ABSTRACT

There’s this phrase: “the more you look, the less you see.” Doesn’t appeal to reason at a first impression. Why should it? The essence of “looking” is “seeing.” And looking more should amount to seeing more. So, when the reverse turns out the case, there’s likely something in the closet that needs some cleaning out. It’s one thing to arrive at the realization that something somewhere needs cleaning out. It’s another thing entirely to act on that realization and follow up with due implementation. Going by definition, the term “implementation” amiably refers to “the act of accomplishing some aim or executing some order.” In effect, the knowledge possessed via looking and seeing—ought to be acted on—to achieve the desired result or desired results. In this context, that result is nothing but “clarity.” Elements of this clarity would then be sight, vision, implementation, outcome, and knowledge. But if the sufficiency of sight only amounts to impaired vision, there’s then a deficiency of knowledge, and implementation becomes unlikely. With implementation being farfetched, there’s bound to be no outcome whatsoever. An attempt at deriving a result from such complexity—only gives rise to another infamous phrase: “merry-go-round.” Is it on record anywhere that clarity was ever achieved by way of a merry-go-round? Let’s see!

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INTRODUCTION

“I will make all my goodness pass before thee…” Those were God’s words to Moses in Exodus 33:19. As a consequence, the book of Genesis came to be on record…and will so be for all eternity. Likewise, in Revelation 1:19, Jesus’ exact words to the beloved disciple were: “write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.” It might take an in-depth expositional teaching by certified stewards of the mysteries of God’s kingdom—for one to learn how much of a merry-go-round it took for all of God’s goodness to pass before Moses, resulting in the clarity that birthed the book of Genesis. Thankfully, the book of revelation is at the tip of every finger. All it takes to get a heads-up on the merry-go-round of the beloved disciple in the heavenly realm is simply inquiring into that book. It’s all there: the angels, elders, sequential blowing of trumpets, the voices, seals, sights, visions, beasts, knowledge, outcomes, and whatnot. From being in desert regions on the Lord’s day to getting transported to terrains far away, the beloved disciple was filled in on details upon details of deific info until he had his fill of them and begged to have no more…a seeming merry-go-round that had him schooled by elders, beasts, and angels across realms. In that region, a common phrase that portrays his crisscrossing of realms is: “come up hither.” To keep beholding new sights, amassing new visions, and acquiring new knowledge, he had to keep assuming new heights until all that was intended to be shown to him—was shown to him. Only then could there be an implementation: documentation thereof; of knowledge acquired through the seeming merry-go-round, ultimately resulting in such clarity that gave rise to an outcome known evermore as “the book of revelation.”

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SIGHT

Now, was clarity achieved by the beloved disciple through a seeming merry-go-round that saw him mounting heights upon heights to behold sights upon sights? If a read of the book of revelation strikes chords, then there lies the answer. Many persons in the Christian faith owe their steadfast allegiance to the true God on account of the writings documented in revelation. That documentation, however, was the outcome of an implementation that was based on knowledge—gained through sight and vision, encompassing all the elements of clarity discussed in this piece. Revelation 1:2 evidences this when it says: “who testifies to everything he saw...” To the savorers of that account, the very next verse of that scripture admonishes thus: “blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it because the time is near.”

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VISION

An excellent dictionary definition of “sight” holds that “sight is the act of looking, seeing, or observing.” Of vision, the same dictionary holds that “vision is a vivid mental image.” With the layman’s understanding, the above definition of sight affords an insight into it as being a “now thing.” That is, when it comes to sight, it is a present continuous state of affairs. It has to do with what is in view at the moment. Drawing from the beloved disciple’s experience in the divine realm—as recorded in revelation, he was shown sights upon sights that enriched him with in-depth knowledge. But to bring about an outcome through implementation, he must have leveraged vision because going by another definition of vision, it would take vision to recollect/form mental images of the sights he saw, which he put down in writing. Unlike sight (which has to do with the present moment), vision stretches to encompass a wide range of sights from the past, present, and even future. What’s more is: beyond stretching to encompass a wide range of sights from past, present, and future, it comprises other factors like imagination, experience, sensation, and creativity, to list a few. Thus, for the beloved to have documented his sights on record, he had to cast his mind back to all he saw, form mental images of his experience, recall the sensations afforded him by dazzling moods/atmosphere of that realm, then creatively put them in writing to pass down the knowledge.

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IMPLEMENTATION

The essence of employing these elements is to arrive at an outcome that affords clarity. The process of employing these elements to arrive at that outcome is the implementation thereof, which in this case is the systematic documentation of diverse data—garnered by a wealth of bitter and nice experiences. The beloved disciple adopted Habakkuk 2:1-2 in his implementation. Having stood upon his watch and set himself on the rampart to watch and see what God would say to him (and what he would answer when corrected), God’s words to him had been: “write the vision and make it plain on tablets—that he may run who reads it.” Thence was the revelation of John birthed and published for studying and consideration by believers of Jesus Christ…to the end that members of Christian denominations may draw advantage from that account and ensure an exemption of self from the inevitable woes contained therein—to be dealt on nonbelievers. Over two thousand years back when John’s account was birthed and published, a peculiar cautionary advice littered all over that chronicle was that the time for the coming-to-pass of those things was near, and it was expedient of believers to take to heart the divine cautions that had been relayed to the churches by their specific angel. If the people of John’s time had been told that two thousand years would pass before John’s account comes to pass, they would have doubted, considering the urgency with which the alarming account was relayed, one of them is this: “I come quickly.” But Habakkuk 2:3 makes it known that “…the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” To this implementation, there’s been a variety of outcomes.

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OUTCOME (LIGHT)

Genesis 1:3-4: “then God said, ‘let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.” To the various outcomes that come by way of implantation, there is one flawlessly alpha outcome which remediates incidental inequities in other outcomes. Thus, to a formless, desolate, water-covered, darkness-engulfed incident such as seen in Genesis 1:2, the remedy is light. To a raging masses, fuming with toxic desperateness for the dawning of a new era—such as the Nigerian situation, the remedy is light. To chaotic kingdoms having divided against self and on the brink of falling, the remedy is light. To troubled households plagued with unhealthy sibling rivalry, the remedy is light. To all manner of threatening evils, and all things whatsoever that are in contrast to the perfectness and values of the Holy God, the unfailing remedy is light. This light is what yields a profound knowledge that breeds a desperately sought-after, coveted, unmatched clarity.

KNOWLEDGE (CLARITY)

John 1:5 says: “and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” In Psalm 119:105, the psalmist says: “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Those scriptures give expression to the biblical perspective of light—which is particularly peculiar to those of the Christian faith…and perhaps, folks who hold biblical accounts in high esteem. But then, a generally acceptable definition of light to fellows in all works of life is that “light is a source of illumination.” Even the famed Thomas Edison, renowned for his invention of the light bulb, only turned his attention to light bulbs to solve the problem of illumination. Light, like many other entities, has its functions. Diverse theories concordantly put forward these functions to include visibility, activity, plausibility, reinforcement, composition, punctuation, revelation of form, mood/atmosphere, and so on. In the same vein, diverse theories also share common grounds as it has to do with the types of lights. These functions and types of lights have explanations that must be made plain—to afford comprehensibility to learners. But hardly do these theories and explanations point to “clarity” as being a prerequisite of light. It is mostly about illumination.

Howbeit, when it comes to Jesus (the Son of God/Word of God) as being light, it is a different ballgame entirely. Therein do the functions of light go beyond the above-listed to include beatitudes like life—as evident in John 1:4 which says: “in Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Another is Christ Himself, evident in John 8:12: “then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Another is the born-again believer, of whom Matthew 5:14 says: “you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Of the same category of persons, Acts 13:47 says: “for so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’” And then the Word of God itself, thus extolled by the psalmist in Psalm 119:130: “the entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” There are lots more, littered across pages of the holy book. As earlier noted, the thing about the function of this divine light is that it breeds aliveness, as distinguished from merely giving illumination. It does give illumination…just not the kind of illumination from Edison’s light bulb. It gives celestial radiance. Heavenly glow. Profound brilliance. It is God’s illumination.

The difference between the function of conventional lights and that of divine light can be deduced from a megahit literary work on the Nigerian State by a keen patriot—titled; “Mr. President (Uproar 2023).” Making an assertion that reveals the pros and cons of both lights on a perturbed nation, he posited thus: “that wasn’t new. Long before the coming of missionaries and masters, there usually were such wars. But they were mere trivial violent exchanges that couldn’t at the most be counted for war. Howbeit, upon the departure of the masters, the trivial violent exchanges escalated into heated frenzies and ultimately pitched to a bloody civil war! It could be that the light that had dawned on Nigeria—had been overcome by darkness. But if the holy book is anything to go by, darkness never overcomes light. Therefore, would it be safe to say that light had not dawned on Nigeria after all? The light had dawned on Nigeria…just not the light of men which shines in darkness without being overcome by the darkness: (Jn 1:4-5). That’s probably why it was so quick to again give way to a formless, desolate, water-covered, darkness engulfed Nigeria. Now, there’s an uproar! The people want Mr. President to bring back the light, not just any light, but the light of men, such as dawns when the Spirit of God moves and God speaks!”: (Genesis 1:2-3).

It is clear from that patriot’s position that conventional lights have pros and cons. But for divine light, it is pros all the way, which is why people from different backgrounds/upbringings only endeavored to clamor for the light that dawns when the Spirit of God moves and God speaks…as was in Genesis 1:2-3: “the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘let there be light’; and there was light.” This divine light is found all through the pages of the bible to overcome all the darkness that appealed to its remediation. There are many of them: from Exodus 13:21 where the Lord went before the Israelites by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light…to Joseph preserving the entire world for seven years of famine by the light of God’s wisdom that saw him deriving a precise connotation to Pharaoh’s problematic dream and proffering the most suitable resolve. And then there was Daniel in Babylon, in whom dwelt an excellent spirit, whom God gave knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and understanding in all visions and dreams, which is the reason he was found to be ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all of king Nebuchadnezzar’s realm.

The story of Nebuchadnezzar’s troubling nightmare is not alien to the world and its people. What, however, was alien to all—was the connotation thereof, and it took Daniel to arrive at that connotation. How so? Well, Daniel 2:1-6 says that “…in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, ‘I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.’ Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, ‘O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.’ The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, ‘my decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation.” It is on record that none of them could come through for the distressed king.

That caused the king to issue a fatal decree in anger and fury, requiring that all the wise men of Babylon be killed, including Daniel. So the decree went out and they began killing the wise men. They sought Daniel and his companions to kill them. With counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch (the captain of the king's guard) who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; saying: “why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to his companions—that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. The crux is in Daniel 2:19: “then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” In appreciation, Daniel hallowed God. In his words: “blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.”

The last words of Daniel’s speech above go thus: “…and light dwells with him.” Take note: light. It was the absence of light that caused the king to be troubled by his nightmares. It was the absence of light that caused his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to fall short of giving a soothing interpretation to the dream. The absence of light almost cost Babylon’s choicest government officials their lives. But the presence of light remediated it all…not just any light…but the light of Christ which shines in Darkness without being comprehended by the darkness. It is clear from this discussion that the heavenly light bears untold functions that set it outstandingly apart from other lights…hence, unfailingly yielding a profound knowledge that breeds a desperately sought-after, coveted, unmatched clarity. Studies may not esteem clarity as a function of conventional lights. But isn’t it safe to assert that the sole function of the light of Christ—is to afford clarity? For, as written in Isaiah 9:2: “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” And in Psalms 119:105 cited above says: “thy word is light”: [paraphrased]. Of this word, which is light, John 17:17 says: “Your word is truth.” Then, speaking of this truth, John 8:32 says: “and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” To note, chiefly, is that these are consequences of the heavenly light, not just giving clarity, but affording knowledge too…and indeed encompassing all elements of clarity discussed here—to arrive at it: be it sight, vision, implementation, etc. What more can one testify about this light?

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CONCLUSION

From complexity to easiness on account of clarity…aren’t we so thankful for light? Do you know what else is praiseworthy? Sight, of course, plus vision, and implementation, which unitedly played key roles to arrive at light as an ultimate outcome, thus yielding a profound knowledge that breeds a desperately sought-after, coveted, unmatched clarity. Again, aren’t we thankful for the outcome of light? Aren’t we thankful for the clarity afforded by knowledge? Aren’t we thankful for implementation? Aren’t we thankful for vision? Beloved people, aren’t we thankful for sight? I, for one, am…beyond measure, as a matter of fact, and I have no doubts that you do, too. Therefore, going forward, clarity shall come cheaply because of this understanding of the modus operandi of its elements thereof…just as silver and gold, though next to God in a hierarchy under the sun, was made to become a common normal by king Solomon in 2nd Chronicles 1:15 which says: “also the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones…” Think about it: silver and gold becoming like mere rocks and stones? Mere play toys in the hands of children? Oh yes! That’s the fate of clarity henceforth via knowledge, for, knowing the truth freed the disciples from deception, errors, and heresies…as it is written: “and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” But then, having read up to this point, the big question to ask self is this: “has the insight afforded me by this piece served the purpose of affording me the profound knowledge that would breed my desperately sought-after, coveted, unmatched clarity? Has it aided the uncovering of a long-sought truth?

Or, has it only done well in equipping me to stand a chance with solving seeming mysteries and puzzles of life henceforth? This is the point where I draw the curtain with a priceless question posed to the Lord Jesus by Pilate shortly before passing a death verdict on him. Having been presented with diverse allegations/accusations against Jesus, he thought it wise to have a word with Jesus and find things out for himself. Jesus’ words to him were: “are you speaking for yourself about this? Or did others tell you this concerning Me?” Pilate answered, “am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to Him, “are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “you say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” It was in response—that Pilate posed the said question to Jesus. He had asked: “what is the truth?” And so, having read thus far and possibly gained plausible insight as to leveraging the elements of clarity discussed herein to uncover the truth, would you say you’ve gained knowledge that has given you clarity and aided the uncovering of long-sought truths? If not, it’s okay. Give it time. Knowledge isn’t cheap. But if yes, like Pilate, I ask: “what is the truth?”

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©Jezuzboi, 2022.