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Sermons Series 3:40b, 20 May 2006
The Spirit of Elijah
Part 2: Nemesis at Carmel
Main Themes:
Minor Themes:
Click here for Part 1
Brethren and sisters, we resume our study of the Ruach haEliYah or Spirit of Elijah by conducting ourselves to a place which in the Hebrew means 'garden-land' or 'fruitful-land'. The prophet Elijah has been through some challenging and faith-building experiences as all prophets of Yahweh must before they begin their work. His career began with a message about drout and famine delivered to wicked king, Ahab, and his even more wicked wife, Jezebel, followed by a vaccation in the desert learning to rely on Yahweh for his daily provision by the beak of a raven. When it's time to move on, Yahweh dries up the brook that has been providing him with water and presumably the raven is relieved of his catering responsibilities. The scene then changes to the incident of the old woman of Zarepthath and her son in Phoenecia who are starving, their miraculous provision when she is obedient, and a bringing back from the dead of her son that gives this faithful woman a sure knowledge that Elijah is a true prophet because this is what true prophets do. And then it is back into the territory of Israel and a new confrontation with the wicked king who has evidently not been humbled because of the famine sent by Yahweh.
We are seeing so far how important time and patience are in a prophet's ministry. And we are about to get our first glimpse of what the Spirit of Elijah actually is, for up until now all has been preparation. Prophets may be born with their calling, but they are not born fully readied and equipped - at least not those with with anointing of the Spirit of Elijah - they have to be made into prophets by rigorous training in Yahweh's own outdoor workshop.
We ended last week with a meeting between Elijah and Obadiah, the steward over Ahab's palace, a devout believer who had secretly been hiding and feeding a hundred prophets on his own inititiative. And we see for the first time how a prophet must work cooperatively with other servants of Yahweh. So a question begs itself: if Elijah was able to present his initial message of imminent drout and famine to Ahab without the need of an Obadiah, why then the need for a courrier this time round? And the answer is to be found in what the Spirit of Elijah is all about, which is the turning of the hearts of fathers to the sons, and the sons to the fathers, whether biological or spiritual. Obadiah is here a 'son' in a submissive position because Elijah has the authoritative, fathering rôle by virtue of his calling and anointing. The son is given a task to do but he is afraid to do it unless the father is 'there' to protect him from the one he is to deliver the message to. And Elijah promises that he will come - he will not leave Obadiah defenceless. As a 'son' he is not spiritually old enough to do this on his own and needs the 'big guns', as it were, as backup. And it will be the 'big guns' that Ahab indeed focusses on, and thus the son is relieved of the hostile attention of the wicked king.
So we see here one of the first principles of the turning of the hearts through the spirit of Elijah: the father must take the initiative, and when he has directed the son what to do, he must back the son up and bear the brunt of the enemy's attack. Only in this way will the son's heart have confidence to 'turn' to his father, because he knows that he will have the necessary support as he makes his first tentative steps out in faith. He will know, by his spiritual father's actions, that his father truly loves him.
Obadiah duely delivers Elijah's message and a meeting is arranged between the king and the prophe, presumably on 'neutral ground'. Ahab's response is accusing: "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" (1 Kings 18:17, NIV). On this rebuke from a sinner we see what the true prophets must constantly deal with - the rebuke of the unrepentant. It is a simple matter to accuse one but it takes quite a different kind of character to actually be constructive. Elijah reminds the king of the real reason for the nation's troubles:
"'I have not made trouble for Israel,' Elijah replied. 'But you and your father's family have. You have abandonedYahweh's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table'" (1 Kings 18:18-19, NIV).
The king is sifficiently troubled as to want a solution to the catastrophe that faces his nation that he does not hesitate to take up Elijah's challenge. He is prepared to gamble all because he knows that if things continue as they are, his kingdom faces extinction, along with his dynasty. We are seeing repeated in events here the tendency of the fallen, carnal, fleshy nature of human beings to hold out until the end. Yahweh knows this disposition in us well, because he knows the rebel angel Satan well enough to know that this is, in fact, a dark quality to be found in all rebellious beings which persists to the bitter end, no matter what. It is for this reason that the history of Israel went in continuous cycles of apostacy and repentance. We read of this in the stories of the Judges. And this cycle is not broken until the flesh itself is broken - until this ungodly nature is utterly crushed. When it is crushed by compulsion for the sake of justice, it resurrects and rears its ugly head up again and again, but when the soul finally sees the futility of this endless repetition of woes, sufferings and humiliations, it may at last yield self-sovereignty and self-management and become a proper servant to the King of kings. Few do this, however, which is why Yahweh is forced to maintain strict outer laws to keep the carnal nature in check. When man in his blind stupidity repeals these laws in his own authority and substitutes in more liberal ones to accommodate this wicked nature, he brings calamity upon the whole nation and severs the sacred father-son relationship. Whether it be done under the auspices of an autocartic king like Ahab or whether it is voted in by the people through a democratic process makes not the slightest bit of difference, for 'democracy' does not sanctify sin as though it were some divine principle in its own right. Satan uses the autocrats as readily as he does the democrats.
Ahab has reached a point in the carnal cycle where he knows that his power and his very life are at stake. He knows that if something is not done, however desperate, that he stands to lose all. Therefore it is at this point of spiritual descent into darkness that the unbridled soul starts taking dangerous and desperate risks. It gambles everything. And what does it turn to? Religion - because all behaviour ultimaterly rests in faith. Ahab cannot trust in Yahweh because he has chosen to reject Him already so he must turn to the only other supposedly 'viable' option - his pagan deities. So he turns to Baal and Asherah about which I need to say a few things because we are fighting the same spiritual enemies in our day, albeit sometimes under different labels.
The Hebrew word ba'al means 'master', 'possessor' or 'husband'. When the Isarelites under Joshua entered the Holy Land they discovered that every piece of land had its own deity or 'owner', what today in deliverance ministry we call a 'territorial spirit' or demon, so there were in fact many 'Baals'. Each locality had a deity or god with its own surname, such as Baal-peor (Num.25:3). The supreme 'Baal' or 'Baal of baals' was the pagan sun-god who appears in heathen cultures throughout the world and was known as Bel, originally called Marduk by the Babylonians. The centre of this worship was found at Beth-shemesh, meaning 'house of the sun', where a large pagan temple was dedicated to this demon. This supreme Baal is, of course, none other than Lucifer - the 'light-bearer', or Satan himself. The Baal whom Ahab worshipped, and which was introduced into Israel by Jezebel, was known as Melqart whose capital was Tyre where Jezebel came from. This cult was well known not only for its lascivious fertility rites but also for its abominable child sacrifices (Jer.19:5).
Baal was not, however, alone, but had his female demoness-consort called Asherah, the Canaanite mother-goddess (1 Ki.18:9; 2 Ki.23:4; 2 Chr.15:16) mentioned in the Ras Shamra texts as a goddess of the sea and consort of El, but associated in the Old Testament with Baal (Judg.3:7). Today we recognise Asherah as actually a cluster of seven demonesses, the counterfeit of the sevenfold Ruach haQodesh, the 'brides' of Satan, two of which are well-established evil spirits of our own end-time western cultures, Lilith and Hecate. Images of both Baal and Asherah were made by the pagans (e.g. 1 Ki.15:13) and the Israelites were commanded by Yahweh to cut these wooden asherim down and burn them upon entering the Holy Land (Ex.24:14; Dt.12:3). Needless to say this Baal cult was simply an ancient version of satanism and devil-worship which has reared its ugly head more and more in the last century and is spreading globally under a veil of secrecy, but which is becoming progressively bolder and will one day, for seven horrible years, actually seize global political power under the satanic antichrist. They will not, however, be able to touch the twelve end-time cities of refuge which we have been commissioned to build for they will operate under the Ruach haEliYah or Spirit of Elijah. Their fate then, as now, if they come up against us, will not be dissimilar to the fate of the prophets of Baal and Asherah at Mount Carmel.
It is no accident, as I tried to hint at the beginning of my sermon, that the word 'Carmel' means 'garden-land' or 'fruitful'land' in Hebrew, and is indeed used as a common noun in this language throughout the Old Testament (Is.16:10; Jer.4:26; 2 Ki.19:23 [RSV], 2 Chr.26:10 [RSV]). The contest between Yahweh and Satan takes place in a fruitful garden just as it is doing so today in the invisible realm in the absence of a theocratic nation belonging to Yahweh. In Elijah's day, however, the contest was both invisible and visible and took place on a range of very fertile hills which were about 30 miles long extending from the northwest to the southeast, from the Mediterranean to the plain of Dothan.
And now let us take a look at this contest and in particular let us look at the state of mind as the Israelite people and try to figure out what was going on inside them. We read:
"So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets [of Baal and Asherah] on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, 'How long will you waver between two opinions? If Yahweh is Elohim, follow him; but if Baal is Elohim, follow him'. But the people said nothing" (1 Kings 18:20-21, NIV).
The people were in an undecided state - they had neither chosen Yahweh nor Baal but were 'tolerating' both. They were indulging in what scholars call 'religious syncretism', meaning, they were mixing elements of two different religions. It was this practice which caused the fall of Solomon, the 'father' of his nation, and which led Israel and Judah to split (the 'sons') and fall into frequent apostacy. The sins of the fathers (Solomon, and the successor kings who imitated him and each other) led to the cursing of the sons of the nation and their families. The people were apostates, the only true believers being a tiny remnant, as we saw last week.
Now when you start mixing truth with errors it creates a state of both spiritual and moral stupor, or mental dullness. What was their reaction to Elijah's challenge? "But the people said nothing". They just stood there, no one daring to make a choice. And that's what happens when believers get demonised because the compromise the true faith. When Christians go and practice, yoga, meditation, martial arts - or go and have joint-worskshops with Wiccans, shamans, occultists and the like - they are creating friendships with the world which Yahweh hates, and creating soul-ties by sympathising with pagan religion and thus becoming a channel for demons into their own lives. What they may believe naïvely to be 'good will to all men' becomes an act of rebellion against Yahweh because it's religious humanism, not true spirituality. Or as a revelation a Norwegian Christian lady received says, this is not Yahweh's Ruach but "a religious spirit" which does not "only include I, Yahweh, but also all existing church congregations and religious organisations". It "shows love to all the religions, but ... does not have my Word, because it speaks against [true] belief and way of being". Those who submit to this false spirit "love people more than ... Yahweh" and such are described as "prostitutes in My eyes, says Yahweh, because [they] either pervert or reject My Word". The revelation goes on to say that the whole of Norway is permeated by this false spirit. Yahweh continues: "And now I will show you the approaching judgment over your country because those who were My people have thrown out My Word, and their hatred has turned itself against My Way" (OB 467:8-15). Yahweh explains that this is the spirit that is being poured out over the whole world where religious people are to be found (v.7).
Satan always infiltrates the true faith in this way by getting people to be curious about false religion or philosophy, then become sympathetic to it and - in order to conceal the betrayal of Yahweh that this constitutes - channels demons through the soul-ties created with Yahweh-haters which create a 'religious spirit' of tolerance of all and everything, no matter what it is. Now in this revelation, which is called the 'Kongsberg Vision', Yahweh graphically dispays the result. This religious spirit mutates into humanistic socialistic democracy and then finally evolves into its true form, militantly atheistic communism. It's a very interesting revelation, actually because it shows that the 'fall' of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe was just a bluff. Though the outward symbols and ideological words changed, the spirit remained the same and continues to spread everywhere. For that spirit is, in fact, not so much atheism (disbelief in Yahweh) but antitheism (a hatred of Yahweh). The people in Ahab's day were on the slippery slope into one of Satan's oldest and most successful deceptions - that of first creating sympathy with false religion and then openly embracing and merging with it. And that false spirit does not go away by simply saying "Boo!" - it is demonic, and the demonic never leaves without a fight. That is why we are fighting our own 'Carmels' today - huge spiritual battles that the world and Christendom are largely ignorant of, indifferent to, and contemptuous of.
Ahab's and Jezebel's Kingdom are the world as it is today. The Baals exist in numerous mutated forms and under different names. The whole ecumenical movement is inspired by it. The One World Religion movement is inspired by it. Social democracy is inspired by it, communism is inspired by it, fascism is inspired by it, Talmudic Judaism is inspred by it, Islam is inspired by it, lawless Christianity is inspired by it. There is hardly a facet of human life that isn't inspired by it. And the only way to be completely free of it is by surrendering to Yah'shua fully, trusting in His Son, and obeying all the commandments, and not just what you want.
So there were the people, like disconnected and lost sons, unable or unwilling to choose. After all, their spiritual 'father' was their King and Sovereign and he was compromising with paganism and letting his wife murder Yahweh's prophets. They were in a double-Catch 22 situation. They were required by the monarchic system to obey the King, but they also had a higher obligation to obey Yahweh. Their lives were threatened by both if they did not obey the one or the other. So they compromised and became double-minded. You might even say that the nation was suffering from a form of schizophrenia. Why a double-Catch 22 situation? Because their forefathers had chosen the monarchy when Yahweh had said that this would lead to tyrrany. Yahweh's ideal was the Tribal Confederacy - autonomous tribal units ruled by judges under a unified Priesthood - but the people in Saul's day wanted to imitate the fallen nations around them. They wanted the pomp and splendour or monarchy and a charismatic leader they could rally around as a permanent symbol of state. That worked pretty well with a righteous king in power but Yahweh knew that they were few and far between - even the 'model' kings, David and Solomon, were corrupted, and Solomon completely apostacised. Yahweh does not want a monarchic system in human government. He alone is King, and His designated Son, Yah'shua! There must never be human kings in the sense of absolute, totalitarian rulers. There must be twelve tribal heads, each ruling their own tribes as Israelite Judges under theocratic rules. Four of these are heads of three tribes, and one presides over all but within a confederate system of accountability. The Israelites in Ahab's day did not have that and both Israel and Judah would never get it. Only now is it being restored.
It is plain that the people would not just repent at the word of Yahweh's prophet. Yahweh knew that which is why He set up this contest on Mount Carmel. The story of what happened on that mountain is well known to you but it contains vital elements of truth which we must understand in the context of our own contest with the invisible powers and principalities today (Eph.6:2; Col.1:16; 2:15), which is why I am spending some time on this subject.
Firstly, we must stress that this contest, though taking place on the spiritual plane as well as the physical, was primarily experienced by the people of Israel in the visible dimension. The way the people of Israel experienced Yahweh's presence was the same way that they experienced it when they left Egypt - it was primarily physical. Now you and I know that miracles do not in themselves convert people's hearts. Outward signs and miracles don't make lasting faith. Even Satan can duplicate these to a certain extent. We know this is so from the way the Israelites complained, murmured and rebelled in the Sinai desert, and after they had seen the most dramatic physical miracles in history - the ten plagues and the parting of the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea). And as I have tried to share with you over the years, these physical events and miracles are types of great things that are supposed to happen inside in the invisible realm. They are not the most important thing. What matters the most are the permanent changes within the heart.
Elijah, the prophet of Yahweh, faced 50 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah alone. When Yahweh acts He always carefully ensures that no miracle can be attributed to the arm of flesh or to man's own natural strength or power. When Gideon was commanded to assemble an army to ward off the invading Midianite hoardes, He kept on reducing the Israelite numbers so that all that was left were 300 of the élite. Those who didn't want to fight were first dismissed, and then those who drank like animals, leaving only the committed and noble (Judg.7). The odds were, humanly-speaking, totally against Yahweh's army. However, the miracle at Carmel was another sort of miracle because no human instruments of intervention were used except prayer and faith. Here is Elijah, fortified in his faith having seen the miraculous hand of Yahweh at work already. Now He is going to do something He has never done before - before hundreds of ravenous, perverse, child-murdering satanic pagans, who would have happily slit his throat - He is going to call down fire from heaven with high stakes: his life verses 450 false prophets' lives. Somehow I think both knew that either Elijah or the prophets of Baal would die that day, and so they behaved accordingly. The Torah demands the execution of false prophets. They put everything into the proceedings they had - Elijah, all of his faith, and the prophets of Baal, all the psychic energy into their rituals they could.
Elijah has issued this challenge at Yahweh's behest so now He challenges again, but this time before the satanists and the people of Israel:
"Then Elijah said to them, 'I am the only one of Yahweh's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your elohim, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. The elohim who answers by fire - he is Elohim'" (1 Kings 18:22-24, NIV).
Now you don't make such a challenge unless you're sure you're going to win. You don't make such a challenge and put your life on the line unless you're a raving lunatic or you know something that most mortals don't know about. What did Elijah know? He knew that Yahweh was trustworthy. He knew that His Word never returned to Him void. And He knew because He had seen His Word fulfilled before in other life-and-death circumstances that His life was safe in Yahweh's hands. Similarly you don't declare war on modern satanists unless you know these things or unless you're a lunatic or an infatuated Christian overtaken by vain confidence in charismatic gobbledegook.
We will now see a sharp contrast between the ways of Yahweh and the ways of Satan. We will see how little Yahweh's servants actually have to do. And yet they don't do nothing. They exercise faith. They believe, they trust. That's all Yahweh's people ever have to do and carry out some simple instructions.
When the people had agreed to Elijah's challenge, he gave instructions to the prophets of Baal:
"'Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your elohim, but do not light the fire.' So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. 'O Baal, answer us!' they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made" (1 Kings 18:25-26, NIV).
These anctics by the satanists caused Elijah some amusement:
"At noon Elijah began to taunt them. 'Shout louder!' he said. 'Surely he is an elohim! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.' So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention" (1 Kings 18:27-29, NIV).
Those of you familiar with deliverance work know that highly demonised people resort to what is called 'cutting'. The drawing of blood gives them a kind of artificial 'release'. The Torah says:
"For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, 'None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood'" (Lev.17:11-12, NIV).
Satan, and the pagan cults he establishes, reverses everything that is true. Yahweh says we are not to eat blood - satanists drink it. Yahweh says that the life of a creature is in the blood, and that we should view life as sacred and belonging to Yahweh. Satan sheds life in order to destroy it, human and animal. Moreover, under the Old Covenant, the blood of specified animals was shed to give temporary antonement. Under the New Covenant, that is no longer required because Yah'shua was, and is, our atonement. The shedding of blood for the removal of sin ended two thousand years ago. Satan and his pagan cults twist that by getting people to cut and slash themselves, like the prophets of Baal, to make atonement for themselves. By this means guilt - real or imagined - is assuaged by making an offering to demons so that the conscience, already wrongly programmed by lies, is no longer troubling. The psychological relief gained by the victim in shedding his own blood, in which he believes the lie that he has somehow atoned for his own guilt, is only of temporary duration as the demonic within presses for more and more. The shedding of blood releases psychic energy from the victim which the demonic plunders, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle of demonic abuse.
So here the prophets of Baal are shedding their own blood in a demonic frenzy to try and influence, persuade, cajole, or beg the imaginary 'Baal' to send down fire from heaven. Satanism has, of course, become more sophisticated and more evil three thousand on, and even satanists would probably laugh at this display by the primitive Baal cult of the past. Modern satanists can, on occasion, call down fire down from from the second heaven to consume their sacrificial victims, though it is rare and costly, since neither Satan nor demons are omnipotent but must steal the energy they have accumulated over a long period of time. At any rate, the efforts of the Baal cult are futile and nothing happens, and Elijah rightly taunts them.
Now I wouldn't recommend you go taunting or mocking the enemy in the mannner of Elijah did unless you have the authority to do so. So the question is begged: how does one get the authourity? And the answer should not be difficult to arrive at. What did Elijah do in the period of time prior to this mission to Mount Carmel? What were his spiritual qualifications? Well, firstly, Yahweh commissioned him to do the job of a prophet - this isn't something he decided to do himself. Speaking of the office of High Priest or Cohen Gadol Paul said:
"No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by Elohim, just as Aaron was. So Messiah also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a High Priest" (Heb.5:4-5, NIV).
Now Elijah was not a High Priest but he was a prophet. And as we know from the account given in the first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah, the calling of prophet is made even before we are born. Yahweh said to him:
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations" (Jer.1:5, NIV).
Thus our callings are not an afterthrought on the part of Yahweh. And the calling of a prophet is based on the spiritual qualities of the man being called. And those qualities include, as we have seen, total dedication to, and love of Yahweh, and total obedience to Torah. And as we have also seen, these men are tried and tested in afflictions to see if they will be true or not. Then such are ready to both challenge and, as required, taunt the enemy.
Now do not suppose that Elijah's behaviour is Yahweh condoning mockery. Mockery is condemned throughout scripture and particularly in Proverbs. Yahweh warned: "Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier" (Isa.28:22, NIV) to the pagan-hearted Israelites who disdained the prophets for calling them to repentance. "The mocker resents correction; he will not consult the wise" (Prov 15:12, NIV), says Solomon, reminding us that the mockery that Yahweh hates is that which disdains wisdom and truth, and originates in the sin of pride and rebellion. However, Elijah's mockery and tainting were not as this, for his heart, as we have seen, was right. He was full of the Ruach haQodesh, and he did no more than imitate Yahweh, of whom it is written:
"Yahweh's curse is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous. He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble" (Prov.3:33-34, NIV).
Elijah speaks for Yahweh who mocks Satan whom He knows He will crush at Golgotha in a millennia's time and who is about to lose an important battle that day. Satan does not know what is coming but Yahweh does. Satan never knows what's coming, which is why he fears, just as Ahab did not know the outcome of the contest at Mount Carmel. But Yahweh did, and so did Elijah because he trusted Yahweh.
The prophets of Baal and Asherah have been busy all day screaming and cutting themselves and nothing has happened. The people have witnessed this and their hearts are already slowly turning away from Baal. Nevertheless they have yet to see what Yahweh will do before they will make their final choice:
"Then Elijah said to all the people, 'Come here to me.' They came to him, and he repaired the altar of Yahweh, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh had come, saying, 'Your name shall be Israel.' With the stones he built an altar in the name of Yahweh, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, 'Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.' 'Do it again,' he said, and they did it again. 'Do it a third time,' he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench" (1 Kings 18:30-35, NIV).
The sacrifice that Elijah is about to make is not something of his own invention but a prescription of the Torah - it is the evening sacrifice. The altar has been dessicrated and destroyed by the Baalists and Elijah rebuilts it in the very midst of his enemies. And is this not we have done also? Have we not in fact constructed a Temple in the very heartland of the satanists in America which no enemy has been able to enter so long as the custodian of that temple has been true to Yahweh? How many satanists have died trying to enter it? And how many have fled from it when the glory of Yahweh has been manifested! And I am not speaking of the physical body of a believer, though that also is a consecrated temple of Yahweh, but a physical room inside a satanist's house in the middle of a coven! And even though the door has been ripped down by the enemy, they still cannot pass through the opening. In the very heartland of the enemy, what does Yahweh do? He sets up shop! See what King David says:
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever" (Ps.23:4-6, NIV).
Hallelu-Yah! Wherever there are true believers consecrated to Yahweh, trusting in Yah'shua and obedient to Torah, even though they be surrounded my miriads of the enemy, He prepares them a table, anoints them with the Ruach haQodesh, and overflows them with blessings!
So I ask you this question: do you dare to defy Satan by setting up shop in the heart of his territory? Will you trust Yahweh as Elijah did by setting up an altar in your heart, no matter what issues you may have, no matter how many demons may be plaguing you, and challenge the enemy to a contest so that the frightened, disbelieving part of you can see and witness the glory of Elohim? Will you do that? If you will, then the outcome is guaranteed!
"At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: 'O Yahweh, Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are Elohim in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Yahweh, are Elohim, and that you are turning their hearts back again.' Then the fire of Yahweh fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "Yahweh - He is Elohim! Yahweh - He is Elohim!'" (1 Kings 18:36-39, NIV).
He, Yahweh, is "turning their hearts back again" to the fathers - to Abraham, Isaac and Israel - the sons back to the fathers, and to the Elohim of Abraham, Issac and Israel - YAHWEH., our Heavenly Father - sons back to the fathers, and the fathers back to the Father of All.
Now all I ask you here assembled is this simple question: will you have the fire of Yahweh consume all your spiritual adversaries? For YOU - if You claim the Name of Israel - YOU - if you are trusting Yah'shua - YOU - if you are obeying Torah out of love for the Elohim - YOU, then will be delivered from your demons. BUT you cannot just stand there and do nothing: you have to make a choice! For I give you a challenge, as my forefather Joshua did to ancient Israel, as I repeat these his words to you today:
"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve ... but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh" (Josh.24:15, NIV).
If you choose this Mishpachah, then you choose to serve Yahweh, and cannot be in two minds as the Israelites were when Elijah first addressed them on Mount Carmel. You cannot be double-minded - not only will double-mindedness make you unstable in all your ways but it will lead you into apostacy and spiritual death. I guarantee it. You can't have one foot in the world and one in the Camp of Messianic Israel - you must choose one or the other, for you will end up loving the one and hating the other. Your heart cannot be divided any longer. You cannot be like Jacob the deceiver following Yahweh with one hand and being a trickster with the other ... whether a trickster of men or of your own soul. It's not possible. Who are you going to imitate? Whose ways will you follow? Who will be your father on earth and your Father in Heaven? Are you the children of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, or are you the children of someone else? If you are the children of Abraham, then "do the works of Abraham" (Jn.8:39). And "understand," as Paul said, "that those who believe [in Yah'shua] are children of Abraham" (Gal.3:7, NIV) - the children of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Elijah, John, Paul - these are our fathers, and we become their children because of their testimony if we believe them (1 Cor.4:15), just as you become my children if you believe me.
Brethren and sisters, not only will you have your soul purified by fire and have the invisible powers and principalities of evil driven from your being, but you will also drive away your enemies in the flesh as well but only - only - if you live the way Yahweh tells you, and obey Him in all things, and trust in Yah'shua your Saviour. Compromise with what He wants you to do - refuse to go the whole way - then what is your promise? Nothing. Love, obey and serve Him and great victories will be granted you, as they were to Elijah:
"Then Elijah commanded them, 'Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!' They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there" (1 Kings 18:40, NIV).
Now our wishy-washy, vaccuous-minded, tepid, lukewarm liberal society, and their backslidden Christian syncretisers, may not like to hear these things, but who cares? Who gives a fig when Yahweh-Sebaoth is with us. Shall we deliberately provoke them? No, we shall live at peace with them as best we can where that is possible (Rom.12:18). But shall we compromise the truth with them? No, never! And if they come against us, what is the promise Yahweh gives us? He will preserve His own and scatter or destroy those who seek to take our lives or harm us. However, we shall not go against them until He directs, like Elijah.
Next week we shall continue to see how Yahweh dealt with Elijah and his enemies. We shall see other weaknesses the prophet had to overcome, and probably see in these weaknesses many of our own. Therefore we would do well to listen, learn, and prosper. May you all have a blessed Sabbath. Amen.
Click here for Part 3
Author: Lev-Tsiyon
Glossary of MLT Hebraic, Greek and English Terms For other terms and full details please see the Micropedia
A
Adon(ai) = Master, a pagan fertility god, Adonis; used by many Messianics but not MLT
(a)eon(ian) = 7 dispensation- or age-long time periods, not forever (see le-olam-va-ed)
Alef-Tav = Alpha-Omega, A-Z, first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet = Yah'shua
Amen = truly, let it be so, written Amein by some Messianics
Apocrypha = Hebraic Scriptures not a part of the Protestant canon (e.g. Baruch)
Anti-Messiah = Hebraic term for the end-time Antichrist or anyone opposed to the Messiah
antinomian = lawless Christian who disregards all or part of Torah/commandments
Ashkenazi Jew = East European Jew descended from the Turkic-Japhethite Khazars
Assembly = church, congregation, ekklesia, community, fellowship, koinonia, gathering
Azazel = the Yom Kippur scapegoat
B
Baal, Ba'al = any other master than Yahweh, usually demonic in MLT terminology
Bachor(im) = firstborn son(s)
Bar/Bat Mitzvah = Son/Daughter of Commandment, covenant to obey Torah at age 12
being = soul, the whole person (spirit and body), e.g. "my whole being"
Beit, bet, beth = house, e.g. Beit Yisrael (House of Israel), Beth Lechem (House of Bread)
Beit haMikdash = Yahweh's Temple in Yerushalayim
B'rit Chadashah = the New Covenant; B'rit Chadashah Scriptures = New Testament
B'rit Milah = circumcision - abolished in the B'rit Chadashah, replaced by Mikvah
C
canon = authoritative Scripture (Heb. qaneh, Gk. kanôn = measuring instrument)
Catechumen = a serious, covenanted investigator seeking Mikvah or Baptism in MLT
Chag haMatzah = Feast of Unleavened Bread, second of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Chavurat Bekorot = MLT's Priesthood Order, Holy Order and Assembly of the Firstborn
Cohen = priest; Cohen Gadol = High Priest (also spelled Kohen)
Council of Yah's elohim = the heavenly Assembly of the Firstborn or Chavurat Bekorot
D
demon = fallen malek or angel in rebellion against Yahweh (Heb. shad; see Êl-Shaddai)
derech = the Way, Path or Road - Yah'shua and the Gospel are the Way
Drash = moral or homiletic interpretation of Scripture - see PaRDeS
E
Echad = One, Union of two or more in one (as opposed to Yachid) - see Elohim
Echad Godhead Doctrine = Father Yahweh, Son Yah'shua and Sevenfold Ruach (Mother)
Êl, Eloah, Elah = God the Father, Yahweh
Êl-Elyon = Most High God, Yahweh
Êl-Shaddai = Master/Lord over all shads or demons
Elohim = God, the Godhead (Father, Son & Holy Spirit), lit. 'Mighty One(s)', 'Ruler(s)'
elohim = Israelite judges, rulers, angels or gods (false deities, idols, demons)
emunah = faith, actively trusting, clinging or adhering to (especially Yahweh or Yah'shua)
emet = truth, Yah'shua is the Emet
Ephraimite = descendant of the patriarch Ephraim and head of Messsianic Israel
F
Feasts of Yahweh = the 7 annual Moedim (Pesach, Chag haMatzah, Yom haBikkurim, Shavu'ot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot)
G
Gan-Eden = Garden of Eden, Paradise and state of the purified heart in Messiah
goy(im) = nation(s), Israelites or gentiles not born in or converted to the Covenant
H
hallelu-Yah = praise Yah(weh)!
Heylel = proper name of Satan or haSatan = the Adversary, the devil
Sabbath = Yom Shabbat (Friday to Saturday sunset, add 1 day in IDL Zone)
Hochmah = Wisdom, title of the 7-fold Ruach haQodesh
I
IDL = International Date Line, false man-made time division in Pacific Ocean
IDL Zone = Area between the true Divine Date Line (Lake Van/Eden) and the false one
Israeli = citizen of the modern Edomite-Khazar Republic of Israel (not Biblical Israel)
Israelite = citizen of biblical state of Israel or a modern follower of the Messiah
J
Jew = post-biblical term describing descendants of Edomite and Khazar converts to Judaism
Johannine = pertaining to the Apostle Yochanan (e.g. Gospel of John)
Josephite = descendant of the patriarch Joseph, the head of Messianic Israel
Judahite = a person in direct descent from the patriarch Judah, forefather of the Messiah
Judaism = a Talmudic-based religion rejecting Yah'shua the Messiah
Judean = a citizen of the Kingdom or Province of Judah until the 2nd Century diaspora
K
Kadosh la Yahweh = set-apart or dedicated to Yahweh, 'Holiness to the Lord', MLT motto
Karaites = Jews (from 700 AD) who reject the Talmud and accept only the Tanakh
kashrut = keeping kosher, food laws of Yahweh and correspinding lifestyle
Ketuvim = Writings or Hagiographa of the Tanakh
Khazar = a Turkic convert to Judaism ~700 AD forming the Ashkenazi Jewish community
kosher = clean foods authorised by Yahweh for human consumption
L
Lashon Hara = evil-speaking, gossip or slander
legalism = false route to salvation through works (self-salvation)
le-olam-va-ed = dispensation- or age-long, aeonian, not eternal, forever or for eternity
Lev = heart, as in Lev-Tsiyon = heart of Zion
Lev-Tsiyon = Heart of the Fortress [of Yahweh], Hebrew name of MLT's founder
M
Master = Lord, Sir, Adon(ai) - (one in authority, a ruler - a king, husband, prophet, judge)
Malak(im) = Angel(s), heavenly supernatural messenger(s)
manna = wafers of honey, bread from heaven (lit. 'what is this?')
matzah = unleavened bread, see Chag haMatzah
Menorah = 7-armed candlearbra = the 7 annual Moedim and 7-fold Ruach haQodesh
Messiah = Christ; Anti-Messiah = Antichrist
Messianic Community = Body of Christ, sum total of all true believers; all true fellowships
Messianic Israel = all who worship Yahweh, trust in Yah'shua, obey Torah and overcome
Messianic Jew = Messianic convert from Judaism still clinging to Talmudic traditions
Midrash = aggadic interpretation of scripture viâ Drash, a scriptural discussion
Mikvah = baptism by immersion of convert into Yah'shua or of wife into husband
Mishpachah = family: nuclear, congregational, tribal or the whole of Messianic Israel
MLT = Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon = family of the heart of the fortress [of Yahweh]
Mishpat = right-ruling or judgement
mitzvah/mitzvot = commandment(s)
moed(im) = appointment(s) of Yahweh, 7 Annual Feasts, Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh
N
Nefilim, Nephilim = giant offspring of materialised demons and human women
Nevi'im = prophetic writings of the Old Testament or Tanakh
New Birth = spiritual conversion in the Ruach haRishon, being 'born again' with new heart
Nidah = a woman's menstruation period during which no intercourse is permitted
O
Olive Branch = collection of revelations, prophecies and visions published by MLT
P
Paraclete = Comforter, Advocate (NEB), Counsellor, Ruach haQodesh (Gk. paraklêtos)
PaRDeS = method of textual interpretation (homiletics) - see P'shat, Remez, Drash, Sod
Patriarch = a father who is head of his family, clan or tribe (lit. 'father-ruler')
Pentateuch = first five books of the Tanakh (Genesis-Deuteronomy), also called Torah
peribolaion = headcovering worn by daughters/wives in submission to fathers/husbands
Pesach = Passover, first of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Peshitta = an Aramaic version of the Bible
Prototrinitarianism = early, simplified MLT formulation of the Echad Godhead Doctrine
Prush(im) = Pharisee(s)
Pseudepigrapha = Non-canonical Hebrew writings additional to the Apocrypha
P'shat = literal, contextual, philological, exoteric, outer meaning of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Q
Qadosh Qadoshim = Holy of Holies, most sacred set-apart room of the Beit haMikdash
Qodesh, Kodesh = set-apart, holy (see Ruach haQodesh)
R
Rabbi = Teacher, term used by Messianic Jews and some Messianic Israelites = Pastor
Refuge, the 12 Cities of = divinely protected MLT fortresses during the 7-year Tribulation
Remez = hint or allegorical level of Hebraic understanding of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Rosh Chodesh = monthly New Moon appointment of Yahweh
ruach = spirit of a person (lit.'breath')
Ruach Elohim = Spirit of God (the Spirit of the collective Godhead or Elohim)
Ruach haChamashee = 5th Ruach presides over Yom Teruah and Yom Chamashee
Ruach haQodesh = the Sevenfold Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost (lit. 'Set-Apart Breath')
Ruach haRevee = 4th Ruach presides over Shavu'ot, Yom Revee and Bar Mitzvah
Ruach haRishon = 1st Ruach presides over Pesach, Yom Rishon and the New Birth
Ruach haShanee = 2nd Ruach presides over Chag haMatzah and Yom Shanee
Ruach haSheshi = 6th Ruach presides over Yom Kippur and Yom Sheshi
Ruach haShleshi = 3rd Ruach presides over Yom haBikkurim, Yom Shleshi and Mikvah
S
Sabbath = Yom Shabbat (Friday to Saturday sunset, add 1 day in IDL Zone)
Satan = rebel archangel Heylel, father of lies, devil, chief demon (lit.'Adversary')
Sephardic Jew = West European Jew of mixed blood containing many Judahites
Septuagint = Greek translation of the Tanakh, LXX
Shegal haShabbat = 7th Ruach (Sabbath Queen) presides over Sukkot and Yom Shabbat
Shekinah = Divine Presence and Glory of Yahweh-Elohim
Set-apart = holy, sanctified, consecrated, dedicated, separated (to and by Yahweh)
Shabbat-Shabbaton = High Sabbath (e.g. Yom Kippur)
Shalom = heavenly peace, standard Hebraic greeting invoking Yahweh's peace
Shamash(im) = servant(s), deacon(s), attendant(s)
Shavu'ot = Pentecost or Weeks, fourth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Sheol = grave or pit, euphamism for Hades or hell - also see Tartarus
shofar = ram's horn, blown during Yahweh's Moedim
simcha = joy, keynote of Sukkot
Sod = mystical, anagogic, inner or esoteric understanding of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Sukkot = Tabernacles or Booths, seventh of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Synagogue = Greek word used by Jews and Messianics (but not MLT) for a meeting house
T
talmid(a) = male/female disciple or student
Talmud = scriptures, teachings and commentaries belonging to non-Messianic Judaism
Tanakh = acronym for Old Testament Scriptures - Torah, Nevi'im & Ketuvim
Tartarus = place of imprisonment under the earth for rebellious angels and Nephilim
teshuvah = repentance, remorse and contrition leading back to Torah obedience
Torah = Yahweh's teachings or Law; New Covenant Torah includes Yah'shua's teachings
Tribulation, the Great = the final 7 years of the present aeon when Anti-Messiah rules
Trinity = Catholic Godhead formula - see Echad Godhead Doctrine and Prototrinitarianism
Tsiyon = Zion, a fortress, a name of Jerusalem and a prominent hill
Tzitzit/Tizitziyot = tassel(s) worn by men in remembrance of Torah
U
Universalism = salvation of all at the cosmic Yovel, with different rewards and punishments
Y
Yachid = one, single person or item, as opposed to Echad (many in one, unity)
Yah'shua the Messiah = Jesus Christ (the Son)
Yahudah = Judah - see Judahite
Yahweh, Yah, YHWH = the true Name of our Heavenly Father, also carried by Yah'shua
Yahweh-Elohim = LORD God (the Father, Yahweh as Head of the Godhead or Elohim)
Yahweh haQatan = the sent Yahweh = Yah(weh)'shua, Malak of Yahweh's Presence
Yam Suf = Sea of Reeds, the true Israelite Exodus water crossing, not the Red Sea
Yarden = Jordan River (lit. 'meanderer')
Yerushalayim = Jerusalem
Yisrael = Israel (lit. 'ruling with Êl') = true believers under the New Covenant
Yom Chamashee = 5th day of the week (Thursday, Friday in IDL Zone)
Yom Din, Yom haDin = (the) Day of Judgement
Yom haBikkurim = Feast of Firstfruits, third of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yom Revee = 4th day of the week (Wednesday, Thursday in IDL Zone)
Yom Rishon = 1st day of the week (Sunday, Monday in IDL Zone)
Yom Kippur = Day of Atonement, sixth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yom Shabbat = 7th day of the week and Sabbath Rest (Saturday, Sunday in IDL Zone)
Yom Shanee = 2nd day of the week (Monday, Tuesday in IDL Zone)
Yom Sheshi = 6th day of the week (Friday, Saturday in IDL Zone)
Yom Shleshi = 3rd day of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday in IDL Zone)
Yom Teruah = Day of Trumpets, fifth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yosef = Joseph - see Josephite
Yovel = Jubilee or Year of Jubilee
Z
Zaqen(im) = elder(s) of an assembly or congregation, or senior members of a community
Zoë Life = Greek term for spiritual life in the Messiah
Commonly Used MLT Abbreviations
For additional abbreviations and explanations, please see the Micropedia
A
Amp.V(er). = Amplified Version of the Bible
Aram. = Aramaic
AV = Authorised Version of the Bible - see KJV
B
BCAY = B'rit Chadashah Assembly of Yahweh - see NCCG
BoA = Books of Abraham (e.g. 1Abr., 2Abr., etc.)
C
cp, cf = compare with
CB(Q) = Chavurat Bekorot
CEV = Contemporary English Version of the Bible
ch. = chapter
CJB = Complete Jewish Bible
CLNT = Concordant Literal New Testament
CYe = Council of Yah's elohim
E
Eng. = English
F
ff. = and onwards/forwards
fn = footnote
G
Gk. = Greek
GNB = Good News Bible - see TEV
H
Heb. = Hebrew, Hebraic
HEM = Holy Echad Marriage, eternal marriage
HO = Holy Order - see Chavurat Bekorot
HOC = Holy Order Collection of revelations - see OB
HRV = Hebraic-Roots Version of the Bible
I
ibid. = ibidem (lit. 'in the same place'), referring to a book previously cited
ICJC = Independent Church of Jesus Christ, earlier name of NCCF
ISRV = Institute for Scripture Research Version of the Bible
J
JB = Jerusalem Bible
JBP/Phillips = J.B.Phillips translation of the New Testament
JNT = Jewish New Testament
K
KJV = King James Version of the Bible - see AV
L
LB = Living Bible
lit. = literally or literature
LXX = Septuagint, Greek translation of the OT
M
MLT = Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon
Moff. = Moffatt translation of the Bible
MRC = Messianic Renewed Covenant Version of the NT
MS(S) = Manuscript(s)
N
NASB, NASV = New American Standard Bible/Version
NC&C = New Covenants & Commandments - see OB
NCCF = New Covenant Christian Fellowship, earlier name of NCCG
NCCG = New Covenant Church of God, earlier name of MLT - see BCAY
NCP = New Covenant Press, publishing arm of MLT
NCW = New Covenant Witness, MLT magazine
NEB = New English Bible
NIV = New International Version of the Bible
NKJV = New King James Version of the Bible
Nor. = Norwegian
NT = New Testament, B'rit Chadashah
NWT = New World Translation of the Bible, unreliable Jehovah's Witness version
O
OB = Olive Branch - see NC&C
op.cit. = opere citato (lit. in the work cited)
OT = Old Testament, Tanakh
P
p(p). = page(s)
pl. = plural - see s.
PWNC = Prophetic Words of the New Covenant, revelation cataloging system - see OB
Q
QED = quod erat demonstrandum (lit. which was shown to be proved)
R
RCF = Restoration Christian Fellowship, earlier name of ICJC
RhQ = Ruach haQodesh, Holy Spirit
RSTNE = Restoration Scriptures True Name Edition of the Bible
RSV = Revised Standard Version of the Bible
RV = Revised Version of the Bible
S
s. = singular - see pl.
S&G = Smith & Goodspeed Version of the Bible
T
TEV = Today's English Version of the Bible - see GNB
V
Vulg. = Biblia Vulgata, Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible
W
WEB = World English Bible
Glossary Copyright ©2007 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved
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This page was first created on 2007
Last updated on 2007
Copyright ©2006 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved
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