Thursday, April 2, 2009

Story for a Song - Brook of Kidron


I thought I'd post another song story today.

This song was written while we were stationed in Connecticut. The church we went to while we were there asked me to do "special music" for an upcoming service. The sermon was to be based on 2 Chron. 29, where King Hezekiah takes the throne and cleanses the temple. As I read through the passage, I was struck by the verse that said they took all the abominations - everything unclean - and threw them into the brook of Kidron.

16And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.

I started looking for whatever information I could find on the Brook of Kidron, and found this:

It is described by Smith this way (Hist. Geog., p. 511): "To the north of Jerusalem begins the torrent-bed of the Kidron. It sweeps past the Temple Mount, past what were afterward Calvary and Gethsemane. It leaves the Mount of Olives and Bethany to the left, Bethlehem far to the right. It plunges down among the bare terraces, precipices, and crags of the wilderness of Judea-- the wilderness of the scapegoat. So barren and blistered, so furnace-like does it [the valley] become as it drops below the level of the sea, that it takes the name of Wady-en-Nar or the Fire Wady. At last its dreary course brings it to the precipices above the Dead Sea, into which it shoots its scanty winter waters; but all summer it is dry."

What a neat word picture! I imagined the Israelites taking all their unclean things and hurling them into this (perhaps at that moment) dry valley, knowing that in the winter, the rushing waters would shoot through and wash them all away into the Dead Sea. (What a fitting place!)
I imagined myself, standing in that brook, scary as it might seem, but knowing that God was using it as a place of cleansing - and that His waters would wash away all the unclean self-filled things in me.

Here is the link to the song: (remember to stop the blog music before listening if you bring it up in a new window) http://www.daddys-little-princess.com/brookofkidron.mp3

and here are the words:

Brook of Kidron

chorus: I stand in the Brook of Kidron
Where You purify me, Lord.
The boiling, churning waters 'round me teem.
Raindrops falling all around me
As Your cleansing on me pours.

vs. 1 Your Word says, "Be, thou holy, as I am"
And so I try to be good, but no one can.
Then I hear Your voice so still,
Saying, "Trust Me and I will...
I will bring about in you, My perfect plan."

repeat chorus:

vs.2 This valley seems to be filled so full of sin.
A place of filth, where the dryness is sure to win.
Lord, I long to see Your face!
Send Your tidal waves of grace
So my filth is swept away and I'm cleansed again!

repeat chorus:

bridge: My hands are clean and I hold them high!
My heart is pure and my spirit cries...

repeat chorus:

vs 3: Man whitewashes, but Your blood washes white.
And though Your storm can be an overwhelming sight,
Won't You wash away my sin,
Make this temple pure within.
A place where You can dwell both day and night.

repeat chorus...

4 comments:

  1. I hope you are outside enjoying a beautiful day and that your are not too sad today. GOD bless

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Child of God,
    You have done a great service to the Lord here. I am on a quest because God has shown me in a vision how important the Brook Kidron is. After Jesus left the last supper He said "Now is the hour of darkness", then left the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem just as Adam had been cast out of the gate East of Eden. Kidron means "Darkness", I beleave Jesus died the second death in the Garden of Gethsemane after passing over the brook Kidron. This begins the sign of Jonah who was in the belly of the fish 3 days and three nights. Jesus was cut off from the Father after crossing the brook thus dying spiritually so the sign of Jonah begins Thursday night when He was "Cut off". He said my soul is Sorrowful even unto death signifying that He had descended into and was suffering in Haddes tormented by demons with all the weight of the sins of the world upon His head. When he accepted His baptism of blood by saying the third time 'not my will but thy will be done' He accepted our sins. He was the Red Heifer there in Gethsemane beneith the bridge of the Red Heifer. We need to experience the cleansing of the foul waters of Kidron where all the yucky stuff was cast. The information you just gave me was another evidence or proof of everything God has shown me and I am grateful. Sincerely, Brother James P. Tierney Seventh Day Adventist. jamesonofthunder@msn.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. CET Pg. 125
    LIVING WATERS--A DREAM "My husband attended meetings in New Hampshire and Maine. During his absence I was much troubled, fearing he might take the cholera, which was then prevailing. But one night I dreamed that while many around us were dying with the cholera, my husband proposed that we should take a walk. In our walk I noticed that his eyes looked bloodshot, his countenance flushed, and his lips pale. I told him that I feared that he would be an easy subject for the cholera. Said he, "Walk on a little further, and I will show you a sure remedy for the cholera." As we walked on, we came to a bridge over a stream of water, when he abruptly left me and plunged out of sight into the water. I was frightened; but he soon arose, holding in his hand a glass of sparkling water. He drank it, saying, "This water cures all manner of diseases." He plunged in again out of sight, brought up another glass of clear water, and as he held it up repeated the same words. I felt sad that he did not offer me some of the water. Said he: "There is a secret spring in the bottom of this river which cures all manner of diseases, and all who obtain it must plunge at a venture. No one can obtain it for another. Each must plunge for it himself." As he drank the glass of water, I looked at his countenance. His complexion was fair and natural. He seemed to possess health and vigor. When I awoke, all my fears were dispelled, and I trusted my husband to the care of a merciful God, fully believing that He would return him to me in safety."
    This is the Bridge of the Red Heifer and the brook Kidron. What other bridge or stream could she mean? I know this is from God. The reason it has not been quoted before is because very few have seen the power of the Red Heifer image in strength yet. Every day Jehovah gives me more and more proof and tells me I'm one of very few so far who has found it. I LOVE OUR GOD! At the foot of this bridge is the Brook Kidron which Jesus crossed as He entered the Garden of Gethsemane, in that brook at the foundation of this bridge is where the Secret spring is.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I thought you also might like to know I found out after you posted this that the book that this experpt is taken from is called 'Atlas of the Historical Geography of the Holy Land' by George Adam Smith

    ReplyDelete