In the Seedbed Daily Text today, June 13, JD Walt introduces us to the concept of interpolation in regard to Pentecost:
Interpolation- “the insertion of something of a different nature into something else.” ……a lovely, evocative word with Latin roots! Thank you, JD, for introducing it to us.
Inter-
“between; among; in the midst, during”
polare ( from polire)
“To smoothe, polish”
Ezekiel 36:26-27
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
The Holy Spirit “polished” the speech and presentation of His own Word within the hearts and minds and bodies of the disciples at Pentecost, entering into their world (and ours) in a way that swept around and amongst them, rested upon and came to abide in them, then came forth from them, so that onlookers were amazed at the transformation of these uneducated, common people.
It evokes multiple images….. like the cutting and polishing of rough stones by artisan stonemasons gathering, cutting, matching and arranging sizes, shapes, colors and textures to transform them into an edifice of strength and beauty. Not just once, but continuing and duplicating the process generation after generation. Inter-generationally…… inter-nationally, inter-culturally…..
I think of centuries of missionaries to Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America…. transforming continents there who, in turn, now have a strategic and potentially transformative role in the interpolation of the Holy Spirit polishing of the Church in the U.S.
And so the wind still blows…. in our midst, to and fro….
Psalm 104:4…..He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.
Hebrew 1:7….Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.”
These verses are exemplified in the physical realm at Pentecost as the Holy Spirit messenger swept in from Heaven and imparted flames of passion and power upon God’s servants. The spiritual realm forever permanently transformed the operation and trajectory of the marred physical realm and continues to do so among us today…. interpolating Heaven into the Earth one person, one Body, one congregation, one nation at the time. Is there “backsliding”? Are there false prophets? Are there deceivers like the Gibeonites? Is there territory that has to be taken again? Yes. But God has given us the battle plan just as He did Joshua, the chronicles to review just as He did Ahazuarus, the guide for retaking and rebuilding walls just as He did Nehemiah.
God interpolated Himself into the physical realm through a physical birth of the divine though Mary. Jesus interpolated and exemplified the process for us from the physical to the spiritual realm, demonstrating how to decimate a physical temple and rebuild a spiritual one in 3 days. The Holy Spirit reverses the move again, after the Ascension at Pentecost, when the spiritual realm announced itself as present permanently to the physical realm. Both show us how to live into the fullness of the reality of God’s creation. God engineered the seamlessness of two realms becoming one into the design before He breathed out creation with a word…… “Let it be.”