THE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY

Genesis chapter 1






Today we are walking in: The Source 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.............................

*****






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






The Source of Authority


The Essential Relationship between Author and Authorized


In the last teaching, we looked at some poor and destructive substitutes for authority. To recognize and understand true authority, we need to explore the source, or origin, of human authority and the inherent purposes of that authority.


The Author


The “Copyright Owner” of the Earth


The English word authority comes from a Latin word, auctor. Auctor means “promoter, originator, or author.” What is an author? A simple dictionary definition is “one that originates or creates: source.” An author is the originator or creator of something. In many countries, the copyright of authors of literary or musical works and the patents of inventors are highly valued and protected by law.


Let me say here that every human being has the right to believe what he wishes to believe, and I respect and would defend his right to do so. In our modern age of so-called enlightenment, many have opted to believe that they are by-products of an evolutionary process and are children of apes. However, it is my firm conviction and belief that human beings have an Author—the Creator of the world—who is the source of our very lives, in addition to our authority. Our Creator, or Yah, is the originator of the world and everything in it. We call Yah “Yah” because He is the natural author of all creation. The word Yah refers to “the supreme or ultimate reality: as the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshiped as creator and ruler of the universe.” Though many people have tried to infringe on or deny His “copyright” on them, it still remains His and always will. This principle of the Creator’s authority is fundamental and essential to understanding the nature and power of your personal authority.


The Right of the Source


Yah, the self-sufficient One, is the Author, the Originating Cause, the Creator of all things seen and unseen. He is the absolute rightful Sovereign over all He has created. It is Yah “for whom and through whom everything exists” (Hebrews 2:10).


The Creator gave everything existence, and He has the power of life itself —the ability to give life and to take it away. From our perspective as human beings, there’s no greater authority than that! Many people are literally looking for a fountain of youth, and, figuratively, they are looking for eternal life. Yet only Yah can give eternal life. Yahusha of Nazareth said, “The Father has life in himself” (John 5:26).


In the first book written by Moses, the great leader and lawgiver, it says, “In the beginning Yah created [authored] the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). David, the musician-king of Israel, wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). Everything that exists on the earth—plants, animals, birds, reptiles, oceans, land, human beings—as well as everything in the vast universe—is owned by Yah. Nobody has a right to counterfeit what He has “written” in the foundations of the world or to usurp what He has made.


Our Authority Comes from Our Source’s Authority


An author or creator is always the source of the authority of his work, whether it is a book, an appliance, a car, a house, or an aircraft. For example, Dr. Myles Monroe is the author of a number of books, and he could teach all of his books without looking at the published volumes or his original notes for them because he’s the source of them. People may use his books to teach others, but as the author, he can speak conclusively about what is in them and his purpose for writing them. Everything an author or inventor produces is created because there is something he desires to communicate or to make that initiates its production. It is created for a reason.


The source of a product therefore has the legitimate right to state the framework of the authority he puts into his product and the way the product functions best. This framework is what we call the principles or laws governing it and through which it operates. For a product produced by a company, the framework for that product’s authority would be its user’s manual. In this way, not only is the company or creator itself the authority, but its documentation of the principles and laws governing the product become the authority, as well. The product manual is not produced by a wholesaler, retailer, or consumer but by the one from whom the product originated. Their opinions and preferences for the working of a product may be interesting, but they are not the authority; they are not authorized by the maker and can’t be guaranteed.


The Ultimate Authority and Source of all human authority is therefore the Creator, as well as the principles and laws He has established concerning humanity, which are recorded in the Scriptures. Anything that doesn’t correspond to them or reflect their essence and spirit is not true authority. Opinions that don’t correspond to the Creator’s original design cannot be guaranteed. What people theorize about humanity and creation is not the question. The question is, What did the Manufacturer say about it?


If we want to live in the reality that comes from following the principles governing true authority, we must get in touch with the Source and find out His parameters for our lives. This is how we protect and preserve ourselves as human beings.
A principle is an established law or fundamental rule under which something functions due to its nature and design. The principles we need to apply to our lives are inherent in creation, timeless, and permanent. They were established by the Creator to secure and protect the functions and fulfillment of His creation. Principles are called by various terms in the Scriptures, such as “commandments,” “precepts,” “statutes,” and “the ways of Yah.”


Authority is a principle in itself, but it also functions according to specific precepts that we must understand in order to appreciate and benefit from it.


Shared Authority


Under the copyright laws of the United States, even though an author is the owner of his work and has full authority in relation to it, he also has the power to share the rights of that work with someone else or to transfer those rights entirely, so that the other person becomes a “copyright claimant” in relation to the work. This occurs through a written document by which the author grants permission for the transfer of full or joint ownership of the rights. Rights can also be legally transferred by will or inheritance; if the author dies, the rights are bestowed on a designated relative or friend.


Similarly, the Creator, as the Author of our world, and having ownership of it, delegated some of His authority by entrusting it to human beings. He shared authority in relation to His “copyright” of the earth so that we could exercise that authority both in and over the earth. It was He who designed us with the ability to carry out our individual and collective authorities in the world.


Authority Is Built into Our Very Existence


In what manner did the Creator grant us this shared ownership of the world? He did not give us authority as a form of transaction between business associates. He shared it with us in the way a father would share what is his with his children. We were made to share in the Creator’s inherent authority by being made in His own image, by being made as His “offspring.” In this way, authority has been built into our very existence as human beings:


Then Yah said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So Yah created man in his own image, in the image of Yah he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26–27)


To show human beings the authority He had placed within them and to instruct them in it, “Yah blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground’” (Genesis 1:28).


We were made—literally—for authority. Human beings have been given both a general authority over the earth and a personal authority that is specific to each one of us.
The Creator operates in the universe in conjunction with His authority. We were made to receive authority from Him and, in turn, to operate according to this authority and the principles He has established for the earth.


Our authority is manifested in a number of ways and in various realms of human interaction and endeavor as we are fruitful with our lives, as we fill the earth, and as we rule over it. Our understanding of the Creator’s authority and purpose, and our response to them, are demonstrated by the extent to which we fulfill our authority.


Authority Is Built into All of Creation


It is not only human beings who function through authority but also all of creation. In nature, we can clearly see some of the ways in which the Creator has established authority to be a principle in the earth. For example, when He designed the world, He created it to function under two distinct periods, day and night. Interestingly, Moses described their purposes in terms of authority:


And Yah said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. Yah made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. Yah set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And Yah saw that it was good.(Genesis 1:14–18)


Our life on earth is governed by days of approximately twenty-four hours in length, and by seasons, both which were established at humanity’s origin. We obviously don’t have the ability to change the reality of days and seasons. We have to respect the “authority” of the sun and the moon—the two lights that “oversee” our world. Generally, things slow down at night, not only because people are tired and have a biological need for sleep, but also because night is a less conducive time to work. The world also takes on a different atmosphere after dark. It is quieter and a time for reflection and rest rather than production. Of course, we can work with artificial lights, but no one can keep up round-the-clock activity indefinitely. In addition, fewer people are available to interact with at night because they, also, are governed by the parameters of this daily cycle. So, we are governed by the nature of days.


Seasons also have “authority” over our lives, as well, affecting when and how we do things. Even in locations like the Bahamas where it is warm year- round, seasons govern the times during which we engage in certain activities. For example, although many tourists visit during the fall and winter seasons and swim in the ocean, most Bahamians think they’re a little crazy to do so. They won’t go swimming until it’s good and hot—at least 90 degrees! In regions where the seasons go from one temperature extreme to the other, people alter their behavior to fit the changing weather conditions. We all have certain habits and behaviors and patterns of life according to the seasons, and, in that sense, they exercise authority over our lives.


In another example of authority in nature, Yah created animals and plants in various genuses and species—He made them “according to their kinds” (Genesis 1:11–12; 21, 24–25). Each species is unique and was created to fulfill Yah’s purpose under its own authority of existence.


We Must Consult the Author


If we really want to know the purposes for which Yah created the heavens and the earth, therefore, we have no choice but to consult Him as the Author. The sciences can provide us with some answers regarding how things function and what they consist of, but they can research only what has already been made. When a scientist discovers an aspect of life that has been functioning since creation, we sometimes seem to give him almost as much credit as if he had created it! We may award him a Nobel Prize or other award. While we can value scientists and their findings, we need to think of them with proper perspective. Again, science can simply discover what the Author had already put into creation.


Moreover, discovering something is one thing. Understanding why it was created is something else. I believe that most people haven’t really been “discovered” yet in terms of knowing why and how they were created. Few people understand who they really are because they are not in touch with the Creator. Only an author truly knows his work and why he wrote it. Only an inventor really knows his invention and why he created it.


It is one thing to know that Yah created you in His image and likeness, but there is something beyond the act of creation itself, and that is why He created you and what authority He has given you to accomplish your purpose on earth.


As the Ultimate Authority, the Creator is the Source of the authority within you, within me, and within everyone else in the world. We need to recognize and exercise the authority He has placed inside us and carry out what He has authorized us to be and do.


Purpose Determines Design


In the Physical World


To begin to recognize and exercise the authority within us, let’s explore one of the foundational principles of authority that we noted in teaching one: Everyone and everything is designed to fulfill its purpose. We can also word it in this way: The purpose for which a product is designed determines the design of the product itself. Everything (at least, everything that is well made) is designed so that it will fulfill the purpose for which it was created.


This foundational principle is built into all of creation. Everything was made because there is something that the Creator wanted on earth that required its existence.
For example, in the physical world that He created, Yah needed something that would prevent people and objects on earth from drifting off into space, and so He established gravity, with its associated laws.


Yah knew He would need something to produce light rays that would cause photosynthesis in plants, and so He built this capacity into the sun.


Yah’s purpose was to perpetuate life on earth, and so He provided for the sustenance and perpetuation of life in a number of ways.


Although many flowers are beautiful to look at, and although appreciating beauty is valuable in itself, there is more to flowers than their beauty. Certain insects are genetically designed to respond to certain colors of flowers, and those colors are connected to what the insects need to feed on for survival. When the insects feed from the blossoms, they pick up pollen from the plants and then transfer that pollen to other plants. This causes the plants to create blossoms and fruit, which produce new plants so that life can be carried on through subsequent generations. Yah was therefore not only thinking about the beauty of the plants but also of the new plants that would come later as a result of them. He has created everything for a purpose, and He has given everything its own authority to carry out that purpose.


Yah created the human body with various purposes in mind, and so He designed it to function according to certain processes. For example, He knew the body would need a method of taking in oxygen while breathing out carbon dioxide, so He first designed plants with the capacity to take in carbon dioxide while emitting oxygen. Then, He created the human body to produce carbon dioxide, which the plants need, so the plants could produce oxygen, which the body needs. He also designed human lungs to act as an exchange mechanism for this process. He made everything because there was something that would require its existence.


Every aspect of the human body was designed with a specific assignment so that it could function in a healthy way. The entire world was created to function in such a manner that everything had what it needed to sustain life. And the Creator has been keeping the world going ever since.
For by [Yah] 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.(Colossians 1:16–17, emphasis added)


In the “World” of Human Relationships and Vocation


Yah planned not only the interactions and interrelationships of the physical world according to His purposes, but also human relationships and human vocation according to His purposes. By vocation, I do not mean just people’s “jobs.” I am referring to the concept of vocation as “the special function of an individual or group” or “a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action.” There is something that Yah desires to accomplish that made your existence necessary and valuable. If you’re ever tempted to feel that you’re not important, remember that your purpose is what caused you to be born. Yah has an assignment in mind that made you essential.


I believe that every single person on the planet—now approaching seven billion of us, young and old—was created because there was something Yah wanted done that required that person’s existence. Your birth is evidence that Yah wanted to accomplish something that He had to create you to do.


Everyone was created to have dominion over an area or a specific “territory” of life that only he can “govern.” When you find the area or territory that you’re supposed to oversee, you will find the secret to your fulfillment in life and to your particular contribution to the human race. This territorial assignment is your authority.


A Greek word for “authority” in the Scriptures is exousia, and one meaning of this word is “delegated influence.”
Therefore, your authority determines your influence in the world.


This means that whatever you were created to do is your territory, or area of authority. Your unique gifts and qualities are the special tools that allow you to function in your authority.


The Source Supports and Is Responsible for Its Product


Authority Is from the Author and for the Author


Authority is therefore an inherent purpose of human beings. Moreover, along with authority, we have been given the ability to fulfill the intent of our Author, or Source. Thus, authority is both from the Author and for the Author. Authority is fulfilled successfully when the Author is pleased. When you manifest your authority, that is your measure of success.


The Creator supports His delegated authority. He is responsible for making sure that the authority He gave you is successful. One who has true authority will never abandon those to whom he delegates authority. He will enable them to fulfill it. “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me” (Psalm 138:8).


A Matter of Reputation


One of the reasons the Creator supports the authority He has given us is that His reputation is on the line. For example, in the commercial world, the products you buy are supported by the manufacturers because their names are on them, and they want to protect their reputations in the minds of consumers. A company wants its products to succeed and to sell well. Its name and its image are synonymous in the customers’ minds, and therefore, if a product is faulty, the company’s name can be tarnished—sometimes to the point of causing the business to fail.


When the Toyota company had technical problems with its popular energy-conserving car, the Prius, as well as other models, their previously excellent name in the automobile business was weakened. In addressing the situation and trying to regain consumers’ trust, one of the things they did was to run television advertisements saying that they were working hard to correct the problems. To further protect the brand name of Toyota, the company sent the president of the company, who is the grandson of the founder, to meet with the Congress of the United States to discuss the issues directly and to explain the steps the company was taking to resolve the problems and to manage quality control. All of this was done to protect the name of the company and to regain its authority in the marketplace.


When the international banking industry took a tailspin through, among other things, poor lending practices, causing banks to fail and prompting governments to offer grants and loans to help banks weather the crisis, some banks displayed signs on their buildings stating that they were “Bail-out Free.” They wanted their customers to know that they had not engaged in risky banking policies, were in sound financial shape, and had not needed to accept governmental funds. The signs were one attempt to protect their names in the minds of their customers.


Similarly, whenever there are issues with the quality of certain foods or with an outbreak of food poisoning, some grocery stores and restaurants post signs that indicate that their products were not affected by whatever was causing the problem. They want people to know they still have quality goods for sale, so that their own reputations won’t be affected by the problems of other companies.


These examples are a reflection of the fact that a responsible source or manufacturer of a product desires to guarantee the quality of the product so that it is safe and functions according to design.


The Creator backs up the authority He has given us as we operate according to the principles He has established for humanity. He tells us, “I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled” (Jeremiah 1:12), and “The Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake” (1 Samuel 12:22 kjv).


The Authority Dilemma


As it was established by the Creator, authority is inherently good. It allows us to fulfill our collective and individual purposes as human beings. Yet, historically, we have seen how authority has been abused by those who were supposed to be its custodians, as well as by those who usurped authority for their own purposes and selfish goals. Again, false authority has hurt some people so badly that they reject the very concept of authority.


In our contemporary world, because of our negative experiences with “authority figures,” we face the issue of needing to be friendly with authority to get along in life but never quite trusting it. We don’t want to accept any vestiges of absolute authority. Nevertheless, we find ourselves in a dilemma: as human beings, we were created to operate under legitimate authority and its principles, and our lives can’t function properly without them; yet, at the same time, we’re afraid of authority.


Recapturing the Original Purpose for Authority


In the face of this dilemma, how do we recover genuine authority in our lives? The Creator says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Therefore, let us move forward to discover how to recapture the true nature of authority for ourselves and our world.
IN the beginning Elohiym created את the heavens and את the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Ruach Elohiym moved upon the face of the waters. And Elohiym said, Let there be light: and there was light. And Elohiym saw the light, that it was good: and Elohiym divided the light from the darkness. And Elohiym called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And Elohiym said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And Elohiym made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse: and it was so. And Elohiym called the expanse Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And Elohiym said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And Elohiym called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and Elohiym saw that it was good. And Elohiym said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and Elohiym saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. And Elohiym said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for appointed feasts, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And Elohiym made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And Elohiym set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and Elohiym saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And Elohiym said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven. And Elohiym created great dragons, and את every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and את every winged fowl after his kind: and Elohiym saw that it was good. And Elohiym blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And Elohiym said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And Elohiym made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and את everything that creeps upon the earth after his kind: and Elohiym saw that it was good. And Elohiym said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So Elohiym created man in his own image, in the image of Elohiym created he him; male and female created he them. And Elohiym blessed them, and Elohiym said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And Elohiym said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and את every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given את every green herb for food: and it was so. And Elohiym saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. BERE'SHIYTH (GENESIS) 1:1-31 את CEPHER