Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and a special welcome to those who have joined us here at MLT in Kadesh-biyqh from home and abroad for the Aviv Dedication which begins tomorrow. Yes, today is the last day of the current year and with its passing everything will start to change very rapidly over the course of the days and weeks ahead. I believe the situation in the Ukraine and Russia is coming to a head and of course that dangerous CERN experiment begins in a day or so that could, if allowed to succeed, not only permanently damage the earth's magnetic field (according to Dawking there's even the risk of destroying the universe, but I think that's an evolutionist's imagination running wild) but possibly even open a portal to dark dimensions. We need to be on the alert for both eventualities. I know some of you are aware that there has been increaed spiritual activity of late.

The enemy has been - and will be - very busy over the coming days and weeks. Suddenly, after a long period of calm, we have come under attack online from self-styled evangelical 'prophets' and ultra-messianics. One pop 'prophet' a couple of days ago declared that the 'Holy Spirit' had 'told' him that we were in the 7 year tribulation and that Obama was the Antichrist, and that I should pay heed to the blood-red moons which were evidence that what he was saying was true. When I pointed him to two articles that showed his prophetic markers were all wrong, he, refusing to read them, replied: "I don't have to listen to what some MAN tells me! I only listen to what the Holy Spirit of God tells me!" He then proceded to quote to me that much twisted passage in the first epistle of John the apostle that I think we need to understand, so let's begin today by looking at it:

"As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in Him" (1 John 2:27, NIV).

There are very few men, save those who consciously perpetrate a fraud, who, believing they are 100% led by the 'Holy Spirit', then proceed to arrogantly claim they need no human teachers. I have met so many self-styled 'prophets', all teaching different and contradictory things, who quote this scripture in justification of their presumed infallibility and omniscience. As we are going to meet many self-styled 'prophets' both before, during and after the present crisis, whom circumstances (that is, failed prophecies) will expose in due course, it is important we deal with them appropriately and in a manner pleasing to Yah'shua (Jesus). This means that a proper acquaintance with the Davar (Word) is essential so that these false teachers are exposed. Always remember, when it comes to these pop teachers, that "text without a context is a pretext".

Historically, this passage is about those separating themselves from the then undisputed Messianic Community under the leadership of the twelve apostles:

"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us" (1 John 2:18-19, NIV).

I dare say that many, if not most, denominations over the last 2,000 years, believing themselves to be true, have quoted this passage when people have left their organisation or particular group, so we have to be careful. Furthermore, the passage on not being deceived and not allowing others to teach you is specifically about the the identity of the Person of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) Himself, that is to say, correctly identifying Him and therefore discerning every and any of the many thousands of anti-Messiahs (antichrists) who have been around in every generation. John says:

"But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the emet (truth). I do not write to you because you do not know the emet (truth), but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the emet (truth). Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Yah'shua (Jesus) is the Messiah (Christ). Such a man is the antichrist - he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:20-23, NIV).

We don't need any man to teach us - those who have been spiritually regenerated or born again - that Yah'shua (Jesus) is the promised Messiah. That is what the context is. It has nothing to do with end-time doctrines. So what does John means when he says that "His anointing teaches you about all things"? What is the "all"? Does it mean everything that there is to know? Should we translate this as "you have all knowledge" as the one-time Principal of Cuddesdon Theological College did? [1] That is obviously ridiculous and I can think of no mentally sane believer who believes he knows everything there is to know - only Elohim (God) has all-knowledge even if potentially the Ruach (Spirit) could reveal anything that Yahweh wants us to know. Yahweh-Elohim alone is omniscient.

So what does John mean? He means, quite simply, that when you have been spiritually regenerated and the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) has born witness to you of the most important thing there is to know, as happened to Peter at Caesarea Philippi (Mt.16:16) and to Martha as she was waiting for Him to heal her brother Lazarus (Jn.11:27) - namely, that Yah'shua (Jesus) is the Messiah, the Deliverer, Saviour, Creator, Master and Elohim (God) - then you know all that you need to know concerning this most important thing. With this absolute knowledge you can therefore instantly detect all imposters claiming to be the Messiah, and you have no need of anyone teaching you who the Messiah is! In this matter you are fully independent.

The schismatics in this passage were amongst the earliest 'Christian' Gnostics, for they denied Messiah's 'fleshiness', seeing Him as a purely spiritual emmissary from Yahweh. This would have meant their denying the atonement and physical resurrection in the same way liberal and New Age 'Christians' do today. Theirs was an aescetic pagan view which brings me to an important point about today's many false 'prophets' - they are usually antinomian (lawless), denying the validity of Torah, believers in ultra-grace but no law-keeping even after salvation.

Watch out for subtle modern forms of heresy, especially for those claiming to be the returned 'Jesus' as a reincarnation into mortal human flesh again, as the late Sun Myung Moon claimed of himself. Hence tied up with this schism was the belief that the resurrection was only 'spiritual', not physical, similar to the belief of the Jehovah's Witnesses. We, on the other hand, believe in the physical resurrection of Yah'shua (Jesus) which means He can never be reincarnated or born as a mortal human being again, even if that mortal human being possesses supernatural powers. To believe in such a teaching is to deny the Father and the Son, meaning that such as proclaim this heresy are worshipping other gods. Watch out for them!

Anyway, when someone quotes this scripture at you, claiming they don't need human teachers any more because they have the 'Holy Spirit', mark them down as deceived and as false prophets, for no true navi (prophet) of Yahweh would make such an elementary mistake. This also goes for those coming along - and again misunderstanding John [2] - and claiming they don't sin anymore.

The other category of person to watch out for are the ultra-messianics who, though they don't usually claim to be prophets, speak as though they were. The one who went for my throat two days ago, a messianic from Germany, claimed I was a false teacher and that I worshipped a false god because 'Yah' was the name of a pagan moon-god. He demanded that I repent. Quite apart from the fact that millions of believers who use the wrong name but who know His character and are saved, we all know that the true Name is often co-opted by pagans and included in their pantheons. Even the occultist kabbalists use it. By the same token, the fact that many believers use the True Name doesn't mean that they personally know Elohim (God) necessarily - lots of scholars know the True Name too [3] but that doesn't mean they are regenerated or know Him. Most don't.

So don't be intimidated by the unregenerated extremists who love to bask in their pride because of their superior knowledge. Whilst using the True Name is important once we know what it is, Yahweh is far more interested in your character - whether you have the fruits of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) in your life - than he is in how you curl your tongue, form your lips and vibrate your larynx. I give no quarter to these spiritual wreckers and neither should you. The state of our heart is more important than the size of the library of our mental knowledge. Nevertheless, this is not an excuse for lawlessness either. Once saved, Yahweh expects us to be obedient. Once having received the free gift of salvation through emunah (faith), we are required to give everything and be obedient to everything our Master says as is right for our new status as redeemed children of the King. We just need to get our priorities right.

Another warning I feel constrained to make, this time in response to the devarim (words) of true nevi'im (prophets). Upon the recommendation of Brother Gabriel Ljungstrand of the Sweden Mission, I was listening to the testimony of the famous 'Prayer Walker', Henry Gruver, the other day and he told of a bona fide prophecy that had been made. By the time it had done the rounds it had been so altered and expanded as to be unrecognisable. Even dates had been added which had not originally been given. Little wonder that people got disillusioned and the reputation of that navi (prophet) suffered. That is one reason why we publish all our prophecies online so that they don't get twisted. We can then refer people to the original wording. You'd be surprised at the number of people, for example, who already believe that the current countdown will lead to World War III, the Financial Collapse and other things. I have never stated what the end of the countdown will bring because Yahweh has not told us other than to use these days to prepare even if I have bounced around some possibilities. Errors that I have made in the past have led me to choose my words carefully and to be circumspect.

A second warning to those of you who have the gift of prophecy - be sure you know what you're supposed to share, what is for the Body, what is for the family, and what is for you personally. Certain prophecies have hedges around them, as it were, or must otherwise be relayed in symbols and parables so that only those with the Ruach (Spirit) can understand them. As I have said before, the Enemy monitors what true believers write and say because he is in the dark as to Yahweh's intentions, and if nevi'im (prophets) exceed their authority by sharing sacred things with those who are not entitled to know, Yahweh cannot rely on them or use them. May I remind you of the traits of the fourth foolish virgin who "acts without thought, and does not consider the results of her actions" (Olive Branch 207:40). In fact this would be a good time for people to study the traits of all five of the foolish virgins as well as the five wise virgins as these will provide useful character markers as we present ourselves for cleansing before Yahweh tomorrow and over the next 16 days.

A third warning about prophecies - and here I disagree with Henry Gruver - who says that he refuses to believe solitary prophecies unless they are independently confirmed by other prophets. This is not an unwise precaution but it has to be said that there are false prophets who are saying the same thing, most notably that this is the Great Tribulation and Yah'shua (Jesus) will be back within months or just a few years. Multiple witnesses is no guarantee of truthfulness - you have got to have the spirit of discernment! And sometimes there is only one true navi (prophet) about. Multiple witnesses are a good thing but the original revelation - which is about courts of law and especially the death sentence - is not about testing nevi'im (prophets):

"A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses" (Deut 19:15, NIV).

But what kind of matter is Yahweh speaking about?

"On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness" (Deut.17:6, NIV).

"Anyone who rejected the Torah (Law) of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses" (Heb.10:28, NIV).

And yet we all know that innocents have been out to death - like Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself - because false witnesses have perjured themselves. Why do people suppose that prophets can't also perjure themselves? The same principle is carried over into the New Testament where Yah'shua (Jesus) says:

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses" (Matt.18:15-16, NIV).

Likewise Peter says:

"Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses" (1 Tim.5:19, NIV).

Paul makes a midrash out of the original mitzvah (commandment) in this way:

"This will be my third visit to you. 'Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time" (2 Cor.13:1-2, NIV).

In other words, it is sometimes necessary to give the same message two or three times before it sinks in - before it is 'established'. When Yahweh called the young Samuel He had to do it three times before He finally got a response. You have all experienced this in one way or another - often things have to be repeated because we are hard-headed, full of doubt, or some other reason. The warnings to prepare for collapse have been given by me dozens of times over the years because Yahweh knew no one would believe it on account of all the false prophets who had brought disrepute to the Davar Elohim (Word of God).

Now I think it is wonderful - and I eagerly seek it - to get independent confirmation of what Yahweh tells me from others, but Jonah had no one to confirm his Davar (Word) when he was breaching on the walls of Nineveh and Elijah couldn't access the Internet to find out if others from the School of the Nevi'im (Prophets) were getting the same thing when he prophesied in far off places. Many of us will find ourselves alone and having to make decisions based on solitary, private revelations and prophecies in the days to come. So, yes, confirming prophecies are wonderful but not always available, and false prophecies most definitely are duplicated because the false spirits that give them want to cause confusion and encourage the spiritually lazy not to be bothered to test everything.

These days I keep hearing those who believe we're in the Great Tribulation, or that the Rapture or Second Coming are imminent, constantly citing the false Blood Red Moon prophecies and the book by messianic writer, Jonathan Cahn, The Mystery of the Shemitah to back up their belief. There is no doubt that Cahn's book, though based on a false calendar and therefore slightly out, is a Davar Elohim (Word of God) for America - we too have been told that this is a Sh'mittah (Sabbatical Year) starting tomorrow, we too have been told that America is coming under judgment this year, but to go beyond that and say Yah'shua (Jesus) is coming back any minute, or that we are about to be raptured, is to go beyond the divine mandate.

I was listening to a Christian chat show the other day and the main speaker was going hysterical, saying that because ISIS has been cutting off heads that this is proof of the Great Tribulation! Such nonsense! Muslims have been cutting off far more heads than this over the centuries, not to mention French revolutionaries and others. I wish He was coming back in my time, really I do, but He is not. There is so much more to do yet. So gird up your loins and get ready for more sowing and reaping!

I guess what I am trying to say is this: be careful, don't get excited or hysterical, don't get carried away, because the heart is desperately wicked and misleading (Jer.19:9). With untamed thoughts and feelings, which are not fully submitted to Messiah, we aren't going to hear him clearly or at all. We are told again and again by the apostles to BE SOBER:

"Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of emunah (faith) and ahavah (love), and as a helmet the tiqveh (hope) of salvation" (1 Thess.5:5-8, NKJV).

"But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in emunah (faith), in ahavah (love), in patience" (Titus 2:1-2, NKJV).

"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ); as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is qadosh (holy, set-apart), you also be qadosh (holy, set-apart) in all your conduct" (1 Peter 1:13-15, NKJV).

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of Elohim (God), that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the emunah (faith), knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world" (1 Peter 5:6-9, NKJV).

The word "sober" means to be watchful and alert (a reason we don't drink alcohol). That means being focussed, and concentrated on the things of Elohim (God), stilling all ungodly passions - what Paul calls "the former lusts". The word "lust" means to 'eagerly desire' and it doesn't just mean unkosher sexual lust as it does in modern English - it means simply desiring something passionately that may be either wrong or right. The world thinks that all passion or lust is good, but there are different categories of it. Passion cannot stir emet (truth), emet (truth) must stir passion! Lies can stir passion, but passion cannot stir lies. And if we are in untruth, and passion is stirred up in that untruth, we are going to be in serious trouble because we won't be able to tell what kind of passion we are experiencing. What is untrue will be backed strongly by the demonic which will, at length, make us totally blind. A Scottish brother has been telling me of the hopeless story of a Calvinist he is witnessing to who simply will not - because he cannot - receive emet (truth), so passionately entrapped is he in his false belief. He is in bondage to a religious spirit.

The days ahead require us to be sober and vigilent. We must be awake, alert, keenly listening to the Master. We must seek and know the emet (truth) of Yahweh's will before we allow our convictions to ride the horses of our zeal and passion. So many believers wrongly equate passion with Yahweh's will, but the devil's own can be equally passionate, feeling exactly the same drive. Our emotions, necessary as they are, must serve the Ruach (Spirit), not the other way round.

More than anything else, we have to get our motives sorted out over the 16 days that lie ahead of us. Why are we here? What expectations do we have? What sacrifices are we prepared to make? Are we willing to relinquish our private agendas founded on fear, doubt, self-interest or passions contrary to the emet (truth)?

Though there is no Levitical Priesthood in the B'rit Chadashah (New Covenant), as we are under the New Covenant and not the Old, we shall be approaching the Dedication in the same way as the Levites of old did in Hezekiah's day. And amongst those Levites there were cohenim (priests) of that particular family line chosen to serve because of their faithfulness. As there were different priestly lines of old - the Aaronites and Zadokites - so new apostolic Melchizedek 'lines' will be established by Yahweh based on faithfulness.

If my understanding is right, there will be twelve new patriarchal or family-priestly lines, one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel, with two sub-lines in Joseph (for Ephraim and Manasseh). My understanding of the Judah Line is that the old Perez-Judah Line is to be replaced by the Zerah-Judah Line, the Perez Line being, as it were, swallowed up by Messiah who was of that lineage. These will be revealed and become established over the years to come. It will be obvious to all who these lines will be as Yahweh's favour unmistakably falls on them and as they become established in righteousness, in giftings and in anointings. All will, of course, sing both the songs of Moses and the Lamb (Rev.15:3).

It is for Yahweh to select these, not us, through whatever endowments or unctions of the Ruach (Spirit) that He may send. We come here without an established 'line', for a part of this cleansing in the long term is to establish such priestly lines. We come with empty hands but full hearts eager to please El Elyon (the Most High).

As tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh and the New Year we shall be assembling as usual in the morning for a Davar (Word) to mark the start of the Cleansing and Dedication. There will also be an evening assembly which I will tell you more about at that time. We will receive our instructions from Yahweh on a daily basis as we do not know exactly what He will do, other than in the broadest and most general terms.

We know, because it is made plain in the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament), that there is no physical temple structure and bricks and mortar in the New Covenant in the fashion of the Old. There are but the souls that make it up and are visible to us, but even then we only ever see a few at a time because the temple is scattered across the world, but even then that is not the complete temple in the eternal sphere, just its pillars, "because Yahweh-Elohim Almighty and the Lamb are [the] temple" (Rev.21:22, NIV) just as we are not the Tree but its branches.

Whilst we are but pillars in this Supra-Hekal or Temple in Heaven, we are simultaneously our own temples - each man, each woman, each child. Each family is a temple, each clan, each tribe of Messianic Israel. In Heaven the Father and the Son are the Temple, but on earth the Messianic Community is a temple too:

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of Elohim (God), and that the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of Elohim (God), him shall Elohim (God) destroy; for the temple of Elohim (God) is qadosh (holy, set-apart) which temple ye are" (1 Cor.3:16-17, KJV).

So in the 16 days ahead we are going to be doing a great deal of dedicating and cleansing on many different levels and in doing so we will individually, and collectively, encounter dilemmas, such as Paul voiced in writing to the Corinthians:

"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent (body, temple), is destroyed, we have a building from Elohim (God), a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by chayim (life)" (2 Cor.5:1-5, NKJV)

Both as individuals in frail bodies, and collectively as a people, we long for the heavenly fullness, the presence of Elohim (God) and the resurrection. Yet we are here, temples in the past have been destroyed because of sin, and we destroy our own bodies because of sin on top of the natural decaying process which is the lot of mortality. We face so many challenges, don't we? Yet He commands cleansing and dedication and though we are weak "the Ruach (Spirit) also helps in our weaknesses" (Rom.8:26, NKJV) which is why She is called our Helper and Comforter. The soothing motherly touch and encouragement is always near. We must abide the heavenly decrees and tavnith given for our benefit:

"The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Cor.15:42-44, NKJV).

And whilst a Paul is principally talking about the resurrection here he is also showing us a tavnith or pattern in the Plan of Salvation. Weakness preceeds strength, helplessness before power, because that is the only way we can approah Yahweh devoid of pride and conceit. The irony of it is that when we become before him with anything more than helplessness and surrender, we walk away with considerably less. The more we bring, the less we take away. The less we bring, the more we take away. It makes no sense to the rational mind because it is in the Divine Mind, not the human and we can only accept it in emunah (faith), without gnosis or knowing.

That is why we will be assembling each day here not knowing anything more than that Yahweh wants His Temple cleansed and rededicated, and we know that means getting everything out of it that is unclean and unkosher so that Yahweh is All-in-All and the devil has no place to defile the Body of Messiah, from the lowly talmid (disciple) to the Body-Corporate. This is more than repentance - godly sorrow for sin - it is also, and vitally so, about clearing out all of those defiled things in our lives and burning them in the Valley of Jehosophat. So whatever happens, it cannot end in simply feeling bad and saying so to everyone - it has to end in concrete action, else the repentance is in vain. We're not here for a pity-party but for a complete turnaround and renewal. That is what we will be petitioning the Throne of Grace for, not for a giant 'there, there' cuddle. We are not here to comfort one another in sin and helplessness, but to be led out of the valley of death and into that victorious chayim (life)-eternal.

So we do not want to pause before those filthy idols in the temple. We do not want to contemplate them once we have spotted them - once we can see them. Once we have seen them we are going to seize them forcefully and throw them out. We don't care how they got there or who was responsible - we have already got past forgiving and being forgiven for sins because we are on a heavenly assignment for the deliverance of everyone, not just ourselves. We are simply going to fall on those idols in righteous anger, seize them, drag them out into a pile in the courtyard of the temple, and then send them away for crushing and burning in the Gehenna. We don't need to know what these idols are, or what they're called or what they respresent because that's not our business at this time and we do not mean to give the Enemy any cause to gloat or to take pleasure in hearing one of His many names spoken. We can, if necessary, have private deliverance sessions outside the regular assemblies, but that will be up to the Ruach (Spirit).

So we are not assembling for conventional deliverance as we have done it hitherto, working through issues line upon line and making individuals the centre of attention. This is about the whole nation, the whole community first and foremost, and us as individuals last of all. We are assembled to operate as collective priesthood, accepting responsibility, whether directly or indirectly by proxy. The kind of anointing that Yahweh wants to give us is one that shines the light of emet (truth) brightly on the idols polluting HIS temple, first and foremost, and on ours individually last! This anointing should provoke a blending of deep sorrow and holy anger. This anointing will not allow us to linger or tarry or wallow in self-pity because it is not about Self but about reverencing and uplifting the Qodesh (Holy, Set-apart) Name of Yahweh through Yah'shua (Jesus) His Son. So I repeat, we are not assembling for 16 days for a giant pity-party, we're here to do a job and to do it well. We're servant temple workers reporting for duty to the Master. Eight days will be needed to find all the abominations in the Temple, roll up our sleaves, and drag them sweating and aching into the courtyard. Humans put them there and humans must drag them out, albeit it under divine empowering. Their disposal is not our business since we have no power of our own to do that - we can only petition their removal to the spiritual rubbish pit once we have done the job of assembling them as Hezekiah did.

A final thought to leave with you this morning. 'Messianic Israel' is a big, largely abstract concept because we can never know all its members in this life, let alone the tiniest fraction thereof. Then there's the even wider Body of Messiah beyond that! Our interaction with it must therefore, of necessity, be largely in the Ruach (Spirit), as is right and tov (good) until we are all gathered together in the heavenlies for the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. In some ways, because we can see, touch and interact with one another, this fellowship is the 'main thing' for us because of its immediacy. We are a family within a greater Family but before our interaction with the Greater Family of Elohim (God) can have any real meaning, we have got to be committed to one another in baptism, in chrism (dedication, confirmation), in the Master's Supper, in our Shavu'ot covenant of Bar/Mat-Mitzvah and in the Sukkot Covenant that is imminent.

There has to be committment and loyalty to our individual congregations (like this one at MLT) and to NCAY as a whole. The names are not so important as the people that make it up are. Like a marriage and a household, there has to be that sense of family obligation and fellowship. We have to be proud of our Family Name in Messiah as we are of our First Name in Messiah! We're not a refuelling station, we're home, and everyone in it has obligations and responsibilities, which is the basis of priesthood in the local fellowship. And if we fail in that, then we have failed in our committments to the wider Body already. "No success in life can compensate for failure in the home" and that emet (truth) applies as much to your local congregation and family of congregations like NCAY as it does to your biological families. We are a growing family internationally. Let us put out flags to the mast of the ship we are travelling in, not be ashamed of it and invite others to it. This means the freedom to talk out all our concerns whilst maintaining the proper divinely-established priesthood hierarchies, showing respect and deference where these are due.

I pray that this has opened your minds and hearts up to the possibilities. This is the last sabbath of the year and we truly have to make it not only the last day of the year but the last day of our former lives. We have to come together in echad or peel off and go our own ways. Choices have to be made - big choices - concerning the disposal idols in particular but also the embracing of committments. This will become crystal clear after the first 8 days of cleansing. For when the dedication comes, only whose who are in earnest will have remained. May Yahweh therefore bless us all as we commit here and now to get down to the task starting tomorrow. There will be a solar eclipse to mark it on what is going to be a unique day in the history of the world and of the Messianic Community. May you find grace and shalom in Yah'shua. Amen.

Endnotes