"You shall also make a menorah (lampstand) of pure gold; the menorah (lampstand) shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece. And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower -- and so for the six branches that come out of the menorah (lampstand). On the menorah (lampstand) itself four bowls shall be made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. And there shall be a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of the same, according to the six branches that extend from the menorah (lampstand). Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. You shall make seven lamps for it, and they shall arrange its lamps so that they give light in front of it. And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. And see to it that you make them according to the tavnith (pattern) which was shown you on the mountain" (Ex.25:31-40, NKJV).

Nothing in the Bible is an accident and if Yahweh has chosen to name the first month after blossoms and to not name any of the remaining months, then there must be a reason. The association of blossoms with spring is the first obvious connection but the blossom has more important spiritual associations than just one of the four seasons. We have only to look to the Menorah or temple candlearbre (lampstand) to find out what (see picture below):

As today's passage shows, Yahweh has given very detailed instructions as to the lampstand's construction. It is actually extraordinary detailed. And since there is no wastage in the divine economy, we can take it for fact that Yahweh has important divine emet (truth) in the details. They are not there to muddle us.

The Menorah was a work of extraordinary beauty and consisted of three main parts: the base, the shaft and the branches, made out of one piece of gold. Out of the base a vertical shaft arose and from either side there sprang three branches curving outward, upward and perfectly parallel. Each of the six branches and the centre shaft ended in a cup made in the form of an open almond flower or blossom. At the top the opened petals of the flower held an oil lamp. The branches and the central shaft were skillfully decorated with that same open-almond blossom design with three on each branch and four on the centre shaft, making a total of 22 blossoms.

Why 22 blossoms and why almond blossoms? Why seven open and the rest closed?

The almond is the first tree to blossom in the Holy Land, usually in January, and about two to three months ahead of Aviv. The almond blossom on Aaron's rod demonstrates Yahweh's will with the promise that if the people follow the right path, they will receive the sweet blessings represented by the almond - and if not, they will obtain sourness in their lives. While the blossom symbolises hope, the almond represents fruitfulness. Thus in the almond blossom there is a triple symbolism of hope and fruitfulness if the talmid (disciple) operates in Yahweh's will. Such a one - like Aaron (Num.17) - may then be said to have authentic toqef (authority) and abides in purity, represented by the white colour of the almond bloom.

It was the responsibility of the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) to dress and trim the Menorah - he alone was responsible for this light being kept shining:

"Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying: 'Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. Outside the veil of the Testimony, in the mishkan (tabernacle of meeting), Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before Yahweh continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations. He shall be in charge of the lamps on the pure gold menorah (lampstand) before Yahweh continually" (Lev.24:1-4, NKJV).

The Hebrew word for the almond is shaked which means 'wakeful' or 'hastening', reminding us of the watchful Eye of Elohim (God). If we are not awake to this emet (truth) about patriarchal toqef (authority), beginning with Yahweh and Yah'shua (Jesus), we will be blind to all the rest and the festivals that they contain. That is why family heads must guard it jealously and expose all false toqef (authority) claims. It is the Menorah that lights up this Eternal Emet (Truth) for by it the Table of Shewbread in the Holy Place was also lit up, with its two stacks of six loaves each, and therefore everything it symbolised.

These twelve loaves represented the Twelve Tribes of Israel, again illustrating the familial nature of both Elohim (God) and His Nation, each tribe of which is headed by one of the original Twelve Apostles. The twelve loaves were also known as the "lechem (bread) of Yahweh's presence" because He is only present when the true patriarchal order is recognised and established. The bread represented His willingness to fellowship and commune through the shared lechem (bread) - the Body of Messiah (Mt.26:26) - in proper tavnith (pattern), the same meal the 70 Elders of Israel shared with Yahweh on Mount Sinai, and which Yah'shua (Jesus) would later share with His talmidim (disciples) as the "Lechem chayim or Bread of Life" (Jn.6:35,48) at the end of the last Pesach (Passover) meal of the Old Covenant. In other words, divine intimacy only follows if you follow the correct tavnith (pattern) for this is the substance of the Meal of Messiah (Rev.3:20), remembering that intimacy is not itself enough - intimacy out of divine tavnith (pattern) breaks the connection with Heaven and propells the soul into spiritual death.

All of this the Menorah illuminates, and more (see, for example, how it testifies of the Creation Calendar). But why did Yahweh command 22 almond flowers be carved into the set-apart Menorah? What is their symbolic significance?

Before we answer that, there are some things we need to understand about numbers themselves as used in the Bible so that we don't go chasing for numbers under every bed or in every verse of scripture as the occultists do:

• 1. Numbers can represent words, and vice versa (every number spells out a word in Hebrew, e.g. 333 = sheleg = 'snow');
• 2. Numbers have signifance because of repetition ("Babylon is fallen, is fallen...", "Verily, verily I say unto you...");
• 3. Numbers are implied by a number of events (e.g. Satan tempting Yah'shua/Jesus three times in the desert);
• 4. Numbers are implied by a list (e.g. the sins of 1 Cor.6:9-10; 23 sins of Rom.1:29-31);
• 5. Numbers are implied by addition (e.g. 6+7 trips atround Jericho = 13);
• 6. Numbers implied by grouping (e.g. the three crosses at Calvary);
• 7. Numbers implied by similar people or items (e.g. gold, frankincense & myrrh); and
• 8. Numbers discovered by timeline research (e.g. 7,000 year earth history).

The letters of the alphabet combine to form a vast array of words that themselves combine to create complex meanings. Every word orginates from the Davar (Word), which is Yah'shua (Jesus), the Creator. Thus Jeremiah records:

"Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' And I said, 'I see a branch of an almond tree.' Then Yahweh said to me, 'You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My Davar (Word)'" (Jer.1:11-12, NKJV).

This sense of watchfulness combines with the word shaked meaning 'wakeful' and 'hastening' as we combine all of these elements to understand the male rôle in patriarchal headship. The husband-father is the cohen (priest) of each home, guarding both the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies of the home and what those two rooms in the mishkan (tabernacle) symbolise. He is an awakener as well as a mover. It is for this reason, as well as to understand his symbolic female positioning to Elohim (God), that a proper study of the Temple is of vital importance for proper government in home and Kingdom. That is why Yahweh revealed it in such detail.

The 22 almond blossoms on the Menorah signify 22 eyes, of which 7 - where the lamps burn - are the primary 'Eyes' that represent the Seven Ruachot (Spirit) of Elohim (God) (Rev.1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6) - the seven brides of Isaiah 4 and the seven wives of David - which watch and search out the goings on down here on earth. On each branch of the Menorah there is one Primary Eye and two lesser ones - Secondary and Tertiary eyes - representing, respectively, the Seven Eyes of Messiah as well as the Seven Eyes of the Firstborn collectively, a total of 21 eyes. Therefore there are three man planes or levels of representation depicted in the Menorah - the domains of the Father, the Son and of the Firstborn 144,000 Patriarchs. This accounts for 21 (3x7) of the 21 almond blossoms or eyes - what is the 22nd? This I shall unveil in a future study.

The Almond Menorah on our human level is an image of what the Bride of Messiah is supposed to look like in the end times - awakening from her sleep before the end of the 6,000th 'year' (the heavenly 'time' or 'era' represented by the seven moedim or festivals). Her calling is to be as beautiful and radiant as the almond blossoming, to come to fruitfulness, be filled with set-apart esh (fire) ohr (light), emet (truth), emunah (faith), hope and ahavah (love), thus giving light and SIGHT to the world steeped in darkness. The almond is thus an image of the Firstborn Sons and their Wives who are echad (one) with them, the first to awaken from the sleep of winter - of darkness and ignorance - to be the eyes of the blind until (and if) they are delivered. Thus the Menorah depicts the Heavenly Family in its perfection.

To conclude what otherwise could be a life-long study, let is pause to consider the substance of which the Menorah was made - gold. The gold employed in the construction of the Mishkan Menorah had to first be purified, as Yahweh and Yah'shua (Jesus) are pure (on the first two levels) and as the Community of the Firstborn (the Bride of Messiah) must be purified before being admissable as the third level of the Elohim. This refining esh (fire) consist of our own fiery trials and tribulations so that we can be cleansed and purified. Not until we are smelted can we be reshaped into what He wants us to be, just as the Pot of Joseph is wet so that it can be reformed (unlike the Pot of Judah which is baked hard and cannot be shaped any more, stubbornly locked as it is in its impure traditions).

The next time you see an almond tree, almond blossom or eat an almond nut, remember these things. Indeed, the eating of almond nuts on New Year's Day on Aviv 1 is something I am contemplating for use in my own family for next year - on the first Rosh Chodesh of the Calendar. May you meditate on all of these things for I assure you that there is much, more more hidden in these things yet. Selah!

Endnotes

[1] The poetries (Ps.111, 112), the stanzas (Ps.37, 119) and verses (Ps.145)

Acknowledgements