Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: A Vital Principle of Authority
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
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The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
A Vital Principle of Authority
Everything Submits to Something Else in order to Function, Grow, and Prosper
In this teaching, we will explore a major principle of authority that will make a significant difference in your life. It’s a principle that we touched on in teaching one: Everything depends on and must submit to something else in order to function, grow, prosper, and succeed.
This principle was established in the very essence of the created world. Nothing that the Creator made can exist without submission to some authority because authority, by nature, involves dependence and interdependence. The first manifestation of authority is that everything depends on the Creator to exist because everything came from Him. Colossians 1:16–17 states,
By him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
All things exist and are still held together by the Creator’s power. Not only was the universe—seen and unseen—produced by Him, but it also depends on Him for its continued existence. Everything in creation must refer to the Creator for its life and success. Everything in creation was designed to function by the principle of authority.
A seed must “submit” to being planted in the soil if it is to grow; in this sense, the soil is the authority of the seed. Fish must “submit” to living in water in order to survive, so the fishes’ authority is the water; if they didn’t submit to it, they would die. The planets of our solar system submit to the gravitational pull of the sun as their authority; if they didn’t, the solar system would no longer be intact, and the planets would spiral out of control in space.
Everyone and everything must submit to someone or something in order to function and be successful. It is impossible to outgrow authority. We may transfer our accountability to different kinds of authority, such as when a child grows up and moves out from under his parents’ authority, starts his own family, and interacts with others in the world, but we never grow out of the need for authority itself. This is true for all of creation and in all human experiences.
Anyone who refuses to be governed by genuine authority is illegitimate and malfunctioning in the world. For example, a criminal is one who refuses to submit to society and violates the authority of others’ lives or properties. He crosses others’ boundaries or realms of authority. If he is caught and punished, jail becomes forced authority over him. He is made to submit to society through a severe restriction of his activities. If a child refuses to acknowledge the authority of his parents in teaching him positive and constructive ways to live his life, then he will suffer the consequences of some kind of self-destruction to mind, body, or soul.
You are living with dangerous illegitimacy if you are not submitted to any authority so that other people cannot trust you or safely submit to you when needed. We should submit only to those who are submitted themselves.
The Greatest Example of the Vital Principle of Authority
I believe that the greatest example of someone who understood and lived out the principle, the power, and the purpose of authority is Yahusha Hamachiach, and that there is much to gain in one’s understanding of authority from looking at how He lived His life.
The key to the success, effectiveness, efficiency, power, and perfection of His life on earth was His complete understanding of, and adherence to, authority. We see Yahusha’ submission to authority throughout His life on earth. Let us look at several key examples.
Yahusha Submitted to His Own Established Laws
First, His willingness to come to earth as a man, even though He was Yah (see John 1:1–4, 14), was an extraordinary act of submission! In theologian Paul of Tarsus’s writings, we read, “But when the time had fully come, Yah sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4–5).
Yah’s first step in correcting humanity’s problem of authority was His own submission to authority. What did He submit to? The very laws pertaining to the authority He had established for the physical creation and for the spiritual life of His people:
He voluntarily came into this world physically, as a baby, through the womb of a woman, as all other people do.
He was born “under law,” so that, even though He Himself had instituted the law for the Israelites, He was subject to its regulations and requirements. Since Yah had established all authority, He knew the indispensability of submitting to authority, including the protection it provides for a person’s spirit, soul, and body.
Yahusha Submitted to Baptism “to Fulfill All Righteousness”
Second, I want to focus particularly on the accounts of His baptism in relation to His submission to authority because this submission was the inauguration of His ministry. If we desire to be all we were born to be, we need to understand what Yahusha knew about authority and how He responded to it, as well as the remarkable results that came from it.
Then Yahusha came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Yahusha replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Yahusha was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of Yah descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Then Yahusha was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 3:13–4:1)
This incident is loaded with meaning.
Do you know how far the site of Yahusha’ baptism in the Jordan River is from the region of Galilee? It is approximately seventy or eighty miles. That would be more than a week’s walk over a terrain of rocks and hills. Yahusha didn’t come for a casual visit. He came looking for John.
We have seen that many people’s experiences with authority have been negative, and that they are therefore wary of it. Yet submitting to true authority is something desirable and essential for our lives, and one of the ways we know this is that Yahusha went looking for what we tend to avoid. He sought out what we run from. He requested what we are suspicious of. He confidently sought John the Baptist to allow Him to submit to his authority.
“But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ Yahusha replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper [“fitting” nkjv] for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness’” (Matthew 3:14–15). “All righteousness” means “all right standing, or positioning.” Yahusha was saying that this was necessary for Him to be in proper relationship to the Ultimate Authority, Yah the Father.
Authority Needs Authority to Release Its Power
John had previously distinguished his authority from the authority of Yahusha. Before Yahusha came to be baptized by him, John had told the people, “After me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry” (Matthew 3:11, emphasis added). John knew well the powerful authority of Yahusha. He had also said, “I baptize you with water for repentance....He will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire” (verse 11).
What kind of baptism did Yahusha come for? Water baptism. And it was John who was authorized to baptize with water. Yahusha couldn’t baptize Himself because He was not the water-baptizer. As great as He was, He had to submit to the authority that had been established by Yah the Father for this time in His life on earth.
The Old Testament prophecy in Malachi 3:1 reveals what authority Yahusha was submitting to when He was baptized by John:
“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire.(Malachi 3:1)
Two “messengers” are mentioned in this passage. The first messenger would prepare the way for the Lord, and this refers to John the Baptist. The second messenger is the messenger of the covenant, and this refers to Yahusha.
John’s authority was in his assignment—to prepare the way for the Lord. He declared, “The reason I came baptizing with water was that he [the greater Messenger] might be revealed to Israel” (John 1:31).
The account in the book of Matthew says that when Yahusha answered John in terms of authority—“Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness”—“then John consented” (Matthew 3:15).
The secret to life is to constantly submit to Yah and His authority, even though you don’t always understand what He is doing. John told Yahusha, in effect, “I cannot baptize You. You should baptize me.” He didn’t fully understand his authority at first, which is the case with many people today. Your authority is found in what Yah has prepared for you to do. If anyone needs what Yah has gifted you to provide for them, then there are no substitutes; they have to come to you. Some people might not like that fact, but Yah has sent them to you. We may sometimes feel uncomfortable with our own authority, as John was, but we need to obey Yah in it to fulfill the purposes only He fully knows.
Since John was operating under the authority of Yah, he understood when Yahusha appealed to authority, and he then agreed to baptize Him.
The result of Yahusha’ submission to the established authority is striking:
As soon as Yahusha was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of Yah descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
A voice from heaven spoke. When? “As soon as” Yahusha submitted to authority. “As soon as” means immediately.
We should consider whether our ability to hear from Yah regarding His purposes for our lives is directly related to our response to His authority. If you are not receiving guidance from Yah, perhaps it is because you keep violating some authority He has established in your life.
What pleased Yah the Father so much that He spoke audibly? He witnessed Yahusha, Yah the Son, submitting to a human in obedience! He confirmed that this obedience was pleasing. Of course, Yahusha didn’t submit to a human being alone but to the authority from Yah that had been given to that human being. We see Yahusha’ submission to other earthly authorities in various instances in His life, as well, as He was led by Yah the Father, for the sake of order, peace, and purpose. A few examples are:
Submission to His parents’ authority. (See Luke 2:40–52.)
Submission to the requirement of the temple tax and to taxation by the Roman emperor Caesar. (See Matthew 17:24–27.)
Submission to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. (See John 19:10–11.)
Submission to Authority Leads to True Greatness
The vital thing to understand is that Yahusha could not begin or accomplish His work until John “released” Him. The fact that many of us haven’t understood or had good experiences with authority, prompting our avoidance of it, may be causing us to miss out on the full release of our own authority. We may not have had the opportunity to exercise our authority to its full potential because it is authority that releases our authority. We submit first to the authority of our Creator and then to the authority He has given other human beings in various realms and aspects of life. In a later teaching, I describe how you can respond to “authority” that is not in line with Yah’s purposes and still receive His blessing and benefit from it.
There is ample evidence that no one understood authority more than the Authority of Life Himself, who established authority on the earth. Yahusha had the power to change the world, but that power depended first on His submission to John. John held the authority in his hand to release Yahusha. If Yahusha Himself needed to submit to Yah the Father and to John as an earthly authority, why do we often think we don’t need to submit to anyone?
No one had a greater impact on the world than Yahusha, yet He didn’t seek a “ministry” or followers for Himself independently. He knew and lived in the authority He had been given and which had been confirmed in various ways at His birth. (See, for example, Luke 2:25–32.) At age twelve, He was discussing deep questions about Yah and the Scriptures with the teachers in the temple. (See Luke 2:42–47.) When He felt Yah prompting Him to be baptized by John, He left the region where He had grown up and went to the Jordan River. He didn’t come to check John out. He didn’t come to see if John was the kind of preacher He liked. He didn’t come to see if John had the kind of ministry He would want to “hook up” with. Yahusha, Yah the Son, the Creator of the world, came looking for an authority He knew He was to submit to.
Likewise, no matter how “great” you were born to be, someone has to release you.
Moreover, greatness does not come from gifts and talents alone. It comes from being where you’re supposed to be in terms of personal authority and operating in your unique domain. John had said, “After me will come one who is more powerful than I” (Matthew 3:11). Yahusha came along, the One whom John had said was more powerful, and Yahusha said to him, in effect, “I need to submit to you now as the authority in this situation. In this circumstance, you are ‘greater’ in that you are to administer the authority that Yah has given you to administer.”
Acting on your authority from Yah brings you greatness. Yet the authority that brings greatness is often not what we think it is. It means serving others. At a later time, Yahusha told His disciples,
Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:26–28)
Becoming and doing what you are meant to be and do makes you great. It doesn’t matter what other people may say about you, there’s something they have to come to you for because you have been given that authority.
Remember that authority is independent of titles. Some people have titles, but they don’t have any real authority. Authority goes beyond titles; it is what Yah has placed inside you. When Yahusha told John, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15), He was saying, in effect, “John, let’s not get into titles. Let’s just follow proper authority.”
Submission to Authority Brings Spiritual Power and Protection
What would have happened if Yahusha had not been willing to submit to John’s authority in baptism, if John had refused to baptize Yahusha because Yahusha was greater than he, or if Yahusha had baptized John in water instead? The heavens would not have opened, the Ruach HaQadesh would not have come down in the form of a dove, Yah’s voice would not have confirmed who Yahusha was before the people, and Yahusha wouldn’t have been able to begin His ministry.
Right after Yah spoke from heaven, the Scripture says, “Then Yahusha was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). After Yahusha’ authority was confirmed by Yah, He was immediately tempted by the devil to forsake that authority and to take up a false authority. Don’t be surprised if you, too, are tempted to give up legitimate authority to take what seems the easy way out in living your life.
Note how the devil’s temptations were directly related to authority:
The temptation to turn stones into bread can be seen as an attack on Yah as the Source and Sustainer of life. Yahusha’ response was, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of Yah’” (Matthew 4:4).
The temptation to recklessly throw Himself from the pinnacle of the temple and have Yah save Him can be seen as an enticement to go beyond the parameters of authority that Yah had given. Yahusha’ response was, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your Yah to the test’” (verse 7).
The temptation to bow down and worship the devil in exchange for “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” (verse 8) can be seen as a ploy to cause Yahusha to reject the established and righteous authority of the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of Yah, in favor of the counterfeit, transitory, and decayed authority of earth. This was an especially powerful temptation because the message Yahusha came to bring was that the kingdom of heaven had come to earth—through Him. (See, for example, verse 17.) Yahusha’ response was, “Away from me, HaSatan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your Yah, and serve him only’” (verse 10).
In response to each of these temptations, Yahusha cited the Word of Yah, the “Manual” for how human beings are to live. That Manual is the authoritative Word of the Creator.
If Yahusha had refused to be baptized by John before going into the desert to be tempted, then He wouldn’t have been able to overcome these temptations as He did. HaSatan would have won. Why? Yahusha would have been operating in a manner that was out of order in relation to authority. He would have been acting in disobedience, or in violation of Yah’s ways and purposes. He would have broken His relationship with Yah the Father, forsaken His Word, and damaged the credibility of Yah. Spiritual strength and the ability to withstand the devil come from obedience to Yah’s ways and from remaining in His established authority.
How many people go out to “fight against the devil” but haven’t done what they were supposed to do before they left? Without proper authority from heaven, they will fail. One time, seven sons of a man named Sceva, a chief priest, were trying to drive out demons in the name of Yahusha, but because they lacked the authority of being in right standing and relationship with Yah, they utterly failed:
One day the evil spirit answered them, “Yahusha I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. (Acts 19:15–16)
Having the right words isn’t enough. You need the authority behind them.
Finally, if Yahusha hadn’t been baptized by John, it would have interfered with history, and we would today be “without hope and without Yah in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). It would have prevented the restoration of humanity to a relationship with Yah and to a recovery of its authority.
Yahusha’ Very Nature Displays His Authority and Submission
There is a passage in Philippians 2 that is startling in its revelation of both Yahusha’ own authority and His humbleness in submitting to authority:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Hamachiach Yahusha: who, being in very nature Yah, did not consider equality with Yah something to be grasped [held on to, maintained], but made himself nothing [“of no reputation” kjv], taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!(Philippians 2:5–8)
“He humbled himself” is a key phrase. Having all authority as Yah, Yahusha humbled Himself!
Authority doesn’t work if someone has to humble you. True authority does not humble people but waits for people to humble themselves. Yahusha did exactly what we are expected to do. He humbled Himself. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).
The passage from Philippians continues,
Therefore Yah exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Yahusha every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Yahusha Hamachiach is Lord, to the glory of Yah the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11)
“Therefore Yah exalted him to the highest place.” Yahusha humbled Himself; therefore, Yah did something. He didn’t just exalt Him, but He “exalted Him to the highest place.” The Scriptures say that promotion in life does not come from men. “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But Yah is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psalm 75:6–7 kjv). This means that advancement, progress, and development in your life do not come from man’s doing but from Yah’s.
Yahusha knew authority in a way that we need to understand and live by so that we not only can experience Yah’s “therefore” but also know that we have authority from Yah ourselves. What do we learn from Yahusha’ humble nature?
We learn that even though we know who we are and what our authority is, we choose not to hold on to our rights so that we can accomplish the greater purpose of fulfilling Yah’s will in our lives and lifting others up. Yahusha could have said, “I’m Yah. I’m not going to become a human being.” Yet His own confidence and contentment in the knowledge of who He was enabled Him to “[make] himself nothing, [take] the very nature of a servant, [and be] made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7). As a human being and the Savior of the world, He endured verbal abuse, the emotional pain of betrayal, all human temptations, and excruciating physical suffering, especially through His death on a crucifixion stake. His choice to humble Himself was not an easy one, but He had no doubts about it.
I have discovered that people who don’t know who they are cannot submit to authority. When you know who you are, then you understand that no one can degrade or devalue you. Submission is possible and becomes easier when you are in touch with your own worth. When you know you are of great value to Yah, other people’s opinions and treatment of you do not influence you, even though they may hurt deeply.
Yahusha knew that...
He was called.
He had anointing.
He had power.
He could work miracles.
He had revelation knowledge.
However, He also knew that His authority came from Yah the Father, and He lived to serve Yah and to fulfill His purpose on earth. “‘My food,’ said Yahusha, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work’” (John 4:34).
Points for Promotion
“He humbled himself....Therefore Yah exalted him to the highest place” (Philippians 2:8–9). If you want to live in the authority of your personal domain, if you want Yah to promote you, if you want to be successful in life and fulfill the Father’s will, you must understand these points, which are derived from the principle of authority:
1. When you know who you are in your Yah-given authority, the first thing you look for is the authority that Yah has placed in your life to benefit and protect you and to release your authority. This is the last thing that most people do. Instead, they look for reputation, fame, and power over others; they seek to build organizations, gains followers, and so forth.
The Creator gives all people inherent authority, in various realms and for specific reasons, and we are to respond to other people in recognition of their authority, respecting Yah’s order. John the Baptist was Yah’s established authority to prepare people for the coming of the kingdom of Yah on earth. Yahusha recognized and accepted John as the authority sent from Yah, through His understanding of the prophetic Scriptures and John’s testimony.
2. Without authority, there can be no (other) authority. Yahusha went to John before He began His ministry and submitted to his authority. Yahusha told John, in effect, “John, the order is you, then Me. It doesn’t matter who I am; it’s the way we work together that counts.” There was a mutual submission of One to the other according to Yah’s authority that enabled them both to fulfill their individual purposes.
3. “Authority” without true authority is no authority. Yahusha’ submission to Yah’s authority through John released Him to begin His own ministry. Yet, if He hadn’t submitted, He would have had no authority for functioning in His ministry.
4. Understanding authority is the key to life and effective living. Yah’s Ruach HaQadesh dwelled in Yahusha and also came upon Him at His baptism to enable Him to fulfill His calling. This would not have happened without Yahusha’ willingness to submit.
5. Authority is the thread that holds the fabric of life together. As I wrote earlier, most of the problems we are facing—whether personal, corporate, community, or national—come from the fact that we don’t understand or live according to authority that reflects the Creator’s nature and purpose. Our lives are like beautiful designs that Yah is making on fabric that He has woven. The fabric itself is made up of threads of authority, and if we violate His authority, then the plan that He has for our lives will not unfold in His great design but instead will begin to unravel.
Representatives of Ultimate Authority
Authority is such a vital principle because we are not authorized to function if we are not under authority. To return to the manufacturer’s analogy, many companies who produce products guarantee them, but only through the proper authority—the manual and the warranty. In such cases, even though a product leaves the company’s warehouse, it never leaves the company’s authority. Again, not only are consumers to consult the manual to know how to use the product properly, but they are also to go only to an authorized dealer in case of any needed repairs.
Having an authorized dealer implies that the dealer is submitted to the company that delegated its authority, so that the product is still under the jurisdiction of its originator. We have “authorized dealers” in various realms of life. For instance, the CEO of an organization is like an authorized dealer because he must ultimately answer to the board of directors, to the stockholders, or to the customers.
In another example, a secretary of state represents the president of a country but also oversees ambassadors to the nations with which that country has diplomatic relations. If the system works as it was set up to do, the ambassadors function under delegated authority; they represent the president, even though they are not always in direct contact with him. They are not allowed the leeway to set their own policies with the nations; they are always to be submitted to the authority of the secretary of state, who is to be submitted to the president. They are never to speak for themselves but only for the president, so they make official statements such as, “My government’s position is....”
Likewise, if we are under Yah’s authority, it is not our place to set a policy that is different from His or to speak according to our own agendas. In the same way that distance does not cancel the authority that the political ambassadors are under, our being on earth and Yah’s being in heaven does not cancel His authority in our lives, especially since He gives us His very Spirit to dwell within us when we are restored to Him. On the contrary, it is our role to carry out His authority on the earth.
Colonel Larry Donnithorne, in his book The West Point Way of Leadership, told how individuals become effective leaders in their own lives through a system of discipline. He wrote, “Every leader is a follower. No one commands an organization without restraints. For every leader, no matter how ‘supreme,’ there is always a higher authority who must be answered [whom he’s responsible to].”1
In fact, everybody who wants to be successful must answer to somebody else. The success of a prime minister or CEO or ambassador depends largely on how well he has learned in the past to submit to authority, to learn from others, and to serve others. In the same way, your success in your authority will depend on your own ability to submit to genuine authority, to learn, and to serve. It’s only when we learn submission that we can become true leaders.
Finally, as we pursue our personal authority, we must keep in mind that (1) our Ultimate Authority is Yah; we are to submit to Him and His purposes for us; (2) we are to “submit” to, or live according to, our inherent domains— the authority, dreams, and gifts Yah has given us—and not try to be someone we aren’t or to succeed with improper motivations; (3) we are to submit to others’ Yah-given authority in mutual relationship and community.
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