I hope no one believes that just because the Courtyard of the Body of Messiah as a whole has been, and is currently being, invaded that this does not mean that each member of the Remnant must not guard their own inner courtyard. It occurred to me that some might unconsciously conceed their 'Courtyard' to the Enemy simply because the Body as a whole is under judgment there.

The Courtyard is as essential a part of the Tabernacle complex as the Sanctuary (containing the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies). The Courtyard is set-apart, dedicated and made qadosh (holy) to Yahweh too. It contains Temple hardware that symbolise vitally important elements of salvation and the sanctification process. It's where the Brazen Altar is located where atonement for sin is made and as such represents the Cross. It's where the Brazen Laver is located at which the cohenim (priests) must wash their hands and feet before entering the Sanctuary which represents the cleansing Lake of Fire where all dross is burned away. Without access to the Courtyard how can one even approach the Throne? In short, without access to these, how can we be cleansed when we daily sin and gain readmittance to the Sanctuary?

The Remnant is, by definition, the Bride of Messiah, However she, too, must have her sins cleased. She has to maintain her righteousness in Messiah:

"And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones)" (Rev.19:8, NKJV).

Of course, this "fine linen" is given to her through her emunah (faith, trusting):

"For by grace you have been saved through emunah (faith), and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of Elohim (God), not of works (deeds, actions), lest anyone should boast" (Eph.2:8-9, NKJV).

As we need to be continually reminded, though, emunah is not passive faith, but trusting that leads to works of righteousness. And the absence of these deeds is the evidence that true emunah (faith, trusting) is not operating fully in the soul - obviously, otherwise what grounds would Yah'shua (Jesus) have in demanding of His talmidim (disciples):

"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Torah-teachers (scribes) and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt.5:20, NKJV).

In other words, your trusting - your faith - must be active faithfulness, which is what emunah means. The Torah-teachers and Pharisees laid a heavy emphasis on the outside, on appearances which whilst looking attractive to the physical eyes belied bleakness and death on the inside.

Someone standing on a high rise would be able to look down on the ancient Tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness and be able to observe what was going on in the Courrtyard. However, the inner doings of the Sanctuary would be invisible to him, because the Sanctuary was a covered tent, with a roof. To see what is going on inside, you have to be inside. To be the authentic Bride and Remnant, you have to be more than 'dressed up' as in a theatrical part. There is no theatre in the Kingdom of Elohim (God). You're either the real item or you're a phoney.

No man or woman can stand in the Presence of Yahweh-Elohim without this white bridal gown. This alone can cover the nakedness of our souls. The carnal believer may think his outer theatrics will appear to be genuine but that will only be true of others doing the same thing. The genuine Bride is not deceived. For one thing, she is in the Sanctuary looking out whereas the spiritual actor is outside but cannot look in.

One more clarification. The Outer Court was qadosh (holy, set-apart) and only properly consecrated cohenim (priests) could be admitted. If they weren't thus prepared, they would be ejected, oftentimes supernaturally. This unit of the Remnant - Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - must jealously guard its Outer Courtyard as vigorously as the Sanctuary itself. That means only those fully consecrated to this work may enter. Our carnal sympathies cannot be allowed to manifest, let alone rule.

Once you let someone or some spirit into your Outer Courtyard, you are in serious trouble if you don't correct the error fast. One of the functions of the Jericho March, which preceeds the Late Pesach (Passover) which comes in five days' time, is to prepare the way for a second (late) Chag haMatzah (Feast of Unleavened Bread). The Spring Festivals 'repeat' is for those who missed out or failed to do the spiritual work in the main ones last month, a 'second chance', an act of grace on Yahweh's part for the current year which happens to be a very important year, the Year of Yovel (Jubilee) and of the Mishpatim Yahweh or Judgments of Yahweh. We are to be as much gathered out of the world at this time as we are to be gathered out of the churches and assemblies which are not Remnant Bodies as demonstrated by the fact that their Courtyards are under Enemy attack and occuptation.

I rather suspect - in truth, I literally know - that most viewing what we are doing here, and what we have been doing to prepare, view all of this is over zealousness or misguided religious nonsense. By next spring (the end of the current biblical year) they will likely know for one way or the other...if they're alive.

Our Courtyards - the Courtyards of the Remnant - are under major assault. This I saw last night. You will understand what I mean practically-speaking when I share with you what I dreamed early this morning.

I dreamed I was in the Sanctuary of my home. By way of background information I ought to tell you that many in my household have committed themselves to a change in dietary lifestyle so as to both promote better health and take proper care of the Temple of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), our physical bodies, according to the mitzvah (commandment) (1 Cor.3:16; 6:19). I will not pretend this has been easy for me and I am not making as rapid progress as some of the others at home have been, young and old.

In the dream there has been some malfunction of the water system that required, I supposed, some outside help, like a plumber. In my hand I held a very rich (and unhealthy) Noblesse chocolate disk regarded here in Scandinavia as somewhat of a delicacy. I was headed out toward the back door with it, slightly concealing it from my wife who was watching (and who is doing an excellent job in terms of change of diet), who here represented my conscience which I was ignoring. I went outside the back door and found myself in a badminton court and in the middle of a game with the 'plumber' as my opponent. The shuttlecock, a high drag conically-shaped projectile made of feathers with a rounded cork at the bottom, was damaged, however, as the cork part, which ones strikes with a racket, was absent. This made returning or 'shuttling' the shuttlecock back impossible, though the serving of it to me seemed to have no problem lobbing it over the net to me. I missed every shot so my opponent thrashed me.

I never play badminton, incidentally which is more a ladies' game, in my opinion. The fact that it was a 'game' and that my opponent was in full control through cheating was, of course, not a good sign at all. When you are spiritually out out of alignment over something and consciously unconsciously invite the Enemy in, his crooked rules obtain and you don't have a chance. You need to get out of the game and reject the rules.

At this time the man's assistant drove up to the house, and round the back, with a load of materials for the repair job. His face was of a dark countenance and this was the first sign that something suspicious was under way, at least while I was asleep. I should interject here that in numerous dreams I have had over the years the Enemy has sought to disguise his officers as innocuous-looking workment 'depositing' materials and other things in the yard, each of which I then learned constituted a Courtyard Invasion by stealth.

Having deposited his load and again departed, my attention was turned to the 'plumber'. I then noticed that he was 'camping' here and had placed his bed against the outer wall close to the back door. I felt sorry for him, thus exposed to the elements, even though the weather was nice, and offered him a tent. His response was vigorious and enthusiastic and he immediately accepted my offer.

At that point I awoke and shocked with the realisation that I had not only been fooled to allow two demons into my Outer Courtyard but that I had ignorantly offered one of them a spiritual covering! Naturally, I set about cleansing the Outer Courtyard immediately. (I never gave him the tent).

Let me interpret it more fully for you so that you can see what is going on here in the spiritual. It began with my believing there was something with my 'Tabernacle' (body) that needed outside assistance (I have health issues) which was quickly volunteered in the person of a demon. I had been violating my 'diet covenent' (read 'Gospel Covenant' on a higher level) here and there by indulging in a game of 'Badminton'. Why 'Badminton' and why the damaged shuttlecock? 'Badminton' is a play on words here (the same kind of thing we see in Scripture, incidentally, but often miss because it's in the receptor language which cannot be translated into English). One of my weaknesses is mint-flavoured chocolate - which I eat far too much of when I get my hands on it. This is the Bad-Mint-on. Though mint is very healthy its chocolate delivery agent (for me) isn't always (though pure dark sugar-free chocolate is healthy). The game itself, 'shuttling' back and forth, is 'loaded' as the enemy is steering it with the odds against me - a damaged shuttlecock lacking the 'balancing' part. The Enemy 'wins' the game and gets to stay, even though he is not in the Sanctuary per se but outside and exposed in the Courtyard. But he has got his foot inside the Tabernacle!

It is in the nature of dreams to present spiritual principles clothed in symbols we can readily understand. In this case, a weakness I have with my eating habits which can begin moderate and acceptable but then get out of hand. A criticism my family makes of me, which is entirely valid, is that in the past I have been too trusting of people. I have had to learn the lesson oftentimes the hard way and am definitely getting much better at it. Considering all the betrayals I have had in my life I can see how this ties in with the dream. Yet Yahweh is not so and teaches us how He is using the model of the Tabernacles and Temple.

There are very strict boundaries between the sacred and the profane. Those of us who may, in their flesh dispositions, be a little lax in this department, often struggle with the strictness exhibited in scriptural incidences like Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, being struck dead for offering "strange fire" (Lev.10:1; Num.3:4; 26:62) or Uzzah for steadying the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam.6:6-7). I know all too many people who accuse Yahweh of this or that, saying He is too 'harsh' when the emet (truth) is that some of us, in our flesh, are too lax. And the carnal man always blame-shifts away from himself and to a spiritual authority maintaining righteous standards in order to make the carnal man appear 'righteous' and the righteous man appear barbaric. That is the psychic equivalent of dressing up on the inside while being corrupt on the inside, the psyche here being on the 'outside' relative to the ruach or spirit which is on the 'inside'.

What happens here is that the psyche makes itself the judge of the spirit and swops rôles. Spiritual righteousness, which has spirit on the inside and psyche on the outside, 'exposes' the man who has everything reversed which provokes accusation in him. Indeed, this spirit of accusation is so persistent that it cannot desist until the spiritual in the one exposing his invertedness admits to having its system back-to-front, which of course it never can do, which provokes even more rage in the one with the actual inverted system. Depending on the nature of the corrupting agent (for Satan always uses good cop/bad cop opposites to compound the confusion), the soul with the damaged, inverted system proceeds to attack the righteous system by either employing active-aggressive demonic Hecate weapons or passive-aggressive demonic Lilith weapons.

Irrespective which demonic infestation of the soul is the principle operating agent, the soul will not be able to relent until it has provied itself 'right' (self-righteousness) or destroyed the person operating in true tavnith (pattern) order, precise because the drive to discredit, score points (as in the batminton game) or destroy is demonic. Until the soul with everything inside out repents, it will be driven to cricise in an overt (Hecatic) or sneakey (Lilithic) way as its means of self-justification.

Dreams are most useful indices of what is happening inside even if its symbolism does tend to baffle most. We have largely forgotten the art of thinking in pictures as the ancients did which is why the dream realm is such a mystery to modern man. Every dream means something, however apparently chaotic, and whilst rarely a direct revelation from Heaven, it is most commonly one or more aspects of the soul (whole person) showing other aspects what is going on inside. It is a gift of Yahweh to us. Patterning yourself after Scripture helps define the operating symbols together with common sense and a little knowledge of how language works.

We are all battling weaknesses and we cannot stop if we are serious about overcoming. Jericho's walls, whatever they may be for you personally, your family or your congregation (to name the three most human important units), don't come down until the 7th and last day. There were, and are, six days of preparation. He who dares, wins, they say, but more importantly, he who persists in proactice emunah (faith, trusting), overcomes.

The Battle of Jericho was a 7-day process-event. So are Chag haMatzah (Unleavened Bread) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) and so is the historical unfolding of the Seven Assemblies (Churches) of Asia Minor in the Book of Revelation.

So many don't persist, they lack constancy, and get easily side-tracked off the Derech (Way). Those who hold out in a righteous cause, even if the battle be long, ultimately get relief and win the victory. Endurance is one of the fruits of emunah (faith) especially when Yahweh asks you to do something that makes absolutely no sense in the beginning, and to keep on doing it, as was demanded of the Israelites in the seemingly bizzare daily marches around the beseiged pagan super-fortress. You can have a reservoir of emunah (faith) and an equally large one of ahavah (love) but if you don't have endurance over time their exercise will be in vain. And this is the point of the festivals: there are 7 of them, all are important, and you must see your way through them and what they represent in the transformation of your life.

I have seen so many people fall away from this work for the absurdest of reasons. One left because we had not received certain spiritual gifts yet - he went off to a a charismatic church which had plenty of counterfeit gfitings. Many get offended over trivialities and go away to nurse bruised egos. Thye nastier ones persecute. A very large number are enraged by demonic forces within that they don't understand simply by being around people who have got it right when they haven't, jealousy often being the dark driving force in them. Many are offended because they want to cling on to false tradition because it gives them false safety. A great many in our day and age simply don't want to grow up and then accuse the brethren of this and that of being too 'meaty' and not limiting themselves to 'milk'. Most everyone wants to define the commission and mission of this work in their own image. And guess what? The mission wins because Yahweh will not be dictated to, however much he is accused by some as being a tyrant or of existing in the figment if our own imagination.

Your Outer Couryard is your personal responsibility - what you admit into it and what you deny entry to. And what you accuse others falsely of you yourself will one day be used against you when you stand trial before the Heavenly Court and receive the punishment for the crime you accused your brother or sister of...unless you repent and change direction.

Over the years I have seen all sorts of junk I have admitted into my inner Courtyard, as represented by the yard of my home, and had to deal with it. On a congregational level we have had to disband several times over the years, including this last time (2015-16) when NCAY was closed down for a year so that we could really see who was of us and who was not, and await further directions from Yahweh. Individuals, families and congregations have made their choices, and will continue to go their way, until Yahweh has a small band of faithful warriors whom he can rely on and who will not pullute His Tabernacle. Upon these He will build His Remnant Bride.

I would not wish anyone to think who is reading this to believe that this is some kind of 'élitist club'. This work does not belong to man and Yahweh is dependent on no one of us. He could raise witensses from the stones if He so wished (Lk.19:40). The Remant Bride is not her own. She has a Master and must obey, struggle or depart. The parables of the Master are expicit and clear enough about this but in this age of self-entitlement and self-righteousness, the eyes of such people are covered in a thick veil and all they can see is themselves.

Yahweh set up curtains around the tabernacle and around the Sanctuary not to keep people out but to keep unrepentant and therefore unclean people out. I have had so many object lessons about this in my life that I can no longer deny that this is the work of righteousness and not evil. Yet how easily those who have things inside-out or upside-down accuse and rail at those who have things in the proper, divine tavnith and order. The issue on the part of those who complain, whine, bicker, bitch, rail, character-assassinate and accuse is at ground level one of unsurrenderedness for their spirit is the exact same one of the original angelic rebels. Man wants to be his own god even as Satan wanted to be the Pre-Eminent Elohim (God). Both want glory for themselves.

Today's march, like yesterday's and the day before's, and like the next three days, is about bringing down the demonic strongholds in ourselves, else our grant shout will be nothing more than a pipsqueak and we will find ourselves useless as warriors. Stop blaming others and start being honest about yourself. Carrying planks is a lot harder than carrying splinters.

"By emunah (faith) the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days" (Heb.11:30, NIV).