Chag sameach Rosh Chodesh! Welcome to the first day of an extra intercalatory month this year before we finally end the current biblical creation year and move, with some anticipation, into Aviv, the New Year and the Pesach or Passover Season.

So this is the 13th month, which may be a little unfamiliar to some of our listeners unacquainted with the biblical calendar (in which every month has 29 or 30 days), but was definitely a part of the ancient Israelite system of time-reckoning as we read in Ezekiel 1 & 3 (which, by the way, disproves the so-called 'Enochian' calendar). And though the number 13 is viewed with fear by the superstitious in our Western culture (particularly Friday 13th), that has to do with an historical event not a part of the biblical experience, namely, the mass arrest and subsequent murder of the Knights Templar by the Catholic Church, it is for us it is a positive number as it is connected with the Tabernacles sacrifices and is the biblical number for love (ahavah) and oneness (echad).

I am grateful we have this extra month because for me it represents an extra four weeks of grace so that we can make everything right before Aviv when we celebrate the Birth of our Messiah, symbolising both the new life that is the spring plus the arrival of the Redeemer of the world.

And it's also the birthday of my youngest son and the youngest member of our congregation here, for whom we thank Yahweh for bringing him into the world for I know you will want to join with me in asking the Father's blessings for his future. May today be a double blessing for you, son! May grace, shalom (peace), and good health be yours, for as A.W.Tozer once remarked:

"The glory of God (Elohim) is the health of the universe; the essential soundness of things requires that He be honored among created intelligences."

Brethren and sisters, I said last sabbath that I had a message to deliver, and I do, so it is my prayer that I have your attention. I stand before you as a minister, husband, and father who has to one day give account to Yahweh not only for what I have done and said, but for why I did and said it. So do you in your various spheres of responsibility. We should not only view that as an inevitability - because there is in truth nothing we can ever do to avoid that day of giving an account - but as something to actually look forward to. You will remember the parable of talents Yah'shua (Jesus) told in Matthew 25 and how the various stewards were required to report back to their master after a certain time (the master being a type of our Heavenly Father) to tell of how they had invested the talents the master had given each of them. There is no greater simcha (joy) that to multiply, whether it be love, giftings for Kingdom service, or even progeny raised in the admonition of Yahweh.

This month is such a time for us to reflect on what we have done for Him and how we are going to give our report. Though we usually talk of such things before Yom haKippurim in the autumn (fall), which is the traditional Season of Judgment, we are in a rather special situation right now with judgment being unleased already in several places in the world on a huge scale that could potentially become global at any moment.

I have been trying to locate a written account of a vision I had last year, in the summer or early autumn/fall of 2019 in an assembly. My family tell me I related this vision of a virus with spikes coming out of it, which I had said reminded me of a common cold virus. One person remembers me as describing it as being green in colour. In the vision it was floating around, then it went wavy, then a spark appeared and all of a sudden, the virus violently exploded. I have searched by journals going back to 2018 but can find no record of it. That's not uncommon as I don't record every vision I see because there are so many of them, or I forget or don't have time. I would usually sketch something like that too. So I apologise for that because had my family not remembered it, it probably would have gone clean out of my mind. The meaning is plain enough: the explosion represents an epidemic or pandemic which I realise is easy to say with hindsight or in restrospect. However, this is primarily their witness and not mine. And I have to admit that when the first reports started coming out of Wuhan I marked them down as a hoax or Deep State scare tactics, remembering all the fuss about the Ebola outbreak last time and how the pharmaceutical industry made a fortune selling millions of shots which were never needed and which had to be thrown away at vast cost to the taxpayer. This time, though, reliable sources are plentiful and this is very, very real. Therefore I urge you to take this very seriously indeed.

As I speak, the Wuhan Coronavirus is sweeping the planet with prognostications that upwards of 60 per cent of all people are likely to get infected, of which there is a 2-3 per cent fatality rate. And now, on top of that, there is a plague of locusts sweeping north from Kenya into eastern Arabia, and eastwards into Pakistan, India and all the way to China. Coronavirus is moving through Italy.

Make sure you are fully prepped so that you can quarantine yourself for at least a month, or longer. Remember too that after recovering you can get re-infected, so keep well away from infected areas and people until the disease has passed through. This means, if you have prepped, should you lose electrical power and water, that you will be able to provide all the necessities - food, medicines, water, face masks, colloidal silver, disinfectants, etc. - without having to step outside and so risk infection because this virus spreads in the air and not just by contact with humans and their fluids. You can catch the virus from someone as far away as the length of a football stadium. As I have said before, take lots of Vitamin C, drink plenty of fluids (so remember to store lots of pure water), and - as appropriate and as national laws allow - make sure you can defend yourself and deter potential intruders. You don't need me to give you a full list. It may not come to your area. Pray that it doesn't. Pray for the Ruach (Spirit) to tell you where you need to be. Nevertheless, you would be playing Russian roulette with your life not to be prepared. Consider also the devastating economic effect on this world which within a year could lead to food shortages in many place so your one year supply will then become life-saving. This could be what catalyses the global Collapse we have been anticipating.

Do you remember what I said last sabbath about Thomas Haire taking 6 months off to pray in order to prepare for the judgment seat of Christ? I suggest we do something similar to that so we can not only avoid this epidemic but go into the New Year month of Aviv - the 'month of blossoms' - clean and fresh, having made right what wrongs we can, both for righteousness' sake but also so that we can enjoy our worship experience and communion with the Father to the full.

There are promises in Scripture for those who trust Elohim (God) and obey the mitzvot (commandments). There are hygiene laws in the Torah which the Jews of the Middle Ages observed but Roman Catholic Christendom did not, in consequence of which far fewer Jews died during the numerous plagues like the Black Death. For this they were accused of witchcraft and persecuted when the truth was they were simply following Yahweh's Torah mitzvot (commandments). Make sure you do the same, so search the Torah diligently.

Among the important promises given the Israelites at the first Pesach (Passover) was this one:

"Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land..." (Ex.12:13, NKJV).

Those who pro-actively trust in Christ and who live by the Ruach (Spirit) and the Davar (Word) are covered by the spilled blood of the Passover Lamb, Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ). This blood not only forgives the sins of the repentant sinner but protects him from the plague. Remember that. But remember also to obey the basic hygiene laws of Torah which in our day and age are common sense medical practices really, of which they knew nothing anciently. Wear protective masks over your nose and mouth, goggles over your eyes, and disposable surgical gloves when entering, or handling anything, in an infected area. Be sensible, be wise.

This is in part why Yahweh is calling this 13th month the Month of Stripping, spiritually-speaking. The whole world is being 'stripped' in judgment, to be sure, but if we are to walk in power once again like the first talmidim (disciples), we must follow Yahweh's instructions carefully. What does Yahweh mean exactly by 'stripping'? We read in Scripture about King Saul:

"So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, 'Is Saul also among the nevi'im (prophets)?'" (1 Sam.19:23-24 , NIV).

Everybody who has the testimony of Yah'shua (Jesus) has the spirit of prophecy, as it is written in the Book of Revelation:

"Worship Elohim (God)! For the testimony of Yah'shua (Jesus) is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev.19:10, NKJV).

But in order to have the spirit of prophecy and in order to remain alive in the body and be alive in the Ruach (Spirit) and abide powerfully in the testimony of the Messiah, we must be metaphorically stripped of everything that gets idolatrously in the way between us and Elohim (God). Notice that Saul stripped off his own robes just as Elijah passed his mantle to Elisha - it is a matter of free choice, not the irresistable compulsion of Elohim (God) in the false Calvinistic sense. Only the wicked are forcibly judged.

Practically-speaking, that means honestly laying bare our souls before Yahweh and clearing away everything that is spoiling our relationship with Him and with one another, so that ahavah (love) may freely flow from heaven and between us, so that we may be echad (one) - a double '13'! Pride, which is the Enemy's most effective weapon against the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones), resists such a thing 'something furious' and sadly Saul did not continue in this way, as we know from his behaviour later on in his life as King when he dealt murderously with David in particular (unsuccessfully) but also (alas, successfully) with the 85 cohenim (priests) of Yahweh whom he got Doeg the Edomite to murder in cold blood (1 Sam.22) for giving the fugitive David aid.

And we, as you all also know, are in preparation for the Great Melchizedek Priesthood Dedication in a very short time, whose eternal Cohen Gadol (High Priest) is Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and whose earthly prince is Joseph.

Joseph is Joseph and is not divided, but one. He is a type of Messiah Himself. In his flesh, which he must crucify, he is a dreamer; but in the Ruach (Spirit) he is the master over Egypt, sovereign over his own house and the first apostle over the whole House of Messianic Israel until Messiah comes. His younger brother is Benjamin who is a warrior. In his flesh, which he must crucify, he is as Benjamite King Saul, son of Kish, divided and troubled within and without; but in the Ruach (Spirit) he is as Benjamite Saul of Tarsus who 'fights the good fight', finishes the race, and keeps emunah (faith) under his Great Messianic Captain and Cohen Gadol (High Priest), Yah'shua (Jesus) (2 Tim.4:7).

Brethren and sisters, we are in Yahweh's hands and can rest there, but we must also do the work required of our hands and feet. We have a month to get ready. Do all you can and then rest in the Father. At the end of each day we ought to be able to say, in the words of the hymn:

In Thy strong hand I lay me down,
So shall the work be done;
For who can work so wondrously
As the Almighty One?...
I have no care, my cares are His!
I have no fear, He cares for all my fears.