Set apart

• January 28th, 2006

While God’s people were wandering the wilderness, Korach and some 250 men rebelled against Moses saying to them, “You take too much on yourselves!  After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and ADONAI is among them.  So why do you lift yourselves up above ADONAI’s assembly? When Moshe heard this he fell on his face.  Then he said to Korach and his whole group, In the morning, ADONAI will show you who are his and who is the holy person he will allow to approach him.  Yes, he will bring whomever he chooses near to himself.  Do this: take censers, Korach and all your group; put fire in them; and incense in them before ADONAI tomorrow.  The one whom ADONAI chooses will be the one who is holy! (Numbers 16:3-7).  When God showed up the next morning He intended to destroy all God’s people, but Moses interceded and told everyone to separate themselves from Korach, his men and their families, The moment he [Moses] had finished speaking, the ground under them [Korach and his men] split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all the people who had sided with Korach and everything he owned.” (Numbers 16:31-32)  Then, ADONAI said to Moshe, “Tell El’azar the son of Ahron the cohen [priest] to remove the fire pans from the fire, and scatter the smoldering coals at a distance, because they have become holy.  Also the fire pans of these men, whose sin cost them their lives, have become holy, because they were offered before ADONAI.  Therefore, have them hammered into plates to cover the altar.  This will be a sign for the people of Isra’el.” (Numbers 16:36-38)

 

The fire pans and smoldering coals would have looked no different to us before and after then death of the men, but they had been made holy, set apart for a holy purpose since they had been paid for with blood before God.  The whole assembly’s fire pans did not become holy, only the fire pans owned by the men who paid for their sins with their life.  Jesus has paid for our sins with His life, and we who are owned by him become holy, set apart for a holy purpose,  “the Messiah loved the Messianic Community [the church], indeed, gave himself up on its behalf, in order to set it apart for God, making it clean through immersion in the mikveh, so to speak, in order to present the Messianic Community [the church] to himself as a bride to be proud of, without a spot, wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without defect.” (Ephesians 5:25b-27)  The mikveh is a bath or pool with a flow of fresh water; used in Orthodox Judaism to this day for ritual purification.

 

Being set apart for a holy purpose was obvious for those fire pans; they were never used as fire pans again.  They were part of God’s glory, a permanent fixture on God’s holy altar.  Being set apart for God is an obvious change, not in what we look like, but in our function, we now server a higher more noble purpose with eternal value.

Choose Him

“God made this sinless man be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with him we might fully share in God’s righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)  The sacrifice of the Messiah is ours when we are in union with the Messiah.  Every one of the fire pans in the desert did not become holy, but only those owned by the men who paid for sins with their very lives.  The fire pans have no free will and their ownership is determined by only their owner.  But as for us to whom God ascribed free will to choose, we may “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). 

 

We who are owned by Christ have become righteous, set apart.  John chapters 14 and 15 illuminate the meaning of “union with Him”, since it is this unity that makes us partakers in His holiness:

• “If you love me, you will keep my commands” (John 14:15)
• “If someone loves me, he will keep my word” (John 14:23b)
• “If you remain united with me, and my words with you” (John 15:7)
• “If you keep my commands, you will stay in my love” (John 15:9)
•  “You are my friends, if you do what I command you” (John 15:14)

And also in 1^st John

• “Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God.  Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love.” (1 John 4:7)

Unity or friendship with Christ can be seen in those who keep His commands and those with who His word remain.  There are two concepts tied to loving Jesus that are brought to light in John chapters 14 and 15, namely keeping His words and obeying his commands. 

Obeying His commands

And what is His command?

• “This is my command: that you keep on loving each other, just as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
• “This is what I command you: keep loving each other!” (John 15:17)
• “I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other.  In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other.  Everyone will know that you are my talmidim [disciples] by the fact that you have love for each other.” (John 13:34-35)
• “Here is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God, we also do what he commands.  For loving God means obeying his commands.  Moreover, his commands are not burdensome, because everything which has God as its Father overcomes the world.”  (1 John 5:2-5)

Jesus gave as a new command that we love each other.  Jesus did qualify this with “just as I have loved you,” when we love others just the same way Jesus did, we love Him, because we’re doing what Jesus would have done.

How did Jesus love his disciples?

Jesus was talking to His disciples when he said, “keep on loving each other, just as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) Jesus emphasized helping those with basic physical needs, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you made me your guest, I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’  Then the people who have done what God wants will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and make you our guest, or needing clothes and provide them?  When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’  The King will say to them, ‘Yes!  I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!’” (Matthew 25:34-39) By meeting basic physical needs we “use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it gives out, you may be welcomed into the eternal home.” (Luke 16:9)  Once we’ve met these physical needs and made new friends using our worldly wealth, we should love our friends just as Jesus loved His disciples and continues to love us.  In Ephesians 5, Paul talks about how husbands aught to love their wives just as Jesus loved the church, “the Messiah loved the Messianic Community [the church], indeed, gave himself up on its behalf, in order to set it apart for God, making it clean through immersion in the mikveh, so to speak, in order to present the Messianic Community [the church] to himself as a bride to be proud of, without a spot, wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without defect.” (Ephesians 5:25b-27)  Jesus did everything he could to set them apart and making them clean so as to present them perfect to God.  We love one another when we set each other apart for God, when we cleanse each other.  Just before Jesus was betrayed, he prayed this prayer, “I have made your name known to the people you gave me out of the world.  They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, because the words you gave me I have given them, and they have received them.  They have really come to know that I came from you, and they have come to trust that you sent me.” (John 17:6-8) God had given a designated few to Jesus that he would receive the word from heaven and give it to them so that they might keep the word and know who Jesus is.  This is how we cleanse each other, by sharing the word that was sent from heaven, Jesus had told his disciples a few chapters prior that “already ye are clean, because of the word that I have spoken to you.” (John 15:3 - Young’s)  Jesus was given disciples on earth, he was to cleanse them by the word so that they might keep His word and be presented to himself as a bride without spot or wrinkle.  Even so, we have been given friends, whom we are to cleanse by the word.  To love as Jesus loved we have to share the word of God with each other.  We cannot share what we don’t have, we have to first receive the word and then we are able to share it.  In this way the two things that establish unity with Christ are tightly related, first we keep His word and then we are able to share it and love each other as Christ loved us.

Keeping His words

“I have given them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world just as I myself do not belong to the world.  I don’t ask you to take them out of the world, but to protect them from the Evil One.  They do not belong to the world just as I myself do not belong to the world.  Set them apart for holiness by means of the truth – your word is truth.  Just as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  On their behalf I am setting myself apart for holiness, so that they may be set apart for holiness by means of the truth.”  (John 17:14-19)  The first sentence is profound in that it couples the word and being of this world.  It is by the Word of God that we are set apart for holiness.  By receiving Jesus who is the Word, “the Word became a human being and lived with us, and we saw his Sh’khinah [glory]” (John1:14).  Jesus prayed for His disciples that they would be set apart for holiness by means of the truth and God’s word is the truth.  Then he prayed for us, “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of their word, that they may all be one.  Just as you, Father, are united with me and I with you, I pray that they may be united with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.” (John 17:20-21) Wow, Jesus prays that we be one with Him.  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one, and we have an invitation to be united with them and with each other.  Jesus has prayed and is still praying for us that we may be one just as He and the Father are one.

 

We keep His words, by keeping them in our minds and in our hearts just as it was prophesied, “I will put my Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33).

 

Jesus said of the last days, that “at that time many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other, many false prophets will appear and fool many people; and many people’s love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah.” (Matthew 24:10-12)  As we draw closer to the end of this age people’s love for each and for God will grow cold because they distance themselves from the Word of God.

 

“Now, to the one who can keep you from falling, and set you without defect and full of joy in the presence of his Sh’khinah, to God alone, our Deliverer, through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord – be glory, majesty, power and authority before all time, now and forever.  Amen.” (Jude 24-25)

 

*All Scripture is taken from the Complete Jewish Bible unless otherwise specified.

Wrath v. Grace

• January 18th, 2006

How do we reconcile the God of the Old Testament, seemingly a God of wrath, with the God of peace in the New Testament?

In the days of Moses when God’s chosen people were wandering the desert, Korach and some 250 men rebelled and grumbled against Moses claiming, ““You take too much on yourselves!  After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and ADONAI is among them.  So why do you lift yourselves up above ADONAI’s assembly?” When Moshe heard this he fell on his face.  Then he said to Korach and his whole group, “In the morning, ADONAI will show you who are his and who is the holy person he will allow to approach him.  Yes, he will bring whomever he chooses near to himself.  Do this: take censers, Korach and all your group; put fire in them; and incense in them before ADONAI tomorrow.  The one whom ADONAI chooses will be the one who is holy!” (Numbers 16:3-7) In the morning, “Each man took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.  Korach assembled all the group who were against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting.  Then the glory of ADONAI appeared to the whole assembly.  ADONAI said to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from this assembly; I’m going to destroy them right now!”  They fell on their faces and said, “Oh God, God of the spirits of all humankind, if one person sins, are you going to be angry with the entire assembly?”” (Numbers 16:20-24) God’s anger flared up so much so that he “[would have,] had not Moses his chosen one stood before him in the breach to turn back his destroying fury.” (Psalm 106:23)  It was Moses who stood in the gap; it was Moses who brought justice to the people of God.  In the days of Moses sin was atoned for with blood, either by sacrifice or in the case of Korach and his followers their own blood.  But for us who live on the other side of the cross, our sins have been paid for with blood.  When we are united with Christ the punishment of death no longer exists for our sins.  We have been made holy.  It was God’s love that brought this to us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but rather so that through him the world might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

Why did God get so angry?

Is it because God is sitting in heaven waiting for us to falter?  Does God enjoy punishing us?  The answer is no, “For ADONAI your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:24) It is because God’s jealousy is provoked when we seek after other Gods, when we’re seduced by the pleasures of the world, God’s jealousy is aroused.  “‘For just as loincloth clings to a man’s body, I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me,’ says ADONAI, ‘so that they could be my people, building me a name and becoming for me a source of praise and honor.  But they would not listen.” (Jeremiah 12:11)  God has called us to be set apart as His holy people to become descendents of Abraham, grafted into the vine so that we may be a source of praise and honor for him.  When we become all God has called us to be, radiating the glory of God, the whole world will see and come to the light.  God’s love is for us and the people of the earth.  He designed us to cling to Him, to be dependent on Him, so that we could partner with him to “announce good news to the poor.  He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim freedom to the captives, to let out into light those bound in the dark; to proclaim the year of favor of ADONAI and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2)

In reading the Old Testament, it’s easy to see the jealous anger of God released among his people, but as this picture forms remember that, “For his anger is momentary, but his favor lasts for a lifetime.  Tears may linger for the night, but with dawn comes cries of joy.” (Psalm 30:5)  God will restore when we turn from our wanderings.  He longs to fill us with good things, to bring joy and hope, “‘For I know what plans I have in mind for you,’ says ADONAI, ‘plans for well-being, not for bad things; so that you can have hope and a future.  When you call to me and pray to me, I will listen to you.  When you seek me, you will find me, provided you seek for me whole-heartedly; and I will let you find me,’ says ADONAI.  ‘Then I will reverse your exile.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14)  God has wonderful plans for us and intends to reverse any punishment that has been dealt, but because he is a jealous God we need to return to him, seeking him with all of our heart.  “You are not to bow down to them or server them; for I, ADONAI your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my mitzvoth [commands].” (Exodus 20:5-6)  If we do the math here, God approximately (1000/4) 250 times more loving and generous that He is angry – even in the Old Testament.  God is a generous and compassionate God.  If God was 250 times more gracious than He was angry before Jesus paid for our sins, how much more gracious is he now?

Blessed are the pure in heart

• January 8th, 2006

“How blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) No doubt about it, this is an awesome promise, but does this simply mean that if we’re pure in heart we get to go to heaven and see God?  It’s still an awesome promise, but could it be more than just that?

From Genesis to Revelation, God provides a vivid picture of how he yearns to walk with us.  In the early days of Adam and Eve, “they heard the voice of ADONAI, God, walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, so the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of ADONAI, God, among the trees in the garden.” (Genesis 3:8+)  God created us to walk in His presence and throughout human existance God has made a way to restore us into His presence until finally in the book of Revelations, “I heard a loud voice from the throne say, ‘See! God’s Sh’khinah is with mankind, and he will live with them.  They will be his peoples, and he himself, God-with-them, will be their God.” (Revelation 21:3+)  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew God, they walked and talked with God on occassion.  Then, for four hundred years the people of God were slaves of Pharaoh and heard nothing from God until the time of Moses.  Once Moses lead them into the desert (which would be their home for forty years), God made a way to live with them and ordered Moses to “make me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them.  You are to make it according to everything I show you - the design of the tabernacle and the design of its furnishings.” (Exodus 25:8-9) God made a way to live among His poeple by giving Moses precise and detailed instructions for design for this tabernacle (tent, temporary dwelling), and God lived among them.  When they came to posess the land of Canaan, David wanted to build a temple for God, but it was his son, King Solomon who built an extravigant place of worship.  “Then this word of ADONAI came to Shlomo: “Concerning this house which you are building: if you will live according my regulations, follow my rulings and observe all my mitzvot [commands] and live by them, then I will establish with you my promise that I made to David your father - I will live in it among the people of Isra’el, and I will not abandond my people Israe’el.” (1 Kings 6:11-13) And God did live in the temple and said to Solomon, “I am consecrating this house which you built and placing my name there forever; my eyes and heart will always be there.” (1 Kings 9:3)  But the people of Israel fell into sin and persistently did evil in the sight of God so God raised up enemies and the magnificent temple was destroyed, “In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was also the nineteenth year of King N’vukhadnetzar, king of Bavel, N’vusar’adan, the commander of the guard and an officer of the king of Bavel, entered Yerushalrum.  He burned down the house of ADONAI, the royal palace and all the houses in Yerushalayim - every notable person’s house he burned to the ground.” (2 Kings 25:8-9) This so devastated the people of God, since their was no temple, there was no evidence of God living among them, God had left and returned to His place “till they admit their guilt and search for me, seeking me eagerly in their distress.” (Hosea 5:15)

In the days of Isaiah the prophet, the temple had long since been destroyed and they longed for the presence of God and the magnifecent temple.  Isaiah pleaded with God, “We wish you would tear open heaven and come down, so the mountains would shake at your presence!” (Isaiah 64:1) In one of Isaiah prayers he compiles a list of ‘but why God’ and laments these before heaven, “Your holy people held your sanctuary such a short time, before our adversaries trampled it down.  For so long we have been like those you never ruled, like those who were not called by your name!” (Isaiah 63:18) The people of God looked just like the rest of the world, stained by sin and not glorious at all.  When God is not walking with us, we look just like the rest of the world, “you are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” (Matthew 5:13)  Moses understood this and refused to move unless God’s presence went with them, “Moshe replied, “If your presence doesn’t go with us, don’t make us go on from here.  For how else is it to be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, other than by your going with us?  That is what distinguishes us, me and your people, from all the other peoples on earth.” (Exodus 33:15-16)  Without the presence of God, there is no reason to move from where we are, we need to be the salt of the earth showing God’s glory, “the Goyim will seek him out, and the place where he rests will be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:10b)

God responds to Isaiah, “”Heaven is my throne,” says ADONAI, “and the earth is my footstool.  What kind of house could you build for me?  What sort of place could you demise for my rest?  Didn’t I myself make all these things?  This is how they all came to be,” says ADONAI.  “The kind of person on whom I look with favor is one with a poor and humble spirit, who trembles at my word.  Those others might as well kill a person as an ox, as well break a dog’s neck as sacrifice a lamb, as well offer pig’s blood as offer a grain offering, as well bless and idol as burn incense”" (Isaiah 66:1-3)  After generations up generations of knowing God’s presence in a temple, God asks why we think we could build a place for Him, when He made everything.  What God wants is a poor and a humble spirit.  A poor and a humble spirit is one who trembles at the Word of God.  It is this kind of temple that ushers in the presence of God.  “Come, let us return to ADONAI; for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck, and he will bind our wounds.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day, he will raise us up; and we will live in his presence.  Let us know, let us strive to know ADONAI.  That he will come is as certain as morning; he will come to us like the rain, like the spring rains that water the earth.” (Hosea 6:1-3)

What God wants are those that tremble at His Word, those of a poor and humble spirit, then we will see God.  The pure in heart are those who tremble at His Word.  Without the Word of God we cannot usher in the presence of God in our lives.  Come, let us know, no, let us strive to know the Lord our God, then that he will come is as certain as the morning.  God longs to walk with us, “for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14)

Keys To Heaven’s Economy

• January 2nd, 2006

This book is simply amazing, the anointing of God is all over this book.  I found the book on the ElijahList and each time I read the title I knew something was there for me.  When I read the introduction, “The Lord’s audible voice filled the room, introducing the angel standing before me: ‘Welcome the Minister of Finance for the Kingdon.’” my spirit jumped inside.  Shawn Bolz describes the visitation from the Minister of Finance for the Kingdom and reveals truths that I think have been hidden for centuries, if not millenia.  The unfolding of these truths for this time are an indication of the preparation of the Bride of Christ for this time, so that we might bring Jesus His full inheritance.  You can purchase the book on the ElijahList.

The Gift of Prophecy

• January 1st, 2006

Written by Jack Deere, this book is very good and very inspiring.  I so appreciated the little glimpses of the life of Paul Cain.  Jack Deere’s writing style is easy to read and the incorporation of his life experiences presented in humility make this a book that made me grow.  Although I appreciated the book more from the perspective of “how God works in our lives today,” the information on prophecy and it’s role in our lives, what it is and what it is not, is excellent.  This is a great resource!