Month 10:8, Week 1:7 (Shibi'i/Sukkot), Year:Day 5937:274 AM
Gregorian Calendar: Wednesday 8 January 2014
Chaggai's Revelation
Kingdom-Building One Soul at a Time
Introduction
Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and may the grace of our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) be with you all. With our brethren in Kenya assembled for the first conference there of the East Africa Mission of the New Covenant Asemblies of Yahweh sharing a prophetic davar (word) on the prophetic significance of the Chief Treasurer of the Queen of Ethiopia, it remains for me to share another prophetic davar (word) that I have been receiving over the past two days, for all the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) internationally. So my short talk to you today is really a supplement to the main sermon being shared in East Africa.
The Book of Haggai
A couple of days ago, around 1 a.m, while meditating before going off to sleep, the Ruach (Spirit) directed me to read the short Book of Haggai. With the work very definitely underway in East Africa, I had been directing my prayers to the revival we have been expecting in Scandinavia for so many long years, and considering the many new investigators from as far afield as Jamaica, Germany, my homelands of Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Fiji, to name just a few, and what needed to be done here in this central congregation of Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon so that we would be ready to serve all of their needs as more and more respond to this end-time work Yahweh is doing among us. As I read the Book of Haggai, the Ruach (Spirit) gave me a prophetic midrash, like the one I had delivered to East Africa, for both ourselves and all the congregations and souls now seeking out this work. The davar (word) I received went like this:
A Prophetic Word: Getting Priorities Right
Resume building the mishkan (temple) in spite of the 16 years of interruption and delay, the time since we moved fron Norway to Sweden (1997-2013). Yahweh's work is never secondary nor must it ever wait for the resolution of economic problems facing the members, for the latter are, in fact, a judgment upon neglect of the former. When the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) give a proper response to rectify this error, Yahweh will help in spite of disparaging circumstances, for there will be an improvement of economic circumstances, in spite of the global economic crises and imminenent collapse, as the will and work of Elohim (God) is done. Furthermore, the message of Haggai is that we should not doubt Yahweh's choice of the rulers or elohim of His people Israel. If we respond to the call of His chosen leaders we may expect other things to follow:
"I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations, and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, everyone by the sword of another" (Hag.2:22, NASB).
This was Yahweh's very clear message to me.
Vision of the Drowning Horse
Now while I was resting on the sofa yesterday afternoon after a long day in town, and as I was waking up, I saw a vision of a horse in a large body of water that was drowning. It was thrashing around, it's head alone visible, and with panic on its face, sank beneath the water and did not reappear. It happened very quickly indeed, within seconds of the vision opening. I was, I must confess, a little shocked seeing this, as it was so sudden and unexpected.
The Prophetic Meaning of Horses
Now Yahweh gave me the prophetic meaning of the horse in the second part of the trilogy of sermons that were given for the East Africa Conference that began yesterday evening, for the horse represents trusting in the flesh. Those who rely on Pharaoh's horses to save them will metaphorically drown in the Red Sea, will they not?
Vision of the Warrior
This in turn explains a vision I had this morning which totally baffled me until I sat down to prepare this short davar (word) for you. I saw a modern fleshy, 'carnal' warrior of the extreme kind such as you might expect to encounter in science fiction movies like Riddick. Underneath the warrior's head was the caption, "FLESH-WATER-CRAZY-WAY". And yes, it is crazy - it is insane - to suppose that the flesh will benefit everyone, for its end is water - not the waters of baptism but the waters of drowning. That is the way the world walks and Hollywood movies such as Riddick want to persuade us that the way to deal with injustice in the world is by turning to demonic rage to 'empower' the warrior pursuing social justice. The world's heroes are as devilish as the evil they purport to be against, your typical good cop/bad cop scenario.
Building the New Covenant Temple
And so the visions, which made no sense whatsoever to me at first, come together. It is our calling to rebuild the Temple of Yahweh, not a building of brick and mortar, but the spiritual house of Yahweh, Messianic Israel, one converted soul at a time, "'not by might nor by power, but by My Ruach (Spirit),' says Yahweh of hosts" (Zech 4:6, NKJV). Moreover, we Messianic Evangelicals do not believe in the kind of mass evangelism that is persued by the big Protestant world evangelists - we know from research that of those who 'accept Messiah' in such mass gathering, barlely 1% remain in the emunah (faith), which is in any case waterned-down and Torahless. Yes, we must evangelise and convert, but that it but the tip of the iceberg - the rest is discipleship, and that is, I would like to suggest, 95% of true evangelism! It is to that we have been called. We are to be good and diligent makers of talmidim (disciples).
The Missing Ark
The Second Temple of Zerbbabel, that was expended into Herod's temple, was distinguished from the first one of Solomon not so much by its smaller size and lack of gold and silver, but by the fact that the Holy of Holies was empty! The Ark of the Covenant was missing. And you cannot have a complete temple without the Ark. The Temple of Herod, for all its outer glory, was missing its very heart, as was true of its Judahite worshippers. It was compromised by the pollution of men, by commerce, just as Christendom is today. As the temple without the Ark was destroyed, so were those Judahites who adhered to the Torah but rejected the Messiah, the heart of the Besorazh (Gospel).
Chaggai, the Festive One
It is unfortunate that we spell 'Haggai' the way we do in English for in Hebrew is it Chaggai, and you all know what a chag is. Chaggai literally means 'festive' and as the Torah-obedient children of Yahweh we are commanded to observe the festivals of Yahweh - to be festive! We have much to be thankful for, much to celebrate, and more so as we are faithful to the Kingdom-building task.
A Promise and the Result
As we rebuild the House of Yahweh according to divine tavnith (pattern) in pure emet (truth), discipling well all the new converts we make, we have the promise that the true nevi'im (prophets) of Yahweh will support the work (Ezr.5:2) wherever they may be. It does not matter what carnal religious authorities may say or do to oppose us, as Tattenai, Governor of the 'Province Beyond the River', who challenged the temple.-building project of the returned exile Judahites, saying: "Who issued you a decree to rebuild the temple and finish this structure?" (Ezr.5:3, NASB). Lawless and rebellious believers will always oppose a true work of Elohim (God) and can indeed be its worst oppressors!
"The elders of the Judahites were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the navi (prophet) and Zecharaiah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the mitzvah (commandment) of the Elohim (God) of Israel..." (Ezr.6:14, NASB).
Conclusion
After 16 years of dilly-dallying, the temple was finally completed on the third day of the 12th month (v.15) because they put the Kingdom before their own personal interests like building homes and businesses. Let he who has ears, hear, and do the same, rallying to he call of this end-time restoration of Messianic Israel:
"I will take you, O Zerubbavel, My servant, the son of Shalti-El, says Yahweh, and will make you as a signet: for I have chosen you, says Yahweh-tsevaoth" (Hag.2:23, RSTNE).
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