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Sermons Series 3:51, 19 August 2006
The Third Wave
Part 5: The Communion of Echad
Main Themes:
Minor Themes:
Click here for Part 4
Welcome back, Shabbat Shalom, and may the Name of Yahweh be glorified this morning as I take you into what I believe has been the most exciting part of the Third Wave so far. For several days many of us have found ourselves going through a journey which we cannot understand because the dimensions of it are so great. We have been aware that Yahweh has been actively at work behind the scenes, reminding me of the builder we have had here for some days now. He has been digging trenches, laying down pipes and every now and then I have gone outside to peep at his work and to have a word with him. Each time I go out into the garden everything has changed. What was a huge project diminishes in size in steps that correspond to the times I step out of the house to take a look. I am so glad I am not doing that work and can safely leave it to an expert. In a way, it's a 'miracle' seeing it all happen. I could just as well go away for a few days, return and find everything done and not even know anything had happened save for some grassless earth in the garden. What is happening to us spiritually now is a bit like that - we see little of the divine surgery going on but we see traces - the scars, if you like. More importantly, we discover that suddenly things are working inside far better than before, just as our home will when the work on our sewage system is completed.
I don't think it's a coincidence that so much has had to be done on our home at a time when Yahweh is doing so much inside us all too. He loves to operate that way, giving us external illustrations in parables, as well as to encourage us. As we have watched miracles happen in the physical - first small ones and then larger ones - so we have seen the same progression in our hearts as well. The winter leakages and destruction of parts of the house were depressing and it felt like a calamity, just as the attacks on our reputation and credibility were painful and depressing when they first took place. And yet, as Yahweh told us in the beginning, He intended all of these things to be used for our good and to sift our the genuine seekers from those with mixed or uncertain motives. We have seen the temporal and the spiritual meld into a divine operation of grace to show us more of who our Creator actually is, and to make Him even more tangible than before. Our faith has been enormously strengthened.
I want to begin today by sharing a personal experience I had last Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday was a dreadful day for me. I was irritated, restless, and listless and had no idea why. During the night I woke several times - knew 'something' was happening and that there were changes taking place on a huge scale. Yahweh had told me several times before that He was restructuring my whole spiritual foundation which whilst it sounded 'nice' at the time was only words to me then. Yet I can truthfully say that since the Third Wave began I have had little clue as to what's been going on. Dreams have all been mixed up and very different from anything that I've experienced before, a bit like when a builder is tearing your house up and it looks like a cataclysm when there is actually order and structure in the apparent 'mess'.
Early on Thursday morning I had a dream the likes of which I have never experienced before. I was on a large luxury liner but it wasn't a worldly one. Everything was totally unexpected. Firstly, I was travelling in comfort, I had not arranged the trip, paid for the trip, or anything like that. The ship was not 'mine' as it had been in dreams over the past few years. I was not in charge of it and neither was a worldly authority. I did not know where I was going and wasn't worried about it. Now in real life I have travelled on many ships which I have always loved. We always travelled the cheapest way because my family never could afford luxury and never aspired to it. The cabins on this ship were beautiful. During the dream I recollected the many ships' cabins I had travelled on before in my life and remembered their plainness which I had always been satisfied with. Now normally I react to luxury with horror - I loathe decadence of any kind and believe in simple living. But on this ship - the ship in my dream - I made no such protests because I knew that it was none of my business to complain. The steward was asking what food I would like and I was giving him my order.
When I went onto the deck I gasped with wonderment. Now I have travelled the seas in my youth and seen much of the world, including the amazing Indian Ocean with its porpoises, flying fish, whales and luminescent plankton, but this was something 'out of this world'. It was nearly dusk but the colour of the water was amazing. I have never seen such a rich blue - the water was alive and sparkling! It was pure, powerful, mesmerising even. All I wanted to do was look at it. And it was also vast. Someone pointed me to a deck chair, inviting me sit down. I moved it back so that others could have a better view but it was put back where it was. It was clear that this position was for me, that I was not in charge, and all I had to do was submit to the ship's authority even though I was being treated like a king, something I am used to recoiling at. So I sat, and I looked, and I marvelled. It was the port or left side of the ship. Suddenly, there was great excitement behind me and my family took me over to the starboard or right side of the ship. Everyone was dressed in bathing costumes as though they were about to go swimming. They pointed to a row of whales arching out of the water and back into it again. There must have been six or seven of them at least and they were all in one straight line. They looked dark as it was now dusk but they were still a magnificent sight. They all came out of the water at exactly the same time and went under it at the same time too as though perfectly synchronised.
I looked at this and at the excitement of my family. They were so thrilled. And then I looked at the ship and wondered ... wondered very deeply indeed because I became aware then just who the owner of the ship was - Yahweh! For the first time in my life I was not in charge of my life in any way! I had no idea where I was going but was content to leave the destination in the hands of the Captain. I was being treated in luxury but for the first time was not feeling guilty because I knew that it was my Elohim doing this and not men. I also knew that I was not being flattered, tempted or otherwise being carnally led. I was, in a word, feeling submission in a way I had never known before. And it was very, very nice! Not a care in the world was there on that ship!
When I awoke I was at peace, but not like I had ever known before. This was quite a new dimension of shalom. I noted that it was dusk and that the ship was heading into the dark. I would not be able to see those rich waters nor the whales escorting us off the starboard side in the distance. And then I remembered a dream I had about 30 years ago when I was on another ocean liner and a huge whale had surfaced next to the ship on the port side in stormy seas. A white horse had leaped out of my chest, cantered down the deck away from me, and the whale had reared up and swallowed the horse whole. But the whales this time were on the port or 'right' side. Then things began to click. I began to understand the symbolism of both dreams. But first I must explain to you the difference between 'left' and 'right', or 'port' and 'starboard'.
The symbolism of right and left is explained to us in the Bible. The right hand always symbolises authority, power and salvation (e.g. Col.3:1; Mt.20:23; 25:33) and the left lawlessness, destruction, and death. The sheep are separated to the right and the goats to the left. Yah'shua sits at the right hand of Yahweh in glory, as shall the saved. The right - from which we get our English word 'righteousness' - represents good, and the left - which in the Latin is sinister - which means bad. Right is good, left is evil in certain symbolic contexts.
In my dream of 30 years ago the 'action' was on the left-hand side, the sinister side, and something good in me - the white horse - my energy and vitality - was swallowed up by a whale. We of course are reminded of Jonah and the whale when the apostle was swallowed up for rebelling. This 'swallowing up' was redemptive, however, as Jonah was safely delivered to the shore after his confinement. We need not, moreover, assume that all whales have a 'positive' aspect. On the 'right' side, a whale would have a positive connotation, but on the left, negative.
Where was Jonah fleeing to? Tarshish was a Mediterranean land that most scholars associate with Spain. Today when you think of Spain you think of Mediterranean sea resorts but anciently Tarshish was associated with jewels and in particular beryl which in Hebrew is tarshish. It was a green stone, a magnesium iron silicate. You may remember it as being one of the twelve foundation stones of the Holy City (Rev.21:20). Tarshish was a rich country in the days of Jonah and famed not only for beryl but also silver, iron, tin and lead which were imported into Phoenicia where Jonah boarded his ship. The ships that ploughed between Joppa and Tarshish symbolised wealth and power and their destruction is represented in the Scriptures as part of Yahweh's judgement of the world system. Jonah took a wrong turning there and headed west to a land known for its worldly riches instead of heading east to preach his message of repentance to Nineveh.
30 years ago I made a bad choice. I joined the Mormon Church where I remained for three years. I was a new member of that Church when I had that dream and the cost was high, setting me off course for years and years in my life. From that time onwards my vitality diminished leaving me a very ill man in the end, and forcing me into retirement seven years ago. The ship was the vessel that steered my life then, the Mormon Church. What of the whale itself? The whale is generally recognised as a symbol of the feminine, and in this particular case the whale was the spiritual powers that Mormonism represented. For behind Mormonism there is, in addition to their all-male Godhead, a shadowy and unnamed 'heavenly mother' whom today the Mormon Church is trying to distance itself from. The seas had been stormy, quite unlike the tranquilly of the sea of my newest dream, as would be expected of seas inhabited by this dark feminine. So there were two entirely different kinds of water inhabited by two different kinds of whale.
Now the ancient Hebrews had little interest in, or enthusiasm for, the sea, even though they did venture into it later. The sea was regarded as Yahweh's domain because He was its Creator (Gen.1:9ff) and therefore its Controller (Ps.104:7-9; Ac.4:24). The Bible tells us that the sea is compelled by Yahweh to contribute to our good (Gen.44:25; Dt.33:13) and to utter His praise (Ps.148:7). And you will remember that many of the manifestations of Yahweh's power were against the sea (Ex.14-15; Ps.77:16; Jonah 1-2) and how Yah'shua walked on the sea and stilled the storm (Mt.14:25-33). Finally, we are told that Yahweh's final triumph will witness the disappearance of the sea in the world to come (Rev.21:1).
We are in the midst of a 'wave', and waves are made in the sea. We are in the midst of waters which are the waters of the Ruach and of love itself. The whale is a symbol of the feminine that inhabits the depths of the heart, both female persons - divine powers like the Ruach - as well as dark female powers. We are formed in the depths of our hearts by our mothers - they shape our psyches, they inhabit the waters of our love or our fear. They are supposed to reflect the life of the Ruach in our life, and our Father Yahweh Himself. What they plant in us shapes our feelings and what we search for and identify with when we grow up.
I have spoken to you in the past of the 'Terrible Mother' and of the demonic powers that try to swallow up the soul. Demonised mothers are the worse curse any child could ever have, followed by demonised father whom they are later trained to obey or despise. Yahweh wants children raised by holy, pure and loving mothers and fathers so that His children can have the waters of their hearts inhabited by good and virtuous feelings and not terrible monsters of the deep.
The left-hand side represents the demonic, and the right the heavenly. Thirty years ago part of me got swallowed into the Mormon system, a counterfeit of the divine female - Lilith, Hecate and Jezebel - who are the very opposite of Ruach haQodesh. That counterfeit divine feminine, of which I speak so much, is a harlot, and one of the ruling spirits of our age. Thirty years later I find myself on Yahweh's vessel looking to the left into empty waters and then having to have my attention switched to the right and to a line of whales following in the distance. I don't know how many whales there were, but there were at least six or seven, so it doesn't take much to guess what they probably represented. This was Yahweh's vessel and Yahweh's sea so they must have been the Seven Ruachs.
I haven't been the same since that night. And suddenly I 'see' and 'feel' in new ways. It's like a whole new world, and it's continuing. Yahweh is still working. And that's what He's doing on you, if you will let Him. If you won't, then the old life under the rulership of counterfeits, must continue.
I wonder just how much Christian theology and interpretation has been formed by a false understanding of the divine feminine? The same day I had this dream, a lady asked me a question about tongues and was wondering about the Pentecostal teaching that those who pray in tongues cannot be understood by Satan because it's a private language between Yahweh and the tongue-speaker. Now I have written a great deal on tongues over the years but following this dream Yahweh showed me another angle to this question which I want to share with you today, because it's all tied in with the dream.
When a heart belonging to Yahweh talks to Him in the Ruach, the communion is one-to-one between the believer and his Elohim. No one can 'hear' this communion or conversation except the Ruach brings that person into the conversation. This means that when a soul is in echad union with Yahweh, demons and Satan cannot hear what is being said inside.
In the physical realm, Satan and demons can only hear when the legal grounds for them to hear are permitted in that space. The air is saturated with them, and where there are territorial demons (which is true of most places), so spotter-demons and other types follow and monitor what people are saying to one another. People are often seen in vision with demons, appearing a bit like flies or bats, swarming around their heads. Many have reported this. I have seen it myself. But if you are in a place which has been consecrated to Yahweh - like your home or an assembly meeting place - then the demons are excluded and cannot enter or hear conversations in the physical. But if someone enters or is invited into that place who carries demons, then what he hears from the people round about will be heard by his demons and passed along the demonic network back to Satan. By this means Satan can listen in.
Satan knows all languages, including 'angel tongues'. There are no 'secret languages' which he cannot understand because he is himself an angel and knows all human languages, past and present. He is only rendered deaf by purity of soul and purity of environment. That which cannot be expressed in words - the 'groaning' of the soul - is not a language but a pure heart-bridge to Yahweh (Rom.8:23,26).
Christians have been taught many myths about the supposed infallibility of special 'tongues' which Satan cannot supposedly hear that are not related to the heart condition of the soul. When a believer prays with his spirit without verbalisation, even if he has demons about, the enemy cannot hear. But when he prays through his psyche, and demons are present, they will hear all.
We have to get away from the 'magic world view' of the charismatics, which is essentially occultic, and into the reality of the Ruach and heart. The language of the heart is beyond words and as anyone who has tried to translate it into words knows, almost impossible to convey beyond a kind of 'summary'. The medium of Yahweh's 'language' is not the vibration in a laryngeal box but the living waters that flow from Him to us, and back to Him from us. These waters, as many of our people will testify, burn demons like acid and they flee from it. They cannot spy or deceive in these waters. These are the waters of the Ruach - the pure love of Yahweh-Elohim.
Yahweh wants you and me to enter into his Reality and the only way to do that is by moving into His waters, the Ruach haQodesh, not in some abstract, theoretical or propositional way, but in a living way. The Gospel resides in the heart, not the brain - the brain is but a translator.
As we pass through the Third Wave and as Yahweh surfaces the hidden things in us, was face critical choices. Do we, for example, hide in shame when anger and rage force their way to the surface? Do we carry on pretending there isn't a problem and let the issue get larger and even more uncontrollable until one day it bursts to the surface and we seriously hurt someone? Or do we let it come to the surface and, as it does, pray: "Father, I give this to you. Please show me the root so that I may be permanently delivered"? There are people hearing and reading me today who are being driven by forces they are both frightened by and ashamed of. They find themselves thinking, feeling and behaving in ways they don't want to. Some are reticent to talk about these things, others cowered by terror. And it's worse when you're an unbeliever, or a lapsed believer, who is afraid of the consequences of repentance and what it means to finally become responsible for ones own life, to stop blame shifting to others, genes, or demons. "He made me do it" is not acceptable. We are responsible for everything in this life-unit called 'self', even if we are victims of the evil of others. We still retain the power of choice to be healed or not, the power of choice to stop blame-shifting, the power of choice to wake up to reality and accept such truth as we have denied, or to deny such lies as we have accepted. Will we be like Lord Kenneth Clark, whom I spoke about last week, who excused Yahweh's revelation to him saying, "I was too deeply embedded in the world to change course", or will we respond like the unnamed tax collector who cried: "Elohim, have mercy on me a sinner!" (Lk.18:13)? Will we finally and at last grapple with - and deal with - reality? Or will we keep on postponing our repentance again and again until it is too late? Until we do something we deeply regret which will make our return journey to Yahweh so much harder, until finally, when death snatches us up, and it is too late?
I understand people who are afraid of the heart-life when that heart-life was crippled by abuse or terror. I understand why people shut their hearts down and seek refuge in the cold and uncaring mind. I understand because we all do it. We want to avoid pain and we are afraid that in reopening our hearts all the old pains will be repeated. And if there was no Elohim who loved our hearts, repaired our hearts, nurtured our hearts, and filled our hearts with good things, I can understand why a person would want to keep his heart firmly shut. But what if you have never tasted of this goodness? How can you be sure that what believers who have experienced this life-transformation in their hearts through Yah'shua the Messiah isn't delusional and living in some sort of fantasy world? After all, there are plenty of delusional religionists, who without question, are not 'with it'. But isn't it equally true that there are those who claim not to be religious who have the same problems? If you're honest, you'll find that there are proportionally as many psychopaths and dysfunctional people who say they believe in God as those who say they do not. The problem is not that you believe, or don't believe, but in what you believe and how you respond to that belief. Everybody is religious, of that I am absolutely convinced. I was a religious Darwinist before I was converted. My faith was in human reason and science which I believed had found, or could find, all the answers to life's perplexing questions. And then I was a theist - I believed in all sorts of things but the 'God' I believed in was still a mixture of fantasy and reality, falsehood and truth. I believed in 'a God' but I didn't know what God, just as the Athenians didn't in Paul's time:
"For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you" (Acts 17:23, NIV).
Yahweh wants to make Himself known to you. He doesn't want to be some abstract 'idea' or 'principle' but wants you to meet Him as He is. He wants you, moreover, not to be afraid of Him, and to dismiss all the Hollywood portrayals of Him. Forget about the movies, forget about the portrayals by those who believe in Him but don't know Him, and go and meet Him for yourself. Step out of your shell, dare to open the door and let His light flood in. Paul continues:
"The Elohim (God) who made the world and everything in it is the Master of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. Elohim did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 'For in Him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are His offspring'" (Acts 17:24-28, NIV).
We're His offspring - we're 'family'! He made us, cares for us, loves us. He's the best Father you could ever want, beyond even your wildest dreams. He is not arbitrary like some earthly fathers, but fair. He is not cruel like some earthly fathers, but loving. He is not too busy for His children like some earthly fathers, but always available 24/7. He's not indifferent like some earthly fathers, but notices every little thing in your life. Paul said:
"Therefore since we are Elohim's offspring, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone-an image made by man's design and skill. In the past Elohim overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man [Yah'shua] He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:29-31, NIV).
Most people are happy to hear that Yahweh cares, loves, protects, nurtures and blesses but balk when they see He is an Elohim of Justice too. They back off at the thought of judgement for sin. They shudder at any kind of thought that they might be responsible for their actions. The world is in major denial over these things and as I said likes to blame their sexuality on genes or their murderous fits of rage on 'temporary insanity' - anything that will absolve them of being personally responsible. Yahweh says: "Yes, I love you, I want you, and I will take care of you" but He also says: "I have given you the power of choice. I have made you responsible for the decisions you make in life. You can't blame fate or other people." He is, as He said, merciful in the days of our ignorance, and no matter how much we may choose to be in denial of it, sand says that there is "a day when He will judge the world with justice". And He also says that He has given adequate proof so that no man can excuse himself by claiming 'inadequate data' to make an intelligent choice.
I was looking the other day at a short biography of a fellow Oxonian like myself, Richard Dawkings, who is reputedly the most intelligent man of our time. He has written some best sellers like The Selfish Gene. He possesses a mind of incredible expanse and depth but he has prostituted it to a false religion: the religion of atheism. He mocks and scorns believers. "The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left", said Solomon (Eccl.10:2, NIV). We, to, can choose the right or left path. We can choose belief or unbelief, truth or error, life or death, heartless intellect or living wisdom, warmth or cold. Yahweh has made us with a left and right side - we can go to the left or the right, forwards or backwards. He has given us almost unlimited choice. I knew many intellectual geniuses when I was at Oxford - the foremost theologians and scientists. I attended their lectures and seminars and avidly absorbed what knowledge they had in what little time I had. But I did not find the truth there. I did not meet Yahweh in their lectures. I met Yahweh when I had come to the end of my intellectual reasoning and fell down on my knees and confessed my inability to make sense of life. I met Yahweh when I surrendered and simply said: "I open my heart to you. Reveal Yourself to me."
For those of you who do believe in Yahweh, who do accept Yah'shua as your Messiah, and who do accept all the Bible as far as you know, and who yet have struggles, dilemmas and agonies of soul, let me say this to you: Knowing Yahweh is a journey. Completing the journey requires that you have a goal and that you stay on course. If and when you do wander off the road, swallow your pride, admit you were wrong, and return to the road. Paul said:
"For my part, I run with a clear goal before me; I am like a boxer who does not beat the air; I bruise my own body and make it know its master, for fear that after preaching to others I should find myself rejected" (1 Cor.9:26, NEB).
This does not mean, as some religions interpret it, that he mutilated himself. It means that he brought his fleshy impulses into subjection to his spirit. He then goes onto explain the nature of this journey and how Yahweh has illustrated it for us with a real life event from the past:
"You should understand, my brothers, that our ancestors were all under the pillar of cloud, and all of them passed through the Sea of Reeds; and so that all received baptism into the fellowship of Moses in cloud and sea. They all ate the same supernatural food, and all drink the same supernatural drink; I mean, they all drank from the supernatural rock that accompanied their travels - and that rock was Messiah. And yet, most of them were not accepted by Yahweh, for the desert was strewn with their corpses" (1 Cor.10:1-5. NEB).
One of the reasons that many people refuse to respond to Yahweh's invitation to follow Him is because they look at those who call themselves His followers and see their deficiencies. In many cases they see that they are not much better than unbelievers, and sometimes, a lot worse. You see, even those who respond to the invitation still have the power of choice afterwards. It's not just a matter of saying: "I believe!" But immediately after this hundreds of choices still have to be made to follow or not. Many who say, "I believe!" do not obey. Many who say their are Christians name one God (Yahweh) and follow another whether it be their own flesh, the traditions of men, or demons. It is not enough to believe. We also have to follow. Paul continues:
"These events (in the desert) happened to warn us not to set our desires on evil things, as they did. Do not be idolaters, like some of them; as Scripture has it, 'the people lay down to feast and stood up to play'. Let us not commit fornication, as some of them did - and twenty-three thousand died in one day. Let us not put the power of Yahweh to the test, as some of them did - and were destroyed by serpents. Do not grumble against Elohim, as some of them did - and were destroyed by the Destroyer" (1 Cor.10:6-10, NEB).
You can't blame the failure of other Christians or Messianics for your own choice not to follow. They are each accountable for their actions, as you and I are for ours. As Yahweh recently told me about one man who I was enquiring about: "He believes in Me, but he does not follow Me." To believe is not enough - even the demons believe and shudder (Jas.2:19) .
"All these things that happened to them were symbolic," said Paul, "and were recorded for our benefit as a warning. For upon us the fulfilment of the ages has come. If you feel sure that you are standing firm, beware! You may fall. So far you have faced no trial beyond what man can bear. Elohim keeps faith, and He will not allow you to be tested above your powers, but when the test comes He will at the same time provide a way out, by enabling you to sustain it" (1 Cor.10:11-13, NEB).
I know that so many of you are being tested. Yesterday someone I love dearly went through a terrible ordeal at the hands of evil men. Others of you are going through your own spiritual batterings and wondering if you will come out of it. There are people who are supposed to care for, love and nurture us, who are doing evil things to us, many misguided and ignorant, but equally those who know what they are doing and do nothing to stop their evil deeds. Of them Yah'shua said:
"Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offence comes!" (Matt.18:7-8, NKJV).
Offences must come, stumbling blocks must come, because the Enemy casts these in front of us all the time, and the more ardently the more faithful and obedient we are to Yahweh and His Way. Every Christians who loves the truth knows this, even if he may at times despair of it. These things we can, and will endure. Rather pity those who are the instruments of these stumbling blocks, pray for their souls that per chance they may be saved. They are held back only by their personal idolatries and their refusal to choose the right.
For our part, we should imitate Paul who said: "I put up with all that comes my way rather than offer any hindrance to the gospel of Messiah" (1 Cor.9:13, NEB). Our sufferings, meaningless though they may seem to us at times, serve a greater purpose than ourselves. We are all here on earth on a mission. We're not here to 'do our own thing' but to do Yahweh's bidding. That may offend the hedonists but it is the truth. We have purpose, we have a goal, we have the means to achieve it, and we have rewards both now and to come. Yahweh is not slow to bless us even in the midst of tribulation. Whether you are being abused in a Satanist coven, being trampled on by loved ones, have lost a friend or loved one, feel lonely and rejected, lost a job, having a health or economic crisis, or whatever your current trial may be, know that Yahweh is in control, that He loves you, that He wants to meet you and assure you in a very real way. No shaking up in our lives is accidental. No obstacle is insurmountable, no trial beyond our means to meet and overcome when we live for and in Him. This is both my message to you today as well as my invitation: Come to the path if you have never been on it, or wandered from it, and set your eye on the goal, which is Yah'shua. Do not wander to the left or the right but walk obediently ahead into whatever it is that is challenging you or threatening to overwhelm you, and watch Yahweh work! Make of this Third Wave a time of revolutionary change for the better. Trust Yahweh, listen to Him, and do as He says. Amen.
Click here for Part 6
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 18 March 2007
Last updated on 18 March 2007
Copyright ©2006 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved
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