AbovePerfection

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Sh'mini, which means "8th Day". The reading portion includes Lev. 9 through Lev. 11. The title comes from Lev. 9:1: "It came to pass (haya/hava/ava - exist, become (like), be established, to be finished/existence, shall be, become, breathe, the breath of living creatures, to live/ negatively, the root ava mentioned above includes the meaning: lust, greatly desire, covet, be greedy, crave, long for, turn aside) on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel." There is a positive and a negative meaning associated with the phrase "It came to pass", as we can see. Breathing life is created, existence is established, or the opposite of life - the darkness of heart that leads to sin and death is established.

     We see here in the meaning of the Hebrew of this verse that something became alive and breathing, came into existence on the eighth day. "Eighth" in Hebrew is semini. It is an ordinal number, showing a progression in order like sixth, seventh, eighth, and so on. The root words connected to semini: semone and samen, refer to "a surplus above the perfect seven" and "fatness, plenteousness". There is also a root word, saman, which can mean to shine from fat or oil, or, in a negative sense, to be covered in the grossness of fat, and to cover the heart with fat to render it callous so as not to heed the words of the prophet (see Isa. 6:10). Again, we can have a positive or negative result when going "above the perfect seven". The abundance above the seven can work two different ways depending upon the heart of the person. In another reading portion from this Sabbath, Solomon wrote of a man having great plenty in every way, "but his soul be not filled with good (tob - goodness, beauty, favor, gladness, joy, delight, merry, agreeable, to do rightly)". It would have been better, Solomon wrote, if that man had been a stillborn child rather than to not to see this goodness. He calls it vanity and an evil affliction (Eccl. 6:1-6). Good and goodness are part of the character and name of God (see Ex. 34:5-7, Ps. 23:5-6). Psalm 23 is an "eighth day Psalm" to me, incorporating the eighth day blessings of abundance, which are those blessings that result from exceeding above the perfection of "seven". We will read about those blessings and where they come from later.

     However, we see a problem today. We have a very prosperous society, but there is sickness of heart and mind, an evil affliction as Solomon wrote, because we consume the bounty, the fatness, but we as a society have systematically and deliberately removed the knowledge of the goodness of God. Without being able to incorporate that goodness, having all of earth's riches sickens the soul rather than gladdens it. Without the goodness that is rooted in God, Solomon wrote that man has no hope or future regardless of how much wealth he has or how long his days are (v. 10-12). Rather than the eighth day blessing, we are living the eighth day curse. Let's now see what happened on the eighth day in Lev. 9.

     The eighth day in Lev. 9 marks the beginning of the priests' ministry, after Aaron and his sons spent seven days of consecration, being set apart as holy. So in numeral order, the eighth day is above or beyond the perfection of the seven of consecration. This priestly ministry started with peace offerings, sin offerings and burnt offerings made to the LORD to make atonement for the priests and the people. This eighth day would be a special day: "...for today the LORD will appear to you...and the glory of the LORD will appear to you." (v. 4, 6). From the sacrifices, Aaron's sons "presented (masa - find, attain, suffice, deliver, secure, to meet, to encounter, to detect, to discover, to come to, obtain knowledge of, be in possession of) to him the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar (mizbeah/zabah - altar/to slaughter, kill, sacrifice, to slaughter in divine judgment)." (v. 18).  After the offerings were completed, the LORD kept His promise: "Then Aaron lifted (nasa - lift up, bear up, carry, forgive, be exalted, take up) his (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down (yarad - descend, sink down, go down alive into Hades [see Ps. 55:15-16], those who go down to the grave) from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces." (v. 22-24). This was an awesome eighth day event. The glory and fire of the LORD answered their offerings.

     The Hebrew word for blessing used above as Aaron blessed the people, also contains the meaning "to curse": (barak - bless, salute, kneel down, cause to kneel, be blessed, be adored, also to break down, to curse, to imprecate some evil on one by calling upon God, blaspheme, impious words against God, to wish ill). As we have seen above, the eighth day can have a dual meaning. What made the eighth day above such a wondrous event? 

     We can see the hint of the presence of Jesus Christ in this eighth day event. He is in the offering. He is in the knowledge of the blood. He is in the descent of Aaron from the brazen altar of sacrifice, just as Jesus descended into the realm of death and the grave after offering Himself as a sacrifice for us. There He led captivity captive, took the keys of authority over death, hell and the grave, and "ascended far above all the heavens". (see Ps. 68:18-19, Eph. 4:7-10, 1 Pet. 3:18-19, Jn. 20:16-18, Rev. 1:17-18). The eighth day to us must be all that is contained in the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ into the realm far above the highest realms: the realm of all glory, which He has delivered to us (Jn. 17:22-24). It is from this realm of glory above the highest realms that He blesses us with all of the riches and abundance, particularly spiritual riches, of that glory realm (Phil. 4:18-29). The word "above" in Hebrew is al, meaning, "over, in addition to, above, excess, pre-eminence, state of rest, on high, the Highest". The root word, ala, of "above" gives us a deeper understanding of this highest region: "offer up, bring, come, cause to ascend, go up, light, increase, raised, arose, to be taken up into, go up over, exalted".  The al "above" is the place of God (Gen. 28:12-13). We have the scripture also from Paul: "...to know the love of Christ which passes (hyperballo - beyond anything, surpass, exceed, excel) knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fulness (pleroma - fulness, abundance, copiousness) of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above (hyper - beyond, more than, above, very chiefest) all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Eph. 3:19-21). What a wonderful eighth day calling to which we have been called! Paul tells us to "walk worthy of the calling to which you were called...". (Eph. 4:1).

     We have seen the duality in meaning of the eighth day, which can be either abundant blessing, or abundantly empty and hopeless life, a curse. The dividing line between the two, as we saw in the Hebrew meanings of Lev. 9 above, is the new and abundant life of glory in Jesus Messiah/Christ (see Jn. 10:7-11), or the vanity and evil of a life without Him and the work of salvation which He completed (Eph. 2:12-13). 

     We see this duality again immediately after the glory was experienced on the eighth day. This is what occurred: "Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane (zur - estranged, gone away, turn aside, depart, stranger, foreigner, enemy, loathsome, alienated, prostitute, adulterer, falsehood, lie) fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. And Moses said to Aaron, 'This is what the LORD spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all people I must be glorified." (Lev. 10:1-3). These two priests, who had experienced the eighth day blood and glory, approached the LORD in a manner that did not respect His holiness and glory. By doing so, the LORD did not recognize them as priests, but as strangers, and destroyed them. Jesus mentioned the same thing about some of those who will claim to know Him and serve him doing spiritual works in His name. To them He will say: "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." (see Mt. 7:21-23). Jesus will not accept "strange fire" from us, a fire mixed with something loathsome and foreign to the Lord. Are we coming before the Lord with strange fire?

     Moses had two kinsmen of the dead priests to carry their dead (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) brethren from the front of the sanctuary, and out of the camp (v. 4-5). However, to Aaron and his two remaining sons who were still serving in the tabernacle, Moses gave a serious warning not to defile their holy priestly robes with signs of mourning for the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) burning which the LORD had kindled, or to come out of the tabernacle "...lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you.' And they did according to the word of Moses." (v. 6-7). We want the anointing of the Lord, the priceless Holy Spirit, but do we understand the standards by which the Lord commands that we wear His anointing? Paul wrote: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." (1 Cor. 3:16-17, see also 1 Cor. 6:19-20).

     As those who are part of the eighth day new and abundant life in Messiah/Christ, which is above the perfection of seven, we also have been made priests by God (1 Pet. 2:9-10). We are purposed to be blessed, as we offer our pure worship to God. We are here to bring God's eighth day glory among His *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega people. Our golden bowls of incense are not filled with strange fire, but prayers, declaring the new song: "You (the Lamb, Jesus) are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth." (Rev. 5:9-10).

     Let's learn to walk worthy of this exceeding abundance from above that has been given to us from God through the death, burial (descent), resurrection and ascension of His Son.

*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, which is the name of Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

     If you would like to know more about the eighth day and its calling and blessings, you can pray with me: "Dearest Father, You have called me into Your eighth day abundance through our Savior, Your Son, Jesus. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit to lead me into the new life of glory and priestly ministry before You. You said that You have filled me with all fulness of God. Through Christ, I have been joined to You in the highest realm, the realm of glory and exceeding abundance. This is the substance of Your Kingdom, and this is the calling and purpose to which I have been called. Help my understanding so that my offerings to You in holiness will bring forth Your glory in the earth. I ask this in the name of Jesus. 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."

Holiest

There are many holy places across the world. All faiths have them. Sometimes they are buildings, shrines, altars, sometimes patches of ground, rocks, trees, caves, grottos, lakes, waterfalls, stars and planets, statues, and sometimes even animals. Sometimes these places or things are listed as most holy, second holiest, third holiest - leave it to religious mankind to measure holiness on a sliding scale! But holiness is an absolute, and there is only one measure of it, which is the holiness that is the person of God.
People make pilgrimages to these holy places and things by the thousands. Often men fight over them, even being willing to go to war over them. Terrorists seek to destroy them. Evil men are drawn to defile them, or claim them for their own. The Antichrist, the son of perdition (Gr.- "apoleia": destruction, death, damnation, eternal misery in hell) will enter the yet-to-be-built Third Temple written of by the prophets, in order to declare himself to be God. Even the Devil covets the holy mountain of God:
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit."   Isa. 14:12-15
Lately, violence and terrorism have been aimed at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This site is an eternal point of contention, and prophetically significant in these Last Days. The Jews built two temples on the site, which was Mount Moriah, where Abraham had offered his son, Isaac. That temple was so holy to the Jews, that they would swear upon it when they took an oath (Mt. 23:16). The Muslims built a mosque there later in history. During the Crusades, the Christian armies captured it, and turned the mosque on the site at the time into a church, and then it later became a mosque again.
This morning, I was praying and thinking of this holy site, and the other places of the world that men have called "holy". Suddenly, I was brought to a halt, I was brought to silence and tears. I became touched that God's greatest temple, containing His most wonderful, holy, awesome presence, His glory, is now a different kind of temple. While men struggle, fight, kill, and persecute over holy sites, buildings, and things, God has done "something completely different", as Monty Python would say, something almost completely overlooked. He made me His temple. He made you His temple. He made us the holiest place on earth.
As Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well, in His conversation with her, He revealed truths that must have seemed revolutionary to her. Jesus told her things that would never have been considered acceptable to either the Jews, nor to the Samaritans of the time. The Jews and Samaritans had been divided for generations over the issue of which mountain they must go to in order to worship and sacrifice. The Jews held one mountain in Jerusalem to be the only acceptable place, while the Samaritans held another mountain holy that was within their country. In fact, as Jesus spoke to the woman, He was sitting on that very mountain in Samaria.  Both the Samaritan woman and Jesus referred to the place where they were speaking as "this mountain" (Jn. 4:20). One would think that Jesus, born a Jew, would contend with the woman that naturally, Jerusalem is the only acceptable place of worship and sacrifice. However, He said this instead:
"Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
                                                                                            John 4:21-24
Paul taught this same revelation as he wrote, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?...the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."  1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19-20
"...for you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Therefore, "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 (Ezek. 37:26-27)
"For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us."    2 Cor. 4:6-7
As sacred as man has held various buildings, grounds, and other natural or man-made elements in order to make the holiness of God "visible", God has placed the greatest temple of all inside of me. His Holy Spirit in me, and in you, has made these earthen vessels into vessels that contains the light, the knowledge of glory, the face of Jesus Christ, the wonder of God.
As important as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is, and will be, in prophetic fulfillment, and as important as the other holy places and things on the earth may be to many, nothing compares to the miraculous work of salvation that God, through His Son, Jesus, has created in my life, and in your life. There are no places on earth that are holier than the living temples that He has planned and desired to build in each one of us. How much more does this temple surpass any building of stone that man can build, regardless of how magnificent! How great God is! How can He want to create this miraculous temple in small, unworthy men? That is Who He is, and I am overwhelmed by Him. I want to do those things, and be that, which honors what He has done in me.

Our Father has made us living temples, and dwells among us.


"Instrument of Peace"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBc4uxiXsfc

"Take Me In"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb1k3DxnpVQ

"Bow Down"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ii6a5PW04w