Sermons Series 3:75, 20 January 2007
The Flour and the Ego
The Grinding of the Carnal Man
Main Themes:
Minor Themes:
Grace and peace in Yah'shua our Messiah as I welcome you back for my second address today. It is not very often that I call for a second Sabbath gathering but on this occasion Yahweh has an important message He wants me to share with you which I am praying will be a blessing for everyone.
What I am about to share with you happened about 7 a.m. last Yom Shleshi (Wednesday, 17 January) as I was laying in bed. He had been showing me a number of visions about various things I was praying about and I was about to drift back off to sleep again when I saw another vision. In it, I was being shown a mill.
Now a mill is a machine used for grinding grain into flour. In the very earliest times grain was spread on a flat stone slab and was rubbed with a round stone mullar. Later this system was replaced by what is called a 'rotary quern' consisting of two circular stone slabs each about 18 inches across. The upper stone was pierced through to revolve on a pivot fixed to the lower stone. A wooden stick projecting from a hole near the outer edge of the upper stone was the handle. The grain was poured through the pivot-hole in the upper stone and crushed as this turned, so that the flour spilled from between the two stones onto the ground. In Biblical times it was the woman's task to grind the grain (Ex.11:5; Mt.24:41). Larger types of rotary quern were turned my animals or even by prisoners - you will remember the Philistines put the blind Samson on such a device when he was their prisoner (Judg.16:21). So important was this hand-mill, because a man required it to provide his family with its daily bread, that Torah forbade him to give it in a pledge (Dt.24:6). Cessation of the steady, constant sound of grinding was a sign of desolation and death (Jer.25:10; Rev.18:22).
Now the reason I give you this piece of historical information as an introduction to my vision is because the mill is a vitally important biblical symbol of spiritual processes too that are important to understand. And before I continue relating the vision, may I remind you that in addition to the stone mill, the ancient Israelites also used the pestle and mortar. They're first mentioned in the Sinai wilderness when the Israelites ground the heavenly manna provided supernaturally for them by Yahweh - it was not ready to eat - it had to be prepared (Num.11:8). The mortar was either a hollowed stone or a deep wooden bowl, and the pestle a stout wooden pole. The process of grinding either in a mortar or between two millstones was understood to represent a sanctifying process of the soul. Solomon taught:
"Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him" (Prov.27:22, NIV).
In this piece of Hebrew wisdom literature we learn that in spite of severe punishment, fools refuse to change. It is one thing to be rebellious, but to be rebellious and foolish is, as it were, the ultimate stupidity and damnation. In an earlier proverb, Solomon says:
"Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being" (Prov.20:30, NIV).
In other words, stern punishment is sometimes necessary to restrain evil. Elsewhere, the same book speaks of the backs of fools being beaten (Prov.10:13; 14:3; 19:29) but even then, because they are fools, they may not change their ways (Prov.17:10). One of the most famous of Solomon's proverbs observes:
"As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly" (Prov.26:11, NIV).
The folly of the carnal man or of 'human nature' - the fallen, Adamic nature - is no more clearly demonstrated than in this prayer extract of the prophet Jeremiah:
"O Yahweh, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent" (Jer.5:3, NIV).
Now this brings me to a couple of interesting dilemmas, or should I say, 'apparent dilemmas'. The first considers those who think they are wise and who stand in judgement of Yahweh and His Word. Job, who was literally put through the 'heavenly mill' knew well the folly of human wisdom when he said:
"[Yahweh] thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night" (Job 5:12-14, NIV).
Of course, this is not the wisdom of Yahweh - this is not the Ruach haQodesh - this is the wisdom of the world, 'Mr. Worldly Wise-man' in John Bunyan's allegory. When confronted with true wisdom, they scorn it, and feel no pain of conscience for their sins. Putting these through the grain mill is of no use - they have already chosen the path of destruction: "Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him". The heavenly mill only removes folly from those who are wise - in other words, those who are repenting and seeking the Kingdom. That's true wisdom.
The second dilemma is to be found n the consistency of the grain itself. In order to turn grain into flour, you have to put it through a violent milling process - you have to crush it between two heavy stones or subject it to the pounding of a pestle in a mortar. Now clearly the hard outer wall of the gain has a purpose. It protects it against the elements until it finds itself in the correct environment where it may be useful. Which environments are these? The first is the soil itself where it can become a new plant and make more grain. Here the water softens the seed shell so that the root and shoot can break through. Here, symbolically, the water of love softens the soul's self-protective mechanisms so that the seed can become new life. Love is the means by which we can multiply what Yahweh has given to us. The purpose of multiplication ultimately, however, is to make bread. And to make bread, you have to first thresh the wheat on the threshing to remove the inedible husks, and then take the grain and grind it between the millstones. The powder that is formed is then added to water and baked into bread to make food.
Throughout scripture Yahweh likens us to plants and even seed. Yah'shua likened us to seed in the Parable of the Sower. We were made to be fruitful and to become food for each other. And I don't mean that Yahweh made us to be cannibals, of course. We are speaking here of the non-physical part of man.
Yah'shua Himself described Himself as food. He told His disciples that they had to metaphorically eat his flesh and drink his blood which are represented by unleavened bread and unfermented wine at Pesach or Passover. He described Himself as the bread of life and instructed His disciples to 'eat' Him. Let's remind ourselves of this teaching:
"'I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' Yah'shua said to them, 'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.' He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?' Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Yah'shua said to them, 'Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Ruach gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are ruach and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.' For Yah'shua had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him'" (John 6:47-65, NIV).
This is one of the deepest of Yah'shua's teachings. He is telling us what everlasting life consists of and what we do when we have it. A person who has everlasting life metaphorically becomes food and drink for others. And specifically, the disciples. The disciples are to be food and drink for each other, each in their own place in the Divine Pattern of the Tabernacle, as I have already taught you. Husbands and wives are to be food and drink for each other in the Holy of Holies (with the husband being the principal food-giver), parents are to be food and drink for their children in the Holy Place, and believers - true, consecrated believers - are to be food and drink for one another as brothers and sisters in the Outer Court. To become spiritual food we have to first become spiritual bread. And to become spiritual bread, we must first be threshed and then ground, because until we have been threshed and ground, we remain inedible and useless to Yahweh and His Kingdom.
Now this sounds all very elevated and interesting in theory but what does it mean in practice? And what is the apparent dilemma of the hard shell of the grain case? What does this hardness represent? And why does it ultimately have to be ground off us to turn us into spiritual flour? Perhaps at this point I should tell you the rest of the vision the Father showed me.
I saw, as I said, a mill. It consisted of a rectangular slab and by some means which I could not see, something heavy was grinding wheat grain being poured between the two surfaces. The slab was elevated, like a table, and at the end closest to me two piles of flour were appearing on the ground - the apparatus somehow miraculously separated two consistencies of flour into two different heaps. The one on my left was like dust - it was so fine and pure - that the slightest movement caused it to rise into the air like clouds of dust. The pile on the right consisted of much coarser and heavier particles - it was less pure wheat flour. I though this separation into two different types was most curious because when you grind grain, it produces only one kind of flour at a time. But this mill was able to make two simultaneously.
As I looked at this scene a gust of wind suddenly hit the two piles of flour and the very fine flour was lifted up into the air and began to blow all over the place. I began to feel a sense of panic: all this beautiful meal was being scattered and lost! I rushed forward in the vision to try and protect it but it was in vain. The pile got lesser and lesser until nearly all of it was gone. The wind, however, was not strong enough to disturb the other pile with coarser flour on account of the fact that the particles were much heavier.
When the vision closed I was in a state of confusion and asked what all this meant. He then proceeded to show me that when He refines a soul through the various circumstances of life, as He did Job and has He does every soul, He simultaneously grinds the soul into two grades of spiritual flour. The coarse flour corresponds to Yom haBikkurim, the Day of Firstfruits or the barley harvest, the poor man's bread. It is the first stage of refinement. It's not complete.
The second, more refined flour, corresponds to Shavu'ot or Pentecost, to Secondfruits and the wheat harvest - the rich man's bread. The coarse flour is the state of the semi-refined soul that completes the third stage of the Exodus from the world that takes him across the Sea of Reeds or Red Sea - it is the third stage of overcoming mediated by the Ruach haShleshi. The fine flour like dust is the state of the refined soul that completes the fourth stage of the Exodus from the world and comes to Mount Sinai, placing himself under covenants of obedience - a communal covenant of faithfulness to Torah under the mediation of the Ruach haRevee. It's at this stage that the propel are placing themselves within the boundaries that define a relationship in which they are to feed off Yahweh and each other. As we know, they chose a lesser covenant and Moses as an intermediary. Today's Now Covenant Shavu'ot is of a higher order.
I asked Yahweh about the pile of refined flour being blown away - and why that was permitted. "The soul chose not to make bread to feed others," He said to me. "The soul passed through the refinement that affliction brings but refused to add the flour to the water of My love." In other words, the soul was ground down to fine powder and could have been used to make exceedingly delicate and fine bread - the best quality - but the heart refused to open and receive His waters of love. The soul kept the flour to himself and the Ruach haQodesh blew it away. Please notice that it is both the Ruach that grinds and the Ruach that takes away. The women ground the corn or what to flour just as our Heavenly Mother grinds us. She drives us into the wilderness of affliction just as She did Her Son Yah'shua! Do you remember?
"Then Yah'shua was led up by the Ruach haQodesh into the wilderness of Y'hudah in order that He might be tempted by haSatan" (Mt.4:1, HRV).
It is the Ruach who sends us into life circumstances to refine our beings. These are not always pleasant experiences but necessary ones so that we can make important choices. One of the more unpleasant rôles of both mothers and fathers is to force their children to grow up when they refuse. Children must be disciplined and corrected. So it is of Yahweh's children too.
But why two piles of flour? Why not just one? At first I did not understand the meaning of this but then I understood that this was a part of the mercy of Yahweh and His provision for our choosing.
There are always three choices that are set before us in life: The High Way of Yahweh, the Low Way of Yahweh, and Satan's Way. I have spoken to you of the two ways of Yahweh before - of the first and second resurrections. The first consists of full obedience and the second of only partial obedience. The way of the first is fast and the second slow because Satan has legal rights to buffet, attack and generally slow us down when we are rebellious. When we choose Yah'shua we also choose to walk on His Way - a way bounded on either side by the Commandments or mitzvot. When we choose Yah'shua we also choose to be owned by Him so that He can do with us what He will. And His desire will always be to give us the choicest blessings if we are willing to be put through the grist mill of affliction. Many choose that and decide they don't like it and would rather not stick with that course. They close their hearts off to the higher blessings and refuse to immerse the fine flour into the waters of love. Like the manna that the Israelites tried to hoard, it turned rotten - in this illustration, the Ruach blew it away so that it was lost. However, in His mercy, the Ruach only blows away that which we refuse to sacrifice for others in allowing Him to turn it into fine bread for others to eat. So He leaves the lower quality meal which, though not as good as the pure meal, can still be made into bread and nourish. He leaves that soul with a coarser diet, and inferior discernment, but blessings sufficient to continue. A lot of people choose that way - an 'easier' way that is actually much more difficult. It only seems easier in the beginning. In John Bunyan's allegory the road to the Celestial City gets rougher and harder and the travellers see an easier path running parallel to the main Way of the Master. It appears to be going in the same direction but the longer they travel down it, the harder it gets until they end up in Doubting Castle and the Dungeon guarded by Giant Despair. The majority of Christians choose this path. It offers short-term easiness but leads to long-term despair. It is, in short, the conscious decision to avoid responsibility.
The third path is to reject the coarser meal too and let the Ruach blow stronger and blow that away. When that happens the believer begins to ask himself: "What's all this been for?" and doubts more and more, eventually rejecting Yahweh, Yah'shua, the Bible and the Gospel. The third way is ultimately the choice of atheism.
Throughout Israel's Exodus, you will remember, there were numerous complainings, grumblings and rebellions. Yahweh dealt swiftly and harshly with those who stirred up rebellion and who tried to lead the people back to Egypt and Satanic bondage. The 'mumblers' and 'grumblers' repented when He demonstrated His power and then 'mumbled' and 'grumbled' again later because they were not properly submitted, as we have been reading in our Torah studies recently. They were ready to incline their ear to anyone who proposed an 'easier' way.
As I was talking to Yahweh about these things, He showed me that the Three Waves operated in exactly the same fashion. Like the Ruach blowing, so the three waves represent the waves of choice. They are designed to move you to the spiritual positioning and physical circumstances that you have already chosen in your heart. When the first wave hits you, it's a choice to remain a believer - to stay on the derech or Way of Salvation - or go all the way back to Egypt and become an agnostic or atheist. The first wave - if you choose Yah'shua - takes you to the place where you undergo the testing and refining that will bring you to Yom haBikkurim. You're choosing, in effect, to commit, in faith, to the Gospel in a general way, not knowing what the future will bring, with all its unknowns. But you have seen enough evidence of Yahweh's power to know He's real and dependable when you make that choice. You've trusted at Pesach and seen the last of the ten miracles and how Yahweh provides a way of escape for you from the world system. He gives you evidence that He exists and is all-powerful. You've had your back against the Sea of Reeds and see the mighty army of Pharaoh approaching ready to slaughter you or bring you back to Egypt and slavery. You've seen Yahweh part the Sea of Reeds - remove the obstacle to your escape and then destroy the enemy. These things have built and strengthened your faith. But you're not fully purified yet - there are still doubts and fleshy leanings dragging you in an opposite direction. Once you've crossed the Sea of Reeds you have become low grade flour. The hard seed case of stubbornness and pride in parts of you has been yielded to the grinding process. Part of you has repented. You've let go of self-protection and trusted Yahweh to deliver you part of the way.
Now of course when they crossed the Sea of Reeds many thought they could head up north along the coastal highway paralleling the Mediterranean Sea and speed into the Promised Land. It was known as 'the Way of the Land of the Philistines' and was the ancient equivalent of a modern motorway. They must have thought, once across that Sea of Reeds: "Phew! We did it. It's all over! Hallelu-Yah! Let's head off into the Holy Land down the Philistine Highway!" They might also have said: "Ok, that's more than enough for me. I hope I never have to go through anything like that again!" I suspect, on the evidence of what happened subsequently, that they made a lot of false assumptions about their spiritual state and what would now be needed for them to complete their spiritual and physical journey.
Did you know that one of the places the Israelites passed through before they crossed the Sea of Reeds was called Succoth or Sukkot, meaning 'booths'?
"The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth (Sukkot). There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. With the dough they had brought from Egypt, they baked cakes of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves" (Ex.12:37-39, NIV).
This was the normal route out of Egypt for displaced persons. The Egyptians called this place Pithom, meaning a 'narrow pass'. Succoth (Sukkot) was the name of another place where Jacob went on his way to meet Esau. He called it Succoth (Sukkot) because that is where he made shelters for his animals (Gen.33:17). In both instances, the father of the nation (Jacob) and the nation he fathered (Israel) stopped off at a place called 'Shelters', 'Booths' or 'Tabernacles' on their way to important appointments with Yahweh, appointments which would stretch their faith and enable them to overcome. Both these places foreshadowed the final Succoth (Sukkot) which would represent the final victory over sin and entry into the Promised Land. This first Succoth (Sukkot) was a foreshadowing of what was to come if they remained faithful. Of that vast multitude, only Joshua and Caleb made it to their final sukkot. Even Moses and Aaron did not qualify.
The pure wheat meal represents entry into the Promised land flowing with milk and honey, a state of blessedness. Throughout your spiritual journey Yah'shua is grinding you down so that you can be bread for spouses, children and the brotherhood, just as He became the Living Bread for us. He puts His yeast or Light into our finely ground dough - which consists of ourselves mixed with love - and turns us into something wonderful. If all you seek is self-gratification - the fleshpots of Egypt - all that refining will have been in vain and be blown away.
Now if a grain of wheat had eyes, ears, touch, smell and feelings I can pretty much guarantee it would not view the prospect of being thrown between two stones to be ground to meal very attractive. It would be protesting - vehemently. I'll not pretend that that the prospect of being ground down fills a soul, godly or ungodly, with delight. The only way that a soul will enter this joyfully is if it has first been given a vision by Yahweh of what such a refining will produce for them. The soul can get an indirect vision by meeting with souls who have been through the process or who are successfully going through it now. That sort of witness is encouraging but you do need more: you need to be touched in your heart by Yahweh to see what the fruits will be. This means that an intellectual approach to the Gospel will fail you - it can never equip you for the process. You will kick, scream and flee, and then make excuses.
Now I am not talking here of becoming the Kingdom because that is a process that takes all your life. I am speaking of seeing the Kingdom - initially viewing it with your spiritual eyes. And the only way to do that is the way Yah'shua said:
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of Elohim unless he is born again" (John 3:3, NIV).
You have to be born again through the Ruach haRishon to see what it is you are heading towards or you will have no light to steer by in your journey along the Way. That Way, as we have seen, is not easy. It consists of seven overcomings represented by each of the seven festivals of Yahweh and mediated by each of the seven Ruachs. Knowing that it's not 'all done' after the Sea of Reeds crossing is important - that's why a proper education in the Torah pattern is necessary. We need to know the process, at least in our heads, until the Ruach reveals it to us practically and experientially stage by stage.
I am tempted today to discuss more about this sevenfold process only there is so much to say about it and there really isn't time. The Book of Revelation speaks of many sevenfold processes which I'd like to prime your mind with to encourage you to study this our further. In chapters 6 to 8 you can read about the Seven Seals; in chapters 8 to 10, the Seven Trumpets; in chapters 12 to 14, the Seven Persons; in chapters 15 to 17, the Seven Vials, and in chapters 17 to 19 the Seven Judgements of the Harlot. All of these are connected with overcoming. What I would like to do today, though, is show you the relationship between the seven overcomings, the seven festivals, and the seven 'Great Events' as some call them, in chapters 19 to 22.
Festival |
Ruach |
The Seven Great Events (in the Book of Revelation) |
Pesach |
Rishon |
Yah'shua comes as King of kings (19:11-16) |
Chag haMatzah |
Shanee |
Final victory over the beast (19:17-21) |
Yom haBikkurim |
Shleshi |
Satan bound for 1,000 years (20:1-3) |
Shavu'ot |
Revee |
First resurrection, Millennium starts (20:4-6) |
Yom Teruah |
Chamashee |
Satan's final loosing, Battle of Gog & Magog (20:7-10) |
Yom Kippur |
Sheshi |
Final Judgement of the earth (20:11-15) |
Sukkot |
Shabbat |
New Heavens and Earth (21:1-22:5) |
What we're looking at now is the stages of an overcomer as he or she wins the battle over the flesh. Our spiritual journey begins with the New Birth through Ruach haRishon which in the end-time scenario corresponds to the Second Coming of Yah'shua as King of kings and the beginning of a new dispensation.
The march out of the world system as we remove the leaven of sin from our lives through faithful obedience to the commandments results in victory over the 'beast', which here is our fleshy disposition, because through our obedience we starve the flesh of its lusty nourishment.
At Yom haBikkurim we are baptised into Yah'shua and die to self - that is what baptism means. We are immersed into a watery grave and ask Yah'shua to put the fleshy nature to death. The result is the binding up of Satan who has no access through fleshy temptation any longer because we are truly surrendered to Yah'shua. This corresponds to the binding of Satan for a thousand years at the beginning of the Millennium.
The Millennium is a period of peace with Yah'shua as King of the World and King of our Hearts. It is not the final testing. At Shavu'ot we are transformed by resurrection power as we faithfully bind ourselves in Yah'shua to the Messianic Community by adherence to Torah. We are now moving from a one-to-one relationship (represented by a one-to-one covenant symbolised by water baptism) and to a communal relationship - we now choose to become submerged in the Bride as a whole - we become wed as an Echad Bride of many-and-one, beginning with a local assembly which embraces all true Messianic Assemblies.
This brings more challenges and tests because learning to live communally is not the same as living one-to-one. With this comes temptation which is why Satan is loosed at Yom Teruah to test this new kind of relationship. This requires a new kind of overcoming - the overcoming of selfishness and a willingness to share in the same way as the first believers in the Jerusalem Assembly had all things in common (Ac.2:42-47; 4:32-35). Then at Yom Kippur comes a final judgement to see if we have remained Bride-oriented - to see whether we have been living echad (many-in-one) or just yachid (one-for-one). That is why at the end of the Millennium so many fall away - they qualified for the Millennium but not for the New Heaven and New Earth because their disposition was selfish or yachid - they had not learned what it is to be a uniplural Bride of Messiah. The final overcoming, at Sukkot, is precisely the realisation of echad.
Now dear old Jacob, who is your typical unredeemed Israelite, started much as we do, thinking on a one-to-one basis. He was a believer in Yahweh. He was raised by his father Isaac in the true faith. He had a spiritual disposition, unlike his brother Esau who was fleshy. But he was far from perfect. He had a yachid or one-to-one mentality still.
He travelled to Aram to find a wife and set his eye on Rachel whom he fell in love with. His thoughts were for Rachel and only for Rachel. But Yahweh wanted this man, who would become an overcomer and be renamed Israel after he had learned the lessons of selfishness, and who would establish a nation, to be an echad man, and so forced him into a situation where he had to take care of four wives and not just one. This was not his original yachid plan - he had eyes only for Rachel because his world view was selfish and carnal. So using the same kind of trickery that Jacob had himself used against his brother to get the firstborn right and treasured blessings, Yahweh allowed his wily father-in-law to trick this young yachid-minded man and make him into an echad one. It took a lot of breaking of his stubborn pride - a dislocated hip and a frightening confrontation with his cheated brother which might have cost him his life and the lives of his family. After a life of comparative happiness in Aram, suddenly - like Satan being loosed at the end of the Millennium - there was his old adversary. What would he do? He prostrated himself and repented and finally learned to be a true, responsible man, the husband of four wives and father of twelve sons and a daughter. He finally woke up.
Most people who get to the Shavu'ot stage think they're 'there'. This corresponds to the peace of the first resurrection and the beginning of the Millennium. And when that day comes for us literally and outwardly - when this world order is finally destroyed, and Satan and his demons are locked away - the last thing we'll be thinking is about the end of the Millennium which will see the return of Satan, his demonic angels and nephilim, and an oppression probably worse than anything that's coming in the Great Tribulation. It is not unnatural, during a period of grace and peace, to assume that we've 'made it' and that there's nothing else to do.
The truth is, these periods of grace are to bless us and encourage us to grow more. Leaders of families, Assemblies and nations must always be far-sighted and prophetically minded. The truth is, we have seven such transitions to make and we must never forget that. It is good to rest and enjoy the period of divine favour but not to forget that we must continually move on. We must not linger and rest longer than Yahweh intends. There is work to be done. The beginning of the Millennium is not Yahweh's perfect echad world to come - it is a type of it, much as the Law of Moses was a type of the Law of Messiah.
Yahweh knows that it is not easy to build relationships because there is so much 'self' baggage in the way - the physical sphere is not an easy one to live in. Little wonder the angels chose not to come down here - they must have seen how tough it would be. However, we are here, and we are here because we chose to be here. The choice we have to make is this: are we going to see this pre-earthly choice out or are we going to settle for second best? And remember, what seems easier at first never is ultimately. The Way of the Firstborn and the First Resurrection is not easy but it is absolutely worth it.
The Millennium will be a growing and refining process too - a very gentle one because there won't be any demons or Satan, no sickness and no death for the resurrected. People will still make right and wrong choices but there won't be demons stirring people up to gross wickedness. There will be Judges to straighten things out. It will be a Shavu'ot world under the Ruach haRevee. The 144,000 will raise new families - those who were cut off early in the pre-Millennial world will return and have the opportunity to live life to the full. The temptation for the new generations will be to drift off and fall asleep which many will do for a lack of warfare, disasters or demonic opposition. Then when the demonic hosts are released, those who were spiritually lazy will find their minds and hearts assailed by wild and rebellious thoughts and feelings as the demonic - once again, like they do here - assert their legal rights and wage war against mankind. People will start believing their lies again - and I can promise you that the lies will be very predictable. People who were content for centuries will suddenly wonder what it's like to wander outside the fence of Torah and start having demonic lusts and desires. You can picture the scenario I am sure.
Remember, that the original 144,000 firstborn families will multiply into millions again. They will be resurrected but not, I suppose, their children, unless they make their calling and election sure and are transformed in the twinkling of an eye and are resurrected there and then. I am guessing that the rest, when they come to the end of their mortal span, will be translated, that is, have the ageing process and death suspended until the Judgement at the end of the Millennium.
The gene pool will once again, I suppose, be strong. People will have great longevity again, as at the beginning of earth's history, and perhaps live for hundreds of years, for this will be a New Covenant Patriarchal Era. What of the original 144,000? Do they have the possibility of being deceived and falling again? What of their children? There is a lot we do not know - what we do know is that all are tested and that the progeny of the 144,000 will likewise be tested. And I believe many lessons will be learned at the conclusion of this final rebellion, one of which will doubtless be that peace and prosperity don't necessarily create echad men and women. But the biggest lesson of all that everyone will have learned is that man just can't make it alone without Yahweh. Man can't be happy until he is fully surrendered to Him. Moreover, they will have learned that this is so in real-time and not just as a theory. We can all read the last verses of Ecclesiastes and nod our heads in agreement:
"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear Elohim and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. For Elohim will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Eccl.12:13-14, NIV).
I have known a lot of people who have nodded in agreement who today have returned to the darkness of unbelief and rebellion. Theoretical theological knowledge is not enough. Everything has to be translated into life - into chaiyim - we have to live it to see that it is so. It took Solomon years before he could write that passage in Ecclesiastes. And even then, what did he do? He ignored his own advice and got seduced by demons into pagan religion, and fell. He got just a little bit too 'wise'. He forgot that he was a finite man - monarch or no monarch, still in need of obedience and submission to Yahweh. He forgot that Yahweh had set his boundaries and told him what he could and couldn't do. His pride and conceit got the better of him. He thought that he could manage pretty well on his own taking his own advice and following his own philosophy and religion. He forgot that he was human and not divine. He forgot the first lesson of human history - not to believe the lie the serpent told Eve, the lie that Yahweh was somehow 'holding back', not giving the best, denying us the possibility of becoming gods - in short, he fell for all the satanic junk that demons whisper into our heads about being wonderful all on our own. He became vainly confident in his own wisdom, 'common sense' and experience and thought these could substitute for faith and obedience. They never can. The Way and the Gate through which must enter into resurrection life remains narrow no matter how far you have grown. Don't ever believe you have graduated beyond faith and obedience! Don't ever believe you have earned sufficient honours to claim back some of the former 'independence' you had before you were saved. Don't ever get the idea that you're suddenly 'buddies with Yahweh' and are an equal. Never forget your position. Never forget the bounds of authority you have been given because they won't ever change. Never forget who owns you. The authority of and ownership by Yah'shua did not change when He called His disciples His friends instead of His servants towards the end of His ministry - all that meant was that there was a deeper, more intimate relationship. Never forget that the human disposition is likened by Yah'shua to sheep who have a disposition to wander and get lost without their shepherd.
I fully expect, throughout the eternities, to get closer to and deep into the heart of my Heavenly Father. But I entertain no Mormon-type pretensions or ambitions: they believe they will become 'gods' in the sense that Yahweh is Elohim. I believe - and I live according to that belief - that I will always be under the same authority and rule then as I am now. And I know that the Adversary will try to deceive me into thinking that that is not true, that in fact Yahweh has something 'better' for me that I should 'aspire' to. And what is that 'I'? It is my ego. He will always try to flatter my ego, to puff it up, to make me turn my gaze from Him and onto Self. And Satan's goal will be to dethrone Yahweh and get me to put my ego back on that seat of rulership, because Satan rides on the back of the ego. Satan rides on the back of the self because Selfishness is his middle name.
That being the case it is perhaps wise that we try to anticipate how he will attempt to dethrone Yah'shua from our hearts. He deals with the sanctified rather differently than he does with those who are worldly because the sanctified are more wary. With the worldly he is blatant - with those who belong to Yahweh he is more subtle and gradual. He will attack the foundation of believers in small increments, seeking to make a little crack and then prizing it open wider and wider until he can slip back in again unawares.
In maintaining a right perspective and not getting lost we need to know the behavioural responses of egotistical behaviour. And we don't often recognise these until someone comes and challenges them, because when the Light challenges the Darkness with Truth there is always very predictable demonic behaviour. The moment we find ourselves 'reacting' in this demonic way, we need to acknowledge that an enemy is present and repent fast. I am obliged to Levi Bar Ido who did some careful research on these behavioural symptoms of the enemy which he has distilled into 14 main categories. Each of these is evidence that we have drawn away from the communal echad way of life of Yahweh and into a self-centred yachid way of being that is an open door to the enemy:
- 1. Denial of Reality: Protecting self from an unpleasant reality by a refusal to perceive it or face it;
- 2. Fantasy: Gratifying frustrated desires by imaginary achievements;
- 3. Repression: Preventing painful or dangerous thoughts from entering ones consciousness;
- 4. Rationalisation: Attempting to prove that one's behaviour is 'rational' and justifiable and thus worthy of self and social approval;
- 5. Projection: Placing blame for difficulties upon others or attributing ones own unethical desires to others;
- 6. Reaction Formation: Preventing dangerous desires from being expressed by adopting exaggerated opposed attitudes and types of behaviour and using them as 'barriers' or walls of self-protection;
- 7. Displacement: Discharging pent-up feelings, usually hostility, on objects less dangerous than those which initially aroused the emotion;
- 8. Emotional Insulation: Reducing ego involvement and withdrawing into passivity to protect oneself from hurt;
- 9. Intellectualisation: Cutting off affective charge from hurtful situations or separating incompatible attitudes by logic-tight compartments.
- 10. Undoing: Atoning for and thus counteracting immoral desires or acts;
- 11. Regression: Retreating to an earlier developmental level involving less mature responses and usually a lower level of aspiration;
- 12. Identification: Increasing feelings of worth by identifying self with persons or institutions of illustrious standing;
- 13. Introjection: Incorporating external values and standards into the ego structure so that the individual is not at their mercy as external threats;
- 14. Compensation: Covering up weakness by emphasising desirable traits or making up for frustration in one area by over-gratification in another.
Our ego maintains its control over us by guilt. This emotion exists alongside the behaviour that causes it. Feelings of guilt give us permission not to change, just so long as we suffer enough emotionally and punish ourselves for the behaviour. Also, if we change our behaviour because of guilt, then the change is not from the heart, but done grudgingly and our connection to the bad behaviour is not severed. Guilt is a selfish emotion because it causes us to think only of ourselves and focus upon 'me' rather than others. Guilt can actually turn into self-loathing or self-destruction. Guilt that leads to self-hatred serves no purpose because no one can act righteously at all times and never sin. A cycle of guilt and self-recrimination stalls our spiritual growth by making us feel constantly unworthy. Teshuvah (repentance) opens the door for stopping the cycle as it reminds us of our self-worth in Yah'shua and value as a part of His creation. True guilt comes when we see we have transgressed the Father's Torah and know there is nothing we can do in our own power to remove the stain of sin. Only the blood of Yah'shua can cleanse that through godly sorrow and the forsaking of the sin that led to the original guilt.
Teshuvah (repentance) is not about self-abuse. It is an open-hearted recognition of the effects of our negative thoughts, words, and actions that lead to a violation of Yahweh's holy standards. Teshuvah (repentance) cause us to take responsibility for our sin by seeing how that sin nailed Yah'shua to the cross, and helps us, first, to confess our responsibility in bringing such pain and sorrow to the Elohim for our disobedience and rebellion, and second, to decide not to repeat them because we don't want to hurt Yahweh, others and ourselves any more. This detaches us from our past and begins the healing process in the present. Real forgiveness of self and others releases the Ruach haQodesh and energy for life and spiritual growth into us. It is only through, first, obtaining Yahweh's forgiveness, and then self-forgiveness, and full acceptance of our own short comings, that we are able to have compassion for others.
The ego is the master liar and deceiver. It cultivates a false world-view focused on self and the false reality that our position, possessions, and success define who we are. We make ourselves an idol and bow down before the deity of self, status, titles, mammon, and power. In order for our Neshamah or higher spiritual nature to be awakened, we must be willing to abandon all the false elohim or authorities that we worship and serve.
The ego also gives us the false view that to be 'spiritual' means you have to live a life of asceticism and self-denial. The nature of the spiritual has nothing to do with these, for our body and worldly comforts are given to us from Elohim. And whilst it is true we can, and should, do without them when required, we should never believe that this is anything but a temporary state of affairs, like when Paul told the believers that husband and wife should separate from conjugal union now and them - by mutual assent - to devote themselves to prayer and fasting.
The ego is also an expert at manipulation and using fear as one of its effective tools. Once we become ensnared by fear, it is very difficult to free ourselves from that web of ego manipulation and control. Our fears can even cause physical sickness and pain. It requires great care to overcome these deep-seated fears by yielding them to Yah'shua and seeing the lies that lie behind them. Fear manifests as hatred for others not like us, violence towards others (we tend to project our unconscious tendencies onto others and specific groups of people. These projections cloud our view of our fellow men, spoils our objectivity, and destroys human relationships), irrational anger, conformity, forced behaviour, and the shirking of responsibility. Yahweh wants us to be natural and happy, and that can only be when we yield full sovereignty to Him.
The ego desires to have complete control and seeks to guide our lives and destiny. We can overcome its control by the revelation that no matter how hard we struggle, our spiritual progress is determined by our relationship to the Creator. The commitment to cleave to Yahweh, the cleansing power of Yah'shua, the comfort and leading of the Ruach haQodesh, and the right attitude towards our thoughts, speech, and deeds, can transform the ego and free us from its tyranny as we yield it fully to Yah'shua. As the aspects of our ego transform from yachid to echad, we will find ourselves being set free. The chains of negative thoughts, attachments, and delusions of our previous consciousness will fall away. It is not an experience of annihilation, but of revelation even though it appears that we will be annihilated, disappear and cease to exist as we approach the point of full surrender! But that is a demonic illusion because once you cross that point you step out into the living waters of total reality and freedom in Yah'shua.
I know of nobody who does not struggle with these things. We all do. No one is the exception. We may think we are unique and deserving of 'special attention' but that is just another deception of the ego. Every one of us comes to Yah'shua on the same terms He offers or not at all. And you'd be surprised just how many people 'act out' or 'pretend' they are coming to Yah'shua - by saying all the 'right' words and acting out the 'correct' behaviours - but never do. Their lives as Christians are shams. The Third Wave exposed all of that in this community of believers and revealed just where people's hearts are. And that, brethren and sisters, is what we have to deal with. The theatre is over in this Messianic community. From now on it's reality and love-in-truth all the way. True life is not a stage - an act, a performance - true life is a total loss of ego-awareness and the yachid way of life. True life is Messianic Bride echad - of not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing (Mt.6:3).
This morning the Ruach was showing us in a prophetic dream the theatre of one lady we know who is still in bondage to the ago and play-acting out the Christian life. She was crying bitterly far in the distance. Our hearts were moved with compassion and we journeyed towards her. As we approached we saw faces like masks shifting back and forth like slides in a slide-projector. It was a long way to go but when we arrived she stopped crying and started smiling. Upon enquiring what it was she wanted she told us that all she wanted was for us to come to her. She did not want to change. She was not repenting. She did not want to let go of her ego. She just wanted the attention that self on the throne of the heart constantly demands. She was not repenting and the crying was just a sham to make her the 'star of the show'.
Do not be deceived. We have heard demons crying too but the moment you shine the light of truth on them in Yah'shua's Name they are soon filled with rage. Do not be fooled by crocodile tears no matter how brilliant the acting but go rather to the core of the heart and shine Yahweh's Truth into it. If there is crying there then embrace them, pour out your compassion on them and love them to freedom by taking them to Yah'shua for healing and reconciliation. That is our calling and that is what we shall do. Amen.
Acknowledgements
- Levi bar Ido,
The Strongman of the Ego
Author: Lev-Tsiyon
Glossary of MLT Hebraic, Greek and English Terms For other terms and full details please see the Micropedia
A
Adon(ai) = Master, a pagan fertility god, Adonis; used by many Messianics but not MLT
(a)eon(ian) = 7 dispensation- or age-long time periods, not forever (see le-olam-va-ed)
Alef-Tav = Alpha-Omega, A-Z, first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet = Yah'shua
Amen = truly, let it be so, written Amein by some Messianics
Apocrypha = Hebraic Scriptures not a part of the Protestant canon (e.g. Baruch)
Anti-Messiah = Hebraic term for the end-time Antichrist or anyone opposed to the Messiah
antinomian = lawless Christian who disregards all or part of Torah/commandments
Ashkenazi Jew = East European Jew descended from the Turkic-Japhethite Khazars
Assembly = church, congregation, ekklesia, community, fellowship, koinonia, gathering
Azazel = the Yom Kippur scapegoat
B
Baal, Ba'al = any other master than Yahweh, usually demonic in MLT terminology
Bachor(im) = firstborn son(s)
Bar/Bat Mitzvah = Son/Daughter of Commandment, covenant to obey Torah at age 12
being = soul, the whole person (spirit and body), e.g. "my whole being"
Beit, bet, beth = house, e.g. Beit Yisrael (House of Israel), Beth Lechem (House of Bread)
Beit haMikdash = Yahweh's Temple in Yerushalayim
B'rit Chadashah = the New Covenant; B'rit Chadashah Scriptures = New Testament
B'rit Milah = circumcision - abolished in the B'rit Chadashah, replaced by Mikvah
C
canon = authoritative Scripture (Heb. qaneh, Gk. kanôn = measuring instrument)
Catechumen = a serious, covenanted investigator seeking Mikvah or Baptism in MLT
Chag haMatzah = Feast of Unleavened Bread, second of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Chavurat Bekorot = MLT's Priesthood Order, Holy Order and Assembly of the Firstborn
Cohen = priest; Cohen Gadol = High Priest (also spelled Kohen)
Council of Yah's elohim = the heavenly Assembly of the Firstborn or Chavurat Bekorot
D
demon = fallen malek or angel in rebellion against Yahweh (Heb. shad; see Êl-Shaddai)
derech = the Way, Path or Road - Yah'shua and the Gospel are the Way
Drash = moral or homiletic interpretation of Scripture - see PaRDeS
E
Echad = One, Union of two or more in one (as opposed to Yachid) - see Elohim
Echad Godhead Doctrine = Father Yahweh, Son Yah'shua and Sevenfold Ruach (Mother)
Êl, Eloah, Elah = God the Father, Yahweh
Êl-Elyon = Most High God, Yahweh
Êl-Shaddai = Master/Lord over all shads or demons
Elohim = God, the Godhead (Father, Son & Holy Spirit), lit. 'Mighty One(s)', 'Ruler(s)'
elohim = Israelite judges, rulers, angels or gods (false deities, idols, demons)
emunah = faith, actively trusting, clinging or adhering to (especially Yahweh or Yah'shua)
emet = truth, Yah'shua is the Emet
Ephraimite = descendant of the patriarch Ephraim and head of Messsianic Israel
F
Feasts of Yahweh = the 7 annual Moedim (Pesach, Chag haMatzah, Yom haBikkurim, Shavu'ot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot)
G
Gan-Eden = Garden of Eden, Paradise and state of the purified heart in Messiah
goy(im) = nation(s), Israelites or gentiles not born in or converted to the Covenant
H
hallelu-Yah = praise Yah(weh)!
Heylel = proper name of Satan or haSatan = the Adversary, the devil
Sabbath = Yom Shabbat (Friday to Saturday sunset, add 1 day in IDL Zone)
Hochmah = Wisdom, title of the 7-fold Ruach haQodesh
I
IDL = International Date Line, false man-made time division in Pacific Ocean
IDL Zone = Area between the true Divine Date Line (Lake Van/Eden) and the false one
Israeli = citizen of the modern Edomite-Khazar Republic of Israel (not Biblical Israel)
Israelite = citizen of biblical state of Israel or a modern follower of the Messiah
J
Jew = post-biblical term describing descendants of Edomite and Khazar converts to Judaism
Johannine = pertaining to the Apostle Yochanan (e.g. Gospel of John)
Josephite = descendant of the patriarch Joseph, the head of Messianic Israel
Judahite = a person in direct descent from the patriarch Judah, forefather of the Messiah
Judaism = a Talmudic-based religion rejecting Yah'shua the Messiah
Judean = a citizen of the Kingdom or Province of Judah until the 2nd Century diaspora
K
Kadosh la Yahweh = set-apart or dedicated to Yahweh, 'Holiness to the Lord', MLT motto
Karaites = Jews (from 700 AD) who reject the Talmud and accept only the Tanakh
kashrut = keeping kosher, food laws of Yahweh and correspinding lifestyle
Ketuvim = Writings or Hagiographa of the Tanakh
Khazar = a Turkic convert to Judaism ~700 AD forming the Ashkenazi Jewish community
kosher = clean foods authorised by Yahweh for human consumption
L
Lashon Hara = evil-speaking, gossip or slander
legalism = false route to salvation through works (self-salvation)
le-olam-va-ed = dispensation- or age-long, aeonian, not eternal, forever or for eternity
Lev = heart, as in Lev-Tsiyon = heart of Zion
Lev-Tsiyon = Heart of the Fortress [of Yahweh], Hebrew name of MLT's founder
M
Master = Lord, Sir, Adon(ai) - (one in authority, a ruler - a king, husband, prophet, judge)
Malak(im) = Angel(s), heavenly supernatural messenger(s)
manna = wafers of honey, bread from heaven (lit. 'what is this?')
matzah = unleavened bread, see Chag haMatzah
Menorah = 7-armed candlearbra = the 7 annual Moedim and 7-fold Ruach haQodesh
Messiah = Christ; Anti-Messiah = Antichrist
Messianic Community = Body of Christ, sum total of all true believers; all true fellowships
Messianic Israel = all who worship Yahweh, trust in Yah'shua, obey Torah and overcome
Messianic Jew = Messianic convert from Judaism still clinging to Talmudic traditions
Midrash = aggadic interpretation of scripture viâ Drash, a scriptural discussion
Mikvah = baptism by immersion of convert into Yah'shua or of wife into husband
Mishpachah = family: nuclear, congregational, tribal or the whole of Messianic Israel
MLT = Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon = family of the heart of the fortress [of Yahweh]
Mishpat = right-ruling or judgement
mitzvah/mitzvot = commandment(s)
moed(im) = appointment(s) of Yahweh, 7 Annual Feasts, Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh
N
Nefilim, Nephilim = giant offspring of materialised demons and human women
Nevi'im = prophetic writings of the Old Testament or Tanakh
New Birth = spiritual conversion in the Ruach haRishon, being 'born again' with new heart
Nidah = a woman's menstruation period during which no intercourse is permitted
O
Olive Branch = collection of revelations, prophecies and visions published by MLT
P
Paraclete = Comforter, Advocate (NEB), Counsellor, Ruach haQodesh (Gk. paraklêtos)
PaRDeS = method of textual interpretation (homiletics) - see P'shat, Remez, Drash, Sod
Patriarch = a father who is head of his family, clan or tribe (lit. 'father-ruler')
Pentateuch = first five books of the Tanakh (Genesis-Deuteronomy), also called Torah
peribolaion = headcovering worn by daughters/wives in submission to fathers/husbands
Pesach = Passover, first of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Peshitta = an Aramaic version of the Bible
Prototrinitarianism = early, simplified MLT formulation of the Echad Godhead Doctrine
Prush(im) = Pharisee(s)
Pseudepigrapha = Non-canonical Hebrew writings additional to the Apocrypha
P'shat = literal, contextual, philological, exoteric, outer meaning of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Q
Qadosh Qadoshim = Holy of Holies, most sacred set-apart room of the Beit haMikdash
Qodesh, Kodesh = set-apart, holy (see Ruach haQodesh)
R
Rabbi = Teacher, term used by Messianic Jews and some Messianic Israelites = Pastor
Refuge, the 12 Cities of = divinely protected MLT fortresses during the 7-year Tribulation
Remez = hint or allegorical level of Hebraic understanding of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Rosh Chodesh = monthly New Moon appointment of Yahweh
ruach = spirit of a person (lit.'breath')
Ruach Elohim = Spirit of God (the Spirit of the collective Godhead or Elohim)
Ruach haChamashee = 5th Ruach presides over Yom Teruah and Yom Chamashee
Ruach haQodesh = the Sevenfold Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost (lit. 'Set-Apart Breath')
Ruach haRevee = 4th Ruach presides over Shavu'ot, Yom Revee and Bar Mitzvah
Ruach haRishon = 1st Ruach presides over Pesach, Yom Rishon and the New Birth
Ruach haShanee = 2nd Ruach presides over Chag haMatzah and Yom Shanee
Ruach haSheshi = 6th Ruach presides over Yom Kippur and Yom Sheshi
Ruach haShleshi = 3rd Ruach presides over Yom haBikkurim, Yom Shleshi and Mikvah
S
Sabbath = Yom Shabbat (Friday to Saturday sunset, add 1 day in IDL Zone)
Satan = rebel archangel Heylel, father of lies, devil, chief demon (lit.'Adversary')
Sephardic Jew = West European Jew of mixed blood containing many Judahites
Septuagint = Greek translation of the Tanakh, LXX
Shegal haShabbat = 7th Ruach (Sabbath Queen) presides over Sukkot and Yom Shabbat
Shekinah = Divine Presence and Glory of Yahweh-Elohim
Set-apart = holy, sanctified, consecrated, dedicated, separated (to and by Yahweh)
Shabbat-Shabbaton = High Sabbath (e.g. Yom Kippur)
Shalom = heavenly peace, standard Hebraic greeting invoking Yahweh's peace
Shamash(im) = servant(s), deacon(s), attendant(s)
Shavu'ot = Pentecost or Weeks, fourth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Sheol = grave or pit, euphamism for Hades or hell - also see Tartarus
shofar = ram's horn, blown during Yahweh's Moedim
simcha = joy, keynote of Sukkot
Sod = mystical, anagogic, inner or esoteric understanding of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Sukkot = Tabernacles or Booths, seventh of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Synagogue = Greek word used by Jews and Messianics (but not MLT) for a meeting house
T
talmid(a) = male/female disciple or student
Talmud = scriptures, teachings and commentaries belonging to non-Messianic Judaism
Tanakh = acronym for Old Testament Scriptures - Torah, Nevi'im & Ketuvim
Tartarus = place of imprisonment under the earth for rebellious angels and Nephilim
teshuvah = repentance, remorse and contrition leading back to Torah obedience
Torah = Yahweh's teachings or Law; New Covenant Torah includes Yah'shua's teachings
Tribulation, the Great = the final 7 years of the present aeon when Anti-Messiah rules
Trinity = Catholic Godhead formula - see Echad Godhead Doctrine and Prototrinitarianism
Tsiyon = Zion, a fortress, a name of Jerusalem and a prominent hill
Tzitzit/Tizitziyot = tassel(s) worn by men in remembrance of Torah
U
Universalism = salvation of all at the cosmic Yovel, with different rewards and punishments
Y
Yachid = one, single person or item, as opposed to Echad (many in one, unity)
Yah'shua the Messiah = Jesus Christ (the Son)
Yahudah = Judah - see Judahite
Yahweh, Yah, YHWH = the true Name of our Heavenly Father, also carried by Yah'shua
Yahweh-Elohim = LORD God (the Father, Yahweh as Head of the Godhead or Elohim)
Yahweh haQatan = the sent Yahweh = Yah(weh)'shua, Malak of Yahweh's Presence
Yam Suf = Sea of Reeds, the true Israelite Exodus water crossing, not the Red Sea
Yarden = Jordan River (lit. 'meanderer')
Yerushalayim = Jerusalem
Yisrael = Israel (lit. 'ruling with Êl') = true believers under the New Covenant
Yom Chamashee = 5th day of the week (Thursday, Friday in IDL Zone)
Yom Din, Yom haDin = (the) Day of Judgement
Yom haBikkurim = Feast of Firstfruits, third of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yom Revee = 4th day of the week (Wednesday, Thursday in IDL Zone)
Yom Rishon = 1st day of the week (Sunday, Monday in IDL Zone)
Yom Kippur = Day of Atonement, sixth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yom Shabbat = 7th day of the week and Sabbath Rest (Saturday, Sunday in IDL Zone)
Yom Shanee = 2nd day of the week (Monday, Tuesday in IDL Zone)
Yom Sheshi = 6th day of the week (Friday, Saturday in IDL Zone)
Yom Shleshi = 3rd day of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday in IDL Zone)
Yom Teruah = Day of Trumpets, fifth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yosef = Joseph - see Josephite
Yovel = Jubilee or Year of Jubilee
Z
Zaqen(im) = elder(s) of an assembly or congregation, or senior members of a community
Zoë Life = Greek term for spiritual life in the Messiah
Commonly Used MLT Abbreviations
For additional abbreviations and explanations, please see the Micropedia
A
Amp.V(er). = Amplified Version of the Bible
Aram. = Aramaic
AV = Authorised Version of the Bible - see KJV
B
BCAY = B'rit Chadashah Assembly of Yahweh - see NCCG
BoA = Books of Abraham (e.g. 1Abr., 2Abr., etc.)
C
cp, cf = compare with
CB(Q) = Chavurat Bekorot
CEV = Contemporary English Version of the Bible
ch. = chapter
CJB = Complete Jewish Bible
CLNT = Concordant Literal New Testament
CYe = Council of Yah's elohim
E
Eng. = English
F
ff. = and onwards/forwards
fn = footnote
G
Gk. = Greek
GNB = Good News Bible - see TEV
H
Heb. = Hebrew, Hebraic
HEM = Holy Echad Marriage, eternal marriage
HO = Holy Order - see Chavurat Bekorot
HOC = Holy Order Collection of revelations - see OB
HRV = Hebraic-Roots Version of the Bible
I
ibid. = ibidem (lit. 'in the same place'), referring to a book previously cited
ICJC = Independent Church of Jesus Christ, earlier name of NCCF
ISRV = Institute for Scripture Research Version of the Bible
J
JB = Jerusalem Bible
JBP/Phillips = J.B.Phillips translation of the New Testament
JNT = Jewish New Testament
K
KJV = King James Version of the Bible - see AV
L
LB = Living Bible
lit. = literally or literature
LXX = Septuagint, Greek translation of the OT
M
MLT = Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon
Moff. = Moffatt translation of the Bible
MRC = Messianic Renewed Covenant Version of the NT
MS(S) = Manuscript(s)
N
NASB, NASV = New American Standard Bible/Version
NC&C = New Covenants & Commandments - see OB
NCCF = New Covenant Christian Fellowship, earlier name of NCCG
NCCG = New Covenant Church of God, earlier name of MLT - see BCAY
NCP = New Covenant Press, publishing arm of MLT
NCW = New Covenant Witness, MLT magazine
NEB = New English Bible
NIV = New International Version of the Bible
NKJV = New King James Version of the Bible
Nor. = Norwegian
NT = New Testament, B'rit Chadashah
NWT = New World Translation of the Bible, unreliable Jehovah's Witness version
O
OB = Olive Branch - see NC&C
op.cit. = opere citato (lit. in the work cited)
OT = Old Testament, Tanakh
P
p(p). = page(s)
pl. = plural - see s.
PWNC = Prophetic Words of the New Covenant, revelation cataloging system - see OB
Q
QED = quod erat demonstrandum (lit. which was shown to be proved)
R
RCF = Restoration Christian Fellowship, earlier name of ICJC
RhQ = Ruach haQodesh, Holy Spirit
RSTNE = Restoration Scriptures True Name Edition of the Bible
RSV = Revised Standard Version of the Bible
RV = Revised Version of the Bible
S
s. = singular - see pl.
S&G = Smith & Goodspeed Version of the Bible
T
TEV = Today's English Version of the Bible - see GNB
V
Vulg. = Biblia Vulgata, Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible
W
WEB = World English Bible
Glossary Copyright ©2007 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved
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This page was first created on 20 March 2007
Last updated on 20 March 2007
Copyright ©2007 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved