12 January 2010 (Shleshi/Bikkurim)
The Order of Melchizedek
The Rainbow Upon Yah's Head
"Yahweh has sworn and will not relent, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek'" (Ps.110:4, NKJV)
"I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire" (Rev.10:1, NKJV)
"Immediately I was in the Ruach (Spirit); and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One (Yahweh) sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven [seven-armed menorah] lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Ruachot (Spirits) of Elohim (God)" (Rev.4:2-5, NKJV).
Scripture makes it very clear that "Elohim (God) is not the author of confusion but of shalom (peace)" (1 Cor.14:33, NKJV) and a casual study of this universe reveals that it has been constructed with intricate order and system in it. So I was wondering why Paul uses the world "peace" and not something like "order" in his declaration of Yahweh as being against confusion and chaos.
In the beginning, we are told in the frst chapter of Genesis, the earth was formless and void, and out of the chaos the Ruach (Spirit) moved and brought order and structure. When the Greek translator rendered Paul's original words into his own language he used eirene which comes from a primary verb, eiro, meaning 'to join [together]', 'peace' and 'prosperity'. Thus we could render this passage:
"Elohim (God) is not the author of confusion but of joining together to bring order, peace and prosperity" (my translation).
Two symbols which represent this 'propserous, orderly, systematic wholeness' are for me the seven-armed menorah which Yahweh ordered constructed to be permanently lit and present in the Holy Place in His Temple, and the seven-coloured rainbow. And as we see from the second scripture reading today, the seven menorahs represent the seven Ruachot or Spirits of Yahweh, each having a seven-fold nature. These seven Ruach's are, as you know, our Heavenly Mothers.
You will also note that there is a rainbow around the throne of Yahweh-Elohim and that the "mighty angel" had a "rainbow...upon his head". Who is this "malak (angel)" or "messenger"? This can be none other than the Malak (Angel) of Yahweh's Presence, or Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) Himself, for this description is one of the glory of Deity. Notice how the Saviour returns to us:
"Behold, He (Yah'shua) is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him" (Rev.1:7, NKJV).
The rainbow is above the cloud, crowning the head of the Mighty One as He stands astride both land and sea, thus claiming possession of all the earth (Rev.10:2).
Now as you know prior to the flood there were neither clouds nor rainbows because it had never rained upon the earth prior to this time of judgment (Gen.2:5). After the waters above the firmament (Gen.1:7) had condensed and poured out upon the ground, Yahweh said:
"I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh" (Gen.9:13-15, NKJV).
Not only, then, is the rainbow a sign of a covenant, of Yahweh's promise, of His care even in the midst of judgment, of His rulership, and also of His order in creation. Thus He wears the rainbow as a crown. If the rainbow also represents the Seven Ruachs, how come they are being worn as a crown on the head of Yah'shua and how come the rainbow is around the throne of Yahweh. The answer is simple:
"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband" (Prov.12:4, NKJV).
The Son represents the Father and therefore wears the Father's Crown as His representative. What is the Father's Crown? The seven Mothers in echad union!
The rainbow colours, as you know, only ever appear in one sequence - the colours are never reversed or jumbled up, just as the Seven Festivals of Yahweh must always appear in the correct order. The same sevenfold order appears in the musical world (doh to tee) and in the seven days of the week.
The Seven Days of the Week
The Seven Annual Festivals
From the very beginning Yahweh has had two Priesthood Orders - the Order of Aaron (which prevailed from the time of Moses to the time of Messiah) and the Order of Melchizedek (which prevailed from Adam to Moses, and from the first advent of Messiah to our own time):
"If perfection were through the Levitical (Aaronic) priesthood (for under it the people received the Torah), what further need was there that another cohen (priest) should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the Torah" (Heb.7:11-12, NKJV).
Of the seven Festivals of Yahweh, four were fulfilled by the Day of Weeks or 'Pentecost' (Shavu'ot) leaving three to be fulfilled at the return of Messiah. The first four were fulfilled at the end of the Old Covenant dispensation of the Aaronic Priesthood but the last three are only fulfillable during this Melchizedek or Messianic dispenstion. In a way, the fourth, or Shavu'ot, is mid-way and marks the transition between the Old and the New. All seven are simultaneously 'Melchizedek' in as much as Yah'shua the Messiah, our eternal Cohen Gadol or High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, fulfilled - or will fulfill - all of them.
The Melcizedek Order is about completeness and Messiah Yah'shua is the Completer - He 'completes', 'fulfills' or 'fills-up' all the prepartory forms that went before. His glory - and therefore the glory of the Father Yahweh - is the complete assembly of righteousness in one echad whole. The seven-coloured rainbow-crown represents that fullness or completeness where everything is brought together in harmony. Yah'shua (Jesus) has gathered all truth together into one, all principles, all observances. The New Covenant replaces the '4' with the '7', ending the '4-as-a-total' revelation and lifestyle and extending it to the '7-as-a-total' lifestyle. He draws in the seven festivals and transforms them into their final form as memorials of what HE has done for us and what He is yet to do. Then comes the grand consummation which is written of:
"Now when all things are made subject to Him (Yah'shua), then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him (Yahweh) who put all things under Him, that Elohim (God) may be all in all" (1 Cor.15:28, NKJV).
Share
DOS006
|