Luke chapter 6
Today we are walking in: Who Tends Your Garden
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Chapter Five
WHO TENDS YOUR GARDEN?
ON the face of it, Yah’s Garden Expansion Program for
reproducing His Kingdom culture in our lives sounds so simple. The King expresses His will to the Governor, and the Governor brings it to fruition in the lives of His citizens. What could be easier? And yet for so many believers, the process breaks down somewhere along the way. Countless citizens of the Kingdom neither live according to Kingdom government consistently nor manifest Kingdom culture convincingly. Why not? Because they take no care as to whose garden grows in their lives. Sometimes they do not even know who tends their garden.
Successful gardens may have many caretakers, but only one master gardener, one person whose vision oversees the overall design. More than one guiding plan leads to confusion, inefficiency, inconsistent results, and stunted fruitfulness. This is precisely the dilemma many believers face. On the one hand, they claim to follow the King and to live according to His government, while on the other, they continue to listen to the desires of the pretender and fail or refuse to uproot the “weeds” of evil, rebellion, and destruction he has sown in their hearts. And then they wonder why their garden is choked off and produces little fruit.
Gardens are known by the consistency, quality, and abundance of the fruit they produce; and these are direct reflections of the skill and character of the gardener. Yahusha expressed it this way:
For a good tree brings not forth corrupt fruit; neither does a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a thorn bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. And why call ye me, Adonai, Adonai, and do not את the things which I say? LUQAS (LUKE) 6:43-46 את CEPHER
The quality of the fruit depends on the nature of the root. In other words, the fruit we bear in our lives reveals who is tending our garden. There are only two choices: either the Holy Spirit, the Master Gardener, is in control, or else the pretender runs the show. And the fruit they produce could not be more different. Writing to the Galatian believers, the apostle Paul captured perfectly this contrast, as well as the dilemma faced by believers who try to balance between two gardeners:
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of Yah. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Hamachiach Yahusha have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other (Galatians 5:16-26).
Every day we all make choices that determine which fruit will manifest in our lives: either the bad fruit of the pretender or the good fruit of the Master Gardener. HaSatan illegally stole the throne of the earthly dominion that rightly belonged to man and turned that domain into a spiritual wasteland. And since the natural reflects the supernatural, we see, in the many ways that the human race has mistreated the planet and misused its resources, a representation of the spiritual devastation wrought by the pretender’s depraved rule.
The Bible is the record of Yah’s plan to reclaim the earthly dominion and restore it to His original design and intent. As we have already seen, Yah’s big idea from the beginning was to extend His heavenly Kingdom to Earth, and He chose to do it through His very own children. This was not a religious act but an act of state. Adam and Eve had no religion in the Garden of Eden. What they did have was continuing fellowship with their Creator as they ruled the created order as His vice-regents. In bringing Heaven to Earth, the King was simply enacting His own governmental policy. His purpose was to fill the Earth with His glory. He wanted to bring His own nature to the Earth, and that nature was reflected in the lush beauty, abundant fruitfulness, and absolute perfection of the Garden.
SEEKING AND SAVING WHAT WAS LOST
It was not Yah’s purpose, however, to leave Heaven and come to Earth to rule it directly. He chose instead to give rulership of this domain to beings specially created for it. Yah created human beings specifically for the purpose of dominating the Earth for Him and filling it with His nature, character, and culture. No other created beings in Heaven or on Earth were suited for the task. Only humans were fit to rule the Earth because that is the way Yah designed us. First He created the territory, and then He created the kings to rule it. He said, “The earth is ready; now I will release the children, and they will dominate the land in My name.”
Unfortunately, in an act of treason and betrayal, the first two humans inadvertently surrendered their kingdom to one who greatly desired it but who was not qualified to rule it. HaSatan, also known as lucifer, had originally been part of the angelic host (spiritual beings created as servants of the King). Angels were not created to rule but to do the King’s bidding. Lucifer rebelled, however, along with one-third of the angels of Heaven. Cast out of Heaven, he set his sights on gaining control of the earthly realm, dominating not only it, but also the human vice-regents Yah had placed over it. In this he succeeded. A demonic pretender ascended the throne, and the earthly realm declared its independence from Heaven.
Yahusha Hamachiach, the King’s Son, came to Earth to take it back. He came to regain what was lost. When Yahusha announced the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 4:17, He was not bringing anything new to the Earth. He was bringing back what man had lost and what the pretender had stolen.
One day Yahusha and His disciples were passing through the city of Jericho and stopped at the home of a man named Zacchaeus, a tax collector. Although a Jew, Zacchaeus was despised by his own people, who saw him as a traitor for collaborating with the hated Roman occupation government. Furthermore, Zacchaeus cheated the people by charging more tax than the Romans demanded and enriching himself by pocketing the difference.
When Yahusha entered the tax collector’s house, He brought the Kingdom with Him, and Zacchaeus found it irresistible. His encounter with the King and the Kingdom changed Zacchaeus forever.
And Zakkai stood, and said unto Adonai; Behold, Adonai, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Yahusha said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Avraham. For the Son of A'dam is come to seek and to save that which was lost. LUQAS (LUKE) 19:8-10 את CEPHER.
Notice that Yahusha said He came “to seek and to save what was lost,” rather than “who” was lost. Other versions of the Bible translate the phrase, “that which was lost.” Certainly, in context, Yahusha was referring to Zacchaeus, who found salvation the day he encountered the Kingdom of Heaven. Until that day, Zacchaeus had been allowing the wrong person to tend his garden and had the bad fruit in his life to prove it. The moment he encountered Yahusha and the Kingdom of Heaven, however, he turned everything over to the Master Gardener and immediately began to bear good fruit. Another Kingdom garden had been planted.
But Yahusha was referring also to the Kingdom of Heaven itself, which had been lost, and which He came to seek and to save. In fact, the word save here literally means “to salvage, to restore what was lost,” not just to restore people to their status as children of Yah in relationship with Him, but also to restore to them the dominion lost by their ancestors, Adam and Eve. People everywhere are looking desperately for the Kingdom, even if they don’t know it. This is why, when they encounter it —when they hear the message of the Kingdom—they, like Zacchaeus, find it irresistible. It is this attractive, magnetic quality of the Kingdom that Yahusha had in mind when He said, “And from the days of Yahuchanon the Baptizer until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. MATTITHYAHU (MATTHEW) 11:12 את CEPHER. Once people know about the Kingdom and understand it, they flock to it, desperate to enter. This is only natural. The Kingdom is what we were created for.
IT’S TIME TO CHANGE OUR THINKING
When Adam and Eve declared independence in the Garden by disobeying Yah’s one restriction, they thought they could govern themselves and their earthly domain at least as well as Yah could, if not better. They were wrong. No sooner had they “freed” themselves from Yah’s control than they found themselves deposed from their earthly thrones altogether. Their sin against Yah corrupted their human nature, and they became enslaved to the power and will of the pretender. He preferred to work behind the scenes, however, pulling the strings while letting them think they were governing themselves.
Humanity’s efforts at self-government have been disastrous from the beginning. As we have already seen, the first act of human self-government after leaving Eden was an act of fratricide: Cain murdered his brother Abel. As a race, we humans have been chained by envy, hatred, and murder ever since. Thousands of wars and six millennia of social, scientific, and technological advancement have not changed things to any great degree. Our world is just as hate-filled and as violent as ever. Despite all our proud claims of advancement and bettering ourselves, we are actually getting worse. Rather than bringing about self-improvement, all our efforts at self- government have moved us closer and closer to self- destruction.
The King who created us loved us too much to let us destroy ourselves, so He sent His Son to the Earth to restore His Kingdom and bring His wayward, rebellious human children back under His government. Yahusha Hamachiach inaugurated His public mission by announcing the return of the Kingdom and calling people to respond: “From that time Yahusha began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. MATTITHYAHU (MATTHEW) 4:17 את CEPHER. To repent means to change your mind; it involves a radical readjustment of one’s thinking. Yahusha was saying, in effect, “OK, everybody, the true Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, has arrived. It’s time to change the way you’ve been thinking, because the one who has influenced you to think that way is wrong. Everything the pretender has told you is wrong. He is a liar and the father of lies.”
When Hamachiach came to the Earth, He brought the Governor, the Holy Spirit, with Him, but the Governor could not be released to His full work until Hamachiach completed His assignment and returned to Heaven. For 33 years, from Yahusha’ birth to His ascension, the Holy Spirit showed up nowhere on the Earth except in Yahusha Himself. Because of sin, no humans were adequate vessels in which the Holy Spirit could dwell. We had to be cleaned up first. This is why Yahusha came, and why He could not stay.
Hamachiach came to announce the return of the Kingdom and to give us access to it through His death, by the cleansing of our sins with His blood. His resurrection from the dead guaranteed eternal life to all who place their faith in Him. Then, by ascending to Heaven and returning to His Father, He enabled the releasing of the Holy Spirit to take up permanent residence in the life of every believer. The Governor returned to His mansion; the Master Gardener was back on the grounds.
Yahusha Hamachiach preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, which was His primary reason for coming. But His Kingdom message would mean nothing unless the sin that separated all people from Yah was removed. The Governor could not inhabit a sin- soiled vessel. So Yahusha completed His mission by dying on a crucifixion stake, shedding His sinless blood to save, or salvage us and restore us to a right relationship with our heavenly Father.
The Gospel, or “good news,” is not only the blood of Yahusha, but also the message of the Kingdom of Heaven—that it has arrived and is available for all to enter. The blood of Yahusha is the cleansing agent that we must pass through in order to make our “house” clean so that the Governor can take up residence. The death of Hamachiach on the crucifixion stake was absolutely necessary because “And almost all things are by the Torah purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood there is no remission. IVRIYM (HEBREWS) 9:22 את CEPHER.
The Bible says that all of us have sinned and fallen short of Yah’s righteous standard (see Rom. 3:23). Sin is rebellion against Yah, which separated us from Him and made the “houses” of our lives dirty and unholy, unfit for the presence of a holy Governor. The sinless blood of Yahusha has the power to thoroughly cleanse our house and make it holy again.
After Yahusha rose from the dead, one of His first acts was to appear to His disciples and release the Holy Spirit to be with them forever:
Accordingly, it being at even, the first of the Shabbath, when the doors were shut, where the Talmidiym were assembled for fear of the Yahudiym, came Yahusha, and stood in the midst, and said to them, Peace be with you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the Talmidiym glad, when they saw Adonai. Then said Yahusha to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Ruach Ha'Qodesh: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. YOCHANON (JOHN) 20:19-23 את CEPHER.
Hamachiach the King came to Earth, took His property back from the pretender who had stolen it, and then returned to Heaven, leaving the Governor in charge. Yahusha likened this aspect of His mission to overpowering a strong man:
No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. MARQUS (MARK) 3:27 את CEPHER.
The “house,” or the earthly dominion, was originally given to us, the human race. We lost it to HaSatan, the “strong man.” The Owner came to Earth to get His house back and return it to His children. Then, to ensure that His children need never again fall into HaSatan’s bondage, He shed His blood to cleanse their sins and set them free forever. The crucifixion stake broke the power of the devil over the lives of everyone who repents of their sins and turns in faith to Hamachiach for their cleansing. Anyone who lives under HaSatan’s control lives under an illegal government.
We need to stop allowing the wrong person to tend our garden. It is time to change both our thinking and our behavior to bring them in line with who we really are. Hamachiach set us free. Through His death and resurrection, He cleansed us of our sin —our rebellion against Yah—and gave us access to His Kingdom. Then He gave us the Governor to teach us how to live as Kingdom citizens. The Governor, the Holy Spirit, is the Master Gardener who ensures that the gardens of our lives produce good fruit that is appropriate and pleasing to the King, to whom the gardens belong. Could there be any greater freedom—or any greater destiny—than this?
NO FEAR OF THE DEVIL
This question of who tends our garden is vitally important, because whoever tends the garden controls the fruit. Whoever tends our garden determines our culture, our values, our beliefs, and our behavior. Yah created us. He fashioned our bodies from the dust of the ground and breathed His life into us. We belong to Him; we are His house. The devil wants to take up residence in us through demonic powers because he knows that once he is inside he can work through us to wield his evil influence at home, at school, at work, at church, in the neighborhood, in the community, and even in the nation.
We were created to be filled with the Spirit of Yah and to live in perfect harmony and fellowship with Him, not to be under the thumb of a demonic pretender exercising illegitimate authority. This is why, whenever Yahusha encountered a demonic spirit possessing a human being, He cast out the spirit on the grounds of illegal residence. As believers, we have a choice as to whom we allow to tend our garden. One choice leads to a wasted and unfulfilled life, while the other leads to great abundance and fullness of life. The apostle Paul described the choice this way:
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto Elohiym through Yahusha Ha'Mashiach our Adonai. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto Elohiym, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto Elohiym. For sin does not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the Law, but under grace. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 6:11-14 את CEPHER,
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to Lawless deeds unto Lawless deeds; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to Elohiym, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of Elohiym is eternal life through Yahusha Ha'Mashiach our Adonai. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 6:18-23 את CEPHER
We have been trained by religion to be scared of the devil. Most of our churches have taught us to regard the world situation as hopeless, to prepare ourselves to leave, and then to pray for the Most High to rescue us out of this world. Having conceded victory to the pretender, we feel that all we can hope to do is to circle the wagons and defend ourselves as best we can until Hamachiach comes back and takes us away. We have become a bunch of holy sissies. Not only is this an unnecessarily pessimistic and defeatist mindset, it also runs contrary to the expressed will and purpose of our King. Consider these words that Hamachiach Himself prayed regarding His followers the night before He was crucified: “I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should guard them from the evil. YOCHANON (JOHN) 17:15 את CEPHER.
Yahusha’ prayer says nothing about our leaving the world. He doesn’t even pray for HaSatan to be removed from the scene. Instead, He asks His Father to protect us from the evil one. Ultimately, HaSatan the pretender poses no threat to us. His rule on Earth is illegal; legitimate dominion belongs to us, the children of Yah, just as He established it in the beginning. In league with our King, we have more power and authority than any fallen angel could ever hope to have. No angel was ever given a dominion to rule. No angel was ever given permission to cast out demons (which are, in fact, fallen angels).
Kingdom citizens, on the other hand, rule the Earth by divine decree and possess global authority to evict demonic spirits. We are not in a servile position toward angels. On the contrary, their job is to serve us. As the writer of the Book of Hebrews asks rhetorically, “Are they not all ministering ruachoth, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of yeshu`ah? IVRIYM (HEBREWS) 1:14 את CEPHER. We are the legal rulers on Earth with the power, authority, and protection of our King behind us. HaSatan is a liar, usurper, and pretender whose illegal power over us was broken forever at the crucifixion stake. Although we must always be on our guard against his schemes, deception, and treachery, as Kingdom citizens exercising our legitimate authority, we have no reason to fear him.
The devil, however, has every reason to fear us because we have the Governor residing in us. And he does fear us. He understands better than most of us the magnitude of the power and authority that are ours as children of the King and rightful heirs to the Kingdom. Having gone head-to-head against the power of the Kingdom and lost, he knows by bitter experience that ultimately he stands no chance against the legitimate heirs. This is why he seeks to gain advantage over us through lies, trickery, deceit, insinuation, distraction, indirect attacks, and temptations of all kinds. He knows that if he can get us to forget who we are and become convinced that we are powerless against him, he will win. So the next time you sense that the devil is attacking you in some way, remember that he is coming at you from a position of weakness, not strength, and from a posture of fear, not confidence. At heart, the devil is a coward. When faced with someone who truly is not afraid of him, he runs away. James states this explicitly: “Submit yourselves therefore to Elohiym. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. YA`AQOV (JAMES) 4:7 את CEPHER.
If we are Kingdom citizens and children of Yah, HaSatan has no authority over us. He can’t even touch us without Yah’s permission (see Job 1–2), so what are we afraid of ?
STRENGTH IN TRIALS
We are so in the habit of being afraid of the devil that whenever any kind of trial or trouble comes along, we immediately assume it is a demonic attack. We earnestly pray to the Most High to deliver us without ever considering the possibility that the trial may have come for the purpose of strengthening our faith and helping us to grow toward spiritual maturity. James, the brother of the Most High Yahusha, wrote:
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. YA`AQOV (JAMES) 1:2-4 את CEPHER.
Do these sound like the words of someone who fears the enemy or someone who is getting ready to “skip town,” expecting to be taken out of the world at any moment? No, these are the words of someone determined to occupy until the Most High comes (see Luke 19:13 KJV). For those who do occupy and stand firm, a rich reward lies in store:
Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which Yahuah has promised to them that love him. YA`AQOV (JAMES) 1:12 את CEPHER.
Temptation is a fact of life in a fallen world. For Kingdom citizens, however, temptation does not have to mean fear or failure, but can be the catalyst for strengthening and growth. HaSatan tempts with the intent to destroy, but Kingdom citizens have an advantage not available to those outside the Kingdom: the King Himself places a limit on how much temptation He allows us to face. As the apostle Paul wrote to the believers in the city of Corinth:
There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but Elohiym is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. QORINTIYM RI'SHON (1 CORINTHIANS) 10:13 את CEPHER.
If our King will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, that means that whatever temptations we do face, we can bear, as long as we do so in His strength rather than our own. The Governor is always with us, and His strength is readily available to us, so we need not fear anything the devil tries to do to us. Yah is committed to the glory of His name, the growth of His Kingdom, and the good of His children. And He will do whatever is necessary to turn everything to serve His divine purpose, even the evil efforts of the enemy. As Paul wrote to the Roman believers:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love Elohiym, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom את he did foreknow, he also did predetermine to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predetermine, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If Elohiym be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 8:28-32 את CEPHER
Our protection from the evil one is certain because of the King’s love for us. And because the Governor lives in us, nothing can stand in the way of His love. Again, in the words ofPaul:
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of Elohiym, which is in Mashiach Yahusha our Adonai. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 8:37-39 את CEPHER.
TESTED FOR WEAKNESS
First Corinthians 10:13 says There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but Elohiym is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. QORINTIYM RI'SHON (1 CORINTHIANS) 10:13 את CEPHER. The Greek word for tempted literally means “to test for weakness.” It is the same word used for the process of testing a sword for strength and proper forging—what we would call tempering today. This was done by putting the sword in fire. The steel for the sword was heated until it was redhot, beaten flat into the proper shape, and then held up to reveal any grayish spots in the red-hot metal that indicated areas of weakness. The sword then went back into the fire, and the weak spots were beaten with a hammer on an anvil to smash the molecules together so they would be tighter and stronger. After this, the sword was placed in cold water in order to freeze the molecules in place. Then it was heated to red-hot again and reexamined for weak spots. This process of examination, hammering, cooling, reheating, and reexamining was repeated until all the weak spots were beaten out of the sword. Only then was the sword ready for use in battle. An untested sword might break in the heat of battle, with deadly consequences for the soldier who used it.
So the word tempt means “to test for weakness,” not out of a desire to destroy, but for the purpose of making one strong and unbreakable. When the Bible says that Yah will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, it means He will not allow the devil to strengthen our weak areas without His permission. Despite HaSatan’s evil intent, temptation does not come to destroy us but to strengthen us where we are weak.
Why are we afraid of the devil? Why do so many of us give him free reign to tend our garden his way? He is a defeated enemy with no power or authority over us except what we allow him to have. HaSatan is no match for Yah. Even in his rebellion, HaSatan inadvertently ends up serving Yah’s ultimate purpose by strengthening the weaknesses of his own enemies through temptation.
At this point, let me make it perfectly clear that Yah never tempts anyone to evil. James writes:
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of Elohiym: for Elohiym cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. YA`AQOV (JAMES) 1:13-18 את CEPHER.
HaSatan tempts us by enticing us in the areas where he knows we are weak. His intent is to distract us, to induce us to turn our hearts away from our King and His righteous government, and to destroy our usefulness as Kingdom citizens. If we, however, rather than turning away and giving in, rely on the strengthening presence of the Master Gardener in our hearts, He can give us the grace to persevere; and in persevering, we grow stronger in the weak area in which we are being tempted. We do not possess the strength to persevere on our own, and the Most High does not expect us to. That is why He gave us the Holy Spirit as a permanent resident in our hearts.
As Kingdom citizens and children of Yah, we have no reason to fear the devil as long as we are seeking first the Kingdom of Yah and His righteousness (see Matt. 6:33). The devil fears us because the greatest power in the universe is on our side, and the Creator and King of the universe Himself lives in us through His Spirit. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (see 1 John 4:4). We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (see Rom. 8:37), and we can do all things through Hamachiach, who gives us strength (see Phil. 4:13). Against such power and invincibility, the devil can’t help but be afraid.
LISTEN TO THE MASTER GARDENER
When Yahusha inaugurated His public ministry by being baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove (see Matt. 3:16). The first thing the Holy Spirit did was lead Yahusha into the wilderness to have His weak areas tested by the devil. After 40 days the test was over, and Yahusha passed with flying colors. He emerged from the desert full of the Master Gardener and of power. He called the first of His disciples, and then went into a local synagogue, where he encountered a man possessed by a demonic spirit.
And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean ruach; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with you, Yahusha the Netseriy? are you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of Elohiym. And Yahusha rebuked him, saying, Hold your peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean ruach had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. MARQUS (MARK) 1:23-26 את CEPHER.
Hamachiach’s arrival on the earthly scene put the devil on notice. The Kingdom on Earth was being taken from him and restored to its rightful overMost Highs. The devil was being kicked out of the garden, and the Master Gardener was taking over.
Who is tending your garden? Have you given free reign to the illegal pretender to fill your mind with the weeds of his evil thoughts, desires, fears, and imaginations? Or have you yielded the fertile soil of your mind to the skillful and loving hands of the Master Gardener, allowing Him to cultivate in you the rich and abundant fruit of Kingdom government and culture? The way of the pretender leads to futility and death; the way of the Master Gardener leads to fulfillment and life. The choice is yours.
The psalmist draws the contrast quite clearly:
BLESSED is the man that walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the Torah of Yahuah; and in his Torah he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper. The wicked are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For Yahuah knows the way of the righteous: but the way of the wicked shall perish. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 1:1-6 את CEPHER.
Listen to the voice of the Master Gardener. Let Him strengthen you in your weak areas so that you can stand firm and become a distinctive Kingdom presence in the world around you. Let Him make of your life a garden truly fit for the King.
The Divine destiny connection, the chain that links us together.
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
THE MASTER GARDENER: THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL GARDEN
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: The Master Gardener
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Chapter Four
THE MASTER GARDENER: THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL GARDEN
GARDENS are marvelous things. It is truly amazing how even a little plot of carefully cultivated fruit trees, vegetable plants, or brightly colored flowers can totally transform an otherwise drab and ordinary landscape. More than almost anything else on Earth, a well-cared-for garden signals the presence of life in its fullest abundance, vitality, and beauty.
The Islands of the Bahamas are the home of many beautiful gardens, both public and private. Most Bahamians take great pride in doing everything possible to make our nation a true island paradise of botanical richness and splendor. Of course, the same is true in many other parts of the world. There is something about a garden that stirs an inner chord in the spirit of most of us, a chord of peace, harmony...and rightness, as if to say, “This is the way nature is supposed to be.” And of course, that is true.
Every garden needs a gardener, someone to till the soil, sow the seeds, nurture the young plants, and prune, shape, and groom them for maximum fruitfulness and productivity. It must be someone who truly has a heart for the garden, someone who loves it and is completely committed to its growth and success. Even the Garden of Eden, Yah’s original Kingdom outpost on Earth, needed a gardener. Yah did not create the Garden and leave it to fend for itself. A gardener was necessary to tend it, nurture it, and ensure that it fulfilled all of Yah’s will and desires for it.
Yah placed Adam and Eve in the Garden as its stewards and caretakers, king and queen of the earthly domain. They were gardeners, certainly, but neither of them was the Master Gardener. Until the day they disobeyed Yah, lost their position, and had to leave, Adam and Eve worked in close concert and harmony with the true Master Gardener of Eden—the Ruach HaQadesh of Yah—who, unlike them, had been present and intimately involved in its creation. Read the opening words of the Bible, the constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven:
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. BERE'SHIYTH (GENESIS) 1:1-2 את CEPHER.
The Spirit of Yah was present and was the primary agent in the creation of the physical realm, including the Garden of Eden. Using similar language, the apostle John reiterates this truth:
IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with את Elohiym, and Elohiym was the Word. The same was in the beginning with את Elohiym. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. YOCHANON (JOHN) 1:1-3 את CEPHER.
Although John’s reference to the “Word” through whom “all things were made” refers to Yahusha Hamachiach, the Son of Yah, the Spirit of Yah is also the Spirit of Hamachiach, because they are all of one essence—one Yah in three Persons. By right and agency of creation, the Ruach HaQadesh was the Master Gardener of Eden, the Governor of Yah’s original colony on Earth. Like human colonial governors, He guides and oversees the lives and welfare of His citizens. Unlike His human counterparts, however, who live in fancy houses and mansions made with human hands, the Governor of the Kingdom lives in the hearts and lives of His citizens. As He was in Eden, He is still the Master Gardener, overseeing the planting, growth, fruitfulness, and reproduction of Kingdom “gardens” in the lives of Kingdom citizens and throughout the world.
All of us who are believers and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven are immigrants on this planet. Yah placed us here to fill the Earth with His government and glory, but He did not abandon us to do so on our own. The Bible says that He is a Yah of order, not disorder. This means also that He is a Yah of government, not anarchy. As we saw in the last chapter, when Yah rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt in order to make them into a nation, the first thing He did was give them a government encoded in law: the Ten Commandments.
In the same way, He has placed the Ruach HaQadesh as the Governor of His children and citizens, to ensure that the “gardens” of our lives grow in a cultivated, orderly, and disciplined manner for maximum fruitfulness, in accordance with Kingdom principles, rather than grow wild and reckless with no direction or control. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” The Ruach HaQadesh, our Master Gardener, is the one who reveals to us the will and ways of our King and teaches us how to live a Kingdom lifestyle and to manifest Kingdom culture. He is essential to our assignment of building the community of Heaven on Earth. His major role is to transform the earthly realm into the heavenly realm.
THE Ruach HaQadesh ENACTS Yah’S WILL
The Bible is about a King, His Kingdom, and His royal family. It is a royal document chronicling the purposes, desires, and decrees of the King, as well as the activities, past history, and future destiny of His children and heirs. It also describes the King’s expansion program, His plan to expand His heavenly realm into earthly territory. As we saw in Chapter One, He did this by establishing an outpost—a Garden—in Eden. Then He created a man and a woman and put them there as caretakers and administrators—rulers of the physical earthly realm just as He Himself ruled in Heaven. Theirs was not to be an independent rule, however, so He appointed a Governor to oversee the overall expansion program. And who better for Governor than His own Spirit, who knows His mind intimately and perfectly? In addition, this Governor could work in close harmony with the human administrators who, as spirit beings clothed in an earthen shell, could commune with Him spirit to Spirit.
As Governor and Master Gardener, the Ruach HaQadesh’s primary role is to execute and enact the will of the King who owns the Garden and everything and everyone in it. Under a democratic system of government, a governor is elected by the people, who also have the power to remove him or her from office. A kingdom is not a democratic system, however, and this is especially true of the Kingdom of Yah. In a kingdom, the king’s word is law and his will is absolute. The king appoints governors to oversee the various territories and regions of his kingdom—and only he can remove them.
This is exactly how government administration worked in the Roman Empire, which is one reason it was such an ideal model to serve as a backdrop for Hamachiach’s message of the Kingdom of Heaven. During Hamachiach’s earthly ministry, Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea, appointed by Tiberias Caesar, the emperor. Although Pilate proved to be a very unpopular governor, the people of Judea had no power to remove him. The most they could do was petition the emperor to recall and replace him, which they did in A.D. 36.
Carrying out the will of the king is the paramount responsibility of the governor. The big difference between a king and a prime minister or a president is that the latter two cannot always have their will or way in the country. They have to negotiate with Parliament or Congress. They have to debate and discuss, and often make compromises just to get part of what they want. Even then, the final legislation is subject to judicial review and can be overturned if it is judged to violate the constitution.
In contrast, a king’s word is the constitution. His word is law, and as such is inviolable. It is not open to debate, discussion, or reversal. In a kingdom, the king imposes his personal will on the citizens, and it becomes policy. The role of the governor is to implement that same policy in all the king’s territory that is under the governor’s jurisdiction. Whenever the governor speaks in his official capacity, his word carries the authority of the king because it is the word of the king, and the king’s word is law. In Judea during Yahusha’ day, whenever Pilate issued a decree or made a proclamation, it carried the same force of law as if the Roman emperor himself had delivered it in person.
THE Ruach HaQadesh ASSERTS Yah’S AUTHORITY
Governors in a kingdom are personal appointees of the king. They may be personal friends of the king, or at least known to him by reputation or recommendation. Either way, they are chosen for their loyalty to the king and their commitment to his policies. His purpose is their purpose, and his objectives, their objectives. Quite often they come from the very center of the king’s court, intimates of the king who understand his thoughts and are of one mind with him.
This certainly describes the Ruach HaQadesh, who never speaks of His own accord, but says only that which He has received from Yah the Father, the King of Heaven. He is perfectly suited to be Governor of Heaven’s Kingdom gardens on Earth because He knows perfectly the heart and mind of the King. This intimacy enables Him to conform the hearts and minds of Kingdom citizens to those of the King, thus shaping the “gardens” of their lives to faithfully manifest the government and culture of Heaven. In the words of Paul:
Likewise the Ruach also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Ruach itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Ruach, because he makes intercession for the qodeshiym according to the will of Elohiym. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 8:26-27 את CEPHER.
Yahusha Himself was even more explicit in describing the work of the Master Gardener:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Ruach Emeth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but ye know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. YOCHANON (JOHN) 14:16-17 את CEPHER.
But the Comforter, which is the Ruach Ha'Qodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. YOCHANON (JOHN) 14:26 את CEPHER.
Howbeit when he, the Ruach Emeth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. YOCHANON (JOHN) 16:13-14 את CEPHER.
Because the Master Gardener always carries out the will of the King, His presence in us enables us to do the same. In this way, under His guidance, we can shape our lives and behavior into beautiful gardens that accurately reflect the heart, nature, and character of our King.
One way the Ruach HaQadesh enacts Yah’s will and brings this about in our lives is by asserting Yah’s authority in the world, especially against the pretender and his agents. That’s what a governor does. He establishes the authority of his king in the new territory. Many people, both inside and outside the Kingdom, are confused about who the Ruach HaQadesh is and what He does. Some see Him only as the most mysterious Person of the Yahhead, the Trinity, about whom little is known or can be known. To others, He is the one who sends tingles down people’s spines and gives them “warm fuzzies” during worship, the one who knocks people down and rolls them around on the floor. Those things may happen sometimes, but they do not reflect the environment or atmosphere of Heaven, nor do they reflect the reason the Governor came.
Heaven is a place of peace, harmony, and order, because it is the home of the King. The Ruach HaQadesh is not some divine joy- buzzer or stun gun to give believers a jolt; He is a Person whose job is to mold them into the likeness of the King.
Once, when I was conducting some meetings in Venezuela, a young man came to me and asked if I could help his brother. He told me quietly that his brother had “problems with spirits.” I told him I would be glad to help. After the meeting, he took me behind the curtain near the steps where I saw a young man looking up at me with a tortured expression on his face. He was very dirty, and when I approached him, he blew his top. He fell on the ground and started screaming.
I knew that the Governor lived in me and that this man was Yah’s property. Picking the man up, I told the spirit to shut up, and the young man immediately fell quiet. I said to the spirit, “You know this is the end of your possession,” and the spirit cried out, “I know!” Then I said, “Leave now.”
The young man fell to the ground again and rolled over. I could actually smell the evil spirit as it departed. Afterward, this young man’s brother helped him to his feet, and he grabbed me and started crying. I told his brother to get him something to eat, because evil spirits literally starve the body.
At the next session the following morning, this young man was sitting on the front row with his brother, weeping from joy and worshiping the Most High. No stress, no strain, no spiritual gymnastics or pyrotechnics; just the peace and joy of one who has been restored to his place in his Father’s Kingdom, free once more to manifest his Father’s culture. A new garden was blooming. The Governor is here to bring back the culture of Heaven.
THE Ruach HaQadesh MEDIATES Yah’S PRESENCE
As Governor, the Ruach HaQadesh mediates for the people of Earth on behalf of the absent King. Although the dominion of Yah the Father covers both Heaven and Earth, He maintains His presence in Heaven; and in this aspect of His divinity, He has not come down to the Earth. He has, however, come to Earth in the Persons of His Son, Yahusha Hamachiach, and the Ruach HaQadesh. The New Testament tells us that the Son of Yah took on human flesh, announced the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven, and then died by crucifixion, shedding His sinless blood so that we sinners could gain access to the Kingdom. Forty days after His resurrection from the dead, Hamachiach ascended to Heaven, where He is now seated at the right hand of His Father and where He continues to intercede on our behalf. Ten days after He ascended, He sent the Ruach HaQadesh to live permanently in the hearts of believers so that there would always be a presence of Yah on the Earth.
Even though the king and queen of England rarely visited the Bahamas during our colonial days, we were always conscious of their presence because the governor who resided in that imposing pink house on Duke Street was the king and queen personified. They might be absent in body, but in the person of the governor their authority was ever-present.
Every year the governor called us together for an official meeting. The whole community gathered in a big park by the beach for the annual “Day of the Reading of the Speech from the Throne.” A red ceremonial chair would be set out with a crown behind it, and the governor would sit in the chair and read to us the words of the king or the queen. The governor never told us anything that the king or queen did not write. He never spoke to us on his own authority, but only on the authority delegated to him by the government.
It is the same way with the Ruach HaQadesh. As we saw earlier, Yahusha said in John 16:13 that the Ruach HaQadesh will never speak on His own but will speak only what He hears. And what the Spirit does say will always be in agreement with what the Father and the Son say and with what the Bible, the written Word of Yah, says. None of these will ever contradict any of the others; they will always be in perfect accord.
As Governor of the Kingdom, the Ruach HaQadesh is the official, designated representative through whom all information from and about the King and His Kingdom passes to His citizens. Because He is in Heaven, seated at the right hand of His Father, it is impossible for us to receive any information from Hamachiach, our King, except through the Ruach HaQadesh. The Spirit is the one who guides us into all truth (see John 16:13), teaches us all things, and reminds us of everything Yahusha taught us (see John 14:26). As long as the Governor is here, the King is here. As long as the Governor is here, the presence, power, and authority of the King are here. As long as the Governor is here, the Kingdom of Heaven is present on the Earth.
The Ruach HaQadesh is the presence of the absent King. Yahusha Hamachiach is in Heaven, seated at His Father’s right hand. His work on Earth is finished. But He promised not to leave His followers as orphans (see John 14:18), so He asked His Father to send “another Counselor” to be with them forever (see John 14:16). In Greek, the word for “another” means another of the same kind. The Spirit who was to come would be exactly like Yahusha except that He would actually be present in believers rather than just with them, as Yahusha was. The Greek word for “Counselor” is parakletos, which literally means “one called alongside” as a helper. This perfectly describes the Ruach HaQadesh’s role as Governor of the Kingdom and His ministry as Teacher, Guide, and Master Gardener: to nurture and bring fully to life gardens of truth in the lives of believers.
The Governor of the Kingdom mediates the presence of the King. So wherever the Governor is present, the King is present, and so is His Kingdom. And since the Governor resides in our hearts as Kingdom citizens, we take the King and the Kingdom wherever we go. One distinct characteristic of the Kingdom is that wherever it passes, it leaves in its wake life, restoration, and transformation.
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 35:1 את CEPHER
.Then shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 35:6-7 את CEPHER
This is Yah’s big idea, His strategy for filling the Earth with gardens of His Kingdom.
CONNECTING TWO WORLDS
Living inside every Kingdom citizen and believer in the Most High Yahusha Hamachiach is the most powerful Person on Earth, yet most of us don’t realize it. Oh, we are quick to say, “Yes, I believe the Ruach HaQadesh is in mwee,” or, “I know I have been baptized in the Spirit,” but few of us are truly conscious of the magnitude of the Person and power of the Ruach HaQadesh. We don’t know Him, don’t listen to Him, and, depending on our background, we may even have been taught not to expect much from Him. Instead, we would much rather watch television or talk to our friends or spend our time following the enticements of the world. However, if we want to grow as Kingdom citizens and reach our fullest potential in fulfilling our mission to plant Kingdom gardens throughout the world, we must take time to get to know the Master Gardener. We must learn to listen to Him and obey.
Why? For one thing, He is our link between Heaven and Earth, and in Him we are connected to both worlds. The Ruach HaQadesh is the bridge between the supernatural and the natural realms. We say that Yah rules a “supernatural” Kingdom, but this is strictly a human perspective. The word supernatural does not occur in the Bible, and for a very simple reason: From Yah’s perspective, which is also the Bible’s perspective, the concept is meaningless. For that matter, we would be more correct to speak of the spiritual domain as a supranatural realm. The prefix supra means “outside” or “above.” Heaven is a supranatural realm because it is above and outside our own, but to Yah there is no distinction. Natural and supranatural are the same to Him because He created both realms. The only difference is that one is lower than the other.
Yahusha moved between the natural and the supranatural with ease, and so does the Ruach HaQadesh. Furthermore, because the Ruach HaQadesh dwells within us, He enables us to transcend the boundary between the two, so that our prayers and praise and worship can rise to Heaven, and Yah’s presence, power, and privilege (favor) can flow down to us. In this way, we can reproduce the character and culture of His Kingdom on Earth. It is like being able to cross international borders with no checkpoints, customs, or passports. The Ruach HaQadesh is our passport; through Him we have access to anywhere in the Kingdom, including the throne room of the King Himself. I don’t know about you, but that’s the way I want to live...and it is the way I am learning how to live.
When Yahusha told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (see John 18:36), He was acknowledging two things: first, that He was the King of a real Kingdom, and second, that His Kingdom was from another place, a place outside and above the physical realm. A kingdom, remember, is the governing influence of a king over his territory or his domain, impacting it with his will, purpose, and intent; and that is manifested in the culture, lifestyle, and quality of life of his citizens. So in acknowledging His Kingship to Pilate, Yahusha was telling the Roman governor that He had a country with a society of citizens and a moral code, and that it possessed territory, power, and influence—yet it was not from Earth.
At the same time, however, His Kingdom was in place on the Earth. Citizens of His supranatural realm lived as immigrants in the natural realm but maintained their allegiance to their parent country, Heaven. They were in the world but not of the world.
This characterization describes all of us who are Kingdom citizens. We are a distinct society within the greater society of humanity in general. We are a counterculture to the popular culture. Our loyalty is to our heavenly King. If it comes down to a choice between obeying the local government or the heavenly government, the heavenly government wins out every time. Even though we are in the world, we live under a different government and are obliged to do and say only that which is consistent with that government.
Yahusha said that He did nothing on His own but only what He saw His Father doing (see John 5:19,30). He spoke only what His Father told Him to speak (see John 8:28). As Kingdom citizens, we have the same responsibility. By connecting us to our home world while we remain in this one, the Ruach HaQadesh enables us to hear and understand the words and will of our King and empowers us to carry them out. That is a nice way to live. It means we never have to argue. All we have to do is obey. If someone questions our words or behavior, all we have to do is say, “I’m operating under the laws of my government.” It is our Governor’s responsibility and joy to take that which comes from the head, or top—the King’s will and desires—and make sure that it reaches all the way to the bottom and out to the citizens, who bring it to fruition in the world around them.
FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
All of our talk about reproducing Kingdom gardens on Earth is simply another way of saying that Yah is in the process of re-colonizing the planet with His Kingdom government and culture. This mission was so critical that He could entrust it to no one other than His Son, who alone possessed all the necessary qualifications. Yahusha came into the world as a government agent on special assignment. Pilate, too, was a government official. This is why he understood Yahusha’ words, whereas the religious leaders did not; he and Yahusha were talking kingdom language.
The word “colony” comes from the Latin word colonia, which is transliterated into the Greek as kolonia. Colony comes from the word colere, which literally means “cultivate,” as in planting and nurturing a garden. To colonize, therefore, (or to plant Kingdom gardens) means to cultivate a people in one place to be just like a kingdom in another place. It means to reproduce a culture. In fact, the word culture itself comes from the Latin cultura, which also means “cultivation.” The word agriculture (from ager, Latin for “field” or “land”) is the art of cultivating the soil to produce crops. Similarly, horticulture (from hortus, Latin for “garden”) is the art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants. So the Ruach HaQadesh truly is the Master Gardener, because His purpose is to cultivate Kingdom government and culture in the hearts of Kingdom people, and through them, to reproduce more of the same all over the world until the Earth is filled with them.
A root word for colony and colonization is colon, which is also the name given to the human digestive tract. Although we think of the colon most often as the large intestine, the word actually encompasses the entire system, beginning with the tongue and esophagus, through the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, all the way to the rectum. How does this connect with colonies and cultivation of gardens? It is a Greek concept. Your colon begins in your head and ends in your bottom. Whatever goes into your head and is consumed will end up in the bottom, guaranteed. If you doubt it, take a teaspoonful of some good Jamaica pepper (allspice) and wait several hours—it will make a believer out of you!
Here is the connection the Greeks made. They said that the key to government is to get what is in the head out to the bottom of the community. The king is the head, and he appoints a governor to communicate and establish his will and desires throughout the community at the bottom (the colony). Similarly, the job of a master gardener is to execute the will and desires of the garden owner (the head) and produce a garden (the bottom) that satisfies those desires. This is the role of the Ruach HaQadesh in our lives, to ensure that we as Kingdom citizens reproduce the character and culture, and live according to the values, standards, and principles of our King. It is this top-to- bottom process that Yahusha had in mind when He taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
When this connection is made from top to bottom, from Heaven to Earth, from the King to His citizens through the link of the Ruach HaQadesh, the result will be a manifestation of Kingdom power and authority that is as attractive as it is undeniable. There is no better example of this than the life of Yahusha. By His own declaration, Yahusha did nothing on His own, but only what He saw His Father doing (see John 5:19). And what did Yahusha do? He healed the sick, made the lame to walk, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and speech to the mute. He cast out demons and raised the dead. Yahusha did all these things because He saw them first in the mind and heart of His Father. He knew these things were His Father’s will, so He did them. The “colon” was clear. The border between countries was open, and the loving, merciful, compassionate, and healing will of the King passed from His supranatural realm into the realm of the natural.
Yahusha is in Heaven now with His Father, but His Spirit, His Governor, His Master Gardener, is here in His stead, and He wants to do the same things in and through us that Yahusha did. Yah’s will and purposes never change. Yahusha Hamachiach is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Heb. 13:8). He gave us this promise:
Amein, Amein, I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. YOCHANON (JOHN) 14:12 את CEPHER.
The Ruach HaQadesh came to dwell in us for the purpose of fulfilling this promise in and through us. Hamachiach is the Head, in Heaven, and we are His Body, on Earth. The Governor delivers the will of the Head to the Earth and carries it out through us, the Body. The Master Gardener takes the seeds and plans of the Owner and transfers the Garden of His supranatural realm into the natural world.
Today we are walking in: The Master Gardener
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Chapter Four
THE MASTER GARDENER: THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL GARDEN
GARDENS are marvelous things. It is truly amazing how even a little plot of carefully cultivated fruit trees, vegetable plants, or brightly colored flowers can totally transform an otherwise drab and ordinary landscape. More than almost anything else on Earth, a well-cared-for garden signals the presence of life in its fullest abundance, vitality, and beauty.
The Islands of the Bahamas are the home of many beautiful gardens, both public and private. Most Bahamians take great pride in doing everything possible to make our nation a true island paradise of botanical richness and splendor. Of course, the same is true in many other parts of the world. There is something about a garden that stirs an inner chord in the spirit of most of us, a chord of peace, harmony...and rightness, as if to say, “This is the way nature is supposed to be.” And of course, that is true.
Every garden needs a gardener, someone to till the soil, sow the seeds, nurture the young plants, and prune, shape, and groom them for maximum fruitfulness and productivity. It must be someone who truly has a heart for the garden, someone who loves it and is completely committed to its growth and success. Even the Garden of Eden, Yah’s original Kingdom outpost on Earth, needed a gardener. Yah did not create the Garden and leave it to fend for itself. A gardener was necessary to tend it, nurture it, and ensure that it fulfilled all of Yah’s will and desires for it.
Yah placed Adam and Eve in the Garden as its stewards and caretakers, king and queen of the earthly domain. They were gardeners, certainly, but neither of them was the Master Gardener. Until the day they disobeyed Yah, lost their position, and had to leave, Adam and Eve worked in close concert and harmony with the true Master Gardener of Eden—the Ruach HaQadesh of Yah—who, unlike them, had been present and intimately involved in its creation. Read the opening words of the Bible, the constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven:
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. BERE'SHIYTH (GENESIS) 1:1-2 את CEPHER.
The Spirit of Yah was present and was the primary agent in the creation of the physical realm, including the Garden of Eden. Using similar language, the apostle John reiterates this truth:
IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with את Elohiym, and Elohiym was the Word. The same was in the beginning with את Elohiym. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. YOCHANON (JOHN) 1:1-3 את CEPHER.
Although John’s reference to the “Word” through whom “all things were made” refers to Yahusha Hamachiach, the Son of Yah, the Spirit of Yah is also the Spirit of Hamachiach, because they are all of one essence—one Yah in three Persons. By right and agency of creation, the Ruach HaQadesh was the Master Gardener of Eden, the Governor of Yah’s original colony on Earth. Like human colonial governors, He guides and oversees the lives and welfare of His citizens. Unlike His human counterparts, however, who live in fancy houses and mansions made with human hands, the Governor of the Kingdom lives in the hearts and lives of His citizens. As He was in Eden, He is still the Master Gardener, overseeing the planting, growth, fruitfulness, and reproduction of Kingdom “gardens” in the lives of Kingdom citizens and throughout the world.
All of us who are believers and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven are immigrants on this planet. Yah placed us here to fill the Earth with His government and glory, but He did not abandon us to do so on our own. The Bible says that He is a Yah of order, not disorder. This means also that He is a Yah of government, not anarchy. As we saw in the last chapter, when Yah rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt in order to make them into a nation, the first thing He did was give them a government encoded in law: the Ten Commandments.
In the same way, He has placed the Ruach HaQadesh as the Governor of His children and citizens, to ensure that the “gardens” of our lives grow in a cultivated, orderly, and disciplined manner for maximum fruitfulness, in accordance with Kingdom principles, rather than grow wild and reckless with no direction or control. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” The Ruach HaQadesh, our Master Gardener, is the one who reveals to us the will and ways of our King and teaches us how to live a Kingdom lifestyle and to manifest Kingdom culture. He is essential to our assignment of building the community of Heaven on Earth. His major role is to transform the earthly realm into the heavenly realm.
THE Ruach HaQadesh ENACTS Yah’S WILL
The Bible is about a King, His Kingdom, and His royal family. It is a royal document chronicling the purposes, desires, and decrees of the King, as well as the activities, past history, and future destiny of His children and heirs. It also describes the King’s expansion program, His plan to expand His heavenly realm into earthly territory. As we saw in Chapter One, He did this by establishing an outpost—a Garden—in Eden. Then He created a man and a woman and put them there as caretakers and administrators—rulers of the physical earthly realm just as He Himself ruled in Heaven. Theirs was not to be an independent rule, however, so He appointed a Governor to oversee the overall expansion program. And who better for Governor than His own Spirit, who knows His mind intimately and perfectly? In addition, this Governor could work in close harmony with the human administrators who, as spirit beings clothed in an earthen shell, could commune with Him spirit to Spirit.
As Governor and Master Gardener, the Ruach HaQadesh’s primary role is to execute and enact the will of the King who owns the Garden and everything and everyone in it. Under a democratic system of government, a governor is elected by the people, who also have the power to remove him or her from office. A kingdom is not a democratic system, however, and this is especially true of the Kingdom of Yah. In a kingdom, the king’s word is law and his will is absolute. The king appoints governors to oversee the various territories and regions of his kingdom—and only he can remove them.
This is exactly how government administration worked in the Roman Empire, which is one reason it was such an ideal model to serve as a backdrop for Hamachiach’s message of the Kingdom of Heaven. During Hamachiach’s earthly ministry, Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea, appointed by Tiberias Caesar, the emperor. Although Pilate proved to be a very unpopular governor, the people of Judea had no power to remove him. The most they could do was petition the emperor to recall and replace him, which they did in A.D. 36.
Carrying out the will of the king is the paramount responsibility of the governor. The big difference between a king and a prime minister or a president is that the latter two cannot always have their will or way in the country. They have to negotiate with Parliament or Congress. They have to debate and discuss, and often make compromises just to get part of what they want. Even then, the final legislation is subject to judicial review and can be overturned if it is judged to violate the constitution.
In contrast, a king’s word is the constitution. His word is law, and as such is inviolable. It is not open to debate, discussion, or reversal. In a kingdom, the king imposes his personal will on the citizens, and it becomes policy. The role of the governor is to implement that same policy in all the king’s territory that is under the governor’s jurisdiction. Whenever the governor speaks in his official capacity, his word carries the authority of the king because it is the word of the king, and the king’s word is law. In Judea during Yahusha’ day, whenever Pilate issued a decree or made a proclamation, it carried the same force of law as if the Roman emperor himself had delivered it in person.
THE Ruach HaQadesh ASSERTS Yah’S AUTHORITY
Governors in a kingdom are personal appointees of the king. They may be personal friends of the king, or at least known to him by reputation or recommendation. Either way, they are chosen for their loyalty to the king and their commitment to his policies. His purpose is their purpose, and his objectives, their objectives. Quite often they come from the very center of the king’s court, intimates of the king who understand his thoughts and are of one mind with him.
This certainly describes the Ruach HaQadesh, who never speaks of His own accord, but says only that which He has received from Yah the Father, the King of Heaven. He is perfectly suited to be Governor of Heaven’s Kingdom gardens on Earth because He knows perfectly the heart and mind of the King. This intimacy enables Him to conform the hearts and minds of Kingdom citizens to those of the King, thus shaping the “gardens” of their lives to faithfully manifest the government and culture of Heaven. In the words of Paul:
Likewise the Ruach also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Ruach itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Ruach, because he makes intercession for the qodeshiym according to the will of Elohiym. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 8:26-27 את CEPHER.
Yahusha Himself was even more explicit in describing the work of the Master Gardener:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Ruach Emeth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but ye know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. YOCHANON (JOHN) 14:16-17 את CEPHER.
But the Comforter, which is the Ruach Ha'Qodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. YOCHANON (JOHN) 14:26 את CEPHER.
Howbeit when he, the Ruach Emeth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. YOCHANON (JOHN) 16:13-14 את CEPHER.
Because the Master Gardener always carries out the will of the King, His presence in us enables us to do the same. In this way, under His guidance, we can shape our lives and behavior into beautiful gardens that accurately reflect the heart, nature, and character of our King.
One way the Ruach HaQadesh enacts Yah’s will and brings this about in our lives is by asserting Yah’s authority in the world, especially against the pretender and his agents. That’s what a governor does. He establishes the authority of his king in the new territory. Many people, both inside and outside the Kingdom, are confused about who the Ruach HaQadesh is and what He does. Some see Him only as the most mysterious Person of the Yahhead, the Trinity, about whom little is known or can be known. To others, He is the one who sends tingles down people’s spines and gives them “warm fuzzies” during worship, the one who knocks people down and rolls them around on the floor. Those things may happen sometimes, but they do not reflect the environment or atmosphere of Heaven, nor do they reflect the reason the Governor came.
Heaven is a place of peace, harmony, and order, because it is the home of the King. The Ruach HaQadesh is not some divine joy- buzzer or stun gun to give believers a jolt; He is a Person whose job is to mold them into the likeness of the King.
Once, when I was conducting some meetings in Venezuela, a young man came to me and asked if I could help his brother. He told me quietly that his brother had “problems with spirits.” I told him I would be glad to help. After the meeting, he took me behind the curtain near the steps where I saw a young man looking up at me with a tortured expression on his face. He was very dirty, and when I approached him, he blew his top. He fell on the ground and started screaming.
I knew that the Governor lived in me and that this man was Yah’s property. Picking the man up, I told the spirit to shut up, and the young man immediately fell quiet. I said to the spirit, “You know this is the end of your possession,” and the spirit cried out, “I know!” Then I said, “Leave now.”
The young man fell to the ground again and rolled over. I could actually smell the evil spirit as it departed. Afterward, this young man’s brother helped him to his feet, and he grabbed me and started crying. I told his brother to get him something to eat, because evil spirits literally starve the body.
At the next session the following morning, this young man was sitting on the front row with his brother, weeping from joy and worshiping the Most High. No stress, no strain, no spiritual gymnastics or pyrotechnics; just the peace and joy of one who has been restored to his place in his Father’s Kingdom, free once more to manifest his Father’s culture. A new garden was blooming. The Governor is here to bring back the culture of Heaven.
THE Ruach HaQadesh MEDIATES Yah’S PRESENCE
As Governor, the Ruach HaQadesh mediates for the people of Earth on behalf of the absent King. Although the dominion of Yah the Father covers both Heaven and Earth, He maintains His presence in Heaven; and in this aspect of His divinity, He has not come down to the Earth. He has, however, come to Earth in the Persons of His Son, Yahusha Hamachiach, and the Ruach HaQadesh. The New Testament tells us that the Son of Yah took on human flesh, announced the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven, and then died by crucifixion, shedding His sinless blood so that we sinners could gain access to the Kingdom. Forty days after His resurrection from the dead, Hamachiach ascended to Heaven, where He is now seated at the right hand of His Father and where He continues to intercede on our behalf. Ten days after He ascended, He sent the Ruach HaQadesh to live permanently in the hearts of believers so that there would always be a presence of Yah on the Earth.
Even though the king and queen of England rarely visited the Bahamas during our colonial days, we were always conscious of their presence because the governor who resided in that imposing pink house on Duke Street was the king and queen personified. They might be absent in body, but in the person of the governor their authority was ever-present.
Every year the governor called us together for an official meeting. The whole community gathered in a big park by the beach for the annual “Day of the Reading of the Speech from the Throne.” A red ceremonial chair would be set out with a crown behind it, and the governor would sit in the chair and read to us the words of the king or the queen. The governor never told us anything that the king or queen did not write. He never spoke to us on his own authority, but only on the authority delegated to him by the government.
It is the same way with the Ruach HaQadesh. As we saw earlier, Yahusha said in John 16:13 that the Ruach HaQadesh will never speak on His own but will speak only what He hears. And what the Spirit does say will always be in agreement with what the Father and the Son say and with what the Bible, the written Word of Yah, says. None of these will ever contradict any of the others; they will always be in perfect accord.
As Governor of the Kingdom, the Ruach HaQadesh is the official, designated representative through whom all information from and about the King and His Kingdom passes to His citizens. Because He is in Heaven, seated at the right hand of His Father, it is impossible for us to receive any information from Hamachiach, our King, except through the Ruach HaQadesh. The Spirit is the one who guides us into all truth (see John 16:13), teaches us all things, and reminds us of everything Yahusha taught us (see John 14:26). As long as the Governor is here, the King is here. As long as the Governor is here, the presence, power, and authority of the King are here. As long as the Governor is here, the Kingdom of Heaven is present on the Earth.
The Ruach HaQadesh is the presence of the absent King. Yahusha Hamachiach is in Heaven, seated at His Father’s right hand. His work on Earth is finished. But He promised not to leave His followers as orphans (see John 14:18), so He asked His Father to send “another Counselor” to be with them forever (see John 14:16). In Greek, the word for “another” means another of the same kind. The Spirit who was to come would be exactly like Yahusha except that He would actually be present in believers rather than just with them, as Yahusha was. The Greek word for “Counselor” is parakletos, which literally means “one called alongside” as a helper. This perfectly describes the Ruach HaQadesh’s role as Governor of the Kingdom and His ministry as Teacher, Guide, and Master Gardener: to nurture and bring fully to life gardens of truth in the lives of believers.
The Governor of the Kingdom mediates the presence of the King. So wherever the Governor is present, the King is present, and so is His Kingdom. And since the Governor resides in our hearts as Kingdom citizens, we take the King and the Kingdom wherever we go. One distinct characteristic of the Kingdom is that wherever it passes, it leaves in its wake life, restoration, and transformation.
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 35:1 את CEPHER
.Then shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 35:6-7 את CEPHER
This is Yah’s big idea, His strategy for filling the Earth with gardens of His Kingdom.
CONNECTING TWO WORLDS
Living inside every Kingdom citizen and believer in the Most High Yahusha Hamachiach is the most powerful Person on Earth, yet most of us don’t realize it. Oh, we are quick to say, “Yes, I believe the Ruach HaQadesh is in mwee,” or, “I know I have been baptized in the Spirit,” but few of us are truly conscious of the magnitude of the Person and power of the Ruach HaQadesh. We don’t know Him, don’t listen to Him, and, depending on our background, we may even have been taught not to expect much from Him. Instead, we would much rather watch television or talk to our friends or spend our time following the enticements of the world. However, if we want to grow as Kingdom citizens and reach our fullest potential in fulfilling our mission to plant Kingdom gardens throughout the world, we must take time to get to know the Master Gardener. We must learn to listen to Him and obey.
Why? For one thing, He is our link between Heaven and Earth, and in Him we are connected to both worlds. The Ruach HaQadesh is the bridge between the supernatural and the natural realms. We say that Yah rules a “supernatural” Kingdom, but this is strictly a human perspective. The word supernatural does not occur in the Bible, and for a very simple reason: From Yah’s perspective, which is also the Bible’s perspective, the concept is meaningless. For that matter, we would be more correct to speak of the spiritual domain as a supranatural realm. The prefix supra means “outside” or “above.” Heaven is a supranatural realm because it is above and outside our own, but to Yah there is no distinction. Natural and supranatural are the same to Him because He created both realms. The only difference is that one is lower than the other.
Yahusha moved between the natural and the supranatural with ease, and so does the Ruach HaQadesh. Furthermore, because the Ruach HaQadesh dwells within us, He enables us to transcend the boundary between the two, so that our prayers and praise and worship can rise to Heaven, and Yah’s presence, power, and privilege (favor) can flow down to us. In this way, we can reproduce the character and culture of His Kingdom on Earth. It is like being able to cross international borders with no checkpoints, customs, or passports. The Ruach HaQadesh is our passport; through Him we have access to anywhere in the Kingdom, including the throne room of the King Himself. I don’t know about you, but that’s the way I want to live...and it is the way I am learning how to live.
When Yahusha told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (see John 18:36), He was acknowledging two things: first, that He was the King of a real Kingdom, and second, that His Kingdom was from another place, a place outside and above the physical realm. A kingdom, remember, is the governing influence of a king over his territory or his domain, impacting it with his will, purpose, and intent; and that is manifested in the culture, lifestyle, and quality of life of his citizens. So in acknowledging His Kingship to Pilate, Yahusha was telling the Roman governor that He had a country with a society of citizens and a moral code, and that it possessed territory, power, and influence—yet it was not from Earth.
At the same time, however, His Kingdom was in place on the Earth. Citizens of His supranatural realm lived as immigrants in the natural realm but maintained their allegiance to their parent country, Heaven. They were in the world but not of the world.
This characterization describes all of us who are Kingdom citizens. We are a distinct society within the greater society of humanity in general. We are a counterculture to the popular culture. Our loyalty is to our heavenly King. If it comes down to a choice between obeying the local government or the heavenly government, the heavenly government wins out every time. Even though we are in the world, we live under a different government and are obliged to do and say only that which is consistent with that government.
Yahusha said that He did nothing on His own but only what He saw His Father doing (see John 5:19,30). He spoke only what His Father told Him to speak (see John 8:28). As Kingdom citizens, we have the same responsibility. By connecting us to our home world while we remain in this one, the Ruach HaQadesh enables us to hear and understand the words and will of our King and empowers us to carry them out. That is a nice way to live. It means we never have to argue. All we have to do is obey. If someone questions our words or behavior, all we have to do is say, “I’m operating under the laws of my government.” It is our Governor’s responsibility and joy to take that which comes from the head, or top—the King’s will and desires—and make sure that it reaches all the way to the bottom and out to the citizens, who bring it to fruition in the world around them.
FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
All of our talk about reproducing Kingdom gardens on Earth is simply another way of saying that Yah is in the process of re-colonizing the planet with His Kingdom government and culture. This mission was so critical that He could entrust it to no one other than His Son, who alone possessed all the necessary qualifications. Yahusha came into the world as a government agent on special assignment. Pilate, too, was a government official. This is why he understood Yahusha’ words, whereas the religious leaders did not; he and Yahusha were talking kingdom language.
The word “colony” comes from the Latin word colonia, which is transliterated into the Greek as kolonia. Colony comes from the word colere, which literally means “cultivate,” as in planting and nurturing a garden. To colonize, therefore, (or to plant Kingdom gardens) means to cultivate a people in one place to be just like a kingdom in another place. It means to reproduce a culture. In fact, the word culture itself comes from the Latin cultura, which also means “cultivation.” The word agriculture (from ager, Latin for “field” or “land”) is the art of cultivating the soil to produce crops. Similarly, horticulture (from hortus, Latin for “garden”) is the art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants. So the Ruach HaQadesh truly is the Master Gardener, because His purpose is to cultivate Kingdom government and culture in the hearts of Kingdom people, and through them, to reproduce more of the same all over the world until the Earth is filled with them.
A root word for colony and colonization is colon, which is also the name given to the human digestive tract. Although we think of the colon most often as the large intestine, the word actually encompasses the entire system, beginning with the tongue and esophagus, through the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, all the way to the rectum. How does this connect with colonies and cultivation of gardens? It is a Greek concept. Your colon begins in your head and ends in your bottom. Whatever goes into your head and is consumed will end up in the bottom, guaranteed. If you doubt it, take a teaspoonful of some good Jamaica pepper (allspice) and wait several hours—it will make a believer out of you!
Here is the connection the Greeks made. They said that the key to government is to get what is in the head out to the bottom of the community. The king is the head, and he appoints a governor to communicate and establish his will and desires throughout the community at the bottom (the colony). Similarly, the job of a master gardener is to execute the will and desires of the garden owner (the head) and produce a garden (the bottom) that satisfies those desires. This is the role of the Ruach HaQadesh in our lives, to ensure that we as Kingdom citizens reproduce the character and culture, and live according to the values, standards, and principles of our King. It is this top-to- bottom process that Yahusha had in mind when He taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
When this connection is made from top to bottom, from Heaven to Earth, from the King to His citizens through the link of the Ruach HaQadesh, the result will be a manifestation of Kingdom power and authority that is as attractive as it is undeniable. There is no better example of this than the life of Yahusha. By His own declaration, Yahusha did nothing on His own, but only what He saw His Father doing (see John 5:19). And what did Yahusha do? He healed the sick, made the lame to walk, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and speech to the mute. He cast out demons and raised the dead. Yahusha did all these things because He saw them first in the mind and heart of His Father. He knew these things were His Father’s will, so He did them. The “colon” was clear. The border between countries was open, and the loving, merciful, compassionate, and healing will of the King passed from His supranatural realm into the realm of the natural.
Yahusha is in Heaven now with His Father, but His Spirit, His Governor, His Master Gardener, is here in His stead, and He wants to do the same things in and through us that Yahusha did. Yah’s will and purposes never change. Yahusha Hamachiach is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Heb. 13:8). He gave us this promise:
Amein, Amein, I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. YOCHANON (JOHN) 14:12 את CEPHER.
The Ruach HaQadesh came to dwell in us for the purpose of fulfilling this promise in and through us. Hamachiach is the Head, in Heaven, and we are His Body, on Earth. The Governor delivers the will of the Head to the Earth and carries it out through us, the Body. The Master Gardener takes the seeds and plans of the Owner and transfers the Garden of His supranatural realm into the natural world.
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
HEAVEN AND EARTH: A CLASH OF CULTURES
1 Samuel chapter 2
Today we are walking in: Heaven And Earth: A Clash Of Cultures
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
HEAVEN AND EARTH: A CLASH OF CULTURES
NOT long after national elections in the Bahamas, someone asked me in an airport, “What do you think about your new government?”
I replied, “I only have one government.”
It doesn’t matter who occupies the prime minister’s chair or the Speaker of Parliament’s chair or the governor’s mansion; it doesn’t matter who sits on the throne and is called king or queen. There is only one government, and it belongs to Him whose throne will never be moved or toppled: Almighty Yah, the King of kings and Most High of Most Highs. His rule in Heaven is eternal, without beginning or end. But He also created the Earth and established His Kingdom there as well.
The Bible says, “He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are Yahuah's, and he has set the world upon them. SHEMU'EL RI'SHON (1 SAMUEL) 2:8 את CEPHER. The words earth and world often are used interchangeably, but here they refer to two different things. Earth refers to the place, the physical planet on which we reside, while world refers to order or governing affairs. Yah created the physical Earth and then set on it the “world” of His government and divine order. Earth, then, has to do with location, while world deals with who is running things.
Yah rules directly in Heaven, but His plan for the Earth was to rule it indirectly through human representatives that He created in His own image. Adam and Eve were to rule under Yah’s appointment and reproduce and maintain the order and government of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. From the beginning, the Earth was designed to be ruled by one government: the Kingdom of Heaven. Any other government is illegal on this planet. This is why the Bible makes it clear that human governments exist only by Yah’s permission and that He ordained them for the protection of society and the common human welfare until the day His Kingdom government on Earth is fully restored. In his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul leaves no doubt as to the true authority behind human affairs:
LET every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of Elohiym: the powers that be are ordained of Elohiym. Whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of Elohiym: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will you then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and you shall have praise of the same: For he is the minister of Elohiym to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid; for he bears not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of Elohiym, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 13:1-5 את CEPHER.
HaSatan the pretender may believe that he runs the show and controls the governments of the Earth, but it is the King of Heaven who guides human history and destiny toward His desired ends. He raises up one power and brings down another, all in accordance with His sovereign will and purpose. Psalm 75:7 says, “But Elohiym is the judge: he puts down one, and sets up another. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 75:7 את CEPHER.” In the Book of Isaiah, the Most High Himself declares:
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am El, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 45:22-23 את CEPHER.
HEAVEN: EARTH’S ONLY LEGITIMATE CULTURE
Human empires rise and fall, but the Kingdom of Yah stands forever. Earthly rulers who forget or who refuse to acknowledge the One to whom they are accountable set themselves up for judgment, and even destruction. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, ruled the mightiest empire the world had ever known up to that time, but even he had to learn to humble himself before the Yah of Heaven:
At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babel. The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babel, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O King Nevukadne'tstsar, to you it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from you. And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make you to eat grass as oxen, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that El Elyon rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nevukadne'tstsar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the days I Nevukadne'tstsar lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed El Elyon, and I praised and honored him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What do you? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my princes sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nevukadne'tstsar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. DANIY'EL (DANIEL) 4:29-37 את CEPHER.
To say that Yah is Most High of Most Highs means that He owns everything there is by right of creation; to call Him King of kings is to acknowledge that His government and authority are above all others. All earthly rulers, willingly or not, and consciously or not, are subject ultimately to Yah’s sovereign authority. In the end, His will shall prevail, His purpose shall be accomplished, and His Kingdom will come on Earth as it is in Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is the only order that Yah placed on the Earth. Anything else is disorder.
When HaSatan seized control of the dominion that rightly belonged to man, he brought disorder onto the world scene: pride, envy, greed, selfishness, hatred... and man-centered religion, which reduces the life-giving principles of Yah’s Kingdom to empty rites, rituals, and rules.
The point of all of this is to make it clear that the culture of Heaven is the only legitimate culture for the Earth. So-called human culture, which is influenced and controlled by HaSatan, and therefore is in conflict with the culture of Heaven—is an illegitimate culture. So we have two cultures in conflict, a cultural clash between Heaven and Earth.
CULTURE PROBLEMS
Anyone who pays any attention at all to human events at home or abroad knows that global society is in upheaval of unprecedented proportions. We face many global challenges that we just can’t solve. The United Nations was formed after the Second World War for the purpose of preventing war. Yet in the 60 years of its existence, there have been more wars than in all the rest of recorded human history. So even our best and most well-intentioned attempt to prevent ourselves from killing each other has failed. Even worse, corruption scandals in recent years have revealed that there are those within the UN itself who have placed their own enrichment ahead of the greater good and engaged in ongoing activities that have undermined the very goals the organization is trying to achieve.
If we judge only by what we see happening around us and around the world every day, how can we help but become frustrated, discouraged, and even fearful? Who among us does not wake up in the morning, glance at the news headlines or listen to broadcast news reports, and immediately become depressed? We are all looking and dreaming and hoping and praying for a better world, aren’t we? Imagine what it would be like to get up one morning and find no news of war, or genocide, or ethnic cleansing, or terrorism, or starvation, or poverty. Unfortunately, truly good news like that is an increasingly rare commodity in our world today.
Strangely enough, the single biggest cause of our problems is the very thing that was supposed to provide a solution: religion. Historically, religion has been the primary driving force behind the vast majority of global conflict. This is especially true today. Global terrorism is fueled by extremist religious ideology. In the name of Allah, radical Muslim groups such as Hamas and al-Qaida utilize violence and terror to either convert or destroy the “infidels” (unbelievers). In Iraq, Sunni and Shiite Muslims kill each other in a bloodletting unleashed by the release of years of pent-up anger, resentment, hostility, and hatred. The burning of churches in Pakistan results in the retaliatory torching of temples and mosques in India.
Religion is not a peaceful prospect. And religious conflict is not restricted to Islam or Hinduism or other “non-Western” religions. Christianity carries its own heavy burden of responsibility for religiously motivated conflict. The Crusades of the Middle Ages and centuries of hostility and persecution between Catholics and Protestants are two prime examples. Think of all the years that Belfast and Northern Ireland burned with unrest and violence because Catholics and Protestants were unable to live together in peace. Denominations within the Church are like little kingdoms of their own, jockeying for position and advantage and fighting amongst themselves over theology, doctrine, and theories of church government instead of working together for the common cause of the Gospel. This is why I make a clear and unambiguous distinction between the Kingdom of Heaven and institutional Christianity as a religious entity. They are not the same.
The shrinking of our global community through telecommunications technology and the Internet has greatly accelerated the rate and intensity of culture clash. A “take-no- prisoners” war is being waged for the soul of our culture, and it is vitally important that we identify the nature of the fight.
What do we do when a major newsmagazine runs a cover story titled “Muslims in the USA” or we discover that mosques are popping up next to churches all over America? It is a clash of cultures. How should we respond to the debate in England over whether or not female religious devotees can wear veils in school or for driver’s license photographs, even though the teachers and government officials need to be able to see their faces to identify them? It is a clash of cultures. The need to preserve democratic freedom and individual rights conflicts with the need for greater security.
What do we do when the counterculture of sexual perversion labors and lobbies vigorously to dignify and legitimize itself through legislation? How should we respond to the claim that two men or two women should be able to marry each other, and even to raise children in such a same-gender household? What do we do when we claim to believe in “family values” only to discover that society has redefined family to mean anything anybody at all wants it to mean? This is no time to play religious games; the very life of our culture is at stake.
What do we do when 70 bishops in a major American denomination vote to ordain an openly and active gay priest as archbishop of an entire diocese? What do we do? We can’t afford to remain silent. One of the worst things in the world is for people who know what is right to remain silent in the face of wrong. We need help from beyond ourselves—help from the Creator of the Earth’s original and only legitimate culture.
THE POWER OF CULTURE
Culture is stronger than politics. It really doesn’t matter who is in power. Politicians come and go, and governments rise and fall, but culture still remains. Culture is also more powerful than religion. One of the biggest challenges that Church leaders faced during the first few centuries of the Church’s existence was how to keep those who were coming into the Church out of pagan backgrounds from bringing elements of their pagan culture with them and blending these with their new faith in Hamachiach. Even today we continue to see the enormous power of culture in the fact that many believers and Kingdom citizens display lifestyles that differ little from those of people who make no claim to be in the Kingdom.
The United States of America has a rich historical heritage of faith and even today has the highest percentage of citizens who claim to be believers (Christians) of any of the industrialized nations. Yet every year in America, 500,000 unborn babies are aborted—legally. The most progressive nation in the world murders half a million babies in the womb every year, and the law protects both the mothers who choose to kill their children as well as the doctors who carry out the destruction. This is insanity, yet it exemplifies the power of culture over religion in its ability to shape the thoughts, values, and beliefs of people and to influence their behavior and what they are willing to accept.
In another example, gay rights activists in America have made great strides forward in their efforts to legitimize their lifestyle through the legal process. Gay marriage is already legal in the states of Massachusetts and California, and efforts to legalize it in other states are on the rise. An increasing number of Americans—many of the same ones who claim faith in Hamachiach—say they find nothing wrong with homosexual relationships and that gays should be afforded special “civil rights” protection under the law. Legislation has even been proposed that would make anti-gay speech or activity a hate crime.
I am not picking on America here but just illustrating the power of culture over religion—even in a nation that is still widely regarded as the most “religious” nation in the industrialized world. Similar developments are taking place in other parts of the globe. We are smarter but not wiser. We are in a pitched battle for the culture of the Earth. Most often what we assume to be issues of social, religious, or political activity are really issues of culture.
Culture is the manifestation of the collective thinking of a people. This means that whoever controls the minds of the people creates and controls the culture. Culture is also a product of law. The most effective way to change a culture is to control its laws, because whatever is instated into law eventually will become accepted as “normal” by most citizens, regardless of how they might have felt at the beginning. This is all part of the process of mind control.
Is it any surprise then that when Yah got ready to create a nation out of people who had been slaves for 400 years, He gave them a code of law encapsulated in the Ten Commandments? Yah knew that before the Israelites could become a holy nation and a people set apart for Him, He had to change their thinking. His purpose was to create a Kingdom culture on Earth by raising up a nation of Kingdom thinkers and Kingdomlivers.
This is why the Bible says that the law of Yah is good. When we obey the law of Yah, we are producing the culture of Heaven. This has nothing to do with practicing a religion, but rather with instating a culture based on the law of Yah that will permeate and transform every part of society. Paul described what it meant to exchange the world’s culture for the culture of Heaven when he wrote,
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of Elohiym. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 12:2 את CEPHER.
To renew our minds means to take on the attitude of Hamachiach (see Phil. 2:5) and to understand that as believers and Kingdom citizens we have the mind of Hamachiach (see 1 Cor. 2:16). We need to know His mind and discern His thinking. Taking up the culture of Heaven means learning to think Yah’s thoughts and living accordingly.
The Kingdom of Yah is a kingdom of the heart and mind that manifests itself in culture. The secret to expanding Heaven’s culture on Earth is to change people’s minds, to cultivate them like a garden, carefully seeding their minds with the thoughts, beliefs, ideals, values, and convictions of Heaven. The end result will be the transformation of an arid, spiritually barren mental landscape into a verdant and vibrant garden full of life, hope, and unlimited potential.
In contrast to the world’s culture, which, reflecting the character and nature of the pretender, is a culture of desperation, discrimination, depravity, division, destruction, and death, Heaven’s culture is a culture of power, provision, and possibility. This is the culture of the King, of whom Paul writes,
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, Unto him be glory in the called out assembly by Mashiach Yahusha throughout all ages, world without end. Amein. EPH'SIYM (EPHESIANS) 3:20-21 את CEPHER.
Yah wants us to become all that we can be, and He has the power to enable us to succeed.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The Kingdom of Heaven is not a religion; it is a government and a society with a culture that is just as real as any devised by man—but even more so. That is why Yah issued laws for us to obey in His Kingdom. Those laws produce a lifestyle, and that lifestyle manifests in a culture, in a community that creates a society that is totally unique. This is the culture that existed in the Garden of Eden, and the culture that all Kingdom citizens are to reproduce and manifest in the “gardens” of our lives as we put the Garden Principle into operation throughout the world.
Given enough time and influence, one culture can supplant another. For example, although the vast majority of Bahamian citizens are of African descent, ours is not an African culture. Visitors to our beautiful Caribbean country notice immediately that they are surrounded by the culture of Great Britain. We drive on the left side of the road, we traditionally drink tea rather than coffee, and, for many years, dressed in a “traditional” suit consisting of short pants, long socks, a long- sleeved jacket, and long necktie. For the longest time I could not understand why we wore ties in 90-degree weather, until I visited England, where it is always cold.
During the centuries when our country was a colony of Great Britain, the cultures of these islands and of our original African heritage were completely transformed by British culture. Every vestige of African or Caribbean culture was removed until today. Although we may look like Africans, we dress like the British, speak like the British, and act like the British. Even our system of government resembles that of England. One culture transformed and supplanted another.
Anyone can identify our culture by the way we look, speak, and act. Kingdom culture should be the same way. If we are Kingdom citizens, our culture should be evident to everyone we come in contact with. Worldly culture says, “Homosexual marriage is just as valid as heterosexual marriage.” Kingdom culture says , “ Marriage is exclusively a male -female relationship.” Worldly culture says, “Have sex as often as you like with whomever you wish without guilt and without commitment.” Kingdom culture says, “Reserve sex for the marriage relationship alone, and then stay married to the same spouse for life.” Worldly culture says, “Live for the moment. Watch out for ‘number one,’ and make sure you grab your piece of the pie.” Kingdom culture says, “Live with eternity in view, treat others the way you would like them to treat you, and put the interests of others ahead of your own.”
It was never Yah’s desire or intent that there be a British culture, or an American culture, or a Bahamian culture, or a Jamaican culture, or a French culture, or a Chinese culture. He wanted a Kingdom culture, one culture throughout the entire created realm. This is why Hamachiach taught us to pray, “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done in earth, as in the heavens. MATTITHYAHU (MATTHEW) 6:10 את CEPHER. Yah wants Earth to reflect Heaven.
Culture rests on the foundation of law. Yah’s laws are not to restrict us but to protect us and to ensure that His culture fills the Earth. This is what Adam and Eve forgot when they chose to rebel against the King in Eden. When they ate of the one tree in the Garden that Yah had placed off-limits, they did more than commit personal sins for the sake of pleasure and enlightenment; theirs was an act of treason against the government of their Creator. Their disobedience was, in fact, a declaration of independence from Yah and His righteous, loving, and benevolent rule. Adam and Eve turned their backs on Yah’s Kingdom in favor of setting up a regime of their own making. Unfortunately, HaSatan the pretender illegally seized the throne, began pulling the strings, and imposed his own culture of hatred, murder, and deceit.
It is no accident, then, that one of the first recorded events in this new illegitimate kingdom was an act of brother-against- brother murder. When Cain killed his brother Abel (see Gen. 4:1-16), he was simply reflecting his culture. And today, thousands of years and millions of deaths later, brother still kills brother in every nation, city, and town on Earth. It is part of our culture.
In the beginning, Adam and Eve ruled the Garden realm through the presence of the Spirit of Yah. When they declared their independence, the Holy Spirit departed and returned to Heaven, the home country. Man was on his own and at the mercy of the pretender. But Yah loved man too much to leave him on his own and with his original destiny unfulfilled. He did not leave us to fend for ourselves, spinning through space, lost in our own confusion. He said, “They may have declared their independence, but they will never survive without Me. I’m going to return to My own earthly territory and reclaim it, and them, whom I love. I planted a Garden there once. Now I will replant My Garden, but this time I will plant it in the hearts of My people, from where it will spread to the ends of the Earth.”
RESTORING WHAT THE PRETENDER STOLE
Yah’s purpose in reestablishing His Kingdom on Earth through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son is to dethrone the pretender, kick him out of the territory, and restore what he stole from the people he has tyrannized through the ages. If we want to know what kind of ruler HaSatan has been in his illegal regency of the earthly realm, all we have to do is look around us at the generally deplorable state the world is in spiritually, morally, and ethically. If we want to know what the pretender’s rule is like, all we have to do is review any of the abundant examples from history of despotic dictators and self- serving tyrants who raped the land, robbed its resources, and victimized its citizens for their own enrichment. And if we want to understand what the pretender stole from us, all we have to do is examine the common results of human colonization. As a case in point, let’s consider my own nation of the Bahamas.
As I said before, my country was a colony of Great Britain for over 200 years. We were British subjects, and the British government did everything it could to make us dress, speak, and act accordingly. They even sent a governor and other political officials to administer and enforce British law in the colony. I am not suggesting that all or even most of these people were evil or had evil intent, but their presence and work in the name of the British crown had a profound impact on the Bahamian people.
Over the course of more than two centuries, a succession of governors took away from us three important ingredients of our identity as a people and replaced them with those of the home government. The first thing the governor took away from us was our language. Even though most Bahamians are of African descent, we do not speak African languages or dialects. We speak “the King’s English” (or the Queen’s).
In the same way, when the pretender took over Adam and Eve’s domain, he stole their language—our ability to communicate intimately and personally with our Creator. He took away our ability to talk to Yah, and as a race we have been trying desperately to get it back ever since. This is why, when we become Kingdom citizens through faith in Yahusha Hamachiach, one of first things He does is restore our original language, enabling us to talk intimately, personally, and directly to Yah once again in a way that is not possible outside the Kingdom.
The second thing the governor took from us was our history. It was his job to teach us the history of the ruling kingdom, so instead of learning about Shaka Zulu and other leaders and events of African history and heritage, we learned about King Henry VIII and his six wives. We learned about Sir Francis Drake, Queen Elizabeth, and “Bloody Mary” Tudor. We studied Shakespeare. We learned about Oliver Cromwell and about the English Civil War, and thus we lost the sense of our own history.
Likewise, when the pretender seized control, he stole our knowledge of our history as a race. We forgot who we are and where we came from. We lost any sense of awareness of the Kingdom from which we originated and of the King who fashioned us in His own image. This too was restored when Hamachiach reestablished the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. When we first enter the Kingdom, we come to Hamachiach with a history of sin, rebellion, and estrangement from Yah. Hamachiach takes that away and gives us a new “history” of salvation, forgiveness, joy, and peace. He restores us to our rightful place as sons and daughters of the King.
Finally, the third thing the colonial governor took from us was our culture. We started drinking tea with chocolates three times a day. And even though few of us had ever been to England, we began each school day waving little British flags and singing, “Rule Britannia.” We sang to a queen and country we had never seen. In thousands of ways every day we were surrounded by, exposed to, taught, and indoctrinated in the ways and customs of British culture until virtually all traces of any indigenous African or Caribbean culture disappeared.
The same thing happened to humankind under the pretender’s rule. The more his spirit of evil permeated human society, and the more our human hearts departed from Yah and His ways, the more we took on the traits of the pretender’s depraved and decadent culture, and the less we remembered the righteousness, peace, joy, and abundance of the culture of Heaven. Hamachiach came to restore all of that. When we become Kingdom citizens, He gives us a new nature to supplant our old, corrupt, sinful nature—a new nature that loves Yah and delights to do His will and that understands, desires, and has the power to live according to Kingdom culture.
Hamachiach came to give us back what the pretender stole. We are talking about a complete change of culture. We cannot be in the Kingdom of Yah and continue to live the way we used to live. When His Kingdom takes over our lives, everything changes.
The colonial governor of the Bahamas lived in a large pink house built by the British, and when we declared our independence, he returned to England. The Governor of Yah’s Kingdom on Earth, on the other hand, will never be evicted and sent home because He does not reside in a physical building. Acts 17:24 says, “Elohiym that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Yah of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands; MA'ASIYM (ACTS) 17:24 את CEPHER.” Instead, through His Holy Spirit, He dwells in the hearts and lives of the citizens of His Kingdom.
THE RETURN OF THE KING
One of the biggest problems most of us face as believers and Kingdom citizens is that we try to reproduce the new Kingdom culture with our old, un-renewed minds. Our minds have already been tainted and corrupted by worldly culture, which makes our efforts to create good government, promote clean living, and improve society largely ineffectual at best. It is impossible to draw fresh water from a bitter source.
When Hamachiach came to Earth to restore His Father’s Kingdom, the first thing He had to do was clean house. Before He could send His Spirit to dwell in us, He had to wash away the filth He found there: the sin, immorality, degradation, evil, bitterness, envy, jealousy, anger, deceit, gluttony, greed, sexual perversion, prejudice, hatred, and lust. His death on the cross was the cleanup program. His blood has the power to wash away all the filth and degradation of the pretender and his evil rule. Hamachiach came to wash us free of our sins in order to prepare the “house” of our bodies for the return of the Royal Governor so that Heaven’s culture—our original culture—can come back.
Yahusha made it clear that restoring the Kingdom and reinstating its culture on Earth had nothing to do with buildings when He said,
For you bring certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) MA'ASIYM (ACTS) 17:20-21 את CEPHER.
But before the Kingdom can be within us, we must be thoroughly cleansed from the inside out so that the Holy Spirit can inhabit a holy temple. We are not talking about religion here but about the return of legitimate government. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us means that the entire government of Heaven is on the Earth today. This is what Yahusha meant when He said that the Kingdom of Yah is within us.
The Kingdom of Heaven has been reinstated in the territory stolen by the pretender, and it will continue to gain ground. A royal Garden has bloomed in the desert and is spreading inexorably and irresistibility over the barren ground, preparing the way for the day when the King Himself will return visibly and powerfully to take His throne. At that time, the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of His glory, as the waters cover the sea (see Hab. 2:14).
The culture of Yah must come back to Earth. He has called us and commissioned us to make a difference in the world. It is time for Kingdom citizens everywhere to infuse this sick world with the curative elixir of the culture of Heaven. Our King has placed us here to seed worldly government with the government of the Kingdom. He has called us to invade the culture of worldly business with the business of Heaven. This is not about profit but about permeation. Like yeast, we are to infiltrate and permeate the world with Kingdom culture until the whole is transformed—until the barren desert is a beautiful, fertile, and fruitful garden once more.
The Kingdom of Heaven is not about escaping Earth; it is about occupying the planet. As Kingdom citizens, we are destined to change the world. In the name of Yahusha the King, nations and peoples will be set free from the cruel bondage and deadly culture of HaSatan the pretender. The time of the Kingdom of Yah is upon us. Let His Kingdom come. Let His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Let us live according to His laws and principles. Let His culture reign supreme. Let the Earth be filled with His glory.
Today we are walking in: Heaven And Earth: A Clash Of Cultures
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
HEAVEN AND EARTH: A CLASH OF CULTURES
NOT long after national elections in the Bahamas, someone asked me in an airport, “What do you think about your new government?”
I replied, “I only have one government.”
It doesn’t matter who occupies the prime minister’s chair or the Speaker of Parliament’s chair or the governor’s mansion; it doesn’t matter who sits on the throne and is called king or queen. There is only one government, and it belongs to Him whose throne will never be moved or toppled: Almighty Yah, the King of kings and Most High of Most Highs. His rule in Heaven is eternal, without beginning or end. But He also created the Earth and established His Kingdom there as well.
The Bible says, “He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are Yahuah's, and he has set the world upon them. SHEMU'EL RI'SHON (1 SAMUEL) 2:8 את CEPHER. The words earth and world often are used interchangeably, but here they refer to two different things. Earth refers to the place, the physical planet on which we reside, while world refers to order or governing affairs. Yah created the physical Earth and then set on it the “world” of His government and divine order. Earth, then, has to do with location, while world deals with who is running things.
Yah rules directly in Heaven, but His plan for the Earth was to rule it indirectly through human representatives that He created in His own image. Adam and Eve were to rule under Yah’s appointment and reproduce and maintain the order and government of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. From the beginning, the Earth was designed to be ruled by one government: the Kingdom of Heaven. Any other government is illegal on this planet. This is why the Bible makes it clear that human governments exist only by Yah’s permission and that He ordained them for the protection of society and the common human welfare until the day His Kingdom government on Earth is fully restored. In his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul leaves no doubt as to the true authority behind human affairs:
LET every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of Elohiym: the powers that be are ordained of Elohiym. Whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of Elohiym: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will you then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and you shall have praise of the same: For he is the minister of Elohiym to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid; for he bears not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of Elohiym, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 13:1-5 את CEPHER.
HaSatan the pretender may believe that he runs the show and controls the governments of the Earth, but it is the King of Heaven who guides human history and destiny toward His desired ends. He raises up one power and brings down another, all in accordance with His sovereign will and purpose. Psalm 75:7 says, “But Elohiym is the judge: he puts down one, and sets up another. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 75:7 את CEPHER.” In the Book of Isaiah, the Most High Himself declares:
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am El, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 45:22-23 את CEPHER.
HEAVEN: EARTH’S ONLY LEGITIMATE CULTURE
Human empires rise and fall, but the Kingdom of Yah stands forever. Earthly rulers who forget or who refuse to acknowledge the One to whom they are accountable set themselves up for judgment, and even destruction. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, ruled the mightiest empire the world had ever known up to that time, but even he had to learn to humble himself before the Yah of Heaven:
At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babel. The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babel, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O King Nevukadne'tstsar, to you it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from you. And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make you to eat grass as oxen, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that El Elyon rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nevukadne'tstsar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the days I Nevukadne'tstsar lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed El Elyon, and I praised and honored him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What do you? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my princes sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nevukadne'tstsar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. DANIY'EL (DANIEL) 4:29-37 את CEPHER.
To say that Yah is Most High of Most Highs means that He owns everything there is by right of creation; to call Him King of kings is to acknowledge that His government and authority are above all others. All earthly rulers, willingly or not, and consciously or not, are subject ultimately to Yah’s sovereign authority. In the end, His will shall prevail, His purpose shall be accomplished, and His Kingdom will come on Earth as it is in Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is the only order that Yah placed on the Earth. Anything else is disorder.
When HaSatan seized control of the dominion that rightly belonged to man, he brought disorder onto the world scene: pride, envy, greed, selfishness, hatred... and man-centered religion, which reduces the life-giving principles of Yah’s Kingdom to empty rites, rituals, and rules.
The point of all of this is to make it clear that the culture of Heaven is the only legitimate culture for the Earth. So-called human culture, which is influenced and controlled by HaSatan, and therefore is in conflict with the culture of Heaven—is an illegitimate culture. So we have two cultures in conflict, a cultural clash between Heaven and Earth.
CULTURE PROBLEMS
Anyone who pays any attention at all to human events at home or abroad knows that global society is in upheaval of unprecedented proportions. We face many global challenges that we just can’t solve. The United Nations was formed after the Second World War for the purpose of preventing war. Yet in the 60 years of its existence, there have been more wars than in all the rest of recorded human history. So even our best and most well-intentioned attempt to prevent ourselves from killing each other has failed. Even worse, corruption scandals in recent years have revealed that there are those within the UN itself who have placed their own enrichment ahead of the greater good and engaged in ongoing activities that have undermined the very goals the organization is trying to achieve.
If we judge only by what we see happening around us and around the world every day, how can we help but become frustrated, discouraged, and even fearful? Who among us does not wake up in the morning, glance at the news headlines or listen to broadcast news reports, and immediately become depressed? We are all looking and dreaming and hoping and praying for a better world, aren’t we? Imagine what it would be like to get up one morning and find no news of war, or genocide, or ethnic cleansing, or terrorism, or starvation, or poverty. Unfortunately, truly good news like that is an increasingly rare commodity in our world today.
Strangely enough, the single biggest cause of our problems is the very thing that was supposed to provide a solution: religion. Historically, religion has been the primary driving force behind the vast majority of global conflict. This is especially true today. Global terrorism is fueled by extremist religious ideology. In the name of Allah, radical Muslim groups such as Hamas and al-Qaida utilize violence and terror to either convert or destroy the “infidels” (unbelievers). In Iraq, Sunni and Shiite Muslims kill each other in a bloodletting unleashed by the release of years of pent-up anger, resentment, hostility, and hatred. The burning of churches in Pakistan results in the retaliatory torching of temples and mosques in India.
Religion is not a peaceful prospect. And religious conflict is not restricted to Islam or Hinduism or other “non-Western” religions. Christianity carries its own heavy burden of responsibility for religiously motivated conflict. The Crusades of the Middle Ages and centuries of hostility and persecution between Catholics and Protestants are two prime examples. Think of all the years that Belfast and Northern Ireland burned with unrest and violence because Catholics and Protestants were unable to live together in peace. Denominations within the Church are like little kingdoms of their own, jockeying for position and advantage and fighting amongst themselves over theology, doctrine, and theories of church government instead of working together for the common cause of the Gospel. This is why I make a clear and unambiguous distinction between the Kingdom of Heaven and institutional Christianity as a religious entity. They are not the same.
The shrinking of our global community through telecommunications technology and the Internet has greatly accelerated the rate and intensity of culture clash. A “take-no- prisoners” war is being waged for the soul of our culture, and it is vitally important that we identify the nature of the fight.
What do we do when a major newsmagazine runs a cover story titled “Muslims in the USA” or we discover that mosques are popping up next to churches all over America? It is a clash of cultures. How should we respond to the debate in England over whether or not female religious devotees can wear veils in school or for driver’s license photographs, even though the teachers and government officials need to be able to see their faces to identify them? It is a clash of cultures. The need to preserve democratic freedom and individual rights conflicts with the need for greater security.
What do we do when the counterculture of sexual perversion labors and lobbies vigorously to dignify and legitimize itself through legislation? How should we respond to the claim that two men or two women should be able to marry each other, and even to raise children in such a same-gender household? What do we do when we claim to believe in “family values” only to discover that society has redefined family to mean anything anybody at all wants it to mean? This is no time to play religious games; the very life of our culture is at stake.
What do we do when 70 bishops in a major American denomination vote to ordain an openly and active gay priest as archbishop of an entire diocese? What do we do? We can’t afford to remain silent. One of the worst things in the world is for people who know what is right to remain silent in the face of wrong. We need help from beyond ourselves—help from the Creator of the Earth’s original and only legitimate culture.
THE POWER OF CULTURE
Culture is stronger than politics. It really doesn’t matter who is in power. Politicians come and go, and governments rise and fall, but culture still remains. Culture is also more powerful than religion. One of the biggest challenges that Church leaders faced during the first few centuries of the Church’s existence was how to keep those who were coming into the Church out of pagan backgrounds from bringing elements of their pagan culture with them and blending these with their new faith in Hamachiach. Even today we continue to see the enormous power of culture in the fact that many believers and Kingdom citizens display lifestyles that differ little from those of people who make no claim to be in the Kingdom.
The United States of America has a rich historical heritage of faith and even today has the highest percentage of citizens who claim to be believers (Christians) of any of the industrialized nations. Yet every year in America, 500,000 unborn babies are aborted—legally. The most progressive nation in the world murders half a million babies in the womb every year, and the law protects both the mothers who choose to kill their children as well as the doctors who carry out the destruction. This is insanity, yet it exemplifies the power of culture over religion in its ability to shape the thoughts, values, and beliefs of people and to influence their behavior and what they are willing to accept.
In another example, gay rights activists in America have made great strides forward in their efforts to legitimize their lifestyle through the legal process. Gay marriage is already legal in the states of Massachusetts and California, and efforts to legalize it in other states are on the rise. An increasing number of Americans—many of the same ones who claim faith in Hamachiach—say they find nothing wrong with homosexual relationships and that gays should be afforded special “civil rights” protection under the law. Legislation has even been proposed that would make anti-gay speech or activity a hate crime.
I am not picking on America here but just illustrating the power of culture over religion—even in a nation that is still widely regarded as the most “religious” nation in the industrialized world. Similar developments are taking place in other parts of the globe. We are smarter but not wiser. We are in a pitched battle for the culture of the Earth. Most often what we assume to be issues of social, religious, or political activity are really issues of culture.
Culture is the manifestation of the collective thinking of a people. This means that whoever controls the minds of the people creates and controls the culture. Culture is also a product of law. The most effective way to change a culture is to control its laws, because whatever is instated into law eventually will become accepted as “normal” by most citizens, regardless of how they might have felt at the beginning. This is all part of the process of mind control.
Is it any surprise then that when Yah got ready to create a nation out of people who had been slaves for 400 years, He gave them a code of law encapsulated in the Ten Commandments? Yah knew that before the Israelites could become a holy nation and a people set apart for Him, He had to change their thinking. His purpose was to create a Kingdom culture on Earth by raising up a nation of Kingdom thinkers and Kingdomlivers.
This is why the Bible says that the law of Yah is good. When we obey the law of Yah, we are producing the culture of Heaven. This has nothing to do with practicing a religion, but rather with instating a culture based on the law of Yah that will permeate and transform every part of society. Paul described what it meant to exchange the world’s culture for the culture of Heaven when he wrote,
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of Elohiym. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 12:2 את CEPHER.
To renew our minds means to take on the attitude of Hamachiach (see Phil. 2:5) and to understand that as believers and Kingdom citizens we have the mind of Hamachiach (see 1 Cor. 2:16). We need to know His mind and discern His thinking. Taking up the culture of Heaven means learning to think Yah’s thoughts and living accordingly.
The Kingdom of Yah is a kingdom of the heart and mind that manifests itself in culture. The secret to expanding Heaven’s culture on Earth is to change people’s minds, to cultivate them like a garden, carefully seeding their minds with the thoughts, beliefs, ideals, values, and convictions of Heaven. The end result will be the transformation of an arid, spiritually barren mental landscape into a verdant and vibrant garden full of life, hope, and unlimited potential.
In contrast to the world’s culture, which, reflecting the character and nature of the pretender, is a culture of desperation, discrimination, depravity, division, destruction, and death, Heaven’s culture is a culture of power, provision, and possibility. This is the culture of the King, of whom Paul writes,
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, Unto him be glory in the called out assembly by Mashiach Yahusha throughout all ages, world without end. Amein. EPH'SIYM (EPHESIANS) 3:20-21 את CEPHER.
Yah wants us to become all that we can be, and He has the power to enable us to succeed.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The Kingdom of Heaven is not a religion; it is a government and a society with a culture that is just as real as any devised by man—but even more so. That is why Yah issued laws for us to obey in His Kingdom. Those laws produce a lifestyle, and that lifestyle manifests in a culture, in a community that creates a society that is totally unique. This is the culture that existed in the Garden of Eden, and the culture that all Kingdom citizens are to reproduce and manifest in the “gardens” of our lives as we put the Garden Principle into operation throughout the world.
Given enough time and influence, one culture can supplant another. For example, although the vast majority of Bahamian citizens are of African descent, ours is not an African culture. Visitors to our beautiful Caribbean country notice immediately that they are surrounded by the culture of Great Britain. We drive on the left side of the road, we traditionally drink tea rather than coffee, and, for many years, dressed in a “traditional” suit consisting of short pants, long socks, a long- sleeved jacket, and long necktie. For the longest time I could not understand why we wore ties in 90-degree weather, until I visited England, where it is always cold.
During the centuries when our country was a colony of Great Britain, the cultures of these islands and of our original African heritage were completely transformed by British culture. Every vestige of African or Caribbean culture was removed until today. Although we may look like Africans, we dress like the British, speak like the British, and act like the British. Even our system of government resembles that of England. One culture transformed and supplanted another.
Anyone can identify our culture by the way we look, speak, and act. Kingdom culture should be the same way. If we are Kingdom citizens, our culture should be evident to everyone we come in contact with. Worldly culture says, “Homosexual marriage is just as valid as heterosexual marriage.” Kingdom culture says , “ Marriage is exclusively a male -female relationship.” Worldly culture says, “Have sex as often as you like with whomever you wish without guilt and without commitment.” Kingdom culture says, “Reserve sex for the marriage relationship alone, and then stay married to the same spouse for life.” Worldly culture says, “Live for the moment. Watch out for ‘number one,’ and make sure you grab your piece of the pie.” Kingdom culture says, “Live with eternity in view, treat others the way you would like them to treat you, and put the interests of others ahead of your own.”
It was never Yah’s desire or intent that there be a British culture, or an American culture, or a Bahamian culture, or a Jamaican culture, or a French culture, or a Chinese culture. He wanted a Kingdom culture, one culture throughout the entire created realm. This is why Hamachiach taught us to pray, “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done in earth, as in the heavens. MATTITHYAHU (MATTHEW) 6:10 את CEPHER. Yah wants Earth to reflect Heaven.
Culture rests on the foundation of law. Yah’s laws are not to restrict us but to protect us and to ensure that His culture fills the Earth. This is what Adam and Eve forgot when they chose to rebel against the King in Eden. When they ate of the one tree in the Garden that Yah had placed off-limits, they did more than commit personal sins for the sake of pleasure and enlightenment; theirs was an act of treason against the government of their Creator. Their disobedience was, in fact, a declaration of independence from Yah and His righteous, loving, and benevolent rule. Adam and Eve turned their backs on Yah’s Kingdom in favor of setting up a regime of their own making. Unfortunately, HaSatan the pretender illegally seized the throne, began pulling the strings, and imposed his own culture of hatred, murder, and deceit.
It is no accident, then, that one of the first recorded events in this new illegitimate kingdom was an act of brother-against- brother murder. When Cain killed his brother Abel (see Gen. 4:1-16), he was simply reflecting his culture. And today, thousands of years and millions of deaths later, brother still kills brother in every nation, city, and town on Earth. It is part of our culture.
In the beginning, Adam and Eve ruled the Garden realm through the presence of the Spirit of Yah. When they declared their independence, the Holy Spirit departed and returned to Heaven, the home country. Man was on his own and at the mercy of the pretender. But Yah loved man too much to leave him on his own and with his original destiny unfulfilled. He did not leave us to fend for ourselves, spinning through space, lost in our own confusion. He said, “They may have declared their independence, but they will never survive without Me. I’m going to return to My own earthly territory and reclaim it, and them, whom I love. I planted a Garden there once. Now I will replant My Garden, but this time I will plant it in the hearts of My people, from where it will spread to the ends of the Earth.”
RESTORING WHAT THE PRETENDER STOLE
Yah’s purpose in reestablishing His Kingdom on Earth through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son is to dethrone the pretender, kick him out of the territory, and restore what he stole from the people he has tyrannized through the ages. If we want to know what kind of ruler HaSatan has been in his illegal regency of the earthly realm, all we have to do is look around us at the generally deplorable state the world is in spiritually, morally, and ethically. If we want to know what the pretender’s rule is like, all we have to do is review any of the abundant examples from history of despotic dictators and self- serving tyrants who raped the land, robbed its resources, and victimized its citizens for their own enrichment. And if we want to understand what the pretender stole from us, all we have to do is examine the common results of human colonization. As a case in point, let’s consider my own nation of the Bahamas.
As I said before, my country was a colony of Great Britain for over 200 years. We were British subjects, and the British government did everything it could to make us dress, speak, and act accordingly. They even sent a governor and other political officials to administer and enforce British law in the colony. I am not suggesting that all or even most of these people were evil or had evil intent, but their presence and work in the name of the British crown had a profound impact on the Bahamian people.
Over the course of more than two centuries, a succession of governors took away from us three important ingredients of our identity as a people and replaced them with those of the home government. The first thing the governor took away from us was our language. Even though most Bahamians are of African descent, we do not speak African languages or dialects. We speak “the King’s English” (or the Queen’s).
In the same way, when the pretender took over Adam and Eve’s domain, he stole their language—our ability to communicate intimately and personally with our Creator. He took away our ability to talk to Yah, and as a race we have been trying desperately to get it back ever since. This is why, when we become Kingdom citizens through faith in Yahusha Hamachiach, one of first things He does is restore our original language, enabling us to talk intimately, personally, and directly to Yah once again in a way that is not possible outside the Kingdom.
The second thing the governor took from us was our history. It was his job to teach us the history of the ruling kingdom, so instead of learning about Shaka Zulu and other leaders and events of African history and heritage, we learned about King Henry VIII and his six wives. We learned about Sir Francis Drake, Queen Elizabeth, and “Bloody Mary” Tudor. We studied Shakespeare. We learned about Oliver Cromwell and about the English Civil War, and thus we lost the sense of our own history.
Likewise, when the pretender seized control, he stole our knowledge of our history as a race. We forgot who we are and where we came from. We lost any sense of awareness of the Kingdom from which we originated and of the King who fashioned us in His own image. This too was restored when Hamachiach reestablished the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. When we first enter the Kingdom, we come to Hamachiach with a history of sin, rebellion, and estrangement from Yah. Hamachiach takes that away and gives us a new “history” of salvation, forgiveness, joy, and peace. He restores us to our rightful place as sons and daughters of the King.
Finally, the third thing the colonial governor took from us was our culture. We started drinking tea with chocolates three times a day. And even though few of us had ever been to England, we began each school day waving little British flags and singing, “Rule Britannia.” We sang to a queen and country we had never seen. In thousands of ways every day we were surrounded by, exposed to, taught, and indoctrinated in the ways and customs of British culture until virtually all traces of any indigenous African or Caribbean culture disappeared.
The same thing happened to humankind under the pretender’s rule. The more his spirit of evil permeated human society, and the more our human hearts departed from Yah and His ways, the more we took on the traits of the pretender’s depraved and decadent culture, and the less we remembered the righteousness, peace, joy, and abundance of the culture of Heaven. Hamachiach came to restore all of that. When we become Kingdom citizens, He gives us a new nature to supplant our old, corrupt, sinful nature—a new nature that loves Yah and delights to do His will and that understands, desires, and has the power to live according to Kingdom culture.
Hamachiach came to give us back what the pretender stole. We are talking about a complete change of culture. We cannot be in the Kingdom of Yah and continue to live the way we used to live. When His Kingdom takes over our lives, everything changes.
The colonial governor of the Bahamas lived in a large pink house built by the British, and when we declared our independence, he returned to England. The Governor of Yah’s Kingdom on Earth, on the other hand, will never be evicted and sent home because He does not reside in a physical building. Acts 17:24 says, “Elohiym that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Yah of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands; MA'ASIYM (ACTS) 17:24 את CEPHER.” Instead, through His Holy Spirit, He dwells in the hearts and lives of the citizens of His Kingdom.
THE RETURN OF THE KING
One of the biggest problems most of us face as believers and Kingdom citizens is that we try to reproduce the new Kingdom culture with our old, un-renewed minds. Our minds have already been tainted and corrupted by worldly culture, which makes our efforts to create good government, promote clean living, and improve society largely ineffectual at best. It is impossible to draw fresh water from a bitter source.
When Hamachiach came to Earth to restore His Father’s Kingdom, the first thing He had to do was clean house. Before He could send His Spirit to dwell in us, He had to wash away the filth He found there: the sin, immorality, degradation, evil, bitterness, envy, jealousy, anger, deceit, gluttony, greed, sexual perversion, prejudice, hatred, and lust. His death on the cross was the cleanup program. His blood has the power to wash away all the filth and degradation of the pretender and his evil rule. Hamachiach came to wash us free of our sins in order to prepare the “house” of our bodies for the return of the Royal Governor so that Heaven’s culture—our original culture—can come back.
Yahusha made it clear that restoring the Kingdom and reinstating its culture on Earth had nothing to do with buildings when He said,
For you bring certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) MA'ASIYM (ACTS) 17:20-21 את CEPHER.
But before the Kingdom can be within us, we must be thoroughly cleansed from the inside out so that the Holy Spirit can inhabit a holy temple. We are not talking about religion here but about the return of legitimate government. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us means that the entire government of Heaven is on the Earth today. This is what Yahusha meant when He said that the Kingdom of Yah is within us.
The Kingdom of Heaven has been reinstated in the territory stolen by the pretender, and it will continue to gain ground. A royal Garden has bloomed in the desert and is spreading inexorably and irresistibility over the barren ground, preparing the way for the day when the King Himself will return visibly and powerfully to take His throne. At that time, the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of His glory, as the waters cover the sea (see Hab. 2:14).
The culture of Yah must come back to Earth. He has called us and commissioned us to make a difference in the world. It is time for Kingdom citizens everywhere to infuse this sick world with the curative elixir of the culture of Heaven. Our King has placed us here to seed worldly government with the government of the Kingdom. He has called us to invade the culture of worldly business with the business of Heaven. This is not about profit but about permeation. Like yeast, we are to infiltrate and permeate the world with Kingdom culture until the whole is transformed—until the barren desert is a beautiful, fertile, and fruitful garden once more.
The Kingdom of Heaven is not about escaping Earth; it is about occupying the planet. As Kingdom citizens, we are destined to change the world. In the name of Yahusha the King, nations and peoples will be set free from the cruel bondage and deadly culture of HaSatan the pretender. The time of the Kingdom of Yah is upon us. Let His Kingdom come. Let His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Let us live according to His laws and principles. Let His culture reign supreme. Let the Earth be filled with His glory.
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