Israel Prayer Update (June 1, 2015)

TEN COMMANDMENTS

 

"At the command of the LORD the sons of Israel would set out - even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the sons of Israel would keep the LORD's charge and not set out."

(Numbers 9:19. From this week's Torah Portion; see below. Photograph of pillar-like cloud taken by the authors in the Judean Desert east of Jerusalem.)

1.  JUDGMENT, AN ABSOLUTE STANDARD, AND HEAVENLY ENLIGHTENMENT FOR INSIGHT IN THE LATTER DAYS (Further thoughts by Martin on the Ten Commandments exhibition in Jerusalem).

The Hebrew word Tzi-ohn ("Zion") bears the same root as another word tzi-uhn, which is spelled the same way, and which means: "a marking, a signal, a pointing-out" (In Jeremiah 31:21 it is translated "signposts").  The Book of Revelation repeatedly admonishes those "with an ear to hear" to "hear what the Spirit is saying to the congregations."  We believe it of importance that we request of the Lord that He make us aware when some happening in Jerusalem (even seemingly of little outward significance) is in fact an occurrence through which His Spirit is seeking to 'point something out' to the Body across the World. 

As we write, the Israel Museum has, for the first time in Jerusalem, placed on exhibit for public viewing the oldest known complete copy of the Ten Commandments in the world.  This ancient manuscript, thought to be around 2000 years old, was discovered decades ago near the Dead Sea.  Since that discovery, it has, due to its fragility, been kept almost continuously in complete darkness.  For this exhibition, it will be allowed to see the light of day for only a few weeks, after which it will be replaced in the case by an exact facsimile.  During this season in which internationally accepted standards for deciding what is right or wrong, moral or immoral, have begun crumbling at an accelerated rate not imagined for a thousand years - we find it arresting that this ancient document, the very document upon which those standards for the most part have been based, should, during this season of Shavuot (when it was first released to humankind), be brought to light in Jerusalem.

JUDGMENT

We are a fallen people, dwelling in a world where sin exists, both within ourselves and throughout our societies.  We are therefore constantly faced with personal issues about which we must make decisions; right or wrong, we must judge - make judgments.  Within society, situations continually arise in which there are disputes. Who is right?  Who is wrong? Who is "in the right" - Who is righteous?

Righteousness exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34).  So, to be that, it is necessary that there be set up in a society righteous judges whose judgments keep it on a righteous path.  Israel was faced with this truth soon after coming out of Egypt.  There were disagreements everywhere!  And Moses at first felt himself personally obligated to be arbitrator, to judge between these disputes.  The Lord sent Jethro his father-in-law to counsel him (Exodus 18:21-22; Deuteronomy 1:16); he must choose men and women of valor, who feared God.  They would judge the people at all times.  They would not show partiality in judgment, they would hear the small as well as the great.  Yet to judge righteously, there must be an absolute standard of righteousness against which all issues of judgment might be measured. 

And so, on that first Shavuot, that Standard was released and came down to us on Mount Sinai!  The LORD Himself descended in fire upon the Mountain (Exodus 19:18,20).  And the Ten Commandments (20:1-17) - God's "plumb line" for righteous judgment - were released to His people and to the world.  In Hebrew they are called Aseret-ha'Devarim-"The Ten Words".  All the people "heard His words from the midst of the fire" (Deuteronomy 4:36).  Later they would be written by God in stone and given to Israel to be carried with them through the wilderness, into the Promised Land, and placed at last in the Temple in Jerusalem.  As recorded in Exodus 21 and following, God then released to Moses guidelines for the judges to assist them in applying this Standard to specific individual situations and circumstances, which were bound to arise in the everyday life of the community at that time.

HEAVENLY ILLUMINATION, INTEGRITY

Appointed judges - An absolute Standard by which they could make judgments - Guidelines for application of that standard to individual situations.  Yet at times good guidelines and good intentions by good people were not enough - something else, a deeper "insight" was needed.

Judges had been set up to oversee the administration of righteous judgments amongst the people within the society.  For administering God's judgments between heaven and earth, He chose the tribe of Levi - and from within that tribe, the cohanim - the priests.  It was the High Priest who stood before YHVH on behalf of the people-"bearing the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart" (Exodus 28:29).  This breastplate (along with all the High Priest's garments) was holy and incredibly beautiful, fashioned with all the God-given, artistic, creative skill which Betzalel and those working under him could render.  Yet this was not enough - it served as a dwelling - place for something else.  Within that breastplate were placed two items which we have no record of having been fashioned by the creativity of man - the Urim and Thumim (Exodus 28:30).  As pointed out when we came upon them in the Torah Portion, great mystery surrounds the nature of these holy articles.  We have no idea what they looked like, or how they were made use of.  But they were to stay over the heart of Aaron when he went in before the LORD.and certain judgments would be delayed until they could be consulted (Numbers 27:21; Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65).  Urim appears to be a supreme superlative of the word Or - "light", as it were, "Light of Lights".  Tumim is a superlative of Tome - "Perfection".  In the Bible tome is often (as in Psalm 25:21) translated "integrity."  For God's priests, there would be times when application of God's holy Standard would call for insights which only divine illumination and integrity could provide. 

Lastly, it cannot have been a mere coincidence that the word Urim begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet-Aleph.  And Thumim begins with the last - Tav.  In the Hebrew translation of Revelation 22:13 Yeshua declares, "I am the Aleph and the Tav (Greek: Alpha and Omega), the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last!"  Ultimate righteous judgment must be made through the presence of the Righteous One, the Word who spans all words, the Righteous Judge (II Timothy 4:8).  In some way, through the Urim and the Thumim, His illuminating, perfect presence was shining in the Breastplate of Righteousness over the heart of His High Priest.

INSIGHT FOR JUDGMENT--A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS!

But it was God's desire to have a "Kingdom of Priests!"   (Exodus 19:6; Revelation 1:6).  A kingdom made up both of Jew and Gentile, moving in the light of His judgments and righteousness.  So, 1500 years later, this Light of Lights, Perfection of Perfections -this Alpha and Omega, this Aleph and Tav took on flesh and dwelt among us as a son of Adam. He lived;  He died; He defeated death and was raised, presenting himself to the Father as the "Firstfruits from the Dead" (and we in Him!).  Then He moved amongst His followers until the 40^th day of the "Counting of the Omer" when He ascended to His Father's right hand. 

And on the 50^th day - Shavuot, Pentecost - even as, on that first Shavuot YHVH had Himself descended in fire onto the mountain - the Holy Spirit came down in fire on Mount Zion to ordain and equip His new Kingdom of Priests.  With power to fulfill the demands of the Law.  With access to divine illumination and integrity for judging rightly and wisely with heavenly insight.

Such "insight" will be critical for clear judgment in days ahead.  Daniel, speaking of the coming of Antiochus Epiphenes but also of a great evil which will arise in the "time of the end" (Daniel 11:32-35), prophesies that "the people who know their god shall be strong and DO (i.e. "what needs to be done!").  And those of the people with insight (able to reason and judge clearly) shall instruct many - some of those with insight shall fall to refine them, and make them white, until the time of the End."  Daniel 8:25 warns that the Anti-Christ will also have (demonic) insight, that "through his cunning (same word) he shall cause deception to prosper."

But Daniel promises that in the times of greatest distress towards the end, those with "heavenly" insight "shall shine, like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever (12:3). None of the wicked shall understand, but those with (heavenly) insight shall understand" (12:10).

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.  Every good gift and every Perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights - with whom is no variation or shadow due to change"   (James 1:5, 16).

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" (Luke 11:13).

"For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God"
(I Peter 4:17)

 

THIS WEEK'S TORAH PORTION:

From ancient times there has been a weekly portion (Parasha) from the first five books of Moses (The Torah) and an ending (Haftarah) from the Prophets read on the Sabbath in synagogues around the world. This portion is given a Hebrew name drawn from the opening words of the Torah passage. An illustration of this practice appears to have been recorded in Luke 4:16 where Yeshua (Jesus) arrived in the synagogue in Nazareth and was asked to read the portion (Isaiah 61) from the Prophets. We have found that in perusing these weekly readings, not only are we provided opportunity to identify in the context of God's Word with millions of Jewish people around the world, but very often the Holy Spirit will illumine specific passages pertinent that week in our intercession for the Land and people of Israel. All texts are those of English translations of the Scriptures, and follow the texts read in Ashkenazy Jewish synagogues..

The Parasha for this week 31 May-6 June 2015 is called B'Ha'alotcha-"When You Light Up" (i.e. The Lamps):

TORAH: Numbers 8:1-12:16

HAFTARAH: Zechariah 2:10-4:7

As we travel through the desert of Numbers (Remember, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert"), we will actually discover areas of very fertile soil for understanding both the human condition as manifest in Israel, and the "goodness and severity" (Rom. 11:22) of God as demonstrated towards His chosen people. Of the many important points present in this week's narrative, we would point out the following:

*Numbers 8:14: " Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine." "God so loved the World" - yet in expressing that Love, He may in His own sovereign, holy purposes choose to set particular peoples (Israel), tribes (Levites), families (Cohenim-Priests), prophets (Miriam) and individual leaders (Moses, Joshua) apart. These are only a few examples as related to Israel - and He continues this in the Body of Messiah today.      It is extremely important that we accept and honor those lines which it is plain He has drawn for us and for others. By the end of this Torah Portion, both Israel's prophet (Miriam) and her priest (Aaron) get into serious trouble for becoming resentful regarding the 'place' of their brother Moses. Please pray for a generosity and humility in the Body of Messiah in Israel, with regards to race, spiritual gifts, age, sex, and talents and acquired skills.

*Numbers 9:18-21; 23: "At the command of the LORD the sons of Israel would set out, even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the sons of Israel would keep the LORD's charge and not set out. If sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, according to the command of the LORD they remained camped. At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they set out; they kept the LORD's charge."

The word "charge" is the same as that used for a military "watch", and "kept" also means "guarded". So, twice here an essential element of Israel's camp routine is described as "guarding the Watch of the LORD" - keeping alert and obedient for His directive, whether it required immediate galvanization into action or the watchful patience necessary for an open-ended waiting.

*Numbers 10:25: "Then the standard of the camp of the children of Dan (the rear guard of all the camps) set out according to their armies." We wrote two weeks ago of the place of Judah in taking the lead (followed closely in leadership by Issachar and Zebulon). Dan was to bring up the rear. His name is related to "godly judgment" (Genesis 30:6). The word for "rear guard" (Heb: me'aseph) bears within it the concept of "gathering". A rear guard not only protected the rear from outward attack, it also kept stragglers from fraying-out behind - it was responsible for "gathering" loose ends, keeping the rear tight and pressing forward. Often, the older more-experienced warriors held oversight of this position.

*Numbers 11:1a, 4, 33-34 (NASB): " Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD"."Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving..the LORD struck the people with a very great plague. So he called the name of that place "The Graves of Cravings" because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving." "T'aveh-Cravings" is related to physical appetites awakened into strong lusts.

*Numbers 11:29: "O, that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" (cf: I Corinthians 14:5; 39-40: "I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied. Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.").

This section and all of chapter 12 show that prophecy - the proclaiming forth in spiritual authority and timing of what the LORD is speaking - is an important part of His government for His people. But it is essential that recognized prophets know and work within their place of authority. When Miriam leaves that place, it is, because of her recognized position, an extremely serious matter which must be dealt with strongly and, in her case, publically.

A REPEATED WORD FROM THE PROPHETS

It seems safe to assume that when the Holy Spirit allows God's Word to be repeated twice, there is something within it which warrants His people's special attention and understanding (Genesis 41:32). This week's haftarah from Zechariah is exactly the same passage as that used during the week of Hanukkah. This is presumably because the Zechariah 3:2 mentions a menorah - "lampstand" (This week's Torah Portion begins with instructions regarding the menorah in the Tabernacle; the Hanukkah season is traditionally celebrated with a special menorah). This passage contains so very much prophetically about the "Light" who would come into the world to cleanse us from our filthiness, whose Word would be our defense against that of our Adversary, whose oil would "keep our lamps burning", whose Spirit would be our Victory! PLEASE PRAY: the illumination of the Holy Spirit on these words as they are read at the close of Hebrew services around the world this weekend. Pray that many Jews will realize and believe that the LORD has come to dwell in their midst--the BRANCH whose name is Yeshua, and that His Father, the LORD of Hosts, has sent Him!

*Zechariah 2:10-11. " 'Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,' says YHVH, 'Many nations shall be joined to YHVH in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that YHVH of Armies has sent Me to you.'"

We find this passage to be "Messianic" indeed! First, YHVH-the LORD says, "I am coming and I will dwell in your midst" -then presumably the same Speaker says, "Then you will know that YHVH of Armies has sent me to you." There is nothing in the construction of this passage which demands that the last sentence is by Zechariah and the next-to-last the LORD. Only one who was "One with" the LORD would fit here. Yeshua/Jesus said something remarkably similar in John 11:41b-42, immediately before calling Lazarus forth from the grave, " 'Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."

*Zechariah 2:12-13: "And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!"

As the warfare intensifies over Israel, Jerusalem, the ancient City of David and the Temple Mount, PLEASE PRAY for believers here - that we will not pray nor worship nor act out of our emotions - that in the power of the Spirit we will silence our flesh so as to hear clearly what the Spirit is saying to the Body of Messiah, finding our confidence in God alone who will 'take possession' and 'again choose Jerusalem'.

*Zechariah 3:1-2: "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and the satan standing at his right hand to "satan" (i.e. be an adversary to) him. And the LORD said to Satan, 'YHVH rebuke you, satan! YHVH who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?"

All of Israel today stands as a 'brand plucked from the fire' (The Hebrew for this expression is in fact sometimes used as a euphemism for 'Holocaust Survivor'). She is continually under accusation. Yet within her is an awakened Messianic Body, coming into its place as a "Kingdom of Priests". This remnant is also bombarded by the satan (the adversary, accuser). Please pray for grace and growing maturity in spiritual warfare in the Body of Messiah in Israel to stand against the Adversary in the name of the LORD - while allowing, as did Joshua in this chapter, the LORD to provide constant cleansing from sin, and clean garments - including a head covering to protect her mind.

**It rings significant to us that part of the "word" wielded against the Adversary by the Angel ("YHVH rebuke you, Satan!") is the LORD's identity as the One who has Chosen Jerusalem("YHVH who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!"). Today, we may use the Name YESHUA, which bears within it in condensed form the words "YHVH Saves". From this example it can be inferred that a part of the "Word of our Testimony" (Revelation12:11) which defeats the Enemy is a confession of the LORD's choosing of Jerusalem! Suspicion of the truth of this terrifies the evil one, who knows that Yeshua will one day dwell and rule from there!

*Zechariah 3:7. "If you will walk in My ways and guard my watch, then you shall also judge My house and likewise have charge of my courts; I will give you places to walk among those who stand here." It is God's desire that we walk in His path and watch over the things to which He assigns us. As we are faithful in this, we will grow in judgment so as to be entrusted with other responsibilities and positionings -including when necessary movement among and in harmony with those other "armies" - the angelic beings.

*Zechariah 4:6b: " 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of Armies."

This Scripture is written across the bottom arms of the menorah which stands in front of Israel's Knesset Building. PLEASE PRAY: that more and more in Israel will come to see the necessity of spiritual power for finding hope and a future - through a HOLY spirit provided by her Father!

 

Martin and Norma Sarvis
Jerusalem

[The Torah and Haftarah portions for next week (7-13 June 2015) are called Shlach Lecha-"Send for Yourself!": TORAH: Numbers 13:1-15:41; HAFTARAH: Joshua 2:1-24].

 

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