Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and may the grace of our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), who has poured out such great blessings on us all this first month of Aviv, be with you and continue to strengthen you in this Birth of the Remnant in this the second year of the Second and Last Exodus. I decided to leave my testimony until now, firstly, because you have heard much from me already over the 16 day-long Cleansing and Dedication, and, secondly, because I felt it more appropriate to share it with you on the sabbath following the end of the Dedication and the regular Chag haMatzah which ended yesterday. I would be grateful to receive everyone's testimonies before the end of the countdown if they feel moved by the Ruach (Spirit) to do so.

So I want to thank everyone, both here at the Swedish gathering and from our congregations abroad, for sharing your testimonies as I requested at the final assembly of the Dedication on Aviv 16. The twelve who have been called to be the first 12 witnesses were not only called to witness what Yahweh has done amongst us but to be witnesses of what happened, for reasons I will tell you in a moment. What happenes was not just for ourselves - we are not allowed to consume this anointing upon our lusts but we have the responsibility to share it, maintain it, and to invite others into it too. This was not just an 'event', it was the beginning of a process of continual revealment, empowerment, anointing and witness for those called to service. I see many of you openly displaying NCAY membership on your social media outlets like Facebook which is a perfect example of how to pin your colours to the mast and witness of what Yahweh is doing here. This is, after all, Messianic Israel, the chosen nation, not because of our own righteousness but because of His. Our spiritual family is not a small thing.

As I pointed out to my family a couple of evenings ago at the dinner table, continuing to be burdened with feelings of remorse and guilt for sins already washed clean by the blood of the Passover Lamb, when we have already been forgiven by our professed emunah (faith) "according to the riches of His grace (undeserved loving kindness)" (Eph.1:7, NKJV) would be a bit like someone whom I have forgiven for some sin against me and that person subsequently saying to himself, 'Did I show enough grief for what I did wrong to Pastor Christopher?' and then going and buying me a present to show he was sincere. Yah'shua (Jesus) is grieved and insulted when we place more value on the quality of our repentance than on the Messiah's integrity. Forgiveness, if it is true, is freely given without a price tag and we should be able to walk away from the one giving it feeling light and free of any burden of obligation. The 'I forgive you' is to be our release from any debt. We fall into the trap sometimes of forgetting that we are all supposed to forgive one another as Messiah forgave us. At the same time, we should never cheapen forgiveness by going and deliberately sinning against someone again and again. We experienced this release during the Dedication when we understood that we were admitted to the anointing because of the blood covering of Messiah and not because of anything else.

Please do not fall into the trap of assuming that 'once anointed, always anointed' [1] because you can walk out of the anointing as simply as returning to the flesh and staying there. Anyone can leave the Sanctuary and return to make the Courtyard their spiritual base of operations - or go one fatal step further and leave the Sanctuary altogether. Many have and many will when expectations are not fulfilled. The anointing does not nullify the flesh but exists in spite of it, and you must either face it and be blessed in it or you must turn away from it and face the flesh once more and cease receiving its blessings or protection. Remember that in the New Covenant the Priesthood is a voccation for everyone - all are called who have been saved (many are called from the world - Mt.22:14) even if not all are chosen. We are on duty 24/7, 365 days a year. We don't 'go home' after a 'tour of duty' like the Levites did - we're called here to stay in Him.

So what is our responsibility? What are we expected to do with this? Where do we go from here?

"'You are My witnesses,' says Yahweh,
'And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no Elohim (God) formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.
I, even I, am Yahweh,
And besides Me there is no saviour (deliverer).
I have declared and saved,
I have proclaimed,
And there was no foreign god among you;
Therefore you are My witnesses,'
Says Yahweh, 'that I am Elohim (God)'" (Isa.43:10-12, NKJV)

This is, of course, a favourite scipture of the 'Jehovah's Witnesses' who take their name from it though I guarantee they are not Yahweh's Witnesses. The calling to witness is not simply to declare correct theology but to bear testimony of having met the Living Elohim (God) and to invite others to do the same through Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ). We have all met Him before, and met Him many times, but not before Aviv 9 (if you were assembled here in Sweden) or perhaps on other days (if you were in Africa or elsewhere in Europe) did we know Him in the Sanctuary of the Melchizedek Order itself. The Sukkot Anointing brings with it a certain knowledge of His existence and reality. He reveals Himself throughout the seven stages of spiritual endowment, of course, but there are three principle revelations, anointings or birthings, which equate with the pilgrim festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavu'ot (Weeks, 'Pentecost') and Sukkot (Tabernacles), all of which are different qualitatively, quantitatively, experientially and in terms of sanctfication. They are never given casually but only to those who truly seek and love the Father with all their might, mind and strength. And when it comes to the fullness of the Sukkot (Tabernacles) anointing, if you have indeed received it, you cannot walk away from it and remain saved. There is no repentance from having had such knowledge of Abba Yahweh to then turn away from it - none whatsoever. Your journey into it, if you actually received it, was a one-way ticket of total commitment and consecration.

Looking at the next chapter in the Book of Isaiah, we see Yahweh say the same thing about His witnesses:

"Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, Yahweh Sebaoth (of hosts, armies): 'I am the First and I am the Last (Alef and Taw); Besides Me there is no Elohim (God). And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them. Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there an Elohim (God) besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock (Foundation); I know not one'" (Isa.44:6-8, NKJV).

There aren't multiple gods and truths - just one. There is no other Rock, no other place that the one who has received the Shavu'ot (Tabernacles) anointing can turn to - the only alternative is Satan himself. Now whilst we do not by any means have the fullness of this anointing yet (far from it), we have it nevertheless as a deposit, those who have received that testimony which will be engraved in their hearts forever.

My testimony of what happened on the day you have already heard. However, the manifestations and revelations have not stopped. This has been an ongoing experience for me as it should be for you if you do not let your eyes wander of Messiah and back onto the flesh. It took some discipline assembling 2-3 times a day for 16 days and whilst it is, of course, impossible because of work and committments to do that continually, or even annually at each month of Aviv, it is vitally important that new patterns of discipline - particularly in our prayer life - be established, and become habitual. Yahweh wants to talk with us and we need to spend more time seeking and listening to Him. I admit that after the 16 days of Dedication were over that I pretty much 'collapsed' as I was so tired from a lack of sleep (late to bed and getting up early to prepare), ministering and influenza which hit many of us hard. It was a small miracle in itself that we were sustained in spite of that! So the first day afterwards I pretty much 'phased out' and tried to catch up on lost sleep and get over this 'flu. I know some of you, who caught it later on, are still languishing - may Yah grant speedy recovery. One or two of you caught it right afterwards.

I slept in on Aviv 18 (6 April). Throughout the night I kept waking up hearing a new tune in my head. I asked my wife if she recognised it when I hummed it to her afterwards but she hadn't heard it before either. When it was time for me to actually get up I found I was actually singing words to it. And though I cannot now remember the melody, these were the words, which I jotted down afterwards. I was singing as I gained consciousness this lyric:

"I pray for all the saints, dear Yah,
That we might find echad [2]."

This was at about 8.40 am. As I was singing the last of these words a vision opened up to me of an outline diagram of the Tabernacle Sanctuary. From the Emet (Truth) Gate of the Sanctuary a series of rainbow-coloured concentric circles radiated from like ripples into the Courtyard. They neither went beyond the walls of the Courtyard nor into the Sanctuary itself. I saw that the Brazen Altar and Laver were encompassed by the rings of coloured light. It was a bright white at the entrance and then, like passing through a prism, the light broke up into one refracted ring after another consisting of the seven colours of the rainbow. Though I could not see the door of the Derech (Way) Gate leading into the Courtyard, nor beyond the western side of the Sanctuary to its boundary, I assume the rings of light went all the way up to these. I have tried to recreate this vision as best I can in the diagram which you see (see above). Though the artwork shows more than seven rings with the wrong colours in the wrong order (it takes me a long time to prepare these and I didn't have time to do it properly), I was not aware of more than seven colours in seven rings, beginning with red (Sukkot) and ending with purple (Pesach), if my memory serves me right on this. This is what Yahweh showed me and it is marvelous to my heart to recall because of what it means. That I will now explain to you as best I can.

The very first word that came into my head as I was looking at this vision was PEACE followed by COVENANT - COVENANT OF PEACE or B'RIT SHALOM. The experience we had on Aviv 9 was Yahweh's Covenant of Peace with the 12 witnesses, a covenant of deep shalom (peace) and set-apartness (holiness). The next thought that flooded my mind was NOAH and there are many, many things I need to share with you about that if I have time today but first I want to focus on the main principles before going into the details.

This is a huge thing! The importance of it didn't hit me until yesterday and then I read this passage of Scripture:

"Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying: 'Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the cohen (priest), has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. Therefore say, 'Behold, I give to him My B'rit Shalom (Covenant of peace); and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a b'rit (covenant) of an olam (age- or aeon-long) priesthood, because he was zealous for his Elohim (God), and made atonement for the children of Israel'" (Num.25:10-13, NKJV).

Let us review the context of this action:

"Then Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of Yahweh was aroused against Israel. Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Take ta all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before Yahweh, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.' So Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.'

"And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a ta Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the [Derech/Way] door of the tabernacle of meeting. Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the cohen (priest), saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust ta both of them through, the ta man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand (24,000)" (Num.25:1-9, NKJV).

This was done "in the sun" in the full light of exposure. Please note that both the Midianite woman and the man of Israel (who in a way represent all the others who committed fornication) are prefixed by the untranslated alef-taw (ta). Both have the Divine Name attached to them - the man because he was a covenant Israelite and the pagan Midianite woman by virtue of their fornication making them, in Yahweh's eyes, man and wife. Therefore the man (representing all the rebel Israelites) came under the Mishpat Yahweh (Judgment of Yahweh) by virtue of his being a member of the covenant Nation and the pagan woman (representing all the pagan seductresses) by virtue of being joined to her Israelite man whom he had taken sexually. It does not matter that this was 'recreational/hedonistic sex' for the sexual act is the act of marriage. Therefore the man inducted her into Israel as both a whore and a pagan, thus breaking the covenant, as Aachan would later do after the Jericho conquest by stealing gold dedicated to Yahweh. It is not for nothing Paul said:

"Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with Torahlessness (lawlessness?)" (2 Cor.6:13-14, NKJV).

This is a sober warning to us to not only make sure our marriages/sexual alliances are kosher (pure) and according to covenant but that our whole lifestyle is kosher and pure. When a man fornicates with an unbeliever he joins an unbeliever to Messiah by virtue of his headship position, defiling the Messianic Covenant. If unrepented of - whether with a literal woman (or man) or whether with a false teaching or practice - the covenant is defiled unless there is repentance and restitution. The repentance is to result in cessation, the restitution is to make everything right according to Torah so that nothing impure is linked to the branch and thus to the vine. The Ruach (Spirit) does not nourish idolaters and thieves which is why such a branch must be broken off the vine.

Fornication or adultery with unbelief and paganism is idolatry and will result in expulsion from the Sanctuary and into the Courtyard. The Courtyard provides opportunity for repentance. If repentance is not made, expulsion back into the desert of the world is the only recourse. Expulsion from the Courtyard is then inevitable and repentance requires complete contrition represented by crawling on the dust under the curtain of the Derech (Way) Gate.

This is as much an internal process as it is a jurisdictional ones in the congregations of NCAY. This is why our Constitution goes into disciplinary action for sin in some detail in Article 9, Congregational Government. The burden of responsibility of the elders is therefore a very heavy one indeed, required as they are to judge both compassionately when there is genuine repentance and strictly by expulsion when no repentance is forthcoming to make sure the Covenant is preserved. Therefore admission to NCAY is strict, as it must be, if the covenant is not to be severed. We have let dozens of congregations go from us in the past and will do the same again in order to preserve this purity and covenant. We are not about numbers but about faitfulness. Let no one wanting to come up to this work ever think differently.

So this is how we are to deal with spiritual harlotry - not, of course, by executing people (as Yah'shua/Jesus was executed in our place for all offenses, capital and non-capital) - but as a general rule by putting such as are guilty and unrepentant out of our local congregations. We did this on a global scale at the Cleansing and Dedication time when we declared ourselves separate (set-apart) from the rest of the Body. That was absolutely necessary. In doing this, we imitated (without realising it at the time - if we had, there might have been a fatal spiritual danger of self-righteousness and pride) what Phinehas did amongst the Midianites by declaring a separated (qadosh) remnant through purging. 24,000 souls were lost that day. Twelve (12) is the number of Elohim's (God's) rule which has been doubled and multiplied by a thousand. 24 is the number for enmity or hostility, 'eybah (Gen.3:35) and sin, chata' (Gen.40:1), the opposite of ahavah or divine love and echad (oneness) which are also the number 24. Life is a series of choices, like the two sides of a coin - we can choose the side of the coin which is ahavah (divine agapé love) and echad (oneness) but if we reject it we receive, by default, enmity and sin. I could say more of this for much is hidden in these numbers but you always fine this principle at work.

Do you all remember that deep, deep shalom (peace) and holiness we all felt on Aviv 9 here in Kadesh-biyqah? That was Yahweh anointing us and entering into a B'rit Shalom or Covenant of Peace with us. And in so doing we qualified ourselves, through Yahweh's grace - if we remain in the anointing - to become ministers of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and specifically, to be Shammashim or deacons and deconesses after that Melchizidek Order for having completed the inward ordinances of the Courtyard. We are therefore in a position to ordain all twelve witnesses, once they have all been identified (we will know by Late Pesach/Passover), to be Melchizedek Deacons and Deaconesses once they have fulfilled the terms of the Constitution. For some that will require baptism into this covenant in Messiah (if you are new) and Chrism/Confirmation/Bar/Bat-Mitzvah a year later after you have proven your faithfulness. It was for this reason that we were forbidden from ordaining or re-ordaining anyone last Sukkot (Tabernacles). You will recall the cloud was present but no one chose to enter it.

What this means is that throughout Christendom and Messiandom the kind of priestly activity has, in truth, simply been a rehash of the old Levitical one because the Melchizedek Order comes only by divine anointing and authorisation. The Melchizedek priesthood is not legalistic as with the Catholics, Mormons, Eastern Orthodox and Lutherans, who claim authority based on the claim of apostolic succession by a lineage of ordinations, but spiritual. And neither is it based on the 'I've been born-again therefore I have Royal priesthood' claim of evangelicals because the anointing of the priesthood is also a corporate anointing that must come in its two stages - at Shavu'ot (Weeks, 'Pentecost') and at Sukkot (Tabernacles) even though its first stage is personal and comes at Yom haBikkurim (Firstfruits) with the new birth where it is latent.

You obviously have to be a cohen (priest) to be able to minister anywhere in the Tabernacle. I want you to now pay close attention to the connection between Noah and this B'rit Shalom!

"'For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My B'rit Shalom (Covenant of Peace) be removed,'
Says Yahweh, who has mercy on you" (Isa.54:9-10, NKJV).

The original davar (word) was given to Israel (10 northern tribes) in exile. We too are in exile - in diaspora - scattered among the nations being buffetted by the nations who wish us to conform to their man-made laws and to break Yahweh's. The experience for Israel then, as now, is like that of a wife who has been rejected by her husband but this is only a brief time compared to the everlasting kindness she will enjoy when Yah'shua (Jesus) returns to gather the woeful wife:

"Come, my people, enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment,
Until the indignation is past" (Isa.26:20, NKJV).

The good news is that for the Remnant "the indignation is past" and the gathering has begun. We're in Ark-land now. That's why we have a Noah's Ark dimension to this critical period of time. This is the second year of the Second/Last Exodus and there is to be a flood of Yahweh's wrath in judgment on the world that has already begun. We have been valiant for the emet (truth), refused to agree with, or embrace, false evangelical and messianic doctrine and practice, and have declined or ended ecumenical associations (we were once members of the Messianic Israel Alliance). This is essential for set-apartness. Again, I underline, none of this is to reject people but to refuse to enter into a covenant with them - there must be covenantal separation or there can be no anointing.

Yes, we are to "shut our doors" and ride a violent, chaotic and painful storm for a season like Noah who also received a B'rit Shalom (Covenant of Peace) which has other important elements we need to be aware of:

""'Therefore this is what Yahweh-Elohim says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I Yahweh will be their Elohim (God), and my servant David will be prince among them. I Yahweh have spoken.

"'I will make a B'rit Shalom (Covenant of Peace) with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am Yahweh, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid" (Ezek.34:20-28, NIV).

This speaks of the Judgment of Messianic Israel - the Body of Christ - and the separation of the "fat sheep" and the "lean sheep" which occurs just before, and during, the judgment of the world. It also speaks of the Millennium. This is not a distinction between those who teach false doctrine and those who teach true, but between abusive, ungodly members of the flock and those who are humble and poor of spirit - the righteous. And though the Millennium does not lie on the other side of this current tribulation, we are given the same promises of protection and fruitfulness here as the last generation of the Remnant will receive then if we will abide by the Covenant and allow "David" - who is a type as well as an ancestor or Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus) - to rule over us as King by abiding the Torah laws of His Kingdom.

Finally, Yahweh makes one more promise through the navi (prophet) Ezekiel that we must make note of:

"'My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my mishpatim (judgments) and be careful to keep my chuqqim (decrees). They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a B'rit Shalom (Covenant of Peace) with them; it will be an olam (age-, aeon-long) covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my miqdash (sanctuary) among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their Elohim (God), and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I Yahweh make Israel qadosh (holy, set-apart), when my hayah (sanctuary) is among them olam (for the age/aeon)'" (Ezek.37:24-28, NIV).

If we have gathered to the places we have been appointed to while in diaspora - and especially for the imminent judgment - then we will receive blessings as though it were the actual land. We are here promised an increase in numbers as we are about the business of the Kingdom. So there are many blessings attached to being in the B'rit Shalom (Covenant of Peace) and we shall be blessed as Noah and his family were. Just be sure to be in the ark on time with a cleansed heart.

So let us return to the vision. The light of the Sanctuary is pure, undifferentiated light, but the light which it shines into the Courtyard is divided up into seven parts so that it can be understood by the people in the Courtyard who do not have the anointing to be able to see or understand the echadness of Elohim (God). That is why we have seven annual festivals from Pesach (Passover) to Sukkot (Tabernacles) to show us what this pure bright Light of Elohim (God) is actually made of. Each colour corresponds to one of those Seven Festivals and to stages of sanctification linked to spiritual attitudes.

It is impossible for those who have not been sanctified by the undifferentiated echad White Light to comprehend it. They must learn step-wise. We must all begin in the Courtyard and indeed it was not until the 9th day - on Aviv 9 - that we were permitted into the Sanctuary to be changed forever. The Qadosh (Holy, Set-Apart) Place is, with its Golden Incense Altar, Golden Menorah and Golden Altar of Showbread, you will remember, the Chamber of the Son. It is the Betrothal Chamber that corresponds to the Fullness of Shavu'ot (Weeks). The Season of Pesach (Passover), which ended yesterday, corresponds to the Courtyard where burning and washing must take place.

Why were we called in on the 9th day specifically? Because the number 9 symbolises Judgment and this is the Judgment of the Body of Messiah and of the whole world. 3 is the number of Divine Perfection and 6 is the number of man, and when the two are added together to make 9, then either the 6 is able to walk in the 3 because it is of the same substance and be delivered, or it it is repelled and cast away by the 3 because it is unsanctified. So when 6 (man) and 3 (Yahweh-Elohim) are brought together this is either a Judgment of Acceptance or a Judgment of Rejection based on the choices of the man represented by the number 6.

Why were there only 8 souls on the Ark of Noah? What does this number signify? 8 is the number of resurrection and new beginnings - the whole world was flooded and a new one was reborn. This is not so with the world at this time. This is not the final baptism of fire that is promised the last generation but only a partial baptism, a dress rehearsal, as it were. There are 12 witnesses because there shall be 12 groups or tribes at the final Cleansing and Dedication, and we are the types of those 12 tribes. The final Ark will have many thousands of people arranged in 12 tribal divisions. And as there were 4 men and 4 women on Noah's Ark, so there are 6 men and 6 women on this one. There are 16 days left before we are to 'board' that ark and another week after that before the door is sealed tight. We will know who the actual 12 witnesses are at that time. There will be no doubt.

The rainbow of seven colours was shining into the Courtyard because that is where the worldwide Body of Messiah gathers and where the truths of the Festivals and the tavnith (pattern) that they represent must be taught and spiritually experienced before access to the Santuary will be granted. There is no access to the Sanctuary outside divine tavnith (pattern) and we must absolutely be inside the Sanctuary when judgments come because the Courtyard will be partially invaded during these Judgments even as it will be fully invaded and overwhelmed in the days of the Great Tribulation. Unless you have a masochistic love for unnecessary suffering, I don't recommend anyone stay there in the months ahead.

Brethren and sisters, this has been - and will continue to be - a great emunah (faith) journey. It is all that will and can save us - faith to trust right, to do what is right, to live right and to obey even before we understand why we must obey. We have received a wonderful spiritual deposit and probably aren't aware or conscious of the tiniest fraction of it at this point at time but when the deluge comes you will become more aware of it and be glad. There are only eight days of the countdown left - please throw all your energy into preparedness - spiritual and temporal - so that you are not left exposed and unprotected, is my prayer in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name. Amen.

Endnotes