Written by Jeff Duncan
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.― Friedrich Nietzsche
In early February of 1994, the youth pastor of our church in Barrie had returned from the revival meetings in Toronto that had begun January 20th. I had heard from someone in our church that during the meeting he had become immobilized. Supposedly, he couldn’t move at all for a very long period of time. When I heard this, I was more than skeptical. I had seen people be “slain in the spirit” before, falling over under God’s power, and it had happened to me several times, but I had never heard of people being frozen, so I criticized it and dismissed it as not possible.
I was later to find out how wrong I was.
But what had happened to the youth pastor was very biblical. When Solomon completed the temple, the power of God came as a thick cloud and “the priests could not continue their service for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple.” 1 kings 8:11 & 2 Chronicles 5:14. Not being able to continue their service implies they were immobilized in some fashion.
And a short time later, Solomon dedicated the temple, and the presence of God was so manifest that the priests could not go into the temple. When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. 2 Chronicles 7:1,2. The presence of God was so thick, that the priests couldn’t walk into that space!
In the first Toronto revival meeting that I went to, I was not frozen but was overcome by the Spirit and thrown out of my chair. God spoke to me profoundly during that encounter. Like Nietzsche’s quote, I had been critical of the youth pastor because I hadn’t “heard the music,” so to speak. But now that something similar had happened to me, I repented.
We want to see God moving in our midst in more and more powerful ways. Let’s not be surprised when we are overcome by His presence. Father, we welcome Your presence! May we have encounters like that youth pastor of our church and like the priests in Solomon’s temple!
