LIFE

This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Va-yeira, meaning "And He appeared". The Hebrew letters used to write Va-yeira are vaw, yod, reysh, aleph. Each of these pictographic letters, when put together, can mean, "The nail in the hand of the Most High Adonai (Lord)". Va-yeira comes from the first verse of Gen. 18: "Then the LORD (YHWY, the Hebrew letters of which mean "Behold the hand, behold the nail") appeared (ra'a, ra'a [2X] - to see, look at, perceive, have vision, foresee, give attention to, discern, to be visible, to be seen, to cause to see, to be exhibited to, to look at each other, face) to him (Abraham) by the terebinth trees (elon/ayil - plain, great tree, oak, strong tree, terebinth/rams, mighty men, posts and lintel) of Mamre, as he was sitting (yasab - sit, inhabit, remain, continue, stay, dwell, have one's abode, to marry, endure, establish, thrones of kings or judges, an army that holds possession of, to lie in wait to spring on a prey) in the tent (ohel/ahal - tabernacle, tent, dwelling, covering, temple/to be clear, shine, to be bright) door (petah/patah - opening, doorway, entrance, gate/to open, appear, engrave, break forth, go free, let loose, be thrown open, unstop, set open, loose bonds) in the heat of the day (yom - day, time, year, lifetime, perpetually, continually, age, season, certain day, now, yesterday-today-tomorrow, all days)." All of these Hebrew words have significant meanings, but we can summarize by saying that Abraham is inhabiting a very special place - the door of his shining tent, or tabernacle/temple, the place of the doorpost and lintel (where later generations would apply the blood of the lamb for Passover), where things are let loose, set free, break forth and appear continually and forever. Abraham was "sitting", dwelling, remaining, married, in the throne of a king or judge in a time of enflaming, kindling heat. It is in this place that the LORD appears (ra'a - see above) to him. What is going to be let loose? Verses 2 and 3 of Chapter 18 tells us: "So he (Abraham) lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw (them), he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, "My Lord, if I have now found favor (hen - favor, grace, acceptance) in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant." (v. 3). As we discovered in last week's Sabbath reading (see previous blog entry "Go!", below), when the expression "lifted up his eyes and looked, or saw" is used, "lifted up" is the Hebrew word nasa (to lift, bear up, carry, suport, sustain, endure, forgive, pardon, exalted, desire, long for, to cause to bring, support, aid, assist), and "looked/saw" in this case is the Hebrew word ra'a, which is defined above. Abraham begins to "see" by revelation, and the meaning also gives us the understanding that what he "sees", he spiritually carries, bears, supports, assists, and causes to bring about by doing so. The first loosing, breaking forth, and setting free that the LORD would engage in during His appearance would be the promise of a child to childless and elderly Abraham and Sarah as the LORD said: "I will certainly return (sub - return, restore, refresh, repair, bring back, deliver, recover) to you according to the time of life (et/ad + hay/haya/hava - time, season + forever, eternity, everlasting, world without end/live, life, alive, revival, renewal/alive, restored to life, revive, save/to breathe, live, declare), and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son...Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time (mo'ed/ya'ad - appointed place and time, sacred season, set feast, solemn assembly/betroth, assemble, engage for marriage), I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." (Gen. 18:10, 14). When the LORD said, "according to the time of life", as translated into English, the Hebrew means "everlasting life" and "restored to life", or "revived life". This is what Abraham ra'a "saw" and "carried" that brought forth the birth of his son, Isaac, as promised, with his wife Sarah. However, during this appearance of the LORD to Abraham, there was also a judgment determined against Sodom (and Gomorrha). The appointed time, is the same word used for the feasts of the LORD, as the LORD would command Moses to establish in a future generation. In this case, the appointed time was an appointment with everlasting life, and revival of life, through which a new life, a son to Abraham and Sarah, would be born. This is what can happen when we "lift up our eyes and see". The LORD has also appeared before Abraham for another ministry pertaining to life. It will be the judgment against, and obliteration of Sodom and Gomorrah. How could this possibly be viewed as "pertaining to life"? We will see: And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing...since...all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?'...And the LORD said, 'Because the outcry (za'aq - cry, outcry, distress, shriek from anguish, crying, clamor, summon, company) against Sodom (meaning "burning, to scorch") and Gomorrah (amora/amar - submersion, ruined heap/treat as a slave, to manipulate, deal tyrannically with, bind sheaves of grain, make merchandise of, plunge into conflict, rancor, or malice) is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry (se-aqa/sa'aq - cry of distress as heard by God, a shriek/cry for help) against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know." (Gen. 18:16-21, excerpt). As we read the disturbing account of the angels of the LORD visiting Sodom to view the conditions there, we know that the sin of Sodom included perversion, molestation and sexual violence against those who could not defend themselves (see Gen. 19:4-11). The anguish of their victims was so great, that their cries came up as clamorous shrieks before the LORD. In the case of Gomorrah, there is a binding together of sheaves in an evil false harvest, rather than the harvest unto salvation of the LORD. There is a merchandising and enslavement of human beings that is called trafficking. We can see this evil revealed earlier in scripture, when Abraham saved the captives of Sodom from an invading king for the sake of his nephew Lot who lived in Sodom. The king of Sodom wanted to reward Abraham for his victory: "Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.' But Abram said...'I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich..." (Gen. 14:21-23). The king of Sodom coveted the "persons", but the Hebrew word used is nepes/napas, meaning "soul, life, mind, heart, body, living being, seat of the appetites, activity of the will, breath/to take breath, refresh oneself, to be breathed upon". They used sexual predation and molestation to harvest and harm the souls of the living. However, the souls of men do not belong to them. God created that living soul of man by breathing into him (Gen. 2:7). Man may try to justify and excuse their ways of slavery, death, and darkness, but God hears the cries of the souls that He has created with His own breath of life, and He will answer those cries. For those who have suffered the manipulation, the trafficking, the enslavement: if you have been the victim of this kind of attack upon your soul, know that God is the healer and restorer of souls, and cry to Him. He IS life. King David wrote of the LORD as his (Good) Shepherd, saying, "He restoreth (sub - see above) my soul (nepes - see above)." (Ps. 23:3). Scripture describes the LORD as the Shepherd, Bishop, Savior, and Preserver (samar - keep, guard, observe, have charge of, to watch for, to wait for, to treasure up, to celebrate, protect, save, take care) of our (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega: See Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13) souls (see 1 Pet. 2:25, Ps. 121:7, 1 Pet. 1:6-9). In this Sabbath reading portion of Va-yeira, there are two other miraculous births, and a raising of the dead. In 2 Kings 4, a woman from Shunem (meaning double resting place; quiet) in northern Israel, wanted to establish an upper room for the prophet Elisha in her home, for when he travels through their area. She says to her husband: "Look (hinna/hen - behold, see having a demonstrable power) now, I know (yada - perceive and see, discern, be revealed, cause to know, discover, know by experience, see with the eyes) that this Elisha is a holy man of God who passes by us regularly..." (v. 9). Because of her works based upon this sight and knowledge, the addition of a chamber for him in her home, Elisha prophesied that the Shunammite woman would have a son: "...according to the time of life (see above), you shall embrace a son." (v. 16). Again, as with Abraham, a child is prophesied out of eternal life, according to the Hebrew meanings of the words used. This son was indeed born, but as he grew, he suffered a sharp pain in his head, and died. The Shunammite woman rode a number of miles to Mt. Carmel, to bring back Elisha to her son, all the while declaring "It is well." (v. 23, 26). With prayer, Elisha was able to bring her son back to life as the son laid in the upper chamber that had been built for the prophet (v. 32-35). Elisha did this by being stretched out on top of the child. As this scene is described specifically in v. 34, the formation of their bodies would be in the shape of a cross. In English, Elisha is described as "walking the house to and fro", but in Hebrew it is yalak (to walk, follow, carry, flow, bear, vanish), and ehad,ehad (one, united, alike, together). This reminds me of what Jesus said: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Mt. 16:24-25, Mk. 8:34, Lk. 9:23). Do we want to find the kind of life that is everlasting? We are being given the key by Jesus here, and in the account of Elisha and the Shunammite woman. This is indeed our "double resting place", or Shunem. In 1 Sam. 1, from the Va-yeira reading, Hannah, whose name means "grace", was childless. As she brought her feast offering to the tabernacle at Shiloh, she was overcome by sadness, and launched into deep prayer before the door of the house of the LORD. The high priest, Eli, who was sitting by the doorpost of the tabernacle, observes her and finally says, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him...So it came to pass in the process of time (haya/hava +tequpa,tequpa 2X/naqap - arise, appear, to be established, to exist/to breathe + in the complete circuit of time [to strike with violence, to cut down, detroy, join together by nails, to cut], time continually and ever) that Hannah, or "Grace", conceived and bore a son, and called his (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) name Samuel (meaning "name of God" or "Heard of God"), saying, 'Because I have asked for him from the LORD." (v. 17, 20). So again, we have a reference to a life coming from the completed circuit of time. It is interesting that with the use of the Hebrew root word naqap in this verse, the image of the crucifixion is connected to the completed or compassing circuit of time. Scripture tells us that the Lamb of God, Jesus, was sacrificed before the foundation of the world, before time began (Rev. 13:8, 1 Pet. 1:19-20, Jn. 1:29, 32-36). Before closing Va-yeira, we go back to Abraham, who "saw" into eternity to the sacrificial death, and resurrection to life of the Son. This is how it happened. Abraham was commanded by God to take his miracle (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) son, (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Isaac, whom the LORD called "your only son whom you love, and offer him as a burnt offering on the mountains of Moriah, which the LORD would "show" him. (Gen. 22:1-2). So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took his son with him. "Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) place afar off." (v. 4). We know the story of the offering of Isaac, of how Isaac asked, "...where is the lamb for a burnt offering?", and of how Abraham answered, "God will provide for Himself the lamb." (v. 7-8). At the last moment, the Angel of the LORD stopped Abraham. Then Abraham lifted (nasa) his eyes and looked (ra'a), and behind him was a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. It was the ram of offering provided by God (v. 11-13). The mountains of Moriah are the mountains that Jerusalem, established long after Abraham's time, sits on. We see the phrase saying that Abraham "lifted up his eyes and saw". From our previous Sabbath reading, we know that this means that Abraham was seeing by the Spirit, by revelation. Abraham saw "the place". This is the Hebrew word maqom, meaning "place", but the root word qum means "arise, raise, proven, valid, fulfilled, become powerful, be established, ordain, perform, accomplish, confirmed, ratify, to raise oneself, raise up, set up, be raised up"! Abraham saw this "place" afar off, the Hebrew words rahoq/rahaq, which not only mean far in physical distance, but far in distance of time, also precious, dear, long ago, of old, great while to come (future) arduous, difficult. I think that when Abraham lifted his eyes and saw in revelation, he saw the cross, and, considering his complete faith, perhaps he also saw the resurrection, as Jesus seems to say: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." (Jn. 8:56). We can see Abraham's intimate knowledge of Christ here in these verses. God is the God of the living, not the dead. He is the God of LIFE forever more. The LORD felt that His people had no excuse for their continual failure to "see" and "understand" who He is. They had no excuse, the LORD told Jeremiah, for relying upon themselves and their meaningless and useless idols, which they honored instead of Him (see Jer. 7). How can we not ra'a see this awesome God who has appeared to us? There are many other lessons to learn from Va-yeira, "And He appeared", but we have enough here to think about! If you would like to know more about our LORD of life and appearing, you can pray with me: "Father in heaven, anoint my eyes to see You and all of Your glory, and the glory of Your resurrected Son, who died for me. You are life, and You hold eternity in Your hand. You know the end from the beginning, and You reveal Yourself to us. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and open my heart to understand how You guard my soul, Your breath of life in me. My soul, spirit, and body belong to you, and are entrusted into Your hands all the days of my life. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Go!

Last week, we saw how God established His elect people. This week, we will see how God established, through a covenant with Abram/Abraham, the land promised to His elect people. This will be important in the end times before the return of Christ, as it has been throughout history. It started with a command from the LORD to "Go!...Get out!" That is also the title of this week's Sabbath reading portion, Lech L'cha, which covers Gen. chapters 12 through 17. Last week we saw that the Hebrew people (Eber) descended from Noah's oldest son, Shem. Continuing down the line of Shem's descendants, we eventually come to Abram, who would later be renamed "Abraham" by God. Abraham would be a spiritual earthquake, changing the course of history forever. However, first, the LORD had to move Abram from the Chaldean (Babylonion) city of Ur, to the territory of Canaan, which was inhabited by the descendants of Noah's second son, Ham. Abram's father had earlier relocated his family, including Abram and his wife Sarai, from Ur to Haran, an Assyrian city (Gen. 11:31-32). However, this was not where God wanted Abram to dwell. He commanded Abram to "get out" of his father's house, and "go" (yalak, yalak [2X] - to go, walk, to die, live, manner of life, to lead, bring, carry, cause to walk, flow, take away, vanish, lead away) to a land that God would show (ra'a - reveal, be made visible, discern, perceive, be exhibited to, have vision, cause to see) him (Gen. 12:1). We think that God wished to establish from Abram and his descendants the land that would be called "Israel", and that is true, but the plan of God is not limited to that, and does not end there, as He revealed to Abram: "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (v. 2-3). From the Hebrew words used above, Abram's departure was not just for himself, but to lead or bring others "out" as well. Abram did as the LORD commanded and departed (yasa - exit, come out, go forth with purpose, lead out, to deliver, break out) from Haran (haran/harar - dried up, parched/to burn, be scorched, charred, melt, dry up, be angry, destroyed by heat) (v. 4). Abram is leading others out of a place that destroys by an angry, burning heat. This is not just about Abram, but Abram as a symbol of deliverance for others. Abram did indeed bring others out: "Then Abram took (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Sarai (sarai/sar/sarar - princess, nobility/ruler, commander, governor, chief, leader, task master/have power, rule over, prevail over, to hold dominion, act as a prince) his wife and Lot (covering over face making sad, veil, wrap tightly, hide, do secretly, incantation) his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people (nefes/napas - souls, life, living creature/to breathe, refresh, breathe upon, current of air) whom they had acquired (asa - make, wrought, keep, commit, prepare, accomplish, act with effect, celebrate, ordain, bring about) in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan (meaning merchant, traffick, bring down, subdue, vanquish, depressed, bow down). So they came to the land of Canaan." (v. 5). The command given to Abram to "get out" will change the spiritual landscape. While God was establishing new boundaries for the inhabitants of the land, He was also pulling down old spiritual boundaries. The people that Abram established were not only his physical descendants, but many spiritual descendants also, as a hero of faith in the Word of the LORD to him, just as the LORD prophesied (Heb. 11:8-10). One of Abram's descendants was Jesus, who blessed all of the people of the world with the promise of everlasting life through Him. One of the things that Abram believed God for was a heavenly city built by God (Heb. 11:10, see also Rev. 21:1-6, 22:1-5). Jesus, although He was physically born approximately two thousand years after Abram, knew Abram, and Abram knew Jesus, as Jesus revealed to those who questioned Him: "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham...Your father, Abraham, rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad...Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." (Jn. 8:52-58). If you accept Abraham as a father of your faith, than you must accept all that Abraham knew by the revelation of God, and by which he walked the physical and spiritual land. The LORD told Abram: "Lift (nasa - be lifted up, exalted, lift oneself up, rise up, to carry or bear continuously, endure, forgive) your eyes now (na - pray, please, in entreaty or exhortation) and look (ra'a - look, behold, perceive, inspect, foresee, have vision, learn about, distinguish, consider, discern, to be visible) from the place where you are - northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever...Arise (qum - raise, establish, bring on the scene, confirm, perform, stand, become powerful, be fulfilled), walk in the land through its length (orek/arak - physical length, forever in length of time/to be causitive, long of time, extend, stretch, lengthen) and its width (rohab/rahab - width, expanse, great breadth of heart and understanding/to grow wide, be enlarged), for I give it to you." (Gen. 13:14-17). Abram was being asked by God to "see" from a heavenly perspective, not necessarily from an earthly one. He was to "see" prophetically, supernaturally, from this spiritually raised position. He was to bear and carry this vision from the LORD, inspect it, discern it, study it, or meditate upon it, according to the meanings of the Hebrew words used. God entrusted His vision to this man. This land was promised to Abram, and his (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) seed, or descendants (see Gen. 13:15-16 in Hebrew). The walk with which Abram was to walk the land was a walk through time, and heart and understanding, as well as physical length and width. We sometimes view Abraham as an "Old Testament" figure only, but God viewed Abraham as having presence and spiritual influence throughout time. In other readings from this Lech L'cha, or "Go!", Sabbath portion, the prophets wrote about the eternal importance and meaning of Abraham's life. And this eternal presence of Abraham was to be a comfort to God's people: "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!' says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned..." (Isa. 40:1-2). One of these comforts, a word which also includes the meaning "to repent", lies in the fact that the LORD called the generations of Abraham: "Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, am the first; and with the last, I am He...you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob (Abraham's grandson), whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you, and not cast you away...Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing." (Isa. 41:4, 8-9, 12). The LORD remembers Abraham and His many and diverse descendants forever, and is committed to them. This is their continual comfort. In another Sabbath reading for this week, the Word of the LORD calls upon His people to look to Abraham: "Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness; you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him." (Isa. 51:1-2). What does the LORD expect His people to see as they "look to" and reconnect with their patriarch, Abraham? As Jesus said above, the same thing that Abraham discovered: the One who leads to comfort, joy, gladness, thanksgiving and justice (v. 3-4), the One who is righteousness and salvation, the One whom Abraham knew in his walk with eternity and the enlarging of his heart and understanding: the Messiah/Savior/Lord Jesus. The LORD continues: "My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth...But My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not be abolished...But My righteousness will be forever, and My salvation from generation to generation." (v. 5, 6, 8). Here's a hint regarding the connecting to Abraham. The LORD also says to His people: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth will grow old like a garment, and those who dwell in it will die in like manner." (v. 6). When God tells His people to lift up their eyes, it is the same word, nasa (see above), with which Abram was instructed to "see" - with a supernatural, prophetic sight from the realm of the heavens: to carry and bear that vision received from heaven until it is manifested in the earth. It is no coincidence that as the signs of the end times before Christ's return become more and more difficult, Jesus told His disciples to "...look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." (Lk. 21:28). Peter wrote that "we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." (2 Pet. 3:13). How many of us are "looking" in this manner, and how many of us have our eyes fixed instead on the things which are here, now, natural and passing away? If Abraham is a father of your faith, you must "see" what he saw. If we are counted as Abraham's children, both natural and by faith and Spirit, then we must do the works of Abraham, as Jesus said (see above). We have seen here that Abram saw both a natural and supernatural (the City of God mentioned above) land. In another reading selection from this Sabbath lesson, Lech L'cha, or "Go!", the prophet Jeremiah reveals a powerful image as he calls God's people to repent, turn from their own sinful ways, and return to the LORD. By doing so, the LORD will transform them. The LORD also said: "At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne (kisse/kasa - seat of honor, throne, dignity, authority, power, canopied [covered] throne, royal throne, the tribunal of a judge, the seat of the high priest/cover, conceal, hide, to cover over sins, to pardon) of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD (YHWH - "Behold the hand, Behold the nail"), to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their own evil hearts." (Jer. 3:17). Nations shall be transformed as well by the Throne of the LORD. The supernatural vision of the land, as well as the natural vision, contains the Throne of the LORD. Ultimately, it is from this Throne that the Lord, who is the Lamb, says: "Behold, I make all things new...It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega (aleph-tav), the Beginning and the End..." (see Rev. 21:5-6). Abraham was not just an "Old Testament" patriarch. He carried the vision of God that extends into our time, and all time into the future. It is the same vision that made a way of salvation for all, both physically, as Jesus is a descendant of Abraham, and spiritually, as Abraham removed from Haran the people (souls) who belonged to him, and obediently lifted up his eyes to see, and walk the length and width of the land. If you would like to know more about our forefather of faith, Abraham, and his works, you can pray with me: "Father in heaven, You elected Abraham to receive Your prophetic promises, Your vision, and Your walk for my sake. As I seek a closer relationship with You, I look back to Abraham, whom You called, "My friend". Jesus called His disciples His friends as well. Teach me by Your Spirit, to lift up my eyes, and see in the way that You would have your people to see. Teach me to walk the land carrying the prophetic vision of the new things promised in Your Word. Let me do the works of Abraham of which Jesus spoke, works of faith in the One Abraham knew outside of time, Jesus, my Savior. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

Election

Moses asked to see the personal glory of the LORD. How would the LORD answer Moses' prayer, while keeping him alive, "...for no man shall see Me and live."? According to what we read in this account, the LORD protected Moses through His power of election: The LORD said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD (YHWH - the Hebrew pictographic letters meaning: "Behold the hand, behold the nail") before you. I will be gracious (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega/Jesus: Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13) to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion/mercy on (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega/Jesus) whom I will have compassion/mercy." (Ex. 33:19-20). The apostle Paul wrote of this same event with Moses as he explained the election of God: "...so then it is not of him who wills (in this case referring to Moses), nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy...Therefore, He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills, he hardens." (Rom. 9:11-18). This election pertains to whom God chooses to show mercy (example given: Jacob, Moses), and of whom He chooses not to show mercy, and to harden in heart instead (example given: Esau, Pharaoh)..."(...that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him who calls." (Rom. 9:11). So the election of God is to accomplish His purpose. The Concordance defines "election", the Greek word ekloge/eklogemai, as meaning: "the decree made from choice by which God determined to bless certain persons through Christ by grace alone; of the act of God's free will by which before the foundations of the world He decreed His blessings to certain persons". As we can see in the above encounter with Moses, God marks those whom He chooses to show grace and mercy with the Hebrew letters aleph-tav, the title of Christ revealed in the Book of Revelation. We will see that the Hebrew letters that form the words "grace" and "mercy", the components of election as mentioned, also contain the identity of the Son of God. As Paul pointed out, the election is not according to our works (we cannot earn it), but the will of God as He executes His plan for the earth. We will see much more about grace and mercy, and their involvement in the election of God, during this Sabbath reading portion titled No'ach, meaning "rest/resting place". This is the name of Noah, who is first seen in Gen. 5:29, so named because he would be a comfort to the difficult toil of man in the midst of the earth, which the LORD had cursed as a result of the sin and fall of man (see Gen. 3:17-19). The Noach Sabbath reading is found in Gen. chapters 6 through 11. We will see the election of God run through the account of Noah and his sons. Out of all of the people of the earth, only Noah was elected to find (masa - find out, meet, get, secure, detect, be recognised) grace in the eyes of the LORD. Grace, one of the components of election, recognised Noah. The word "grace" used in this verse is the Hebrew word hen, meaning "grace, favor, pleased, precious, acceptance, elegance, kindness, beauty, good will, supplication, prayer". The pictographic Hebrew letters of the word hen, or grace, can mean "Behold, the Son, the Heir to the throne". We are familiar with the story of Noah. The spiritual condition of the hearts of the people of the earth were filled with violence and evil continually. God would judge and cleanse the earth with a flood of waters (Gen. 6:5-7). The LORD instructed Noah to build an ark according to His specifications that would hold all of Noah's family, including three sons and their wives (Gen. 6:17-19), and male and female animals living on earth, both clean and unclean animals. This was a covenant of safety in the aleph-tav ark (which is a picture of Christ), high and lifted up above the waters, sealed in by God Himself, that the LORD made with His elect, Noah, and all of us who will receive it. The same waters that flooded the earth in judgment, caused the ark to be lifted up above the judgment: "Now the flood was on the earth forty (arbaim - fourth, forty, four-fold, to square, four-sided, a doorway) days. The waters increased and lifted up the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega/Jesus) ark, and it rose high above the earth." (Gen. 7:17). As the flood waters receded, and the dry ground appeared, as a sign of His everlasting covenant promise to Noah, His elected, to never flood the earth with water again, the LORD established the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega/Jesus) rainbow in the sky (Gen. 9:12-17). This is a good time to learn what the Hebrew word for "rainbow", or "bow", qeset/qasa/qas, means: "bending an archer's bow, shooting arrows/harden, stiff-necked, grievous, struggle against/to lay a snare, to lay bait, to set a trap". This should have a particular warning for the times in which we live. Be careful with the signs of God, or you will fall into the trap that has been set for the grievous, the stubborn and the rebellious. As we look at the election of Noah, after whom this Sabbath reading portion is named, we can see some interesting details: "This is the genealogy/generations (toldot/yalad - generations, birth, course of history, account of men and their descendants, begetting or account of heaven/bring forth, travail, to act as midwife) of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect (tamin/tamam - without blemish, complete, perfect, without spot, whole, blameless/end, finished, perfect, done, completely, crossed over, destroy uncleanness, accomplish) in his generations (dor/dur - generation, many, all, an age, the period, the circuit, ages to come/to move in a circle, go around, to remain, inhabit). Noah walked with (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega/Jesus) God. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, Japheth." (Gen. 6:9-10). The LORD is making much of the importance of Noah's generations. Two different Hebrew words are used to describe the generations in the above verse, and both of those Hebrew words mean much more than "descendants". Something would be accomplished, completed, in the ages to come. Noah was described as "perfect". We can see in the Hebrew word and root that a description is given that could only depict Jesus Christ. This shouldn't surprise us because Noah walked with the Aleph-Tav/Alpha and Omega/Jesus God, before the Aleph-Tav Christ was physically born. Then in the verse, we are immediately pointed to Noah's three sons. In fact, the setting of end time events was "established and completed" through the "generations" of Noah: his three sons. Scripture says that all of the people of the earth are descended from Noah and his three sons after the flood (see Gen. 9:18-19). The name of Noah's first son, Shem, means "name, famous, conspicuous position, mark with a sign, the celebrated name of God {HaShem}, to call on the name Jehovah (YHWH - meaning "Behold the Hand, Behold the Nail"). From Shem's descendants, came the Hebrews (Eber), Abraham, Judah, David and others, which are all included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Gen. 11:10-32, and see Lk. 3:33-36). Ham/hamam, whose name means "hot, heat, enflaming, inflame oneself, hot and burning with lust", is also the name by which the Egyptians refer to themselves. Canaan, and all of the tribes thereof, Sodom and Gomorrah, Gaza, Assyria and Nineveh, Cush (Ethiopia) nd Put (Libya) (see Ezek. 38:5), Nimrod in Babel and Shinar, are also descendants of Ham (Gen. 10:6-12), and have been, and in the end times, will be aggressors against Israel. Ham, as we know, was cursed by his father, Noah, because he scorned his father, who had found grace in the eyes of the LORD, and His election (see Gen. 9:20-27). This had nothing to do with the color of Ham's skin, or the races of some of his descendants. That is a man-made lie, and it never came out of the mouth of God. These descendants of the cursed Ham became the enemies or oppressors of the people of Israel. The last mentioned son, Japheth, is very interesting. His descendants spread northward to eventually populate Europe and parts of Asia. Japheth's (yepet/pata) name means: "entice, deceive, persuade, flatter (see Dan. 11:29-32), allure, silly one, gullible, seduce, delude". His descendants include: Gomer, Magog, Tubal, Meshech, Togarmah. These nations and peoples constitute Russia, parts of Asia Minor, and areas of central Europe, and are mentioned specifically as those nations who, according to the prophecy in Ezek. 38:1-6, 8-9, will be drawn by God as into a trap, in a massive invasion and war against Isreal in the end times.The scenario for the end times was set in place by God's election of Noah. Jesus connected the events and signs of the end times before His return to "the days of Noah" (Mt. 24:36-37). Again, the election of God, whether for His favor, or for the hardening of hearts, is not haphazzard nor arbitrary. Election is used to further the strategic plan of God for His creation, including man. I have often wondered why God selected Noah, but now I can see more clearly the hidden plan of God for the end times in the generations of Noah. You can't out-plan God! Often, we are preoccupied with the cares of the moment, or of the day to come, while God has already planned out eternity. Also included in this Sabbath's reading portion, is an event in which people tried to attain the election of God through their own will and strength. The descendants of Ham (see above), who dwelled in the plains of Shinar, said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name (Shem, same as above) for ourselves, lest we be scattered (pus - scatter, disperse, break to pieces in order to scatter into dust, shake to pieces, dash to pieces) abroad over the face of the whole earth." (Gen. 11:1-4). They wanted to make themselves a name (Shem) of the elect of God in order to avoid the consequences of being the unelected. Their efforts were not successful (see verses 7-9). The LORD has made a way for anyone who so chooses, by the drawing or leading of the Father and the Holy Spirit (Jn. 6:43-45, 1 Cor. 12:3), to become part of "the elect" of God, as we will see, but it isn't by our own strength and plans. The LORD sovereignly rules over His election of men. In another reading from this Sabbath's portion, Noach, the LORD assured those whom He described as a barren woman, of His eternal election. He said that He has called them, and with great mercies and everlasting kindness He will gather them and have everlasting mercy on them: "My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,' says the LORD, 'who has mercy on you." (Isa. 54:1-10). Here is our second component of election, as we saw with Moses' encounter with God, above: mercy (raham - mercy, compassion, love, pity, to fondle, tender affection, gentle emotion, cherishing, soothing). This chapter of Isaiah comes immediately after the suffering Messiah/Servant, who was sacrificed for our sins, was revealed in Isaiah chapters 52 and 53. Of course, according to scripture, this Servant Messiah of God is His "Elect One" (Isa. 42:1, 1 Pet. 2:6), and we who believe take part in Christ's election through God's abundant mercy (1 Pet. 2:6, 1 Pet. 1:2, 3-5). As referred to in Isa. 45:4, and Isa. 65:9-10, Israel is named as God's elect, in addition to being descendants of Shem. Our election by grace and mercy is through the Elect One, Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice made for us. As the elect in Christ, Paul wrote about what our conduct and character should be: "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another...even as Christ forgave you....but above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." (Col. 3:12-16). This is how we show forth our gracious and merciful election through Christ. If you would like to learn more about the election of God, you can pray with me: "Father, through Your beloved and elect Son, Jesus, You have made me part of Your elect. I thank You for the grace and mercy that You extended to me. Fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can exhibit Your election of me as Paul described. I pray for any and all others who would seek Your election, salvation, and deliverance through Jesus. Noah walked with Aleph-Tav God, and was a man through whom You could accomplish Your purpose in the earth, even through many generations. I pray the same for my life as well. I ask these things in Jesus' name, AMEN."

Creation

This Sabbath, we go back to the beginning of the Sabbath readings, to the Book of Genesis. This sabbath reading portion is titled B'reshiet, which means "In the beginning", and is also the Hebrew name for this first Book of the Bible. This reading portion specifically covers Genesis chapters 1 through 4. God, Elohim (aleph-tav: same as Alpha and Omega, the title of Christ in Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13), begins to speak His Word in creation. At the opening of Genesis, all that exists, heaven and earth, is shrouded in a thick, deep darkness (hosek/hasak - obscured by darkness, as of Hades, meaning also misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness/surround by darkness, to make darkness). Whatever earth was, it was without form (tou - formless, confusion, waste, nothingness, place of chaos), and void (bou - emptiness). The waste was so great that the darkness extended onto the face (panim - face, presence, location, turn towards, approach) of "the deep" (tehom/hum/hamam - depth, primeval ocean, abyss, grave/make a great noise, destroy, make an uproar, agitate, be in commotion, disturb/destroy, consume, crush, confuse, break). From the meanings of the Hebrew words used, we can see that it was a horror. However, in the middle of this dark void, the Holy Spirit moved upon (rahap - shake, flutter, grow soft, hover, to brood, affected with the feeling of tender love, cherish) the waters (mayim - danger, violence/watersprings, washing, refreshing). Something that was dark and emptied with violence and chaos was going to be transformed into cleansing watersprings of refreshing. (see Gen. 1:1-2). The prophet Jeremiah saw a vision that is similar to the scene we are given in the beginning of Genesis, and his vision can give us a deeper understanding. What he saw in a vision concerned what was coming to the people of God, and caused him to cry out in pain. He wrote: "O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart...Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is plundered....I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light...I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled...the voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself; she spreads her hands saying, 'Woe is me now, for my soul is weary because of murderers!" What was the cause of this desolation, so much like the conditions of Gen. 1:1-2? The LORD spoke to Jeremiah, saying: "For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good, they have no knowledge...For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it." (Jer. 4:19-31, excerpt). This is a terrible thing. Because of this vision from God, Jeremiah cried out to God's people: "O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?...Your ways and your doings have procured these things for you. This is your wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart." (v. 14, 18). Jeremiah cried that the people of God would be cleansed in their hearts. The righteousness of Jesus Christ has been given for our cleansing. Do we seek and desire it? Christ in us is our only hope of glory (Col. 1:24-29). Can the unrepented sins of God's people really affect creation in such a way? Yes. We read from our Sabbath portion tht when Adam listened to other voices instead of the voice of God and sinned, God told him: "Cursed is the ground for your sake..." (Gen. 3:17). When Cain murdered his brother Abel, the LORD told him: "So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you..." (Gen. 4:11-12). The good news, however, from Genesis 1, is that God (Elohim aleph-tav) spoke (amar, amar - speak, answer, command, vow, promised) the words that told the spiritual light (or - bright, clear, flood, light of life, light of face, luminary, glorious, kindle, fire, become light, shine) to be (haya/hava - become, exist/to breathe) (Gen. 1:3). This creation of light marked the first day. A day in Genesis 1, and in Hebrew, does not fade from morning to night, or from light to dark, but the darkness/night becomes light/day. Darkness is ended by the arrival of light. The command for light "to breathe" defined the first (ehad/ahad - first, to unify, to collect/to join oneself together to, ravage with united powers, "sword of three edges") day. It was not a natural light, because the natural light-givers, the sun, the moon, and the stars, were not created until the fourth day (v. 14-19). The good news is that the Light of the World, Jesus the Messiah, came also and brought us out of the kingdom of darkness and into His marvellous light as He saved us from death itself. I want to make note at this point of a special astronomical event called a "ring of fire", a rare kind of solar eclipse, that is occurring around this Sabbath, and pertains to our study of creation. While a "ring of fire" is also associated with the birthing process (see also Rev. 12:1-6, a sign in the heavens: a fiery red dragon seeks to devour a male child who will rule the nations as soon as a woman gives birth to him), in this case, "the ring of fire" refers to the outer ring of light of the sun that is expected to be visible during the rare annular solar eclipse, when the moon completely darkens the sun. At the same time, NASA intends to launch three rockets during the annular eclipse in order to study the effect of the event on the ionosphere. The designer of this NASA study project, Dr. Aroh Barjata, said that he deliberately chose the name APEP for the project, the name of an Egyptian demon god, because this god was an enemy of the Egyptian sun deity. This demon, APEP, was/is a god of darkness and chaos (see Gen. 1 above), that seeks to devour light, order and truth. This Egyptian demon god is depicted as a giant serpent, and was also called Evil Dragon and Lord of Chaos. In mythology, this demon god "was believed to have existed from the beginning of time in the waters of primeval chaos" (see also Gen. 1:2). It was thought that the demon inhabited the underworld as well, and was therefore also called "an Eater of Souls". This NASA study project is flying into the heavens under the name of this demon destroyer of light. Man often chooses and installs darkness and chaos, rather than light and truth. Many might view these Egyptian gods and goddesses as pure mythology, but the LORD does not view them in that way: "For I will pass through the land of Egypt, nd will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD." (Ex. 12:12). So man, by the spiritual authority which God has given him, will, this B'reshiet Sabbath, willfully re-establish the name of this demon god in the heavens through this mission. This is no small matter, and may hold great prophetic significance in the time we are living, in view of the verses from Rev. 12 and the grave prophetic events which are about to break out on the earth. We read in Genesis 1 that God, Elohim aleph-tav, spoke light into the darkness, established an ordered creation out of the chaos that existed, set divisions and boundaries between the elements (Gen. 1:4-5, 6-9), and spoke life into every level of creation: in the air, on the land, and in the seas (Gen. 1:20-25). Eventually He spoke and created man with His hands, whom He created in His own form and image (Gen. 1:26-28). John 1:1-5, also records the role of the spoken Word of God, which is Christ, as light, and life. Man may act as an accessory to the works of this demon of darkness, APEP, but God's Word of light, order, and truth will stand. God's people must do all that God has ordained for them to do in order to be the children of light and day, rather than the children of darkness and night (see 1 Thess. 5:5-6). It is a further injustice, it seems to me, that man named the heavenly bodies, the planets, which God hung in space in perfect gravitational balance and distance from each other, after Roman and Greek (Uranus) gods and goddesses. God, Elohim aleph-tav, also specifically named our planet ehretz in Hebrew (Gen. 1:10), which is translated in our Bibles into the old Anglo-Saxon word, Ertha, or "earth". The Hebrew name for our planet, ehretz, specifically given by God, is very important because of the pictographic meanings of the individual Hebrew letters of the word. The letters aleph, reysh, and tsadde can mean: "the authority of the Lord (Adonai), who is the Highest, pulls towards the desired destination of the harvest of the righteous". We sometimes consider creation a completed work of God from the very distant past, but the work is ongoing, not ended. The other Sabbath reading portions for this week all testify to God's continuing absolute authority over all of creation, from the time and place of its beginning, to the appearance of the new creation to come. God's Word still holds His creation together in the order that He ordained it. Isaiah wrote that this same ultimate and complete authority that we see in creation (Isa. 42:5), is the same authority that will establish other things: "Behold! My Servant...My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him...He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail..." (v. 1-4). "...give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house...I have held My peace a long time...Now I will cry like a woman in labor...I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight..." (v. 6-16, excerpt). The same creative authority sent His Servant, the Messiah, to free man from the darkness. In David's psalm written about God's perfect foreknowledge and creation, both of David and man in general, he says of His God: "If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall fall on me', even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb...I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvellous are Your works...When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth...And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." (Ps. 139:11-15). The same God of the immense creation, is the same God that wonderfully and miraculously formed each one of us. The same God that called the chaos into order, is the same God who meticulously writes each of our days in His book. His creative power and authority is extended to the most personal, intimate knowledge of, and attention to, each one of us. How humbling, yet how enriching! As we saw from examples above, however, man often fails to view God with the humility that should result from the knowledge of this truth, which David considered too wonderful for him to attain. Even a righteous man (Job 1:8) can fall into the temptation offered to his pride and self-absorption (Job 29:1=25, 30:1). We see this in our next reading portion from this Sabbath, as God confronted an embittered Job with the sovereign power and authority that is seen in His creative work. The LORD asked Job: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?... Who determined its measurements?...Or who shut in the seas with doors?...When I fixed My limit for it, and set bars and doors; When I said...'Here your proud waves must stop!'...And caused the dawn/dayspring (sahar - morning, dawn, light, whence riseth, the end of dark night; seek early, diligently seek for, painstakingly search for, break forth as light; see also Lk. 1:76-79)) to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?...Have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this." (Job 38, excerpt). When man becomes too proud in their "knowledge" to bow before the Great Creator, we also would do well to consider these questions that the LORD asked His beloved Job. In these days when darkness, terror, and chaos have been embraced and promoted by man, it is more important than ever to learn the lessons of B'reshiet, the beginning work and authority of God, Elohim aleph-tav, and His Aleph-Tav Son: "He (the Son, Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence." (Col. 1:15-18). If you would like to learn more about our Creator and King, you can join in my prayer: "Father of all creation, and Father of my life, I come before You reminded of Your immense knowledge and power, as well as the love by which You brought order to destructive chaos, light into the oppressive darkness, and life and man into the earth by the Word of Your mouth. I exalt and magnify YOU, and Your Son, our Salvation, over all things visible and invisible. What can compare to Your greatness? It is too wonderful for me! You order and care for my life with the same lovingkindness. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, who teaches me about You and Your Son of Light and Truth. I ask for these things in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

Elevation

As we approach the end of the Feast of Tabernacles this week, we come to the eighth day of the feast, which is called Simchat Torah, or "Rejoice in the Torah" (the first five books of the Bible). This eighth day observance and Sabbath is given by the LORD in Lev. 23:33-36. Simchat Torah also celebrates the completion of all of the Sabbath readings for the year, to the end of the Book of Deuteronomy, and looks forward to the new cycle of Torah readings that will start again at "the beginning", or B'reshiet in Hebrew, which is Genesis chapter 1. We can see Christ, the Word of God, as being the end and the beginning, as He calls Himself in Revelation, the Alpha and the Omega, or Aleph-Tav in Hebrew. Many associate the number eight of this day with "new beginnings", but in Hebrew, it means oil, fatness, and one step above perfection. Simchat Torah is celebrated with joy, and even dancing around the Bimah/Biemah/Bema of the synagogue, the elevated platform from which the Torah is read, while holding the Torah scrolls. The word Bimah, is an example of post-Biblical Hebrew, adopted from the Greek word used in the New Testament when referring to the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:9-10, Rom. 14:10-11). Bema means in Greek, "a raised place, platform, official seat of a judge, throne, judgment seat of Christ, a step, the space which a foot covers". The Greek root word is basis, meaning "the foot as being that with which one steps". It is interesting that the meaning includes a step with the foot. It reminds me of the scripture that promises that upon His return, the foot of Jesus will touch upon the Mount of Olives (see Zech. 14:1, 4-5, Acts 1:9-12). Looking at it from this point of view, we can see why the tradition of rejoicing in the Torah, even dancing around the Bimah platform with the Torah, has prophetic meaning. The Word, which includes the Law that indicts and convicts us of sin, became flesh, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:1-5, 14), and shed His atoning blood as a sacrifice to sprinkle upon the Mercy Seat for the remission of our sins. What would have been an occasion for condemnation before the Bema judgment seat of the Word, has now become an occasion for clamorous rejoicing for those who have been covered by the Word's atoning blood. The same Word that condemns us, also leads to and testifies of the Word that saves us (Jn. 5:38-40). The last two chapters of Deuteronomy are read for Simchat Torah. Like the Bimah/Bema platform, both of these chapters deal with the elevated places of God. Moses is soon to die. In his final words to the Israelites before they enter into the Promised Land without him, Moses speaks a blessing over each of the tribes of God's (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega -see Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13) children. Beginning his blessing, Moses spoke of three specific elevated places of God from which He dealt with the people: "The LORD came (bo - come in, enter, be fulfilled, to return, be introduced) from Sinai (meaning "thorny"), and dawned (zarah - rise up, arise, shine, appear, shoot forth on beams of light) on them from Seir (meaing "hairy, rough, goat, devil, satyr, afraid, storm, come like a whirlwind, sweep away, come as a storm"); He shone forth (yapa - shine, show self, light, send out beams, cause to shine, to give light) from Mount Paran (paran/pa'ar- place of caverns/to boast (of self), vaunt self, get glory to oneself, boast against), and He came with ten thousands (root word rabab - multiplied, shoot out lightnings or arrows) of saints (qodes/qadas - holy, consecrated, dedicated/prepare, appointed); from His right hand came a fiery law for them. Yes, He loves the people; All His saints are in Your hand; They sit down at Your feet; Everyone receives Your words." (Deut. 33:1-3). The three elevations mentioned here by Moses, Sinai, Seir, and Paran, were also sites where Israel came under the deception of the spirits of darkness, and acted with rebellion and presumption against the LORD (see Ex. 31:18-32:6; Deut. 1:27-28, 42-45; Num. 13:26-29). In all cases, as Moses relates above in Hebrew, the LORD deposed those spiritual enemies, and occupied those elevations with His light (see also Jn. 8:12). The LORD was not alone, but His multitude of saints were with Him. Scripture tells us that the saints, we who believe in Christ, also are associated with, and are to walk, in that same light (Mt. 5:14-16, 1 Thess. 5:4-5). From the Hebrew meanings of these three mountains mentioned here, we can see that these three mountains or elevations represented dark elements or strongholds of darkness, even the darkness of the underworld (caverns), suffering (thorny), and the very character of evil (self-boastful-see below). The prophet Isaiah brought the judgment of the LORD against the self-boasting and self-elevation of Lucifer (helel/halal - "light-bearer", shining one/to be boastful, to shine forth light, foolish): "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer (Satan), 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 (kokab - blazing, shining, of the Messiah, of God's omniscience) 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 (bama/bamah - high place, mountain/cultic platform) of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit." (Isa. 14:14-15). We can see from this prophecy of Isaiah's that God displaces Lucifer from the high place to which he has elevated himself. Moses tells us in Deut. 33 that God did so with His arrows of light. Although Lucifer associates himself with light, that light cannot compare with the far greater Light of God, and of His Son, the Light of the World, the Light of creation and life: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend (katalamban -to lay hold of so as to make one's own, to obtain) it." Lucifer will never be able to lay hold of, nor possess for himself, that perfect and superior Light of God. However, we should notice also the interesting mention of the "mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north" in Isaiah's prophecy. This holds special meaning to us. Not only does the word for congregation, mo'ed/ya'ad, mean an assembly of people, but the meaning also includes "appointed time, appointed place, feasts of the LORD, sacred season, appointed sign or signal, betrothed". Lucifer wanted to ascend in order to control appointed times, places, and seasons, and the betrothed of the Lord, Christ's Bride. Daniel wrote a prophecy regarding the one who is called the anti-christ, whose desire is to change times and laws: "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law..." (Dan. 7:25). Lucifer would love to control these things, but he will not succeed. The congregation of which Isaiah is writing, is "on the farthest sides of the north". This assembly, according to the Hebrew meanings, is from the thighs, loins, and generative parts of "the body". This assembly is made up of "esteemed" ones hidden from discovery in the secret places, protected by God. Paul wrote about the mystery hidden from the beginning, but revealed to the saints by the appearance of Jesus Christ. The glorious riches of this mystery is made known among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (doxa - splendor, brightness, majesty, most glorious condition, most exalted state, a thing belonging to God and Christ). (Col. 1>26-27). This hidden assembly and sign, protected through the ages by God, could well be the believers in Christ, the saints of the Most High, both Jew and Gentile. in addition, Paul wrote that our warfare as saints in Christ is in the high places: "...against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph. 6:12). The good news is that we do not fight against this evil in high places with our own strength, weapons, and boastfulness, but clothed in the armor of God (Eph. 6:13-18), praying always in the Holy Spirit, and as Moses said, with the glory light of Christ in us. From our Simchat Torah reading, the LORD gives us one more example of doing battle in the places of elevation. It was time for Moses to die, but the obedient servant of God was not done gaining a last spiritual victory for the LORD. The LORD commanded Moses to go up Mount Nebo: "Then the LORD spoke to Moses that very same day, saying: "Go up this mountain of the Abarim (abarim/eber/abar - "regions beyond"/region on the other side, passage/pass beyond, pass through, march over, to vanish, to perish), Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho; view (aleph-tav) the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession; and die on the mountain which you ascend..." (Deut. 32:48-50). And Moses went up Mount Nebo, and died there, and the LORD buried him in a valley in Moab, in a place not known to man (see Deut. 34:1, 5-6). So what was Mount Nebo? "Nebo" is of foreign derivation. Nebo was a Babylonian false god who presided over learning and letters. The Babylonians worshipped the planet Mercury, which is also connected to the word "Nebo", and was used in illustrious names like Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. To the Greeks, the god was called Hermes, and in Latin, Mercury, and to the Egyptians, the same false god was called Toth. However, by the obedience of Moses in ascending the Mount, and sealed in his death, Nebo now means "Prophet" to the glory of God! Jesus told us: "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill (oros - a mountain, as lifting itself above a plain) cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Mt. 5:14-16). Jesus was not just talking about us as Light, but Light in an elevated place in the Spirit. This is the prophetic promise of the LORD for these last days of Christ's return: "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 all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, 'Come, and 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 shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem...O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD." (Isa. 2:2-3, 5). If you would like to learn more about the power of the light of the Lord in its elevated place, you can join with me in prayer: "Heavenly Father, in his last blessing of your people, Moses revealed the warfare power inbued in Your Light. The elevated places inhabited by the spiritual kingdoms that rule this world, have become inhabited instead by the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ. However, You do not come alone, as Moses said, but You include Your "ten thousands" of arrows of Light: Your prophets, the saints, and all of those who fear Your name (Rev. 11:15, 18). Lord, by Your Word and Holy Spirit, teach me how to walk as Your Light, as a city high on a mountain, that all may see and glorify YOU. I ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus. AMEN."

TheSublime

This Sabbath's reading portion is called CHOL HA MO'ED SUKKOT. In English this title would translate as "the interim days of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)". The Sabbath reading portion comes during the middle of the feast, which lasts seven days, plus an eighth day called Simchat Torah, which is a celebration of the Torah, the Word of God. Briefly described, the Feast of Tabernacles is observed by the Jewish people by building a small shelter, called a sukkah, traditionally made from tree branches, in which they take their meals. It is a joyful feast celebrating the abundance provided by God, especially when His people dwelt in tents in the wilderness after their exit from Egypt. The word "tabernacles", refers to a dwelling, shelter or tent. This feast also celebrates the fall harvest of dates, pomegranates and grapes for wine. The Feast of Tabernacles, though, has great spiritual importance apart from this. Zechariah wrote: "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left by the LORD (meaning the survivors of the LORD's plague brought against those who fought Jerusalem (see Zech 14:12-13) of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." (Zech. 14:16). Another interesting thing happens in this prophecy of Zechariah's. A transformation has taken place in which even the most commonplace things will have become "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" (see v. 20-21). There is a change that takes place. In the Book of Revelation, as God's heavenly tabernacle, the New Jerusalem, descends from heaven to the earth, "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband", all things have been made new, including the heavens and earth, because the former things have passed away. (Rev. 21:1-5). As we saw in the prophet Zechariah, a complete transformation has been accomplished. Here the change is again connected to "the King": "...the Alpha and the Omega (the Aleph-Tav in Hebrew) the Beginning and the End". This King is the Son of David, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as He identified Himself in Revelation (see Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13). This kind of miraculous transformation mentioned in these verses from Revelation and Zechariah and connected to "Tabernacles" is what we will be looking at in this Sabbath reading. From the first portion of this Sabbath's reading, we discover that the Feast of Tabernacles is first called "the Feast of Ingathering (asip/asap - harvest [of fruit]/together, assemble, gather, collect, take [away, into, up], remove, fetch) at the end of the year (sana - year, change of season, whole age, second time, alter, to be changed, transmute, to be other, transfer to another place, return, repeat), when you have gathered in the fruit of your (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega in Greek: title of Jesus Christ in Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13)) labors from the field (sage - country, soil, meadow, land, spread out, empire of a king)." (Ex. 23:16). This is one of the three feasts at which all of the men of Israel must gather together before the LORD every year (v. 14, 17). Looking at the Hebrew words used in the verse above regarding the Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles), we can see a direct relationship with the end of the age harvest of souls, or fruit, from our aleph-tav labor for the kingdom of the King, the return or second time of Christ, and the "change", or transmutation, and "taking away" that will accompany it. The apostle Paul wrote about this change, in connection to what has been called the Rapture, from the Latin word rapturo/rapio, which means "snatch, seize, caught up, being carried away" to describe the removal of God's people in Christ from earth to heaven: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:16-17). These verses mention a trumpet (of God). Trumpets, or shofars, were used during the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles and other feasts to call the people of Israel to assemble together. For the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles, the priest would blow the shofar with all his might from a mountain top for the seven-eight days of the feast. Paul was not finished writing about this "catching away" event, also called harpazo in Greek, that he spoke of in Thessalonians. He also wrote: "...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God...Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality...then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Cor. 15:50-54). Not only are we "caught up" to the Lord, but we must be changed in order for this to happen. the commonplace must become "HOLINESS TO THE LORD", as Zechariah wrote in connection to the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles. I call this change as going from the commonplace to the sublime. This is one of the definitions of sublime: "to elevate to a high degree of spiritual purity or excellence; of such excellence, grandeur or beauty as to inspire awe". What institutes this miraculous change in our physical form and spiritual substance? We will see an answer as we contnue in our Sabbath portion for this week. In the next reading, as Moses and the people were told by the LORD to leave Mt. Sinai and continue onward through the wilderness, Moses requested a change to the sublime through grace from the LORD. Moses said to the LORD: "Now, therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I might find grace in your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.' And He (the LORD) said, 'My presence (panim - face, faces, presence, in the face of) will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Ex. 33:12-14, see also Ex. 34:8-9). Moses continued: "...So we shall be separate (pala - sever, separated, set apart, be distinguished, wonderfully, marvellously), Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.' So the LORD said to Moses, 'I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name." (v. 15-17). From his position of having found grace with the LORD, Moses had persuaded God to be present among His people, who had just sinned grievously by worshipping the golden calf idol, and to cause Moses and the people to be separated and distinguished from all of the other people on earth. They would become "different". However, Moses wasn't done seeking the sublime from God through His grace. Moses said to the LORD: "Please, show me Your glory." (v. 18). The LORD granted the request of Moses, but it would only be possible to accomplish as God pronounced His grace and mercy to and upon (aleph-tav) whom He chose (v. 19), and as Moses (aleph-tav) stood on a rock and sheltered in a cleft in a rock, with God's (aleph-tav) hand (v. 23) covering him. Then Moses would be able to see the glory of God's (aleph-tav) back (v. 20-23). This shelter in the rock's cleft became a kind of tabernacle or tent in a way. As we will see, the tabernacle becomes a touching place between heaven and earth, between God and man. It is a place where the commonplace becomes the sublime. In another reading selection for this week's Sabbath, King Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, used all of His wisdom and knowledge to contemplate what under heaven may exist that rose above the commonplace, or vanity, into the sublime. In Hebrew, this book is called Qoheleth from the root word qahal, which means "assembly, congregation, gathering". The Greek title of the book, Ecclesiastes, comes from the root word ekklesia, meaning "called out assembly, congregation, church". So Solomon's words are for a gathered people, which is appropriate for the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles. This is how Solomon described his search through his gift of wisdom: "I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I set (aleph-tav) my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised (ana - humble, afflict, troubled, become low, bow down, be humbled, chasten oneself). I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed all is vanity, and grasping for wind." (Eccl. 1:12-14). Solomon wrote that men knew that there was a difference between the commonplace and the seemingly unattainable sublime: "All things are full of labor; man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied, nor the ear filled with hearing." (Eccl. 1:8). Men knew that there was something more that was needed. Solomon acknowledged how he had been gifted in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, more than all others in Jerusalem. He acknowledged that he had accomplished great works, great riches and great pleasure - all that he had set his hands to do, yet, all of these things had not lifted him from the commonplace into the sublime. All of these things would disappear or just pass to someone else when he died. It was all therefore vanity (v. 16-17, 2:4-11). Solomon in his gift of wisdom considered the dark days that were to come, a description that matches the prophesied tribulation of the end times (Eccl. 12:1-8). All he could say was "Remember now (aleph-tav) your Creator...before the difficult days come" (v. 1). He said, "The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright - words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars (meaning masters of assemblies) are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd...Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: "Fear (aleph-tav) God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil." (v. 10-14). The wisest man on earth could not find a way in his own strength to change the commonplace into the sublime, except to "Fear (aleph-tav) God". There is no method, including philosophies, or various religious practices of the world, by which man can attain the sublime under heaven. However, it is possible and already accomplished though our (aleph-tav) Lord, who joined heaven and earth in Himself. (see Col. 1:19-20, 2 Cor. 5:16-19). In another Sabbath reading portion for this week, a younger King Solomon called a gathering or assembly of all of the (aleph-tav) elders and people of Israel for the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles (see 1 Kings 8:65-66), where the (aleph-tav) Ark (aron/ara - chest/pluck [grapes from the vine], to collect, gather, a manger, a lamb) of the LORD would be brought up (ala - ascend, to meet, to be made to go up, be brought up, be taken away, draw up, train, be carried away, be taken up into, to lift oneself, exalt, excel, go from a lower region to a higher, to be made to depart, go up to the sanctuary) from the city of David, Zion, and placed in the newly constructed temple in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 8:1-6). As the priests set the Ark, the glory cloud of God filled the Temple, so that the anointed, set-apart priests could not continue ministering (v. 10-13). According to the prayer of Solomon, the Temple became a house of prayer where all people could come, seek the LORD, and God would hear and answer. As a result of prayer in this Temple/Tabernacle, repentance would be received, sins could be forgiven, plagues and judgments could be stopped, and lands could be healed. The sublime became accessible, and change manifested in the earth and people. We are not talking about a religious building, however, when we speak of Tabernacles. We are talking about a spiritual place where the commonplace becomes the sublime, where heaven touches earth, and God shares His presence with men. Some examples of this kind of tabernacle: the sojourner in a strange land, Abraham, sat before his tent, where God visited him, and prophesied the miraculous birth of a son of promise to elderly Abraham and his wife, childless Sarah; the fugitive on the run for his life, Jacob, laid on the ground with his head on a rock, and saw a ladder that reached between heaven and earth. He saw angels ascending and descending the ladder. Jacob called the place, Bethel, the House of God, because the commonplace faded away into the sublime; the miracle son of promise, Isaac, brought his new bride, who was a sign and an answer to prayer, into his tent, and their descendants became the nation of Israel; in a common stable near Bethlehem, a Savior was born, and the heavens opened and the angels declared the glory and good will of God to all the people of the earth. The commonplace became the sublime. There is another tabernacle of God's dwelling where heaven and earth touch and the commonplace becomes the sublime. It is in the hearts and bodies of believers in Christ (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 1 Cor. 6:19-20). There is one more definition of sublime that would be interesting to look at, and that definition comes from science! True science, unlike false science, never contradicts the Word of God, but confirms and bears witness to it. What can science tell us about the sublime? Here is the scientific definition from chemistry and physics: "of a solid changing directly into a vapor, skipping the liquid state". The example of solid carbon dioxide, or dry ice, is given, as the solid that seems to "disappear" as it turns to carbon dioxide gas. However, sublimation is considered a rare phenomenon. It only takes place in solids that have a very different kind of molecular structure. The change from solid to vapor is not achieved by heat, but by the solid's vapor pressure being equal to applied atmospheric pressure. These sublime solids have a much higher vapor pressure than most other solids. Their internal molecular structure is different from other solids. We will see how the creation mirrors the truths of its Creator in this case. When Paul wrote about our change into the sublime, as it is with these rare solids, it involves a change in the atmosphere. In his verses regarding the raising of the dead in Christ, and the catching away of the living saints, this occurs when Jesus descends into the atmosphere, into the clouds. We are then instantly changed in form and nature. This is very similar to the atmospheric pressure's effect upon the internal vapor pressure of the sublime solids. Sublimation among solids is rare. Jesus told us that salvation is also rare: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, there are few who find it." (Mt. 7:13-14). Although God desires all to repent and be saved (2 Pet. 3:9), not all do. Sublime solids are also created differently from the start. Their rare and different molecular structure allows them to skip liquid form, and transition directly to gas. Scripture indicates that believers in Christ are also created differently: "But as many as received Him (Jesus as Savior), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (Jn. 1:12-13). Jesus also said regarding a believer's different creative substance: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born (gennao/genos/ginome - begat, born, fathered, bring forth/kindred, offspring, individuals of the same nature/come into existence, arise, appear, of miracles, wrought, be fulfilled, be married to) again (anothen/ano - from above, from a higher place, of things which come from heaven or God,from the beginning, again/up, above, on high, of heaven), he cannot see (herao - see, perceive, know by experience) the kingdom of God...Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (Jn. 3:3, 5-8). Notice that the meaning of the phrase "born again" is very deep, and perhaps differs from our usual understanding. These verses of Christ speak to our very origin and structure. The scientific definition of sublime solids, which we saw earlier, creates an interesting picture for us as we consider these words of Jesus. Jesus also added that He knew these things because, as One who both ascended to heaven, and came down from heaven, He is a witness to this Himself (v. 11-13). The Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles has a great deal of meaning to us, as do all the feasts of the LORD. It is the covering, the dwelling, and the Presence/Face of the LORD, and the transformation from old to new, and from the commonplace into the sublime. It is the joining of heaven and earth, and God and man. There is also more information on the Feast of Tabernacles, if you are interested, in the Featured Post column on the right side of this page, in a post titled "Culmination". If you would like to learn more about this very special time for God's people, you can join me in my prayer: "Heavenly Father, You sent Your own Son, Jesus, to earth so that I can become one of Your children, and through Him, to reconcile all things to Yourself. Through Your Son and Holy Spirit, You have made me Your tabernacle where heaven and earth touch, and all things, including myself, are transformed. Teach me more about what it means to be born from the Water of Your Word, Jesus, and Your Spirit, so that I may walk in that knowledge of You, especially as we grow nearer to the harvest of souls and that great ingathering into Your heavenly kingdom from the four corners of the earth. Write Your Words in my heart and upon my mind. I ask these things in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

theRock

This Sabbath's reading portion is titled Ha-azinu, which means "Listen". This portion is read on the Sabbath before the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement is different from all the other feasts that the LORD commanded His people to keep. It is the only feast in which the LORD commands: "...you shall afflict (ana - humble, bowed down, weaken oneself, submit self, oppression and sorrow, to furrow the ground, to bring the earth into cultivation; hear, answer, bear, cry, respond as a witness, pay attention, to make answer, to give account, speak, shout, sing) (aleph-tav) your souls..." (Lev. 23:26-32). The afflicting of one's soul is interpreted to mean that God's people should pray, confess, and repent with fasting. It is a most solemn day. Under the Law of Moses, the atonement for sin took place in the deepest part of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, where the High Priest could enter only once a year on this appointed day to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice of atonement upon the Mercy Seat that covered the Ark of the Testimony. The tablets containing the Ten Commandments were inside the Ark. This atonement blood would cover the sins of the people for one year only. Jesus fulfilled this prophetic appointed feast by entering the Holy of Holies in heaven with His own blood as the atoning sacrificial covering for our sins. His sacrifice is not made yearly, as under the Law, but was made once, for all time. (Heb. 9:11-15, 23-26, 10:1,3-4). As I read the Sabbath portion for this week, I saw something about the Day of Atonement, and its fulfilment accomplished by the atoning blood of Christ, that I had not considered before: it was this Atonement that was the very foundation of all creation. We already know the scripture from Revelation calling Jesus "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev. 13:8). In another example, if we look closely at the Hebrew in Genesis 1:1, which starts "In the beginning...", God is written as Elohim aleph-tav. The individual pictographic Hebrew letters, aleph and tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, can individually mean "God + cross". Jesus referred to Himself as "Aleph-Tav" when He said "I am the Alpha and the Omega (as translated into the Greek language), the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13). We will see more of the connection between the Atonement and the Foundation of the world in this week's Sabbath reading portion as well. This week's reading includes Deuteronomy 32, which is a song that Moses was commanded by God to teach to all of the people of Israel. His song begins with the phrase "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; And hear O earth the words out of my mouth." (Deut. 32:1). Moses was singing a declaration of witness to all creation (see above definition of "afflict"). In this song, the LORD prophesies that Israel will turn away from Him, including the offering of sacrifices to demons (v. 17), and the many evils, like war, famine, pestilence and beasts, that would fall upon the children of Israel because of that. He also sang: "They are not His children, because of their blemish...children in whom there is no faith." (v. 5, 20). In describing the anger that is therefore created in God, the song of Moses said: "For a fire is kindled in My anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell; it shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." (v. 22). Who or what could possibly save His people from such holy and righteous burning anger? It is an anger that will descend to, and set on fire, the very foundations of the earth. At the end of his song, Moses revealed this promise of the LORD: "He will provide atonement (kapar - cover, purge, make atonement, make reconciliation (see also Col. 1:19-20), expiate, cancel, cleanse, forgive, be merciful, pardon, overspread, free from legal charge) for His land and His people", which the people and the Gentiles would receive with rejoicing (v. 43). The promise said that God will provide the covering atonement. Although Israel already had the yearly atonement of animal blood by the Law, this atonement is spoken of in the future tense. God will provide it, rather than the sacrifices of men. As Abraham promised his son, Isaac: "God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." (see Gen. 22:6-8, 13-14). The word translated "provide" here really means much more. Don't let traditional knowledge of men rob you of the depth of the Word of God. As a student of Hebrew scripture brought to my attention, the word translated as "provide" is the Hebrew word ra'a, which really means: "behold, show, appear, foresee, look at, present oneself, to be visible, to be pleased with the sight, approve, look one upon another, present, cause to see, to be taught in visions divinely brought, provide". In these verses from Genesis, Abraham lifted up (nasa - bear/lift up, carry, accept, pardon, forgive, bring forth, extol, exalt, magnify, respect, rise up, desire, marry) his aleph-tav eyes and took (laqah - take, receive, fetch, bring, married, infold, send for, mingle, take for oneself, to receive for care and protection, to receive with the ears) the aleph-tav ram and offered it instead of his son. We who believe in Jesus Christ understand and believe that, as prophesied and promised, the future Atonement that God would send in order to cover His people from the fire of His anger that burns to the bottom of hell, would be His own Son, Jesus. In this song, which is read before the Day of Atonement, Moses refered to the "rock/Rock" seven times, including: "He is the Rock, His work is perfect"; "honey from the rock"; "oil from the flinty rock"; "forsook God... and scornfully esteemed the Rock of His salvation"; "of the Rock who begot you"; "their Rock"; "our Rock". This is the first time in scripture that God is described as a "Rock". This Rock in the Song of Moses is specifically identified as "the Rock of God's salvation". The Hebrew word for "rock" is sur, which means "rock, cliff, block of stone, boulder, refuge, beauty, strength, sharp, a sharpened tool made of rock used to circumcise, also to bind, distress, lay siege, fortify, adversaries". The same "Rock" that is a refuge and salvation for some, is war against another. We take it for granted now that God is our Rock, but it must have seemed strange when, for the first time, Moses repeatedly referred to the LORD in this way. Why would God identify Himself to Moses as the Rock, and what did it have to do with atonement? Moses and the people had already had two special experiences with "a rock" in the wilderness that provided enough water for all the people, and their flocks and herds (Ex. 17:1-7, Num. 20:2-11). As we will see, so great was this miracle, that it was still being praised as a specific wonder of God on behalf of His people centuries later in the Psalms (Ps. 105:41, 114:8). The New Testament reveals that this Rock in the wilderness was Christ (1 Cor. 10:2-4). Jesus Himself told of how He was the source of the living water of everlasting life that never runs out (Jn. 4:10, 13-14, Jn. 7:37-3). Here is an interesting scientific point that bears witness to the idea of rock as water found in the natural creation (true science, as opposed to false science, always bears witness to the Word of God). Water can be locked inside of two minerals: ringwoodite and wadslyite. These minerals are found only in the earth's mantle, the foundational rock of the earth. The depth of this mantle rock extends to 250-410 miles below the earth's surface. The amount of water contained in this mantle rock may be more than in all of the oceans combined. Steve Jacobsen, a geologist at Northwestern University said that because of the depth of this mantle rock, "It is not accessible. It's not a resource in any way." (as reported by NBC News). Man cannot access this impossibly deep foundational rock by any human means, yet the Rock followed Israel in the wilderness, and gushed forth abundant precious water when there was none to be found. In another reading portion from Ha-azinu, or "listen", Sabbath lesson before the Day of Atonement, we are again brought to the Rock: "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence...For who is God except the LORD? And who is a rock except our God?...and He makes my way perfect...The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, the Rock of my salvation!" (2 Sam. 22:2-3, 32-33, 47, a Psalm of David). Now, in this Psalm, instead of the fire of God's anger being directed at His people, it is directed at the enemies of His people: "Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven (samayim - firmament spread out like a vault over the globe as supported on foundations and columns) quaked and were shaken, because He was angry. Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; coals were kindled by it...the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils." (v. 8-9, 16). This duality, Savior to some and Burning Breath of Fire in anger against an enemy, is included in the meaning of the Hebrew sur Rock as we saw above. Another reading from this week's Sabbath before the Day of Atonement recalls the rock known to Moses that yielded water for the people of God, as mentioned previously: "He split the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink in abundance like the depths (tehom/hamam - deep, depth, deep places, primeval ocean, abyss, deep hollows in the earth, subterranean water supply/break, consume, crush). He also brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. Behold He struck the rock (see Isa. 53:4 - "stricken... smitten") so that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed...In spite of this they still sinned, and did not believe in His wondrous works...they returned and sought earnestly for God. Then they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer...(He) chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved...He also chose David His servant...to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance." (Psalm 78, excerpt). David and Judah were named in connection to this. From both Judah and David, Jesus was descended in flesh as prophesied, and called Himself "the Good Shepherd" of His flock (Jn. 10:11, 14-16). As the assigned reading for this Sabbath before the Day of Atonement indicates, the atonement to be sent by God in the Song of Moses is also mentioned in connection to the foundational Rock of His salvation. Did you ever wonder why man was formed from the dust (apar - dust, earth, powder, ore, pulverize) of the ground? (see Gen. 3:19). I can't say for sure, but it is interesting that dust is the product of Rock that has been crushed by weathering, and we know that man was created in God's own image. Perhaps it is the image of the crushed (daka - bruise, break in pieces, beat in pieces, crushed, shattered, crumble, crush to pieces) Christ mentioned in Isa. 53:10. Here is yet another hint that the Atonement was the foundation of the world and creation. Man, it can be argued, was created from the Atonement sacrifice of Christ "from the foundation of the world". Let's look at some more verses that refer to the connection of Jesus to the (atonement) foundation of creation: John 1:1-4 - "All things were made through (dia - the channel of an act, by, through, with, because of) Him (The Word, Christ)..."/ 2 Tim. 1:9: "(God) who has saved us and called us...in Christ Jesus before time began"/ Heb. 1:1-2: God who...by His Son...through whom also He made the worlds...purged our sins"/ 1 Pet. 1:18-20: "You were...redeemed...with the precious blood of Christ, was of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you...". Before God, Elohim aleph-tav, created the world, the Lamb of God was slain for our salvation and atonement, and all things were made through Him, the living Word. I hope that I have been able to express the vision of the Atonement blood of Jesus Christ for the purging of our sin as a foundational work from the beginning, and before the beginning, of all creation, including the creation of man. Worthy is the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world! If salvation and atonement through Jesus Christ are indeed the foundation upon which all of creation was established, the LORD insists in Lev. 23 that we cannot disregard it in favor of our own self-righteousness. The Day of Atonement is a Day appointed by the LORD to allow us to humbly confess and acknowledge His foundational sacrifice of Atonement for our benefit. He saw our need even before we knew that we needed it: "But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." (Rom. 5:8-10). If you would like to know more about the priceless Atonement covering and purging our sins, you can join with me in my prayer: "Father of heaven and earth, You sent Your Son, Jesus, as the Atonement for my sins. His own blood has been sprinkled on the Mercy Seat for me. He was the Lamb sacrificed for this purpose from and before the foundation of the world. Moses sang of this Atonement, and taught all of the children of Israel his song. Not only Atonement, but also the living waters of salvation and eternal life are poured from the Rock of our Salvation. By Your Word and Spirit help me to build my house of faith dug deep with its foundation laid on the Rock (Lk. 6:47-48). I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."