nd December 1995 By Arthur Eedle

76. Amazing Historical Evidence

3rd December 1995 By Arthur Eedle

77. The Tin Islands

1st January 1996 By Arthur Eedle

77a. The Ancient Mining of Tin

1st January 1996 By Arthur Eedle

79. Sodom’s Great Secret

1st January 1996 By Arthur Eedle

80a. “A Precious Cornerstone”

1st February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

80b. Nature’s Hidden Model

2nd February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

80c. Further Secrets Revealed

3rd February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

81. Toils and Burdens

4th February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

82. The Sabbath Day and Sunday

5th February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

83. The “Jewish Sabbath”

1st March 1996 By Arthur Eedle

83a. About “Jots and Tittles”

2nd March 1996 By Arthur Eedle

84. About the Sabbath Day and Sunday

2nd April 1996 By Arthur Eedle

85. Contempt

1st May 1996 By Arthur Eedle

86. The Crowning Day. Part 1

1st June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

87. The Crowning Day. Part 2

2nd June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

88. The Enthronement

3rd June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

89. The Ark of the Covenant

4th June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

90. The 1979 Prophecy

5th June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

90a. The Biography of Jane Leade, 1623 – 1704

6th June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

78. The Ark of the Covenant

1st August 1996 By Arthur Eedle

91. The Ron Wyatt Tour of Britain

1st November 1996 By Arthur Eedle

93. Lucifer’s Glorious Beginning

2nd November 1996 By Arthur Eedle

94. Lucifer’s Fall from Glory

3rd November 1996 By Arthur Eedle

95. Lucifers History

4th November 1996 By Arthur Eedle

96. The Trinity

1st January 1997 By Arthur Eedle

99. “Just a Wearyin’ For You”

1st June 1997 By Arthur Eedle

100. Pre-Existance. Part 1

1st September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

101. Pre-Existance. Part 2

2nd September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

102. Pre-Existance. Part 3

3rd September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

103. Pre-Existance. Part 4.

4th September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

104. Pre-Existance. Part 5

5th September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

105. Secret Numerical Codes in Biblical Hebrew and Greek

1st October 1997 By Arthur Eedle

106. An Everlasting Problem

1st October 1997 By Arthur Eedle

107. Pre-Existance. Part 6

1st February 1998 By Arthur Eedle

108. El-Shaddai

1st March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

110. Triangle Numbers

2nd March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

111. The Secret of 153

3rd March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

112. The Secret of 276

4th March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

113. “In the Beginning”

5th March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

114. Good and Evil

1st March 1999 By Arthur Eedle

115. Quietism

2nd April 1999 By Arthur Eedle

116. Meditate on these things

3rd April 1999 By Arthur Eedle

Article Series

  • All our Yesterdays (30)
  • Before He comes (13)
  • God's Spoken Word (37)
  • Mysteries of Science & Faith (8)
  • New Series (101)
  • Newsletter (2)
  • Original Series (109)
  • Prophecy considerations (5)
  • Recognising the Hand of Judgment (33)
  • Resurrection and Change (16)
  • Seekers Corner (14)
  • Simple Statements on Serious Subjects (6)
  • The City of God (18)
  • The Millennial Octave (23)
  • The Restitution Times (22)
  • The Song of Solomon (6)
  • The Standard (19)
  • The Wayside Pulpit (107)
  • The Wayside Pulpit 2015 (96)
  • The Wellspring (101)
  • The Wellspring 2017 (55)

Index of Topics

Arthur & Rosalind Eedle's Personal Testimonies Discipleship Expository Items Good and Evil Human Pre-Existance Jane Leade. Philadelphian Numerology in the Bible Quotations from other Authors Resurrection and the Change Ron Wyatt. Archaeology Science Topics The Kingdom of God the Millennium and the Return of Christ The Sabbath Day Universal Reconcilliation

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