Month 2:27, Week 4:5 (Revee/Shavu'ot), Year:Day 5940:56 AM
2Exodus 3/40, Yovel - Year 50/50
Gregorian Calendar: Thursday 4 June 2016
Disembarkation
From Funeral to New Beginning
Young Mariner
As a boy I travelled by ship half way round the world many times between Europe and the Far East. On every voyage I knew where we would be setting out from - usually Port Swettenham (now called Port Klang) - and I knew where we would be arriving - usually Southampton. Or it would be in the reverse direction. Depending on the state of the Middle East we would either sail around the Cape of Good Hope on the longer journey or pass through the Suez Canal on the shorter when it was open. When we took the longer route viâ South Africa we would cross the equator twice - once in the Indian Ocean and once in the Atlantic.
Noah's World Before and After
When Noah boarded the ark with his family and all the animals, he had no idea what the destination would be like other than all previous land and air life would be wiped out. He knew he would be leaving an old world and arriving in a new one. Everything he had once known would be gone - obliterated. And so it was. All his friends, family, acquaintances were gone. Every city, town and hamlet was washed away. All of the landscapes were gone and most of the features. He might as well have landed on another planet when he finally landed and disembarked.
People Who Came and Went
It is an extraordinary thing that Yahweh is currently doing with, and to, the Remnant. It has been a year since embarkation and today, on the day of disembarkation, everything has changed. Some people who thought they were on the ark, actually weren't; and some people who thought they weren't, actually were. Every one of us has been on a remarkable journey, both the true arkers and the false. Some have literally come out of the world and some have literally returned to it. And I am astonished not only at the suddenness of people's changes but also the timing.
Vision of the Dead Black-Suited Man
It has also been a strange mixture of heaven and hell on the way. Some of you have had extraordinary adventures and some of you are still in the midst of them. We sorrow for those who have turned and fled but rejoice in those who were faithful and in those yet to come, who shall be many. We mourn and grieve for those who 'died' out of our lives - for the second time now Yahweh showed me a vision this morning a man in a black suit lying dead in a hearse covered in dozens of bright red roses.
Death of Self and Mourning
This is the death of the desire for power, position, recognition or honour which the black suit represents, the red roses indicating the great love or admiration we may have had for such things when we were in the flesh. These things must die from the Remnant if it is to be empowered, be washed away by the spiritual fire or flood, for there is no glory amongst men for the Remnant. All the glory of the work of the Remnant is for Elohim (God) alone.
Propositional vs. Actual Death of the Fleshy Nature
I would not have anyone believe that this is a simple or easy thing. The pride of man lays disguised in many forma and its removal can only ever be by that most final, and usually painful, process which we call death. Dying to self is never accomplished by a mere declaration. Many are they who have declared themselves dead propositionally but who yet remain alive to it, pretending by various means to be what they are not. The flesh does not voluntarily yield to death - ever. On the contrary, it fights to the very last breath, for its perceived right to live on. And those who won't resist it will always end up being controlled by it.
The Nature of the Process of Dying
No two qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) die to self in the same way. It is a process and that processed is shaped by our character and choices. So neither I, nor anyone else, can give you a manual on how to thus 'die'. Yahweh knows what He wants you to surrender, moment by moment, day by day, and at key points He will confront you and ask you to yield, and keep on yielding. You may have a sudden realisation - experience a certain disgust at some behavioural trait you exhibit which is contrary to the Ruach (Spirit) and in such moments you will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what has to go and what may stay. It is then - in such moments of heightened awareness of the natue of a particular sin - that you can actually choose to yield because then the whole being is involved and not merely your brain. The brain, you see, cannot choose for the heart, choose those it must, but the heart must also respond to the brain's choice. This is simply the way it happens. You can't pre-plan it because Yahweh will sovereignly place the choice before you when your senses - all of them - are suitably heightened to be revolted. That is your critical moment, when every part of you is employed in the choosing. That is when I person can choose to 'die' to the flesh.
Moving Back onto Land Again
So the journey - on 'land' - continues, but it starts, appropriately, with worship. The first thing Noah did upon disembarkation was to build an altar and sacrifice some clean animals. It is time also for the Remnant to make a clean sacrifice, a rededication and commitment to Yah'shua (Jesus) and to the task set before us, as we yield even more personal sovereignty to the Most High. You will recall that Yahweh promised never to curse the ground or destroy all life again, despite the fact that He knew humanity would continue in its inclination to evil (Gen.8:15-22). Yahweh knows that we are going to make mistakes even after spiritual cleansings so it is up to us to maintain an attitude of ongoing repentance to prevent the habituation of any sinning - and that means reacting swiftly and decisively when sin raises its ugly head.
All That is of the Old Must Be Left Behind
The earth was not rebuilt and repopulated in a day after Noah's disembarkation and neither will this work. All is process. As those of you who are a part of the Ark leave the Ark, so much you leave behind all that was before. The old church system and its doctrines cannot accompany this small band of spiritual warriors. None of its spirits must accompany it, and that includes all the so-called, yet counterfeit, 'anointings' of the charismatic movement - no tongues-speaking of any kind save authentic speaking in known foreign languages for public witness. Remember, that just because Noah's family survived the flood does not mean that they are immune from sin and a possible fall. Ham fell. There will be those who fall away from the Remnant just as there will always be those who fall away from their salvation. This is not an élite of immortals or indestructables. But those who were faithful before and during the Ark Journey must remain in emunah (faith). Nobody is immune - no spiritual 'vaccine' has been administered that will confer immunity from falling.
Purpose of the Ark
By the same token, those who fell previously may return upon completing their repentance though they will have to run the gauntlet of the Outer Court during this time of Judgment until they do. The principle purpose of this Ark was, and is, to spiritually and materially equip those to ride the coming collapse in safety and to teach the up and coming generation to do the same when the Great Tribulation comes further down the prophetic timeline. A lot who have followed this work but who have not repented or come up to the Ark will be feeling smug that nothing yet untoward has happened to them. So it was with the inhabitants of Noah's day who disregarded the navi's (prophet's) message of warning. Just read your daily news, from reliable sources, and you will see that those 'in the know' know that economic collapse is imminent. The Japanese Prime Minister said so publically just the other day. You have to be completely blind not to see it.
Enjoy the Summer While You May
So I pray you enjoy this summer of the Yovel (Jubilee) year while it lasts. Today is the day of disembarkation of the Remnant. How you unpack your life in the new spiritual space Yahweh has created for you is entirely up to you and as the Ruach (Spirit) leads you. This is the time ordained for the Remnant to prosper and grow irrespective of of the chaos going on in the world right now, and which is going to get orders of magnitude worse. It is a new beginning. Some of you have just moved house and are awaiting new instructions from Yahweh. Some of you are in the midst of marital crisis. Some are just waiting. Wherever you are, whatever your situation, provided you have relinquished the old - completely - Yahweh will guide you and take you to new spiritual heights. If you're still holding on to the old, or are not dealing with old sins, you will be buffetted in the Courtyard until you can be cleansed and can once more enter the Sanctuary.
Conclusion
May the grace of Yah'shua our Messiah (Jesus Christ) go with you. I hope to see many of you this coming Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh. Amen!
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