Gates of Eden gatesofeden.org

SNOWFLAKES
Daniel Botkin

Ñ ÑÑ This winter has brought a lot of snow here, which has had me thinking about "the treasures of the snow" (Job 38:22). There are some spiritual lessons in the snow that can bring us spiritual treasures if we apply the lessons to our lives.
The whiteness and purity of snow speaks of the holiness that a sinner receives after repentance. After his sin with Bathsheba, David prayed, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Ps. 51:7). Through Isaiah God pleads with sinners: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith Yahweh: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isa. 1:18).
The process by which snow is formed is a picture of the transformation of a sinner into a saint. For a snowflake to be created, a tiny speck of dust must be drawn up into the heavens. There high above the earth, the conditions in the heavens cause a snowflake to form around the nucleus of the dust particle.
"Dust thou art," God said to Adam. Dust cannot be transformed into snow by remaining earthbound, because it is the atmosphere of the heavens that causes the transformation to take place. A sinner cannot be transformed into a saint if he remains earthbound, because only the atmosphere of the heavenly realm can transform a sinner into a saint. Snow comes only from above. Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. The dust is important -- it is the nucleus around which the snowflake grows -- but the dust of the earth and the atmosphere of the heavens must meet together for a snowflake to be born.
When a snowflake is formed and manifested on the earth, we see the beauty, the glory, and the purity of the snowflake. The dust is not visible. All that is evident is the beauty and the glory that has formed around the tiny particle of dust. As we are "transformed into the same image from glory to glory," we will manifest more and more of the nature and character of the Messiah, and less and less of our own fallen, sinful nature. Each snowflake is unique, "no two snowflakes alike," as the saying goes. So likewise every individual saint is unique. Looking closely at the beauty of one single snowflake under a magnifying glass will reveal one sort of glory, but there is a glory of another sort manifested when we see a vast blanket of snow shrouding the earth. When we look at individual snow flakes, we marvel at the detail and the uniqueness of that one particular snowflake. When we look at a blanket of snow, we are not so aware of each individual snowflake. Rather, we are aware of the whole, the combined effect of many snowflakes joining together into one glorious whole. These two types of glory can be compared to the glory of a corporate manifestation of the Body of Messiah that is seen in a local body of believers, and the glory of an individual saint.
Every single snowflake is a creation of God and important to God, but God does not normally create just one snowflake with the intention that it abide alone. When God creates snow, He creates it in quantity so it will cover the earth with beauty and glory. The secret to a snowflake's survival is in joining itself to other snowflakes. If it doesn't, it will not last long. It will be destroyed by the heat of the earth. We must be willing to join our selves to local bodies if we want to survive and give a corporate manifestation of the Messiah.
In these days, God is transforming a remnant of disciples who are returning to His Sabbath and His Torah. There is not yet a great accumulation of people in this Messianic movement, because this movement back to a Torah-based life in the Messiah is a fairly new movement. The first few snowflakes of a snowstorm melt and disappear, and no change is apparent at first. So it is with the pioneers and forerunners of any work of restoration that God does among His people. The "forerunner flakes" prepare the ground for the flakes that will come later. And we do look like flakes! We don't go to church on the right day; we celebrate those old holidays in Leviticus instead of Christmas and Easter; we don't have church hog roasts or clam bakes; we even dress and look flaky. God is gathering His "flakes" into local bodies, and He is doing it without a lot of noise and fanfare. Did you ever hear snowflakes pounding on your roof during a snowfall? Snow accumulates quietly and steadily, and when the night has ended and people open their eyes in the morning, they behold the glory of the snow. A morning is coming when the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the snow covers the ground. This glory will not be manifested by lone, individual snowflakes; it will only be manifested by believers joining together in local congregations. Unfortunately, a lot of Sabbath-keepers are fiercely independent and resist being a part of any organized local congregation. Nonetheless, this is God's way.
As snowflakes continue to accumulate and join together in a snowstorm, eventually the look of flakiness disappears. People become aware of the whole rather than of the snowflakes as individuals. So it will be in this Messianic movement. As more and more "flakes" continue to accumulate and join together, our flakiness will disappear. We will no longer be viewed as just a bunch of flaky oddballs. We will be seen as a corporate expression of the Body of the Messiah, as a glorious blanket of snow covering the earth with beauty and purity and glory. Many people who formerly viewed us as mere flakes will come to the realization that maybe we're not quite as flaky as they thought.