Chag sameach Rosh Chodesh and may the grace and shalom (peace) of our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) be upon you all.

After the highly successful Shavu'ot (Weeks, Centicost) festival two days ago, which was decribed by two of those who attended in Sweden as "the happiest day of my life in this place" and "the holiest experience I have ever had", at which we participated in our first Communion in over nine years [1], there is a sense that doors are opening wide and that positive change, and what we have been waiting for for so many years, is imminent.

A huge battle is underway in the invisible as the Enemy seeks to establish his wicked government globally through intimidation, oppression, kidnapping, assassination, murder, grand larceny, deception and war. The Middle East and the Far East are potential flashpoints for another world war, with over 100,000 casualties in Syria alone so far. Japan is re-arming as China grows more powerful and starts intimidating her neighbours for territory. The wicked Illuminist-controlled statist governments of the West, riddled with pedophiles, with their equally wicked Islamist allies whom they are also fighting, have been drenching the altar of Moloch with blood by starting totally avoidable civil wars and systematically ripping up families and abusing their children through their equally corrupt and wicked Social Services departments. For the sake of the innocent, and for the sake of those honestly and honourably trying to raise their children in the admonition of Yahweh (Eph.6:4), we ask the Father now to swiftly deal a rapid and crushing blow to those who are behind all this evil, in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name.

I was mediating yesterday whilst preparing for this sermon about Rosh Chodesh particularly in the light of the reading of the Ten Commandments, and I got to thinking how man has turned almost every visible created thing into an idol at some time or another. The fallen nature has default tendency to worship the creature rather than the Creator. Then I got to thinking about the moon itself, how various religions have made it a symbol of their idolatry, and in most cases have actually worshipped it as a god. Abram's Mesopotamian culture was Sīn- or moon-worshipping, and the Sīnai desert in which the children of Israel wandered for 40 years is named after the same moon-good throughout by the pagans of the Fertile Crescent from Egypt, to Palestine, to Syria, Assyria and Babylonia. The crescent moon is also the symbol of Islam, representing the first visible moon after the New Moon by which the Babylonians and the Talmudic Rabbis (who were influenced by them) measured the start of each new month a day or two too late. Nearly all Messianics follow this error too.

One thing interesting about the New Moon is that you can't make an image out of it precisely because it is invisible! It determines the start of the year at Aviv (the first month), it determines the start of each month thereafter, it determines the timing of the sabbath for a particular month, and it determines the start of all the annual festivals. Yet it is invisible. And it is impossible to break the mitzvah (commandment) not to make a graven image of it and fall down and worship it precisely because it cannot be seen and cannot therefore be represented in any form. It represents our Heavenly Father, Yahweh, who is described in Scripture as "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, ...Elohim (God) who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever" (1 Tim.1:17, NKJV). Not only that, but Yah'shua (Jesus) the Son is described as being "the image of the invisible Elohim (God), the firstborn over all creation" (Col.1:15, NKJV). In other words, the beginning of the emunah (faith) is invisible, meaning you cannot make a visible image of it no matter how you try. If you can, then it is the wrong emunah (faith)!

The New Moon, then, is a witness that all true emunah (faith) begins with something entirely invisible, something great that is within as well as surrounding us. That great Elohim (God) is only perceived through this invisible quality. That is why the emunah (faith) that saves is described in Scripture as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb.11:1, NKJV).

Over the years I have heard all the arguments made by those who insist the first visible crescent is the way we are supposed to mark the beginning of the month and I have insisted that, according to the Davar Elohim (Word of God), this is wrong. We do not need the moon to become visible in order to know when the new month begins. And the ancient Israelites didn't either. The proof, as a brother reminded me during Shavu'ot, is in the Scriptures because the Israelites always knew the day before when the New Moon was coming. David and Jonthan certainly knew, because we read their independent testimonies:

"Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat" (1 Sam.20:5, NKJV).

"Then Jonathan said to David, 'Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty'" (1 Sam 20:18, NKJV).

Not only do these scriptures confirm that the Hebrews were able to calculate the New Moon a day in advance but this was a time when subjects sat to eat with with their monarch, and families set with their fathers and husbands, acknowledging that they were rosh or 'head' just as Rosh Chodesh is the 'Head of the Moon' or New Moon, as I have taught you. The principle of headship is not visible because it is something appointed by Yahweh which we either accept by emunah (faith) or reject by a lack of emunah (faith). It is invisible and accepted on the basis of emunah (faith) alone, just as we accept the Headship of the Invisible Elohim (God) on the basis of emunah (faith) alone. Thus Paul would say:

"For the wrath of Elohim (God) is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the emet (truth) in unrighteousness, because what may be known of Elohim (God) is manifest in them, for Elohim (God) has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Elohimhead (Godhead), so that they are without excuse" (Rom.1:18-20, NKJV).

When something or someone is invisible it does not mean that we are ignorant of it or that we must engage in blind emunah (faith) because, as the apostle said, the "invisible attributes" are "clearly seen" in numerous manifestations. And that invisible Deity was plainly manifest in Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus), even though it was not directly seen:

"For in [Yah'shua/Jesus] dwells all the fullness of the Elohimhead (Godhead) bodily (i.e. visibly); and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Col.2:9-10, NKJV).

The invisible Elohim (God) was rendered visible in the human manifestation of Yah'shua (Jesus) the Son, so that when one of the apostles asked Him to show the Father to the talmidim (disciples), he got the answer he deserved for his lack of emunah (faith):

"Philip said to Him, 'Master, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.' Yah'shua (Jesus) said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own toqef (authority); but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves" (John 14:8-11, NKJV).

Yah'shua (Jesus), in whom the invisible Elohim (God) was manifest, is not physically visible to us today, to save a very few to whom He may manifest in that way, but He was visible to the witnesses who wrote the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament), so we have their testimony in which to exercise our emunah (faith). But additional to that, we can also experience Yah'shua (Jesus) manifested to us viā the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), who is sent to bear witness of the Son, even as the Son bears witness of the Father.

One of the purposes of the New Moon - Rosh Chodesh - is to bear witness of these things to us, to remind us on what our emunah (faith) is supposed to be based - on that which is invisible, not that which is visible. Therefore the crescent moon teaches a false principle, insisting that we must have some visible evidence before we can believe and act. Not true! For we are "justified (made just or righteous) by emunah (faith, trusting) apart from the deeds (works, actions) of the Torah (Law)" (Rom.3:28, NKJV), not because there's anything wrong with the Torah but because Torah-obedience without emunah (faith, trusting) in the invisible (for now, until He returns) Saviour does not make us right with Elohim (God)! The Torah and what we are supposed to do is very visible indeed, but the One who gave this Torah is not - He is invisible. He wants us to trust in Him first and foremost, like the child in the womb and the infant outside the womb before it is even capable of hearing, understanding of obeying the Torah. And there is a tangible result of this trusting:

"Therefore, having been justified (made right with Yahweh) by emunah (faith), we have shalom (peace) with Elohim (God) through our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), through whom also we have access by emunah (faith) into this grace (undeserved loving-kindness) in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of Elohim (God)" (Rom.5:1-2, NKJV).

This is the very first principle of the Besorah (Gospel) - trusting like a child in the visible, as the baby in the womb trusts in its invisible mother prior to its birth. We too, when we are born again at Yom haBikkurim (Firstfruits), see the evidence or manifestation of the invisible One whom we trusted at Pesach (Passover) when we first made the decision to follow Messiah even though we were initially blind to His full reality We trusted because our instinct - our conscience - told us it was right to do so, thanks to the Light of Messiah we were all born with, our inner beacon or radar to all Emet (Truth) - "that was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world" (John 1:9, NKJV).

Did you know that the moedim (appointments) testify of this inner light? Most certainly! Do you recall that Pesach (Passover) is one of only two festivals that we are commanded to observe on the FULL moon? The moon is bright and luminescent. Why? Because it represents that inner light of truth - the reflected Light of the Son that only comes to us directly at Yom haBikkurim (Firstfruits) when we are born again - but brilliant enough to set us on our way...to point us to the Bright and Morning Star (Rev.22:16), our Messiah, Yah'shua (Jesus). We do not choose Him blind - ever - when we are acting according to Scriptural tavnith (pattern). He lights the way home to Him. Additionally on the first day Sukkot (Tabernacles), at the end of our journey, when we are bathed in the fullness of the Sun, is there also a Full Moon.

That is why Rosh Chodesh Preparation Day, which is the Day of the Son, is a waning crescent moon. It is a reminder, every month when we have this extra day (and which we will get back every month one day), that even when we wander away, Yah'shua (Jesus) is still lighting our Path through the inner Light of Messiah which everyone is born with, unless they choose to deny their conscience and suppress it. It is to remind us of that first Pesach (Passover) when we took his hand under the light of the Full Moon and walked out of the Egyptian House of Bondage with Him to freedom. If we have made mistakes...and who hasn't...they can be fixed.

Yesterday during Preparation Day I had a rude awakening in a most unexpected and painful manner. I was having one of my periodical 'doubt runs' occasioned by the tedium of having to wait so long for the fulfilment of a number of promises Yahweh has made to me that remained unfulfilled, plus I was feeling morose that the summer was ending already just when I was starting to get used to it. I was in the garage, carrying a heavy can of gasoline, and did not see a hand-held snow plough that is shaped a bit like a regular garden rake, though bigger and heavier, that stood in my way. I stood on it, and WHAM! - up it came, the thick handle smashing into my face. I praise Yah my glasses took the impact, and without smashing, and I didn't break my nose or get cut by glass shards. Though in pain, bleeding and reeling from the impact, I was also furious that I had stood on the proverbial 'rake' and done what only is supposed to happen to fools in C-rated movies. How could I have been so careless? Anyway, apart from a deep ridge in my nose and a scab I am none the worse for my injury. But it was a reminder of what happens when you allow yourself to doubt, and to doubt persistently. I had been looking for metaphorical 'crescent moons' instead of being content with invisible 'conjunction'.

After a very peaceful night with some reassuring dreams, I awoke with the second message I have today - one that is very sobering. When I awoke, a vision opened up to me, of a basket with a lid suspended in the air that was turning slowly. I could see it in microscopic detail, so clear was the vision, and though I tried to mentally 'stop' it turning so that I could see it even more clearly, I could not.

"Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, 'Lift your eyes now, and see what this is that goes forth.' So I asked, 'What is it?' And he said, 'It is a basket that is going forth.' He also said, 'This is their resemblance throughout the earth: Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket'; then he said, 'This is Wickedness!' And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead cover over its mouth. Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. So I said to the angel who talked with me, 'Where are they carrying the basket?' And he said to me, 'To build a house for it in the land of Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base'" (Zech.5:5-11, NKJV).

Brethren and sisters, we are right now as I speak witnesses to the attempt by evil men to establish once again the Tower of Babel in our midst. It was in Shinar that the Enemy first tried to establish a World Empire and he is attempting to do that again through evil men and women. It is an Empire based on sin, personified by the woman in the basket, who represents the virulent antitheism that is in the world today. A house or temple is being built for this woman of sin which in which they mean to place her, as was done anciently for Dagon (1 Sam.5:2-5), Ashtaroth (1 Sam.1:10) and Baal (2 Kings 10:23). So this is to alert everyone to pray that Yahweh intercede to stop this for now, to trust fully in the Invisible One and know that He is. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] We had not felt worthy to partake of it before this time

Endnotes