Changed

This is the Sabbath before the Feast of Shavuot or Pentecost. This feast, as interpreted by Jewish teaching, is about the wedding of God to Israel in the giving of the Torah, or the Word of God, on Mt. Sinai (sinay - "thorny"). Shavuot occurs fifty days after Passover. The time in between Passover and Shavuot then, is considered a time of preparation for this marriage to God according to rabbinical teaching. All of the feasts of the LORD can be connected in meaning to a marriage, at least partially. For the church, Pentecost was fulfilled by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as we read in Acts Ch. 2. Jesus referred to the promise of this outpouring of power (see Lk. 24:49), which was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room. He told His disciples to tarry or wait in Jerusalem until this occurred after His death and resurrection. The title of this Sabbath's reading is B'midbar, meaning "in the wilderness". "Wilderness" sometimes has a negative meaning to us, but it can also mean "pasture". As the Sabbath reading begins in Numbers Ch. 1, the LORD gives us a hint that something special is about to occur. The scripture says: "Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt..." (Num. 1:1). The word meaning "second" in Hebrew is the word seni/sana. It means with its root "to do again, to change, altar, transmute, to be other". There is to be a change or transmutation accomplished in God's people. The mention that it is "the first day", or echad in Hebrew, means "joined in one, united, as one man; go one way or the other, to become unified". This changing work that will occur will join something together in one. Moses is commanded by God to count all in Israel over the age of twenty "by their families, by their fathers' houses... every male individually, from twenty years old and above - all who are able to go to war in Israel. God is establishing an army here, and this army will be identified by their fathers' names. The head of each named household was called to stand with Moses and Aaron while this is accomplished (Num. 1:4-16). The children of Israel spent over four hundred years in slavery in Egypt. During that time, they seemed to have lost the knowledge of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and knew only Egyptian gods. Not only did the LORD have to identify Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:6), but Moses asked the LORD His name so he could tell the children of Israel, who didn't know Him (Ex. 3:13-16). However, during the beginning of the second year after deliverance from Egypt, the men whom God specifically called to stand with Moses and Aaron during the census had names that gave the revelation of God. Some of their names, and their fathers' names, translated into English were: "My God is a Rock", My Rock is Almighty God", "My God is Father", "My Kinsman is Majesty", My Kinsman is Almighty", "The Rock has ransomed/redeemed", "My Father is Judge/Contender". Interestingly, there is one among these, the last one named, whose name means "My brother is evil, malignant". Could this last named person, Ahira in Hebrew, be a prophecy of Judas Iscariot? He represented the tribe, Naphtali, whose name means "wrestling, froward, unsavory, to be twisted". After these men came forth, who were to be heads of their tribes, the LORD had the people do something unusual: "...and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they recited their ancestry by families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one individually." (Num. 1:18-44). This naming of genealogies is also mentioned as one of the traditions in the ancient Jewish marriage ritual. Even in more modern Jewish marriages, a short genealogy is recited. According to one source (not from scripture): "The souls of ancestors from three generations back descend from the world of truth and attend (the marriage). Even further removed generations are present." The Gospels open with the genealogy of Jesus. Not just back to David, as would be necessary for the identity of the Messiah, but back to Abraham (Mt. 1:1-17), and to "...Adam, the son of God" (Lk. 3:23-38). Was Jesus, the Word of God, reciting His genealogy not just to justify His identity as Messiah, but to fulfill the custom established by God at Mt. Sinai in the wilderness regarding the marriage of the Son? After all, Jesus told us that He only did what He saw His Father doing. Hebrews 12:1 also points out that we are surrounded (have around one) by a great cloud of witnesses, these witnesses are not of our flesh genealogy, but of fathers of faith according to Hebrews 11. Could this also be a part of our marriage relationship with Christ, as it follows the Jewish traditions? Let me add here another interesting "wedding fact": The Jewish wedding ritual can also include the groom's washing of his bride's feet. In scripture, on the night of the Last Supper with Christ and His disciples, which was a Passover Seder, Peter tried to stop Jesus from washing his feet after supper. Jesus said to Peter in part, "If I do not wash you, you have no part (meros - share, allotment, portion) of Me." (see Jn. 13:3-10). In another part of this Sabbath's reading from Hosea 2, the LORD describes how, as a result of Israel's spiritual adulteries, He will say to her, "...she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!" (Hos. 2:1-2). An interesting way to look at this statement by God that we may not have considered is the possibility that this statement is not an utter rejection of Israel as it might sound, but a mercy against the death sentence of adultery. The Jewish divorce, or "get", similarly declares that the wife is free from the marriage, free to marry another, and the laws of adultery no loner apply. In this same chapter of Hosea, the LORD assured us that He was NOT done with Israel, but would get Israel back in marriage: "Therefore behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort (leb - heart, soul, understanding, wisdom, memory, kindly) to her. I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor (trouble; a place of stoning) as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. And it shall be in that day, says the LORD, that you will call Me 'my Husband', and no longer call Me 'my Master',...I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving-kindness and mercy...in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD." (Hos. 2:14-20). As we read in Numbers 1, although Jewish tradition teaches that God married Israel at Mt. Sinai, and the scripture language bears that out, the people were numbered in order to form armies. When Hebrews 12 spoke about the great cloud of witnesses around us, it was for the purpose of laying aside sin, and "running the race (agon - contest, battle) set before us". Whether we speak of Israel's marriage to God, or the Church's marriage to Christ, warfare and battles will be involved, just as there is great warfare against marriage here on earth in the natural. God's marriage with His people in the second month, in the second year, and our marriage with our Bridegroom, Jesus, initiates a great change and transformation in our lives. The timing of the Feasts, with Shavuot or Pentecost approaching, allows us a time of preparation, as a betrothed prepares (hetoimazo - prepare, level the roads for a coming king, prepare minds of men to give the Messiah a fit reception, to receive one who is coming) for the upcoming wedding (Rev. 19:7-9). The great spiritual outpouring of Pentecost also endues us with power from on high to be the army of God. If you would like to know more about, and be prepared for, the soon marriage of the Lamb to His wife, you can pray with me: "Lord Jesus, I believe that You died and rose from the dead for me. I believe You sacrificed Yourself to cover my sins. Forgive me and keep me in Your Word and Spirit. Pour out Your Spirit upon Your people and teach me to prepare for Your soon return, and the marriage of the Lamb and His Bride. Teach me to walk with You, the Father and the Holy Spirit with faithfulness, in faith, and the righteousness of the saints. You are the faithful Husband returning for His spotless Bride. I thank You and ask these things in Your name. AMEN."

Statutes

This week's Sabbath reading portion is called B'chukkotai meaning "In My statutes" in English. In Leviticus 26, the LORD's Word to Moses to deliver to the children of Israel includes, "If you walk (yalak - proceed, manner of life, to live, to die) in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them..." (Lev. 26:3). The LORD then describes all of the blessings that will fill the land as a result of walking in His statutes: "I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit...you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely...I will give peace in the land...none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts...." (v. 4-6). I would like to interrupt the listing of blessings to look more closely at the phrase "I will rid the land of evil beasts". The word "rid" is the Hebrew word sabat, which has to do with the Sabbath. It is the part of the meaning of the Sabbath that has to do with warfare, and means "to cease, away, remove, exterminate, destroy" (see last week's entry below this one titled "Jubilee" for more information regarding the Sabbath). The word "beasts" is the Hebrew word hay/haya which means alive, living thing, creature/to revive, quicken, save, life, recover, to live prosperously, restore to life". It is a powerful word. It is used in these examples from scripture: "O LORD, you brought my soul up from the grave; You hae kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit." (Ps. 30:3). And, "The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth." (Ps. 41:2). The word "evil" used in the phrase is the Hebrew word ra, which means "evil, trouble, wickedness, afflictions, mischief, adversity, harm, distress, injury, calamity, grief, hurt, sadness, to break". So God will exterminate all of the evil that works the opposite of life, and restored life, as defined above. The list of blessings that result from observing God's statutes continues: "...the sword will not go through your land...your enemies shall fall by the sword before you...I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm (qum - to raise up, rise up, arise, accomplish, bring (come) on the scene) My covenant with you...I will set My tabernacle among you...My soul shall not abhor you...I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people..." (Lev. 26:6-12). There is also another promise in v. 10 about clearing out the old harvest because of the new. However, in the Hebrew word meanings, there is a much deeper thing going on: "the slack and sleeping will be brought out, will come out, in the face of, in the presence of, a new, unheard of thing, having been renewed, repaired, and made anew". To me, this brings to mind the scripture: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17). As we can see, the resulting blessings from walking (see above) in the statutes of God are many and deep in meaning. The statutes are are manner of life, for a whole lifetime. Couldn't our nation and our people benefit from the beautiful blessings above that come from walking and living in the statutes of God, especially in these troubling times? We often think of the LORD's statutes as a set of rules. It is a good time to find out that the meaning of "statute" in Hebrew is more encompassing than our initial impression. The word for "statute" in Hebrew is huqqa, which, including its root word, means "that which is established or defined, limit, boundary, appointed, to cut into, engrave, stamp violently, encounter violently". The statutes are like an appointed boundary line violently cut into the spiritual ground. Something exists on one side of that boundary line, while something else exists on the other side of the line. The individual pictographic Hebrew letters of the word, cheth, qoph and heh, which make up the word huqqa, or statute, also combine to form a similar meaning: Behold the revelation -to be cut off, separated, fenced and protected from the past, from what is behind. Walking in the statutes of God keeps us within a spiritually protected area. Adam and Eve had dwelled within a fenced or enclosed garden that we call the Garden of Eden. When they broke the statute of God, they ended up forced out of that protected area (Gen. 3:23-24), and became subject to "the manner of life" that existed beyond that boundary - sweat, hardship, troubles, pain and ultimately, death (Gen. 3:16-19). At that point, all the LORD could do for them after they broke the statute was to send them out with one of the greatest promises in scripture, a promise of restoration through the Messiah to come (Gen. 3:14-15). As part of that promise, God also clothed the old or fallen man with tunics of sacrificed life (Gen. 3:21). Proverbs 30:5 says, "Every word of God is pure (sarap - tested and proved true, refined like gold); He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him." The tried and proven nature of the Word of God is a shield of protection for us. Even in trials and trouble, it is still fencing and drawing the line of separation that sets a boundary. Regarding the written statutes of God, Jeremiah received an amazing prophetic Word from the LORD: "Behold the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - not according to the covenant I made with their fathers...My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them...But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts (inward parts); and I will be their God, and they shall be My people...I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jer. 31:31-34). A time would come, prophesied by the LORD, when His statutes would be internalized within His people, not just to be read only, but "to become" within us. Although it is a powerful prophecy, I doubt that it was received enthusiastically by the religious minds of the time. Perhaps they said, "A new covenant? We like the old one! What kind of blasphemy is this?" Jeremiah was not popular even before he gave this specific Word of prophecy - he spent a lot of time in prisons and pits! However, the LORD proved Jeremiah to be a true prophet by fulfilling the prophecies He gave to him. We will see the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy of a new covenant, this internalizing of the statutes of God, and the continuing spiritual boundary line or fence of protection from the past things that they provide. As Jesus brought the new covenant to us in His blood (Lk. 22:15, 19-20), He was identified as the Word of God that became flesh (Jn. 1:1-3, 14). He said that He did not come to destroy (katalyo - dissolve, disunite (what has been joined together), overthrow, deprive of success) the law and the prophets but to fulfill them (pleroo - to cause to abound, to consummate, to complete in every particular, to carry through to the end, to bring to realization) (see Mt. 5:17-19). This is how Jesus described how He would accomplish that by saying, "He who has sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him...I do nothing of Myself: but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things...If you abide (meno - not to depart, remain in a place, stay, live, dwell, not to become another or different) in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free...Most assuredly I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death...I do know Him (the Father) and keep His word." (Jn. 8:26, 28, 31-32, 51, 55). Jesus urged His disciples to remain in the Word which He had delivered to them from His Father in Heaven. Jesus also said, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me and I in you...He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing...If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit..." (Jn. 15:3-8, excerpt). We see again clearly the role that the Word of God, in Christ, in us, changes life. Before His arrest and death, Jesus prayed to His Father concerning God's Word and His disciples then, and those who would become His disciples in future generations: "I have given them Your word...Sanctify (hageeadzo - to separate from profane things and dedicate to God, to make holy, purify by expiation, purify by renewing of the soul) them by Your truth. Your word is truth." (Jn. 17:14, 17). Here the work of truth, which is the Word of God, acts as a separating or dividing force that purifies and renews. Through this new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah, and fulfilled in Christ, where the LORD places His Word in our inward parts, the statutes of God have gone from being the letter on the page to being a life giving Spirit in us, as Paul wrote (2 Cor. 3:6-9). Now it is written of us: "...clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that it, of the heart." (2 Cor. 3:3). We can see the progression of the statutes of God as He promised. They have gone from stone to living hearts as we abide in Christ. If you would like to learn more about being an epistle of Christ, you can pray with me: "Lord Jesus, I pray that the Word of God, the statutes of God, are written in my heart, and incorporated in my life in a way that all men may read them. By the Holy Spirit, I want to abide in Your Word, the same Word of the Father, that it may become abundant and everlasting life in me and others. You sanctify me in the Word and statutes of God because they are truth. I believe and receive this in Your holy name, Jesus, AMEN."

Jubilee

It is a special Sabbath this week because it is also the Second Passover* for those who had been unable to participate in the Passover - those who were unclean from handling the dead, those who had been far away on a journey. This aldo applies to the stranger in the midst of God's people. The Second Passover is to be observed exactly one month after the Passover (Num. 9:6-12, 2 Chron. 30:1-3). This weekend will also show unusual signs in the heavens as we have a special blood moon/lunar eclipse event. The Sabbath reading for this week is titled B'har, or "On the mount", because it starts with the LORD giving commands to Moses while he was on Mount Sinai with God (Leviticus 25). The individual Hebrew letters that make up the word B'har have the meaning "the house of the revelation of the Highest". What is this revelation of the Highest in this reading portion? This chapter opens with the spiritual power and blessing of the Sabbath. Throughout the Books of the Torah, the LORD repeatedly gave commands regarding the Sabbath. We can see in this chapter of Leviticus that the Sabbath is a beginning or foundational step leading up to something. There is a progression that leads to one of the great promises of God: the promise of Jubilee. Before discussing the LORD's Jubilee, we need to look at the progression of Sabbaths that lead to it. The Sabbath refers to the number seven, and is assigned to the seventh day. We first see a reference to the Sabbath as God completed His creation in Genesis Chaapter 1, and it is written: "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host (saba/i> - war, battle, appointed time, warfare, soldiers, go out to war, a campaign of war, organized for a war, waiting upon war) of them, were finished (kala - accomplished, done, determined, ended, fulfilled, prepared, made ready for; also meaning to destroy, exterminate, perish). And on the seventh day God ended (kala - same as above) His work which He had done, and He rested (sabat - cease, celebrate, put an end to, to exterminate, destroy, remove) on the seventh day from all His work (melaka/malak - labor, work prescribed, service; messenger, dispatch as a deputy, representative, embassador, angel (incl. prophet, priest, teacher), king, one sent) which He had done. Then God blessed (barak - praised, kneel down, adored, kneel as an act of adoration, thank) the seventh day and sanctified it (qadas - sanctify, hallow, appointed, purified, honored, sacred, conecrated, observed as holy), because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Gen. 2:1-3). In verse four, we see that all history, or generations (toldot/yalad - generations, birth, descendants, geneologies, course of history; beget, travail, labor, midwife, to show lineage, declare pedigree), was encapsulated in this completion of creation before man was made. As we can see from the meanings in the above verses, before man and religion got a hold of the Sabbath, it was God's very powerful provision and plan. The concept of the Sabbath is not just about a day of rest, and the religious rules that accompany it. God had not only completed everything pertaining to creation, but had set up a pre-planned military campaign of extermination, destruction and removal (of enemies) within that creation process. Within this period of creation as we can see from the meanings above, He also designated messengers, deputies, angels, prophets, priests, teachers, and kings. We can also say that included in these deputies to generations not yet born the ordination of the ultimate Deputy-Prophet-Priest-King, Jesus, was also accomplished. It is revealed that Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8, 1 Peter 1:20). The Sabbath was so fundamentally important to God, man, and all creation, that God declared it blessed and sanctified. It is so glorious that it deserved to be honored and observed by kneeling in adoration. In the midst of His commandments to Israel, God said, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." It is, He said, "...the Sabbath of the LORD your God..." (Ex. 20:8-11). Before commanding all of the Feasts of the LORD, the LORD said this first: "The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings." (Lev. 23:1-3). Before any of the other feasts were introduced, the Sabbath was announced as a holy convocation, just as the feasts were (v. 4), and the Sabbath is incorporated in some way into every feast. Jesus brought revelation regarding the meaning of the Sabbath, and scripture describes seven miracle works of mercy and healing that Jesus performed on Sabbaths. Each time He did so, He was criticised and condemned for these works, because, to the religious mind, no work was to be done on the Sabbath, even if they are miracles! However, Jesus revealed that the works that He was doing were the works that His Father was also doing (Jn. 5:16-20). Jesus even included the resurrection of the dead as one of His Father's Sabbath works (v. 21). Jesus said that as a result of the Sabbath work of His Father, and the Son, Himself: "Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (v. 24). This last statement was part of the Sabbath discourse which Jesus gave in John 5. Jesus said that the Sabbath is very much a part of His identity, and ours also, as He revealed that the Sabbath was made for man, and He is Lord of the Sabbath (Mt. 12:1-8, Mk. 2:23-28, Lk. 6:1-5). We must understand what the creation of the Sabbath encompassed in order to understand the progression to Jubilee. In the next step in the progression of the plan of God found in the Sabbath, the LORD commanded not just a Sabbath day in each week, but Sabbath years. A Sabbath year was to be observed every seventh year. This seventh year Sabbath was called the Shemitah: "...the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard." (Lev. 25:2-4). Now we have received the command that time in the land was to be marked in seven year increments, with the seventh year being separated from the rest as the Shemitah year. Many world-impacting events have occurred in Shemitah years, including the attack on the World Trade Center, and various economic and political upheavals. One prophecy in scripture that would determine the length of exile in Babylon for God's people was measured in multiples of Shemitah years that had not been observed in the land, seven years times ten in this case, or seventy years (see 2 Chron. 36:20-21, Jer. 25:11-12, Jer. 29:10). This measurement of Shemitah years prophesied by Jeremiah led to one of the most important Messianic prophecies in scripture. The ten Shemitah years of Jeremiah were further revealed later by God to the prophet Daniel as a timetable concerning the death of the Messiah and End Time events that would follow. This timetable also included warfare to come, as shown in the meaning of Gen. 2:1, above. Daniel was given the timetable of seventy prophetic weeks, The Messiah would be "cut off" or killed after 62 "weeks" of the timetable (see Daniel 9:1-3, 21-27). The revelation of the prophetic timetable was brought to Daniel by a deputy or messenger of the LORD in the form of an angel, as we saw in the meaning of "work" in the Genesis verses above. So now we have been given a timetable of events based on the principle of the Sabbath and the progression to the Shemitah (Sabbath year). From the introduction of the principle of Sabbath or Shemitah years, we progress to the Jubilee. The Jubilee year is the 50th year that begins after the completion of seven Shemitah or Sabbath years, which total 49 years: "And you shall count seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years for yourselves...forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet (sopar - as incising: to cut or divide the surface of anything, to carve, engrave; beautiful, glisten, bright) of Jubilee to sound...on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land." (Lev. 25:8-9). It is a shout and a trumpet call that acts to cut and divide something open, like the heavens, to cause to be beautiful and to glisten. The shout and voice of an archangel, and the trumpet blast found in the meanings above are also found in scripture regarding the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the catching away of the living believers which is known to some as The Rapture (1 Thess. 4:14-18). Because it is a vital moment in the plan of God, could the resurrection and Rapture of the believers also be embedded in the nature of the Sabbath? There is a divine "work" built into creation, and timed to be accomplished and completed through the forty-nine years, and upon its completion, the Jubilee is accomplished in the fiftieth year. The Jubilee is an event by which economics, including debt and servitude, is turned upside down. All debt is forgiven and all properties are restored to their original owners. Imagine the overturning of circumstances and finances this entails! No wonder Israel stopped observing Jubilees, but the LORD hasn't stopped observing them. In the Book of Revelation, the corrupt world economic system of great riches is overturned in a day, even in an hour. All of the merchants and kings of the earth at that time will weep at what seems to be a terrible calamity to them (Rev. 18:8-19). However, while viewed by those who were enriched by this corrupt and bloodthirsty system as a tragedy, in heaven, there will be great rejoicing as apostles and prophets, who were persecuted to death by this world system, are avenged by God (v. 20). It wouldn't surprise me to find out in the future fulfillment of this prophetic Word from Revelation, that this great overturning and destruction was fulfilled in a Jubilee year. The word Jubilee is terua in Hebrew, and it means "to shout, sound, alarm, blast and clangor of trumpets, clamor, loud noise, battle cry, joy, shout in triumph over enemies". The Jubilee is revolution and victory in spiritual and natural warfare, and against unjust worldly systems that will persecute the people of God in the End Times before Christ's return. It is restoration and justice for those who have lost all. The individual Hebrew letters that make up terua, or Jubilee, could also shout: "Behold the cross and nail of the Highest". It is no surprise then that this fiftieth victory year of the Jubilee begins on the Day of Atonement, also which our High Priest, Jesus, fulfilled with His own blood poured upon the Mercy Seat in heaven on our behalf (Heb. 9:11-12). Both Jewish and Gentile worshippers need to understand that the Sabbath means more than a weekly religious observance, especially as we see the prophetic "seventy weeks" of Daniel's timetable playing out. The Sabbath means more than "rest". As Jesus told us, His Father is still working, so He is working, doing the healing and deliverance works of His Father especially on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is one of the important building blocks of the Kingdom of God. The progression and timetable created from Sabbaths, Shemitahs, multiple Shemitahs, and Jubilees is irrevocable, commanded by God to all generations, and has been set into place since the creation, if not before creation (see Rev.13:8). If you would like to know more about the Lord of the Sabbath, you can pray with me: "Father, You established Your law of the Sabbath in Your plan for man and all of creation. You blessed and sanctified it, and it endures throughout all generations. Generations and history follow the timetable of the Sabbath, the Shemitah, and the Jubilee. Your Son, the Messiah, Jesus, is the Lord of the Sabbath, and taught us that the Sabbath is more than religious rules, but it is the manifestation of the Father's works of deliverance. I accept the Lord of the Sabbath as my Lord. Your Atonement blood cleansed me of sin, and restored me in Jubilee restoration. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can learn, understand, and walk in Your ways. I ask this in Jesus' name, AMEN." *Special thanks to JP and FB for contributing information on the Second Passover and upcoming celestial signs.

Zadok

In this Sabbath's reading portion titled Emor, or "Say", most of the Feasts of the LORD are given to Moses in Leviticus 23 for the people to observe throughout their generations. A study of these Feasts reveals the prophetic Person, promise and timetable of Christ, just as the pattern of the Tabernacle also declared the promise of Christ. The Hebrew word for "feast" used in Leviticus 23 is moed, and the root word is ya'ad. The meanings of these two Hebrew words are very important to all of the people of God. The meaning includes: "appointed time, appointed season, appointed sign or signal, a fixed time, a point of time, assembly; betrothed, engaged for marriage, to espouse". As the Bride of Christ, paying attention to the appointed times and seasons that have been encased in the Feasts of the LORD is very important. The meanings of the individual pictographic Hebrew letters that make up the word for "feast", moed, when put together could be saying to us "the mighty stream of blood from the nail inescapably pulls us on a journey toward a destination, a righteous harvest, like a movement or a path entering through a door or curtain". Christ described Himself as the Door for the sheep, His followers, to enter into the pasture of salvation (Jn. 10:1-9). He is also the Door or Curtain by which we may enter into the Holiest Place to the Mercy Seat, which is considered in Jewish tradition to be the Throne of God (Heb. 10:19-23). These Feasts bring us on a set journey from beginning to the end on the path to and with the Lamb of God, our Betrothed (Rev. 19:7-9). Not only are the Feasts a path, but they are a set timeline according to the meanings of the words. They play a significant part in our understanding of the plan of God for all of us. Currently, at this time of year, we are in the middle of the spring feasts. Part of this Sabbath's reading that includes the Feasts of the LORD, is also an unusual vision from the Prophet Ezekiel. The prophet had just given a very detailed vision of a temple that had not yet been built (Ezek. Ch. 40-43). Ezekiel saw the glory of the LORD enter the temple from the eastern gate of Jerusalem in this vision, and heard a voice say, "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet (see also Zech. 14:3-4), where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever..." (Ezek. 43:7). This temple of Ezekiel's vision is sometimes referred to as "the third temple", and many expect this temple to be built in these end times. Jewish tradition states that the Messiah will enter through the eastern gate when He comes because of the prophecy of Zechariah noted above. At the same time, Ezekiel also received the Word of the LORD concerning a revolutionary change in the priesthood that would serve Him in this prophesied temple. The Levites will no longer be accepted to minister before the LORD, and will only be allowed to minister in the outer courts. This is because they had previously led the people away from the LORD and into idol worship: "...And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed." (Ezek. 44:10-13). There was only one branch of the Levites that would be allowed to minister before God, in this new priesthood that Ezekiel saw, which were to be the sons of Zadok: "But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,' says the Lord God. 'They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge." (Ezek. 44:15-16). The "Lord" who is speaking here about His Zadok priesthood is called Adonay in Hebrew. The meaning of Adonay/Adon includes, "Lord, Master, king, husband, prophet, prince, captain". The Hebrew letters that make up the name Adonay, when put together, mean: "the powerful authority of the First, who is the Door, the Way, the Son, the Offspring, the Seed, the Heir to the throne, whose hand accomplished the finished work" (see also Jn. 17:4, Jn. 19:28-30). This priesthood spoken of by Ezekiel as declared prophetically by Adonay, the Lord, will consist only of the sons or descendants of Zadok. Let us look at who Zadok was, who lived generations before this vision was given to Ezekiel. Zadok was a priest who remained faithful to King David when many others were conspiring with David's son, Absalom, the counterfeit heir, to depose the king (2 Sam. 15:23-24). King David had previously received the prophetic promise that the Messiah would be his future descendant (2 Sam. 8:12-18). Not only did Zadok remain faithful to David, and willing to follow him into exile, but he would also play a role in the king's future return: "The king also said to Zadok the priest, 'Are you not a seer (prophet)? ...See, I will wait/tarry/delay in the plains (crossing place, cause to bring over) of the wilderness (pasture for feeding flocks) until word comes from you to inform/certify (declare, utter, show forth, make known, profess openly, proclaim, bring into sight, proclaim and celebrate with praise) me." (v. 27-30). When the time came for King David's return, he sent a message to Zadok to bring to all of Judah: "You are my brethren, you are my bone and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king?". This touched the hearts of all the men of Judah, who sent word to the king, "Return, you and all your servants." (see 2 Sam. 19:11-14). This is also the role that we have in the return of Jesus, "the Root and the Offspring of David". As Zadok asked the question of Judah, are we, Christ's brethren of His blood, the last to bring back the King? This should not be so. We, the Bride, are to join the Holy Spirit, not just in waiting for Christ's return, but in saying "Come", or erchomai in Greek, which means "to come forth from one place to another, used of those arriving or returning" (see Rev. 22:16-17, 20). The verse tells us to "say" this, but the meaning in Greek, lego, is much stronger. It means "to speak, affirm, maintain, teach, exhort, advise, to command, to call by name". Like Zadok, we have been given the responsibility by the King to exhort all of Judah, "the people of praise", to speak the command for Him to "Return" or "Come". Zadok's name in Hebrew means "to be just, be righteous, to be justified, make someone righteous, turn to righteousness". Daniel described God's people in the latter days or end times as "those who turn many to righteousness". The Zadok priesthood, which would be the descendants of Zadok as prophesied by Adonay, the Lord, in Ezekiel's vision, would have this calling also: They were to be clothed in linen (Ezek 44:17, Rev. 19:8). They will teach the people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and between the unclean and the clean (v. 23, Dan. 11:33). They shall stand as judges in controversies (v. 24, 1 Cor. 6:3-6). They shall keep the Lord's statutes, the appointed feasts, and hallow the Sabbath (v. 24, Jn. 8:31, Jn. 14:15, Jn. 15:10, Mt. 5:17-20, Mt. 12:8). The Lord, Adonay, also said that He is the Zadok priests' inheritance, and their possession (v. 28, Eph. 1:10-14), and they were to have no other inheritance in the earth. These priests were to have the first, best, or most chief, the head of the firstfruits offering (v. 30, 1 Cor. 15:20-23, Rom. 8:29). We also have been called to a priesthood, which Peter calls "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9-10), that requires something of us. I found that this week's Sabbath reading titled Emor, or "Say", contains so many parallels with our walk with Christ, and a timely message for the believers in Christ pertaining to our ministry or purpose on earth in these times. If you would like to learn more about these things, you can pray with me: "Lord Jesus, You show and teach us things in Your Word to guide us through these challenging days before Your return. Prepare us by Your Holy Spirit, and sanctify us by Your Word, to walk in the priesthood to which You have called us, and to minister Your salvation to all creation. We join with the Spirit, and exhort all, both Jewish and Gentile, to send this imperative word to our King of Kings, Jesus: "Come!". We ask and speak these things in the Name of Jesus. AMEN."