Prophesy!

      The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Naso, meaning "Elevate/Lift Up." This Sabbath also follows the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot. In this Feast, loaves made from the first fruits of the wheat harvest are waved before the LORD. We also know this Feast of the LORD as Pentecost, occurring fifty days after Passover/the death of Jesus the Lamb on the cross, when the Holy Spirit came with wind and fire upon the waiting disciples of Messiah/Christ, who were gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. 

     The reading selections for this Naso Sabbath begin in Numbers Ch. 4 with the census to be taken by command of the LORD of the sons of Gershon, one of the three families of Levites: "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 'Take (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-a-census of the sons of Gershon, by their father's house, by their families...They shall carry (nasa' - bear, lift up, lift, carry, rise up, exalt, furnish, hold up, high, marry, magnify, raise up, pardon, forgive) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-curtains....of (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-tabernacle... (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-screen for the door of the tabernacle...(*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-screen for the door of the gate of the court...(*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-all-that-is-made for these things: so shall they serve." (Num. 4:21-26, excerpt).

     I excerpted the verses above regarding all of the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega things of the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega tabernacle that the sons of Gershon were to carry because every item described in the verses is preceded by *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega (see *note at the bottom of the page). This means that the tabernacle and everything of it and in it is connected to the Messiah/Christ Jesus. Jesus would not to be born until many centuries later. We find out the prophetic nature of what they and the two other Levite families would carry by the next verse: "Aaron and his sons shall assign all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-all-their-tasks (massa/nasa' - burden, song, prophecy, tribute, utterance/see nasa' meaning above) as their duty." (v. 27).

     Not only were the three Levite groups assigned to the carrying tasks of the tabernacles and furnishings, but each man was assigned to a specific task by name. (see Num. 4:32). There is a specific individual assignment and accounting in addition to that of the family group.

     Whether the scripture is speaking of the sons of Gershon Levites as mentioned above, or the sons of Kohath Levites, who carried the holiest furnishings from inside the sanctuary, or the sons of Merari Levites, who carried the infrastructure of the tabernacle, they all were given the task (see massa/nasa' above), according to the Hebrew meaning, of carrying (see nasa' above) those things that became a prophetic song or utterance of the Savior to come, and the pardon and forgiveness that He would provide for the whole world. It gives food for thought that these three families of the tribe of Levi should be given the task of carrying (see nasa' above) the tabernacle and its furnishings. The names of the three families include the meanings "exile, refugee, thrust out, driven out, expelled, divorced, assembly, bitterness, unhappy, grieved, vexed, enraged, moved by rage/choler." However, the LORD had a prophetic purpose for them that would "lift up" the Name of Salvation upon future generations. Sometimes we assume, judge or even disqualify someone or something by what we know of a person or situation rather than what the LORD knows and has ordained for a group or an individual. We need to be careful of that, as we will see.

     The Merari Levites were assigned to carry/burden/task (see massa/nasa' above) the seemingly least important (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) instruments/furnishings of the tabernacle. These things included pedestals, pillars, pins and cords. However, these more utilitarian things include the Hebrew meaning: "the foundation or base, the remainder, the remnant, the residue, to excel, to show pre-eminence, preserve alive, be over and above, to exceed the bounds." Did they or others sometimes think that the Meraris' task was less important or less glorious because of what they carried? However, what they carried was also part of the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega tabernacle, which identified the Messiah/Christ.

     As we can see, not all prophecy is written or spoken. Sometimes it is "carried." Prophecy is even contained and proclaimed within our actions of service to the Lord, even if we are not aware of it, even in the carrying of furnishings. The prophets of scripture not only spoke and wrote the prophecy of the LORD, but also prophesied to the people of God by whom they married (Hosea), having children and what they named their children (Isaiah), how they turned to lay down (Ezekiel), how they cooked their meals (Ezekiel), what they wore (John the Baptist) or didn't wear (Isaiah), through the dreaming of dreams (Joseph son of Jacob, Pharaoh, Joesph betrothed to Mary), and through their prayers to God (Daniel, Elijah). God's determination to prophesy does not always require a platform and a microphone, or even an audience. Our lives contain prophecy, whether we are aware of it at the time or not, and we are the fruit of the prophetic knowledge and plans of God, who knew us in Messiah/Christ beforehand (Jer. 1:5, Ps. 139:15-16, Rom. 8:29-30, Eph. 1:4-5, Eph. 2:10), because the testimony of Jesus (who is in us) is the spirit of prophecy. (Rev. 19:10). Paul encouraged believers to desire to prophesy: "Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order." (1 Cor. 14:39-40). We are meant to be prophetic people in thought, prayer, word and deed, but only as inspired by the Holy Spirit, and not of ourselves.

      Buildings and furnishings inspired by God can prophesy! The (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-furnishings of the tabernacle were arranged in the pattern of the cross thousands of years before Jesus died on the cross. The tabernacle itself, surrounded by a proscribed arrangement of the twelve tribes' encampment, formed the shape of the cross in the wilderness. While we have a certain understanding of the words spoken by Jesus to His disciples, if the Levites of the tabernacle heard His words: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up (airo (Grk.)- to raise from the ground, take up, lift up, raise up, elevate, to bear, to bear what has been raised, carry off: also see nasa' above) his cross daily, and follow (akoloutheo/alpha (Grk.)- a particle of union, in the same way with/Christ is the Alpha: the beginning and the end) Me," (see Mt. 16:24-27, Mk. 8:34-38, Lk. 9:23-26), they would perhaps, be able to give us another view, a prophetic meaning, of these words. Jesus also said concerning the manner of His death: "And I, if I am lifted up (hypsoo/hypsos (Grk.) - to lift up on high, to exalt, to raise to the very summit of opulence and honor/on high) from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." (Jn. 12:32). From this we can see that the cross that Jesus told us to carry daily, not only denies our "self" nature, but must exalt and raise up Jesus on high in song and prophetic utterance until His return.

     Even as we partake in the Communion or Table of the Lord, it is remembering what He achieved through His death but also declaring and proclaiming it "till He comes," which then becomes a prophetic utterance. (see 1 Cor. 11:23-26).

      Blessings inspired by the LORD are prophetic. In this same Naso, "Elevate/Lift up" Sabbath reading portion, the priestly blessing that the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron to be placed upon all of the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-children of Israel is included:

     "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 'Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the way you shall bless (barak - bless, kneel down, be adored, praise, the result of divine favor, to cause to prosper, to cause to be used of God)(*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-children of Israel. Say ('amar - speak, command, utter, proclaim, promise, declare, appoint, see and show, name, designate) to them:

     'The LORD bless (see barak above) you and keep (samar - keep, guard, observe, protect, save the life of, as a watchman, retain, preserve as with loving-kindness, to hedge about as with thorns) you; 

      The LORD make ('or - light, shine, fire, glorious, illuminate, enlighten, to become light) His face (panim/pana - face, from beforetime, presence, sight, countenance, person/turn and look, to turn and face) shine (see 'or above) upon you,

      And be gracious (hanan/hana - have mercy on, gracious, favor, pity, bend or stoop in kindness toward, compassion, long for/house with you, reach towards you, pitch a tent and dwell, encamp, lie, rest) to you;

      The LORD lift up (see nasa' above) His countenance (see panim/pana above) upon you,

      And give (sum - put, make, appoint, lay, ordain, give, place, show, establish, transform into, make for a sign, mark, name, paint) you peace (salom/salam - peace, well, health, welfare, prosperity, safe, friendship covenant with man and God/peace, recompense, reward, repay, restore, restitution, make whole).'

     So shall they put (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-name (sem - name, renown, famous, glory, monument, character, authority) on the children of Israel, and I will bless (see barak above) them." (Num. 6:22-27). 

     We should also be aware that the Hebrew word barak, meaning "bless" as used above also includes the meaning "to curse, blaspheme." We should understand that our words and thoughts carry prophetic significance by the presence and testimony of Messiah/Christ (see Rev. 19:10) within us, and how we speak or think towards another person can work for life and blessing in Messiah/Christ or blaspheming and cursing. The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet (1 Cor. 14:31-33), and as Jesus warned, idle (argos - lazy as shunning the labor which one ought to perform, barren, useless, of things from which no profit is derived although it can and should be productive) words spoken will be accounted for before the Lord (Mt. 12:35-37). If our words, whether by thought, speech, or action had no special significance to God, He would not command such an accounting for them. As we saw above in the carrying (see nasa' above) task (see massa/nasa' above) assigned to the three Levite families and each named individual within them, there are things, concepts and people who have been appointed to the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega Messiah/Christ of which we may or may not be aware, which should not be (prophetically) cursed nor blasphemed. 

     I have learned, according to what we have read in this Naso, "Elevate/Lift up Sabbath reading, that we must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit rather than our own leading in these and all things. It can be difficult to surrender all of our thoughts, intentions, various doctrines that we hold to be godly, words and actions to the Lord's rulership, but all of these things are meant for the Lord's use rather than our own. I believe that this is especially important in these days in which we are living today, and prophetically speaking, for the days to come.

     If you would like to learn more about walking in the prophetic purpose in the Lord, you can join my prayer: "Heavenly Father, You know the end from the beginning. Your Son, Jesus, is the Beginning and the End/Alpha and Omega. You exist in time and in eternity and Your thoughts, words and works have determined the past, the present and the infinite future of Your creation, including each person to whom You have given life. Lord, I surrender my thoughts, words and deeds to You, and I pray, that with the power of Your living Word, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit of Truth, all that I am would be profitable to You, fruitful for the present and also for the future. I bless You, Lord, and magnify You, and I bless all of Your sons and daughters born of the Spirit and place Your holy *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega name, Jesus, upon them. I pray this in the name of Jesus, my Savior. AMEN."

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

     

     

Infinite&Innumerable

   

      The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is B'midbar, meaning "In the wilderness." B'midbar is also the title in Hebrew of the Book of the Bible that we call "Numbers." I think that the Hebrew title, B'midbar, "In the wilderness" is probably a more spiritually accurate description of this fourth Book of scripture. It is true that the Israelites will be numbered in a few different ways, but this Book is also about the depth of teaching that the LORD brings forth for His people in this wilderness setting. The wilderness setting is not an easy place, but the LORD gives His people truths that, if they will listen to Him, will cause His people to thrive even in this challenging place. God's people were meant to just pass through the wilderness on the way to their destination, the inheritance of the land promised by God to their forefathers. However, because of unbelief, pride, and disobedience, they fell victim, in a manner of speaking, to the testing of the wilderness. What could have been an eleven-day journey through and out, turned into a forty-year long period of challenges, and the death of a whole generation. Even Moses' obedience would be tested, and he would end up being forbidden by God from leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. The Book of Numbers, or B'midbar, opens with the LORD organizing His people into armies - both physically and spiritually, because the trials of the wilderness are spiritual. This Book bears important lessons for all of us to learn, and is given to us, like all other scripture is given as Paul wrote: "...by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof (elegchos - that by which a thing is proven or tested, evidence, proof of, to call to account, by conviction to bring to the light, to expose, to show one his fault), for correction (epanorthosis - restoration to an upright or right state, improvement of life or character, straightening up again), for instruction (paideia - whole training and education [as of children], cultivation of mind and morals, instruction aimed at increasing virtue, chastening) in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

     The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is found in the beginning of B'midbar or the Book of Numbers: "Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai (meaning "thorny"), in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 'Take (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-a-census/sum (ro's - head, chief, top, beginning, company, band, captain, sum, summit, total, height, choicest, best, excellent, first, principal, ruler) of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number (mispar/sapar - number, sum, account, abundance, infinite, innumerable/scribe, tell, number, declare, accounted, count, recount, rehearse, celebrate) of names, every male individually/by their polls (gulgolet/galal - head, skull [also Golgotha, "the skull",]/roll away, remove, to roll as a stone), from twenty years old and above - all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number (paqad - number, visit, appoint, set, muster, pass in review, assign, to seek, to look for, care for) them by their armies." (Num. 1:1-3).

     There is no doubt according to the verses above, that the LORD commanded that His people, the Israelites, be numbered in the wilderness. The purpose of this numbering was to muster the individuals, families, and tribes into armies (the Hebrew meaning also includes the heavenly hosts or armies of angels) for battle. However, the presence of the *aleph-tav, which is found in the written Hebrew of this verse, connected to the census or sum in Num. 1:2 indicates that this "sum" is identified with the Messiah/Christ (see *note at the bottom of this entry). We will see that while the LORD is speaking about the Israelites in the wilderness, He is also prophetically speaking of people directly connected to Messiah/Christ. 

     There are three different Hebrew words used in the above verses for the "numbering" of the Israelites. These three words are different for a reason, I believe. The first is ro's, used for census/sum. This word ro's refers to a ruler who is the highest, and most excellent. He was the Beginning and in the beginning. Jesus fills this description as well as being the Captain (see ro's above) of the heavenly hosts, and the Captain of our salvation. (see Mt. 26:52-53, Heb. 2:10-12).

     The next Hebrew word used in the above verses for "number" is mispar/sapar. While it means the number or sum of something, it includes the meaning of abundance, infinite and innumerable. The number that is to "declare, to tell, account for, rehearse and celebrate", according to the Hebrew word meaning, can also be beyond any number that can be counted. How could Moses count the uncountable? How could he count a number that is beyond numbers? Moses could "number" them by those contained within The Seed (Messiah/Christ). Abraham was promised by God that (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-his-seed/descendants could be numbered if the stars can be numbered or if the grains of sand on the shore can be numbered, or (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-dust of the earth can be numbered, because Abraham had done (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-this-thing: Abraham had not withheld (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-his-son, even (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-his-only son, from the LORD. (see Gen. 13:16, Gen. 15:5-6, Gen. 22:16-17, Heb. 11:11-12). This number is not limited to natural descendants, because it cannot be counted, but extends into eternity and infinity according to its definition. Through faith in Messiah/Christ Jesus, who is the blessed Seed of Abraham, both Jews and Gentiles are included in this infinite and impossible to number faith-descendants of Abraham, as Paul explained, who was a Jew both by flesh and by faith in Messiah/Christ, and a Pharisee trained under Gamaliel. (see Gal. 3:14, Gal. 3:16, Gal. 3:27-29).

     We are given an awesome look at this infinite and innumerable number associated with Messiah/Christ in John's Book of Revelation: "After these things I looked and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the Lamb (Jesus), clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out in a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!" (Rev. 7:9-10).

     We also see that each man is to be counted in the numbering individually, or by "the skull", which is gulgolet/galal in Hebrew. Written in English, gulgolet becomes "Golgotha, the skull", the name of the mount upon which Jesus Messiah/Christ was crucified according to all four Gospels. (Mt. 27:33-35, Mk. 15:22-25, Lk. 23:32-33, Jn. 19:17-18). Each of us was counted individually as we received the crucifixion of Messiah/Christ for our sins. We also died then and there with and in Him. (see Rom. 6:3-8, Gal. 2:20). The song asks, "Were You There?" Through our belief in Christ, we were counted as being there as He died for each one of us, as well as for all of us. The root word of gulgolet is galal, which means "the rolling away of the stone". As we were part of His crucifixion, we are also part of Messiah/Christ Jesus' resurrection (see Rom. 6:5, Eph. 2:4-7, Col. 2:11-12, Col. 3:1-4), when the stone was rolled away three days later, and the tomb of His burial was found to be empty.

     The final Hebrew word that is translated as "number" used in the above verses from Numbers 1, is the word paqad. As we see above, the meaning of this Hebrew word includes: to number, visit, appoint, to set, muster (meaning to gather, to summon, to assemble), assign, to seek, to look for, to care for. Not only does this definition apply to the then Israelites under Moses' leadership, but I believe that Moses is also being commanded to appoint, summon, to seek, look for, care for, and assemble an infinite and innumerable group of people who were not physically there with them yet, but were to be prophetically included: the people of the Messiah/Christ, who are to be a part of the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega census/sum of Numbers 1:2. The LORD does not just see the "now", but He sees the end from the beginning. He is the eternal and He sees the eternal at the same time as He sees the present. Paul wrote that God saw us and foreknew us in Christ: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself..." (Eph. 1:3-5, see also Rom. 8:28-30 and 2 Tim. 1:8-9). God does nothing without revealing it to His servants the prophets (see Amos 3:7-8), so why would He not reveal to His great prophet Moses this hidden assembly of people, both Jew and Gentile, the infinite and innumerable, who belonged before time, belong now, and will belong to Messiah/Christ? 

     Many believers think that "a wilderness experience" is something miserable from which one is to pray to God to escape. However, there are many important and exciting things happening in the wilderness, as we can see. As we also see, these exciting things include the prophetic vision and Word of the LORD that we are to declare, tell, rehearse and recount (see mispar/sapar above). We who are the people of Messiah/Christ Jesus have a special and earth-changing purpose to be completed in the wilderness. The Word given to the prophet Isaiah, and at least partially fulfilled by John the Baptist, speaks comfort to the people of God (Isa. 40:1-2), but also extends even farther than that: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken....O Zion, you who bring forth good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold, your God!' Behold, the LORD shall come with a strong hand, and His arm (zeroa/zara - [stretched out] arm, shoulder [of the sacrifice], force, mighty, help, power, strength/sow seed, scatter seed, yielding seed, conceive, pregnant) shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young." (Isa. 40:3-9, excerpt). 

     If you would like to learn more about being part of the infinite and innumerable assembly in Jesus Messiah/Christ, you can join my prayer: "Heavenly Father of glory! You have called an assembly of people before the beginning of time and You have manifested them in the fruit brought forth through the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus. You gave the vision of this assembly in Messiah/Christ to Your prophets to carry into time. Lord, You have a purpose for this assembly, and I ask You to help me to fulfill this purpose in my own life. Your Son gave His life to bring me and innumerable others forth, and I want to stay true to Your vision whether I am in the wilderness or on the mountain top. Fill me with Your Word and Your Holy Spirit so that I can walk in Your vision for the whole earth. I ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus. AMEN."

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

WarfareFeasts

      "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts." (Lev. 23:1-2).

     These verses above are the beginning of this week's Sabbath reading portion titled Emor, meaning "Say." In the verses above, there are three different words that express a spoken communication. Each of the three words has a distinct and important meaning. By using three different Hebrew words here, what the LORD desired to communicate to His people must carry great importance. However, in many ways, the subject of that importance, the feasts of the LORD, remain a mystery to us. The LORD must want us to search them out.

     First, we can look at the Hebrew words and meanings used above to express spoken communication:

• "Speak" is the word dabar in Hebrew, meaning "speak, utter, declare, command, promise, warn, sing, appoint, commune, pronounce, rehearse, teach." The Hebrew letters used to make up the word dabar are daleth, beth, and reysh. The individual meanings of these three pictographic letters could be joined together to mean "The door/way of life to the tent, house, family or body of the Highest."
• "Say" used above is the Hebrew word amar, from which we get the title of this week's Sabbath reading portion, Emor. Amar means "said, speak, answer, command, tell, call, promised, intend, to be called, avow, publish, to be or make prominent, to bear forth, to bring light, to think, to will." The Hebrew letters used to create the word amar are aleph, mem, and reysh. These letters placed together form the idea "The gentle Lord, Adonai, teaches a thousand the source (the beginning) of the waters of the Highest."
• "Proclaim" is the Hebrew word qara which means "call, cried, read, proclaim, named, guests, invited, bidden, preach, utter with a loud voice, summon, call and commission, appoint, call and endow, give name to, be called out, be chosen, encounter, cause to meet." Qara is made up of the Hebrew letters qoph, reysh, and aleph, and these letters when joined together could have the meaning "The last, the back, the final (the end) is the head, the Highest, the gentle Lord Adonai."

     Each of these three words in these verses that express spoken communication of some kind contain three letters. There is a kind of trinity being expressed here.

     Both of the Hebrew words amar, "say", and qara, "called, named" are present throughout Genesis Ch. 1 as God (Elohim *aleph-tav, see also Jn. 1:1-5, 14) created the heavens and the earth. These same two words are used in the other reading selections from the Torah for this week's Emor Sabbath: Lev. 23:23-38 and Lev. 24:1-9 when giving God's commands regarding the feasts of the LORD.

     Jesus also embodied the meaning of these three Hebrew words in one example from the New Testament: "Then Jesus cried out (krazo - cry out aloud, speak with a loud voice, call aloud, scream, shriek, see also qara: proclaim, above) and said (eipon - speak, say, command, grant, answer, bid, tell, see also amar: say, and dabar: declare, promise, pronounce, above), 'He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light (see amar: to bring light, above) into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness." (Jn. 12:44-46). Jesus also gave a dabar warning in v. 47-48: "And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last days."

     Elsewhere in scripture, the LORD says: "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey (sama- hear, obey) My voice and keep (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is mine." (Ex. 19:5). The LORD expects us to hear His voice and obey it.

     Jesus also said: "...blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Lk. 11:28).

     In another reading portion from this Emor Sabbath, the LORD cries out to His people to repent and return to Him: "Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me!....Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways." (Ps. 81:8, 13).

     The LORD, the Great God, has a voice! However, sometimes we have "selective hearing".

     The appointed feasts of the LORD, which He spoke to Moses in Lev. Ch. 23, include the Sabbath, Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of First Fruits, the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and finally, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day called Simchat Torah: Rejoice in the Torah.

  

     In reading of the feasts of the LORD, the Sabbath is a foundational component of each of them. While for some, the feasts are observed by rote in a religious fashion, to others, there is an understanding that the feasts also incorporate a prophetic timeline. Books have been written about the connection of the Feasts of the LORD to Jesus Messiah/Christ. Each feast proclaims the mighty salvation work of Jesus, some Feasts fulfilled through his first appearing, and some to be fulfilled by His prophesied and eagerly awaited soon return.

     I would also like to present an additional meaning to the Feasts of the LORD for us to consider.  The spiritual victories accomplished by the Lord through these feasts are so massive in importance that these spiritual victories affect the natural world and future generations.

     Where there are spiritual victories, there has been spiritual warfare. The spiritual warfare of the Feasts is so intense that life and death may hang in the balance, including the Sabbath observance on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:30). How do God's people become collateral damage from the spiritual warfare of the Feast? We will see.

     When we look at the Passover, for example, the Israelites were warned to put the Lamb's blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. They were to go into their houses, shut the door, and not come out of their door until morning. That night, death would move throughout the land of Egypt, and the only safety provided for God's people was to be found in following His instructions completely. (Ex. 12:21-24). It was on this night that God judged the gods of Egypt and those who served them. (see Ex. 12:12). This kind of spiritual warfare was not limited to this night. The Passover was to be observed as an ordinance forever. 

     Nations of the earth were warned by the Prophet Zechariah that if they failed to come to Jerusalem to worship the King (Messiah/Christ), the LORD of hosts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, there would be no rain upon their lands. (Zech. 14:17-19). Come into the safety provided by the LORD in His Feasts or suffer the dangers that await outside of it.

     Jesus, who inhabits the Feasts of the LORD, looked out over Jerusalem and wept because He knew the terror that was coming their way. He said: "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; 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). This was said by Jesus two days before He observed the Passover with His disciples and was crucified. (see Mt. 26:1-2). His invitation was not accepted. Jerusalem observed the Passover and the other Feasts of the LORD religiously and traditionally, but ignored the messengers and the prophets, including John the Baptist (Jn. 1:29-36), who clearly identified Jesus Messiah/Christ with the Feasts. Salvation (yesua [Jesus' Hebrew name]/yasa - salvation, deliverance, health, saving, welfare, prosperity, victory, safe/savior, preserved, defend, rescue, avenge, safe, victory) doesn't come through religious rituals but by only one name under heaven: Jesus. (see Acts 4:10-12).

     I mentioned above that the Feasts of the LORD are associated with the Sabbath as well. (see Lev. 23:7, 11, 15-16, 21, 24-25, 32, 34-35, 39) The Hebrew word for sabbath, which is sabat, means as we expect to see, "rest, cease, be completed." However, sabat also means at the same time, in the same breath, "put an end to, to destroy, to remove, to cause to fail, rid, take away, cut off, interrupt." Here is the warfare of the LORD incorporated into His Sabbaths, and therefore, also into His Feasts.

     As God's people understand this meaning connected to the Feasts of the LORD, they will view the Feasts, not as a religious obligation or tradition, or as something meant only for the Jewish people, but as a haven of safety while the LORD goes into battle against the spirits of evil.

     The Feasts of the LORD are set at appointed times or seasons, and so is warfare. There is a time when kings are to go into battle. (see 2 Sam. 11:1). Spring is specifically mentioned as the time of kings' warfare, and there are Feasts of the LORD designated for the spring season. There is another mention of an appointed time/season for war: "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven...A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." (Eccl. 3:1, 8). Jesus incorporates the purposes of the Feasts of the LORD, and we view Him as Peace and the Giver of Peace, and so He is. However, we cannot forget that as the Son of God and as the Son of the warrior king, David, Jesus is also well acquainted with great spiritual warfare and victory. (see Rev. 19:11, 15-16). Jesus didn't deliver us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light, and from the kingdom of death into the Kingdom of eternal Life without warring against and defeating these spiritual kingdoms of darkness and death. (1 Pet. 2:9-10, 1 Cor. 15:24-26, Rev. 1:17-18). Jesus goes to war and has overcome the world so that we may have peace. (Jn. 16:33).

      The depths that the LORD has hidden in His appointed feasts will impact the whole earth, and His desire to reveal those depths to His people is greater still. However, many ignore His invitation (see qara, above) to come to His appointed feasts, or they come to the Feasts but ignore the prophets and messengers who revealed the prophetic and holy knowledge of the Feasts. Jesus told a parable of a king who invited guests to his son's wedding feast, but many gave excuses not to come. The king said, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy (axios/ago - to know the weight or value befitting a thing/to pass a day, keep or celebrate a feast, etc.)." Others then were invited to fill the wedding hall, but one who attended "did not have on a wedding garment" (the garment reflects the understanding, honor, acceptance and preparation due the king's feast). The king said to his servants: "Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen." (Mt. 22:1-14, excerpt). Properly weigh the value of the invitation sent to us by our King.

 

     We are called to understand the weight of importance, "the worth", that is contained within the Feasts of the LORD, and the habitation of the Savior, Jesus Messiah/Christ within them. The Feasts that have been given to us by God by special invitation are not for His benefit, but for ours. In the appointed time of cataclysmic spiritual warfare, we will be urgently seeking that safety and victory that the LORD has provided in His Feasts.

     

     If you would like to know more about the victory achieved by the LORD in His Feasts, and the provision of safety that He has given for us within them, you can join me in my prayer: "Heavenly and loving Father, how can we know the heights, depths and breadth of the love and provision that You have created for us as expressed in Your Feasts? Your Son, Jesus, was sent to the world to overcome the works of darkness on our behalf, and to deliver us into Your arms of safety. Help us through Your Word and by Your Holy Spirit to enter into Your Feasts understanding the weight of their value to us. Lord Jesus, the warfare and victory that You have fought and brought forth on our behalf is beyond anything that the world can provide for us. You are our song, and our salvation, our place of safety, and our victory, and we meditate upon and deeply consider the price that You paid in the battle, and we celebrate the supernatural victory that You achieved for us. Let me not look at the Feasts in the same way as before but let me hear what You say to teach me and enter into the depth of meaning that You have placed within the Feasts. I bless and thank You in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

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

     

Ascension

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Naso, meaning to "elevate/lift up". The root word nasa means "to lift up, bear up, carry, take, carry off, to lift oneself up, exalt, rise up, to grow, to increase, to be borne, to be carried, to forgive." God's power and authority to forgive is found, at least in part, in His naso/nasa ascended position

     This week's Sabbath reading portion will also help us to also understand that there is a battle for this ascension. The spiritual war has already been won as we will see, but on-going spiritual battles still challenge that victory. The prophet Isaiah gave us revelation concerning Lucifer's (Satan's) challenge for ascendency and his inevitable defeat: "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 (sheol - underworld, grave, hell, pit), to the lowest depths (yereka - extreme parts, the rear recesses, the buttocks) of the pit (bor - pit hole, dungeon, cistern used for prisons, lowest sepulchre [dug out of stone] of the dead)." (Isa. 14:12-15). Previously, according to Isaiah above, Satan had been cast down from heaven to earth. However now, because of his challenge to God's (and His people's) ascended position, he will be cast into an even lower depth - the most recessed part of the pit. The word for "ascend" used here by Isaiah is ala, which includes the meaning "to actively mount or climb up." God holds the position of ascension because He is the Ascended One by His holy and perfect nature. Lucifer or Satan tries to achieve ascendency by his own will and strength because of the wickedness found in his heart. The LORD has also shown His people that He has called them to the place of ascension, but it is not achieved by our own will and strength. It comes by lifting Him up, as we will see.  

     Our Sabbath reading portion begins in Numbers 4. Here we find those who lift up, bear up, and carry: "Then the LORD spoke to Moses regarding certain groups of Levites, saying, 'Also take (nasa - see above) a (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) census (ros - head, top, summit, height, choicest, best, excellent, forefront, highest part, ruler, chiefest, captain) of the sons of Gershon (gerson- exile, refugee, expulsion), by their fathers' house, by their families." (Num. 4:21-22). As the LORD ordered a census, He was elevating to the highest realms those who were being accounted for by name according to the Hebrew meanings above. He took them from the lowest condition according to the Hebrew meaning of gerson, and He caused them to ascend.

     The LORD said of the sons of Gershon: "This is the service of  the families of the Gershonites, in serving and carrying (massa/nasa - song, prophecy, tribute or gift, bearing, lifting, utterance, oracle, that which is carried or brought, that which the soul lifts up): They shall carry (nasa - see above) the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) curtains (yeria/yar - curtain, drape, veil of tent or tabernacle/to grieve) of the tabernacle...with its covering (mikse/kasa - covering/covering cloth, to conceal, to hide)...of badger skins...the screen (masak/sakak - screen, veil/fence about, shut in, protector) for the door of the gate of the court, the hangings (qela/qala - sling, slingstones, door, screen/sling, hurl forth, to engrave) of the court...and all that is made for these things: so shall they serve." (Num. 4:25-26). The LORD caused the Gershonites to nasa ascend from a low earthly position into the highest realm of prophetic utterance (see massa above), to the realm of David/Messiah (sling and slingstones), to the realm of the hidden things of God waiting to be revealed to His people (see also Col. 1:26-28), to the realm of the prophetic covering that protects and shelters God's people (see Ps. 105:12-15) according to the Hebrew meanings of the words above. They were not ascended for their own sakes alone, but they were entrusted with the oracles of God for all of God's people (Rom. 3:1-2). Paul told the church to covet the gift of prophecy. Shouldn't we therefore be prophesying in nasa ascension? There is a battle for ascension. The easiest way to concede ascension to Lucifer/Satan is to misunderstand our own ascension in Christ.

     Then the LORD spoke to Moses regarding the sons of Merari, another family group of Levites, saying: "As for the sons of Merari (merari/marar - bitter, unhappy/bitterness, grieved, choler [irascible temperament, bile], to be enraged, vexed, to embitter oneself), you shall number (paqad - appoint, assign, seek, look about for, be needed, be missed, to be watched over, be entrusted, to muster, to visit) them by their families and by their fathers' house...to do the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) work (aboda/abad - service, labor, tillage, office, bondservant, ministry, sacred service/servant, serve, work, worshippers, to make oneself a servant) of the tabernacle of meeting. And this is what they must carry (mismeret/mismar/samar + massa/nasa - guard, watch, in the house of detention/place of confinement, prison, watch, guard/keep, guard + song, prophecy, tribute, bearing, lifting, utterance, oracle/take, lift up, bear up, carry, exalt, rise up) as all their service (saba/seba - warfare, army, battle, war, heavenly army/wage war) for the tabernacle of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, its bars (beriah/barah - bar, city gates, fortress, prison, cross-beam bar, bar used to shut door to entrance of Hades, bar of defense of a prince/chase, drive away, put to flight, cause to flee, cut through or break through), its pillars (ammud/amad - pillar/withstand endure, take one's stand, abide, stand firm), its sockets (eden/adon - base, pedestal, strong, firm foundation/strong, lord, master, to rule)...pegs (yated - pin, peg, nail, tent stake, to drive in a nail), cords (metar/yatar - cord, string of a bow/remnant, overflow, abound, preserve alive, excel, show pre-eminence), with all their (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) furnishings (keli/kala - weapon, utensil, tool, yoke, artillery, jewel/to accomplish, finish, to be completed, be fulfilled, bring to an end) and all their service; and you shall assign to each man by name the items he must carry." (Num. 4:29-32). There's a great deal of Hebrew word meanings here for these verses about the sons of Merari, but the bottom line is that you don't want to mess with these guys! The LORD took those who were full of bitterness, and anger and caused them to ascend into an army of spiritual prison guards and warriors. They were the spiritual soldiers and policemen binding (see also Mt. 18:18) and imprisoning harmful criminals in the spirit realm through the prophetic songs and weapons given to them in ascension. One good example of this kind of calling is found in another reading portion of this Sabbath from Judges 16, which is the account of Samson's defeat of the Philistines of Gaza. He tore up, lifted up and carried away the huge city gates (see above) of Gaza, and later brought down the temple of their false god Dagon (dagon/daga - "a fish", Philistine god of fertility and increase represented by the face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish/to be covered over in darkness) by its pillars (see above) with all of the lords of the Philistines gathered in the temple. Nothing could stop Samson. He was a human wrecking ball. This account of Samson and the Philistines was also prophetic considering current events. 

     There is a third group of Levites mentioned in the beginning of Numbers 4. Moses was to take (nasa - lift up, bear up, carry, take, endure, support, to be borne, forgive, bear continuously) a (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) census or sum (ros - head, top, summit, height, choicest, best, excellent, forefront, highest part, ruler, chiefest, captain) of the sons of Kohath (qehat - assembly; to ally oneself). The Kohaths were ascended by the LORD in order to carry the most holy things (qodes + qodes - apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness, saint, sanctuary, consecrated to God) of the tabernacle. These included the ark of the covenant with the mercy seat, both overlayed with gold, the golden altar of incense, the golden table of shewbread, and the golden candlestick/lamp/menorah. The Kohaths are important because as "the assembly", they resemble the ekklesia, the Greek word for "church". Ekklesia/ek + kaleo/keleuo means "an assembly of the Israelites, an assembly of Christians, the whole body of Christians both already dead and still living, a calling out, a church, a congregation of either Jews or Christians/to call aloud, utter in a loud voice, to name, by name, to bear a name/to command, to order, to urge on." To believers in Messiah/Christ, the very holy furnishings of the tabernacle that were to be carried (massa/nasa - see above) by the Kohath Levites represent the Father (Ark/Mercy Seat), the Son (Altar of Incense, Table of Shewbread, Golden Lampstand of Light), and the Holy Spirit (the holy oil that fills the Lamp and the fiery coals and rising smoke of incense prayers). The Kohaths in Num. Ch. 4 are treated differently than the other Levite families already mentioned above, but they have a special meaning for us, the true ekklesia church of both Jews and Christians.  

     The numbers of each group of Levites mentioned here were in the thousands. No one person, nor just a handful, had to carry the holy burdens. Sometimes we think that we are the "only one", but as the LORD told Elijah, who was feeling very sorry for himself, there were many who were in His obedient service (see 1 Kings 19:14-18). It's difficult for us to ascend while in the middle of a pity party! And the battle for spiritual ascendence rages on.

     The message of Naso is not only important to Israel, especially at this time, but it is also essential to our understanding of our calling in Christ. Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives in the presence of His disciples (Acts 1:8-11), the Holy Spirit was poured out in fire on the disciples waiting in the Upper Room located above David's tomb in Jerusalem on the Feast of Weeks, also called Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). The Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost are being observed this month. This was the fulfilment of the promise that Jesus had made to His disciples before His crucifixion and resurrection (Jn. 16:7-11, 16). The second event of Pentecost could not have been fulfilled without the accomplishment of the first event: the Ascension. The Ascension of Jesus was a great victory of authority and glory (see Ps. 24:7-10). Christ did not ascend for His own benefit alone, however. We spiritually ascended with Him. Paul wrote: "But God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus....For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:4-10, excerpt). Our ascension in Jesus Christ is for appointed good works, and, like the ascension of Naso, it also carries a prophetic message for ages to come.

     For this purpose also, the LORD instructed Aaron to speak an ascension blessing over the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) children of Israel:

"The LORD bless you and keep (samar - keep, guard, observe, protect, watchman, save life, preserve, take heed, mark) you; The LORD make His face shine (or - become light, be light, shine, glorious, fire, set on fire, be-give-show light) upon you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up (nasa - bear up, lift up, carry, forgive, exalt, regard, take, be lifted up, rise up, bear continuously, cause one to bear, be high) His countenance (panim/pana - face, presence, person, before, behind, toward/look at, turn toward) upon you, and give you peace (salom/salam - peace, prosperity, safe, health, soundness, completeness, tranquility, friendship in covenant/recompense, reward, restore, repay, retribution, finished, make whole)."

"So they shall put My (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) name (sem/sum - name, reputation, glory, monument, memorial, character, honor, authority, fame/appoint, place, set in place, make for a sign, establish, ordain) on the children of Israel, and I will bless them." (Num. 6:22-27).

     As God causes His *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega children to ascend, He places His name, glory, character, authority and appointed purpose upon them, and they become a (prophetic) sign to others. 

     God delivered His people out of Egypt through ascension: borne (nasa - see above) on eagles' wings (Ex. 19:3-6). Prophets have been lifted up in ascension in order to receive the Word/vision of the LORD (Ezek. 8:3, Isa. 6:1-3, Isa. 40:21-23, 26, Rev. 4:1-2). The LORD, the Most High, speaks of those who ascend to make their dwelling under His wings (Psalm 91). Paul wrote that we are to live in ascension through Messiah/Christ (Col. 3:1-3, Phil. 4:8-9). However, we tend to spend so much of our time, concern and attention over things that are under, below, and beneath. We can be prophesying, carrying and guarding instead from our ascended position. As Jesus Christ's seventy disciples returned rejoicing from doing the spiritual works of ascendency, He remarked that He saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. (Lk. 10:17-20).

     There is an on-going spiritual battle for ascendency, and the LORD expects us to win it: "But you shall receive power (dynamis - power, mighty wonderful work, strength, miracles, ability, inherent power, excellence of soul, abundance) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me (Jesus) in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8). At this time of Pentecost/Feast of Weeks, we are reminded of this great outpouring of power to us from on high. 

     If you would like to know more about the Naso ascension of God's people, you can join me in my prayer: "Most High Father, You have lifted me up in Your Son, Jesus, and have seated me with Him in heavenly places by Your grace. You have appointed me to do ascension works as a prophetic sign and for Your glory. As I lift up and carry You, You lift up and carry me also. You have placed Your great name upon me. I thank and praise Your Son, Jesus, for ascending on high for me, and for sending Your Holy Spirit to baptize and fill me with Your spiritual fire. I give You all honor, glory and praise in Jesus' name. AMEN."

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

     

HolyVision

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

Testimony

      "And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, 'See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Rev. 19:10).

     The individual who had just prophesied to John in heaven above about the marriage supper of the Lamb was not an angel, nor Jesus, but a fellow believer in Christ. According to the verse above, because this unnamed believer has the testimony of Christ within him, the spirit of prophecy is resident within that testimony. Jesus and the Gospel ARE prophetic, and the prophetic cannot be separated from them nor from those who have Christ. In Christ, our faith is prophetic, our prayers are prophetic, our songs are prophetic, our messages are prophetic, our worship and giving are prophetic. I think that as we begin the Book of Exodus, and the other reading portions of this Sabbath, we will see the significance of this.

     The Book of Exodus is called Sh'mot in Hebrew , meaning "Names". It comes from the first verse of Exodus: We'elleh Shemoth, which means "Now these are the names...".  Sh'mot is also the title of this week's Sabbath reading portion. "The names" refer to Jacob, his eleven sons and their households who came to Egypt, for a total number of seventy individuals. From this seventy, the Israelites in Egypt "increased abundantly, multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them." (Ex. 1:1-7).

     As a new Pharaoh of Egypt came to power, he grew afraid of the millions of Israelites who were living in Egypt. He felt that their loyalty to himself nor Egypt could be counted upon in time of war, and it was feared that the Hebrews would join an enemy and leave the land (v. 8-10). Therefore, Pharaoh insured their service through hard slavery (v. 11-14). He also sought to control the population of male Israelites by having male Hebrew babies killed upon birth (v.15-22). When the Hebrew midwives refused to cooperate with this plan, Pharaoh ordered all of his people to throw every son into the river to drown (v. 22). It seems that the evil of child murder, like all evil, does not remain contained, but its nature and desire is to be pervasive and without limit. The blood-hunger of evil is never satisfied (Prov. 4:14-17, Rev. 17:3-6). Man cannot control evil, not even the most powerful man in the world, Pharaoh, but rather, evil will control man. As the Israelites suffered terribly under the bitter and hard bondage of the Egyptians, it was time for God to send the deliverer of His people, who would be Moses.

     The prophetic promise of a Deliverer came to man as early as the occasion of man's fall in the Book of Genesis, and even earlier (Gen. 1:3-4, Gen. 3:14-15). The promise of the Christ/Messiah Deliverer continued throughout Jewish scripture. The specific prophetic promise to deliver God's people from Egypt came through Abraham (Gen. 15:13-14), and Joseph. Before his death, Joseph prophesied to his brethren: "...I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land (Egypt) to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob...God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here." (Gen. 50:24-25). Amos wrote that God does nothing without telling His prophets first (Amos 3:7), and the prophets tell God's people. We have previously discussed the testimony of Jesus Christ present in the lives of Abraham and Joseph. So we will look at the testimony of Christ, the spirit of prophecy, in this week's Sabbath reading portion.

     As Moses was called by God into the role of deliverer, the LORD spoke to him from the midst of a burning bush. As Moses led his father-in-law, Jethro's (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13) flock (son - shepherd, lamb, sheep, sheepfold, of a multitude, to migrate) into the back of the desert, and came to Horeb (horeb/harab - destroyed, dried up, wasted, decay, smite down, kill, slay), the mountain of God: "...the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush (sene - thorny, bush, to prick). So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed...God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!...I am the God of your father - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God." (Ex. 3:1-6).

      In a place of death, decay and destruction, and in a circumstance that should have led to consuming destruction by fire, there was no destruction and death but a "great sight" (gadol + mare - great, high, greatest, mighty, magnify, praise, powerful, grow, of honor, lift up + vision, favor, countenance, appearance, spectacle, a handsome shape) which Moses turned aside to see (Ex. 3:3). Moses saw a figure and a face in the midst of the fire that should have, but did not, consume. The next time a form is seen within a fiery furnace without harm, the King of the Chaldeans declared "the form...is like the Son of God." (see Dan. 3:19-25).

     The LORD spoke to Moses from the burning bush. The "LORD" is represented by the Hebrew letters yod, hey, vaw, hey, which have an individual meaning of "Behold the hand, behold the nail". This is the testimony of Jesus Christ, the spirit of prophecy, about which we read above: The One whom death cannot consume.

     In another reading portion from this Sabbath, the LORD calls young Jeremiah to be a prophet. The LORD said to him: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." (Jer. 1:5, see also Rom. 8:28-30).

     As the LORD called young Jeremiah, He showed him his first vision: "Moreover the word of the LORD came to me saying, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' And I said, 'I see a branch/rod of an almond tree." This first vision is very meaningful because it is built around the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy (see above). First there is the branch or rod. This is the Hebrew word maqqel, meaning "rod, staff, a shoot (of germination)". Isaiah also prophesied concerning the Messiah who would judge: "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse (David's father), and a Branch shall grow out of its roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him..." (Isa. 11:1-2). 

     According to the vision which the LORD showed Jeremiah, however, it is a specific branch or rod of an almond tree. This is saqed/saqad in Hebrew, meaning, "almond tree, almond, the first tree to arouse and awake from the sleep of winter/watch, wake, hasten, be on the look out for, sleepless". The almond tree, according to its Hebrew meaning is a symbol of returning life from the sleep of death. There is also a reference to this meaning in Eccl. 12:5. Resurrection from the dead is the testimony of Jesus Christ, the spirit of prophecy. Eccl. 12:5. The root word for almond tree includes the idea of watching and hastening. Those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ also fulfill this role. Peter wrote concerning the believers: "Therefore...what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved...and the elements will melt...? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." (2 Pet. 3:11-13). Those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ walk hand in hand with, and enact, the spirit of prophecy that accompanies that testimony, as we saw with the fellow believer in heaven (see above).

     As Jeremiah reported to the LORD that he had seen the vision of this very important branch of the almond tree, the LORD replied to Jeremiah: "You have seen (ra'a - behold, look, consider, perceive, seer, foresee, have vision) well (yatab - good, pleasing, accepted, be glad, be joyful, to make well, do rightly), for I am ready (or 'I will hasten') (saqad - see above) to perform My word." (Jer. 1:12). The LORD was joyfully glad and pleased that Jeremiah accurately saw the vision of the testimony of Jesus Christ. All of the prophets of God had a revelation of the testimony of Jesus Christ which is the spirit of prophecy.

      From another of this week's Sabbath reading portions, the prophet Isaiah wrote the Word of the LORD concerning the restoration of Israel: "Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom (sus - blossom, shine, sparkle, gleam, flourish, to gaze, make the eyes sparkle, be bright, emit splendor) and bud (parah - bud, sprout, shoot, bloom, break forth, break out, to fly), and fill the face of the world with fruit (tenuba/nub - fruit, produce, increase/germinate, bring forth, make flourish, gushing forth, make cheerful, boiling up, to utter words)." (Isa. 27:16). Before making this prophecy, the LORD gave Isaiah this Word: "Your dead shall live (haya - live, alive, save, revive from death, restore to life); Together with My dead body (nebela/nabel - corpse/to despise, to disgrace, to dishonor, to lightly esteem [see Isa. 53:3]) they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs (ora/or - herbs, light, light of joy and happiness, luminousness/light of life [see Jn. 1:1-4], to become light, shine, glorious), and the earth shall cast out its dead." (Isa. 26:19). This refers to the resurrection of the dead which is the testimony of Jesus Christ which is the spirit of prophecy.

     We who have been privileged to carry the testimony of Jesus Christ, carry the glory of God in Christ, and the prophetic promises of God, including the resurrection of the dead, which was fulfilled and assured by Jesus, Himself. It is also this testimony of Christ that we carry which overcomes Satan: "Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 'Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of the brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame (nikao - conquer, carry off the victory, of Christ victorious over all His foes, of Christians holding fast to faith in Christ) him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word (logos/lego - speech, Christ as the Word of God, uttered by a living voice, declaration/to say, speak, affirm, teach, call by name) of their testimony (martirya/martys - a testifying, record, report, witness, the office committed to the prophets of testifying concerning future events/witness, martyr, record), and they did not love their lives (psyche/psycho - breath of life, the soul and its feelings, desires and affections/wax cold) to the death." (Rev. 12:10-11). This conquering testimony of Jesus Christ is an essential part of our faith and walk, as it was to all of the previous heroes of faith who served God, like Moses and the prophets. It is of more importance than this world and our desires.

     If you would like to know more about the testimony of Christ in us, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, You have revealed to me the Person and testimony of Jesus Christ, which saved me, and brought me into Your Kingdom. This testimony embodies the fulfillment of the prophetic promises of God including the resurrection of the dead. This testimony defeats the enemy of my soul and life.  This testimony looks to and hastens the return of Christ, His reign on earth, and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, and the new creature in Christ. Let this testimony come alive in me and in my life as a witness by the power of Your Holy Spirit. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."