In-depth Study
Starters
Popular Topics
General
|
Sermons Series 3:53, 2 September 2006
The Third Wave
Part 7: Entering into Teshuvah and the Shavu'ot Age
Main Themes:
Minor Themes:
Click here for Part 6
A little over a week ago the Teshuvah or Repentance Season began with Rosh Chodesh (the new moon) marking the start of the 6th biblical month of Elul, traditionally called the 'Month of Mercy'. It begins what some call a 'warm-up' for the main ten-day period of repentance, also known as Yamim Nora'im or the Ten Days of Awe which lie between Yom Teruah or the Day of Trumpets (which is this year on 23 September) and Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement (which is on 2 October). And the Sabbath that falls between these two moedim is known as Shabbat Shuvah or the 'Sabbath of Return'. And, yes, the Third Wave is still with us and the Ruach is active as like no other time before, so we are still talking about that. It is no accident that the Third Wave and Teshuvah are coinciding.
We have never had such a shake-up in all our history. It makes all that has happened before seem paltry by comparison. But not only are Yahweh's people being shaken up for the better, but His enemies for judgement too. Moreover, this is not some theoretical 'pie-in-the-sky' suggestion, or is it (as one paranoid critic would have it) some sort of mass 'hypnosis', but it is tangible. Everyone is going to feel it and either heaven or hell will become realer to you as a result of it. But rather than attempt to explain this to you in my own words, I'd like you to hear what Yah'shua said to one of our members on 26 August:
"The third wave is like an invasion of either life or death. But what is the good of saying you are on My side then, when you see your whole world melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in?
"Everything that you have ever hidden behind, every defence, every demon, every lie, will be exposed - all of it. If you choose Me, you will be cleansed and healed; if you do not, it will crash in on you.
"This time I will come without disguise. The force of My presence will be so overwhelming that it will either strike irresistible love or irresistible horror into every heart.
"It will then be too late to choose what side you are on. It will not be the time of choosing; it will be the time when you discover which side you have really chosen, whether you realised it before or not.
"And when you have to make a choice and don't choose, that is in itself a choice.
"When the Author walks onto the stage, the play is over" (PWNC 20060826).
We have entered the season - Teshuvah - when Yahweh calls us to examine our lives and see where we have departed from Him. It is the season when we are called to examine the Scriptures to see whether we have been walking according to the commandments or not. And this year - with the Third Wave coinciding - Yahweh will show us Himself - directly and forcefully - whether we are on His side or not by either flooding us with indescribably joy or filling us with terror. For this ministry, at any rate, there will be an unmistakably clear separation between the true and the false, the sheep and the goats, the righteous and the evil. And when this season is over and we finally enter into Sukkot to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, this Mishpachah will have its boundaries clearly defined, its territory marked, its theology crystal clear, and its people prepared for its end-time mission in power. It will witness the coming of the anointing we have for so long awaited and the actual start of the Tabernacles Dispensation for the Gathered Elect of Messianic Israel. This will become the core on which the Millennial Kingdom will be built.
The agent of Yahweh's purification has always been, and will always be, heavenly fire, and so it is this that I principally want to talk to you today about. Today I want to correct a lot of false assumptions made by believers about Yahweh's fire so that you will come to view sacred fire not as something to be feared but welcomed. I have a lot to share with you so I hope you will patiently bear with me.
The first error of Christendom that has to be corrected is the notion that we will all live in some far off place called 'heaven' when we die or when Yah'shua returns. We won't. 'Heaven' is inside you and you yourself will live on your permanent home which is this planet, albeit in a glorified state where there are no more demons, no sickness and no death. This is what Yahweh's people themselves declare in the Book of Revelation:
"You have made [Yahweh's people] to be a kingdom and priests to serve our Elohim, and they will reign on the earth" (Rev.5:10, NIV).
So let's set the record straight before we kick off our study on heavenly fire. Those who have died will be coming back to earth when Yah'shua returns. Once you have got used to that idea, you'll be able to make a lot more sense of the rest of scripture.
Part of our own teshuvah, repentance, or 'return' has been to observe Yahweh's moedim or appointments - the seven annual festivals. Understanding why he gave them is critically important to understanding not only our future but also the process of redemption of each believer and the Messianic community as a whole. Without them the future will be obscure and growing into perfection in Messiah will be a hit-and-miss affair. They contain the complete blueprint for salvation past, present and future. As you know, of these seven festivals, three are chief. Under the Old Covenant all male Israelites were obliged to make the journey to Jerusalem to celebrate them. They are specifically 'patriarchal gathering moedim'. In fulfilling their requirements, the heads of Messianic Israel's families qualify themselves as priests and kings in the Kingdom of Yahweh. - priests and kings over families, clans and tribes. At these times the patriarchs make themselves accountable to the King of kings by carrying with them their fruits. At Passover or Pesach they carry their firstfruits from the spring crop of barley. Fifty days later after they have made their barley offering to Yahweh, they gather again to present to Yahweh the firstfruits of their wheat harvest at Pentecost or Shavu'ot. And about four months later, in September or October, they gather for the third time to offer to Yahweh the firstfruits of their grape harvest. These three moedim represents not only the three stages of spiritual development of the spiritual fathers but on a wider scale the development of the Kingdom of Yahweh on earth. Finally, these three firstfruits foreshadow the beginning of an ever greater harvest to come.
As I have mentioned to you many times over the last weeks, there are historically-speaking three main 'kingdom ages', with each successive one coming with a greater anointing and empowerment. It began on a small scale at the time of Moses and the Pesach or Passover Age. It widened its scope beyond the little geographical nation of Israel to include the gentiles and became the Shavu'ot or Pentecost age when the Ruach haQodesh fell on the believers gathered in a room and they began to speak in many different languages, signifying that this Kingdom would go to every nation, kindred and tongue (Acts 2). But are you aware that the apostle Paul spoke of this spiritual anointing as only a 'deposit' (NIV), 'pledge' (NASU, NAS, RSTNE), 'guarantee' (NKJV, LB), 'token' (HRV) or 'earnest' (KJV, ASV):
"Now it is Elohim who makes both us and you stand firm in Messiah. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Ruach in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Cor.1:21-22, NIV).
"Now it is Elohim who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Ruach as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Cor.5:4-5, NIV).
That 'Pentecostal deposit' was just that - a deposit. Now you all know what a deposit is. If you buy something and put a deposit on it, it means you pay a token sum and guarantee to pay the balance of what is owed later. When Yahweh filled the believers with the Ruach haQodesh on the Day of Pentecost two thousand years ago, it was a deposit of a greater anointing that was to come. It was a down payment for something better in the future. And though those first Messianic Israelites were 'filled' with the Ruach, it was only a Shavu'ot filling. The vessel that existed, was filled; but the vessel that was to come, was to be much greater, and therefore there would be a greater filling. That 'greater filling' that was "to come" when Paul wrote these words is the Sukkot or Tabernacles Anointing. And at that time, the Ruach would be poured out in its greatest power: the Neshamah haQodesh.
If you look at the diagram which I have handed out to you today you will notice how things are grouped together. The three main 'gathering' festivals are marked in bold type. The seven festivals are gathered into three 'blocks' - Passover is in a block of three as is Tabernacles, with Pentecost sandwiched in the middle. Pentecost, however, is a spring festival like Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits, so it has a closer historical association with the 'Passover Block' than it does with the 'Tabernacles Block'. However, it belongs to the New Covenant and is therefore has a closer spiritual association to the Tabernacles block as well. Each 'block' corresponds to a 'Kingdom Age', the first being a threefold age with three Ruachs like the third which is also threefold with three Ruachs. Pentecost alone is a 'singular' age with only one Ruach. As you can see, Pentecost was a 'bridge' or a connection between the two. You will notice that I have grouped these three age blocks around three blocks of Ruach - the Nephesh haQodesh for the Passover Age, the Ruach haQodesh for the Pentecostal Age, and the Neshamah haQodesh for the Tabernacles Age. The Hebrew word nephesh means 'soul' for this was very much a soulish, psychic, foundational age, operating as it did around a Torah that was especially created for the hardness of people's hearts. Both ruach and neshamah translate as 'spirit', with the latter the higher of the two. During the Passover Age, only three of the seven Ruachs were operational. The fourth or Revee was given at Pentecost, and the remaining three will be given successively during the Tabernacles Age.
HISTORICAL FESTIVAL |
KINGDOM AGE |
7-FOLD RUACH (SPIRIT) |
1. Pesach (Passover) [Old Covenant] Revelation of the Father |
Passover Age (Moses) (Nephesh haQodesh) |
Rishon haQodesh |
2. Chag haMatzah (Unleavened Bread) |
  |
Shanee haQodesh |
3. Yom haBikkurim (Firstfruits/Barley) |
  |
Shleshi haQodesh |
4. Shavu'ot (Pentecost, Secondfruits/Wheat) First Coming of Messiah [New Covenant] Revelation of the Son |
Pentecostal Age (Apostles) (Ruach haQodesh) |
Revee haQodesh |
5. Yom Teruah (Trumpets) Second Coming of Messiah |
  |
Chamashee haQodesh |
6. Yom Kippur (Atonement) Judgement |
  |
Sheshi haQodesh |
7. Sukkot (Booths, Tabernacles) Millennium [New & Everlasting Covenant] Revelation of the 7 Mothers |
Tabernacles Age (New Covenant Patriarchs) (Neshamah haQodesh) |
Yachad haQodesh, Shegal haShabbat |
Fig.1 The Three Kingdom Ages
I don't want anyone to get the impression that at the end of the Third Wave we are going to have the complete Tabernacles Endowment. As you will see, it comes in three stages. We are at the boundary of sacred history where we are entering into the Tabernacles Age. This does not mean that the Second Coming will occur at the end of the Third Wave! This ministry is a 'reconnaissance' party, as it were, going 'ahead' into the anointing that will come when Yah'shua returns so that we can be equipped to build the twelve end-time cities of refuge. How Yahweh will deal with other groups I don't know. What this means is that we, and perhaps others, will be given an 'advance' anointing before the global anointing takes place when Yah'shua comes back. How it will unfold no one yet knows.
It is interesting how historically those who experienced the anointing at the beginning of their Age believed that they had the 'fullness'. They were not shown that a greater anointing would yet lie ahead. The knowledge of these things came only in progressive revelation through the prophets. I suspect that this is done in part so that people focus on what is now and not go lusting after what is to come (only the prophets were able to see the future clearly in this respect) but also to keep Satan guessing in the dark. Moreover, Yahweh has revealed His truths in symbols and types so that the carnal will be absorbed in the rituals leaving the spiritual to discern their deeper meaning. That is why the carnal did not recognise the true Passover Lamb when He can in the form of Yah'shua the first time, and it is why we have carnal Messianics today who are so absorbed with rituals, gematria, kabbalah, Judaism, the Republic of Israel and other things that they cannot see or understand the spiritual realities being portrayed in the Torah they claim to be so expert in.
Once the Ruach haRevee came at Pentecost, the first Christians could clearly see what Passover had all really been about. Nevertheless they were 'Pentecostal' in their outlook, and like evangelicals, and Messianics and the Churches of God today - who represent lawless and legalistic views of the Gospel, respectively - could not see beyond and into the Tabernacles Age to come. It was, in any case, too early for this to be revealed. Yahweh has reserved the revelation of the Feast of Tabernacles for the end of the Pentecostal Age which, if it was designed to last 40 Jubilee years, or 1,960 years, and if the Pentecostal anointing took place in 33 A.D., means that the revelation of Tabernacles first began to be revealed around 1993. Thanks to the groundbreaking work of scholars like Dr. Steven E. Jones (to whom we owe an enormous exegetical debt), followed by the revelations that Yahweh has been pouring out of heaven to us over the last year in particular, we have come a long way in our understanding and have been deemed ready to receive the first of what will no doubt be a series of anointings to come. I believe that these Three Waves have been sent by Yahweh to spiritually transplant us from a Pentecostal foundation and 'reality' onto the higher ground of Tabernacles.
There are, of course, many Christians who dispute the coming of a literally 1,000 yearlong Millennium and say it just means a 'long time'. Others claim we are already living in it even through the world is full of demons, anarchy, lawlessness and wickedness and is anything but full of Shalom. They need only have gone to the Tabernacle, revealed in extraordinary detail to Moses in the wilderness, to find that built into its dimensions is a calendar and chronology of the three kingdom ages. Last week I mentioned how the Tabernacle was divided into three parts: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The outer court typified the Passover Age with its Brazen Alter because it had no ceiling which, like the whole Old Testament period, can't be accurately measured, because we don't need to. In the tent itself, we find the Holy Place which represents the Pentecostal age, and what do we find? If you take its measurements of 10 by 20 by 10 cubits, you end up with how many cubic cubits? 2,000! As we know, our journey to Yahweh, and the way we are to do it, is symbolised in the Tabernacle's design and contents. Even the dimensions tell us the length of the Tabernacles age: 2,000 years!
Why, then, didn't Yah'shua come back in 1993? 2,000 years had passed since A.D. 33. The reason is that there is always an overlap between the ages. And though from Yahweh's point of view one age ended and another began when Yah'shua was resurrected and the Ruach haQodesh fell on the believers at Pentecost, the reality is that the first Jewish believers were still thinking in an Old Covenant mindframe, just as the Israelites were thinking 'Egyptian' when they came out of Egypt. It took 40 years to burn it out of them in the Sinai Desert, and not before were they ready to enter into the Promised Land. I am only speculating here, but my guess is that the transition from Pentecost to Tabernacles will take at least 40 years too - a whole generation - which takes us to the year 2033. The current Three Waves have been to burn and purify the leadership who must be the pathfinders, just as we have had leadership purgings in the past to get us out of false thinking patterns. Judgement always comes to the House of Elohim before the world, and to the leaders before the masses. In a way, these are to be the 'firstfruits' of a new Tabernacles spiritual 'resurrection'. Thousands of others will follow with many more 'waves' yet to come both for them and for us. Yahweh has much to do with us.
If the Holy Place measured 2,000 square cubits, and this signifies the length of the Pentecostal Age, then logically we should be able to measure the Holy of Holies and come to a similar conclusion about the Tabernacles Age. Are we therefore surprised to learn that the dimensions of the Holy of Holies are 10 by 10 by 10 cubits, giving us 1,000 cubic cubits? The Millennium, which is the Tabernacles Age, will last literally 1,000 years. Thus says Yahweh.
Why is it, then, that there are Christians teaching that there is no future 1,000 yearlong literal Millennium on the earth? Like most of the 'Pentecostal' (and I don't mean charismatics or tongue-speakers by 'pentecostal' here) mindset, they think they have all the anointing they need for now and that all is needed is 'revival'. They forget that Pentecost only gives us a deposit of the Ruach - it is not the fullness. Trying to 'revive' a Pentecost church is about as futile as the Messianics trying to 'revive' the Old Covenant by relabelling it a 'renewed' covenant, as if all one has to do is give mouth-to-mouth resussitation to the Law of Moses, drop a few ceremonial rituals, and glue Yah'shua onto it. The Mosaic Passover Covenant is gone, finished, dead, just as trying to 'revive' the Pentecost Covenant is a form of necromancy. And, yes, those still stuck in the Pentecostal Age will hate us as much as the Jews still stuck in the Passover Age hated Yah'shua for informing them that the Mosaic Covenant was about to be abolished for good. So the sooner we realise and accept that, the better. Both evangelicals and Messianics will hate and persecute us.
As I have been teaching you for many months now, when a man or woman is justified by faith in the blood of the Lamb, he receives a Passover anointing from Yahweh through the Ruach haRishon, but this does not bring him into a fullness of the sevenfold Ruach. He can pass through the next two stages of Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits, as he consciously works to get sin (leaven) out of his life, and get two more anointings through the Ruach haShanee and the Ruach haShleshi, but this does not bring him personally into a fullness of the Ruach. When a man receives the Ruach haRevee through the anointing of Pentecost, he receives a fresh anointing, which takes him to a new level of spiritual awareness and intimacy with Yah'shua but it is still only his 'deposit', 'earnest' or 'pledge' of what is to come, and he is still left with imperfections by which he falls short of the glory of Elohim. Isn't it true that people who have received this anointing still struggle with sin issues? It is only when Yahweh pours out the Neshamah haQodesh on us - in the three successive stages of Chamshee, Sheshi and Yachad - in the fulfilment of Tabernacles, will we find the perfection and immortality we seek.
I wish to interject at this stage that none of these anointings is in any way 'earned' by our works. These are all acts of grace. Our part is simply surrendering more.
I mentioned earlier that we are a kind of 'reconnaissance squad', going ahead into the Tabernacles anointing ahead of the global, historical event to come. Is there evidence that this has happened in other dispensations? No one has ever been able to enter into a feast day's fulfilment, ahead of its historical fulfilment, without being physically removed from the earth. Can you think of anyone who has? Well, I can think of two, Enoch and Elijah, neither of whom tasted death but were translated. You will also recall that Moses entered into the Tabernacles anointing temporarily when he came down from the mountain with his face glorified (Ex.34:29; 2 Cor.3:7), but even he could not retain the glory permanently, because of one important factor which the writer of Hebrews tells us about:
"These (men of Yahweh) were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. Elohim had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect" (Heb.11:39-40, NIV).
In other words, overcomers cannot enter into major spiritual endowments like a changeover from Passover to Tabernacles except it be done corporately, in a body of believers. Moses was alone, with perhaps the exception of Joshua and Caleb who were the only other two of like faith. That is why the last generation must be gathered so that together, in holy cities, twelve bodies of believers can enter into the Tabernacles endowment 'ahead of time', and be ready for Yah'shua's return. This generation is preparing for that. The next and last generation will live it for real. My mission is to take this people through the 40 year purging; a 'Joshua' who succeeds me will enter the 'Promised Land' proper and the people baptised into him, as Israel was baptised into Moses (1 Cor.10:2), will see, experience and live a Tabernacles endowment in the twelve cities of refuge during the time of great tribulation. The glory of Yahweh will be so great in these twelve places that no enemy will be able to approach, let alone touch, them. We have already had a little taste of this glory earlier this year, which was but our own 'deposit' of a fuller manifestation of Yahweh's anointing to come.
It bothers the lawless and carnal evangelicals and Messianics that Yah'shua divides believers up into two groups with different rewards and glories. He speaks of two different resurrections, doesn't He? The first concerns the faithful believers and the second the unfaithful ones. Let's look at the faithful believers first:
"I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Yah'shua and because of the word of Elohim. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Messiah a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of Elohim and of Messiah and will reign with him for a thousand years" (Rev.20:4-6, NIV).
I want you to notice that only those of the first resurrection are rulers (kings), judges (elohim) and priests (cohanim). This is a limited resurrection and it's only for those who are "blessed and holy (set apart)". This is not, as many Christians teach, the resurrection of those who have 'accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour'. That's only the first stage of salvation, the Rishon or Passover stage! People who confess 'Jesus is Lord' or 'Yah'shua is our Messiah' and do nothing else are not to be found in this first resurrection. The 'once saved, always saved' mob, assuming they don't fall away, will not live in a resurrected form in the Millennium but be disembodied spirits in heaven waiting for the second resurrection at the end of the Millennium. They will, as Yah'shua said, because of their lawlessness, be the 'least' in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt.5:19). This goes for many of the Torah-obsessed Messianics too who are mainly interested in fiddling around with gematria, Kaballah, Torah codes, worshipping Jewishness, and such things, who bury their spiritual talent into the ground and do nothing to spiritually overcome their carnal natures.
Let's now look at the second resurrection:
"Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-30, NKJV).
This all occurs in a single "hour", and during this "hour" both the justified and the unjustified will be resurrected. Obviously this is not the first resurrection, where only believers are raised. The second resurrection is for those who remain in their tombs during the Millennium. Believers and unbelievers are going to be resurrected at the same time. It is an untruth when Christians say that all believers will be resurrected with Yah'shua returns and the unbelievers at the end of the Millennium. That contradicts Yah'shua's words in John 5. However, we have a second witness to this double resurrection, and that is Paul:
"However, I admit that I worship the Elohim of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Torah (Law) and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in Elohim as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked" (Acts 24:14-15, NIV).
Obviously, this can only refer to the second resurrection because only "blessed and holy" people are raised the first time. Therefore we can accurately state that not all Christians or Messianics will be raised in the first resurrection. There are, moreover, hints of the second resurrection in the passage we earlier read about the first, as when Yah'shua says: "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev.20:15, NIV). We're told the Book of Life is opened (Rev.20:12), so why would the Book of Life be opened if no one standing there was written in it? Those whose names were not written in it were, as we have seen, thrown into the fire.
Sometimes people wonder why Christians need to be judged at all but Yah'shua makes it plain in His parable of Luke 12:35-50 where He speaks of "the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants" (Luke 12:42, NAS). Such people, Yah'shua says, will be given a position of rulership and responsibility, which is the same as John states in the Book of Revelation where those of the first resurrection "came to life and reigned with Messiah a thousand years" (Rev.20:4, NIV).
So now we have seen that there is a class of kings, priests, stewards, servants ('slaves') or rulers (elohim) and another class of servants of 'slaves' who are believers but who are not "blessed and holy". Yah'shua tells us more about these:
"But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers" (Luke 12:45-46, NIV).
Now this is strong language. What does "cut him to pieces" mean? This is a rendition of the Greek word dichotomeo which means 'to cut up by severely beating'. What is the "place" that Yah'shua speaks of? This translates the Greek meros which means a 'portion, part that is due, or lot). In other words, these unsanctified servants or 'slaves', who had been given authority over other servants, but who abused their position, will not be given authority in the age to come. Instead they will be "beaten with stripes" as the Torah demands:
"When men have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and have him flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime deserves, but he must not give him more than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother will be degraded in your eyes" (Deut.25:1-3, NIV).
Now if you haven't noticed it, let me point out to you that there is a maximum punishment, in this case '40 lashes'. Now under the New Covenant Yah'shua has been 'lashed' for us so that when we have sinned a crime that merits a physical beating, it is cancelled by faith in Messiah because He was whipped for us. Please notice how many stripes are given and then compare this with the maximum sentence the Israelites were given for their golden calf idolatry - 40 years wandering. I say 'maximum' because they merited destruction, but Moses interceded for their lives as a type of the Messiah. The duration of our spiritual punishment, which is reformatory, is related to the nature of the crime committed. So please don't think that sin is of no consequence because Messiah took the punishment on you! There are still consequences, which is why, as we shall be seeing next week, the evil nature has to be burned out of us.
However, I digress. The important point here is that the unsanctified servants or 'slaves' receive their portion at the same time as the unbelievers! Yah'shua does not say that the unbelievers are classed as unbelievers or will lose their allotted inheritance. He says that the unfaithful believers will not receive their portion with the just but at the Great White Throne Judgement along with the unbelievers.
Please keep in mind that in Yahweh's Torah a beating was a punishment that was done immediately in front of the judge and was strictly limited to 40 stripes (Dt.25:3). Other punishments, such as restitution, required a sentence that normally took time for the offender to work off the debt. And so Yah'shua uses the term "many stripes" and "few stripes" to indicate an intense but quick form of correction that is administered according to their knowledge of Yahweh's will. This means that they will not be thrown into the lake of fire which is the fate of the unsaved (Rev.20:14-15). Nevertheless, these believers will certainly be judged in a lesser manner. There is a judgement and a punishment for them which Paul talks about but which most Christian will not admit or accept because they have bought into the lie of the fast-food Gospel of our times. Paul says:
"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yah'shua the Messiah. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames" (1 Cor.3:10-15, NIV).
The season of repentance - Teshuvah - is for believers! It is to make Christians and Messianics aware that they can't just go and do their own thing or invent their own gospel. There is daily repentance and reformation to be done. So important is this repentance that Yahweh has given us a whole season for repentance in the autumn/fall! There will be a judgement by fire in the world to come for those who are faithless servants and that fire is still sent to us here and now if we will receive it. In this life we have a choice - we can turn away if we want to - but in the next one every man and woman must pass through it. Just because as a believer you may escape hell does not mean that you will escape the fire of Yahweh's judgement! Wake up! Those who build on a false foundation or lawlessness or legalism will suffer loss. They will be held accountable for their works, those things which they have built upon their foundation of faith in the Messiah. It is their works and their flawed character that will be tried and burned. And whilst this will not destroy them, it will purify them by chastisement and make them fit for the post-Millennial Kingdom to come, albeit is as a servant class of the ruler-class who were faithful. They will become a metaphorical concubine of the Messiah, with lesser rights than those who are full wives because of their faithfulness.
As for the unbelievers, those who made a choice not to choose Yah'shua - whether they choose Satan openly or are just fence-sitters - they will be "thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev.20:14-15). This fire, however, is not a refining or cleansing fire but a punitive fire - a fire to punish. It is the fire that those who have no foundation in Christ - those who never admitted the Ruach haRishon into their lives - but be punished by. And whilst it is not an 'everlasting fire' as the 'hellfire and damnation' preachers teach, but an Age-long one, it will be long enough for you to wish you had never been sent there. I shall be talking about this in another sermon to come.
We are, as I speak to you, still in the middle of the Third Wave and looks as though it will yet last many weeks. Only Yah'shua knows its duration. It has been sent both to punish and to refine - to punish the presumptuous as well as those who have mocked Yahweh, whether they are of this work or not, and to refine those who desire this fuller manifestation of the Kingdom with all their souls. No one has escaped it. When Yom Kippur is over at the conclusion of 2 October, we will know exactly where we stand, and we will know who will go forward into this the first stage of the Tabernacles Anointing and those who will not. And it is not we who shall be judging, but Yahweh Himself. Those who are not of us, or who have persecuted us, will be washed away. As John wrote:
"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us" (1 John 2:19, NKJV).
This year we celebrate our 20th aniversary. And 20, as you know, is the age of coming to full maturity as a man in Torah (Num.1:3-45). So this Sukkot will not only be a time of celebrating the beginning of a new dispensation for us but will also be our 20th birthday! This was the year, moreover, that our enemies sought to exterminate us - both our lives physically and, when they failed to do that, by destroying our reputation. And they will probably continue trying to wreck us so long as the Third Wave remains. They will fail. As Solomon wrote:
"Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man's house, do not raid his dwelling place; for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity" (Prov.24:15-16, NIV)
May Yahweh bless you and prosper you and see you through the current trial of your faith so that at the end of it you will be justified, sanctified and full of His presence. May His countenance shine upon you and give you His shalom. Amen.
Acknowledgements
- Dr. Stephen E. Jones, Creation's Jubilee, 1991.
Click here for Part 8
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
|
This page was first created on 18 March 2007
Last updated on 18 March 2007
Copyright ©2006 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved
|
|