Chag sameach Rosh Chodesh kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah as we come before our loving Heavenly Father to petition Him for a Davar (Word) for us all today, on this the Yom haNevi'im or day of the prophets, or to be more exact, the day of receiving prophecies from the prophets.

When I think back on how little we knew and understood about Rosh Chodesh 20 or so years ago and when I consider what a privilege it is to assemble on this day to receive what the ancients received from nevi'im (prophets) like Elijah and Elisha, I am very grateful that Yahweh still speaks. And we are here - all of us - to listen. Cessationists (like the Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Anglicans and others) believe He speaks to us mostly through Scripture. Continuationists (like ourselves and Pentecostals) believe He also speaks through the Ruach (Spirit) to nevi'im (prophets), and that, like Moses, He wants us all to be nevi'im (prophets) plus we believe He speaks through the Scriptures too.

Paul, writing to the Ephesians, and quoting one of the Psalms, said:

"Each of you has received his own share of grace, in proportion as the free gift of Christ has given it to you. That is why it is said: 'He ascended on high, after He had taken His prisoners captive, and gave gifts to men'" (Eph.4:7-8, Barclay).

Yesterday we passed the sixth sabbath of the Omer Count as we anticipate Shavu'ot, the Feast of Weeks, better (though inaccurately) known as 'Pentecost', in one sabbath and 50 days' time. Why do we anticipate it? Because we long once again for the great wind of the Ruach Elohim - the Spirit of God - to sweep through us and to fill us with a new simcha (joy) and a sense of Yahweh's presence and power, especially as we are entering into a new age of great evil and oppression.

That infilling of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) was one of those "gifts" that Paul was referring to in Ephesians 4:8, and perhaps the most important one, "after He had taken His prisoners captive" or perhaps a better translation would be, "He made captivity itself captive" (NRSV), for there is nothing quite so bad as to be a captive or prisoner, as Paul was when he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Paul was paraphrasing Psalm 68:18 which reads:

"You ascended the high mount, leading captives in your train and receiving gifts from people, even from those who rebel against Yahweh-Elohim's abiding there. Blessed be Yahweh, who daily bears us up; Elohim (God) is our salvation. Our Elohim (God) is an Elohim (God) of salvation, and to Elohim (God), Yahweh, belongs escape from death" (Ps.68:18-20, NRSV).

The Aramaic Targum (or ancient Commentary, like a Paraphrase) of the Psalms applies this passage to the navi (prophet) Moses which is an interesting application given the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15,18 of "a navi (prophet) like unto me (Moses)" as it applies to Yah'shua (Jesus) in Acts 3:22 & 7:37:

"Moses said, 'Yahweh your Elohim (God) will raise up for you from your own people a navi (prophet) like me. You must listen to whatever He tells you. And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that navi (prophet) will be utterly rooted out from the people" (Ac.3:22-23, NRSV).

In other words, those sons and daughters of Jacob who reject Messiah will cease being Israelites and revert to being the mere unsaved fleshy, genetic descendants of Jacob. Remember that when people claim that Yahweh has other 'chosen people' who reject Yah'shua (Jesus), that Peter plainly says here that those who reject the Messiah as their King cease being Yahweh's covenant people according to the Covenant of Moses - they cease being Israelites - and Paul tells us in Romans 11 that those gentiles who are not blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who receive Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus) become Israelites by ingrafting and adoption.

So what did Paul mean by quoting Psalm 66 in his letter to the Ephesians? He meant that Yah'shua (Jesus) took sin and death, which held us captive, into captivity and now brings deliverance - salvation [1]. He made what's called a midrash. That is the greatest gift of all because from it stem all the other gifts. Right now, I believe, we need a fresh anointing - desperately, and I'll tell you why.

A week ago, in the middle of the night, I was awakened to see an intense vision. I saw the watery world of a stormy ocean, the clouds above were thick, dark, heavy and menacing. The sky and the water were blood red, making for an eerie and oppressive atmosphere, because I could tell the earth was saturated with evil. I cried to Yahweh for relief and then these small white parachutes came descending out of the clouds, many of them. I tried to see what was at the end of them, but when I drew close to one and strained to see, all that was visible was a bright light where the cords met. The parachutes impacted the sea and the vision ended. (See the illustration at the beginning of this sermon).

The feeling I had after seeing this, frankly, very disturbing vision, was that in the midst of the present troubles, Yahweh is about to do something - he is going to shower us with a gift - many gifts, in fact. Armies that are cut off from their main supplies because they're surrounded by the enemy often receive supplies by parachute from the air. Yahweh will do exactly the same. I couldn't see what was at the end of the parachutes because they were concealed by bright lights, but without a doubt, on one level, these are gifts from above for all the true qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) on the earth. Our job is to continue holding out in faith and to continue petitioning Him for relief, until that relief arrives, as it will, because He is faithful. The fact that the delivery of this relief is represented by parachutes suggests to me that the delivery will be sudden, unexpected, quick and gentle.

What do we know about the symbolic meaning of 'sea' in Scripture? There are several meanings, but all are related, as they concern the activity of peoples. Jeremiah, whom we were talking about yesterday, described the attackers of Babylon as being "like the roaring sea" (Jer.50:42, NRSV). Thus when he prophesied that "the sea" would come up over Babylon, he evidently meant the flood of conquering armies under the Medes and Persians (Jer.51:42; cp. Dan.9:26) and not a literal tsunami. The navi (prophet) Isaiah likened the wicked people of the earth, the restless masses alienated from Yahweh, to "the tossing sea that cannot keep still" (Is.57:20a, NRSV). And at Revelation 17:1,15 the "waters" on which 'Babylon the Great' "sits" we're told represent "peoples and multitudes and nations and languages" (NRSV).

So what, do you suppose, those lights are at the ends of the parachutes in the sense of biblical prophetic eschatology (doctrine of the end-times)? Well, Yahweh told me last night that they also represent, specifically, in relation to the Final Exodus, the righteous souls of the Last Generation being born into the world right now, some of whom are already here. They will be born in all the nations amongst all peoples - the restless, boistrous, troubled, lost peoples of the world - who are in the terrible bondage and thrall of sin, represented by the blood red colour. Yah'shua (Jesus) said:

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matt.5:14-16, NIV).

The last generation are to be "like a city on a mountain, glowing in the light for all to see" (v.14b, NLT) drawing, by the righteousness of Christ in them by their emunah (faith) in Him.

Notice also, please, that immediately after saying this, in the same discourse, the Saviour reminded the people that He had not come to abolish the Torah, but to bring it to completion by filling it up, going on to admonish His talmidim (disciples) not to break even the "smallest mitzvah (commandment)" because such would, in consequence, become "the least in the Kingdom of Heaven" (v.19, NLT).

And so you young ones must teach and do, as we older ones have sought to likewise teach and do, namely, as we read in the Book of Revelation, to "obey Elohim's (God's) mitzvot (commandments) and hold to the testimony of Yah'shua (Jesus)" (Rev.12:17, NIV), remembering also that "the testimony of Yah'shua (Jesus) is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev.19:10, NIV). By this means all of Yahweh's people become nevi'im (prophecy) as Moses once so earnestly desired, saying:

"Oh, that all Yahweh's people were nevi'im (prophets) and that Yahweh would put His Ruach (Spirit) upon them!" (Num.11:29, NKJV).

This means that all true nevi'im (prophets) in the Messianic Age must have the testimony of Yah'shua (Jesus) and obey the Torah - the mitzvot (commandments) else they are false prophets and their testimony of the Saviour is only partial - it is not complete. There is no compromising this. This is the unnegotiable Davar Elohim (Word of God). The Remnant - true Messianic Israel - consist of no one else for all the Remnant, all the children of the first resurrection, are nevi'im (prophets) in one degree or another. Every single one of those parachutists is an end-time born-again son or daughter of Elohim (God), spiritually regenerated through emunah (faith) in Christ, and every single one of them is an Israelite obeying the Torah or Law of the King. They are not lawless like Satan. Therefore:

"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom Yahweh shall not impute sin" (Rom.4:7-8, NKJV - see Ps.32:1-2).

Daily repent and surrender to Christ, obey His mitzvot (commandments), and you will arise in the Ruach haNevi'im - the Spirit of the Prophets - as all Messianic Israelites are called to be, and you will go forth in power in this turbulent world, blessed by grace - His undeserved kindness, bearing away in your soul His priceless gift of eternal life and the gifts of a powerful ministry as a bondservant of the Most High. Amen.

Endnotes