Logo Copyright © 2007 NCCG - All Rights Reserved
Return to Main Page

RESOURCES

Disclaimer

Introduction

Symphony of Truth

In a Nutshell

Topical Guide

5-144000

5 Commissions

10 Commandments

333 NCCG Number

144,000, The

A

Action Stations

Agency, Free

Alcohol

Angels

Anointing

Apostles

Apostolic Interviews

Apostolic Epistles

Archive, Complete

Articles & Sermons

Atheism

Atonement

B

Banners

Baptism, Water

Baptism, Fire

Becoming a Christian

Bible Codes

Bible Courses

Bible & Creed

C

Calendar of Festivals

Celibacy

Charismata & Tongues

Chavurat Bekorot

Christian Paganism

Chrism, Confirmation

Christmas

Church, Fellowship

Contact us

Constitution

Copyright

Covenants & Vows

Critics

Culture

Cults

D

Deliverance

Demons

Desperation

Diaries

Discipleship

Dreams

E

Ephraimite Page, The

Essene Christianity

Existentialism

F

Faith

Family, The

Feminism

FAQ

Festivals of Yahweh

Festivals Calendar

Freedom

G

Gay Christians

Gnosticism

Godhead, The

H

Heaven

Heresy

Healing

Health

Hebrew Roots

Hell

Hinduism

History

Holiness

Holy Echad Marriage

Holy Order, The

Home Education

Homosexuality

Human Nature

Humour

Hymnody

I

Intro to NCCG.ORG

Islam

J

Jewish Page, The

Judaism, Messianic

Judaism, Talmudic

K

KJV-Only Cult

L

Links

Love

M

Marriage & Romance

Membership

Miracles

Messianic Judaism

Mormonism

Music

Mysticism

N

NCCG Life

NCCG Origins

NCCG Organisation

NCCG, Spirit of

NCCG Theology

NDE's

Nefilim

New Age & Occult

NCMHL

NCMM

New Covenant Torah

Norwegian Website

O

Occult Book, The

Occult Page, The

Olive Branch

Orphanages

P

Paganism, Christian

Pentecost

Poetry

Politics

Prayer

Pre-existence

Priesthood

Prophecy

Q

Questions

R

Rapture

Reincarnation

Resurrection

Revelation

RDP Page

S

Sabbath

Salvation

Satanic Ritual Abuse

Satanism

Science

Sermons & Articles

Sermons Misc

Sermonettes

Sex

Smoking

Sonship

Stewardship

Suffering

Swedish Website

T

Talmudic Judaism

Testimonies

Tithing

Tongues & Charismata

Torah

Trinity

True Church, The

TV

U

UFO's

United Order, The

V

Visions

W

Wicca & the Occult

Women

World News

Y

Yah'shua (Jesus)

Yahweh

Z

Zion


Month 5:15, Week 2:7 (Shibi'i/Sukkot), Year:Day 5939:133 AM
2Exodus 1/40, 43/70 Firstborn Mourning
Gregorian Calendar: Sunday 10 August 2014
Authority and Life
The True Meaning of Leadership

    Introduction

    Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and may the gace of our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) be with you all as we assemble for worship and study today.

    The Embalming and Mourning of Jacob at Abel-mitzraim

    The forty days of the 'embalming' of the body of Jacob (which is the fleshy nature of the Body of Messiah) is over, but the seventy days of the mourning of the 'Egyptians' (who represent the world) continues on for another twenty-seven days. We read in Genesis 50 that "when the days of mourning for Israel were over" (v.4, NEB), Joseph approached Pharaoh to have leave to bury his father in Canaan. Though we are not told how long it was before "Pharaoh's courtiers, the elders of his household, his brothers, and his father's household" (v.7, NEB) could be assembled for the journey to Canaan, or indeed how long the journey took, we can assume that this "very great company" (v.9, NEB) took a while to muster and for provisions be made for them. At any rate there must have been more than a week to get everything organised and for the retinue to head east. When they arrived at "the threshing-floor of Atad beside the river Jordan" (v.10a, NEB), "Joseph observed seven days' mourning for his father" (v.10c, NEB) with "a loud and bitter lament" (v.10b, NEB). And the place where this extra week of mourning took place was called Abel-mitzraim, of 'the Mourning of Egypt' (v.11).

    The Grief of Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Ukraine

    There is indeed much to grieve over at this current time - the massacre in Gaza by the Israeli's, the massacres in northern Syria and Iraq by ISIS, and the massacre by the Kiev junta in Eastern Ukraine of over 10,000 Russian-speaking Ukrainians. There is much to mourn over for those who dare to connect to the reality of this world, and of course not just in these places. The blood of the innocent is crying up the Heaven and the Mishpat Yahweh is to be executed and most ferociously, for the anger of Heaven is kindled. And we are mourning on behalf of the world, which is Jacob. We are mourning with the Egyptians, which is the world, and we shall have our own week of mourning of Joseph in the week before Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets/Shouting). You will see the judgment of our Elohim (God) and the evil ones will quake and be struck. And then, when the bones of the rulers of this penultimate generation are laid to rest, we shall see a new order of things and one last chance for humanity in the final generation to do what is right.

    Visions of the Watery Dome and the Giant of Islam

    I saw in vision three days ago a watery dome above the earth, and the waters were agitated and restless, seathing, as though stirred up by some invisible power. And then the watery layer was peeled back and under it was a mass of weeds, luscious, but blocking all light, gorging itself on the nutrients that should have been given to the living Vine. And when in dismay, after the vision had closed, I asked Yahweh to intervene to bring shalom (peace) to the waters, and to remove the weeds, another vision opened up to me, and I saw a giant about 15 feet tall step in through open doors, and he walked confidently and without impediment, and the prayers of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) were of no effect, because he had the legal right to do what he was doing. I knew that the giant represented the evil of Islam that is trampling the earth as I speak because the nations have opened their doors to the giant, giving the giant licence to do whatever he pleases, because of traitorous national and religious leaders pretending to belong to Yah'shua (Jesus) but who in truth belong to the devil. The giant was partly of this dimension and partly of some unseen one. He had the stature of one of the nefilim (giants) of old.

    A Ripening in Inquity is Always Followed by Judgment

    This was not the end of the matter. For most of the night I was shown disturbing visions of the insanity that has been loosed upon the earth. There is no rhyme nor reason because a large number of people have literally become ripened in iniquity as the Canaanites and Amalekites were in the days of Israel's first Exodus. We throw up our hands in horror and disbelief at the attrocities being committed in the name of false religion as under the communists they once were in the name of socialism. But what you have to understand is that there is no sanity involved. What you are seeing is what happens when people become fully possessed by the Devil and are no longer capable of thinking like rational human beings because the demonic has completely taken over their consciousness and hearts. There is no arguing with them, no reasoning with them, for there is no light of conscience left in them. And that is why, and when, Yahweh must step in, as He has gone so many times throughout history, to subdue and obliterate such a manifestation of hell on earth. That is why there is to be a judgment, and for the sake of the elect:

      "If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened" (Matt.24:22, NIV).

    For the Sake of the Elect There Must Be a
    Judgment Followed by a Season of Peace

    Though the world deserves what it has got in the form of ISIS, Ukrainian fascists, and the élite banksters and their political stooges in the West who run this world, the only reason Yahweh is stepping in to prevent a global conflagration is for the sake of the elect! It is because of the righteous that he is not raining down hail and brimstone as He did on Sodom and Gemorah, which will happen globally at the end of the age before Messiah returns, but which for now will be local and by divers means. So as I said, throughout the night I saw the insanity and devilry that is loose in certain places in the world, and I wondered if it was ever going to end, for it seemed interminable. It took a while to get this wickedness out of the Bayit Elohim or House of God but once it was done, shalom (peace) and sanity resumed. As I looked at this place - at the Bayit Elohim - and particularly one part of it where we had not yet been given dominion, I heard Yahweh speak to me, saying: "This [place] is your responsibility" for it was supposed to be in His Domain and not outside of it. Therefore I claimed it, and claim it now publicly, in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name.

    The Scene After the Madness

    I remember the intense quiet after the madness. I followed the insanity away from the Bayit Elohim (House of God) and into a town where it remained but there was greater calm than before, as it was contained to a degree. The truth is, I was furious that Satan has walked roughshod over the Messianic Community the way he had but also knew that I bore some of the responsibility. We have not been as alert as we should have been, we have not taken all the land as Joshua was bidden, but because of carelessness allowed the Canaanite to remain in places he was not supposed to remain in. We did not remove all the sin out of our lives as we are bidden at Chag haMatzah (Feast of Unleavaned Bread). Our intercessory prayer life has grown dim as the enemy has relented from open persecution and been forced to give us space to breathe. And we should not - foolishly, I might add - assume that the only way to get right with Yahweh is by waiting for Him to release trouble on us to bring us to our spiritual senses.

    Reviewing the Cross of Calvary

    I was to have such a lesson the following evening when for seven hours I was in agony with my stomach and heightened fibromyalgia problems. Throughout I was accutely conscious and ashamed that He had to once again permit such pain to awaken me to a lively sense of my duty and responsibility. Once again I had to repent, as Job, in metaphorical sackcloth and ashes, and to view Calvary's Cross as once I had but which had since become dulled. Once again I had to plead for help to be done with pride and sinning, for it cannot be dealt with acting it out but only by touching and embracing reality. I confessed my latent paganism for not trusting Him as I ought and for accusing Him, albeit subtly and without words, for having failed to meet my needs as I perceived them to be. I saw starkly - again - that I was not as I ought to be as a talmid (disciple).

    An Awful but Necessary Day

    So that was not a good day - it was an awful day - but a necessary one. Such days are ordained by Heaven to wake us up, and though it feels anything but loving - though it appears each time to be an issue of heavenly parental neglect - the emet (truth) is that the neglect is on our side, and never Yahweh's. The better, wiser part of us knows this, but the Jacob side - the flesh side - which is supposed to be dead in Messiah, and crucified together with Him (Gal.2:20), refuses to admit this emet (truth). It is the side that angers us, the side that wants to punish others, the side that feels it has a sense of entitlement, and all that is of pride and the fallen Adamic nature in man. If it appears that Yahweh is too weak, or has failed to protect us, then we need to understand that there is a higher purpose which is to ensure we are not ensnared by vanity but are liberated from the deathly drag of the flesh that constantly lures us into the sin of ingratitude and carelessness. And so it is with the world too - the world must also wake up and if trial and tribulation are the only things that will do so, then that is the necessary if painful remedy.

    As I Awakened

    But I digress somewhat for none of this is my main message today, important though it is for us to be frequently reminded of these things. Two days ago, whilst recovering from my ordeal the night before, I took a much needed nap in the afternoon to recoup some of my strength. As I was awakening from my chair I saw an intense, powerful vision that linged in my spirit for over half a day and has since re-emerged as couple of times to remind me of its glory and importance. It is going to be difficult for me to convey the sense of this vision to you because of its symbolic nature. Rather than share all the literal symbols with you, for fear that it might be misinterpreted, I am rather going to give you the direct interpretation.

    Vision of the Man of Righteous Authority

    I saw a well built, man powerful lying down asleep. There was a sense of great, great strength in him, and of nobility. His wife was awake and hovering over his head. She was in deep contemplation and I sensed an intense longing in her both to awaken her husband as well as to be awakened herself and to be filled with his strength and being by drinking him in. Her desire was to honour him and to be blessed by the great toqef or authority that he had, not in a negative sense, but because this was her life and purpose - her rock even. She knew that all that she had come from him. I saw that this was a representation of the Messiah and the Bride of Messiah, which is the same divine tavnith or pattern in goldly marriage too. She wanted to draw of His life and strength both to honour Him as well as to be completed in Him and to do so in the most respectful way she knew how. She was, as I said, in deep contemplation and single in goal to be echad or one with him, to possess his authority and strength so that she could minister in His Name.

    Asleep in the Boat

    I was reminded afterwards of the incident of Yah'shua (Jesus) asleep during the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Let us quickly review this to see the connection with this vision:

      "Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, 'Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?' Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace, be still!' And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, 'Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no emunah (faith)?' And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, 'Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!'" (Mark 4:36-41, NKJV).

    Total Panic vs. Complete Calm

    Now this was a very young Messianic Bride, quite unlike the woman in my vision who was mature, assured and confident. Yah'shua (Jesus) was asleep in the stern or rear part of the boat where the rudder is. Though there was pandamonium all around Him, He was in complete control. The windstorm represents the ruach or spirit of man when it is out of control, when the emotions run back and forth seeking something to hold on to. And such was the state of mind and heart of those spiritually young talmidim (disciples). They were in a panic! Contrast this with the sleeping Messiah, at the rudder, with a pillow for comfort under his head. Here you have the contrast of complete repose verses total panic. Though everything around them was chaos, and they were filled with fear, Yah'shua (Jesus) was in control all along, and proved it when He exercised His toqef (authority) as Elohim (God) and commanded the storm to abate.

    Becoming Like the Confident Woman of Faith

    We need to remember this when storms are all around us, and that so long as Yah'shua (Jesus) is within the boat of our souls, we have the toqef (authority) to awaken this power, provided it is used for righteousness and in His will, at any time we want. We need to understand the nature of this toqef (authority) so that we can apply it rightly in our lives and that is what I want to spend the rest of this assembly time talking to you about. My desire and my goal is that you should be like the confident, assured and focussed woman of emunah (faith) that I saw in my vision and not like the frightened talmidim (disciples) on the Sea of Galilee. To do that you must adore the Bridegroom, know Him, and trust Him. You must be in the spirit of Psalm 135, and the first six verses:

      "O praise Yahweh; praise Him, you servants of Yahweh, who stand in the Bayit Yahweh (House of Yahweh), in the temple courts of our Elohim (God). Praise Yahweh, for that is tov (good); honour His Name with psalms, for that is pleasant. Yahweh has chosen Jacob to be His own and Israel as His special treasure. I know that Yahweh is great, that our Master is above all elohim (gods). Whatever Yahweh pleases, that He does, in ehaven and on earth, in the sea, in the depths of the ocean" (Ps.135:1-6, NEB).

    The Nature of Authority in the Great Commission

    So what is the nature of this toqef (authority) and how can we be like that women in my vision, full of emunah (faith), confidence, adoration and worship? Join with me now in a reading of that famous passage from the Great Commission:

      "All toqef (authority) has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make talmidim (disciples) of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt.28:18-20, NKJV).

    The Purpose of Patriarchal Authority

    Husbands and fathers are likewise given all authority as patriarchs over their families - their wives and children - and for a purpose, and that purpose is to make talmidim (disciples) of them for Yah'shua (Jesus), baptising them, teaching them to observe the mitzvot (commandments) of Torah. This is every married and family man's commission. Moreover, he is to be with his family always, available to meet their needs in these matters, whether they are older or younger. This is what toqef (authority) exists for, and not for self-aggrandisement. It is inseparable from being commissioned to lead. The husband is to immerse or baptise his wife - and he is to immerse or baptise his children - into all things pertaining to the Messiah. Toqef (Authority) does not exist for itself, or for a power-drive, but so the man can fill his family. It is not for self-aggrandisement. Their part is to be open and receptive both to this teaching and to the chayim (life) this teaching represents. They are not to be indiscrimiately open to anything and everything he teaches but are given the Bible as a measuring rod. As he becomes more trustworthy, so they will open more and more. Men are called to be the carriers of a divine zera or seed and are its importers, and it is to the men the women and children are to come and metaphorically drink. As C.S.Lewis puts it:

      "Men are mirrors or carriers of [Messiah] to other men. Usually it is those who know Him who bring Him to others. That's why the [Messianic Community] (Church), the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important. It is easy to think that the [Messianic Community] (Church) hasd a lot of different objects - education, building, missions, holding services. The [Messianic Community] (Church) exists for nothing else but to draw men to [Messiah], to make them little [messiahs] [1]. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. [Elohim] (God) became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose."

    He Possesses Transforming Life

    When the Scripture says of Yah'shua (Jesus), "and He taught them as one having toqef (authority), and not as the Torah-teachers (Scribes)" (Mt.7:29, NKJV), it is not merely saying that He had charisma and drawing power - it meant that He possessed the chayim (life) that could transform men into images of Himself, and that that chayim (life) was infinitely attractive and desirable. That toqef (authority) is the substance of a true teacher, and whilst doctrinal accuracy is vital, it is not paramount - what is of supreme importance is the impartation of eternal chayim (life). It was that eternal chayim (life), which comes from the Father, which the Father gave to the Son in its entirety, that He was importing to those who listened to and trusted Him. And it is that same chayim (life) that a man of Elohim (God) must import to a dying, lifeless world, whether as a teacher or in some other office, depending on his gifting from Heaven, whether he be a man or she be a woman - the toqef (authority) is always the possession and transmission of this chayim (life), and it must be spread by example, by deed, by word and - above all - by spiritual impartation. And that, brethren and sisters, requires a mature and developed character, and a mature and developed character comes through systematic and consistent obedience and submission to the Master, to everything He commands, which is the living Torah. Toqef (Authority) is only given by Heaven to a man with the express understanding that this is what he will both do and be. The bestowal of this toqef (authority) is both an event and a continuing spiritual process - a living action that cannot be faked, for if the chayim (life) is not there, then there is no toqef (authority) in the saving sense.

    Satanic Authority

    Satan promises a different kind of toqef (authority) that comes not from chayim (life) and freedom but from death and oppression:

      "And the devil said to Him, 'All this toqef (authority) I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours" (Luke 4:6-7, NKJV).

    Two Authorities, Two Kingdoms

    Both Elohim (God) and Satan expect worship - to be honoured, respected, obeyed and loved. But whilst Satan gives temporal toqef (authority) over the fleeting kingdoms of this world, Yahweh gives spiritual toqef (authority) in the eternal Kingdom. The former brings death and the latter chayim (life). There are therefore two different kinds of toqef (authority) and they must not be confused. And whenever the Messianic Community or Church has combined the two, it has fallen. Though there is a proper theocracy, which is both spiritual and temporal, its rules and powers are strictly governed with checks, balances and accountability. And never is man given absolute toqef (authority) - it is always conditional, it always has boundaries or spheres of permitted operation, it is never total. Every man is bound by Torah in the legal, outward sense, and by the possession of the heavenly chayim (life) in the spiritual, inward sense. There are two aspects, and no one toqef (authority) is complete without the other. The legal and the spiritual must be at one. To legal toqef (authority), respect and loyalty is due, no matter what your feelings may be; to spiritual toqef (authority), it is earned by the example, emet (truth) and ahavah (love) that is being shown. And obviously only the spiritual is eternal - the former is prescribed by time limits and comes to an end. I will, for example, cease to be a father in the legal sense when I die, but whether I remain a spiritual father depends on my behaviour which will carry on into the next life.

      "For as the Father has chayim (life) in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have chayim (life) in Himself, and has given Him toqef (authority) to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man" (John 5:26-27, NKJV).

    Judgment and Authority

    The power to judge - in a family or in a congregation - is also a function of toqef (authority). The legal toqef (authority) confers the right, the spiritual brings chayim (life) and redemption into judgment, building as well as tearing down. Godly judgment is always redemptive, and any punishment meeted out always redeems because it is rooted in, and is accompanied by, both justice and ahavah (love) which is chayim (life).

    The Reason for Authority

    May I remind you why the Father gave the Son toqef (authority), for it is the same reason the Son gives man toqef (authority):

      "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him toqef (authority) over all flesh, that He should give eternal chayim (life) to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal chayim (life), that they may know You, the only true Elohim (God), and Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) whom You have sent" (John 17:1-3, NKJV).

    To Know the Father and the Son

    This, then, is the purpose of toqef (authority) conferred, to be an instrument in bringing eternal chayim (life), which is to know the Father and the Son! Husbands have toqef (authority) over their wives for this express purpose, as fathers (and by extension, mothers) do over their children. Any other kind of toqef (authority) is not ultimately of Him. Indeed, the opposite of this heavenly mandate is the satanic one to overturn all such toqef (authority).

    Rejectors of Authority

    Jude reminisces about this devilish hatred of toqef (authority) that the wicked hold on to - the toqef (authority) that imparts eternal chayim (life) and a saving knowledge of Elohim (God), in speaking about the nephilim (giants), the unbelievers in the First Exodus, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorah, and all those who are sexually immoral, reminding us that such will suffer "the vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 7, NKJV). He then describes their character:

      "These dreamers defile the flesh, reject toqef (authority), and speak evil of dignitaries...these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah" (Jude 8,10-11, NKJV).

    The Sole Object of Our Witness

    That is why we can say with Charles Spurgeon, that we are to "preach with this object, then men may quit their sins and fly to [Messiah] for pardon, that by His blessed [Ruach] (Spirit) may be renovated and become as much in love with everything that is [qadosh] (holy, set-apart) as they are now in love with everything that is sinful." That is our object as preachers, teachers, evangelists, apostles, fathers, mothers, husbands and simple lay witnesses, that with the toqef (authority) given, both inner and outer, spiritual and legal, we may lead lost souls into everlasting chayim (life), not some abstract theological idea, notion or fantasy, but to the real thing, which is alive with a heart-beat, bringing simcha (joy) and ahavah (love) and true freedom from the bondage of lies, fear and sin. That is what we are about and that is the only reason we seek toqef (authority)! We are not called to become mandarins or tinpot dictators. We desire toqef (authority) because we love, and "we love because He first loved us" (1 Jn.4:19, NKJV)

    Conclusion

    Brethren and sisters, let us fear only not having Yah's presence and make that the object of all we do and are. Seize His toqef (authority) in emunah (faith) and be filled with His ahavah (love) to do what it is He wants you to which is to be a witness everywhere. Amen.

    Endnotes

    [1] See The Elect of Yahweh: Messiahs and Set-Apart Women

      back to list of contents

      Return to Main NCCG.ORG Index Page

      This page was created on 10 August 2014
      Last updated on 10 August 2014

      Copyright © 1987-2014 NCAY™ - All Rights Reserved