Sermons Series 3:55, 16 September 2006
The Third Wave
Part 9: The Antinomian Excuse
Main Themes: Under law vs. under grace
Minor Themes:
Click here for Part 8
Shabbat Shalom and welcome back as we resume our discussion on the season of repentance (Teshuvah) and Yahweh's spiritual fire. Yet again this as been an extraordinary week as the refining fire catches up with those fleeing from it and begins to bite. I know this not only from the reports I have been receiving from others but also from the visions Yahweh has been showing me. Moreover, there is not a single soul who has escaped, and for many this is either a time of cleansing or of judgement. But in addition there have been some wonderful deliverances and the occasion for much celebration! Every week we see the power of Yahweh manifested to those who will trust and obey.
I have also had my attention drawn to the fact that this year 15 October falls during Sukkot or Tabernacles, the day before Shemini Atsereth. For those of you who were around 11 years ago, or have read our history, this was the date we celebrated a specially-called Solemn Assembly in Bergen, Norway, when NCCG was reconsecrated. There was a very colourful and moving banner rededication. Of that Assembly of several Norwegian congregations only six survived the spiritual separation that subsequently took place, but from them the work you see today was built. From small things great things are made.
Last week we talked about spiritual ignition processes, how the Godhead is represented by the sun, moon and possibly the Pleiades, the difference between refining and punitive fire, and how it is that Yahweh speaks out of fire. We also understood that as perfect love drives out fear, so true godly fear, when mature, is actually perfect love itself, and that Satan has as his purpose to make you fear the very fire that brings you to Yahweh and will therefore do everything in his power to prevent you from running to it. He does this by deliberately confusing punitive hellfire with purifying heaven-fire. Finally, we saw that one of the reasons that Yahweh calls us to His fire is to test our faith.
Just before his death, Moses summonsed the children of Israel and spoke these words to them:
"Yahweh came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones; At His right hand there was flashing lightning for them. Indeed, He loves the people; All Thy holy ones are in Thy hand, and they followed in Thy steps; Everyone receives of Thy words" (Deut.33:2-3, NASV).
That quotation is from the New American Standard Version which is an improvement on most modern versions. The "flashing lightning" is obscured even in this version, where the original Hebrew is esh-dash or 'fire-law', or as the RSTNE puts it, "a fiery Torah". So the passage should read: "From His right hand went a fiery Torah for them". What this means, quite simply, is that divine Torah is a fire that Yahweh gave to His people. This is confirmed by the next verse where Moses says "all Thy holy ones are in Your hand". Put the two together and what do you have? If the fiery Torah is in Yahweh's hand, and if the saints or set-apart ones are in Yahweh's hand, then it follows that Yahweh's set-apart ones have been given the divine nature of this holy fire. The holy fire transforms a believing, obedient Israelite into a being after the nature of Yahweh Himself. How do we see this practically? Well, there are always outer signs which include spontaneous (as opposed to forced) walking in Yahweh's steps and spontaneous and joyful acceptance of everything He says. The people not only believe Yahweh's Word but become it also, just as Yah'shua the Messiah was Himself fully the Word (John 1:1).
I cannot overstate the importance of this revelation because what it is telling us is that the ultimate blessing of Yahweh-Elohim is to give us the divine nature, pictured as divine, cleansing fire, and imparted by the Word of Yahweh. If we are in any doubt, we need only go to Isaiah's commentary on this passage, where the prophet said:
"The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: 'Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?' He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil -- this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him" (Isa.33:14-16, NIV).
Please grasp this, and grasp this tightly: Yahweh is here telling us that those who walk righteously and speak what is right dwell in consuming fire and everlasting burning! 'Oh no!' someone might cry. 'That's a picture of hell!' Well, that's the whole point. Hell is one type of fire and the presence of Yahweh is another. One fire is redemptive and the other, punitive. One blesses and the other curses. The redemptive fire is the divine presence, and those who dwell in it acquire the divine nature by burning. This fire does not harm the righteous but most certainly terrfies and consumes the wicked. Those who dwell in this divine fire cannot be spiritually harmed because the judgement of Torah has no jurisdiction over them any longer. Their character, being in harmony with the divine fire and therefore the Divine Character of Yahweh-Elohim, means that neither earthly fire nor hellfire has any power over them.
So why was it that when the Israelites stood at the base of Mount Sinai they weren't burned to a cinder? The reason is that six weeks before they had become justified by the blood of the lamb at Pesach or Passover when they left Egypt. This did not, however, mean that they were ready for their next level of experience with the Revee haQodesh at the foot of Mount Sinai. And the reason is to be found in this meeting with Yahweh, when He spoke to them through the fire, because they celebrated this experience as Shavu'ot or Pentecost. Though they had been justified by faith by the blood of the lamb and received the anointing of the Rishon haQodesh; and though they had also began to work sin out of their lives during Chag haMatzah or Unleavened Bread and received the Shanee haQodesh; and though they had brought their spiritual firstfruits at Yom haBikkurim and received the anointing of the Ruach haShleshi - they were unable to experience Shavu'ot because they were afraid to hear the voice of Yahweh. And if you are afraid to hear the voice of Yahweh, you can't get the anointing of the Ruach haRevee. For this reason, the fulfilment of Shavu'ot was postponed for nearly one and a half millennia, where we can read about it in the second chapter of Acts.
This 'Church' or 'Assembly in the wilderness' under Moses (Ac.7:38) typified Christians who, though justified by faith, are unwilling or unable to move up to the second level of experience with Yahweh. You see, Pentecost is an encounter with divine fire, because it is an immersion or baptism of fire that has the purpose of purifying souls and destroying the fleshy nature. It is not meant to destroy the person, but to free people from the bondage of their fleshy passions. Now be under no illusion - this fire does not tickle, it kills. It kills the carnal nature, it kills the ego, it kills you. And though your first instinct might be to run in terror from such a 'threat', we should not run from it but trust it, embrace it, and cling onto it with this one true faith principle echoing around our being: 'Yahweh is Love!' 'Yahweh is Love!' - and the only reason He is sending this fire to us, if we will embrace it, is to give us a deeper relationship with Him.
Now there is no way that I, a preacher, can prepare the flesh for the shock of this. There is no way that I can cushion the blow. There is no way, if I am honest, that I can pretend that it's going to be a party with all balloons and whistles. Yahweh said through Jeremiah:
"Is not my word like fire," declares Yahweh, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?" (Jer.23:29, NIV).
Now I guarantee that you're not going to fine this fire in a Pentecostal or a Charismatic Church because these counterfeit bodies tickle the flesh rather than devour it! This Shavu'ot or Pentecostal anointing is the very opposite of the so-called 'baptism of fire' with its talking in gibberish. The whole Azuza Street 'revival', and everything that followed it, was a counterfeit demonic spirit, offering a cheap, lawless, quick-and-easy fast-food salvation. If you want examples of true spiritual fire you must go back to earlier revivals such as the early Methodists and others had, even though they were lawless and the revivals did not last. The soil was stony because it lacked the refined soil of Torah - the "fiery Torah" that Yahweh gave to His people. Now what is that Torah for? And why is it that people who reject this Torah never get this anointing? The purpose of Torah is to define sin (1 Jn.3:4) and to show us what coveting or lusting in the flesh a man actually is, in contradistinction to lusting or eagerly desiring that which is holy (Rom.7:7). This Word of Yahweh - this Torah - is like fire because it reveals the very character and nature of its divine Author. And if you want fellowship with Him, then you must love what He loves, and hate what He hates, and the only way you're going to do that is by walking through the cleansing fire. Just repeating a few words is not enough. You have to present your whole being for sacrifice, just like Abraham did when He presented Isaac.
What is it, then, that makes us so terrified of this fire? Why do we balk when it is offered to us? Why do we dig our heels in and cling on with dear life to the familiarity of our old ways? It is because when we hear this Word of Yahweh coming out of the midst of the divine fire, it unmasks the sin within our hearts which we have so desperately tried to hide all our lives. All our defence mechanisms, all our self-justification, all our rationalisations, all of our projections of guilt upon others, all of our blindness and refusal to see our own hearts as Yahweh sees them - all of the secrets of our heart, all the things we don't want anyone to see - all are made manifest by this Word - this Torah - when we hear it speaking out of the midst of the fire. And then comes fear, rage, disbelief, horror, disgust - you name it - and behind that we begin to get glimpses of ugly demonic foes, lurking in the shadows, themselves trying to stay out of sight, because they want us to believe that all the vileness in us is us and not them, and to lose all hope of deliverance.
So yes, brethren and sisters, this true Pentecostal awakening is at first horrible, not glorious! The glory comes after the deliverance, not before. It is a fearsome experience, terrifying in fact. The Ten Commandments give the general Torah principle, and the statutes or other mitzvot define spiritually how the principle is to be applied correctly. We can't, like the Seventh Day Adventists, just stop at the Ten Commandments, because what use is revelation without practical application? Then we have the judgements of the Torah which are the penalties for each transgression which have as their purpose the restoration of lawful order through restitution where possible, and the restoration of the sinner as well.
When we become believers, we come before the bar of Yahweh's Justice as repentant sinners, not as some theoretical consideration, but with a spirit of horror at just how carnal and wicked we really are. Then - and only then - can we claim the death of Yah'shua the Messiah, the Passover Lamb, as payment for all our sins - past, present and future. From that moment on, as we are washed by the renewing Rishon haQodesh, we form a new and different relationship with the Torah. In the past we were afraid of its judgement and lived in terror of it, but now we voluntarily submit ourselves to its judgement and teaching, so that we can learn what sin is and how to refrain from sinning. As Yahweh said through Isaiah, we begin to learn what righteousness is - how to be rightly related to Yahweh and people. True relationship is through divine fire.
There is an important key here in husband-wife relationships too because the relationship between husband and wife is very similar to that between believer and Yah'shua. You all know what Paul said to the Ephesians: "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Master [Lord/Yah'shua]" (Eph.5:22, NKJV). In other words, she is to approach the fire of Yahweh in her husband in the same way that we as believers approach the fire of Yahweh. And for what purpose? So that she can acquire her husband's nature, the same reason we submit ourselves to Yahweh's fire. Paul continues: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Messiah also loved the Messianic Community (church) and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious Messianic Community (church), not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish" (vv.25-27).
Now you will notice that there is a reciprocal relationship here. It begins first with the obligation of the soul to surrender unconditionally to Yah'shua, and with the wife surrendering unconditionally to the husband. But that's not the end of it. Just as Yah'shua has an obligation as an allegorical husband to believers, so do literal husbands have an obligation to their wives. Husbands must love unconditionally as well, and pour themselves into their wives, bathing them in the divine fire that Yahweh gives them as submitted heads.
Now I underline this word pour because the action of pouring on the part of the husband is the same as the drink offering in Torah. When Paul said that he was "being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith" (Phil 2:17, NIV; cp. 2 Tim.4:6), what he meant was that he was pouring his very life-energy into them as an allegorical apostolic 'husband' to his allegorical Philippian 'bride'. Yah'shua has done the same thing for us as the Messianic Bridegroom when He said: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt.26:27-28, NIV) because the blood is the life (Lev.17:11,14) and "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:54-55, NIV). Whereas Yah'shua does this on a cosmic scale as Deity, we can only do it locally as humans in our own little 'cosmos' which is our family - first our literal family, and second, if we are a pastor or apostle, our congregational family. The calling of the man is to pour his life energy into his bride, and the calling of the woman is to surrender to her husband so he can do that. This surrendering does not have as its purpose the fulfilment of some macho male urge to dominate and control as a power-hungry tyrant (which is what enemies of the Gospel accuse us of teaching) but to enable the man to fulfil His true calling to offer his life substance to his wife - his fire - by which means she can live and be made whole. The pouring by the husband and the filling of the wife - whether a human bride or the Messianic Israelite one - is done in three primary stages (Passover/Dedication, Pentecost/Betrothal and Tabernacles/Full Marriage), with full marriage taking place at Sukkot or Tabernacles.
Do you remember how recently I told you about the 'divine deposit'? To refresh your memory:
"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).
That deposit was given at Shavu'ot or Pentecost, which was a betrothal gift of the Ruach haRevee, the fullness being reserved for full marriage at Tabernacles at the end of the age. When a man gets betrothed, and the two covenant lifelong felicity, the husband gives the bride a deposit of his love - part of himself - from his heart. It's a bit like a seed in her heart which can then grow, her love for him becoming stronger and more yearning day by day as she patiently awaits her bridegroom to collect her and consummate the marriage. But the fullness is reserved for the wedding night when he plants himself in her physically as well, giving literally of his physical life substance.
Now as you know in Torah there are both meal and drink offerings. Only Tabernacles is a drink harvest, to be precise, the grape harvest, unlike Bikkurim and Shavu'ot which are the barley and wheat harvests, respectively.
True leaders and heads pour their life into their brides, literal and allegorical. That is the true male way, the man in Yah'shua. When a man takes and never gives, he becomes a thief and a robber worthy only of death because he is not fulfilling the measure of his creation. He is a parasite like the male in the species of fish called the Deep Sea Angler which lives in the deepest oceans, fastened onto a female's belly sucking her blood. And when a woman refuses to surrender, then she is like the spider who, after she has mated and obtained the selfish desires of her heart, devours her husband alive. Yahweh has given us pictures of false gender rôles in the cursed creation in creatures such as these, to revolt and appal us and wake us up to our true rôles.
The complete fulfilment of marriage comes only in this relationship when the husband has fully surrendered himself to Yah'shua as His allegorical Bride, claiming nothing to be his own, and is filled with heavenly fire as his sin nature is burned out of him. The wife, in her turn, is only fulfilled when she surrenders to her husband, "as to the Master", and obtains the heavenly fire from her surrendered husband.
Now obviously you're not going to go out on the street and find a man and woman who are ready made for a Tabernacles anointing. The chances of you young women finding a young man who is fully surrendered to Yah'shua and full of heavenly fire are remote, and the chances of you young men finding a young woman fully surrendered to her father and ready to surrender to you unconditionally are equally remote. So we must be realistic here: there are two long journeys of purification to be made. If you're serious about this work, and you're fresh out of the world, not having been raised in this work, then I won't pull the wool over your eyes and say it's going go be a piece of cake, because it isn't. That is why we do not advise people coming out of the world to rush into marriage - at least not in this first generation. It is, of course, up to Yahweh to say when you are to get married, and ultimately your choice, but a wise man or woman will want to get well under way in this spiritual journey from Passover to Pentecost - from Rishon to Revee - before contemplating marriage. There are temptations enough between Pentecost to Tabernacles but you do at least want to be past the temptation to return to Egypt which occurs in the Passover to Pentecost stage, because when one of the spouses decides to go back to Egypt, then families split and children suffer. But with a proper Pentecost foundation, there is strength and experience to weather the storms together as you move forward toward the ever more visible Tabernacles goal. When you're on the wrong side of Pentecost, tabernacles looks like a distant mirage.
Now I mentioned something of the terror of coming close to the fire and how Satan wants you to think it is something bad and to flee. I also mentioned that the terror is not Yahweh Himself but our own impurity and sin, with demons stirring us up in the background. It should not surprise you to learn that husbands and wives go through a similar stage in their spiritual journey together as they seek echad. There is a time when a wife approaches her husband's depths and recoils in terror and Satan will make her believe that her husband is something terrible to be feared. If she has submission issues, then the dark spirits associated with those will really churn up the emotional barrel. When that happens - and if it this is truly a godly man - she needs to remember the parallel experience of drawing close to Yahweh's own fire, because they are similar. This happens at both the Pentecost and Tabernacles endowments, and to a lesser extent at Passover when the decision to be covered or not - and to leave the Egypt or not - has to be made.
As we learn to trust in Him and take the plunge, Yah'shua will lead us through our issues and Yahweh begins to refine us as gold. As we get closer to Yahweh, so He speaks to us out of the midst of the fire just He did to the Israelites assembled at the base of Mt. Sinai. Wives must also learn to listen to their husbands as they really are and allow the fire to dissolve worldly stereotypes and expectations. To do that she must carefully listen to the Word of Yahweh by believing what He says about proper relationships. Too many men and women make excuses and say: "Oh, that was for then, it doesn't apply to us!" Yet whilst it is true that some Torah has been reformed by Yah'shua, it is not true to say that male-female relationships have been changed in any way. What Torah says on this matter both Yah'shua and the apostles reaffirm (e.g. 1 Cor.14:34).
The fire of Yahweh will activate every inner fear that you have and drive it to the surface. However, He will not force you into it - you can choose to deal with the issues, or flee. Men and women - the vast majority of them - are still fleeing from this fiery Torah - they would rather not know. It is this fear that created antinomianism. And if you haven't heard of that, antinomianism means 'anti-Law' or 'anti-Torah'.
Last Thursday evening I joined a typical Protestant discussion room on PalTalk whose title was 'Exposing the Messianic Judaising Heresy'. There were both Messianics and Protestants there and though the Messianics were patiently trying to explain the scriptures, the Protestants were in such a frenzy that all they could do was yell 'heretic', 'legalist' and far worse words. Yes, there were two pastors and even a bishop who were openly swearing at Messianics. I didn't say a word but I was listening carefully to the hysterical spirit so obviously fuelled by demons. What this antinomian spirit is basically doing, when all's said and done, is justifying sin, and they do that by crying as load as their larynx will allow them: "WE'RE NO LONGER UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE!!" How many times have you heard that? It's become quite a cliché, just like the word 'legalistic'. Now what these antinomians really mean is: "We will uphold the laws that we agree with, such as those that define murder, theft, and adultery as sin - but anyone who brings up a law we disagree with or do not want to comply with - like observing the Saturday Sabbath or observing Yahweh's dietary code - well, then we're not under law but under grace!"
Those of you who are familiar with the Reverend Twistruth comic series - which incidentally, are really funny - may remember one strip in which Auntie Torah and one other character are speeding down the highway in their car. A traffic cop pulls them up and tells them they're speeding. A very indignant Auntie Torah says: "Didn't you see the bumper sticker on our car? We're Christians!" The policeman asks what that has to do with anything and Auntie Torah replies, "Well, we're not under the law, but under grace!"
If the antinomians tried their verbal chicanery with the courts of the land they'd either find themselves heavily fined or in prison. Let's be honest here - this 'we're not under law, we're under grace' trick is just a twisting of scripture. So what did Paul mean when he said: "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace" (Rom.6:14, NIV)? I suggest we let the Bible explain for itself.
If an Israelite was convicted by sin of stealing, say, the equivalent of $1,000, the Law would tell him to pay his victim double restitution, or $2,000. We read this in our Torah portion recently (Ex.22:7,9). If he could not pay the debt, he had to work off the debt through indentured service until it was paid. In other words he made himself into a voluntary 'slave' or 'servant', a bit like modern compulsory 'community service' for offenders. During the time it took to work off the debt the person was "under the law". Once the debt was paid, he was "under grace", because his sin no longer had dominion over him. He was forgiven. He was free.
Paul was telling us that Yah'shua has paid the penalty for our sin. Hence, we are no longer "under law" but "under grace". Our sin no longer has dominion over us. But does this mean we may now continue in sin? Obviously not. Sin is lawlessness or Torahlessness (1 Jn.3:4). The Torah tells us what sin is. The Law was never meant to justify sinners, nor could it. However, the solution was not to put away the Torah, thereby legalising sin! The solution is to apply Yah'shua's blood to our sins, believing that He has paid the full penalty for our sins. This puts us "under grace" so that we are free to be servants of Yahweh in obedience to His Torah. We are justified in order to begin learning obedience to the will of Yahweh. The foundational revelation of Yahweh's will came through Moses in the divine law.
All honest people know that this is common sense, so how can people be so blinded to the simplicity of the truth? Very simply, when we believe in lies, we admit demons. When they hear the truth, the demons get agitated and send their hosts off into blind rage, accusing, insulting and mocking. Do you know some of the excuses I heard last Thursday? One Messianic quietly pled that people stopped name-calling and just examined the scriptures. To which the Protestant Pastor replied: "which is the best? To let a heretic talk nonsense (he used a stronger word) or tell him he is an idiot (he used an even stronger word)?" Now, those of you who walk in the Ruach know that this man was using a demonic good cop/bad cop trick by forcing you to choose evil no matter what. This man had a religious demon and he did not want to hear the truth. So he was abusive. And this is what you can expect to hear from those who want to sin. Now if this minister repented, he would have to lose his paid job as a Baptist pastor or whatever denomination he belonged to. He might even lose his family. The truth stakes are high. What are you willing to sacrifice for the truth? Most people would rather cling onto lies and retain their perks and comforts. Such people do not belong to the First Resurrection. They are spiritual harlots and have sold themselves out to demons which is why they have to pass through punitive fire and wait until the end of the Millennium, for Yahweh will not be mocked.
It is perfectly true that certain parts of the Torah have been put away, particularly the blood sacrifices and rituals relating to the physical temple and Levitical Priesthood that have been changed in the New Testament. The principles remain the same, however - they are eternal, but they have been given a new form in the new dispensation of Shavu'ot or Pentecost. Yet even these were not really put away - only their outward form changed. We still have a blood sacrifice - Yah'shua - who was the Lamb of Elohim. We still have a temple - we are the temple of Yahweh. We still have a Priesthood - today it is the Melchizedek Priesthood. And we still have a Cohen Gadol or High Priest - He is alive forever! Halleu-Yah!
But let us never suppose that the moral Torah has been put away. Yahweh's morals do not change. When you start abolishing these, you become lawless. Theft, murder and adultery are still sins. Disobeying any of the Ten Commandments is still sin, including the Seventh Day Sabbath. Indeed, Yahweh says - and the Seventh Day Adventists are quite correct in pointing this out - that Sabbath observance is a test-sign of Yahweh's people's obedience. Nevertheless, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Unfortunately, most Christians seldom study the Torah, because they have been lied to and told that it has been 'put away', so they have no idea what Yahweh's moral law is. For this reason, few understand the judgements of the Torah which is a very serious gap in people's spiritual knowledge because without it, it is not possible to understand what actually happens at the Great White Throne Judgement. Without an understanding of the judgements of Torah, we can never know what the lake of fire is or its nature which is the means by which sinners are judged.
It is therefore vitally important to know and affirm that Yahweh will judge the world by His fiery Torah because that is how all sin is to be judged. By studying the Torah we come to a proper understanding of the purpose of judgement, as we read in Isaiah:
"When your judgements come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness" (Isa.26:9, NIV).
Are you hearing what Yahweh is saying here? JUDGEMENT IS CORRECTIVE AND REMEDIAL. The result of Yahweh's judgement is not a perpetual state of unforgiveness! We need to underline that again and again! The purpose of the Age of Tabernacles is to give the earth a sabbatical rest in the seventh thousand year period, so that the people will be free to learn the ways of Yahweh. We are about to enter a time when all nations will see the exaltation of the Kingdom of Yahweh and its glory. They will see the blessings of its citizens and desire to learn its laws (Is.2:2-4). They will not flee in terror at His judgements but will see the justice and mercy of Yahweh's Torah in direct contrast to the laws of men, and they will rejoice at His marvellous wisdom.
One of our tasks is to remove the terror that Satan has struck into the hearts of men about the nature of our Heavenly Father by teaching scriptural truth. He is not, as the devil would have us believe, some cruel, arbitrary tyrant. He does not take pleasure in pain and suffering. He does not enjoy punishing the wicked. And He definitely does not expect us to do what He does not do Himself. In other words, to give you an example, He abides by the same rules of forgiveness that He has given to us through Yah'shua and the apostles. His punishments may at times appear hard (Lk.19:22) but they are always short and corrective, and afterwards He pours ocean-fulls of love as a balm so that the punishment is instantly forgotten. His goal is our permanent safety from Satan and happiness in His nearness.
One of the other problems that antinomianism causes is that good people with hearts that are open are pushed up against a wall. What happens then is that they find themselves in a Catch 22 situation because they face a bad cop/good cop choice: they have met Yah'shua, they know of His goodness, and yet they are confronted by doctrines that seem to make Yahweh out to be a monster. Then they must either accept the false interpretations of their tradition and cut off their hearts and assume that Yahweh really is as cruel as He is made out to be, in which case they admit one set of demons - or they can reject the reliability of the Scripture which they have never really studied or to whoese interpretation they have been blinded to, and start becoming liberal in their beliefs and affirmations. Either way, they are on a slippery slope to hell. If you do meet liberals, consider the possibility that they may have been forced into an impossible choice and chose to respond to the truth in their hearts instead, not realising that in rejecting Scripture that they end up with another demonic model of Yahweh based on lawlessness. One way is the way of harshness and coldness, and the other permissiveness. And we have seen what both kinds of religious spirit lead to. Above all, we must avoid the loathing that liberals feel for the ultra-legalist fanatics, and vice versa. The enemy is untruth and the demons that ride on it, not people.
This year is the fifth anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York about which there has been much publicity again. The United States in particular has never really recovered from the trauma of it. Those who said that this was a wake-up call to the USA were correct - it was a call to repentance. Only when repentance follows such wake-up calls does healing come from the trauma. The fear it has generated has left an unrepentant people ripe for increased erosion of their freedoms and more dictatorship. It was carefully calculated by the demonic for that very purpose. As a symbol it is likely to be etched into history in the same way as the Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. It really did shock people and it's still shocking them today.
I bring this up now because we are still in the Third Wave and Yahweh gave one of our people a very interesting vivid dream on Thursday morning. In the dream a small light aircraft deliberately crashed into the middle of a house rather as the suicide bombers did when they flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center five years ago. Once the plane impacted, the dream literally 'exploded' into a huge Star Wars-type galactic struggle between two irreconcilable powers. The person who dreamed this woke up very shocked indeed. When Yah'shua was consulted as to its meaning He said that the dream was symbolic of demonic structures and programs being destroyed in lives and reminded us that after the demolition of the old something new, bigger and better would be constructed. Yah'shua drew a comparison between this and the Twin Towers catastrophe.
People are still groaning over the length of the Third Wave and wondering when it will be over. To them - and to myself (because I am in the thick of it too) I can only say this: Yahweh will be finished when everyone has made their final choice - to allow Him to demolish and rebuild something better, or to run away and protect the old spiritual 'buildings' made by human hands. Some refuse to choose, some are trying to choose and hold on to the old (which is the same as not choosing) and others have already headed into the fire and are letting Yahweh do His work. There have, as I have said, been more spectacular deliverances this week whilst others hang on to the flotsam and jetsam of the world thinking it will give them safety because they believe the lies of their demons. They have a little time yet to make their choice.
Next week is Yom Teruah or Trumpets which as you know commemorates the second physical coming of Yah'shua, an event yet in the future. Which year He will come back we don't know, only that He will come back at this time of the year. Each year we rehearse this cycle as we prepare for annual 'spiritual comings' - and this year in particular we are waiting for Him to inaugurate the Tabernacles anointing amongst His end-time remnant. Trumpets is also announcing the Day of Atonement, Judgement or Yom Kippur which follows 9 days after Yom Teruah. I suspect the Third Wave will end on that day but I don't absolutely know that - we may have to wait until the beginning of Sukkot five days later.
I look forward to seeing you next Sabbath when we gather to celebrate Yom Teruah - the Day of Trumpets! Keep working on your issues, keep surrendering to Yahweh and giving all to Him, and working on your relationships with one another. Remember that Yahweh's refining fire is good and not something to be feared. Don't listen to the Adversary, don't run. Stand your ground, turn around, head straight into the fire and trust everything to Him. Amen.
Click here for Part 10
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