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.