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."

Monsters&Men

This Sabbath reading will be the first of our solar calendar year 2022. Although the LORD had appeared to Abraham generations before, the LORD had a new revelation of Himself to give to Moses and the children of Israel, who were in bondage in Egypt. God revealed His name: YHWH, or as translated in English, LORD: "I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them." (Ex. 6:2-3). The four Hebrew letters of His name are yod: meaning "hand/arm, completed work", heh: meaning "behold, reveal", vaw: meaning "nail, nailed to", heh:meaning again "behold, reveal". This 4-lettered name gives us the picture of Christ: a completed work connected to a nailed hand. With the revealing of the name, YHWH, the LORD also associated this name with seven promises. In fact, the LORD bookends these promises with the statement of His name: "...say to the children of Israel: I am the LORD (YHWH); I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God...And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD (YHWH)." (v. 6-8). As well as there being seven promises spoken here, the number seven is associated with the Sabbath. Moses brought the revelation of the Name YHWH and its promises to the Israelites, as the LORD commanded him to do: "...but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage." (v. 9). The scriptures recognize that because of the anguished condition of their spirits from their cruel treatment, the Hebrew slaves were not able to receive or believe these promises of the LORD. In this case, we can see that the people of God, because of their anguished condition, would not be delivered out of Egypt because of their great faith in God, nor because they had an understanding or great knowledge of God. God would deliver them because He promised to do so. I began to see this epic account of the deliverance of the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt as an example of God's spiritual warfare over that country, but also having importance to us today, as I hope to share. Moses was given this command by God: "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land." (v. 11). Well, the victory was not immediately seen. The LORD's first problem was not with Pharaoh, however. It was with Moses! Moses didn't like the idea that he should go in before Pharaoh with the command of the LORD (Ex. 6:12, 30). Moses didn't see anything special about himself that he should be given the task of confronting Pharaoh, and leading Israel out of Egypt. As far as he was concerned, he was a shepherd in the wilderness, working with his father-in-law, and he was happy to remain so. This is exactly what made Moses the kind of man God could use in this great story of deliverance. Finally, Moses did go with his brother Aaron before Pharaoh repeatedly to deliver the Word of the LORD to let His people go. Again, success was not immediately seen. Pharaoh did not listen to the words of Moses because his magicians, using occultic power, could duplicate the fearsome signs that the LORD had shown Moses to do, but God was not done yet. As the LORD worked on Pharaoh, eventually there were signs performed by Moses that Pharaoh's magicians could not duplicate, and they even told Pharaoh that these signs must be from God (Ex. Ch. 8, 9). At that point, Pharaoh would promise to let the children of Israel go, but then change his mind when the plagues were stopped: "And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the LORD had spoken by Moses." (Ex. 9:34-35). As we can see from this Sabbath's reading, spiritual warfare requires endurance and patience. Don't lose hope; don't give up. In another reading for this Sabbath, at a later point in time, the LORD identified Pharaoh with a monster to Ezekiel, the prophet: "Thus says the LORD God: 'Behold I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster (tannin - dragon, serpent, sea monster, venomous snake) who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, 'My River is my own; I have made it for myself." (Ezek. 29:1-3). This was the LORD's prophecy against Pharaoh and Egypt because, even centuries later, He remembered the way the Israelites' backs and shoulders were broken under their oppression (v. 6-7). "And the land of Egypt shall become desolate and waste; then they will know that I am the LORD, because he said, 'The River is mine, and I have made it." (v. 9). The LORD also prophesied through Ezekiel that He would give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to conquer, which He did (Ezek. 29:19). The LORD never forgets to bring justice to His people. As we can learn from this Sabbath reading from Ezekiel, when the LORD engages in spiritual warfare regarding nations, He identifies not only the leaders and people of the land, but also the demonic spirits that they have allowed to occupy and rule over their land. We see this demonic power present over kingdoms in the New Testament also. According to what Satan revealed in his challenge to Christ, the demonic realm seeks and claims the glory and power of the world's wealth: "Then the devil, taking Him (Jesus) up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, 'All this authority I will give to You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." (Lk. 4:5-7, Mt. 4:8-9). Jesus, of course, declined the offer, telling Satan that scripture commands "You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve." (v. 8). We should know that the devil had spoken a lie to Jesus when he claimed that the kingdoms of the world belonged to him. The LORD said that He is the One who tears down kingdoms, and builds them up (Jer. 1:9-10). Although the Book of Revelation makes clear that the powers of darkness covet and seek to control the wealth of the world (Rev. Ch. 18), it also assures us: "...And there were loud voices in heaven saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Rev. 11:15). The LORD concedes nothing to Satan, ever. We learn from the Sabbath verses in Ezekiel, where the LORD is setting His prophetic judgment over Egypt, that in order to clear the land of the "monster", He will make the land desolate and waste (see above Ezek. 29:9). It seems that glory, power, and wealth-seeking devils have no desire to rule over desolation, dust, jackals, and vultures! The scriptures warn us that many nations, as Egypt did, will face desolation as they have submitted themselves to these princes of darkness for the purpose of getting or keeping wealth, and those nations will begin to oppress people of faith because of it, as Egypt did. Scripture teaches as it warns: the love of money is the root of all evil, "for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Tim. 6:10). We, the people of God, should not connect ourselves to the love of money, because evil lies behind it. The LORD warns His people in scripture not to be part of these systems of monsters and men built upon blood and greed:"...Come out of her My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues..." (see Rev. 18:2-5). It is an evil with which the LORD promises to deal crushingly. Although we will see the desolation of many nations now and in the future because of the things we are discussing here, another Sabbath reading portion gives us a promise of the renewal found in the salvation of the Messiah, God's Servant, God's Elect One, who has been revealed to us as Jesus: "...I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles/nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison...I am the LORD (YHWH); and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them...The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man...He shall prevail against His enemies..." (Isa. 42:6-13, excerpt). If you would like to learn more about these things which are prophesied to come to pass, you can join me in prayer: "Heavenly Father, You have revealed Your Name, YHWH, to us, and the picture of Christ within it, and the promises connected with that mighty Name. They are promises of deliverance, of Your possession of us as Your people, the giving of Yourself to us as our God, and the inheritance You have set aside for us. As You deal with the nations of the earth, even my nation, take me deeper into Your salvation through Jesus, and fill, lead and keep me in Your ways by Your Holy Spirit. I set my faith, trust, and deliverance into Your hands, for You have promised to overcome Your enemies. I ask and receive this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Empires

John the Baptist gave a powerful discourse in John chapter 3. Included in it was the following, spoken when John's disciples brought to his attention that Jesus was gaining followers:
"John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven."   Jn. 3:27
God's hand in the great empires of history is an intriguing thing to see. Kings have their agenda, and God has His, which He accomplishes in the most amazing ways.
Alexander the Great, like Julius Caesar, was one of the great conquerors of history. At the time, Greece was a group of separate states, each ruled by their own kings and governments. Alexander's father, Philip, king of Macedon, intended, by negotiation or aggression, to overthrow the various states' kings, in order rule over the whole peninsula. Alexander joined his father's efforts when he was only sixteen years old. Up until that point, he was being educated by Aristotle. Philip was successful, and formed The League of Corinth, which consolidated rule under himself over the city-states of Greece, with the exception of Sparta. When Philip was assassinated in 336 BC, Alexander was twenty years old. He ascended to his father's position. Alexander set his sights to conquering, with the main goal being the defeat of the existing and widespread Persian Empire. He achieved that goal and more, even reaching to Northern Africa, the Middle East, northward to what we call Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, and further eastward across the continent, beyond the Indus River into India.
As he pushed through India, he was about to cross the Ganges River, when his troops begged him to stop. Waiting on the other side of the river was an opposing army of 200,000 footmen, 80,000 horsemen, and 6,000 war elephants. Alexander's men were too exhausted and battle weary to face such a huge challenge. Alexander reluctantly granted his army's demand, and turned back to return to the king's palace in Babylon, captured when he had defeated the Persians. From there, Alexander began making plans to invade Arabia, but he died at the young age of 32 in 323 BC, before he could accomplish that. His empire at the time covered 2,000,000 sq. miles.
It is very interesting to note that while Alexander and his armies conquered the territory all around Jerusalem, he spared that city. The historian Josephus wrote that as Alexander entered the area, he was shown the Book of Daniel. In it, he saw the prophecies concerning a great king who would conquer the Persian Empire. Josephus said that this is the reason that Alexander spared Jerusalem. It seems very possible because Alexander wasn't a man who spared cities.
Many have also speculated about Alexander's private life, but the official record states that he was married to three women, two of whom were daughters of kings, and he had children.
After his death, the huge empire that he had established fell apart under different power factions.
Although Alexander's empire broke apart, Greek culture and influence was still very strong over these foreign lands for 200-300 years. The Roman generals, who arose with great power during the first century BC, were great admirers of Alexander and studied his military campaigns and strategies.
So, what part of God's plan was accomplished in this young conqueror's rise and fall? After all, his empire fell apart shortly after his death. However, for the first time in history, following the fall of the Tower of Babel, a universal language was spread throughout the "known" world. The language was Greek-not the classical Greek of Homer that only the highly educated of the day knew, but a common, everyday form of the Greek language of that day, called Koine. It was the form of the Greek language used by the general population in the carrying out of average, daily tasks.
Even after the Romans conquered, and established their own empire a couple of centuries later, this form of the Greek language was still around. The Romans, being very practical rulers, understood the value of having a universal language that could be used to govern and do business throughout their empire. Therefore, along with Latin, Greek became the other officially accepted language of the Roman Empire.
The LORD used the existence of this Greek language to publish His Word, translated into the Septuagint, and to spread the Gospel of Christ throughout the then nations of the world. Every time we open a Concordance, we are referencing Alexander's working legacy. As Alexander swept across the face of the earth, feeling compelled to accomplish his plan, he was really fulfilling God's plan.
When we look at the sometimes perplexing rise and fall of men from the past, of the present day, and into the future, God assures us of the following:
"Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings..." Dan. 2:20-21
"...the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men."  Dan. 4:17
"But God is the judge: He puts down one and exalts another."  Ps. 75:7
Pilate said to Jesus, "Do you not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above..."   Jn. 19:10-11
The LORD, through His servant Moses, said to Pharaoh: "...But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power (in) you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth..."    Ex. 9:16
"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God."  Rom. 13:1
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."   Prov. 21:1
"...The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"   Rev. 11:15

Our Father rules over the kings and kingdoms of the earth.

Silent Monks Sing "The Hallelujah Chorus"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRhjWdr-LAA