SabbathPlace

     The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Emor, meaning "Say". The title comes from a verse in Leviticus 23 that begins this week's reading as the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "Speak to the children of Israel, and say (amar - utter, speak, say, command, promise, to be called so, to avow, intend, certify, appoint, bring to light, cause to say, to say in one's heart.) to them: 'The feasts (mo'ed/ya'ad - congregation, feast, season, appointed time, solemn, sign, a set time, "the vision that belongs to a time"/meet, assemble, betroth, to engage for marriage, to espouse, meet by appointment, be fixed, be placed before) of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations (miqra/qara - a calling together, sacred assembly, a [prophetic] rehearsal/invited, guests, bidden, call, preach, read aloud, to be called out, chosen, be summoned, give name, cry aloud, call unto), these are My feasts." (Lev. 23:2).

     The feasts of the LORD described in Leviticus Chapter 23, are for a set time each year, for God's people who are called, bidden, invited by name to attend. They are rehearsals having prophetic meanings for events that were to occur in the future. Believers in Jesus Messiah/Christ know that He fulfilled several of these feasts: He died as the Lamb of God on Passover, He rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits (NOT "easter"), and He sent the outpouring and baptism of the Holy Spirit upon His believers on the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. The blood of His sacrifice became the expiation for sin on the Mercy Seat of the Holy of Holies in heaven as our Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).  All of these fulfilments of the feasts are described in the New Testament. The remaining feasts will be fulfilled by Messiah/Christ as His Bride is called to the Marriage Supper (see above meaning of "feast") of the Lamb, following which, the Lord Jesus will return to rule and reign on the earth. There are other fulfilments traditionally associated with the Feasts of the LORD such as the creation and the receiving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.

     The feasts are not suggestions to come when we decide to come. Because they are prophetic, they are commanded and appointed for specific days to all whom the LORD calls by name. Unfortunately, most of the church does not observe the feasts although Jesus did while He was here on earth. Those who do observe them usually do so according to the solar calendar, rather than the lunar calendar that the LORD used to appoint the feasts. Therefore, most of the time, the few of the church who are observing the feasts are doing so on the wrong days!

      As the feasts are specified in Leviticus 23, the first convocation mentioned, and also as a component of most of the other feasts, is the Sabbath: "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath (sabat - cease, desist, rest, put an end to, exterminate, destroy, cause to fail, remove, desist from exertion, of land which is not tilled, day of rest of heart of solemn rest [that is a propitiation that covers], a holy convocation (see above miqra/qara). You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings." (v. 3). The Sabbath is treated as foundational and first of all of the feasts. However, I think we may find that our understanding of the Sabbath has been limited to religious practices rather than the deeper meaning of the word. As we can see from the Hebrew word sabat, there is a warfare that causes something to be destroyed or exterminated, even removed. The keeping (samar - keep, protect, guard, observe, give heed, preserve, watchman, watch for, wait for, save, as a shepherd of a flock, keep safe, preserve as loving kindness) of the Sabbath is also one of the first things mentioned as the LORD calls His K'doshim Holy Ones in Lev. 19:3. Look at what our attitude towards the Sabbath should be as described by the word "keep"/samar! We are to guard it, watch over it, and wait for it. It is not just about religious regulations - far from it, as we will see.

     We know that the Sabbath is mentioned as one of the Ten Commandments, and this will reveal even more to us: "Remember (zakar - remember, recall, call to mind, cause to be remembered, to record, make mention, the idea of a memory penetrating and infixing, the idea of pricking and piercing, to preserve, to consider, to contemplate, to call back to memory) the Sabbath  (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) day and keep it holy...For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) day and hallowed it." (Ex. 20:8-11). Here we are told that in addition to "keeping/samar" the Sabbath, we are to "remember/zakar" or call back to memory something relating to the Sabbath. What are we to remember? The LORD tells us as He takes us back to the six days of Creation in Genesis, and His rest on the seventh day. So let us go back to Genesis Ch. 1 and consider the information there. 

     When I look at the Creation in Gen. Ch. 1, I see spiritual warfare. Remember that our Hebrew word sabat or Sabbath contains this meaning of warfare (see above). The three spiritual enemies in the beginning of Genesis were formlessness (tou - nothing, confusion, empty place, desolation, worthless thing, place of chaos), voidness (bou - emptiness, waste, vacuity, indistinguishable ruin) and darkness (hosek/hasak - darkness, obscurity, as of Hades, underground prison; also used to mean: misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness/be darkened as withholding light, surrounded with darkness). This darkness was turned towards the person/face (panim) of the deep (tehom/hum/hamam - deep place, sea, abyss, grave, deep hollows of the earth/destroy, commotion, distract with noise/confuse, discomfit, break, consume, crush, destroy, trouble, vex). It's as if what was left of the earth had been turned inside out, with its inner darkness revealed. The Word which is Jesus (see Jn. 1:1-5) and the Spirit of God were present, and the weapon used in the warfare between God and this destruction was the spoken Word: "Then God said (amar - see above), 'Let there be light; and there was light..." (see Gen. 1:1-3). The Word of God is a living, sharp, two-edged sword that pierces and divides (Heb. 4:12), and with His Word-Sword, God divided (badal - divide, separate, sever out, set apart, make a difference, disjoin, be selected) the light from the darkness and created an uncrossable separation between the two. When Jesus returns, He will also come with a sharp sword in His mouth (Rev. 19:11-16).

     God overcame the elements of waste and destruction through His six-day work of Creation. The final overcoming work of the sixth day was God's creation of man. Man, male and female, was the crown of dominion that would rule over all living creatures and fill the earth and subdue it. He would rule in the image of the One in which he was created: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (see Gen. 1:26-28).

     On the seventh day "God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested (sabat - see above) from all His work which God had created and made." (Gen. 2:2-3). The condition of creation, including man, continued in this sabat rest. A garden was fastened (nata - plant, fasten, establish, to strike in) to the earth, and man was placed within it (Gen. 2:8-15). He only had to eat from the (permitted) trees provided, including the Tree of Life. The man did not have to till the soil or provide for himself. The (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) man was commanded to "tend and keep" the garden, but this was about the spiritual guardianship of it. It is interesting that both "tend" and "keep" have a dual meaning. "Tend", or abad in Hebrew, can mean "husbandman, to worship, to serve, to minister to God, to be served as king. This is the Sabbath Place. However, the same word, abad, can also mean hard bondage, hard labor to fatigue and weariness, to impose servitude, servile work. This is the curse of the fallen man who rejected the Sabbath of the LORD (see Gen. 3:17-19). In Lev. 23, as the LORD summons His people to His appointed feasts, He commands that they are to take a Sabbath rest and do no servile work. The word "keep" is samar in Hebrew which we also saw above. Again, it means "watchman, watch, save, preserve, guard, protect, save life, observe the Sabbath/Covenant, be on one's guard." This is a purpose and blessing of the Sabbath Place. However, samar can also mean "to hedge about as with thorns" (see Gen. 3:18). This is the curse of the fallen man who rejected the Sabbath of the LORD. Here we see again the two-edged sword which is the Word of God.

     As Jesus observed and taught the Sabbath, He did many miracles and offered life-saving ministry to the people who had need. He was harshly criticized for doing this kind of "work" on the Sabbath, but He answered them: "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." (Jn. 5:17). This is the life-saving and shepherd caring for His flock kind of "work" of the Sabbath: all needs are met according to God's riches in glory through Christ (Phil. 4:19). However, not understanding the true power and freedom of the Sabbath, one leader of the synagogue said of the person being healed: "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath." (Lk. 13:14). The healing that Jesus had done on that Sabbath was for a woman who had spent eighteen years bent over by a spirit of infirmity who could not raise herself up. Jesus said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." He laid His hands on her and she was made straight. In answer to the leader's criticism, Jesus said, "...ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound - think of it - for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" (v. 16). Jesus walked in the true meaning of the Sabbath Place of "tending" and "keeping". 

     Jesus taught us how to "Remember the Sabbath (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) day" in the present to bring the blessings of the Sabbath. We also "Remember the Sabbath (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) day" as a prophetic rehearsal associated with the feasts for fulfilment in the future when, according to the Word of God, God will bring all of creation into His Sabbath Place because of the rulership of the Messiah/Christ, the Branch from the root of Jesse: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion together; and a little child shall lead them...They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD as the waters cover the sea." (Isa. 11:1-2, 6-9, excerpt). In another place, scripture says: "And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,' says the LORD." (Isa. 66:23). The Book of Revelation brings us to the Sabbath Place of the new heaven and the new earth: "God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away...'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts." (Rev. 21:3-6). In describing the Sabbath Place that comes down from heaven, the New Jerusalem, scripture says: "...a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Who takes away the sins of the world). In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him...the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever." (Rev. 22:1-5).   

     When the LORD commanded us to "Remember/zakar the Sabbath (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) day and keep it holy", this is the Sabbath/sabat Place that I will recall from the past in order to bring it into the present. This is the "rehearsal" of the Sabbath feast for which God has summoned us in order to proclaim its fulfilment in the future.

     The Sabbath is mentioned in all of the readings for this Emor/Amar Sabbath reading portion.  In Psalm 81, the Psalmist is calling God's people to repentance. He expresses God's desire to provide the Sabbath Place and feast day blessings to His people, but they have rejected it: "This He established in Joseph as a testimony, when He went throughout the land of Egypt...'I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the baskets. You called in trouble and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder...Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it...Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries...He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with the honey from the rock I would have satisfied you." This is the meaning of the Sabbath.

     The Sabbath is not a religious ritual, but a powerful, as well as prophetic, place and condition in the Spirit. It is the victory resulting from spiritual warfare, and the substance (soma/sozo - the body as a sound whole/to save, rescue from destruction, to preserve one, to heal and deliver) of it is Messiah/Christ. (Col. 2:15-17).

     If you would like a deeper understanding of the sabat Sabbath, you can join me in my prayer: "Father in heaven, You commanded me to remember Your Sabbath day. Your Son, Jesus is Lord, even of the Sabbath, remembering mercy (Mt. 12:5-8). By Your Spirit and Word, teach me and help me to remain in the Sabbath Place that You have provided for me. Let me not turn to my own ways or rely on my own efforts to provide for myself what You have already provided for me. Let me minister to and serve You and others in the spirit of the Sabbath with rejoicing and gratitude so that Your Sabbath will be fulfilled today and in the future. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

HolyVision

      Sometimes my vision is too limited. God's vision is not limited. This Sabbath reading portion titled K'doshim, or "Holy ones", challenges me to see as God sees. We need this kind of vision to fulfill the purpose that the LORD ordains for us because it has an effect on future events. We need this kind of vision in order to be conformed to the image of His dear Son, Jesus. Paul, a Pharisee, and a learned student and later inspired teacher of the Tanakh (Old Testament), as well as teaching in new covenant revelation sight, wrote: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these also He justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." (Rom. 8:28-30).  Here we have the vision of God for us from eternity to eternity. This week's Sabbath reading portion, which includes Leviticus Ch. 19 through 20, introduces us to this truth of purpose while incorporating prophetic vision. I think we will find that the prophetic vision of God's people, and their call to manifest the image of God, will activate, even hasten, prophetic events. There's an old saying: "What you see is what you get." What are the people of God "seeing"? 

     From our Sabbath reading portion, K'doshim, or "Holy ones", we have the following pronouncements by the LORD: 

• "Speak to all (kol/kalal - the whole, all, each, every, anything, everything, whosoever, whatsoever, in regard to one continuous thing, of all kinds, every sort, altogether like/to complete, make perfect, to perfect, to put a crown upon) the congregation (eda/ed/ud - company, assembly, multitude, people, congregation, gathering, family, fixture, a private domestic meeting of family/witness. testimony, evidence of things, a recorder, prince, what testifies/surround with testimony and witnesses, to restore, relieve, say again and again, affirm-warn-exhort-enjoin solemnly-admonish-charge) of the children of Israel, and say (dabar) to them: "You shall be holy (qados/qadas - holy, Holy One, saint, sacred, set apart, God [by eminence], a sanctuary/to consecrate, sanctify, appoint, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be separate, clean, purify, to show oneself sacred or majestic, to be hallowed of God), for I the LORD your God am holy (qados/qadas - same as previous)." (Lev. 19:2).

    Here in this verse, we have the reference to our title K'doshim, or "Holy Ones" (see qados/qadas, above). This verse also tells us that we need to adjust our "sight" according to the Hebrew meanings of "all" and "congregation", above. Did you know that the simple word "all" has its root in perfection, completion and setting a crown upon the head? Sometimes "all" means more than "all"! Even "all" is beyond the limit of our assumptions in the vision of God. "Congregation" means any group or assembly, even family, that is alike in some manner. In this case, their alikeness is defined by their (princely) witness, evidence and testimony which serves to affirm, warn, exhort, admonish and charge. We will see more about this later. However, "Congregation" is not defined by something so superficial as an ethnic, racial or cultural group, but by our testimony, witness, and evidence. This is a very high calling as God's Holy Ones. We become holy because God is holy, as being set apart to His identity. He has dedicated us to Himself.

• "Consecrate/Sanctify (qadas - same as above) yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. And you shall keep My (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies (qadas - same as above) you." (Lev. 20:7-8).

Again we are sanctified by our connection to the sanctified identity of the LORD, who has called us to be part of Him. This sets us apart from all other people and powers and we should honor that separation by His identity, not resent, walk contrary to it or disregard it.

• "...I am the LORD your God who has separated you from the peoples. You shall therefore distinguish (badal - to divide, separate, sever utterly, withdraw from, to disjoin by placing a physical divider between, separate things previously mixed together, shut out, be secluded) between unclean (tame - unclean, impure sexually, morally, ethically and religiously; defiled, profane, contaminated, polluted)...and clean (taor/taher - pure, clean, unmixed/be or make clean or pure, to shine, be bright)...and you shall not make your (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) souls abominable (saqas - make detestable, abominable, filthy, loathsome, polluted, utterly abhorrent, base, impure, contaminated) by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine." (Lev. 20:24b-26).

The LORD's identity has already separated us to Himself. We are to understand, acknowledge and honor that separation from the unclean.  As we have read in past Sabbath portions, we, His people who are called by His name (see 2 Chron. 7:14), are so closely united with the identity of the LORD that the uncleanness of God's people makes the whole house of God, which He has set in the midst of His people, unclean also. While we know that the reference to the clean and unclean creatures is generally applied to dietary practices, there is also mention here of unclean creatures that make a person's soul into something "abominable". This is a very deep and dark subject that may include and also extend beyond that understanding that I cannot go into here because of length. Some of it deals with witchcraft, sorcery, divination and animism, and the habit of dark powers to inhabit certain living creatures as we have also seen in examples from scripture (see Gen. 3:1, 14-15, and Mk. 5:1-20). 

     Throughout Leviticus Chapters 19 and 20, the LORD repeats this phrase numerous times after giving the commandments regarding holiness: "I am the LORD", or "I am the LORD your God". His character and being are associated with His commands of holiness. In these chapters the LORD wants us to "see" as He sees and be changed by His vision. The LORD does not want us to be conformed to the vision and understanding of the world and the ungodly. He tells His people not to act in the ways of Egypt, out of which they came, nor to act in the ways of the Canaanites of the land to which the LORD was taking them (Lev. 18:3-5), but to walk by His (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Words (see also Rom. 12:1-3).

     I mentioned above that the holy calling to which we have been called also has prophetic importance. In the Book of Exodus, the LORD had already revealed His calling to holiness for His people: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Ex. 19:4-6). Simon Peter, the apostle, wrote of the same vision for believers in Messiah/Christ: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10). It's the same prophetic vision regarding God's people. 

     The other reading portions of this K'doshim "Holy ones" Sabbath are scheduled to be read around the anniversary (Atz'ma'ut) of Israel becoming an independent nation on May 14, 1948. However, the assigned portions are of a future vision. These reading portions for this specific time is telling Israel to keep the prophetic vision until it is fulfilled. There is more to come for the natural nation of Israel than what they "see" with their natural eyes, as well as for those who are grafted into that holy root by faith in the Messiah/Christ (Rom. 11:16-21). 

     This is the vision for the K'doshim, the Holy Ones for this Sabbath for the (Atz-ma'ut) anniversary of Israel: "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem...They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Mic. 4:1-3). The vision for Israel and all of us at the anniversary of the restoration of their independent nation is not rooted in the present, though the present with its terrorism and warfare seems to be all-consuming. What are we "seeing"? Is it the vision for which the LORD has purposed His K'doshim Holy Ones to carry and walk in? There is much at stake.

     The vision doesn't stop there. In another Sabbath reading portion for Atz'ma'ut, the anniversary of Israel, the vision of the LORD for His K'doshim Holy Ones is one of glory: "Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles/nations/heathen/people shall come to your light, and the kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around and see...Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within you borders; But you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory." (Isa. 60:1-4a, 19). If we are looking at the thick darkness of violence that covers the people, we are looking at the wrong thing. The vision of the LORD is commanding us this Sabbath to look for the risen light and glory of the LORD and conform to it.  This vision of Isaiah's is also brought into the new covenant (Rev. 21:22-27) for the vision of the LORD is eternal and does not change (Mal. 3:6). The verses of Revelation show us the presence of God and the Lamb for the dwelling place/tabernacle/temple of the Holy Ones, because it is written that "...there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." Saints and K'doshim Holy Ones, are we carrying this vision? These visions of the LORD extend far beyond the current state of Israel and the nations, but look into the eternal, prophetic state of Israel and the nations. This is the LORD's anniversary gift to His people. according to the reading portions assigned for this Sabbath.

     Simon Peter wrote of the even further extent of this far-reaching, unlimited vision of the LORD's and our responsibility to it: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night...the heavens will pass away...the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore...what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening (speudo - to desire earnestly, make haste, urge on diligently or earnestly, await eagerly) the coming of the day of God...Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." (2 Peter 3:10-13, excerpt). Isaiah first prophesied this vision of the LORD (Isa. 65:17-19) regarding a new heaven and a new earth which was also "seen" by John the apostle in a vision in Rev. 21:1-4. Saints and K'doshim Holy Ones, what are we looking for? Is it this same vision of the LORD, which pulls us forward to the new and the righteous? Or do we only see the here and now, which are the things that are passing away? 

     The prophet Habakkuk wrote the word of the LORD: "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but in the end it will speak, and will not lie. Though it tarries (mahah/ma - be reluctant and linger because of the questions "What?", "How?", "Where?", "Why?", "When?"), wait for it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry (ahar - delay, hesitate, defer, remain behind, slack, keep back)." (Hab. 2:2-3). The LORD wants His K'doshim Holy Ones to read His vision and act upon it with urgency. Are we treating the Holy Vision that the LORD has commanded to His people with urgency?

     The writer of the Book of Hebrews also wanted to adjust our vision by picking up on the prophetic word of Habakkuk above: "For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just (dikaios - righteous, observing divine laws, approved of or acceptable of God, of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God, and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life) shall live by faith...Now faith is the substance (hypostasis = hypo: under + istemi: to make firm, fix, establish, uphold or sustain the authority or force of anything, stand immovable, of the foundation of a building) of things hoped for, the evidence (Greek root elegcho - reprove, refute, shame, correct, admonish, to call to account, to bring to the light) of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." (Heb. 10:37-38, Heb. 11:1-3). The exercise of our (prophetic vision) faith brings forth the new things by scolding them for not manifesting, according to the Greek meaning above! This is the calling of the K'doshim Holy Ones and saints.

     If you would like to know more about the prophetic vision that the LORD has appointed for the K'doshim saints and Holy Ones, you can pray with me: "LORD of all creation, Your creation is still manifesting Your Word. The vision which You set from before the beginning will come to pass because You watch over Your Word to perform it.  As I follow Jesus, fill me with the Holy Spirit so I may walk in Your vision, running with it, looking forward and hastening it, living by the faith of the Son of God that pulls into existence the things that are not yet visible. I pray for Israel on their anniversary as a nation, that they would be blessed also in "seeing" by Your vision, which You entrusted to them, and by looking to the risen light and glory of Zion. I ask these things in the name of my Savior, Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

     

Life&Death

     "It's a matter of life and death!" This is a well-known expression meaning that something is of extreme urgency. This expression came to mind as I read the Sabbath reading portion.

     This is the second week of the Sabbath reading portion titled Acharei-Mot, which means "after the death". This reading portion began on the Sabbath following Passover, which we discussed in the previous blog entry "Tabernacles&Passover" and continued through the Feast of First Fruits (Lev. 23:9-12), which occurs on the day after the Sabbath following the Passover, which would be on a Sunday. This is the Feast which was fulfilled by the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:20-23), who was slain on Passover, and three days later rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits (Mt. 28:1, Mk. 16:`1-2, Lk. 24:1-3, Jn. 19:42-20:1). 

     As mentioned last week, this Acharei-Mot Sabbath reading starts in Lev. 16 after the deaths of two of Aaron's sons, who had offered strange (zur - a stranger, an enemy, a foreigner, loathsome, profane, commit adultery) fire before the LORD (Lev. 16:1). By offering strange incense, Aaron's sons did not regard the LORD as holy, and did not glorify Him before the people. For this, fire went out from the LORD and devoured them. (Lev. 10:1-3). If we consider the fact that the tabernacle given to Moses by the LORD was patterned after the heavenly things, we know that the incense that is to come before God in His heavenly temple is made up of the powerful, Spirit-filled prayers of the saints, which prayers are cherished by God (Rev. 5:8). To come before God with a tainted version of this would be unacceptable. These deaths may seem harsh to many who read of them. However, by disregarding the holiness and glory of the LORD, and the profound purpose that exists within that holiness and glory and coming before Him in the same manner as strangers or enemies, His people were removing that part of the LORD's character that is powerful to save from death and the grave and to deliver any and all who call upon Him. Why would anyone call on God if His own people treat Him no differently than a useless idol, or a powerless figurehead? It is this holiness of the LORD  that called us to His salvation: "...God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed...who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel..." (2 Tim. 1:8-9). Isaiah wrote of the LORD's declaration over us: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you., For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior...Fear not for I am with you...I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth - Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." (Isa. 43:2-7). The LORD also said that when He redeemed us, we became His. (Isa. 43:1). We became enfolded into His holiness and glory through His Son, sent as a sacrificial Lamb to atone for us, and to pay the redemption price for us on behalf of His Father in heaven. Not only does the LORD save and deliver through His holiness, but He calls us into His own holiness as He also glorifies us in His own glory (Rom. 8:30, Jn. 17:22-24, 1 Thess. 4:7-8, Eph. 1:3-6). Only the holy and glorious God can do this, and it is His purpose to offer this salvation to all who will call upon Him as the God who saves (Joel 2:32).

     In this week's Sabbath reading portion the LORD calls upon His people through Moses, saying: "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy." (Lev. 19:1-2). We read last week that the uncleanness of God's people causes His house, or tabernacle/temple, to become defiled and unclean as it sits in the midst of them (Lev. 16:15-16). We will see more about the house/tabernacle/temple of the LORD later. In Lev. 18, the LORD gave a command to Moses to speak to the children of Israel, saying: "I am the LORD you God. According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall observe (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) My judgments, and keep (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) My ordinances, to walk in them [which if a man does, he shall live (hayay - remain alive, have life, continue in life, to revive from sickness or death, preserve alive, restore to life, save life) by them]: I am the LORD your God. (Lev. 18:1-5). The ways of Egypt and Canaan were wrapped up in the worship of terrible gods and idols that glory in the death of men, but the ways of the LORD God are wrapped up in life, even the restoring of life from the dead, and salvation life, as we see in the Hebrew meaning of hayay, life above. The LORD couldn't make it plainer to His people. In another place, Moses tells the people: "See (ra'a - see, perceive, prophetic sight or revelation, have vision, discern, be visible), I have set before you today (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes and His judgments, that you may live (hayay - same as above) and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess." (Deut. 30:15-16, see also Josh. 24:14-15).

     In another reading from this week's Sabbath portion, the prophet Jeremiah received the Word of the LORD for Judah and Jerusalem. The LORD said to Jeremiah: "A conspiracy (qeser/qasar - conspiracy, treason, unlawful alliance/to bind, to tie, to bind together, to bind oneself) has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have...gone after other gods to serve them...have broken (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) My covenant which I made with (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) their fathers. Therefore...I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them...(they) will go and cry out to the gods to whom they offer incense but they will not save them at all in the time of trouble...you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Ba'al (Phoenician/Canaanite god)...What has My beloved to do in My house, having done lewd deeds with many? And the holy flesh has passed from you. When you do evil, then you rejoice." (Jer. 11:9-15). In using the word "conspiracy" above, the LORD is saying that His people have tied themselves to an unlawful alliance with the gods whom they have chosen to serve. These gods of depravity and death become spiritually bound to the individual. The LORD sees the body of death to which His people have tied themselves.

     It is interesting that the LORD gave prohibitions regarding contact with a dead body (Num. 19:11-22). In these prohibitions, if the man who is unclean from touching the dead "does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD."  Again we see that the uncleanness of the people of God also defiles the house of God. As Paul saw the destructive power of sin in our/his flesh, our spiritual temple, he cried out, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom. 7:24-25). The house of the LORD is the house of life which breaks out against death.

     In another reading portion from this Sabbath, the prophet Amos prophesied against the northern kingdom of Israel when the nation was divided into two kingdoms. Amos prophesied of a great calamity that would come upon Israel because of its injustices and corruption, because it did not heed the voice of the LORD and His commandments: "The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. And the songs of the temple shall be wailing in that day, says the LORD God - Many dead bodies everywhere, they shall be thrown out in silence." (Amos 8:2-3). The LORD showed Amos another vision of the temple: "I saw (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the LORD standing by the altar, and He said, 'Smite (naka - slay, beat, wounded, stripes, give wounds, to be stricken or smitten, scourge, chastise, send judgment upon) the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them..." (Amos 9:1). The LORD promised that wherever the people chose to hide from those shaking doorposts and thresholds of His temple, they would not be able to escape..." All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, 'The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.' (v. 1-4, 10). The very doorposts and lintels or the house/temple that were to shield the Israelites from death by the blood of the Passover Lamb (Ex. 12:3-7), were now to be struck, slain, beaten, wounded, scourged, stricken and smitten, chastised in judgment for the sins of God's people (see Isa. 53). In disregarding the blood of the Lamb which was provided for deliverance, and choosing instead the gods of this world, all things become death. The gods and systems of this world do not serve life. They serve money.

     The apostle John wrote of the revelation given to him. In that revelation, he saw the Lamb, Jesus, in the temple of heaven, opening the seals of the scrolls that would lead to the wrath of God that was to be poured out upon the earth. (Rev. 15:5-8). The temple of life breaks out against the powers of death, and against all of those who "tie" themselves to those things. Elsewhere in scripture, the LORD commands His people: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God. and they shall be My people...Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you...I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty." (2 Cor. 6:16-18, see also Isa. 52:10-11).

     This prophecy of Amos, above, is certainly a matter of life and death, but then the LORD gives Amos this prophecy: "On that day, I will raise up (qum - rise up, raise, establish, preserve alive) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the tabernacle (sukah - tabernacle, booth, pavilion, entwined boughs, covering) of David (meaning "beloved"), which has fallen (napal - fall down, lie down, violent death, perish) down, and repair its (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) damages; I will raise up (qum - same as above) its ruins, and rebuild (bana - build, repair, have children, obtain children) it as in the days of old (olam/alam - everlasting, ancient, evermore, perpetual, continuous existence, eternity, a hidden time/to conceal, hide, secret); That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,' says the LORD who does this thing...I will bring back (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the captives of My people Israel..." (v. 11-12, 14). The LORD promised that they would drink the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) wine (yayin - effervescent, banqueting wine, ripened grape cluster, vineyard) and the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) fruits (peri - first fruits, fruit, boughs, reward).

     As the prophecy of Amos tells us, according to the meanings of the Hebrew words used, the LORD is going to raise up from death the tabernacle of David, meaning the Messiah/Christ. This tabernacle did not originate from the time of David but was concealed within eternity. This is the same thing that Paul wrote above about salvation, which is God's purpose and grace through Messiah/Christ, which was from before time began, and what was previously hidden in that eternity is now revealed (see 2 Tim. 1:8-9). The tabernacle of which Amos wrote prophetically is the original tabernacle of life. It is not referred to as an ohel tabernacle, but as a sukkah tabernacle, an intimate chamber or booth made of boughs of living matter, of the type constructed for the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a tabernacle that is meant to welcome many children, even those who were once enemies and heathen, but are now called by the name of the LORD. Those who were taken as spiritual and physical captives are brought home to enter the time of banqueting and fruitfulness with Him. It is the sukkah of eternal life for those who belong to "the Beloved", the Son of David, the Son of God (Mt. 17:1-9, Mt. 3:16-17).

     In this chapter of Amos, we see that the LORD's judgment and salvation, death and eternal life, are offered side by side to His people. It's a matter of life and death - choose life.

     If you would like to learn more about holiness and glory to save life, you can join with me in prayer: "Heavenly Father, I choose life today. I choose the Word and Way of the LORD. I gratefully receive Your salvation, provided to me by the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus. By Your Holy Spirit, lead me in the ways of life. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness by Your grace extended to me. Show me how to turn away from the paths of death and walk instead in the path of life. Let me dwell all my days in Your tabernacle, in Your holiness and glory. I ask this in the name of Jesus, My Savior. AMEN."

 *NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.