THE PROMISE OF THE GOVERNOR'S RETURN!!!

Genesis chapter 3










Today we are walking in: The Promise Of The Governor's Return!!!!







Today we look to the word- HOLY- H6944-ko'-desh- a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctity:—consecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, (most) holy (day, portion, thing), saint, sanctuary.











The Torah Testifies………………………





Exodus 12:16




And in the first day there shall be an holy H6944 convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy H6944 convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.











The Prophets Proclaim……………………




Jeremiah 25:30




Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy H6944 habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.











The Writings Bear Witness………………….





Proverbs 20:25




It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, H6944 and after vows to make enquiry.







Humanity’s Need for Holiness




The Old Testament emphasizes the fact that when Adam and Eve lost the Ruach HaQadesh, humanity became unholy. I think this word has so many religious images connected with it that we don’t really know what it means anymore. We find its essence by looking at what the Creator-King told the nation of Israel: “You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” In this instance, he is using the word holy in relation to a nation. He’s obviously not talking about wearing a cross or a liturgical robe or entering a religious order.




So what does the concept mean? There are two related connotations of the word that I want to emphasize here: one of them is “pure,” and the other is “devoted” or “dedicated.”




These words signify, first of all, something that is set apart specifically and purely for a certain use. In this sense, holiness can be applied to many things. For example, I could set apart my favorite cup and say, “This may only be used by me for drinking hot tea, nothing else.” I’ve sanctified it by setting it apart and dedicating it for a specific purpose. Thus, the word pure in this context means something beyond just “clean.” It has to do with being pure in use.




In relation to human beings, the King said his people needed to be “holy unto me.” How can you be holy unto a person? Holiness, in this connection, means, “I am devoted only to you. Not only am I dedicated to you, but my loyalty to you is not tainted by any other loyalties. I have no ulterior motives.”




Next, let’s look at what it means for the Creator-King to describe himself as a “holy” Yah. Does it mean he’s devoted to himself alone? No, it means that he is true to himself. He is faithful and consistent in who he is, what he desires, what he says, and what he does. I associate the word holy with integrity. The King is fully “integrated” or unified. His nature is so pure that he can never have an ulterior or deceitful motive. This is why the King cannot lie. This is also why the King-Father can never disagree with the King-Son, who is the Offspring who came to restore the Governor; and this is why neither of them can disagree with the Governor. The three persons of the Creator-King are one or integrated.




Having personal holiness therefore means “to be one with yourself.” When Yahusha of Nazareth told his disciples, “Be perfect [holy], just as your [King-Father] is perfect,” he was saying, “Be one with yourself, as your King- Father is one with himself.” Here is the practical application: if you say that you will do something, you do it. If you promise something, you fulfill it. If you are truly holy, you can never say something and then do something contrary to it. Your public behavior is the same as your private behavior. Nothing the King does is ever in conflict with his nature so that he has to hide it. You don’t have to hide anything unless you are saying or doing something that is contrary to what you say you are. Adam and Eve had been totally integrated before they disobeyed the King and then lied about it, destroying the trust he had placed in them.




The central issue of the Old Testament is that, when Adam and Eve rebelled, the Ruach HaQadesh had to leave humanity because human beings were no longer pure in motive or integrated in themselves, and consequently were no longer set apart for Yah or in agreement with him. The Governor is a pure Spirit and could not live in intimate relationship with humanity in that environment.




Stages of the King’s Plan




When human beings cut themselves off from the Governor, the King was faced with a supreme challenge. Human beings needed to live in his presence, and to have his presence within them. However, their current state would not permit this. If he wanted to restore the Governor to his children and continue his purpose of having the earth reflect his kingdom, something had to happen to change their state of being.




The King’s plan to fully restore the Governor unfolded in stages:




1. He implemented a program that allowed the Governor to come upon people, although not within them, so as not to violate his integrity. His Spirit could come upon any person who chose to submit to the influence of the heavenly government. Since the Governor had been recalled and was therefore “illegal” on earth, he would come and rule in someone’s life when that person yielded to his prompting and direction. This wasn’t the same influence over the entire world that was in place before the rebellion; it was what we might call “selective rulership” or “rulership by submission.”




2.The sacrificial system, which the Hebrew people practiced, and which we will talk more about shortly, allowed the Governor to work on earth through a special nation of people who were meant to be a prototype of the return of the kingdom to the whole world.




3.The King himself would come to earth to restore integrity to humanity, and thus provide a way for the Governor to again live within human beings on a permanent basis.




Understanding the Creator-King’s program to restore humanity puts the entire Old Testament in the proper light. It is not a group of stories strung together or a handbook of rituals. It is about the King initiating his restoration program.




In Genesis, when the King said that the Offspring would come and “crush the head” of the serpent, this was actually the first promise that he himself was coming to earth—incarnated as a human being—and would defeat humanity’s deceiver, reconcile his people to himself, and restore the Governor. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Yah, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”




The King-Father was preparing the earth to receive the King-Son. And the old sacrificial system would be replaced by a permanent sacrifice made by the King-Son himself. The New Testament writer to the Hebrews, quoting Psalm 40, wrote, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.” From Genesis onward, therefore, the King-Father was working to set apart and preserve a lineage dedicated to his Son’s eventual coming to earth. Let’s take a fresh look at the Old Testament from this perspective.




Influence over Earth’s Environment




The Governor’s presence on earth through the submission of individuals to the heavenly government was always accompanied by the manifestation of kingdom influence over the earth’s environment. In other words, when the King made himself known to people, and they responded by yielding to him and his redemptive purposes, miraculous things would happen on earth. Yet what we call “miracles” were not extraordinary from the point of view of the kingdom of heaven. They were natural outcomes of the influence of the heavenly government in the lives of those yielded to the King.




Noah and the Flood




After the rebellion of Adam and Eve, the culture of the world became so evil that it had to be virtually destroyed in order to preserve a lineage for the coming Offspring. This is why the Creator-King came to a man named Noah and instructed him to build an ark to save himself and his family from the flood that would destroy the rest of the earth’s inhabitants.




His message was essentially this:

“Noah, the people of the world have become totally wicked, and I need to preserve a pure lineage. Therefore, I’m going to start over again with you and your family because you have a heart that is obedient toward me.”




Notice that the King’s words to Noah after the flood were almost exactly the same as the ones he had first spoken to Adam: “Then Yah blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.’” The King was continuing the same program with Noah’s family that he had begun with Adam and Eve; he did not change his original purpose for humanity on earth because of the rebellion. Instead, he was working out his plan to restore it. Noah was not the actual source of the restoration but was part of the pure (set apart) lineage that needed to be preserved for the coming of the Offspring. The worldwide deluge and the survival of Noah and his family on the ark were the result of the kingdom manifesting its influence through the faith Noah placed in the King and his ultimate purposes for humanity.




Abraham




Ten generations later, Noah had a descendant named Abraham, and the King’s plan of preparing a lineage and a body for himself started to take more specific shape. He told Abraham that even though he and his wife were old, they would have a child. This child would be the beginning of a great nation, which in turn would be a prototype of what the kingdom of heaven on earth was supposed to look like. Moreover, one of his descendents would be the promised Offspring.




Sarah’s ability to conceive and bear a son in her old age was a result of Abraham and Sarah’s willingness to cooperate with the purposes of the heavenly government. Although they did not fully understand the plan, their relationship with the Creator-King brought about the next stage in his redemptive purposes for earth.




Both Noah and Abraham believed and obeyed the King’s instructions. Belief and obedience were the means of their holiness or righteousness before him. Righteousness refers to “right standing” or “right alignment” with evident authority, and Noah and Abraham lined themselves up with the government of heaven.




The Tribes of Israel




Abraham had his miracle child, Isaac. Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob, and Jacob was chosen as the one to carry on the lineage. Jacob’s name was later changed to Israel, which means “Prince with Yah.” He was the heir of the promise of the coming Offspring. Jacob had twelve sons, and each son’s family grew and became a large tribe; this was the origin of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Creator-King chose Jacob’s son Judah as the one through whom the special lineage would be carried on, even though all the tribes were destined to play a part in the unfolding drama.




The Israelites: A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation




Eventually, the twelve tribes moved to Egypt because of a famine in their homeland. They were preserved through the heavenly government’s intervention in the life of another son of Jacob’s, named Joseph, who became the Egyptian pharaoh’s second-in-command. But the tribes eventually become slaves of Egypt under a different pharaoh. After several hundred years, the Creator-King called a man named Moses, of the tribe of Levi, to free the Israelites as part of his plan to preserve a lineage for the birth of the Offspring.




All the events we read about in the life of Moses show the manifestation of kingdom influence on earth through Moses’ submission to the purposes of the kingdom government. For example, Moses’ ability to bring the plagues of locusts and flies was an example of a human being exercising dominion over “all the creatures that move along the ground” through the power of the King’s Spirit. The same is true for the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea that allowed the Israelites to cross over on foot and escape the pursuing Egyptians. Moses was the heavenly government’s instrument to bring about many manifestations of kingdom influence on earth during his lifetime.




I want to reemphasize that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the Israelite nation were not preserved in order to create a religion. The nation of Israel was an instrument in the hand of the King’s unfolding purposes to reconcile the whole world to himself and to restore the Governor—it was not an end in itself. The Israelites were called and set apart as a special nation so they could rediscover the King and his ways for the purpose of becoming a nation with a holy (dedicated) purpose. As we will shortly see, they were to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” to help fulfill the King’s plan of restoration for the world.




The Hebrew word for “kingdom” in this context is mamlakah, which means “dominion” or “rule.” Here we return to the theme of earthly dominion. Kingdom indicates governing responsibility, while the role of the priest was to help people become realigned with the heavenly government. In essence, priestly work involves lining up with true authority, and kingdom work has to do with executing rulership under that authority. The Creator-King wanted a kingdom or nation of priests on earth. He wanted the entire nation of Israel to be properly aligned with him, all the time, the way Adam and Eve had been when they still had the Spirit of the Creator living within them. Every human being was meant to be a priest—personally aligned with the Creator-King—and a ruler—having dominion over the earth.




Yah had told the Israelites when they came out of Egypt that, if they continued to believe and obey him, he would make them the greatest nation in the world. He gave them instructions for living, called the law. This was a comprehensive picture of how they were supposed to think and act as a kingdom of priests and rulers living in integrity. If they did so, he would provide for them and protect them; they would have everything they needed, and they would never be defeated by their enemies. The nation as a whole was to be a prototype of what the King would do for all who were submitted to his Governor and were ruling their homes, communities, and nations under his guidance.




Sadly, the nation of Israel didn’t live up to its high purpose. The people rejected the laws of the King, just as Adam and Eve had. They were no longer in alignment with him.




Consequently, they failed to be an example to other nations of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Although there were times when the people returned to their King, they rejected him over and over again throughout their history as a nation. Whenever this happened, the King allowed other nations, which didn’t acknowledge him, to overrun them so they would see their need and return to him. Throughout the Old Testament, we read how the nation was often overtaken by other peoples, such as the Canaanites, Moabites, and Hittites.




The Meaning of the Law




When the Israelite people first came out of Egyptian slavery, they had forgotten much about the King and his ways. They had lost a clear conception of his nature and will. They didn’t know about Abraham’s personal relationship with the King, but had only a vague idea that Abraham was their forefather. This is when Yah instructed Moses to tell them who they were and what their true purpose was as a nation of kings and priests:




This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: “You your- selves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.




With these words, the King established his relationship to the Israelites, and their relationship to him. Then he instructed Moses to tell the whole nation to meet him at the mountain where they were encamped. He wanted to give them his laws directly. He didn’t want to give them to just one person who would pass them along to the people; he wanted the whole nation to hear them because all of them were to be rulers and priests. When they came to the mountain, and the King descended to talk to them, they were afraid of the display of his power and greatness. Moses told them not to be afraid but to reverence the King. But instead, the people wanted Moses to serve as their mediator.




Again, the King gave the law so the people would know what it meant to live according to his nature. Yet his ultimate desire was not to have his laws recorded merely on stone or even paper. He wanted them to exist in the spirit of their minds. He revealed his ultimate plan with these words, which he gave to his prophet Jeremiah: “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time....I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their Yah, and they will be my people.” This is a direct reference to the eventual return of the Governor to live within humanity.




For now, however, Moses received the written code, the laws and principles of the kingdom, or the “kingdom standards,” to give to the people. Their King wanted them to understand how his Spirit thought and how his kingdom worked so they could stay in alignment with him. If the nation obeyed the King’s laws, they would attract his Spirit because they would be living in holiness and be in harmony with his nature.




When Moses came down from the mountain after meeting with the King, the people agreed to obey the law. As we saw, however, this didn’t last long. Joshua, Moses’ second-in-command, eventually took the people into the land the King had promised them. What we consider amazing miracles at this time, such as the parting of the waters of the river Jordan, the collapse of the walls of the city of Jericho, and the sun standing still and not setting for about a full day during a battle, were merely evidence of kingdom influence over the physical universe. Yet even with all these demonstrations of the presence of the kingdom of heaven among them, the people turned away from the will of the King. They began to intermarry with citizens outside the prototype kingdom and took on the traits of nations that did not acknowledge the King. They gradually became alienated from him and unaligned with his kingdom purposes.