Replaced

This Sabbath's reading portion has a double title, Mattot-Mass'ei, which means "Tribes-Journeys of", and continues in the Book of Numbers, or B'Midbar, in Hebrew, which means "In the wilderness". Most of us think of being in the wilderness, spiritually speaking, as being a type of punishment, or persecution. However, throughout this journey in the wilderness for the Israelites, God pulled down strongholds of spiritual darkness and harm, represented by earthly kings and nations, and replaced them with His kingdom, through His Word, and the obedience of His people to that Word. We have read that the tribes of the Israelites were referred to as armies. These "armies" did not cross the wilderness aggressively, but miraculously defeated enemies who attacked them. We have seen so far in Numbers that the human kings and nations that sought to destroy Israel had names that provided a picture of spiritul wickedness, including demonic worship. In a way, the tribes on their journeys were spiritual bait by which the enemy was drawn into their own destruction. We can see this in another portion from this Sabbath in which the LORD said of His people in the wilderness: "I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal(s) (kelulot/kalla/kalal - betrothal, bridehood/a bride as perfect, young wife, crowned/made perfect and complete, to put a crown upon), when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holiness to the LORD, the firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him will offend; Disaster will come upon them,' says the LORD." (Jer. 2:2-3). As His people kept this covenant relationship of being joined to the LORD, they saw victory over their enemies. When they broke this relationship, they suffered tragic losses in the wilderness. Paul wrote about this kind of spiritual warfare this way: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (sarkikos/sarx/saroo/syro - nature of the flesh, human/of natural or physical origin) but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Cor. 10:4-6). Paul said that the weapons or tools used in this type of warfare are not natural or human. He also wrote in another place that the enemy is not natural or human: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles (methodeia/metahodeuo/hodos - cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery, lie in wait/with, among, against, travel, journey/way, highway, road, property, a mode or means) of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph. 6:11-12). So this warfare is not against humans, but against angelic royalty of wickedness and darkness, including the devil. We can notice here from the Hebrew meanings of the words that one of the methods that the devil and these angelic princes of spiritual wickedness uses is to travel or journey with/against the people of God, and to usurp property for their rule. We will also see that not only are these spiritual princes, or strongholds, pulled down or dispossessed, but they are replaced by the knowledge of the kingdom of God, which is established through our obedience to Christ, as Paul wrote above. This is true with the Israelites in the wilderness, as well as the believers in Christ. We will see how the journey of the Israelite tribes established the kingdom of God, and even the Gospel of salvation! No wonder the spiritual enemies of God came against them all along this journey in many different "wiles". In Numbers 33, part of this Sabbath's reading portion, Moses makes a record of the starting points of the journey of the Israelites after they left Egypt. Their beginning point came on the day after Passover: "...the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of the Egyptians. For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had killed among them. Also on their gods the LORD had executed judgments." (Num. 33:1-4). The LORD was judging these gods of wickedness as well. As Moses listed the stops along the journey in this chapter, many of the places are familiar, because we read of them in Exodus, and earlier in Numbers. However, as a student of scripture pointed out to me, there are many places on this list that are appearing for the first time, not mentioned previously, in the journey of the Israelites. Why did the LORD command Moses to make this record of the journey at this point in Numbers, and why are there new stations of encampment added? The meanings and root meanings of the names of many of these never before mentioned places bring to mind our journey in Christ: "to be yoked to, attached", "lifted up, ealted, to rise up", "make white, purify, cleanse from filthiness", "dripping in pieces, to moisten, sprinkle, drops of dew", "assembly, assemble together", "beauty, elegance, goodness, pleasing, to be bright, glisten", "quaking terror that drives out enemies, or the reverential fear of God", "place of assembly, to praise God in choirs", "burdened, oppressed, in exchange for, in place of", "lowly, humble", "sweetness, sweet fountain", "wealthy princes, ambassadors", "bind as a prisoner, chastisement", "sons of twisting, torturous", "cavern, cave, hole, of the slashing place", "to please, accepted, rejoice, make a thing good or right", "passage, servile, pass over, cross over, cease to exist, vanish", "the back(bone) of an exceedingly great man". This was a spiritual journey for the tribes as much as it was a physical journey with a promised and prepared destination at its end. This is also our spiritual journey in Christ. For the Israelites, there were challenges by their enemies all along the way, as there are for us in our journey. However, as they were obedient to the voice of the LORD, those enemies were defeated, and the Israelites replaced the might of an enemy with the kingdom of God and His righteousness (see also Mt. 6:33). We can also see this spiritual dispossession and replacement process again in one of this sabbath's reading portions from Jeremiah 1: "Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me (Jeremiah): "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms (see also Mt. 24:6-7), to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build (bana- build up, repair, restore, have children, establish [a house, a temple, a family], build a foundation [see also Eph. 2:19-22]) and to plant (nata - plant, fastened, fix in place, establish, set upright)." (Jer. 1:9-10). The prophet, by the Word of God, was not only given the calling to destroy, but to build up at the same time. Many are familiar with the aspect of spiritual warfare that pulls down strongholds, but God's plan also requires us to build and plant His kingdom by our obedience to Christ (see above) in replacement. We tend to forget that second half of the formula! If we fail to do that, we just leave a void that can be refilled again by evil. Jesus told a parable about the return of unclean spirits after a house has been swept clean until the latter evil condition ends up being worse than the former evil condition (Mt. 12:43-45). The first of the tribes to be settled were Reuben, Gad, and one half of the half-tribe of Manasseh. These tribes settled on the eastern side of the Jordan River in the territory of Gilead ( (Num. 32:26, 29). Although these tribes settled on the eastern side of the Jordan River, the men were still expected to cross over the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega [Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13]) Jordan (yarden/yarad - descender, flowing down/go down, subdue, bring down, cast down, take down) with the rest of the Israelites to help them subdue the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land of Canaan (Kena'an/kana - merchants, traffickers, the depressed, low/bring low, bring down, into subjection). As the Israelites cross over the Jordan to take possession (ahuzza/ahaz - possess by inheritance, something seized/hold, take, fastened, to be joined, to adhere, to cover) of Canaan, the territory is transformed from a place ruled by the coins of merchants who traffick (including human trafficking), and bring low, into the aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega land that it was ordained by God to be. Taking possession of this aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega land also means becoming fastened or joined to the Aleph-Tav Himself, Jesus. The tribes who settled Gilead, took the land that had belonged to the enemy kingdom of Og (meaning "long-necked" because he was a Rephaim giant), king of Bashan (fruitful), and the enemy kingdom of Sihon (warrior, tempestuous, sweeping away, carrying every thing before him), king of the Amorites, both of whom had been defeated and killed when they previously attacked the Israelites (Num. 32:33, see also Num. 21). The two kingdoms mentioned above were to be aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega kingdoms as written in Hebrew, and therefore they were taken back from these two royal, oppressive rulers who had ascended to the thrones in kingdoms that were ordained to belong to the Messiah and His people. As the Israelites took possession of these aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega kingdoms, they built villages (haua/hava - life-giving, living place/to breathe, declare, show), and changed the names of other cities (Num. 32:34-38). The prophet Isaiah also wrote about this building and planting that is done by the obedient people of God who understand His purpose for them: "Those from among you shall build the old waste places (harba/horeb/hereb/harab - decayed, desolate, dry/parching heat/sword, knife, dagger, axes, destructive cutting instrument, acrid/absence of water); you shall raise up the foundations (mosada/yasad - foundation of a building, of heaven, of earth/establish, appoint, ordain) of many generations; and you shall be called The Repairer of the Breach (peres/paras - gap, breaking, rupture/break down, use violence), The Restorers of Streets (paths) to Dwell In...That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. And they shall rebuild the old (olam/alam - ancient, everlasting, hidden time/secret thing) ruins, they shall raise up the former (rison/risa - first, former, before old time/beginning time) desolations (samen - astonishment, amazed, waste, ravage, horror, desolate, put to silence), and they shall repair (hadas - renew, repair, make anew, produce something new) the ruined cities (ir/ur - city, town, excitement, terror, anguish, anger, fortified/stir up, incite, hot, ardent, arouse a serpent from its hiding place, excite to a brawl, raise up a spear, exposed, make naked), the desolations of many generations." (Isa. 58:12, 61:4). It is very interesting to see the difference between the Hebrew word for "city" used here in Isaiah, and the names of some of the towns and cities that the Israelites built after dispossessing the Amorites in Gilead. Some of the names of the towns and cities mean: "crown", "crown of hidden treasure", "helped by Jehovah", "high, exalted", "house of wholesome, calm water", and "God is raised/ascending". If you would like to know more about how the LORD works in us to dispossess the enemy kingdoms in order to replace them with His kingdom, you can join me in my prayer: Our Father, in Christ, You have made me salt and light. Even as I have been changed into a new creation, I want to bring that same renewal in Jesus' name to my family, my nation, and to all of creation, as it groans for the manifestation of the sons of God. You have placed me on a journey where my steps, in obedience to You, cause spiritual wickedness to be dispossessed, and to be replaced with Your Kingdom of Light. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can be, as Isaiah prophesied, a Repairer of the Breach, and a Restorer of the Paths to Dwell In. Your Word says that "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." Let this be done in Jesus' name, AMEN."

Fathers

Jesus made this shocking statement to a group of people who believed in Him: "You are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar, and the father of it." (Jn. 8:44). Jesus discerned that these "believers" had been deeply angered to the point that they wanted to kill Him (v. 37) because of what He had told them earlier when He said: "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (eleutheroo/eleutheros - make free (from dominion of sin), to liberate, deliver/cease to be a slave, exempt from liability)." (v. 31-32). These believers in Christ took great pride and assurance in the fact that their forefather was Abraham, and, because of that, they were already "free". The words of Jesus had offended what they considered to be their spiritual identity and inheritance. However, Jesus pointed out to them that Abraham, whom they claimed as a father, prophetically saw the Day of Christ, and rejoiced in it (v. 56-58). Therefore, they were not of their father, Abraham. As Jesus had correctly discerned their hearts, these "believers", when they heard His words, took up stones to stone Him to death, but He passed through them unharmed (v. 59). In another portion of scripture, Jesus had to rebuke His disciples, and say to them: "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of..." (Lk. 9:51-56). To Peter, Jesus had to issue this rebuke: "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." (Mk. 8:31-33). The father of pride is not Abraham, nor is it God (Prov. 11:2, Prov. 16:5, 18-19), and it's a problem to all people, including believers. Pride is the self-exaltation of the (deceitful) heart (Jer. 17:9-10). In last week's Sabbath study, the father of the evil spirit of devastation and annihilation was revealed. The "father" of this evil was named after a little twittering sparrow, small when compared to the awesome power that God exercised to protect His people's salvation. God continues to reveal the "father" behind an enemy in an account from this week's Sabbath reading portion titled "Pinchas" (also known as Phinehas, and means "mouth of brass, serpent, mouth of the image of a serpent") from Numbers chapters 25 through 27. The Israelites in the wilderness (B'midbar) were about to learn another devastating, but necessary lesson about a powerful spiritual father, who was not God. Balaam, the soothsayer, had been hired by King Balak of Moab, to curse the people of God in order to make them vulnerable for defeat. However, Balaam could not speak the words of cursing, because God prevented him, and placed the Word of blessing in his mouth instead. However, Balaam advised the enemy king that the people of God could be ruined by the seduction of Moabite women, who would lead them away from God, and into the worship of the Canaanite demon god, Ba'al. Our reading portion begins with the success of this strategy: "Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove/Shittim (ebony bark with black thorns that exude gum Arabic/pierce, scourge, to flog, whip), and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined (samad - bind, join, fasten, attach oneself to, combine) to Ba'al Pe'or ("lord of the gap"/open wide, gaping), and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel." (Num. 25:1-3). In the worship of this Moabite god, the women worshippers would prostitute themselves. This results in that perverse "joining" that is created to the false god referred to in the above verses. Many of these Canaanite gods demanded worship in the form of both male or female prostitutes, and sexual perversion. In contrast, God honorably, lovingly, faithfully and sacredly married Israel to Himself, and in the same manner, Christ honorably, lovingly, faithfully, and sacredly married Himself to His Bride, the believers. The spirits of darkness try to twist and profane the holiest things of God, including the concept of joining by holy marriage. The fact that the Israelites were encamped in the Acacia Grove, with its Hebrew meaning, is significant. We are reminded of the prophecy of the scourging of Jesus the Messiah from Isaiah 53: "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities,; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are (were) healed." (see also 1 Peter 2:24). We can see the connection between the piercing, scourging stripes of Jesus and our healing. The "scourge" meaning is associated with the Acacia Tree of thorns, as well as the production of gum Arabia, a water-soluble fiber that is found to prevent and treat dietary tract cancers, as well as other cancers. This black thorny tree produces a healing substance. Gum Arabic also has preservative properties, so the ancient Egyptians used it in the embalming of mummies. While in this healing place of thorns, as the people engaged in this terrible "joining" with the women of Moab in the worship of Ba'al, the only way to break that joining was death. Moses ordered the deaths of all of those who were joined in this manner to Ba'al Peor (v. 5). The congregation of Israel were weeping at the door of the tabernacle in sorrow, when one of the Israelite men presented, in the middle of the congregation, a Midianite woman to whom he was joined: "Now when Phinehas (Pinchas) the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin (lance, spear) in his hand; and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both (sana - meaning includes change, alter, pervert, disguise) of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body/belly (qoba/qabab - abdomen, private parts/curse, execrate [meaning revile, condemn, loathe, regard with disgust, revulsion], pierce, perforate). So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. And those who died in the plague (magepa/nagap - plague, slaughter/beaten, stumble, stricken, smitten) were twenty-four thousand." (v. 6-9). The LORD said of Phinehas that he showed the zealousness of God for His people. The LORD then bestowed upon Phinehas His promise of a covenant of peace, and an everlasting priesthood for the descendants of Phinehas, because, through the zealousness of God, Phinehas made atonement for the children of Israel and prevented their total destruction. (v. 10-13). We can see the atonement work of Christ here also in the Hebrew meaning of the word "plague". Christ was beaten, stricken, and smitten for our sakes to atone for the plague we deserved (Isa. 53:4,6, Jn. 19:3, Lk. 22:63-64). This sounds like a merciless, violent action, but the breakout of the zeal of God, through Phinehas, was for His people, not against them. Twenty-four thousand, at least, had joined themselves to Ba'al, a hideous, perverse god, a spirit who still exists today, luxuriating in human perversion, idolatry, and the blood of human sacrifices, especially the blood of children, born and unborn. These Israelites were the people of God from whom the Messiah would come, Whose seed and presence they already carried, the Savior Who would provide salvation to the world, breaking the curse of death, atoning for sins, and giving the eternal life of His Father, God, to all who would receive it. The plans of the enemy to pervert and destroy Israel could not be allowed to succeed. God had made a covenant promise to their forefathers, and He would not break it. So who were these two individuals, the Israelite and the Moabite-Midianite woman, who defied God and Moses in front of the whole congregation, and continued in their perverse worship of a demon god? The man's name was Zimri (Zimri/zamar - "my music", celebrated in song/make music, praise, psalms/to trim a vine). His father was Salu (elevation, lifted up, weighed in the balance scale) who was a prince (nasi/nasa - lifted up, vapors which ascend/carry, bear, exalt, rise up, forgive, lift up) of a father's house of the tribe of Simeon (Simeon/sama - hearing with acceptance/hear, obey, understand, perceive, obedient, declare, cause to be heard). This Israelite, Zimri, who was gifted in sacred music including psalms, was born a prince's son. His father was a prince of exaltation, forgiveness and rising. Zimri's father's house was the chief house of the tribe of Simeon, who carried an appointed purpose of hearing (God), obeying and preaching or declaring. No wonder the spiritual enemy was determined to destroy the son of this father's house. The Midianite (meaning "strife. contention"/rule, subjugate, contend, brawling discord/lord, master, ruler, controller) woman was named Cozbi/kazab (meaning "my lie", liar/proven to be a liar). Her father represented a very powerful spiritual enemy. Her father's name was Zur/sauar/sur (meaning "rock"/strength, beauty, mighty one, strong rock of heathen gods/besiege, distress, adversary, assault, shut in, foe). He was "head (ab - father, founder) of the people (em - like father) of a father's house in Midian." (Num. 25:14). This father was not like the "little tweeting, hopping sparrow father" that we saw in the previous Sabbath reading. This father, Zur, the adversary, represented a rock of strength and assault. As the father of Cozbi, the Midianite woman here, and considering the Hebrew meaning of her name, Zur was "the father of proven lies". Jesus told us who this "father of lies" was, above. This father represented Satan, himself (see 1 Peter 5:8-11). As we saw in the account with Jesus above, this father had the ability to lie to even believers in Christ through their weaknesses, in that case murderous pride, of their sinful nature. Peter wrote that we were to take this threat of the devil seriously, be vigilant, and resist the devil, and the God of all grace, glory and dominion would perfect, establish, strengthen and settle us (build us up on His foundation). In the wilderness, the Israelites learned a hard lesson about this father of lies, but as we saw with the little twittering and hopping sparrow father of last week, the plans and purpose of our heavenly Father for His people will not be defeated. After this Ba'al debacle was resolved, the Israelites were numbered again in Numbers Ch. 26. The (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega - see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, 22:13)) sum of the males old enough to go to war, was to be done "by their father's houses". (Num. 26:2). By this second numbering, the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land would be divided and "...they shall inherit according to the names of the tribes of their fathers." (v. 55). Here are some of the meanings of the names of those in this second census who were heads of households within their tribes: Nemuel: "Day of God", Jachin: "the right hand", Shaul: "Dawning and rising of light", Areli: "the lion of God, the son of a hero", Jashub: "He will return", Jahleel: "hoping, expectant of God", Asriel: "Vow/Prince of God". These were just some of the heads of households among the tribes of the fathers of Israel. These heads of households reflected the heavenly Father and His Son in their names. This is the prophetic purpose of the godly names that travelled through the wilderness and inherited the Promised Land. Some time later, the father of Cozbi/lies, Zur, the prince of those like him, would lose his life, along with the soothsayer Balaam and four other princes of Midian. The Israelites, by the command of Moses, and with the presence of Phinehas, "with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand", killed them with the sword (Num. 31:6-8). Sadly, but perhaps not too unexpectedly, the Israelites took the Midianite women alive as captives from this victory. Moses, however, dealt with that situation very quickly! That is a study for another day. If you would like to learn more about our Father, Who is God, you can pray with me: "Our dear heavenly Father of all creation, Your Word does not return to You void, but accomplishes all that You have set it out to do, without exception, especially regarding Your people. There is none other like You. I love You as my good Father, and I love Your Son, Jesus. Keep me, and Your people, in Your Father's heart by the Holy Spirit, and by Your Word of truth that You are teaching me. Let my ears hear, and my heart obey, what You, my Father, are instructing me so that I never stray from my Father's house. You have made me a "son/daughter of God" through Your blessed Son, Jesus, so that I can dwell forever with my heavenly Father. I praise and thank You in Jesus' name for all of these marvelous things. AMEN."

Enemies

This week's Sabbath reading portion is named after one of the enemies that came against the Israelites as they journeyed through the wilderness after their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The title of this reading portion is "Balak". Balak was the king of Moab, a nation that bordered the land that the LORD had promised to give to the Israelites, the covenant descendants (from whom the Messiah would come) of Abraham. Balak's name means "devastator, annihilate, make empty, void". This brings to mind the condition of the earth before God spoke miraculously in Genesis: "The earth was without form and void." (Gen. 1:2). From his name we can see that this enemy, Balak, represented a spiritual enemy as well as a natural enemy. Up to this point in the Book of Numbers, or B'Midbar in Hebrew, we read how God had numbered His people, whom He called "armies" (Num. 1:2-3). The males of the Israelites, except for the Levites, who were of fighting age, "able to go to war", numbered 603,550 (Num. 2:32-33). If we add the Levites, the women and the children, the total number of Israelites in the wilderness was well over one million, and many believe the number could have been over two million. By the time we come to the account of Balak, king of Moab, in chapters 22-24, the Israelites, by the favor and might of the LORD, had already defeated other kings who had attacked them. For this reason, as the Israelites approached the territory of Moab, those people became afraid: "Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread (qus - sickening dread, grieved, abhor, loathing, cut, cut up, cut off) because of the children of Israel. So Moab said to the elders of Midian, 'Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field." (Num. 22:2-4). Here's something for the people of God to know about their spiritual enemies: while the Israelites were totally unaware of the ideas of Balak and the Moabites, the Moabites were sick with dread over the Israelites. The enemy's dread was so intense, that it caused them to loathe the people of God, according to the Hebrew meaning. The fear and loathing was so intense that the enemy sought to destroy, or cut off, the people of God in any way possible. Here's something else to know about the spiritual enemy: Balak, this devastator and annihilator, had a father named Zippor. Zippor means "sparrow, small bird, twittering, hopping little bird, skip around in a circle". I'm not saying that this spiritual enemy is not strong enough to "devastate" and "annihilate", but compared to the Father of the people of God, Who carried those millions of Israelites on His great eagles' wings, there's no comparison. We see this description when the LORD told Moses to say to the children of Israel: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega - see Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13) 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. 19:3-6). In this week's Sabbath reading portion, we will see the awesome and terrifying might of the LORD against the enemies of His people. Can God not save His covenant people from little sparrows, no matter how evil? (see also Isa. 14:12-17). We will also see later what drives God to pour out all of His tremendous power against these enemies. Balak, king of Moab, sent his men to hire a certain sorcerer-soothsayer named Balaam (meaning "not of the people, foreigner"), son of Beor ("burning, stupid, dull-hearted, unreceptive, brutish, feed upon, consume"), from Pethor ("soothsayer"). (Num. 22:5-6). King Balak of Moab wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites, so that Balak might then be able to defeat them. However, God would not allow Balaam to curse whom He had blessed, and Balaam could only speak bountiful blessings over the children of Israel. (Num. 23:8, 11-12). Not only did Balaam bless Israel, but the Word of the LORD which Balaam received, revealed the shout of a King among the Israelites (Num. 23:21, 21, 24:7, 9). He compared the Israelites to a lion, which is the identity of the Messiah: the Lion of the tribe of Judah (see also Gen. 49:8-12). In Balaam's fourth prophecy, as he again blesses the people of God, he also again prophesies the Messiah (Num. 24:17, 19). When Balaam looked upon the Israelites, he prophetically saw the Messiah Who was to be born many centuries later. Balaam was not able to curse Israel, but we see that Israel immediately thereafter begins to "commit harlotry with the women of Moab". The Moabite women invited the people (of Israel) to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to (samad - fasten, bind, join, attach oneself to, combine) Ba'al of Peor, this Moabite god, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel. (Num. 25:1-3). Those who had joined themselves to the false god, Ba'al, were killed. Phinehas stopped this wholesale destruction of the Israelites by killing one man who refused to put aside his idolatrous foreign wife. Twenty-four thousand Israelites died in this plague from the LORD. (v. 7-9). It turned out, that this idolatry of God's people with the gods of the Moabite women resulted from Balaam advising King Balak to use this strategy to lead the Israelites away from God, leaving them vulnerable (see Num. 31:15-16). This is still a strategy used by spirits of darkness against God's people (see. Rev. 2:14). Although the LORD intervened powerfully to prevent the curse that the enemy tried to bring on His people, which was the devastation and annihilation that King Balak desired against the Israelites, the Israelites opened the door, invited it in, and brought a plague of destruction upon themselves. From another "Balak" reading portion of this Sabbath, a generation later, Joshua gathered the Israelites and demanded that they decide and commit to either the God who delivered them out of Egypt, or the false gods of the other nations. He demanded: "Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served...Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Josh. 24:14-15). The Israelites agreed, saying, "We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God." (v. 18). As Joshua and the Israelites spoke of "the LORD", it is written in Hebrew as (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Yehova, or LORD. In another reading portion, titled Balak, for this Sabbath, the prophet Micah (meaning "Who is like YHWH Jehovah") brings forth the Word of the LORD concerning His great victory over His enemies. In Micah 5, the prophet brought a beautiful description of the coming of the Messiah-Savior, whose origin is from eternity: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrahthah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Iarael, whose goings forth (mosa'a/mosa/yasa - origin, family descent/rising, place of departure/begotten, break out, germinate, come out of, water flowing and gushing forth from a fountain) are from of old (qedem/qadam - ancient time, eternal, before-time/hasten to meet, receive, anticipate), fromn everlasting (olam/alam - perpetual time, always, continuous existence, eternity, hidden time/hidden, secret thing).' ...He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and this One shall be peace." (Mic. 5:2-5a). This prophecy is emphatic that the Ruler who was to come had His origins in eternity and was eternity. Jesus (Yeshua- "Salvation of God") was continually existent before the beginning, although His natural birth was to be in Bethlehem. Even many Christians erroneously believe that Jesus' "beginnings" were at His birth in Bethlehem, but this is not correct. He was before time itself. He was, and is, and will be "always". From this amazing revelation in Micah 5, the prophet wrote of the LORD's complete victory over the enemies of His people, concluding: "And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury on the (aleph-tav) nations (goyim/geva - nations, people, heathen, Gentiles/body) that have not heard (sama - hear, perceive, obedient, discern, give heed, agree, yield to). We may think that this sounds unjust, but when we look at the Hebrew meanings, those who did not "hear" were those who refused to receive and obey what they knew. They knew because they were aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega nations, people, a body, that belonged to the LORD. These people would not be ignorant of the Lord, Jesus Christ. They would know, but refuse to receive and obey the King of Kings. Man is responsible for what God has faithfully and mercifully revealed to them. These aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega nations, divinely destined to belong to Christ, cannot make war against God's people, and then say, "Lord, I didn't know." In another reading portion from this Sabbath, the prophet Habakkuk (meaning "embrace,clasp") also wrote about this: "He (the LORD) stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled (natar - drive asunder, undo, shake (off), unfasten) the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting...The sun and moon stood still in their habitation...You marched through the land in indignation; You teampled the nations in anger. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for salvation with Your (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Anointed (masiah - Messiah, anointed [same as "Christ"], anointed prince or priest). You struck the head from the house of the wicked, by laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah...When I heard, my body trembled; my lips quivered at the voice; rottenness entered my bones; and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble..." (Hab. 3:6, 11-13, 16). The prophet was terrified by what he saw and heard in the Spirit, as the LORD went forth for the salvation of His people through His (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Messiah, or Christ in Greek. The LORD shook all of creation, stopping the sun and the moon, on behalf of the salvation He had provided for His people with the Messiah. A Balak-type enemy, the son of a "tweet-tweet, hop-hop" sparrow, cannot compare with our God marching forth on behalf of the salvation of His people. As for me and my house, we will fear and serve the LORD of awesome power and might. If you would like to know more about the LORD who shakes the heavens and the earth, and all of the nations on behalf of the salvation of His people by His Messiah, Jesus, you can pray with me: "LORD God, You are mighty and great on behalf of my salvation. You shake all of creation in order to bring me to, and keep me in, Your salvation, Jesus. You sent Your Son to die, to descend into Hell, and to be raised from the dead, to defeat all of the enemies of darkness that, like Balak, would try to destroy me, and all of Your people. Keep me from evil by Your Word, and by Your Holy Spirit, so that I remain steadfast in You, Aleph-Tav/Alpha and Omega Yehova, where my salvation dwells. I ask, as always, in the name of Your Son, Jesus, who saved me. AMEN."

Defense

We were once very confident that the defense systems of our nations, especially those that were the most elaborate, sophisticated, and powerful in the world, were perfectly able to protect us against foreign attack...until the bright, clear morning of September 11, 2001. The world found out that no army, navy, or air force, no matter how advanced, was able to defend any nation in every circumstance. We were vulnerable then, and we remain vulnerable now. However, there is a Defense that IS sure, and cannot be shaken. In the Book of Numbers, or B'Midbar in Hebrew, which means "In the Wilderness", we read that the LORD divided the hundreds of thousands of Israelite men, whom the LORD called His armies, into divisions for war. Each tribal division, and in the case of the Levites, the priests, divisions within the division, camped under an identifying banner. The LORD armed His people with His Word, given to them from Mount Sinai, and the LORD covered His people, and enforced the placement of His anointed and appointed covering, Moses and Aaron. We saw last week that the people of God rashly rebelled against this covering the LORD had provided for them. The LORD's presence was strategically positioned in the midst of His people, in His Tabernacle. Sometimes the Israelite armies would go into natural battle against an enemy, but the greatest enemies they faced were not natural, but spiritual. However, the LORD had set in place a powerful defense system over His people. It is the title of this week's Sabbath reading portion, Chukkat, meaning "Ordinance of". The Hebrew letters that compose the word chukkat, or "ordinance of", are cheth, vaw, qoph, tav. Each of these letters have an individual meaning that, when joined together in this word, can mean "The fence, the tent wall, that separates and protects is joined together into a circle from the head and behind by a nail and a cross, the sign of the covenant". Chukkat, the ordinance of God, is the defense system for His people. The very first verses of Chukkat, this week's reading beginning in Numbers 20, reveals a wealth of information for us in order to study this defense system: "Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was burried there. Now there was no water for the congregation..." (Num. 20:1-2a). The people were not journeying and encamping according to their own whims. They were being led by the Pillar of Smoke during the day, and the Pillar of Fire by night, and following the Ark of the Covenant (see. Num. 10:33-36). The people are now in the Wilderness of Zin, which means "a low palm tree, desert, to prick". They were staying in Kadesh. The root word of Kadesh in Hebrew, Qadas, means "holy, sanctify, be hallowed, be separate, sacred, purify, clean, the Sabbath, consecrated as a priest, to declare holy". As the people of God, we can understand the nature of holiness found in this word qadas. From this holy root word, qadas, we will move closer up towards our word "Kadesh" with the next root word, qades. However, something has happened to corrupt the holiness of qadas. Qades, contrarily means "unclean, male devotee to licentious idolatry of Venus or Astarte, consecrated prostitute to an idol". Finally, the word of the place mentioned in the above verse, Kadesh, means "holy, sanctuary, libidinous worship of Astarte or Venus, harlot". Why had God directed His people to such a place? The people of God were encamped in a place of spiritual warfare. Their enemy is a spirit that twists and perverts the idea of the holiness of God. Holiness is attacked by corrupting the principle of consecration, and twisting it into depravity. The people have arrived in "the first month", yet there is no mention of Passover, which was last mentioned in Num. 9, during another first month, when the people were in the Wilderness of Sinai. The LORD had to command them then to keep the Passover, even though the Feasts of the LORD had been established earlier as an eternal ordinance of God (Num. 9:1-5). Miriam, Moses' sister and prophetess, died at this time in the Wilderness of Zin. Also there was no water in the land. However, the people did not turn to their defense system. Instead, they turned against it: "And the people contended (rib - grapple, wrangle, debate, strive, seize one another by the hair, rend each other's garments, contend with blows, defend) with Moses and spoke, saying: 'If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! Why have you brought up the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) assembly of the LORD into this wilderness that we and our animals should die here? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place?" (Num. 10:3-5a). Of course, Moses didn't choose to be the one to deliver the people out of Egypt, or to determine their path to the Promised Land. This was done by God. We have additional information that this account was taking place at the time of the appointed Feasts of the LORD that were an ordinance for the first month, because the people were looking for grains, figs, vines and pomegranates (v. 5), which are the fruits of the Feast of Tabernacles. They could not find those fruits in this Wilderness of Zin at Kadesh. Because of the contention of the people against them, Moses and Aaron left the congregation and went to the door of the Tabernacle where they fell on their faces, and the glory of the LORD appeared (v. 6). The people had tried to defend themselves against the evil of that place by contending with Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron, on the other hand, would receive an ordinance of defense from the LORD: "Then the LORD spoke...'Take the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) rod: you and your brother Aaron gather the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; and you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) congregation and their animals..." (v. 7-8). In this "evil" place where the idea of the holiness of God has been defiled, leaving the land a barren, waterless desert, the LORD answered His complaining people with His glory, and with the Rock of His Salvation. It is a Rock filled with enough water to provide not only for the hundreds of thousands of numbered males plus women and children, but for their flocks and herds as well. Jesus spoke of Himself as an infinite supply of living water: "Whoever drinks of this water (a well established by Jacob) will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (Jn. 4:13-14). Jesus gave this revelation promise to a woman whom many would have considered to be immoral, and her land, Samaria, was also despised by the religiously minded, for worshipping God in an unacceptable manner. The New Testament also clearly identified this Rock at Kadesh as Christ: "...all our fathers...drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." (1 Cor. 10:4). In the Wilderness of Zin, the LORD did not deal with the spirits of darkness by contending with them, but by overcoming them with the glory of His holiness, and with the provision of His Son, the Messiah, as water to His rebellious people. In the same way, the LORD did not manifest His Son to us because we deserved Him. Scripture says that while we were yet sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8-11). However, not only is this the Rock of Salvation, but it is a Rock of defense, as we read in the Psalms: "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength (rock), in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies...He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved...the LORD has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge." (Ps. 18:2-3, Ps. 62:2, 6, Ps. 94:22). As Moses was given the command to take the rod and speak to this rock before all of the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) congregation, The holiness of the LORD was again profaned by bitterness in this place of Kadesh. Moses, in His outrage, did not speak to the rock, as he was commanded, but struck the rock twice with the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) rod, saying: "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" (Num. 20:10-11). For this error, Moses and Aaron were told by the LORD that they would not be bringing His (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) congregation into the (eres) land/earth/world which the LORD had given them because "...you did not believe Me, to hallow (qadas - see above root of Kadesh) Me in the eyes of the children of Israel..." (v. 12). The LORD brought His (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) congregation to this forsaken place, made desolate by the perversion of holiness, in order to be enthroned in His qadas holiness. However, this would now be known as "the water of Meribah (meaning strife, contention, provocation)" because the children of Israel contended with the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD (Yehovah) here (v. 13). The LORD had brought His people to this desolate place for a reason and a purpose - not to punish them, but to exalt Himself and establish His holiness over the spirits of darkness in this place. Psalm 99 is also assigned reading for this Sabbath of Chukkat or "Ordinance". It says in part: "The LORD reigns...Let the earth be moved...He is holy (qados/qadas)...Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His footstool - He is holy (qados/qadas) ...You were to them God-Who-Forgives, though You took vengeance on their deeds. Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy (qados/qadas) hill; For the LORD our God is holy (qados/qadas)." (v. 3, 5, 9). This is something for us to keep in mind today also as we see darkness twist the holy character of the LORD before the people. As God's people left Kadesh, they traveled to Mount Hor, where Aaron would die by the Word of the LORD, and his son, Eleazar, would become high priest in his place. Mount Hor in Hebrew means "mountain mountain". It is also referred to as "the everlasting mountains" and "the eternal hills". The LORD said that this was the place where Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there" (Num. 20:26). It is south of the Dead Sea, and the local people have referred to it as "the Mountain of Aaron the prophet". Aaron would be gathered to his people at this place and time, "for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) word at the water of Meribah." (v. 24). Here the LORD gives us an idea of what He intended to accomplish with the Rock at Kadesh. It is not something that we would immediately be able to see and understand without looking at the Hebrew words involved. Moses rebelled against the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) "word" of the LORD regarding the Rock. The Hebrew used for "word" is not dabar, as we usually see, but pe. Pe/pa'a means "mouth, lip, commandment, blowing, breathing/splitting, cleaving, break in pieces, shatter, blow away, scatter with wind". This (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) "word" was going to blow , scatter, shatter, those perverse spirits of darkness that had tried to rule over that area. Psalm 68:1-2 describes how God's enemies are scattered (pus - shake, break, or dash to pieces, scatter abroad) and driven away (nadap - diffused, dispersed, driven about especially by wind) like smoke. The Chukkat ordinance or command of God regarding the Rock at Kadesh was like a blowing of holy wind from the mouth of God in order to break His enemies to pieces and scatter those pieces in the wind. Unfortunately for Moses and Aaron, they did not keep this "blowing" pe word from the mouth of the LORD. We can learn from this lesson, can't we? If you would like to know more about God's perfect plan of defense on behalf of His people, you can pray with me: "Lord, You are my Rock of defense and Salvation (Yeshua/Jesus). The breath of Your mouth scatters Your enemies, and the throne of Your holiness will never be overcome. The whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD, and we shout, "GLORY!" to the LORD who reigns in holiness. Guide me by Your Holy Spirit, and use the steps of my appointed journey with You to establish Your holiness in the earth, as it is in heaven. Let me not lean on my own understanding, nor be subject to the spirita of this world, but to trust in You only as my defense. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Covering

For me, this week's Sabbath reading portion deals with an issue that may still challenge each of us, which is "spiritual covering". Our spiritual covering is an even more powerful protective force than a natural covering such as the roof of a house. Imagine what damage can be done to the inside of a house if its roof is removed. Jesus described the Kingdom of God as a great tree that grew from a small seed, and the covering of that tree serves as a shelter and haven for the smallest and most defenseless of God's creatures (Mt. 13:31-32). If He covers the birds, how much more will He cover us? As God, in His grace, establishes His covering of salvation, peace, favor, protection, and provision over each of us, why would anyone attempt to remove it? Yet we do, as we will see, and we have done so since the divinely created (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Adam (Gen. 2:8) threw off the glorious covering of the royal dominion given to him by God in the Garden of Eden (meaning "delight, pleasure, dainty, finery, sumptuous, softly, to luxuriate"). This Sabbath, we are still in the fourth book of the Bible, which we call "Numbers", but is properly known in Hebrew as B'Midbar, meaning "In the wilderness" as mentioned in Numbers 1:1. Up to this point in our studies in Numbers, God has described His people as armies being set in order for war (see Num. 1:2-3). In the midst of this great army encampment, sat the Tabernacle of God. Encircling the Tabernacle, the Levites were encamped. They had been set apart in specific divisions within their tribe, depending upon their work of service in the Tabernacle before God. Outwardly from the Tabernacle and Levites in the center, the tribal divisions of the armies of God encamped to the north, south, east, and west in the form of a cross. This week's reading, which includes Num. 16-17, is titled Korach, which means "Bald, or to make oneself bald"! There is also a meaning associated with Korach having to do with ice and hail. From this we can get a picture of ice and hail, both being destructive forces, beating upon a surface until the covering, or hair, has been worn away. Korach also happened to be a man's name, Korah, who was one of the Levites (Num. 16:1). Korah and a handful of others led a rebellion against the leaders whom God had appointed to cover His people, Moses and Aaron. These same rebels convinced 250 of the most renowned elders of Israel to join them. It is a strategy of the spirit of rebellion to try to cover its intentions behind a facade of honor and respectability in men's eyes. Shakespeare wrote about this kind of strategy in his play based upon historical fact, "Julius Caesar". In this play, the group of assassins recruited Rome's most highly honored and respected citizen, Brutus, to join their plot by cloaking it in terms that would appeal to such an honorable man. Jesus prophesied our own vulnerability to liars and imposters in the time before His return (Mt. 24:23-25). More than ever, we will need the protection of the spiritual covering in our lives that God has provided, won't we?. In the situation involving the rebels in the Israelite camp in the wilderness, there was a bitterness, envy and resentment behind their voices as the rebels said to Moses and Aaron: "You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?" (Num. 16"1-3). Bitterness, resentment, and envy sound like hot emotions, but they are really very cold, like the "ice and hail" that can "make bald" and destroy a covering. Moses' reaction was to fall on his face before the LORD (v. 4). The rebels against Moses and Aaron then stirred the whole congregation of Israel against them, and the glory of the LORD appeared and told Moses that He was about to consume in a moment all of the people. Moses immediately began to re-establish a covering over the people before the LORD (Num. 16:19-24). The LORD then only dealt with the rebels and the 250 renowned elders who initiated the rebellion in a terrifying manner. The earth opened under Korah and his conspirators, and they went down alive into the pit, and the 250 elders were consumed by fire that came out from the LORD (v. 31-35). The people around them were horrified by the sight. Strong action had been necessary for God to re-affirm His appointed leaders, and to re-establish His covering over the Israelites. Amazingly, this may not have been the end of Korah's story. There is a deep mystery here involving God's covering. We can view this important mystery that will have wider implications in Psalm 88. It is a Psalm of the sons of Korah, as it is revealed in the introduction to the Psalm. The sons of Korah were Levites who sang in anointed worship in the Temple. However, Korah and his whole household went alive down into the pit (see Num. 16:23-27, 31-33). So how are there sons of Korah to sing to the LORD generations later? There are various guesses as to how this could have happened, but none of those guesses consider a miracle of the LORD. The Psalm is a desperate cry from someone alive in the lowest pit (v. 6-7). Part of that cry to the LORD is: "Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise You? (Selah). Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?" (v. 10-11). Did you know that God can hear your cries and cover you even in your lowest pit? David knew that (Ps. 139:5-12). David called this knowledge of God's covering "too wonderful" for him. Jonah knew it, as he cried out from the Sheol pit (place of the dead) in the belly of the fish (Jonah 2:1-6). It is even based upon this mystery of Jonah that Christ declared the sign of His own resurrection from death (Mt. 12:38-41). A man named Heman wrote Psalm 88. The name Heman/aman means "faithful/believe, assurance, bring up, nurse, to be carried by a nurse, support, foster mother/father". Heman, grandson of Samuel, who was also a miracle son of Korah, stood in and wrote for this person who was in the hopelessness of the pit. I will leave this mystery of the covering of God in Psalm 88 here. Back to the Israelites in the wilderness. The spiritual forces of ice and hail that make one bald, and had tried to destroy the covering of God over His people for their survival, were not done yet. The very next day, after the earth had swallowed up the rebels, all the congregation of Israel accused Moses and Aaron saying: "You have killed the people of God." (Num. 16:41). It seems that lies always rise up in an instant, but are slow to die. Again, because the people were rejecting His appointed covering for the people, God told Moses that He would consume this congregation in a moment, and a deadly plague broke out among the people (v. 44-45). Again, Moses fell on his face, not for his own sake, but to cover a people who kept trying to throw off their divine covering. Following Moses' instructions, Aaron then took his priestly censor, and ran into the midst of the people making atonement for them: "And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped." Over fourteen thousand people had been killed by the plague (v. 46-50). God did not stop here, however. In order to further make clear the importance of the prophetic and priestly covering that God, not man, had appointed in order to preserve His people, God caused Moses to collect all of the rods that represented the leaders of the twelve tribes, or armies, of Israel, including Aaron's rod representing the tribe of Levi, the priests. The rods represented the names of the fathers and identities of each tribe, and the authority of the leader of each tribe. The rods were collected and placed within the Tabernacle before the Ark of Testimony. The next day, as the rods were collected, Aaron's (aleph-tav[Alpha and Omega]) rod had not only budded in flowers (sis/sus - blossom, flower, shining gold plate on high priest's turban, a wing gleaming in the air/blossom, shine, sparkle, gleam, show forth), but had also produced ripe almonds (saqed/saqad - almond tree, earliest bloom, first to awake from winter/watch, wake, remain, hasten) (Num. 17:1-9, see also Mt. 24:42-44, Mt. 25:13, Lk. 21:29-36, 2 Peter 3:10-12, 1 Thess. 5:1-6). This miraculous event fulfilled the prophecy that the LORD made in v. 5. We can see in the Hebrew meanings that the appointment of Aaron, and God's re-affirming of Aaron as Israel's priestly covering, also pertains to the Messiah's or Christ's covering over God's people. The LORD said that the budded and fruited (aleph-tav) rod of Aaron the high priest was to be kept in the Tabernacle, before the Ark of the Testimony" as an (aleph-vaw-tav = "God nailed to the Cross") sign (ot - sign, mark, evidence, miracle) against the rebels (meri/mara - bitter, bitterness/to stroke or lash with a whip, to resist, oppose), that you may put their complaints away from Me." (v. 10). We see again in the meaning of the Hebrew word for "rebels" the cold ice and hail of bitterness. In another portion from Korach/Bald, this week's Sabbath reading in 1 Samuel 11, an enemy, Nahash (meaning "serpent, dragon, snake, serpent idol, divination, enchanter, whisper"), king of the the Ammonites ("tribe, kindred, people together, to grow dark, held dark, overshadow, eclipse"), laid siege to Jabesh (yabes - dry, dried up, utterly withered, ashamed, confounded, wither away) in Gilead (meaning "hard, stony region") in Israel. From the Hebrew meanings here, this is about the worst enemy, the serpent, the dragon himself, Satan, that anyone can have. This enemy, named here as Nahash, brought spiritual darkness upon the land, and in that vein, he threatened to put out the right eyes of all the men of Jabesh so that all Israel would suffer reproach (1 Sam. 11:2). The forced removal of an eye was considered cruel and degrading punishment when a people were conquered. The town that this enemy came against, Jabesh, had become a (spiritual) withering, dry place that had drawn this powerful enemy's attack. How had this city fallen into this withered condition which caused them to become vulnerable to this enemy? The people of Israel, had just rejected God's appointed prophet/priest Samuel, who judged them righteously (see 1 Sam. 7:2-6), as a covering over them. They instead demanded a king like the other nations around them (see 1 Sam. 8:4-7, 21-22). God chose Saul to be anointed king over Israel (1 Sam. 9:15-16, 1 Sam. 10:1), even as He warned the people that they would regret rejecting Him as their covering and King, in exchange for a man like themselves to rule them. However, even as the LORD commanded that Saul be made king: "...some rebels said, 'How can this man save us?' So they despised him (Saul), and brought him no presents. But he (Saul) held his peace." (1 Sam. 10:27). The "rebels" spoken of in this verse are also called "the sons/children of Belial" meaning "worthless, wicked, vile, ruin, destruction, destroyer, ungodly". Again there were those who rejected first God, and then Samuel as the covering that the LORD had appointed over His people, and then they rejected the king who had been ordained by God to cover His people. A king like Nahash, who is named to represent Satan himself, would understand the significance of God's people rejecting their supernatural covering. Satan was described in scripture as "the anointed cherub who covers...perfect...", who had been established on the holy mountain of God. This covering angel became filled with violence and pride, and had to be cast out from the mountain of God (Ezek. 28:13-17). King Saul would eventually prove out the warning that God gave the people about the oppression of having a king, but he also, being moved by the Spirit of God, mustered an army of 330,000 from all of Israel on this occasion, crossed to Jabesh on the eastern side of the Jordan River, and defeated the serpent king, Nahash of the Ammonites, rescuing the people of Jabesh Gilead (1 Sam. 11:8, 11). At a later date, David would walk in the understanding of God's covering when King Saul relentlessly chased him in order to kill him. David refused to do harm to Saul when given the opportunity, understanding the danger of removing the covering which God had put into place over His people (see 1 Sam. 24:4-7). As Saul became more and more corrupt, God eventually dealt with him, ending his life. In another example of the glory of God's covering of His people, Psalm 91 praises Him: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." (Ps. 91:1-2). The Psalm continues, with great power, describing the covering and protection of the LORD. So important is the concept of the covering of God, that God makes sure to tell us that He even covers Himself (see Ps. 97:2, Ps. 18:11, Ex. 19:9, Deut. 4:11-12). The Messiah, Jesus, as the ultimate Anointed covering (for sin), was sent to God's people. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, prophetically seeing the consequences of their rejection of His covering: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate (eremos - lonely, deprived of aid and protection, bereft like a flock deserted by the shepherd, or a woman rejected by her husband); for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" (Mt. 23:37-39, see also Lk. 19:41-44). Imagine also the moment when Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor within Caesar's empire, offered Jesus to the people as their king, but the people of God again rejected this anointed and appointed covering, shouting, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!...We have no king but Caesar!" How dangerous it was for Pilate personally to call Jesus a king of the people, when he knew that the only kings approved to rule Israel by the Roman Emperor, were the Herods! Yet Pilate called Jesus "Your King". (Jn. 19:13-16). This was not the way for a Roman governor to live long and prosper in the Roman Empire. However, even Pilate knew the importance of the One whom the people of God refused to receive. Perhaps we think that we, the Church of believers, would never reject the covering that God has set into place over us. However, everyday we make the choice to receive or reject His covering. All of these lessons recorded in scripture above, were recorded for our benefit and learning, not only for the benefit of the generation that had to learn it the hard way (2 Tim. 3:16-17). In one example of falling into the temptation of rejecting God's covering, Paul wrote to a church of "foolish" Galatians, because they had rejected faith in the covering of grace achieved by the death of their Savior, and chose instead legalistic doctrines of seeking righteousness by man's own efforts (Gal. 3:1-9). The covering of God is something that cannot be bought, nor established by men's own efforts. This covering is sovereignly anointed and appointed in and by the LORD. The Lord is looking for us to receive His covering joyfully and thankfully in faith, and the trusting obedience that accompanies faith. To enter into the covering of God, or to learn more about it, you can join with my prayer: "Father of all creation, from the beginning, You provided Your covering to man, so that he wouldn't be destroyed. You covered Your people in the wilderness, as You established their purposes in You. You provided the ultimate covering of Your Kingdom in the atoning blood of your Son, Jesus, that alone delivers us from death. I receive Your covering over my life with thanks. Help me by Your Holy Spirit to remain under the shadow of Your covering, so that I do not wander from it. Cleanse me of the pride and self-will that might rise up in my heart against Your covering. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

SilverTrumpets

This week's Sabbath reading portion is from the Book of Numbers, or B'Midbar in Hebrew, which means "In the wilderness". The title of this week's reading portion is Bha'alot'cha, meaning, "When you step up/go up". In this Book of Numbers so far, God has already numbered, or set apart, His people as armies. He has numbered His priesthood, and set them apart in groups, depending upon the specific service they were to perform before Him in His house, the Tabernacle. Each priestly group, named after their fathers, had a purpose in the glory of the tabernacle, which was God's dwelling in the midst of His people. They were set apart in divisions of purpose, but they were not divided against one another - a good lesson for the Church of believers in Christ! As God continued to appoint and set apart His people according to His will and His Word, He presented them with what I consider to be a gift: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 'Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps...The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations. When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the LORD your God." (Num. 10:1-10). The two trumpets mentioned here are not shofars, or rams' horns. They are in Hebrew, hassosra/hasar, meaning "straight trumpet, clarion/sounding, blow, to surround with a stockade in order to separate from open country". These were two straight trumpets, and were to be made (asa - prepare, accomplish, appoint, bestow, create, produce by labor) from a whole piece (miqsa/miqse/qasa - beaten from one whole piece/turned rounded work/tough, severe, severe labor of a woman, endure, struggle against) of hammered silver (kesep/kasap - price, pieces of silver, money/yearn for, long for). There were to be two of these trumpets. The number "two" plays a significant role in this week's reading. The number "two" is senayim/seni/sana in Hebrew, with the meaning: "two, twice, twelve, twenty, both of them, double/again/change, alter, to transfer to another place, to be changed". We are reminded immediately of the verses in the New Testament: "Behold, I tell you a mystery (hidden truth): We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Cor. 15:51-52, see also 1 Thess. 4:15-18)). These two silver trumpets of Num. 10:2 were to be used for certain purposes. The Hebrew word for "use" here is haya/hava, which is not about the use of something. This Hebrew word and its root have a prophetic meaning of "come to pass, become, accomplish, happen". These two trumpets may be used in the present, but they also have the prophetic sound of future events as we will see. We have already seen above the connection of these trumpets to "the change" which shall occur to all who believe in Christ, those who are dead, and those who are alive. In Num. 10 above, we see that the two trumpets are for the calling out (migra/qara - called out, called together sacred assembly, rehearsal/loud sound, summoned, named, chosen) of the assembly (eda/ed/ud - company, congregation/witness, testimony, prince/restore again, testify, bear witness), and the journeying (massa/nasa - journey, departure, pull up stakes/removing whole stones from a quarry, pulled up, plucked up, cause to spring up, remove) of the aleph-tav camps (mahane/hana/hanan - host, tents, armies, battle/rested, grows to an end, lay siege against, lie, dwell/favor, gracious, merciful). After these two silver trumpets were created, the people of God moved out on a prophetic journey from Mt. Sinai: "Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year...the children of Israel set out from the Wilderness of Sinai on their journeys; then the cloud settled down in the Wilderness of Paran." (Num. 10:11-12). The journey would take three days. The people had received God's Word on Sinai, meaning "thorny", and the Word in the form of the Ark of the Covenant, carried by and accompanied by God's people, would travel three days to a place of caverns (Paran/Pa'ar). The meaning of this place of abundance of caverns, which are beneath the earth, also includes "to boil up, to be hot, to examine the boughs in order to glean them". However, also included in the meaning of this place of Paran/Pa'ar is "glorify, beautify, adorn, to gleam". Here, prophetically, we can see in this prophetic journey in the wilderness, called out by the silver trumpets, the three day journey of Christ, and those who belong to Him, from thorns and suffering to the underworld place of boiling heat, but ultimately, the place that will produce His (and our) glorification and beauty as He overcame it. It was absolutely necessary for the people to prophetically accompany the Word of God (which is Jesus: Jn. 1:1-3) in the Ark of the Covenant through this wilderness journey, because we accompanied Jesus on His journey from the cross, through death, and His resurrection by the glory of God. Paul wrote this: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly, we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection...Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." (Rom. 6:3-8, excerpt, see also Col. 2:12-13, 2 Tim. 2:10-11). There is also a meaning above to Paran/Pa;ar, the place of abundance of caverns, that refers to "examining the boughs in order to glean the fruit". Again, we find this concept of the fruit of our death and resurrection with Christ, Who is the Word: First we become dead to the Law through the death of Christ, and then we become "married...to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God". (Rom. 7:4). God is examining the boughs, looking for the fruit that comes from our being joined to the death and resurrection of Christ. I call these two silver trumpets a gift from God, because they move God's people, not only in the "now", but into the prophetic future. God's people not only "are", but they are changed, and they "become" on their journey. Moses also declared the prophetic purpose of the Ark of the Covenant, the first time this term is being used for the Ark in Num. 10:35-36: "And it came to pass (haya/hava - see above), when the ark set out, that Moses said: 'Rise up (qum - rise up, become powerful, rouse up, raise up one fallen down (Jesus fell down carrying the cross, but stood up again), preserve alive), O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.' And when it rested (nuah/Noah), he said: 'Return (sub - come back, return again, deliver, recover, refresh, restore), O LORD, to the many thousands of Israel." The Hebrew letter "nun", which normally means "Heir to the throne, offspring, descendant, fish), is written in reverse, both before, and after these two verses. It is rare in written Hebrew scripture to find letters reversed. There are various opinions about why this happened here, but in general, it can be agreed that the two reversed nun letters would cause anyone reading these verses in Hebrew to pay special attention to them, and so should we. When I read these verses from Num. 10 regarding the Ark of the Covenant and the people's three day journey to Paran, I see the resurrection of "the Heir to the throne" in v. 35, and the return , or coming again of the "Heir to the throne", Jesus, in v. 36. The "rising" of the LORD scatters His enemies in these verses from Num. 10. The last enemy to be defeated by this rising of the Lord is death itself (1 Cor. 15:25-26). As Moses called for the Ark to return to the people of Israel, the Church is commanded to call for the return of the Lord, Jesus Christ (Rev. 22:12, 17, 20). The prophetic promise of Christ's return was made by Jesus Himself (Jn. 14:1-4), and that same prophetic promise runs through both Old and New Testament scriptures (ex. Zech. 12:10-14, 13:1). Again, with the return of the Lord (Num. 10:36 above), wickedness is consumed with His breath, and destroyed by the brightness of His appearing (2 Thess. 2:8). As with the two silver trumpets, the sound of prophecy has been brought to the people in this chapter. This is not the only prophetic incident in this week's Sabbath reading of Bha'alot'cha, or "When you step up/go up". In Num. 11, the people were complaining, the anger of the LORD was building because of it, and Moses was begging the LORD to deliver him from this multitude of demanding people, which numbered over 600,000 counting just the males (Num. 11:21-22). They were getting on Moses' last nerve (v. 11-12). Where was the wonder of prophecy now for Moses!? After dealing with this latest situation, the LORD supplied relief to Moses. Moses gathered the seventy elders of the people around the tabernacle. The LORD came down and took of the Spirit that was upon Moses, and placed the same upon the elders. When the Spirit of God rested upon them, they began to prophesy that one time. Two of the elders who had remained in the camp, also began to prophesy there. The two elders who had remained in the camp, and yet received the Spirit and prophesied, were named Eldad ("God has loved", well beloved), and Medad (love, friend, loved one). (v. 24-26). Joshua, one of Moses' choice men, told Moses to forbid those two men, who had not come to the tabernacle, from prophesying (v. 28). "Then Moses said to him, 'Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His (aleph-tav) Spirit (ruho - to breathe, to blow, smell, scent, perceive odor, accept, of delight, understand, touch) upon them!" (v. 29). The Spirit that Moses identified here is the Spirit that is sent by the Messiah, Jesus. The aleph-tav is connected to the written word for "Spirit" here in Hebrew. Jesus called Himself "the aleph-tav" in the Book of Revelation when He referred to Himself as The Alpha and Omega translated into Greek. Also, The Hebrew word used here for "Spirit" means to breathe, to blow. This brings to mind what Jesus said to His disciples after His resurrection: "So Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit." (Jn. 20:21-22). We see Jesus in the giving of the Spirit to the two men who remained in the camp, whose names relate to the love of God. Jesus came back again after His resurrection, for the specific purpose of appearing to Thomas, His disciple, who had not been with the others when Jesus had appeared to them earlier (Jn. 20:24-25). Jesus appeared again eight days later and spoke directly to Thomas, telling Thomas to touch Him (see ruho Spirit above) in the piercing wounds that Jesus had suffered. Jesus did this in order to help Thomas' unbelief in the resurrection (Jn. 20:26-29). This was an act of love for one man, and to pronounce a blessing upon all of those who would believe in Jesus without having seen and touched Him. We might question the fact that there were two men who remained in the camp of the Israelites, yet received the Spirit and prophesied, while Thomas is one man. However, Thomas' name means "the twin", twins (plural), coupled together, to be double". Again, we see the gift of the silver trumpets that prophesied and brought the gift of prophesy to the people of God in this episode. It was not just for that time, but for a time to come. Prophesy brings God's people from being anchored to the earth in the "now", to being able to "go up" into the eternal realms. This is where God's people get the direction for the journey. The prophetic promises and pictures given to us from this realm, change lives, and generations, and bring the Kingdom of God to the earth. Before closing this Bha'alot'cha, "When you step up/go up" Sabbath reading, I would like to share a beautiful revelation of dream and prayer from a servant of God named Fran. She wrote this for all of us: For the intercessor// who looks to the One Who sits on the Right Hand of the Father, Who holds the keys to death, hell and the grave// shall by His Spirit// pray and intercede for the one// and the ones of many// who have put on the garments reflecting the glories and the lights...// Those who by Strength of God and His Christ, who by Wisdom and Knowledge, Truth and Humility...// those who have chosen the narrow path of the seas, the way of trial and suffering// the way of the Cross...// those taking on the warfare of the Heavenly Mind against the flesh, the evil, the attacking ones of the world who appear as brethren, as of like kind, but are of devilish, treacherous ways and spirits, bodily demonics// For those shall ye pray and stand firmly// that they be uplifted and continued in their transformations and their fight of the good fight// That they keep pressing on in the waters and seas of life on earth that is awaiting the final and triumphant rising up of the sons to glory// For even when they weaken am I still bringing forth the Strength of My Righteous Right Arm// to usher them into the calm of the Deep, the purity of the River, the Wellspring// from which My Life of Forever// shall enrich them as One...// for they and you are My Kingdom and My Pattern of Heaven in Amen.// If you would like to know more about the gift of the Spirit of the LORD, and the love of the Lord from which He flows, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, out of love, You sent Your Son. Out of love, You poured out Your Spirit for Your people. Out of love, You prophesy through Your servants, not only to guide a current generation, but to lay the path of the Will of God for future generations. It is the way of Glory. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, so that I may understand, touch, and be enveloped in the fragrance of Christ who breathes on me. Let me prophesy, in Word, in prayer, in Spirit, so that I may speak the things of You that cause us to ascend, go up, and be raised up. Let me be a part of the answer to Moses' prayer when he said, "Oh, that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Jealousy

This is a continuing look at the Sabbath reading portion titled Naso, meaning "to elevate, lift up". The first part of this study began last week, and is posted on an entry just below this one. We will start our story in the New Testament this time to see an example of the elevation of naso. The Pharisees and the chief priests, who were the religious leaders at the time, "...sent officers to take (piazo/biazo - take, caught, apprehend, lay hold of in order to imprison, arrest/apply force, inflict violence upon) Him (Jesus)...Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him. Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, 'Why have you not brought Him?'. The officers answered, 'No man ever spoke like this man!" (Jn. 7:32-45, excerpt). The Pharisees told the officers that they too were deceived like the ignorant crowd, saying, "....this crowd that does not know the law is accursed." (v. 47-49). The Pharisees were very confident that they, unlike the ignorant people, knew the law. One of their members, a secret disciple of Jesus, spoke up against the arrest action: "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" (v. 50-51). So the law was to fairly handle accusations, and not judge someone guilty without a hearing. What had Jesus said that had caused the temple officers to come back empty-handed? One thing He said during this time was at a Feast of the LORD: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (Jn. 7:37-38). On another occasion, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman by the well who had had several husbands, and "not-quite husbands": "...whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (Jn. 4:13-14). Then these debates of the religious leaders concerning Jesus broke up, and they returned to their homes. Meanwhile, Jesus had headed in a different direction. He went to the Mount of Olives, and early the next morning, He went to the temple in Jerusalem. There all the people came to Him, and He sat down and taught them (Jn. 8:1-2). We can imagine how these same Pharisees felt when they saw all the people going to Jesus in the temple, and Him teaching them instead of themselves, as "the experts". Many times in Scripture, the religious leaders were described as jealous, envious, and enraged at the Words and miracles of Jesus (see Mt. 27:15-18, Lk. 6:9-11, Lk. 11:52-54, Jn. 11:47-53, 57). In their resentment of Him, the scribes and Pharisees immediately brought a woman before Jesus there in the temple that they said had been taken/caught (katalambano - apprehend, lay hold of, seize, come upon, perceive, to make a trial of) in adultery. From the meaning of the Greek word used here, this does not necessarily mean that the woman had already been proven guilty, but she had been seized under the allegation of adultery. However, they told Jesus that the woman was caught "in the very act" (Jn. 8:1-4). Were they telling Jesus the truth? These leaders had already proven that they had no problem bending the religious rules for their convenience, and Jesus had often condemned them for it. Jesus, who was without blame, had Himself been the victim of their false accusations many times. Jesus was about to give these religious leaders a demonstration of His superior, even omniscient knowledge of the Scriptures (He is the Word of God), as He applied the Law of Jealousy from Numbers 5, which is one of our Sabbath reading portions. This is the law of jealousy as given by the LORD to Moses: The spirit (ruah - breath, wind, spirit, mind, blast, vain, anger, seat of emotion, bitter, discontented, an unaccountable uncontrollable impulse) of jealousy (qinah/qana - jealousy, envy, zeal, ardor of anger/jealous anger) has entered into a man. Either his (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) wife has indeed committed adultery (defiled herself), but it was done in secret with no witnesses, having not been caught (tapas - taken, surprised, caught, seized, captured), or his (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) wife has not defiled herself, but is an innocent accused by the spirit of jealousy that has entered her husband. He is to bring his wife to the priest, and along with bringing a jealousy offering "for bringing iniquity to remembrance", she will be given holy water brought in an earthen vessel to drink in which dust (apar - dust, earth, powder, ashes) from the floor of the tabernacle has been mixed (Num. 5:11-.18). The priest would then have the woman swear an oath that if she is guilty of this iniquity, certain physical curses would come upon her (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) thigh/loins, and her (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) belly (womb) that would prevent her from having children, and cause her to be a curse among the people. The priest would write these curses in a book, "and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water. And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter." (v. 23-24). The LORD concluded His command saying: "This is the law of jealousy...". (Num. 5:29). This law, as we can see, is not about adultery, which has its own specific place in the law. It is about a spirit of jealousy that holds both the man and his wife in bondage. The husband cannot prove his wife's guilt, and the wife cannot prove her innocence. God provided a way in which an innocent may be supernaturally proven innocent, and both husband and wife may be delivered from the effects of this destructive spirit. Otherwise, there is no remedy for this situation which cannot be proven either way. Let's look at what Jesus did with this law of jealousy, and these religious leaders, whose motivations of jealousy, envy and rage, He was already very familiar with. The scribes and Pharisees said of the woman: "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?' This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up (nasa/naso in Hebrew - lift up, rise up, bear, carry in the arms, support, forgive, aid, assist, help, hold up, pardon, spare, to lay sin upon oneself) and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up (nasa/naso in Hebrew: see above meaning) and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, 'Woman, where are those accusers (kategoros - "against" + "the assembly", accuser, name given to the devil, as against one in the assembly) of yours? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neiither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." (v. 5-11). We see the elements present here from the law of jealousy. The woman is accused of adultery. Jesus, had just taught that HE is the source of "the holy water", the living water of everlasting life of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 7:39). He wrote on the ground (ge - ground, earth) of the temple (tabernacle). Many believe that Jesus was writing the sins of her accusers in the ground. That's a good conclusion. Remember, though, that the law of jealousy required that the curses of that law be written. Jesus would know if the accusation against her was false, but He didn't say that it was. If the accusation was true and proven, why hadn't the men already stoned her before this? It was very convenient for them to come with this accused woman at that very moment when they were so angry with Jesus, in order to test Him. Jesus "raised Himself up" twice during the incident. Was He exercising the true meaning of nasa/naso in which the law of jealousy is found? The true meaning in "elevating or lifting up" of nasa/naso includes forgiveness, pardon, help, to spare, to lay sin upon oneself, as we saw above. We like the idea of ourselves being elevated, but the true elevation comes when we elevate others with us. All of these things are food for thought as we read and meditate upon naso, to elevate, to lift up. If you would like to know more about the grace of naso, you can pray with me: Heavenly Father, You made a provision to vindicate the innocent, and righteously judge the guilty. However, we are all guilty in our hearts, and need the forgiveness, pardon, and help of Your naso Son, Jesus. He said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." (Jn. 12:32). Fill me with Your Spirit, so that I can walk in the truth of elevation in Christ. You sent Your Son, so that I might be raised up with Him (Eph. 2:6). Let me be slow to accuse, and quick to elevate in forgiveness and prayer. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."