, without the judgment for the last year, how much more terrible it would be at the end of life when repentance is no longer possible? That we have a set-apart time or moed to get things right with Yahweh and so save our souls is an act of mercy and compassion on His part. I personally am grateful for it though I would be the first to admit that I do not enjoy the discovery of sin, and even less the struggle to overcome it. But I realise its necessity and I above all want to get right with my Maker and be as useful for Him as I can while I am down here on this earth. To be that servant, I must be fully converted and amenable to His ways.
"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of Yahweh, and that He may send Yah'shua the Messiah, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which Elohim has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:19-21, NKJV).
The Greek for repentance is metanoia which means 'to think differently' or 'to change ones mind for the better'. An even better definition, in my view, is "to heartily amend with repugnance of ones past sins" (Thayer). This inevitably means turning off the broad way that leads to destruction and into the narrow one that leads to eternal life (Mt.7:14).
To be 'converted' means more than changing one's way of thinking - it means to change one's way of living. In other words, a total moral reformation. It is not, moreover, something supernatural that Yahweh wants - it is always within our grasp. He never asks us to do more than we are capable of. Torah never asks us to do anything superhuman. Yahweh asks us, rather, to return to its simple precepts of faith.
When we take this step, something wonderful and inevitable happens - refreshing. It's a concrete promise in both Old and New Testaments:
"'This is the resting place, let the weary rest' and, 'This is the place of repose'" (Isa.28:12, NIV).
Yahweh offers you and me "rest" and "repose" if we will trust in His constant love and obey His commandments. Yet 'unbelieving believers' today are responding to this the same way they did millennia ago: "But they would not listen" (v.12, NIV). They would not listen. Their hearts were stubbornly closed.
Yahweh wants to give us new life - revival. That's a word that's used a lot in evangelical circles, isn't it? "Revival"! The trouble is, I don't think there's been a revival in living memory - no one is alive today who has experienced a genuine one so Christians are walking around in the dark. Yet they preach about it all the time. How can there be revival without trust and obedience?
"Consider Abraham: 'He believed ('aman) Yahweh, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham" (Gal.3:6-7, NIV; cp. Gen.15:6).
A better translation of 'aman would be "trust" rather than "believe" because trust implies long continuance. Faith is not an on-off thing, it continues without interruption. Abram trusted Yahweh - continuously. The Targum Onkelos says, "Abram trusted the Word of Yahweh" which is probably even more accurate. 4 This continual trusting in Yahweh's Word is what the Acts of the Apostles enjoins all believers to do in the same spirit as Abraham, for ours is the Abrahamic faith at root (Jn.8:39; Rom.4:16). We trust Yahweh by walking in His Word - that is real faith, real belief, not some abstract notion that lays no responsibility upon us to actually react and live out our faith. It is with this walk of trust and obedience that we find refreshing. Refreshment is not a single event, any more than revival or breathing is. In fact, the word 'refresh' means 'recovery of breathing'. What Yahweh means by revival and refreshment is to be breathing Ruach instead of the air of the world. We exchange one kind of breath or life for another. We breathe pure Ruach instead of polluted psyche for our soul-nourishment.
Trusting in Yahweh doesn't just mean returning to fundamentals - it means complete or total obedience to everything Yahweh requires. Abraham did not pick and choose what he wanted obey. To have the faith of Abraham - to be a son of Abraham and a daughter of Sarah - means to believe and implement all of Torah. That's what we stand for here. We're not interested in halfhearted believers - we can recommend lots of halfhearted churches, assemblies and ministries for those who have one foot in the gospel and one in the world. We don't half mean what we say either. If you're halfhearted - if you're not after the whole truth, if you don't want to walk all the way, if you don't want to surrender everything, you'll not be happy here, nor in the next world, for that matter. So long as you want Yahweh to be "all in all" (1 Cor.15:28) you're most welcome, because none of us has completely made it yet. It's where your heart is that's important, and as I've said before, it's the direction you're pointing in and the fact that you are actually moving in it that's the important thing, not whether you've made it yet or not. We have much to learn and do, but our goal is clear. We want everything and to do that we're prepared to give everything.
Our moral responsibility before Yahweh is to blot out every last vestige of evil in us by trusting (clinging, adhering passionately to) Yah'shua totally. If we love our children and want to spare them the mistakes we made, and the sorrows we experienced, we will do that for them at least. We will repent - make Teshuvah - for their sakes and prove that we actually love them - as well as for Yahweh.
In recent sermons I have been talking to you about the good works that flow from the Tree of Life compared to the 'good' works that flow from the Tree of Death. How easy it is to switch trees, though! Elaine Creasement in her book, Discipleship Journal, gives a good illustration:
"Pursuit of 'good things' can hinder obedience. It has been said that 'the good is the enemy of the best.' I think of times my husband has asked me to do one thing for him during the day. When he comes home from work, I tell him all the good things I have done. But the question he always has for me is, 'What about the thing I asked you to do?'
"Many times I have answered, 'I forgot,' or 'I didn't have time.' Or I've dismissed his request as trivial.
"[Yahweh] asks the same questions of us: 'What about the things I asked you to do?...'
"I'm sure Abraham could have thought of a lot of good things to do instead of taking Isaac to be sacrificed. But I see no excuses in Genesis 22. [Yahweh] commanded; Abraham obeyed."
One of the fruits of the Tree of Death is doing other 'good' works in place of the good works that Yahweh commands us to do. They can never compensate. Ever. That's what King Saul did but his 'good' works were counted as disobedience and Yahweh took the kingship away from him and he perished at Gilboa. Your salvation is dependent on being obedient too.
Imagine if the Prodigal Son had decided to go to his uncle's house and work there as a hired hand instead of going back to his father's to make things right? Would that have constituted repentance? Helping out his uncle would have been a 'good' thing to do but it would not have been the right thing to do. He would still be estranged from his father!
I recently heard of a husband-wife evangelist team who split up and divorced, and the ex-wife starting her own independent ministry and started doing 'good'. Is that repentance? No. It's defiance of Yahweh and of Torah! That woman got very New Agey in the end and went off the rails. Her 'good' works were rejected. They were useless. No success that derives from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil can ever compensate for failure to obey Yahweh and do things His way. That's the same kind of excuse that Hitler used to enslave the German people - he eliminated unemployment, hunger, poverty, and certain kinds of immorality but at what a price!
There is only one course ordained by Yahweh for us. When we are IN Him, we're on that course. When we're on another course, some 'alternative', we're eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and are not repenting. Get back on course! Return to Yahweh and to the place you're supposed to be. The other 'courses' lead to woe and death. Do the things Yahweh originally asked you to do. Be true. Don't refuse Him. Instead, "flee from the wrath to come!" (Mt.3:7; Lk.3:7, NKJV).
The whole purpose of Teshuvah is to establish who is to be king in your heart. If Yah'shua is the King of your heart, then that means you are willing to submit to His Kingdom and its rules and way of life. That's why He proclaimed:
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt.4:17, NKJV).
That is why John the Baptist said:
"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance" (Luke 3:8, NIV).
That means, change your mind about sin and sinning and produce fruit in keeping with Yahweh's will. That means stop walking along crooked ways (Lk.3:5b). When John preached repentance in the wilderness He did not need to explain what it was because everyone knew from the Torah. This is what Solomon prayed in the temple:
"When they sin against You - for there is no one who does not sin - and You become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with You in the land of their conquerors and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; and if they turn back to You with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city You have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, Your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. And forgive Your people, who have sinned against You; forgive all the offenses they have committed against You, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy; for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace. May Your eyes be open to Your servant's plea and to the plea of Your people Israel, and may You listen to them whenever they cry out to You. For You singled them out from all the nations of the world to be Your own inheritance, just as You declared through Your servant Moses when You, O Yahweh-Elohim, brought our fathers out of Egypt" (1 Kings 8:46-53, NIV; cp. 2 Chr.6:33-39).
Please do not look upon sin lightly! It can't be trivialised. We can't go awhoring after false religion or the flesh without serious consequences:
"Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness. But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake Yahweh will perish" (Isa.1:27-28, NIV).
"They have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers" (Hos.8:9, NIV).
"Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him, and to our Elohim, for he will freely pardon" (Isa.55:7, NIV).
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what Yahweh-Elohim says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!'" (Ezek.14:6, NIV).
"But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all My decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares Yahweh-Elohim. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die. Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, O house of Israel: Is My way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die. Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of Yahweh is not just.' Are My ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Yahweh-Elohim. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares Yahweh-Elohim. Repent and live!" (Ezek.18:21-32, NIV)
There are many hearing me and reading this sermon who are standing at the very gates of spiritual death. Only two days ago Yahweh woke me in the middle of the night and showed me a vision of a married Christian sister who was crying from her heart: "I need a lover!" She was crying out to commit adultery! That was the desire of her heart! She was being led by her unredeemed passions by a false spirit to destroy her very soul. The same demonic spirits that destroyed Israel anciently are after the children of Messianic Israel today. Don't assume you'll be let alone, and don't get complacent. Yahweh warns:
"Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, I will not serve You!' Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute. I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against Me into a corrupt, wild vine? Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,' declares Yahweh-Elohim. 'How can you say, 'I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals'? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there, a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving -- in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her'" (Jer.2:20-24, NIV).
May Yahweh have mercy on the House of Israel for when she has departed from Yahweh's ways, she has become a prostitute and a whore in His eyes. There are people facing terrible temptations as I speak to you now. They are running to and fro like wild donkeys, braying and snorting like animals on heat, as Yahweh said to Jeremiah. Once solid Christian woman - faithful wives - are now running around like harlots. Once faithful Christian men and husbands are behaving like the heathen - sometimes worse! Now is the time to repent before Yom Kippur. This behaviour is the way of death!
As believers - and particularly as believers in the end-time - we should expect mounting opposition to living consecrated, set-apart lives to Yahweh. But did you know that Yahweh also promises special blessings to those of us called to live in these times? Those special blessings are called spoil. There are rewards for those who endure and overcome:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' (Ps.44:23) No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Elohim that is in Messiah Yah'shua our Master" (Rom.8:35-39, NIV).
Some years ago we spent several weeks studying this passage because of its importance in spiritual warfare. It is vitally important in encouraging us to complete our repentance too. There are two words I would especially like to look at. The first is 'more' in "more than conquerors" - what does that mean? And the second is 'conquerors' in the same sentence. The Greek translator uses the word hupernikao which means 'more than conquer', literally to 'vanquish beyond' or to 'get a decisive victory'. He has chosen to thus represent the Aramaic word akz which actually has three meanings - 'innocent', 'worthy' and 'victorious'. How much greater depth does the Hebraic original give us! There is no doubt, given the context, that the traditional use of 'victorious' or 'conqueror' is the best usage - however, it is more accurate to qualify the victor as one who is both 'innocent' as well as 'worthy' too. We don't win decisive spiritual victories unless we are both worthy and innocent as well. Paul warns:
"My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent" (1 Cor.4:3-4, NIV).
Whilst our conscience is Yahweh's gift to us for discernment purposes, it is not necessarily innocent or pure. Our consciences get corrupted, and become unreliable instruments, when we refuse to repent of sin. There are those with "weak consciences" (1 Cor.8:7), "evil consciences" which must be cleansed (Heb.10:22) and "defiled consciences" (Tit.1:15). We must be very careful not to use our conscience alone as our barometer of discernment because the use of the conscience for this purpose presupposes a clean heart. That means we must employ Torah to be our moral judge as well - do our actions line up with Yahweh's Law? If we are breaking any of it, then we are not innocent. Then if our conscience justifies us, we know it is leading us astray because of corruption. If we are guilty, then we must make Teshuvah quickly because we will not succeed in spiritual warfare until we have made ourselves right with our Father in Heaven.
Finally, there is the question of worthiness. What do we mean by that? We mean a person who merits or deserves what he gets. Let's find an example:
"A certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. So when he heard about Yah'shua, he sent elders of the Judeans to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Yah'shua, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue" (Luke 7:2-5, NKJV).
You all know, of course, that Yah'shua did not contradict these servants but went ahead and healed the sick man. Connected to this centurion's faith was his love of Israel which was reflected in his good works, in this case, he built a synagogue. His faith was not just 'any old faith' but a faith which possessed the quality of love - it was a worthy, or deserving faith. He loved his servant as much as he loved the Israelite people generally. If we are to have the kind of faith that makes us "more than conquerors through Him (Yah'shua) who loved us", then we must be moved by a similar love - the love that gives us worth. We are measured not by the size of our work (whether building a whole synagogue or doing something smaller) but the fact that we love evidencing the Messiah IN us. Remember Paul's Corinthian discourse on love (1 Cor.13) - the faith to move mountains is not enough because what ultimately matters is whether we love - and whether we love contextually and circumstantially within Yahweh's Torah. Any old faith won't do - it has to be the faith - the faith that is immersed in love and truth.
To be more than conquerors we must obtain the quality of love, worth and innocence that can only proceed from us if we are IN Yah'shua. But what is that "more"? I have already alluded to the fact that such victory over our enemies is not momentary but complete when such a victory is won. It's a total victory, like the victory of the captive Israelites over Pharaoh. The defeat of the heathen was total - his army was totally crushed and a body of water separated him from Israel. There was no possibility of Pharaoh pursuing the Israelites any longer. He was militarily and economically ruined, and the undertakers were in big business. However, Israel not only gained victory - she was not only a conqueror by the grace and power of Yahweh Almighty, she was MORE than a conqueror not just in terms of totally defeating the enemy but also in terms of despoiling him.
Now this is a subject we have mentioned from time to time in the past but without perhaps fully appreciating what the conditions of getting spoil are. These, as we have now seen, include worthiness and innocence. What do we mean practically by 'innocence'? Yah'shua said:
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless (akeraois) as doves" (Matt.10:16, NKJV).
The Greek translator has rendered an Aramaic word here into akeraios which means 'harmless', 'unmixed' or 'simple'. Here Yah'shua is forewarning His disciples of persecution to come. He continues:
"But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Ruach of your Father who speaks in you. Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved" (Matt.10:17-22, NKJV).
Now we are seeing more of the 'context' both of what it is to be saved, which we discussed last week and before, and also what it is to be "more than conquerors". This ministry has been through repeated persecution and most have fled already. Why? Because we love our Master and seek to be obedient to Torah. We want to be like doves, but to be that means repenting, it means getting right with Yahweh and letting Him polish us even more. He wants our hearts clean, our motives pure, our resolve unshakable. He wants constancy and bravery in the face of the enemy, not cowardice. He wants us to seek the Kingdom and not our personal lusts. He wants us to get into order - His Kingdom order.
In recent weeks Yahweh has been bringing to my attention prophetic dreams He gave me years ago which had little or no meaning at the time. He has been showing me that they referred to this time. He has said - and His word will absolutely not return to Him void - that our enemies will be roundly and finally defeated. It has, at times, seemed impossible and we would not be the first believers who have had to wait patiently until the hour of vindication finally came. We must learn ever increasing patience for the trials that lie ahead too. He never did promise that our walk with Him would be easy, but He did say it would be absolutely worth it.
Some years ago I was shown a prophetic dream of a family which, over the years, has caused this ministry and myself considerable opposition and hardship. It has constantly lifted up its heel against us and its people have vowed to do evil to us. Their time for Teshuvah has now come for they have again done much evil.
In this prophetic dream I was taken to a dockside and to a large crane with a basket at the end of its hook. It lifted several members of this family off the ground in this wire basket to a great height and then suspended them above the water. Quite suddenly, the bottom of the basked opened, dropping the people into the sea - some tried to hold on but all in the end fell into the water and were drowned with the others.
Yahweh reminded me of this dream a few nights ago and indicated to me that the time of its fulfillment was now close at hand. He suspends justice to give grace and time for repentance, for every man and woman must be given adequate time for Teshuvah - but there is a time when grace is exhausted and Yahweh's patience is at an end. That time comes when a soul ripens in iniquity and refuses utterly to repent:
"Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of Yahweh. O Yahweh, Your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them" (Isa.26:10-11, NIV).
We pray for all our enemies that they may be saved. However, we must be realistic - there is an end to procrastination and deliberate rebellion:
"You (Yahweh) warned them to return to your Torah, but they became arrogant and disobeyed Your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on You, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. For many years You were patient with them. By Your Ruach You admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they paid no attention" (Neh.9:29-30, NIV).
Brethren and sisters, none of what I am saying here has anything to do with your getting right with this ministry, this assembly or this leadership, but with Yahweh. We can only discharge our duty and move on. There are plenty of other places those who repent can go to if they do not want to ally themselves with this work. We don't threaten 'damnation and hellfire' to those who do us wrong - what people have to be concerned with is their relationship with Yahweh. What people do with their own lives is between them and Yahweh, and I hold no personal debt-notes over them for what they may have done wrong to me - I unreservedly forgive them. There is, however, only one exception to this, and that is when something that belongs to me that has been given by Yahweh has been taken and not returned. Then there can be no release, no laying down of arms, until what was stolen has been returned. I give three examples from Scripture.
The first concerns the families of David and his men when they were fugitives from King Saul. While they were away campaigning for righteousness, the Amalekites raided their camp and took their wives and children. We read:
"When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep" (1 Sam.30:3-4, NIV).
This is one of the greatest offenses that can be committed against any man, for what Yahweh has brought together, no man may divide asunder without having his own life divided by the Most High. David's men were ready to kill him because of this "but David found strength in Yahweh his Elohim" (1 Sam.30:6, NIV).
There are several of you out there whose hearts have been broken because your wives and husbands and children have been stolen or have sold themselves into sin. Be encouraged. I know that you have wept aloud until you had no strength left to weep. If you have been true to Yahweh, He will see you right!
"Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, 'Bring me the ephod.' Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of Yahweh, 'Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?' 'Pursue them,' He answered. 'You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue'" (1 Sam.30:7-8, NIV).
If you have been wronged as David and his men were, and Yahweh gives you the green light, pursue until you have overtaken and rescued! Do it! You cannot fail. David followed Yahweh's instructions and this is what happened:
"David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back" (1 Sam.30:17-19, NIV).
Everything. And more! He brought back spoil. Now David had troublemakers and evil people amongst his own men, which you can read about afterwards. David brought back the spoil and shared it equally with all his men. This man with a heart of Yahweh did right and was justified. He got all that he lost and more. That is the first example.
The second example is like it. When Lot was living in Sodom, the city was raided and Lot was taken captive, along with all his possessions. Abram went to the rescue:
"During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people" (Gen.14:15-16, NIV).
And Abraham, having the same kind of heart as David, did what? He too took spoil from his enemies but he did not keep one part of it to himself but gave it all to the Sodomites in the Valley of Shaveh. Indeed, it was then he had a meeting with Melchizedek, King of Salem, and paid his tithes of what he owned! (vv.18-20). Here we see how Yahweh justifies the upright heart that loves Him and obeys His commandments. Both these men had a true attitude to their wealth - they recognised Yahweh as its rightful owner and honoured Him by paying their tenth.
The last example concerns both Abraham and his son Isaac, both of whom had their wives seized by men of power - Pharaoh of Egypt and Abimelech. Yahweh threatened to kill these potentates if they did not return the wives of His servants. We read:
"'Now return the man's (Abraham's) wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her (Sarah), you may be sure that you and all yours will die.' Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid" (Gen.20:6-8, NIV).
Now I am not one to mince my words, as you know, so I will be blunt. Those who have touched - or mean to touch - the wives, children or other family members of the prophets must repent or perish. They are cursed until they have made Teshuvah. Today adultery is not considered to be anything but to Yahweh it is the second most serious crime after murder. Likewise, interfering with the children of a man of Elohim brings great curses down. On behalf of the many who have been thus abused - the servants of Yahweh - I am serving notice in the Name of Yah'shua the Messiah to them to repent or perish. They need not think that we shall lift a finger for we shall not - Yahweh is our avenger:
"Is this not laid up in store with Me, sealed up among My treasures? Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them" (Deut.32:34-35, NKJV).
We are simple family people. We love our wives and children with all our hearts. We are not interested in wealth or in power, but in righteousness. We do not trust in the arm of flesh. With our enemies, "is an arm of flesh; but with us is Yahweh our Elohim, to help us and to fight our battles" (2 Chron.32:8, NKJV).
We are here gathered to build Yahweh's Kingdom. We are seeking Yahweh's own, no one else, to gather them against the day of vengeance which is to be poured out over the face of the whole earth. But those who touch our sacred treasures - our families - to do them harm, shall have no peace - they shall know no rest - for they shall be pursued by Yahweh-Sebaoth until their foot slips. Then they will be dismayed and know who it is who rules in Heaven and on Earth, whom they have defied in their arrogance and sin. It is reckoning time for the cowards and the evil ones.
I want to end with a short word for all of those who have been true and to all those who desire to do Teshuvah and come home. This passage, though given thousands of years ago, is also addressed to us specifically:
"All of you are standing today in the presence of Yahweh your Elohim -- your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, together with your children and your wives, and the aliens living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water. You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with Yahweh your Elohim, a covenant Yahweh is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, to confirm you this day as His people, that He may be your Elohim as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of Yahweh our Elohim but also with those who are not here today" (Deut.29:10-15, NIV).
We were not there when Moses spoke these words but he addressed us as "those who are not here today". Well, here we are. Now Yahweh knows each of your individual hearts and when Yom Kippur comes along in under three week's time He will judge you - perfectly and righteously. He knows every secret of your heart:
"The secret things belong to Yahweh our Elohim, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this Torah" (Deut.29:29, NIV).
We all of us know - or ought to know - what is contained in "this Torah" because it is by "this Torah" that we will be judged - and not just the Torah given to Moses, but to the Torah which Yah'shua filled up and completed. We will be judged by New Covenant Torah which is a lot stricter!
I urge you, therefore - all of you, friends and enemies alike - to examine yourselves carefully and thoroughly so that Yahweh, in forgiving you of every sin you confess and renounce, can more fill you with His Ruach haQodesh. It is time for the captives to be set free and come home. It is time for sinners to repent and make Teshuvah. It is time for the honest in heart and all those who love Yahweh with all their beings to stand forward and be known. If our repentance is real and complete, He will forgive - guaranteed! He wishes to make a covenant with you and me today forever - a new covenant even as it is written:
"'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares Yahweh. 'I will put my Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their Elohim, and they will be My people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Yahweh,' because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares Yahweh. 'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more'" (Jer.31:33-34, NIV; cp. Heb.8:10-12).
And so it is, and so it will be, as each chooses. We remain at war, our banners are unfurled, our swords drawn, and we repeat the words of Yahweh given to us not so very long ago as a warning to those who won't repent:
"Your enemies will perish and those who love you will be like the sun when it rises in its strength".
Amen.
Endnotes
1
Wikpedia entry for Coma
2
The Slumbering Spirit: Part 1 - Awake, O My Soul!, 7 February 2004
3
Yom Teruah in Hebrew means "the day of the awakening blast"
4
This is the preferred translation of both the HRV and RSTNE
Author: Lev-Tsiyon