Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: A King’s Love for His Citizens
Psalm 119:127
Therefore I love H157 thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
LOVE
Today we look to the word LOVE --H157 - 'ahab --a primitive root; to have affection for:—be loved, lovely, like, friend.
The Torah testifies.........……
Exodus 20:6
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love H157 me, and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 6:5
And thou shalt love H157 the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
The prophets proclaim..................
Joshua 23:11
Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love H157 the Lord your God.
Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love H157 mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
The writings bear witness............
Proverbs 17: 9
He that covereth a transgression seeketh love H157; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
Chapter 6
A King’s Love for His Citizens
Love is the nature of the King and his kingdom.
Love’s Voluntary Limitation
To fully understand the nature of the kingdom we have an opportunity to enter, we must see that the King- Son’s motivation for coming to earth was unqualified love for its inhabitants. He loved the people of the world so much that he voluntarily limited himself in significant ways in order to restore them to the kingdom. The Gospels writer John penned one of the best-known statements from the gospel writings: “For Yah so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Love is the nature of the King- Father and the King-Son.
Yahusha is the perfect representation of Yah in human form. He came to show us what Yah is like and to take away our fear of Him, enabling us to call him not only our King, but also our Father again, because we have the same Ruach within us.
The Governor’s Limitation
The King-Son’s voluntary limitation of himself was prompted by the limited way in which the Governor had been able to work with the earth’s inhabitants since the rebellion of humanity. As we noted earlier, the Governor could only come upon people in Old Testament times to do the work of the kingdom in specific instances; he could not work from within them yet. When the Son came to earth as the man Yahusha, the Ruach could now live on earth within his body. Yet the Governor still could not dwell in all of humanity. The King-Father’s plan was for the Governor to eventually be released into all human beings who would receive him through the provision of the King-Son.
The King-Son Limited Himself in order to Become Unlimited
Yahusha’ teachings were filled with seeming paradoxes that contain great truths. For example, he taught that in order to live eternally, one had to die to oneself; in order to be strong in kingdom power, one had to be weak in oneself. He lived out a paradox by voluntarily limiting himself so that he could become unlimited in the lives of his followers those who became children of the King and received the Governor within them. Yahusha limited himself in the following ways. He...
- emptied himself so that we could be full; became poor so that we could be rich.
- placed himself under the restrictions of a world of space and time so that we could be connected to the eternal kingdom.
- subjected himself to law so he could free those under it.
- submitted to physical death so we could have eternal life.
Paul wrote to the kingdom citizens in Philippi that Yahusha,being in the form of Yah, did not consider it robbery to be equal with Yah, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the crucifixion stake.
All the above are demonstrations of the King-Son’s powerful love for the inhabitants of earth. He did these things so that he could send the Governor back to us and in us with- out limitations. The Ruach HaQadesh continues the ministry of Yahusha on earth. Yahusha told his disciples,
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever the Ruach of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Let’s take a closer look at the ways in which the King-Son limited himself for our sakes.
Limited Himself from Glory
In a letter to the followers of Yahusha in Corinth, Paul wrote, “For you know the grace of our Most High Yahusha Hamachiach, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” The King-Son emptied himself of his heavenly power, glory, and riches to live as a physical, earthly being dependent on the King-Father for everything through the Ruach. Yahusha said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
When the Son became a man, he temporarily set aside his former glory. Just before his death, Yahusha prayed, “Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Only three of Yahusha’ disciples were given a glimpse of this glory when he was on earth, when he was “transfigured” by the Father for a short time:
Yahusha took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Yahusha. Peter said to Yahusha, “Most High, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
The effect of this experience on Peter, James, and John was overwhelming. The Son had set aside this magnificent glory to fulfill his mission on earth.
Limited Himself to Time and Space
The eternal King-Son also allowed himself to become restricted by time. He who owns the universe limited himself to a small region on a small planet during an earthly life of thirty-three years, where he could be in only one place at a time. He lived there, died there, rose again there, and even ascended to heaven from there. Eternity allowed itself to be limited within time, so that those in time could be reconnected to the eternal kingdom.
Limited Himself under Law
Paul wrote, “When the time had fully come, Yah sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” The law of Moses and the sacrificial system had been instituted for those who were disconnected from the King. Yahusha had full access to, and total communion with, the heavenly Father; yet he submitted himself to all the requirements of the law so that he could perfectly fulfill them. Then, when we receive his perfect sacrifice on our behalf, we are enabled to obey Yah through the indwelling Ruach HaQadesh. The book of the prophet Ezekiel says,
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new Ruach in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their Yah.
Yahusha also submitted himself to the laws of nature in this physical world. Can you imagine Yah having a tired body? Being thirsty? Hungry? The Yah who created the whole world and all its oceans, lakes, and rivers had to ask someone else for a drink of water. The Yah who made the trees and their ability to bear fruit had to stop to pick fruit to eat. The Yah whom the psalmist said “neither slumbers nor sleeps” had to rest.
In fact, Yahusha was once so tired that he kept sleeping in the middle of a violent storm! He temporarily submitted himself to physical limitations in order to give back dominion power to humanity.
Limited Himself by Death
The Author of life had to look into the eyes of death. He met it face-to-face and submitted to it. Then he conquered it, taking away its sting from humanity. The prophet Isaiah said it pleased the King-Father for the King-Son to suffer and die. Why would it please him to have the Son experience agonizing suffering and death? Again, it is because he didn’t want the earth’s inhabitants to experience spiritual death as a result of their rebellion, and therefore the King-Son willingly died in our place. He allowed himself to be limited in a physical human body, and to be limited by the experience of death, because only another human being could be a viable substitute for humanity. Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of Yah is eternal life through Yahusha Hamachiach our Most High.” Yahusha had no sin, but he took all our sins on himself, and that is why he the perfect man, the Second Adam died.
Yet Yahusha was resurrected, never to be limited by death again. In the same way, when we enter into the kingdom, we receive eternal life, and death can’t keep our bodies in the grave forever. Again, Paul wrote, “By his power Yah raised the Most High from the dead, and he will raise us also.” The Son’s limitation of death brought unlimited life for us! Death has no ultimate claim on us because Yahusha paid the punishment of death for us. As Paul said, “Yah made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of Yah” so that we could receive eternal life and be in right standing with the kingdom again.
This is another clear difference between the heavenly King and the human leaders we are familiar with. You don’t hear of presidents or prime ministers dying in office for the purpose of freeing their citizens. A leader may be assassinated for standing up for a cause or because of someone’s hatred or insanity. But to choose to die for his citizens? This is unheard of in our experience. Remember the words of the disciple John: “For Yah so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Yahusha compared his sacrifice for humanity to a shepherd laying down his life for his sheep: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep.” His death was a demonstration of pure love for his people.
The Promise of Unlimited Kingdom Influence
Yahusha’ limiting of himself made possible the return of unlimited kingdom influence on earth. I’ve heard some people say longingly that they wish Yahusha Hamachiach was on earth today. They believe that if he were, and they met him personally, their lives would be different. Perhaps you wish for the same thing. I used to, also. But I’ve come to see that this is a bad wish; it’s not in our best interests. The transformation of our lives is possible because Yahusha is no longer physically on earth.
Why is this so? First, let’s consider the logistics of it. If Yahusha was physically here, and you wanted to visit him, you’d have to pay for the plane fare to Palestine. After you arrived, you’d have to make your way through all the crowds just to try to get near him. And then, you couldn’t expect him to spend all his time with you. Think of the millions or billions of people who would also want to meet with him every day. Even so, we seem to hold on to the idea that Yahusha’ physical presence on earth is what we need. This is because we haven’t realized that the Governor is now available to all people at all times.
Yahusha’ disciples made the same error we do. When the King-Son told his followers he was leaving earth to go back to the King- Father in the heavenly home country, they became depressed. They had become attached to Yahusha’ physical presence in their lives, and they were afraid to lose it. Yet let’s look at Yahusha’ response to this perspective:
Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you....In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.
Yahusha was saying that he had to return to heaven so that he could send the Governor to be with them always. They would not see Yahusha after he went away, but when he sent the Governor from heaven shortly thereafter, they would be indwelled with the Ruach HaQadesh, who would guide them into all truth and remind them of everything Yahusha had said to them.
When the Governor came, he wouldn’t be with them only in a limited way, such as Yahusha had to be when he was ministering to someone else or alone praying to the Father. He would be with them continually, day and night, in all situations. Before, if Yahusha was in Samaria, he couldn’t be in Galilee. If he was in Jerusalem, he couldn’t be in Bethany.
We should be glad that he has returned to heaven because now the kingdom can be all over the world at the same time through the Ruach HaQadesh, who lives in all kingdom citizens. Yahusha assured his disciples, in essence, “My going away is for your good. The Governor is with you now, but he will be in you.” It wasn’t Yahusha’ purpose to physically remain on the earth because this would have stopped the King’s plan of restoration right before its culmination in the return of the Governor.
When Yahusha was arrested and crucified, Lucifer thought he had won the victory over the King that he had been looking for. Actually, he was being set up for total defeat. If Yahusha hadn’t gone to the crucifixion stake and been resurrected, we would still be trapped in rebellion and in the kingdom of darkness. If Yahusha hadn’t returned to the heavenly home country and sent the Governor to fill us, the kingdom of Yah would not have been able to fully return to the earth. Yahusha had said, in effect, “If I go to the crucifixion stake, I will be able to draw all people to me and into the kingdom. I will be able to release billions of people into their original purpose of kingdom rulership and dominion.”
Yahusha limited himself, in the many ways that he did, out of self-sacrificial love and devotion to the estranged children of the King. He made reconciliation and restoration possible for all the inhabitants of the world.
A Priceless Gift for Humanity
We have seen all along that the most important person on earth is the Ruach HaQadesh, the Governor of the heavenly kingdom. He is a priceless gift to humanity, and it delighted the King- Father to restore the Governor to us. Luke the physician recorded Yahusha as saying to his disciples, “If you then, though you are evil [controlled by the kingdom of darkness], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven [Ruler of the kingdom of light] give the Ruach HaQadesh to those who ask him!” He also said, “Your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
In the next teaching, we will see how the Governor returned to earth.
The Divine destiny connection, the chain that links us together.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
THE REBIRTH OF A KINGDOM
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: The Rebirth Of A Kingdom
Numbers 24:7
He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. BEMIDBAR (NUMBERS) 24:7 ×ת CEPHER
KINGDOM
Today we look to the word-KINGDOM- H4467 mamlâkâh, (mam-law-kaw') -dominion, (abstractly) the estate (rule) or (concretely) the country (realm):—kingdom, king's, reign, royal
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 19:6
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Yashar'el. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 19:6 ×ת CEPHER
Numbers 32:33
And Mosheh gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Re'uven, and unto half the tribe of Menashsheh the son of Yoceph, the kingdom of Ciychon king of the Emoriym, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about. BEMIDBAR (NUMBERS) 32:33 ×ת CEPHER
Deuteronomy 17:18
And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this Torah in a cepher out of that which is before the priests the Leviyiym: DEVARIYM (DEUTERONOMY) 17:18 ×ת CEPHER
The prophets proclaim..................
1 Samuel 10:18
And said unto the children of Yashar'el, Thus says Yahuah Elohai of Yashar'el, I brought up Yashar'el out of Mitsrayim, and delivered you out of the hand of the Mitsriym, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: SHEMU'EL RI'SHON (1 SAMUEL) 10:18 ×ת CEPHER
Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Yahuah Tseva'oth will perform this. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 9:7 ×ת CEPHER
Jeremiah 18:9
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; YIRMEYAHU (JEREMIAH) 18:9 ×ת CEPHER
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 9:5
Then I will establish the throne of your kingdom upon Yashar'el forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man upon the throne of Yashar'el. MELEKIYM RI'SHON (1 KINGS) 9:5 ×ת CEPHER
1 Chronicles 17:11
And it shall come to pass, when your days be expired that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will raise up your seed after you, which shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. DIVREI HAYAMIYM RI'SHON (1 CHRONICLES) 17:11 ×ת CEPHER
Psalm 145:13
Your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. Yahuah is true in his word, and holy in all his works. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 145:13 ×ת CEPHER
Chapter 5
The Rebirth of a Kingdom
The greatest motivation of the human Ruach is to control its environment.
The King’s goal was to cause his children to be integrated, set apart, and devoted to him—so that his Ruach could live within them once more. This would be the work of the Offspring, the one called the Messiah by the prophets. The Offspring was first mentioned in Genesis 3 and was revealed by the prophets Isaiah, Malachi, and others to be the King of heaven himself. While the First or Old Testament emphasizes the promise of the coming King, the New Testament reveals the rebirth of the kingdom on earth through his arrival.
The rebirth of the kingdom signified the recolonization of earth. Recolonization is unheard of in human history, or is at least very rare. Once a people declare independence, they don’t go back to the home country. The plan that the King was unfolding was therefore unprecedented.
The Birth of the King on Earth
The King, of course, needed to remain in the heavenly kingdom as its ruler and sustainer. At the same time, he had to come to earth to provide for the return of the Governor. The Ruach of the King was directly involved in his coming to earth. Luke the physician, the writer of the gospel bearing his name, wrote,
Yah sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendent of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Most High is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with Yah.”
The angel’s statement, “You have found favor with Yah,” shows us that Mary was yielded to the heavenly government and the purposes of the King, and this is why she was chosen for this crucial assignment in the intervention of the heavenly kingdom on earth. The angel continued,
You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Yahusha. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Most High Yah will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Ruach HaQadesh will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of Yah....For nothing is impossible with Yah.” “I am the Most High’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”
Again, we see evidence of Mary’s submission to the heavenly government: “I am the Most High’s servant....May it be to me as you have said.”
In this passage is a fact of vital significance: the Ruach conceived Yah the Son or the King-Son, whose earthly name was Yahusha, in the womb of Mary. Mary was what we might call a surrogate mother for the eternal and invisible Yah’s entrance into the physical world as a human being. Also, the King-Son was filled with the Ruach when he was conceived. This means that the Governor returned to earth at this time within the person of Yahusha. The Governor was resident in the body of Yahusha until the rest of humanity could be prepared to receive him as well, through Yahusha’ provision. At that time, the King-Son would reappoint the Governor to the earth in order to restore kingdom influence throughout the world and to give back kingdom citizenship to humanity.
The King-Son was both fully divine (as Yah the Son) and fully human (as the man Yahusha). Yet he was not infected by the rebellious nature of humanity. The womb of a woman is designed in such a way that the blood of a mother and her unborn child never mix. Yahusha’ blood was pure; his life was pure. As we read in the third book of Moses, “The life of every creature is its blood.” Like Adam before the rebellion, Yahusha and everything about him was set apart and devoted to the King-Father.
The Governor Gave the King so the King Could Give the Governor
The King-Son had to be born of the Ruach and filled with the Ruach, so that he could deliver the Governor to the people of earth in fulfillment of the promise. John the Baptist announced to the world the arrival of the King-Son who would restore the Ruach, and he said about Yahusha, “The one who comes from heaven is above all....For the one whom Yah has sent speaks the words of Yah, for Yah gives the Ruach without limit [to him],” and “He will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire.” Yahusha told his disciples,
If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Ruach of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
Therefore, the Governor gave the King-Son to the earth so the King-Son could send the Governor to the earth after he returned to the heavenly kingdom. They worked in harmony to achieve this ultimate purpose.
The King-Son Was Completely Filled with the Governor
The King-Son not only was filled with the Ruach at his conception, but he also continued to be filled with the Ruach throughout his entire lifetime. As John the Baptist said, “Yah gives the Ruach without limit [to him].” This was the first time a human being was filled with the Ruach HaQadesh since before the rebellion of Adam and Eve. The Ruach HaQadesh within Yahusha was limitless in presence and power.
In preparation for the King’s appearance on earth, John had been baptizing people who desired to be realigned with the kingdom. Then, just before Yahusha began his public ministry, he also went to John for baptism.
The next day John saw Yahusha coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of Yah, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Ruach come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Ruach come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Ruach HaQadesh.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of Yah.”
John made these declarations about Yahusha: (1) he was the one who would take away the sin of the world (making it possible for the citizens to be fully aligned with the heavenly kingdom); (2) the Ruach came down from heaven and remained on him (Yahusha had the total sanction of the King-Father); and (3) he was the Son of Yah (he came directly from the King-Father and was one with him). Paul wrote, “In Hamachiach all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” Yah the Father, Yah the Son, and Yah the Ruach are one. The King expresses himself in three unique dimensions, which he revealed in the plan to restore humanity.
Yahusha therefore possesses a dual nature—he is fully Yah and fully human. Yah the Father is the King, and Yahusha Hamachiach is the King who came in human form. The New Testament book of John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Yah, and the Word was Yah.” Yet the King’s coming as a man wasn’t just a convenient way in which to coordinate his rule on both heaven and earth. His mission was to restore holiness to men and women so they could again be a suitable environment for the Ruach HaQadesh to dwell in. As we will see, the only way he could do this was to become a human being himself.
The Era of the King on Earth
In the previous teaching, I stated that Yahusha began his public ministry by saying, “The time has come....The kingdom of Yah is near,” and I posed these questions:
What “time” was he speaking about? And why then?
What was the nature of the kingdom he was referring to?
The “time” was the “day of the Most High,” or the era when the King-Son would come to earth to restore the Governor to humanity. The purpose and nature of the kingdom was (1) the reconciliation of the earth’s inhabitants to the King-Father, so that it was possible once more for human beings to be his children, and (2) the reign of heaven returning to earth through the Governor’s presence and power operating in the lives of the King’s children.
The inhabitants of the colony of earth had been ransacking the King’s territory—stealing, lying, abusing, killing one another, living their lives outside the nature of the kingdom. Therefore, as the Son and heir of the King of heaven, Yahusha was coming to reclaim his Father’s territory. His arrival on earth marked “the day of the Most High” prophesied by Joel.
The King-Son came to reclaim his Father’s property two thousand years ago as a baby born in Bethlehem. Yahusha being born is not about a beggar coming; it’s about an owner arriving. He came to reclaim the earth because, as the psalmist David, king of Israel, wrote, “The earth is the Most High’s, and everything in it.” He came to recover all of creation as its legal owner.
The King-Son didn’t come to earth to plead with HaSatan to return his property. He treated him as a thief, saying, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” He also said, “How can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” The King-Son came to bind the strongman, HaSatan, so he could retake the house and give it back to the children of the household. Therefore, the man Yahusha was the fulfillment of the King-Father’s remarkable plan to send his Son to earth to restore the heavenly government here.
Paul called Yahusha the “last” or Second Adam. The King-Son came to fulfill what the first Adam had failed to do. He lived a life in total harmony with the King-Father, his kingdom, and the kingdom’s purposes on earth. Yahusha taught his disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
As the Second Adam, Yahusha came to rescue us from being dominated by the kingdom of darkness led by HaSatan and to restore us to the home kingdom. He went through his life and death on earth so we could be reconciled to the King as his children.
Through Yahusha, human beings can be restored as vice governors in the world, earthly kings who rule under the direction of the Ruach of the King—the Royal Governor. The kingdom of heaven is therefore a family of kings. This is what the nation of Israel was meant to demonstrate as a prototype: “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Although the Governor is equal to the King-Father and the King-Son, the Scriptures never refer to him as a King in relation to humanity, but as our Counselor or Comforter. This is because his role is to sustain and perpetuate the will and work of the heavenly kingdom in the lives of the inhabitants of earth.
The King-Son Reintroduced the Kingdom of Heaven to Humanity
Yahusha’ first declaration in his public ministry was essentially his mission statement: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” He continually repeated this same message for three and-a-half years during his entire ministry on earth. Throughout the written record of his life in the New Testament writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we find him restating his central theme of the kingdom of heaven. Sometimes, he would use the phrase the kingdom of Yah. While these phrases are essentially the same, you could say that the kingdom of heaven is the place, while the kingdom of Yah is the influence. The kingdom of heaven is the headquarters, the invisible country where the King-Father resides. The kingdom of Yah is the influence of that country on its territories. Here is a sample of the King-Son’s other statements concerning the kingdom:
Yahusha went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
But if I drive out demons by the Ruach of Yah, then the kingdom of Yah has come upon you.”
The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants....”
The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard....”
The kingdom of Yah will be...given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
HaSatan (also called Satan) knew that the King-Son had come to overthrow him to restore the heavenly kingdom on earth. He therefore tried to tempt Yahusha away from his mission by appealing to his natural human desire to exercise dominion over the earth. Notice that HaSatan tried to get Yahusha to substitute the kingdoms of the world for the kingdom of heaven, which is basically the same thing with which he had tempted Adam and Eve. This would allow HaSatan to maintain his oppressive domination and destruction of the earth. Yet the King-Son was totally loyal to the kingdom. He countered HaSatan’s temptation by rebuking him with the words of the King-Father, which were first given to the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. The New Testament book of Matthew records,
HaSatan took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Yahusha said to him, “Away from me, HaSatan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Most High your Yah, and serve him only.’” Then HaSatan left him.
Baptism into Kingdom Philosophy
Yahusha’ temptation by HaSatan occurred right after his baptism by John. Many people are confused about the true nature of baptism and why Yahusha himself was baptized. While baptism is treated as a religious ritual by many people, it is actually a very practical act that is related to the will of the King and his desire for the colony of earth.
Changing One’s Thinking and Lifestyle
At the time Yahusha lived on earth, various rabbis, teachers, and groups (such as the Sadducees) baptized their followers. Baptism in this context meant you were publicly declaring you believed in a particular teacher and his philosophy. In fact, to a large degree, this was the significance of the baptism of John, which John referred to as a “baptism of repentance.” Our contemporary connotation of the word repentance doesn’t really convey John’s meaning. In its essence, repentance does not mean crying or wailing over wrongdoing. It simply means to change your mind, to reverse your way of thinking and acting. When a person was baptized, he was signaling that he was changing his thinking and actions and aligning them with the views and life of the teacher he had committed himself to follow.
This type of teacher-student relationship was not uncommon. The Old Testament makes references to “the company of the prophets,” also called the “schools of the prophets.” These particular prophets were closely associated with the well-known prophets Elijah and Elisha, supporting them and learning from them. In New Testament times, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians had disciples. Outside the biblical world, we note similar teacher-learner arrangements among the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and their followers. A philosopher, of course, is someone who sets forth his own ideas about life. Philosophers attract people who want to learn their ideas and imitate their lifestyles, and these become their students or disciples. The Greek word we translate as disciple means “learner” or “pupil.” Disciples were personally trained by their masters in the masters’ philosophies and belief systems, perhaps traveling with them as they learned to think and act like their masters.
Joining a School of Thought
When you became a student of a philosopher or other teacher, you joined what is called his school of thought. Schools were not originally associated with buildings. They were essentially the ideas unique to a teacher. They were the teacher’s philosophical concepts and ways of thinking, which he passed along to his followers.
From this perspective, the significance of baptism is not the water or even the act of being baptized—it has to do with the transformation of your way of thinking and living. When you were baptized in the name of your master teacher, you were saying, “I am choosing you above every other available teacher, philosopher, rabbi, and leader, and I am publicly declaring that I am submitting to your school of thought. I’m going to be associated with you only, so that whenever people see me, they’re going to know, ‘He belongs to that teacher.’”
As I mentioned, at the time of Yahusha, there were a number of teachers and philosophers, and all had their own schools of thought and their own disciples. In that culture, a man couldn’t begin such a school until he was thirty years old because this was the age at which a young man could be officially designated as a master teacher.
Therefore, when the Creator of heaven and earth himself came to earth as a man, he entered the culture of the day and presented himself in a way that the people would understand the life-changing nature of his message and its requirement of total commitment to him. It was at age thirty that Yahusha began his public ministry, became the ultimate Master Teacher, and welcomed those who desired to follow him. The kingdom was the embodiment of his teaching.
Yahusha’ Message Was in Harmony with John’s Message
Note that John the Baptist had been presenting the same message about the kingdom. Yahusha was fully aware of John’s message when he went to him for baptism. Many people are at first surprised to read of the King-Son submitting to a master teacher for baptism. Yet he did this to demonstrate to the people of the world that his teaching was not independent of John’s; rather, he was in total harmony with it. In fact, Yahusha himself was the fulfillment of the teaching of John who, as the faithful prophet of the King-Father, was proclaiming the message of the kingdom and preparing the way for the King-Son’s appearance in the world.
John had been gaining a number of disciples, and when people came to him with a sincere desire to repent (to change their thinking and lifestyle from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of heaven), he baptized them. Yet when Yahusha went to him for baptism, John was taken aback and said, in essence, “You should be the teacher, not me!” John recognized Yahusha as the King who would send the Governor to earth. In fact, John had said to the people earlier, “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh.”
Yahusha, however, replied to John, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” He was saying, “I understand your reluctance to act as master teacher to me. However, in order to demonstrate to the world that I am aligned with the kingdom of heaven, I need to be identified with it through baptism. I need to publicly declare that I belong to the school of the kingdom of heaven, that I am fully integrated with the mind and ways of the kingdom.”
The Kingdom School Transferred to Yahusha
When a master teacher was no longer able to teach, he would decide which of his disciples would succeed him. Whoever was chosen to take his place would automatically gain his students. Yahusha had to be a part of John’s school in order to take over leadership of it. And John turned the whole school over to Yahusha; he released his disciples to him, indicating that Yahusha was the one they should follow because he was the King who would restore them to the kingdom. The New Testament book of John records,
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Yahusha passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of Yah!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Yahusha. Turning around, Yahusha saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Yahusha.
Most importantly, we should note that the King-Father had appointed Yahusha as the ultimate Master Teacher of the kingdom school. After Yahusha submitted to John’s baptism to show that he was immersed in the philosophy of the kingdom and in alignment with it, what happened to him? The Ruach HaQadesh—the Governor descended on him. The New Testa- ment book of Matthew says,
As soon as Yahusha was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Ruach of Yah descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
The King-Father was confirming, “This one has the Ruach HaQadesh; he is my Son, and he is fully integrated with my thoughts and ways. He is the one who will restore my Ruach to the earth.” Later on, the King-Father affirmed that Yahusha was the one whom his disciples were to listen to above all others, when he said, as documented in the book of Mark and elsewhere in the New Testament, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
Yahusha had many disciples or students, but he chose twelve to be in full-time traveling work with him and to learn from him in an intense training relationship. Among these were the notable apostles Peter, James, and John. When Yahusha called various of his disciples, saying, “Follow me,” he was inviting them to join the school of the kingdom of heaven.
We are followers of Yahusha when we have decided to identify with the life and message of the King-Son and submit to him as our Master Teacher. Yahusha said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both Yah and Money.” Although this statement was about money, it also has broader application. In the context of baptism, it tells us, “You cannot be in two schools. You cannot have two philosophies that are in contradiction to one another.”
Baptism with Fire
Water baptism aligned and identified Yahusha’ followers with his kingdom teaching. But what had John meant when he said that Yahusha would “baptize...with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire”? The baptism with the Ruach HaQadesh, which we will talk about in more detail in later teachings, is the consummation of identification with the King and his kingdom, as well as a reception of the power of the heavenly kingdom. The Ruach HaQadesh is the personification of the heavenly government. To be baptized in this way means you are immersed in kingdom philosophy and lifestyle, and that it has total influence over your thoughts and actions.
The word philosophy is derived from the Greek word philosophos, which is a combination of two smaller Greek words. Philos means “fond” or “beloved,” and sophos means “wise.” So philosophos means a fondness for or a love of wise things. Disciples of kingdom philosophy are to fall in love with the mind and will of the King, so that his mind and will become theirs, and their actions mirror his. As the wise King Solomon wrote, “As a person thinks within himself, so he is.”
This process of transformation into kingdom thinking and lifestyle is absolutely necessary because the Creator-King has declared this about the rebellious inhabitants of earth: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways....As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Our thoughts and ways need to become realigned with the Creator-King’s, and we do this by identifying completely with kingdom thinking, submitting to the Master of the kingdom, and being baptized into his power.
The way to fully live out the life of the kingdom, therefore, is to be baptized with the Ruach. We are to be totally submerged in the Creator-King’s frame of reference and mind-set so that we always think his thoughts, live his thoughts, and manifest his life.
The New Testament book of Luke tells us that, following his baptism by John, Yahusha was “full of the Ruach HaQadesh,...and was led by the Ruach in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by HaSatan.” When he emerged from that experience, having overcome each temptation, Luke further records, “Yahusha returned to Galilee in the power of the Ruach,” and the book of Matthew adds, “From that time on Yahusha began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’” The message of the kingdom and the fullness and power of the Ruach are intimately connected.
The King-Son Demonstrated the Influence of the Kingdom on Earth
The King-Son not only spoke the message of the kingdom, but he also lived it out. His entire life on earth was evidence of kingdom rulership. Everything Yahusha said or did was the administration of the King-Father’s will through the power of the Governor within him. He spoke about this reality with statements such as these:
My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.
These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.
I and the Father are one.
I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.
Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.
If Yah were your Father, you would love me, for I came from Yah and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.
I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.
In the Old Testament accounts we reviewed in the previous teaching, we saw that what we call miracles were actually evidence of kingdom influence on earth. The same thing applies to the miracles Yahusha performed. The administration of the kingdom could be seen whenever Yahusha healed someone who was sick (power over the effects of humanity’s rebellion), delivered someone who was possessed by an agent of HaSatan (power over the kingdom of darkness), fed thousands by multiplying small amounts of food (power over the natural world), or raised people from the dead (power to give life). These acts were confirmation of heavenly dominion over the environment of earth; they were demonstrations of kingdom power over circumstances. Yahusha was saying, in essence, “What you see is what the heavenly government is doing. I’m just manifesting it.”
The King-Son Died to Redeem and Restore Human Beings to The King-Father and His Kingdom
The King-Son’s mission on earth was not only to deliver the message and demonstrate the influence of the kingdom, but also to provide a way for human beings to reenter the kingdom and be reconciled to the King-Father. The children’s separation from the Father because of their rebellion had to be addressed. And the only way their holiness (integrity or internal wholeness and devotion to the Father) could be restored was through a sacrifice.
As we saw, the Old Testament animal sacrifices of the tabernacle and temple were only temporary. Animal sacrifices were not equitable blood payment for the rebellion and the culture of hatred and death that human beings had brought to earth. Animal sacrifice did not have the power to change the perpetually evil hearts of the world’s inhabitants. Only human blood could make restitution for the rebellion and bloodshed of humanity. Instead of making the people pay for their rebellion with their own blood, however, the Father sent the Son to earth as a human being to pay for it with his blood. The Son took the punishment for all the inhabitants of earth, which allowed them to be reconciled to the kingdom. This was the ultimate reason for his incarnation.
The King-Son could reconcile the inhabitants to the King- Father because he was holy. Again, in his humanity, Yahusha was like other human beings in all ways except one—he had no rebellion in him or double-mindedness toward the kingdom. He was fully integrated, devoted, and set apart for the King- Father. He lived within a human body because he wanted to go through every aspect of human experience—he desired to feel what we feel and experience everything about being human, without the rebellion. Yahusha demonstrated by his life what it meant to be a human being with the Governor living within. He was true humanity rightly related to the King-Father and his kingdom.
Yahusha’ death on the crucifixion stake at the place called Calvary (meaning “Skull”) was the plan of the Father to provide for the return of the Governor. It was not a mistake, but part of the program. The earthly temple with its sacrifices would no longer be needed because the heavenly temple had arrived in Yahusha’ own body; the Ruach HaQadesh was present within him. Again, Yahusha was able to be the ultimate sacrifice because he was fully aligned with the King and lived a perfect life. Yahusha explained the nature of his death before he died:
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.
The King-Son laid down his life in payment for the rebellion of all humanity, past and present. When this was paid, the Father gave him authority to take up his life again, and he was raised from the dead. The Author of life chose to die because of his love for the human beings whom he had created; he desired to rescue them from the kingdom of darkness so they could live within the kingdom of heaven once more. Paul described our entrance to the kingdom through the King-Son’s sacrifice as walking in “newness of life”:
Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Hamachiach Yahusha were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Hamachiach was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Some people wish they could go back to the day Yahusha died and prevent his death. We would all want to spare anyone from that kind of death. However, his dying was necessary to fulfill the Father’s restoration plan. Yahusha’ death wasn’t forced upon him; he chose it for the express purpose of saving the world and releasing the Governor to the earth again. Once more, before he was crucified, Yahusha made his choice very clear, saying,
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Yahusha told his followers beforehand that he was going to die to pay for the rebellion of humanity, even though they didn’t comprehend it at the time. He said, “This is what is written [was predicted by the King’s prophet]: The Hamachiach will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.”
Yahusha therefore wasn’t killed as a tragic mistake. He gave up his life in sacrifice so we could be cleansed vessels for the Governor to live in. He kept moving forward with the restoration plan until everything was set in place for our reconciliation with the Father. Just before he died, he said, “It is finished.” The enemies of Yahusha didn’t finish him. He gave up his life when he was finished with his mission. Just before his arrest, he prayed,
Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true Yah, and Yahusha Hamachiach, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Again, Yahusha wasn’t a helpless victim of jealous enemies. He is the King of glory who overcame both sin and death. Notice that he prayed to the Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk had foretold, “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Most High, as the waters cover the sea.” Because Yahusha completed the work of restoration, the glory (nature) of the kingdom of heaven was released and began to spread throughout the earth.
The King-Son Destroyed the Ruach of Independence and Rebellion in the Colony
Yahusha’ death at Calvary, the blood that he shed on the crucifixion stake, and his resurrection from the dead were required in order to break the spirit of rebellion in humanity. I use the word spirit because rebellion is really an attitude or nature within every human being. It’s something we’re born with; it is ingrained within us. This spirit is antagonistic to the kingdom of heaven. It couldn’t be wished away or ignored. It had to be broken. And Yahusha did break this power, allowing the earth’s inhabitants to instead yield to the Ruach HaQadesh. Paul wrote, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Ruach, and the Ruach 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 Ruach, you are not under law.”
Breaking a spirit of independence is very difficult, but this is what Yahusha accomplished. He gave us the ability to say to the Father, as he himself said at the most difficult point in his earthly life, “Not my will, but yours be done.” He provided for the spirit of rebellion to be replaced with a spirit of yieldedness to the kingdom. He gave us the ability to obey the will of the Father. In fact, Yahusha said that submitting to him was the same thing as submitting to the Father, since he and the Father are one. “If you love me,” he said to his followers, “you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor [the Governor] to be with you forever.”
Can you imagine anyone in American politics telling the voters, “Do everything I say”? They would think he was crazy because we’re taught not to trust anyone like that. But Yahusha came to bring back the perfect government. In the kingdom of heaven, trust in the King-Son is the only way to experience life. In the kingdom of heaven, independence from the King- Son brings death, as Yahusha explained to his disciples:
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
Yahusha was destroying the idea of independence and rebellion, showing that this leads to deadly consequences. In contrast, dependence on him leads to life because “apart from [him] you can do nothing.” We are to be dependent on him so that he can help us be what we were created to be. Paul discovered this truth firsthand. Yahusha told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s response was to say, “When I am weak, then I am strong [in the power of the kingdom].”
The key, then, to being freed from the grip of rebellion, restored to wholeness and devotion to the King-Father, and released in the power and life of the Ruach is to acknowledge and receive the cleansing that the King-Son accomplished for us when he paid for our rebellion through his death. His was the ultimate sacrifice for the rebellious nature of human- ity. It was a sacrifice for all of humanity. It is available for all people. Yet each human being must make a personal decision to commit to Yahusha’ kingdom school and enter into the king- dom by accepting his sacrifice to break the spirit of rebellion and by desiring to realign with the King. As he does this, he will receive the nature of the kingdom within.
“He Lives with You and Will Be in You”
This brings us back to what Yahusha told his followers about the Governor, the Ruach of the King: “He lives with you and will be in you.” Yahusha’ followers had seen the demonstration of the Governor’s power lived out in his life. The Governor’s works were manifested on the earth, but no other human being besides Yahusha had the Ruach living within. Yahusha was promising the disciples that, through his sacrifice, the Governor would be coming back to live within them, also, just as had been promised since Genesis 3 when the rebellion occurred. This would not only align them with the nature and thinking of the kingdom, but it would also empower them to live it out just as Yahusha had lived it out on earth. Soon, the Governor would be taking up his official residence again in the citizens of the kingdom on earth, as the prophet Joel had foretold.
The King-Son’s Ultimate Reason for Coming to Earth
After his resurrection, Yahusha told his disciples, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised.” The King-Son was restating the essential reason for his ministry. This next statement may shock a few people, but I believe it is vital for us to understand: the promise of the Father was not Yahusha’ sufferings, his death on Calvary, or even his resurrection. Over the centuries, the Christian church has emphasized these aspects of Yahusha’ ministry to the point that I believe the ultimate reason he endured them has been obscured.
Through the years, people—especially religious people— have changed the meaning of the Father’s promise to humanity. Christianity has become the celebration of what Yahusha did rather than a reception of the reason He did it. We have declared a message that Yahusha never gave. We’ve changed the promise into one of leaving this earth and going to heaven, when what we’re called to is restored dominion over the earth through the indwelling Ruach.
The result is that we have worshipped Calvary, rather than benefiting from it. Yahusha’ sufferings, death, and resurrection were the means to an end—the reconciliation of humanity to the King, and, ultimately, the restoration of the Ruach to humanity. They were not ends in themselves. We’ve made the process the purpose. The promise of the Father was the reappointment of the Ruach as a result of these things. The entire reason for the King-Son’s coming into the world was to break the stronghold of HaSatan, destroy the grip of rebellion from human beings, and reconnect them to their King-Father so that the Governor could be restored to them.
The Ruach is what all human beings need in order to be realigned with the King and fulfill their purpose on earth. We should note that John the Baptist never emphasized the blood or death or resurrection of Yahusha. He emphasized the Ruach HaQadesh, because John was expressing the specific reason for his coming: “He will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire.” Humanity is not in need of a “religion.” We don’t need rituals and traditions. We need this promise of the Father to be a reality in our lives.
We must come to truly understand that the Ruach HaQadesh is the heavenly government personified. He is the source of the power of the kingdom in our lives. The Old Testament experience of the priests and prophets was only a shadow of what was to come. At that time, the Ruach HaQadesh couldn’t live in human beings; he could only be among them. But now, Yahusha was saying, “The Ruach of truth...lives with you and will be in you.”
As I said earlier, every miracle of Yahusha, every healing, every act of dominion—whether it was walking on water, casting out demons, or cleansing a leper—was not for entertainment or for making an impression; nor was it for the purpose of creating a religion or providing interesting material for preaching. These things were for the purpose of producing evidence to the world that the Ruach of the kingdom had returned to earth and would soon live within humanity again.
Just before Yahusha died, he gave his disciples many instructions, and these instructions had important information about the Governor. He was trying to tell them, in effect, “Everything I’m about to suffer is all because of my purposes concerning the Ruach HaQadesh in your lives and in the lives of those who will believe in the future.” He told them, in essence, “I’m going to leave you, but don’t panic or worry. The Governor is going to come back; he will be with you forever, and he’ll never forsake you.”
A striking illustration of the Governor’s return occurred at the moment of Yahusha’ death. The curtain in the temple separating the people from the Holy of Holies tore in two from top to bottom, signaling that Yahusha had made provision for human beings to be holy and receive the Ruach once more. The Ruach no longer had to be separated from them, dwelling only between the cherubim on a mercy seat that had been sprinkled with the blood of animals. Because of Yahusha’ ultimate blood sacrifice, the Ruach could once more be at home within human beings, giving them direct access to the King.
The Goal of the King
The King’s desire to restore the Ruach HaQadesh to humanity, therefore, is what made the entire redemptive program of Yahusha Hamachiach necessary. The principle goal and primary purpose of Yahusha’ coming into the world was to deliver the Governor of heaven to the colony of earth. Everything else was a means to that end. He didn’t come to bring us to heaven. He came to bring heaven to earth. This is why our Master Teacher taught us to pray, in what we call The Most High’s Prayer, that the King- Father’s influence, will, intent, and laws be done on earth—the colony—as they are in heaven—the home country.
The Roman Empire as a Type of the Heavenly Kingdom
The best time in history for the concept of the heavenly kingdom to be fully communicated to the inhabitants of earth was during the time of the Roman Empire, and this is a major reason why the King-Son, the Messiah, was born at that time. It was not a random choice by the King; it was the perfect time. Paul wrote,
When the time had fully come, Yah sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, Yah sent the Ruach of his Son into our hearts, the Ruach who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, Yah has made you also an heir.
The structure and functioning of the Roman Empire (though not its moral nature) at the time of Yahusha served as a type of the kingdom of heaven. For those living under its rule in Palestine, the analogy would have been obvious. Caesar was the emperor or king in Rome, and he was a type of the heav- enly King.
Caesar sent Pilate to be his procurator or governor over the region of Judea, to oversee it and create the culture of the Roman Empire there. Similarly, Yahusha said that when he returned to the Father, the Governor would be released to earth, enabling the inhabitants to fulfill the will of the King on earth once more, making it into a replica of the kingdom of heaven. Yahusha told his disciples, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Ruach of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me,” and “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Political concepts familiar to the people of the time were present for them to come to understand that Yahusha was talking about the return of the Governor to earth to enable them to fulfill the will and work of the kingdom of heaven. Interestingly, Yahusha’ enemies recognized that his message was about a kingdom, not a “religion.” This kingdom demanded full loyalty to the King-Father through the King-Son. Because Yahusha’ enemies did not want to submit to the authority of the heavenly government, they sought to kill him. They told Pilate that Yahusha was a threat to the political order of the day, saying, “We have no king but Caesar.” In this way, they pressured Pilate into choosing between killing an innocent man and appearing to support a king other than Caesar. He caved to the pressure and allowed Yahusha to be crucified. He was responsible for his choice, even though Yahusha’ death was part of the heavenly restoration plan. Every person essentially faces the same choice. Allegiance to the kingdom of heaven does not allow for any person or anything to take the place of the King.
The Release and Reception of the Governor
After the King-Son’s life on earth, a process unfolded by which the Governor was given to his followers. First, of course, the Ruach HaQadesh dwelled within the body of Yahusha—the first human being to have the Ruach within him since Adam and Eve. When Yahusha died on the cross, eyewitness and disciple John recorded that he “gave up his spirit.” Although this term can be a description for taking one’s last breath, I believe it also has a deeper significance here. The Greek word for “give up” means to “yield up.” Therefore, I think this term means that Yahusha also released the Ruach HaQadesh back to the Father in heaven at his death.
When Yahusha was resurrected, he was raised by the power of the Ruach, and the Ruach again dwelled in him. Paul wrote, “And if the Ruach of him who raised Yahusha from the dead is living in you, he who raised Hamachiach from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Ruach, who lives in you.” Just as the King-Son was raised from death by the Ruach, and the Ruach dwelled in him, those who enter the kingdom through the King-Son’s sacrifice will also receive the Ruach.
At Yahusha’ resurrection, then, the Ruach was now poised to return to humanity and rescue lives that had lived in rebellion, confusion, and despair under the kingdom of darkness. Just as the Ruach brought life out of emptiness and order from chaos at the creation of the earth, he would transform the earth once more into a colony of heaven through the return of the kingdom in the lives of its citizens.
Today we are walking in: The Rebirth Of A Kingdom
Numbers 24:7
He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. BEMIDBAR (NUMBERS) 24:7 ×ת CEPHER
KINGDOM
Today we look to the word-KINGDOM- H4467 mamlâkâh, (mam-law-kaw') -dominion, (abstractly) the estate (rule) or (concretely) the country (realm):—kingdom, king's, reign, royal
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 19:6
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Yashar'el. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 19:6 ×ת CEPHER
Numbers 32:33
And Mosheh gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Re'uven, and unto half the tribe of Menashsheh the son of Yoceph, the kingdom of Ciychon king of the Emoriym, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about. BEMIDBAR (NUMBERS) 32:33 ×ת CEPHER
Deuteronomy 17:18
And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this Torah in a cepher out of that which is before the priests the Leviyiym: DEVARIYM (DEUTERONOMY) 17:18 ×ת CEPHER
The prophets proclaim..................
1 Samuel 10:18
And said unto the children of Yashar'el, Thus says Yahuah Elohai of Yashar'el, I brought up Yashar'el out of Mitsrayim, and delivered you out of the hand of the Mitsriym, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: SHEMU'EL RI'SHON (1 SAMUEL) 10:18 ×ת CEPHER
Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Yahuah Tseva'oth will perform this. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 9:7 ×ת CEPHER
Jeremiah 18:9
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; YIRMEYAHU (JEREMIAH) 18:9 ×ת CEPHER
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 9:5
Then I will establish the throne of your kingdom upon Yashar'el forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man upon the throne of Yashar'el. MELEKIYM RI'SHON (1 KINGS) 9:5 ×ת CEPHER
1 Chronicles 17:11
And it shall come to pass, when your days be expired that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will raise up your seed after you, which shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. DIVREI HAYAMIYM RI'SHON (1 CHRONICLES) 17:11 ×ת CEPHER
Psalm 145:13
Your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. Yahuah is true in his word, and holy in all his works. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 145:13 ×ת CEPHER
Chapter 5
The Rebirth of a Kingdom
The greatest motivation of the human Ruach is to control its environment.
The King’s goal was to cause his children to be integrated, set apart, and devoted to him—so that his Ruach could live within them once more. This would be the work of the Offspring, the one called the Messiah by the prophets. The Offspring was first mentioned in Genesis 3 and was revealed by the prophets Isaiah, Malachi, and others to be the King of heaven himself. While the First or Old Testament emphasizes the promise of the coming King, the New Testament reveals the rebirth of the kingdom on earth through his arrival.
The rebirth of the kingdom signified the recolonization of earth. Recolonization is unheard of in human history, or is at least very rare. Once a people declare independence, they don’t go back to the home country. The plan that the King was unfolding was therefore unprecedented.
The Birth of the King on Earth
The King, of course, needed to remain in the heavenly kingdom as its ruler and sustainer. At the same time, he had to come to earth to provide for the return of the Governor. The Ruach of the King was directly involved in his coming to earth. Luke the physician, the writer of the gospel bearing his name, wrote,
Yah sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendent of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Most High is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with Yah.”
The angel’s statement, “You have found favor with Yah,” shows us that Mary was yielded to the heavenly government and the purposes of the King, and this is why she was chosen for this crucial assignment in the intervention of the heavenly kingdom on earth. The angel continued,
You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Yahusha. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Most High Yah will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Ruach HaQadesh will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of Yah....For nothing is impossible with Yah.” “I am the Most High’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”
Again, we see evidence of Mary’s submission to the heavenly government: “I am the Most High’s servant....May it be to me as you have said.”
In this passage is a fact of vital significance: the Ruach conceived Yah the Son or the King-Son, whose earthly name was Yahusha, in the womb of Mary. Mary was what we might call a surrogate mother for the eternal and invisible Yah’s entrance into the physical world as a human being. Also, the King-Son was filled with the Ruach when he was conceived. This means that the Governor returned to earth at this time within the person of Yahusha. The Governor was resident in the body of Yahusha until the rest of humanity could be prepared to receive him as well, through Yahusha’ provision. At that time, the King-Son would reappoint the Governor to the earth in order to restore kingdom influence throughout the world and to give back kingdom citizenship to humanity.
The King-Son was both fully divine (as Yah the Son) and fully human (as the man Yahusha). Yet he was not infected by the rebellious nature of humanity. The womb of a woman is designed in such a way that the blood of a mother and her unborn child never mix. Yahusha’ blood was pure; his life was pure. As we read in the third book of Moses, “The life of every creature is its blood.” Like Adam before the rebellion, Yahusha and everything about him was set apart and devoted to the King-Father.
The Governor Gave the King so the King Could Give the Governor
The King-Son had to be born of the Ruach and filled with the Ruach, so that he could deliver the Governor to the people of earth in fulfillment of the promise. John the Baptist announced to the world the arrival of the King-Son who would restore the Ruach, and he said about Yahusha, “The one who comes from heaven is above all....For the one whom Yah has sent speaks the words of Yah, for Yah gives the Ruach without limit [to him],” and “He will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire.” Yahusha told his disciples,
If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Ruach of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
Therefore, the Governor gave the King-Son to the earth so the King-Son could send the Governor to the earth after he returned to the heavenly kingdom. They worked in harmony to achieve this ultimate purpose.
The King-Son Was Completely Filled with the Governor
The King-Son not only was filled with the Ruach at his conception, but he also continued to be filled with the Ruach throughout his entire lifetime. As John the Baptist said, “Yah gives the Ruach without limit [to him].” This was the first time a human being was filled with the Ruach HaQadesh since before the rebellion of Adam and Eve. The Ruach HaQadesh within Yahusha was limitless in presence and power.
In preparation for the King’s appearance on earth, John had been baptizing people who desired to be realigned with the kingdom. Then, just before Yahusha began his public ministry, he also went to John for baptism.
The next day John saw Yahusha coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of Yah, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Ruach come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Ruach come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Ruach HaQadesh.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of Yah.”
John made these declarations about Yahusha: (1) he was the one who would take away the sin of the world (making it possible for the citizens to be fully aligned with the heavenly kingdom); (2) the Ruach came down from heaven and remained on him (Yahusha had the total sanction of the King-Father); and (3) he was the Son of Yah (he came directly from the King-Father and was one with him). Paul wrote, “In Hamachiach all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” Yah the Father, Yah the Son, and Yah the Ruach are one. The King expresses himself in three unique dimensions, which he revealed in the plan to restore humanity.
Yahusha therefore possesses a dual nature—he is fully Yah and fully human. Yah the Father is the King, and Yahusha Hamachiach is the King who came in human form. The New Testament book of John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Yah, and the Word was Yah.” Yet the King’s coming as a man wasn’t just a convenient way in which to coordinate his rule on both heaven and earth. His mission was to restore holiness to men and women so they could again be a suitable environment for the Ruach HaQadesh to dwell in. As we will see, the only way he could do this was to become a human being himself.
The Era of the King on Earth
In the previous teaching, I stated that Yahusha began his public ministry by saying, “The time has come....The kingdom of Yah is near,” and I posed these questions:
What “time” was he speaking about? And why then?
What was the nature of the kingdom he was referring to?
The “time” was the “day of the Most High,” or the era when the King-Son would come to earth to restore the Governor to humanity. The purpose and nature of the kingdom was (1) the reconciliation of the earth’s inhabitants to the King-Father, so that it was possible once more for human beings to be his children, and (2) the reign of heaven returning to earth through the Governor’s presence and power operating in the lives of the King’s children.
The inhabitants of the colony of earth had been ransacking the King’s territory—stealing, lying, abusing, killing one another, living their lives outside the nature of the kingdom. Therefore, as the Son and heir of the King of heaven, Yahusha was coming to reclaim his Father’s territory. His arrival on earth marked “the day of the Most High” prophesied by Joel.
The King-Son came to reclaim his Father’s property two thousand years ago as a baby born in Bethlehem. Yahusha being born is not about a beggar coming; it’s about an owner arriving. He came to reclaim the earth because, as the psalmist David, king of Israel, wrote, “The earth is the Most High’s, and everything in it.” He came to recover all of creation as its legal owner.
The King-Son didn’t come to earth to plead with HaSatan to return his property. He treated him as a thief, saying, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” He also said, “How can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” The King-Son came to bind the strongman, HaSatan, so he could retake the house and give it back to the children of the household. Therefore, the man Yahusha was the fulfillment of the King-Father’s remarkable plan to send his Son to earth to restore the heavenly government here.
Paul called Yahusha the “last” or Second Adam. The King-Son came to fulfill what the first Adam had failed to do. He lived a life in total harmony with the King-Father, his kingdom, and the kingdom’s purposes on earth. Yahusha taught his disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
As the Second Adam, Yahusha came to rescue us from being dominated by the kingdom of darkness led by HaSatan and to restore us to the home kingdom. He went through his life and death on earth so we could be reconciled to the King as his children.
Through Yahusha, human beings can be restored as vice governors in the world, earthly kings who rule under the direction of the Ruach of the King—the Royal Governor. The kingdom of heaven is therefore a family of kings. This is what the nation of Israel was meant to demonstrate as a prototype: “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Although the Governor is equal to the King-Father and the King-Son, the Scriptures never refer to him as a King in relation to humanity, but as our Counselor or Comforter. This is because his role is to sustain and perpetuate the will and work of the heavenly kingdom in the lives of the inhabitants of earth.
The King-Son Reintroduced the Kingdom of Heaven to Humanity
Yahusha’ first declaration in his public ministry was essentially his mission statement: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” He continually repeated this same message for three and-a-half years during his entire ministry on earth. Throughout the written record of his life in the New Testament writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we find him restating his central theme of the kingdom of heaven. Sometimes, he would use the phrase the kingdom of Yah. While these phrases are essentially the same, you could say that the kingdom of heaven is the place, while the kingdom of Yah is the influence. The kingdom of heaven is the headquarters, the invisible country where the King-Father resides. The kingdom of Yah is the influence of that country on its territories. Here is a sample of the King-Son’s other statements concerning the kingdom:
Yahusha went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
But if I drive out demons by the Ruach of Yah, then the kingdom of Yah has come upon you.”
The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants....”
The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard....”
The kingdom of Yah will be...given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
HaSatan (also called Satan) knew that the King-Son had come to overthrow him to restore the heavenly kingdom on earth. He therefore tried to tempt Yahusha away from his mission by appealing to his natural human desire to exercise dominion over the earth. Notice that HaSatan tried to get Yahusha to substitute the kingdoms of the world for the kingdom of heaven, which is basically the same thing with which he had tempted Adam and Eve. This would allow HaSatan to maintain his oppressive domination and destruction of the earth. Yet the King-Son was totally loyal to the kingdom. He countered HaSatan’s temptation by rebuking him with the words of the King-Father, which were first given to the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. The New Testament book of Matthew records,
HaSatan took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Yahusha said to him, “Away from me, HaSatan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Most High your Yah, and serve him only.’” Then HaSatan left him.
Baptism into Kingdom Philosophy
Yahusha’ temptation by HaSatan occurred right after his baptism by John. Many people are confused about the true nature of baptism and why Yahusha himself was baptized. While baptism is treated as a religious ritual by many people, it is actually a very practical act that is related to the will of the King and his desire for the colony of earth.
Changing One’s Thinking and Lifestyle
At the time Yahusha lived on earth, various rabbis, teachers, and groups (such as the Sadducees) baptized their followers. Baptism in this context meant you were publicly declaring you believed in a particular teacher and his philosophy. In fact, to a large degree, this was the significance of the baptism of John, which John referred to as a “baptism of repentance.” Our contemporary connotation of the word repentance doesn’t really convey John’s meaning. In its essence, repentance does not mean crying or wailing over wrongdoing. It simply means to change your mind, to reverse your way of thinking and acting. When a person was baptized, he was signaling that he was changing his thinking and actions and aligning them with the views and life of the teacher he had committed himself to follow.
This type of teacher-student relationship was not uncommon. The Old Testament makes references to “the company of the prophets,” also called the “schools of the prophets.” These particular prophets were closely associated with the well-known prophets Elijah and Elisha, supporting them and learning from them. In New Testament times, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians had disciples. Outside the biblical world, we note similar teacher-learner arrangements among the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and their followers. A philosopher, of course, is someone who sets forth his own ideas about life. Philosophers attract people who want to learn their ideas and imitate their lifestyles, and these become their students or disciples. The Greek word we translate as disciple means “learner” or “pupil.” Disciples were personally trained by their masters in the masters’ philosophies and belief systems, perhaps traveling with them as they learned to think and act like their masters.
Joining a School of Thought
When you became a student of a philosopher or other teacher, you joined what is called his school of thought. Schools were not originally associated with buildings. They were essentially the ideas unique to a teacher. They were the teacher’s philosophical concepts and ways of thinking, which he passed along to his followers.
From this perspective, the significance of baptism is not the water or even the act of being baptized—it has to do with the transformation of your way of thinking and living. When you were baptized in the name of your master teacher, you were saying, “I am choosing you above every other available teacher, philosopher, rabbi, and leader, and I am publicly declaring that I am submitting to your school of thought. I’m going to be associated with you only, so that whenever people see me, they’re going to know, ‘He belongs to that teacher.’”
As I mentioned, at the time of Yahusha, there were a number of teachers and philosophers, and all had their own schools of thought and their own disciples. In that culture, a man couldn’t begin such a school until he was thirty years old because this was the age at which a young man could be officially designated as a master teacher.
Therefore, when the Creator of heaven and earth himself came to earth as a man, he entered the culture of the day and presented himself in a way that the people would understand the life-changing nature of his message and its requirement of total commitment to him. It was at age thirty that Yahusha began his public ministry, became the ultimate Master Teacher, and welcomed those who desired to follow him. The kingdom was the embodiment of his teaching.
Yahusha’ Message Was in Harmony with John’s Message
Note that John the Baptist had been presenting the same message about the kingdom. Yahusha was fully aware of John’s message when he went to him for baptism. Many people are at first surprised to read of the King-Son submitting to a master teacher for baptism. Yet he did this to demonstrate to the people of the world that his teaching was not independent of John’s; rather, he was in total harmony with it. In fact, Yahusha himself was the fulfillment of the teaching of John who, as the faithful prophet of the King-Father, was proclaiming the message of the kingdom and preparing the way for the King-Son’s appearance in the world.
John had been gaining a number of disciples, and when people came to him with a sincere desire to repent (to change their thinking and lifestyle from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of heaven), he baptized them. Yet when Yahusha went to him for baptism, John was taken aback and said, in essence, “You should be the teacher, not me!” John recognized Yahusha as the King who would send the Governor to earth. In fact, John had said to the people earlier, “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh.”
Yahusha, however, replied to John, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” He was saying, “I understand your reluctance to act as master teacher to me. However, in order to demonstrate to the world that I am aligned with the kingdom of heaven, I need to be identified with it through baptism. I need to publicly declare that I belong to the school of the kingdom of heaven, that I am fully integrated with the mind and ways of the kingdom.”
The Kingdom School Transferred to Yahusha
When a master teacher was no longer able to teach, he would decide which of his disciples would succeed him. Whoever was chosen to take his place would automatically gain his students. Yahusha had to be a part of John’s school in order to take over leadership of it. And John turned the whole school over to Yahusha; he released his disciples to him, indicating that Yahusha was the one they should follow because he was the King who would restore them to the kingdom. The New Testament book of John records,
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Yahusha passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of Yah!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Yahusha. Turning around, Yahusha saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Yahusha.
Most importantly, we should note that the King-Father had appointed Yahusha as the ultimate Master Teacher of the kingdom school. After Yahusha submitted to John’s baptism to show that he was immersed in the philosophy of the kingdom and in alignment with it, what happened to him? The Ruach HaQadesh—the Governor descended on him. The New Testa- ment book of Matthew says,
As soon as Yahusha was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Ruach of Yah descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
The King-Father was confirming, “This one has the Ruach HaQadesh; he is my Son, and he is fully integrated with my thoughts and ways. He is the one who will restore my Ruach to the earth.” Later on, the King-Father affirmed that Yahusha was the one whom his disciples were to listen to above all others, when he said, as documented in the book of Mark and elsewhere in the New Testament, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
Yahusha had many disciples or students, but he chose twelve to be in full-time traveling work with him and to learn from him in an intense training relationship. Among these were the notable apostles Peter, James, and John. When Yahusha called various of his disciples, saying, “Follow me,” he was inviting them to join the school of the kingdom of heaven.
We are followers of Yahusha when we have decided to identify with the life and message of the King-Son and submit to him as our Master Teacher. Yahusha said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both Yah and Money.” Although this statement was about money, it also has broader application. In the context of baptism, it tells us, “You cannot be in two schools. You cannot have two philosophies that are in contradiction to one another.”
Baptism with Fire
Water baptism aligned and identified Yahusha’ followers with his kingdom teaching. But what had John meant when he said that Yahusha would “baptize...with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire”? The baptism with the Ruach HaQadesh, which we will talk about in more detail in later teachings, is the consummation of identification with the King and his kingdom, as well as a reception of the power of the heavenly kingdom. The Ruach HaQadesh is the personification of the heavenly government. To be baptized in this way means you are immersed in kingdom philosophy and lifestyle, and that it has total influence over your thoughts and actions.
The word philosophy is derived from the Greek word philosophos, which is a combination of two smaller Greek words. Philos means “fond” or “beloved,” and sophos means “wise.” So philosophos means a fondness for or a love of wise things. Disciples of kingdom philosophy are to fall in love with the mind and will of the King, so that his mind and will become theirs, and their actions mirror his. As the wise King Solomon wrote, “As a person thinks within himself, so he is.”
This process of transformation into kingdom thinking and lifestyle is absolutely necessary because the Creator-King has declared this about the rebellious inhabitants of earth: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways....As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Our thoughts and ways need to become realigned with the Creator-King’s, and we do this by identifying completely with kingdom thinking, submitting to the Master of the kingdom, and being baptized into his power.
The way to fully live out the life of the kingdom, therefore, is to be baptized with the Ruach. We are to be totally submerged in the Creator-King’s frame of reference and mind-set so that we always think his thoughts, live his thoughts, and manifest his life.
The New Testament book of Luke tells us that, following his baptism by John, Yahusha was “full of the Ruach HaQadesh,...and was led by the Ruach in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by HaSatan.” When he emerged from that experience, having overcome each temptation, Luke further records, “Yahusha returned to Galilee in the power of the Ruach,” and the book of Matthew adds, “From that time on Yahusha began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’” The message of the kingdom and the fullness and power of the Ruach are intimately connected.
The King-Son Demonstrated the Influence of the Kingdom on Earth
The King-Son not only spoke the message of the kingdom, but he also lived it out. His entire life on earth was evidence of kingdom rulership. Everything Yahusha said or did was the administration of the King-Father’s will through the power of the Governor within him. He spoke about this reality with statements such as these:
My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.
These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.
I and the Father are one.
I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.
Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.
If Yah were your Father, you would love me, for I came from Yah and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.
I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.
In the Old Testament accounts we reviewed in the previous teaching, we saw that what we call miracles were actually evidence of kingdom influence on earth. The same thing applies to the miracles Yahusha performed. The administration of the kingdom could be seen whenever Yahusha healed someone who was sick (power over the effects of humanity’s rebellion), delivered someone who was possessed by an agent of HaSatan (power over the kingdom of darkness), fed thousands by multiplying small amounts of food (power over the natural world), or raised people from the dead (power to give life). These acts were confirmation of heavenly dominion over the environment of earth; they were demonstrations of kingdom power over circumstances. Yahusha was saying, in essence, “What you see is what the heavenly government is doing. I’m just manifesting it.”
The King-Son Died to Redeem and Restore Human Beings to The King-Father and His Kingdom
The King-Son’s mission on earth was not only to deliver the message and demonstrate the influence of the kingdom, but also to provide a way for human beings to reenter the kingdom and be reconciled to the King-Father. The children’s separation from the Father because of their rebellion had to be addressed. And the only way their holiness (integrity or internal wholeness and devotion to the Father) could be restored was through a sacrifice.
As we saw, the Old Testament animal sacrifices of the tabernacle and temple were only temporary. Animal sacrifices were not equitable blood payment for the rebellion and the culture of hatred and death that human beings had brought to earth. Animal sacrifice did not have the power to change the perpetually evil hearts of the world’s inhabitants. Only human blood could make restitution for the rebellion and bloodshed of humanity. Instead of making the people pay for their rebellion with their own blood, however, the Father sent the Son to earth as a human being to pay for it with his blood. The Son took the punishment for all the inhabitants of earth, which allowed them to be reconciled to the kingdom. This was the ultimate reason for his incarnation.
The King-Son could reconcile the inhabitants to the King- Father because he was holy. Again, in his humanity, Yahusha was like other human beings in all ways except one—he had no rebellion in him or double-mindedness toward the kingdom. He was fully integrated, devoted, and set apart for the King- Father. He lived within a human body because he wanted to go through every aspect of human experience—he desired to feel what we feel and experience everything about being human, without the rebellion. Yahusha demonstrated by his life what it meant to be a human being with the Governor living within. He was true humanity rightly related to the King-Father and his kingdom.
Yahusha’ death on the crucifixion stake at the place called Calvary (meaning “Skull”) was the plan of the Father to provide for the return of the Governor. It was not a mistake, but part of the program. The earthly temple with its sacrifices would no longer be needed because the heavenly temple had arrived in Yahusha’ own body; the Ruach HaQadesh was present within him. Again, Yahusha was able to be the ultimate sacrifice because he was fully aligned with the King and lived a perfect life. Yahusha explained the nature of his death before he died:
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.
The King-Son laid down his life in payment for the rebellion of all humanity, past and present. When this was paid, the Father gave him authority to take up his life again, and he was raised from the dead. The Author of life chose to die because of his love for the human beings whom he had created; he desired to rescue them from the kingdom of darkness so they could live within the kingdom of heaven once more. Paul described our entrance to the kingdom through the King-Son’s sacrifice as walking in “newness of life”:
Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Hamachiach Yahusha were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Hamachiach was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Some people wish they could go back to the day Yahusha died and prevent his death. We would all want to spare anyone from that kind of death. However, his dying was necessary to fulfill the Father’s restoration plan. Yahusha’ death wasn’t forced upon him; he chose it for the express purpose of saving the world and releasing the Governor to the earth again. Once more, before he was crucified, Yahusha made his choice very clear, saying,
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Yahusha told his followers beforehand that he was going to die to pay for the rebellion of humanity, even though they didn’t comprehend it at the time. He said, “This is what is written [was predicted by the King’s prophet]: The Hamachiach will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.”
Yahusha therefore wasn’t killed as a tragic mistake. He gave up his life in sacrifice so we could be cleansed vessels for the Governor to live in. He kept moving forward with the restoration plan until everything was set in place for our reconciliation with the Father. Just before he died, he said, “It is finished.” The enemies of Yahusha didn’t finish him. He gave up his life when he was finished with his mission. Just before his arrest, he prayed,
Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true Yah, and Yahusha Hamachiach, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Again, Yahusha wasn’t a helpless victim of jealous enemies. He is the King of glory who overcame both sin and death. Notice that he prayed to the Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk had foretold, “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Most High, as the waters cover the sea.” Because Yahusha completed the work of restoration, the glory (nature) of the kingdom of heaven was released and began to spread throughout the earth.
The King-Son Destroyed the Ruach of Independence and Rebellion in the Colony
Yahusha’ death at Calvary, the blood that he shed on the crucifixion stake, and his resurrection from the dead were required in order to break the spirit of rebellion in humanity. I use the word spirit because rebellion is really an attitude or nature within every human being. It’s something we’re born with; it is ingrained within us. This spirit is antagonistic to the kingdom of heaven. It couldn’t be wished away or ignored. It had to be broken. And Yahusha did break this power, allowing the earth’s inhabitants to instead yield to the Ruach HaQadesh. Paul wrote, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Ruach, and the Ruach 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 Ruach, you are not under law.”
Breaking a spirit of independence is very difficult, but this is what Yahusha accomplished. He gave us the ability to say to the Father, as he himself said at the most difficult point in his earthly life, “Not my will, but yours be done.” He provided for the spirit of rebellion to be replaced with a spirit of yieldedness to the kingdom. He gave us the ability to obey the will of the Father. In fact, Yahusha said that submitting to him was the same thing as submitting to the Father, since he and the Father are one. “If you love me,” he said to his followers, “you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor [the Governor] to be with you forever.”
Can you imagine anyone in American politics telling the voters, “Do everything I say”? They would think he was crazy because we’re taught not to trust anyone like that. But Yahusha came to bring back the perfect government. In the kingdom of heaven, trust in the King-Son is the only way to experience life. In the kingdom of heaven, independence from the King- Son brings death, as Yahusha explained to his disciples:
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
Yahusha was destroying the idea of independence and rebellion, showing that this leads to deadly consequences. In contrast, dependence on him leads to life because “apart from [him] you can do nothing.” We are to be dependent on him so that he can help us be what we were created to be. Paul discovered this truth firsthand. Yahusha told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s response was to say, “When I am weak, then I am strong [in the power of the kingdom].”
The key, then, to being freed from the grip of rebellion, restored to wholeness and devotion to the King-Father, and released in the power and life of the Ruach is to acknowledge and receive the cleansing that the King-Son accomplished for us when he paid for our rebellion through his death. His was the ultimate sacrifice for the rebellious nature of human- ity. It was a sacrifice for all of humanity. It is available for all people. Yet each human being must make a personal decision to commit to Yahusha’ kingdom school and enter into the king- dom by accepting his sacrifice to break the spirit of rebellion and by desiring to realign with the King. As he does this, he will receive the nature of the kingdom within.
“He Lives with You and Will Be in You”
This brings us back to what Yahusha told his followers about the Governor, the Ruach of the King: “He lives with you and will be in you.” Yahusha’ followers had seen the demonstration of the Governor’s power lived out in his life. The Governor’s works were manifested on the earth, but no other human being besides Yahusha had the Ruach living within. Yahusha was promising the disciples that, through his sacrifice, the Governor would be coming back to live within them, also, just as had been promised since Genesis 3 when the rebellion occurred. This would not only align them with the nature and thinking of the kingdom, but it would also empower them to live it out just as Yahusha had lived it out on earth. Soon, the Governor would be taking up his official residence again in the citizens of the kingdom on earth, as the prophet Joel had foretold.
The King-Son’s Ultimate Reason for Coming to Earth
After his resurrection, Yahusha told his disciples, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised.” The King-Son was restating the essential reason for his ministry. This next statement may shock a few people, but I believe it is vital for us to understand: the promise of the Father was not Yahusha’ sufferings, his death on Calvary, or even his resurrection. Over the centuries, the Christian church has emphasized these aspects of Yahusha’ ministry to the point that I believe the ultimate reason he endured them has been obscured.
Through the years, people—especially religious people— have changed the meaning of the Father’s promise to humanity. Christianity has become the celebration of what Yahusha did rather than a reception of the reason He did it. We have declared a message that Yahusha never gave. We’ve changed the promise into one of leaving this earth and going to heaven, when what we’re called to is restored dominion over the earth through the indwelling Ruach.
The result is that we have worshipped Calvary, rather than benefiting from it. Yahusha’ sufferings, death, and resurrection were the means to an end—the reconciliation of humanity to the King, and, ultimately, the restoration of the Ruach to humanity. They were not ends in themselves. We’ve made the process the purpose. The promise of the Father was the reappointment of the Ruach as a result of these things. The entire reason for the King-Son’s coming into the world was to break the stronghold of HaSatan, destroy the grip of rebellion from human beings, and reconnect them to their King-Father so that the Governor could be restored to them.
The Ruach is what all human beings need in order to be realigned with the King and fulfill their purpose on earth. We should note that John the Baptist never emphasized the blood or death or resurrection of Yahusha. He emphasized the Ruach HaQadesh, because John was expressing the specific reason for his coming: “He will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire.” Humanity is not in need of a “religion.” We don’t need rituals and traditions. We need this promise of the Father to be a reality in our lives.
We must come to truly understand that the Ruach HaQadesh is the heavenly government personified. He is the source of the power of the kingdom in our lives. The Old Testament experience of the priests and prophets was only a shadow of what was to come. At that time, the Ruach HaQadesh couldn’t live in human beings; he could only be among them. But now, Yahusha was saying, “The Ruach of truth...lives with you and will be in you.”
As I said earlier, every miracle of Yahusha, every healing, every act of dominion—whether it was walking on water, casting out demons, or cleansing a leper—was not for entertainment or for making an impression; nor was it for the purpose of creating a religion or providing interesting material for preaching. These things were for the purpose of producing evidence to the world that the Ruach of the kingdom had returned to earth and would soon live within humanity again.
Just before Yahusha died, he gave his disciples many instructions, and these instructions had important information about the Governor. He was trying to tell them, in effect, “Everything I’m about to suffer is all because of my purposes concerning the Ruach HaQadesh in your lives and in the lives of those who will believe in the future.” He told them, in essence, “I’m going to leave you, but don’t panic or worry. The Governor is going to come back; he will be with you forever, and he’ll never forsake you.”
A striking illustration of the Governor’s return occurred at the moment of Yahusha’ death. The curtain in the temple separating the people from the Holy of Holies tore in two from top to bottom, signaling that Yahusha had made provision for human beings to be holy and receive the Ruach once more. The Ruach no longer had to be separated from them, dwelling only between the cherubim on a mercy seat that had been sprinkled with the blood of animals. Because of Yahusha’ ultimate blood sacrifice, the Ruach could once more be at home within human beings, giving them direct access to the King.
The Goal of the King
The King’s desire to restore the Ruach HaQadesh to humanity, therefore, is what made the entire redemptive program of Yahusha Hamachiach necessary. The principle goal and primary purpose of Yahusha’ coming into the world was to deliver the Governor of heaven to the colony of earth. Everything else was a means to that end. He didn’t come to bring us to heaven. He came to bring heaven to earth. This is why our Master Teacher taught us to pray, in what we call The Most High’s Prayer, that the King- Father’s influence, will, intent, and laws be done on earth—the colony—as they are in heaven—the home country.
The Roman Empire as a Type of the Heavenly Kingdom
The best time in history for the concept of the heavenly kingdom to be fully communicated to the inhabitants of earth was during the time of the Roman Empire, and this is a major reason why the King-Son, the Messiah, was born at that time. It was not a random choice by the King; it was the perfect time. Paul wrote,
When the time had fully come, Yah sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, Yah sent the Ruach of his Son into our hearts, the Ruach who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, Yah has made you also an heir.
The structure and functioning of the Roman Empire (though not its moral nature) at the time of Yahusha served as a type of the kingdom of heaven. For those living under its rule in Palestine, the analogy would have been obvious. Caesar was the emperor or king in Rome, and he was a type of the heav- enly King.
Caesar sent Pilate to be his procurator or governor over the region of Judea, to oversee it and create the culture of the Roman Empire there. Similarly, Yahusha said that when he returned to the Father, the Governor would be released to earth, enabling the inhabitants to fulfill the will of the King on earth once more, making it into a replica of the kingdom of heaven. Yahusha told his disciples, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Ruach of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me,” and “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Political concepts familiar to the people of the time were present for them to come to understand that Yahusha was talking about the return of the Governor to earth to enable them to fulfill the will and work of the kingdom of heaven. Interestingly, Yahusha’ enemies recognized that his message was about a kingdom, not a “religion.” This kingdom demanded full loyalty to the King-Father through the King-Son. Because Yahusha’ enemies did not want to submit to the authority of the heavenly government, they sought to kill him. They told Pilate that Yahusha was a threat to the political order of the day, saying, “We have no king but Caesar.” In this way, they pressured Pilate into choosing between killing an innocent man and appearing to support a king other than Caesar. He caved to the pressure and allowed Yahusha to be crucified. He was responsible for his choice, even though Yahusha’ death was part of the heavenly restoration plan. Every person essentially faces the same choice. Allegiance to the kingdom of heaven does not allow for any person or anything to take the place of the King.
The Release and Reception of the Governor
After the King-Son’s life on earth, a process unfolded by which the Governor was given to his followers. First, of course, the Ruach HaQadesh dwelled within the body of Yahusha—the first human being to have the Ruach within him since Adam and Eve. When Yahusha died on the cross, eyewitness and disciple John recorded that he “gave up his spirit.” Although this term can be a description for taking one’s last breath, I believe it also has a deeper significance here. The Greek word for “give up” means to “yield up.” Therefore, I think this term means that Yahusha also released the Ruach HaQadesh back to the Father in heaven at his death.
When Yahusha was resurrected, he was raised by the power of the Ruach, and the Ruach again dwelled in him. Paul wrote, “And if the Ruach of him who raised Yahusha from the dead is living in you, he who raised Hamachiach from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Ruach, who lives in you.” Just as the King-Son was raised from death by the Ruach, and the Ruach dwelled in him, those who enter the kingdom through the King-Son’s sacrifice will also receive the Ruach.
At Yahusha’ resurrection, then, the Ruach was now poised to return to humanity and rescue lives that had lived in rebellion, confusion, and despair under the kingdom of darkness. Just as the Ruach brought life out of emptiness and order from chaos at the creation of the earth, he would transform the earth once more into a colony of heaven through the return of the kingdom in the lives of its citizens.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
THE PROMISE OF THE GOVERNOR’S RETURN
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: The Promise of the Governor’s Return
Psalm 104:29
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return H7725 to their dust.
RETURN
Today we look to- RETURN -H7725 shuv--to turn back, return, to bring back, to be returned, be restored, be brought back
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return H7725 unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. H7725
The prophets proclaim..................
Hosea 5:15
I will go and return H7725 to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
The writings bear witness...........................
2 Chronicles 30:9
For if ye turn again H7725 unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again H7725 into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return H7725 unto him.
Chapter 4
The Promise of the Governor’s Return
When the end becomes the means, and the minor becomes the major, then injustice is inevitable.
Before looking more closely at the King’s plan to restore the Governor, let’s review some major points regarding the kingdom of heaven and its plan for the colonization of earth:
-The King of the eternal and invisible kingdom desired to extend his own nature and influence to the physical realm of earth, which he had created. The kingdom of heaven is his governing influence over the world, impacting and influencing it with his will, his purpose, and his intent. Heaven is Yah’s kingdom or home country, and earth is his colony.
-Human beings were created in the image of the King and were given the Spirit of the King to live within them. The King’s Spirit gave life to their spirits, souls, and bodies.
-Human beings were designed to function like their Creator-King. The presence of the Spirit of the King within human beings guaranteed that they would have his character and nature. It also assured that they would be able to rule on earth as he would rule in the heavenly kingdom, having his very nature of love, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness.
-The King did not desire to rule the earth directly, but to cultivate his colony through his children, who also functioned as his local governors. They were to exercise dominion over the earth under the direction of the chief Governor, the Spirit of the King.
-Adam and Eve’s declaration of independence cut humanity off from the King and caused the Governor to be recalled by the kingdom of heaven.
-The departure of the Governor meant the departure of the heavenly government and its direct influence over the colony of earth.
-After humanity rebelled against the authority of the heavenly government, the King immediately promised to restore the Governor to his children.
-The most important promise the Creator-King ever made to human beings was the promise that the Governor would return to live within them, because he is the key to life.
-The restoration of the King’s Spirit to humanity is central to the restoration of his kingdom on earth.
All the above leads us to this conclusion: The principal purpose of the redemptive program of the Creator-King, in his dealings with humanity throughout human history, was the restoration of the Governor to the colony of earth.
In light of this, let’s consider the theme of the sacred literature of the Old or First Testament, also known as the Hebrew canon of Scripture. Some say its theme is the creation of a monotheistic religion. Others say it’s the story of the rise and fall of the ancient Hebrew nation. Still others see it as the record of various traditions and rituals. If we look at it in any of these terms, however, we miss its crucial essence.
The Theme and Significance of the Scriptures
What is the significance of the Scriptures? Why do we have the accounts of Noah, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the story of the nation of Israel? What was the purpose of all the blood sacrifices? Why is there a record of priests, prophets, and the lineage of kings?
While its events revolve around the people and nation of Israel, the theme of the Old Testament is universal: it is the restoration of the key to humanity’s existence, the reestablishment of true life for every human being on the planet. The record of the people and events depict the unfolding of the King’s plan to restore his Spirit within human beings so they can be and do what they were originally intended to; so they can fulfill their remarkable purpose and potential once again.
The first two chapters of Genesis explain the heavenly government’s plan for expanding the kingdom to earth. The third chapter describes the interruption of this plan, and the immediate promise of restoration. From the third chapter all the way through the last book of the Old Testament, the King’s plan for the return of his Governor to earth is revealed. All the situations, people, and programs we read about serve these ends:
1. They are a continual reminder of the promise of the Governor’s restoration.
2.They depict the King’s intervention in the lives of specific families on earth to preserve a lineage for the Offspring who would restore the Governor.
3.They depict a prototype of the restoration of the kingdom of heaven on earth.
4.They expose the fact that only the Governor himself can reconnect the earthly colony to its heavenly government.
5.They foretell the coming of the Offspring who will personally reconcile the children-citizens to the King and authorize the return of the Governor.
In other words, after humanity’s rebellion, the King’s intent was essentially this: “My purpose in creating the world was disrupted, and I’m going to correct it. My Spirit can no longer live in the earthly residence I created. I will therefore restore my Spirit to humanity so my kingdom can function on earth again.”
Everything depicted in the Old Testament about the intervention of Yah in the lives of human beings was ultimately a means to this end. Yah was revealing to humanity, in effect, “Here’s the program: Your rebellion has put you in a hopeless situation. I am therefore going to come to the earth personally, and I will provide a way of restoring purity of heart and wholeness to you, so that the Governor can come to live in you again. Second, I will reappoint the Governor to the colony of earth to live within you once more and carry out my desire to transform the earth into a reflection of my kingdom.”
Humanity’s Need for Holiness
The Old Testament emphasizes the fact that when Adam and Eve lost the Ruach HaQadesh, humanity became unholy. I think this word has so many religious images connected with it that we don’t really know what it means anymore. We find its essence by looking at what the Creator-King told the nation of Israel: “You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” In this instance, he is using the word holy in relation to a nation. He’s obviously not talking about wearing a cross or a liturgical robe or entering a religious order.
So what does the concept mean? There are two related connotations of the word that I want to emphasize here: one of them is “pure,” and the other is “devoted” or “dedicated.”
These words signify, first of all, something that is set apart specifically and purely for a certain use. In this sense, holiness can be applied to many things. For example, I could set apart my favorite cup and say, “This may only be used by me for drinking hot tea, nothing else.” I’ve sanctified it by setting it apart and dedicating it for a specific purpose. Thus, the word pure in this context means something beyond just “clean.” It has to do with being pure in use.
In relation to human beings, the King said his people needed to be “holy unto me.” How can you be holy unto a person? Holiness, in this connection, means, “I am devoted only to you. Not only am I dedicated to you, but my loyalty to you is not tainted by any other loyalties. I have no ulterior motives.”
Next, let’s look at what it means for the Creator-King to describe himself as a “holy” Yah. Does it mean he’s devoted to himself alone? No, it means that he is true to himself. He is faithful and consistent in who he is, what he desires, what he says, and what he does. I associate the word holy with integrity. The King is fully “integrated” or unified. His nature is so pure that he can never have an ulterior or deceitful motive. This is why the King cannot lie. This is also why the King-Father can never disagree with the King-Son, who is the Offspring who came to restore the Governor; and this is why neither of them can disagree with the Governor. The three persons of the Creator-King are one or integrated.
Having personal holiness therefore means “to be one with yourself.” When Yahusha of Nazareth told his disciples, “Be perfect [holy], just as your [King-Father] is perfect,” he was saying, “Be one with yourself, as your King- Father is one with himself.” Here is the practical application: if you say that you will do something, you do it. If you promise something, you fulfill it. If you are truly holy, you can never say something and then do something contrary to it. Your public behavior is the same as your private behavior. Nothing the King does is ever in conflict with his nature so that he has to hide it. You don’t have to hide anything unless you are saying or doing something that is contrary to what you say you are. Adam and Eve had been totally integrated before they disobeyed the King and then lied about it, destroying the trust he had placed in them.
The central issue of the Old Testament is that, when Adam and Eve rebelled, the Ruach HaQadesh had to leave humanity because human beings were no longer pure in motive or integrated in themselves, and consequently were no longer set apart for Yah or in agreement with him. The Governor is a pure Spirit and could not live in intimate relationship with humanity in that environment.
Stages of the King’s Plan
When human beings cut themselves off from the Governor, the King was faced with a supreme challenge. Human beings needed to live in his presence, and to have his presence within them. However, their current state would not permit this. If he wanted to restore the Governor to his children and continue his purpose of having the earth reflect his kingdom, something had to happen to change their state of being.
The King’s plan to fully restore the Governor unfolded in stages:
1. He implemented a program that allowed the Governor to come upon people, although not within them, so as not to violate his integrity. His Spirit could come upon any person who chose to submit to the influence of the heavenly government. Since the Governor had been recalled and was therefore “illegal” on earth, he would come and rule in someone’s life when that person yielded to his prompting and direction. This wasn’t the same influence over the entire world that was in place before the rebellion; it was what we might call “selective rulership” or “rulership by submission.”
2.The sacrificial system, which the Hebrew people practiced, and which we will talk more about shortly, allowed the Governor to work on earth through a special nation of people who were meant to be a prototype of the return of the kingdom to the whole world.
3.The King himself would come to earth to restore integrity to humanity, and thus provide a way for the Governor to again live within human beings on a permanent basis.
Understanding the Creator-King’s program to restore humanity puts the entire Old Testament in the proper light. It is not a group of stories strung together or a handbook of rituals. It is about the King initiating his restoration program.
In Genesis, when the King said that the Offspring would come and “crush the head” of the serpent, this was actually the first promise that he himself was coming to earth—incarnated as a human being—and would defeat humanity’s deceiver, reconcile his people to himself, and restore the Governor. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Yah, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
The King-Father was preparing the earth to receive the King-Son. And the old sacrificial system would be replaced by a permanent sacrifice made by the King-Son himself. The New Testament writer to the Hebrews, quoting Psalm 40, wrote, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.” From Genesis onward, therefore, the King-Father was working to set apart and preserve a lineage dedicated to his Son’s eventual coming to earth. Let’s take a fresh look at the Old Testament from this perspective.
Influence over Earth’s Environment
The Governor’s presence on earth through the submission of individuals to the heavenly government was always accompanied by the manifestation of kingdom influence over the earth’s environment. In other words, when the King made himself known to people, and they responded by yielding to him and his redemptive purposes, miraculous things would happen on earth. Yet what we call “miracles” were not extraordinary from the point of view of the kingdom of heaven. They were natural outcomes of the influence of the heavenly government in the lives of those yielded to the King.
Noah and the Flood
After the rebellion of Adam and Eve, the culture of the world became so evil that it had to be virtually destroyed in order to preserve a lineage for the coming Offspring. This is why the Creator-King came to a man named Noah and instructed him to build an ark to save himself and his family from the flood that would destroy the rest of the earth’s inhabitants.
His message was essentially this:
“Noah, the people of the world have become totally wicked, and I need to preserve a pure lineage. Therefore, I’m going to start over again with you and your family because you have a heart that is obedient toward me.”
Notice that the King’s words to Noah after the flood were almost exactly the same as the ones he had first spoken to Adam: “Then Yah blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.’” The King was continuing the same program with Noah’s family that he had begun with Adam and Eve; he did not change his original purpose for humanity on earth because of the rebellion. Instead, he was working out his plan to restore it. Noah was not the actual source of the restoration but was part of the pure (set apart) lineage that needed to be preserved for the coming of the Offspring. The worldwide deluge and the survival of Noah and his family on the ark were the result of the kingdom manifesting its influence through the faith Noah placed in the King and his ultimate purposes for humanity.
Abraham
Ten generations later, Noah had a descendant named Abraham, and the King’s plan of preparing a lineage and a body for himself started to take more specific shape. He told Abraham that even though he and his wife were old, they would have a child. This child would be the beginning of a great nation, which in turn would be a prototype of what the kingdom of heaven on earth was supposed to look like. Moreover, one of his descendents would be the promised Offspring.
Sarah’s ability to conceive and bear a son in her old age was a result of Abraham and Sarah’s willingness to cooperate with the purposes of the heavenly government. Although they did not fully understand the plan, their relationship with the Creator-King brought about the next stage in his redemptive purposes for earth.
Both Noah and Abraham believed and obeyed the King’s instructions. Belief and obedience were the means of their holiness or righteousness before him. Righteousness refers to “right standing” or “right alignment” with evident authority, and Noah and Abraham lined themselves up with the government of heaven.
The Tribes of Israel
Abraham had his miracle child, Isaac. Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob, and Jacob was chosen as the one to carry on the lineage. Jacob’s name was later changed to Israel, which means “Prince with Yah.” He was the heir of the promise of the coming Offspring. Jacob had twelve sons, and each son’s family grew and became a large tribe; this was the origin of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Creator-King chose Jacob’s son Judah as the one through whom the special lineage would be carried on, even though all the tribes were destined to play a part in the unfolding drama.
The Israelites: A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation
Eventually, the twelve tribes moved to Egypt because of a famine in their homeland. They were preserved through the heavenly government’s intervention in the life of another son of Jacob’s, named Joseph, who became the Egyptian pharaoh’s second-in-command. But the tribes eventually become slaves of Egypt under a different pharaoh. After several hundred years, the Creator-King called a man named Moses, of the tribe of Levi, to free the Israelites as part of his plan to preserve a lineage for the birth of the Offspring.
All the events we read about in the life of Moses show the manifestation of kingdom influence on earth through Moses’ submission to the purposes of the kingdom government. For example, Moses’ ability to bring the plagues of locusts and flies was an example of a human being exercising dominion over “all the creatures that move along the ground” through the power of the King’s Spirit. The same is true for the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea that allowed the Israelites to cross over on foot and escape the pursuing Egyptians. Moses was the heavenly government’s instrument to bring about many manifestations of kingdom influence on earth during his lifetime.
I want to reemphasize that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the Israelite nation were not preserved in order to create a religion. The nation of Israel was an instrument in the hand of the King’s unfolding purposes to reconcile the whole world to himself and to restore the Governor—it was not an end in itself. The Israelites were called and set apart as a special nation so they could rediscover the King and his ways for the purpose of becoming a nation with a holy (dedicated) purpose. As we will shortly see, they were to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” to help fulfill the King’s plan of restoration for the world.
The Hebrew word for “kingdom” in this context is mamlakah, which means “dominion” or “rule.” Here we return to the theme of earthly dominion. Kingdom indicates governing responsibility, while the role of the priest was to help people become realigned with the heavenly government. In essence, priestly work involves lining up with true authority, and kingdom work has to do with executing rulership under that authority. The Creator-King wanted a kingdom or nation of priests on earth. He wanted the entire nation of Israel to be properly aligned with him, all the time, the way Adam and Eve had been when they still had the Spirit of the Creator living within them. Every human being was meant to be a priest personally aligned with the Creator-King and a ruler having dominion over the earth.
Yah had told the Israelites when they came out of Egypt that, if they continued to believe and obey him, he would make them the greatest nation in the world. He gave them instructions for living, called the law. This was a comprehensive picture of how they were supposed to think and act as a kingdom of priests and rulers living in integrity. If they did so, he would provide for them and protect them; they would have everything they needed, and they would never be defeated by their enemies. The nation as a whole was to be a prototype of what the King would do for all who were submitted to his Governor and were ruling their homes, communities, and nations under his guidance.
Sadly, the nation of Israel didn’t live up to its high purpose. The people rejected the laws of the King, just as Adam and Eve had. They were no longer in alignment with him.
Consequently, they failed to be an example to other nations of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Although there were times when the people returned to their King, they rejected him over and over again throughout their history as a nation. Whenever this happened, the King allowed other nations, which didn’t acknowledge him, to overrun them so they would see their need and return to him. Throughout the Old Testament, we read how the nation was often overtaken by other peoples, such as the Canaanites, Moabites, and Hittites.
The Meaning of the Law
When the Israelite people first came out of Egyptian slavery, they had forgotten much about the King and his ways. They had lost a clear conception of his nature and will. They didn’t know about Abraham’s personal relationship with the King, but had only a vague idea that Abraham was their forefather. This is when Yah instructed Moses to tell them who they were and what their true purpose was as a nation of kings and priests:
This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: “You your- selves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.
With these words, the King established his relationship to the Israelites, and their relationship to him. Then he instructed Moses to tell the whole nation to meet him at the mountain where they were encamped. He wanted to give them his laws directly. He didn’t want to give them to just one person who would pass them along to the people; he wanted the whole nation to hear them because all of them were to be rulers and priests. When they came to the mountain, and the King descended to talk to them, they were afraid of the display of his power and greatness. Moses told them not to be afraid but to reverence the King. But instead, the people wanted Moses to serve as their mediator.
Again, the King gave the law so the people would know what it meant to live according to his nature. Yet his ultimate desire was not to have his laws recorded merely on stone or even paper. He wanted them to exist in the spirit of their minds. He revealed his ultimate plan with these words, which he gave to his prophet Jeremiah: “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time....I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their Yah, and they will be my people.” This is a direct reference to the eventual return of the Governor to live within humanity.
For now, however, Moses received the written code, the laws and principles of the kingdom, or the “kingdom standards,” to give to the people. Their King wanted them to understand how his Spirit thought and how his kingdom worked so they could stay in alignment with him. If the nation obeyed the King’s laws, they would attract his Spirit because they would be living in holiness and be in harmony with his nature.
When Moses came down from the mountain after meeting with the King, the people agreed to obey the law. As we saw, however, this didn’t last long. Joshua, Moses’ second-in-command, eventually took the people into the land the King had promised them. What we consider amazing miracles at this time, such as the parting of the waters of the river Jordan, the collapse of the walls of the city of Jericho, and the sun standing still and not setting for about a full day during a battle, were merely evidence of kingdom influence over the physical universe. Yet even with all these demonstrations of the presence of the kingdom of heaven among them, the people turned away from the will of the King. They began to intermarry with citizens outside the prototype kingdom and took on the traits of nations that did not acknowledge the King. They gradually became alienated from him and unaligned with his kingdom purposes.
The Priesthood and Sacrifices
This is where the priesthood comes in. I don’t believe Yah’s real desire was to have a specific group of people called priests. Remember that he wanted a kingdom or nation of priests. But in order for the Israelites to remain his prototype nation, he provided a way for them to be restored when they rebelled against him and violated his kingdom standards.
Since they had forsaken their calling to be a nation of priests, the King appointed Aaron, Moses’ brother, and Aaron’s sons, who were of the tribe of Levi, to be the nation’s priests. Their descendents would succeed them as priests. He also told Moses to set aside certain other men of the tribe of Levi to assist the priests in their duties. The priests were to keep themselves aligned with the King. They performed rituals of sacrifice prescribed by the King, which served to atone for (cover over) their rebellion and position the nation of Israel in alignment with the heavenly government again.
In this way, the Governor could reveal the will of the King to the people, and his kingdom culture could come on earth through them. The result was that they would bring all other nations back to the King through their example. Therefore, all the sacrifices, the rituals involving the blood, the incense that was burned, the various components of the tabernacle, and later the temple—all these things were for the purpose of realigning the people with Yah so they could be what they were originally called to be.
The rituals that the priests performed involved the sacrifice of animals because the culture of rebellion, murder, and death that human beings had created needed to be paid for. So did individuals’ infractions of the King’s law. The first-century writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, “The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” In the system of sacrifices, therefore, the blood atoned for the violations against the kingdom law that the people had committed.
When we read about all the intricacies of priestly dress and practice, the systems of worship, and the specific details of the animal sacrifices, we tend to be caught up in the particulars and miss their overall meaning. The ultimate goal of the King’s program was not the priests, the robes, the incense, the showbread, the goblets, and the inner and outer courts. Some people almost seem to consider these things as mystical religious icons. Instead, they were a means to an end. They were Yah’s provision (his temporary program) for realigning the people with him so that his Spirit, the absent Governor, could come back to them and intervene on the earth.
The ultimate goal of the entire Old Testament ritualistic program was designed, motivated, and developed for this purpose: when the high priest went into the innermost chamber of the tabernacle (later, the temple), the sacrifices would be accepted on behalf of the people, and the Spirit of Yah would be able to come and dwell between the cherubim on the mercy seat (or atonement cover) there because the requirements for holiness had been fulfilled.
Everything that came in the presence of the Spirit had to be holy because he is a Ruach HaQadesh. The sacrificial blood would cleanse both the people and the high priest who would stand in the immediate presence of the Governor in the inner room of the tabernacle, called the “Holy of Holies.” As a result of these sacrifices, a most beautiful thing occurred. The Spirit came back. The Governor was on earth! All the temporary sacrifices brought the Governor into the people’s presence, but not into them. He could not enter into human beings at that time because the permanent sacrifice had not yet been made.
The animal sacrifices had to be offered again and again because the people were continually rebelling against the authority of heaven, and the sacrifices were a temporary method of atonement that allowed the heavenly government to intervene in their lives, even though it couldn’t change their rebellious nature.
Whenever the people of Israel were aligned with the King and his Spirit was with them, they won every battle, had no sickness among them, and experienced peace. Why? They were living as true human beings again. They were living as they were intended to live—above their environment and circumstances.
Great lengths had to be taken by the priests just to ensure the Governor’s presence in the inner chamber of the tabernacle or temple so the people could be at peace, prosper, and fulfill their role as the prototype nation. When the people disobeyed Yah, the Ruach HaQadesh left them, and their lives became chaotic again. When they received forgiveness through the sacrifices and again obeyed Yah, the Ruach HaQadesh would return, and they would have success.
The sacrificial system served its purpose, even though it was inadequate to fully solve humanity’s dilemma of separation from the heavenly kingdom. It actually emphasized the incompleteness of the temporary cleansing to keep the people aligned with Yah. They were “sprinkled” with the blood because the blood of animals cannot permanently cleanse a person from the inside out. The intent of the hearts of men and women are basically and continually evil. The unholy (nonintegrated, non set apart) state of the human heart and its potential for evil are always under the surface and always emerge in one way or another.
Yet this program was the Creator-King’s temporary provision for working with human beings, whom he couldn’t yet dwell within because of their unholiness but still needed to influence. He created his own environment of holiness through the sacrificial system in order to work among his people without violating his purity and integrity. The prophets, priests, and kings of the nation of Israel would receive the Spirit of the King upon them for specific instances where they would speak or act on earth in behalf of the King.
Many people like to study and teach all the intricacies of the Old Testament rituals; some even make quite a bit of money off books and products expounding on such things as the “ten keys to the tabernacle.” I’ve found that many people are (at best) missing the main purpose of these things, and other people are (at worst) exploiting people by overemphasizing them. They were not ends in themselves. We must always remember that their whole purpose was to be a means of bringing the governing influence of heaven back to earth for the benefit of humanity.
The Kings
Because the Israelites wanted to be just like the other nations around them, having the same standards and lifestyle, they had asked for their own earthly king. The King had told them, in effect, “No, you really don’t want an earthly king. A king will just oppress you with taxation and forced labor. I am your King, who provides everything for you and gives you what is good.” He was trying to tell them, “You are not like other nations. You are supposed to be an example to them. You’re supposed to be the prototype for my kingdom.”
Human kings were not the King’s ultimate plan for his people. He wanted a whole nation of kingdom rulers who would be directed by him. This idea reflects his ultimate goal of having every citizen on earth be a local governor, exercising authority under the chief Governor. Yet the Israelites insisted on having a king, so he gave them what they wanted.
The people’s desire for a king indicated a lack of alignment with the King and complete misunderstanding of their calling. After they told the prophet Samuel they wanted a king, “the Most High told [Samuel]: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.’” They were rejecting their heavenly King once more.
Yet the King used the institution of kings to further his redemptive purposes. The second king over Israel, David, was a man who desired what the heavenly government desires. Kingdom influence was manifested in his life in many ways. His amazing slaying of the giant Goliath when he was still a youth was an example of a human being exercising kingdom dominion over a pawn of the kingdom of darkness. When David said to Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Most High Almighty,” he was saying, “I come to you under the authority of the government of heaven.”
Ultimately, the King used the line of Israelite kings to preserve the lineage for his Son’s coming to earth. The Offspring would be a descendant of David.
The Prophets
However, most of the nation’s kings, who were supposed to represent the King’s justice on earth, became corrupt. The priesthood also become corrupt. The very ones who were supposed to align the nation to the King had become unaligned themselves. So the King raised up people from within the Israelite nation, at various times, who could speak to both priests and kings on behalf of the heavenly kingdom.
A distinct pattern is emerging: The nation of Israel was raised up as a prototype to address the need of a rebellious people called humanity. The priesthood came about when those who were meant to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” failed to fulfill their corporate calling. The institution of kings was established when the people rejected the Creator- King as their ruler. The King therefore raised up individual voices the prophets who called upon the kings, priests, and people to change their ways and come back into alignment with him.
The prophets would begin their assignments by saying something like, “The word of the Most High came to me.” Where does the word of the Most High come from? It comes from his Spirit. The Spirit would come upon the prophet, and the prophet would tell the king and the priests to correct themselves so they could correct the nation.
In other words, the prophet’s job was to bring the earthly king back to the Creator-King so the king could execute the heavenly government’s justice and help bring the nation back to the law and ways of the Creator-King. He was also to bring the priests back in alignment so they could help bring the people and nation back in alignment. In this way, the nation could return to being the prototype of the kingdom of heaven. The nation could then correct the nations of the world, for the ultimate purpose of redeeming the whole earth.
The prophets manifested the influence of the kingdom on earth in many ways. For example, because the prophet Elijah was submitted to the King, the heavenly government used him to bring back to life the son of a woman who was also submitted to the kingdom. We should not really be surprised at this particular administration of the kingdom, since the King’s Spirit originally gave life to humanity and can also restore that life. The heavenly government was manifested in the life of the prophet Daniel when he received special communication through the Governor regarding the future of the Israelite people and when he escaped harm after being thrown into a den of ravenous lions. His “miracle” of preservation was, again, an example of the dominion of the kingdom of heaven over the earth.
However, how did the leaders and people usually react to the prophets? They would ignore, criticize, threaten, or kill them! Eventually, the people were so disobedient as a nation that they were perpetually unaligned; the result was that the Spirit left the temple prior to the people’s captivity in Babylon. The Israelites had only the trappings of their old way of life. The prototype nation was essentially gone, setting up the next phase of the plan for the complete restoration of the kingdom on earth.
The King spoke through his prophets, saying, “I’m not going to keep sending word to you through other people. I’m going to come there myself to bring you back to me!”
Governmental Messages about the Coming King Who Would Restore the Governor
The entire Old Testament is therefore about the repetition of the promise of the Governor’s return, and the evidence of heavenly kingdom influence selectively manifested through the prototype nation and individuals who were submitted to the kingdom. Over the centuries, specific prophets, as well as other leaders such as Moses and David, spoke messages from the King announcing that he himself would reestablish his kingdom in the colony of earth, paving the way for the restoration of the Governor to humanity. For example, the prophet Isaiah said,
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Yah, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The King of the eternal, invisible kingdom was going to reclaim his property. When the colony was regained, he would set up his government on earth again and recommission his Spirit as Governor once more. Yahusha told a parable about him- self that describes the King’s desire to implement his plan of extending his influence on earth, and of the resistance of most the earth’s inhabitants to him until he himself came to rectify the situation:
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son,” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?... The kingdom of Yah will be...given to a people who will produce its fruit.
The Mandate of the Coming King
The last book of the Old Testament ends with the prophet Malachi giving this message from the heavenly government about the coming King of heaven: “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” This was the mandate of the Offspring, whom the prophets referred to as the “Messiah,” to reconcile the children of Adam and Eve to their Creator-King. When this was accomplished, the Governor could be restored to his earthly residence within them.
The Governor’s Return Is for All Humanity
The prophet Joel gave one of the major messages from the heavenly kingdom regarding the Governor’s return:
Afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Joel was saying, in effect, “I see a day coming when we aren’t going to have to read or study the law in order to know how to obey the King because his Spirit will come upon young and old, and they will obey the King as naturally as they formerly disobeyed him.” No longer would there be a need for “selective rulership,” with only certain individuals being influenced by the Governor. All of humanity had lost the Spirit, and Joel was saying the Spirit would be poured out on “all people”—male, female, Israelite and non-Israelite, free and slave. Earthly prejudices related to gender, race, or social status would disappear in the face of the Governor’s return.
The Ruach HaQadesh is not just meant for people of a certain “religion” or nationality. The whole world lost the presence of the Governor within them, and the King wants everyone in the world to receive him into their lives again through the provision of the Offspring. The Governor is the key to life for all of humanity.
The Era of the King’s Coming
The idea of the Spirit’s coming upon the people probably seemed incredible to the Israelites when they heard Joel’s message. In their experience, the Ruach HaQadesh would only come upon the priests, the prophets, and some of the kings. Or, he would dwell between the cherubim on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies in the temple. Joel referred to the time of the Spirit’s coming as “the day of the Most High.” The word “day” in this context means “era” or “age.” Therefore, the day of the Most High would be the era or the time when the King came to earth.
The word “Most High” here is the Hebrew word for “self-Existent or Eternal” one. The message of these prophets was, “Animal sacrifices and other rituals can’t restore humanity to its relationship with the King, so the King himself is coming.” When he came to earth, his Spirit would also return. The Governor would come upon young and old men, young and old women. More than that, he would once more be able to dwell within humanity.
The prophet Malachi was the last prophet to promise the King’s return before the King himself came. The heavenly government gave him this message:
“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Most High you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Most High Almighty.
The first messenger mentioned would prepare the way. The second messenger, “the messenger of the covenant,” was the one who would “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” This messenger was referred to as “the Most High you are seeking.” What was his covenant message? It was the restoration of the Spirit to humanity, which had been promised since the initial rebellion.
Announcing the Arrival of the King
When we turn the page of the Scriptures from Malachi in the Old Testament to Matthew in the New Testament, we encounter the messenger who prepared the way for the King’s coming:
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Most High, make straight paths for him.’”
“The kingdom of heaven is near.” In other words, the King’s government was imminent because the King had come to earth. What was the theme of this message? The Governor. John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire.”
The King would baptize them with his Spirit, thus aligning them with the kingdom. The Spirit’s coming would no longer be a temporary appearance but a permanent one. The Governor would be like a consuming fire, burning out every false mindset and philosophy that alienated the citizens from the heavenly kingdom. He would correct all their confusion and satisfy all their hunger to know and fulfill their purpose in life. At last, they would be permanently reconnected to the King and his kingdom. The earth would be a colony of holiness and power again because its inhabitants would finally have the Spirit of holiness and power living within them once more.
Today we are walking in: The Promise of the Governor’s Return
Psalm 104:29
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return H7725 to their dust.
RETURN
Today we look to- RETURN -H7725 shuv--to turn back, return, to bring back, to be returned, be restored, be brought back
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return H7725 unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. H7725
The prophets proclaim..................
Hosea 5:15
I will go and return H7725 to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
The writings bear witness...........................
2 Chronicles 30:9
For if ye turn again H7725 unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again H7725 into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return H7725 unto him.
Chapter 4
The Promise of the Governor’s Return
When the end becomes the means, and the minor becomes the major, then injustice is inevitable.
Before looking more closely at the King’s plan to restore the Governor, let’s review some major points regarding the kingdom of heaven and its plan for the colonization of earth:
-The King of the eternal and invisible kingdom desired to extend his own nature and influence to the physical realm of earth, which he had created. The kingdom of heaven is his governing influence over the world, impacting and influencing it with his will, his purpose, and his intent. Heaven is Yah’s kingdom or home country, and earth is his colony.
-Human beings were created in the image of the King and were given the Spirit of the King to live within them. The King’s Spirit gave life to their spirits, souls, and bodies.
-Human beings were designed to function like their Creator-King. The presence of the Spirit of the King within human beings guaranteed that they would have his character and nature. It also assured that they would be able to rule on earth as he would rule in the heavenly kingdom, having his very nature of love, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness.
-The King did not desire to rule the earth directly, but to cultivate his colony through his children, who also functioned as his local governors. They were to exercise dominion over the earth under the direction of the chief Governor, the Spirit of the King.
-Adam and Eve’s declaration of independence cut humanity off from the King and caused the Governor to be recalled by the kingdom of heaven.
-The departure of the Governor meant the departure of the heavenly government and its direct influence over the colony of earth.
-After humanity rebelled against the authority of the heavenly government, the King immediately promised to restore the Governor to his children.
-The most important promise the Creator-King ever made to human beings was the promise that the Governor would return to live within them, because he is the key to life.
-The restoration of the King’s Spirit to humanity is central to the restoration of his kingdom on earth.
All the above leads us to this conclusion: The principal purpose of the redemptive program of the Creator-King, in his dealings with humanity throughout human history, was the restoration of the Governor to the colony of earth.
In light of this, let’s consider the theme of the sacred literature of the Old or First Testament, also known as the Hebrew canon of Scripture. Some say its theme is the creation of a monotheistic religion. Others say it’s the story of the rise and fall of the ancient Hebrew nation. Still others see it as the record of various traditions and rituals. If we look at it in any of these terms, however, we miss its crucial essence.
The Theme and Significance of the Scriptures
What is the significance of the Scriptures? Why do we have the accounts of Noah, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the story of the nation of Israel? What was the purpose of all the blood sacrifices? Why is there a record of priests, prophets, and the lineage of kings?
While its events revolve around the people and nation of Israel, the theme of the Old Testament is universal: it is the restoration of the key to humanity’s existence, the reestablishment of true life for every human being on the planet. The record of the people and events depict the unfolding of the King’s plan to restore his Spirit within human beings so they can be and do what they were originally intended to; so they can fulfill their remarkable purpose and potential once again.
The first two chapters of Genesis explain the heavenly government’s plan for expanding the kingdom to earth. The third chapter describes the interruption of this plan, and the immediate promise of restoration. From the third chapter all the way through the last book of the Old Testament, the King’s plan for the return of his Governor to earth is revealed. All the situations, people, and programs we read about serve these ends:
1. They are a continual reminder of the promise of the Governor’s restoration.
2.They depict the King’s intervention in the lives of specific families on earth to preserve a lineage for the Offspring who would restore the Governor.
3.They depict a prototype of the restoration of the kingdom of heaven on earth.
4.They expose the fact that only the Governor himself can reconnect the earthly colony to its heavenly government.
5.They foretell the coming of the Offspring who will personally reconcile the children-citizens to the King and authorize the return of the Governor.
In other words, after humanity’s rebellion, the King’s intent was essentially this: “My purpose in creating the world was disrupted, and I’m going to correct it. My Spirit can no longer live in the earthly residence I created. I will therefore restore my Spirit to humanity so my kingdom can function on earth again.”
Everything depicted in the Old Testament about the intervention of Yah in the lives of human beings was ultimately a means to this end. Yah was revealing to humanity, in effect, “Here’s the program: Your rebellion has put you in a hopeless situation. I am therefore going to come to the earth personally, and I will provide a way of restoring purity of heart and wholeness to you, so that the Governor can come to live in you again. Second, I will reappoint the Governor to the colony of earth to live within you once more and carry out my desire to transform the earth into a reflection of my kingdom.”
Humanity’s Need for Holiness
The Old Testament emphasizes the fact that when Adam and Eve lost the Ruach HaQadesh, humanity became unholy. I think this word has so many religious images connected with it that we don’t really know what it means anymore. We find its essence by looking at what the Creator-King told the nation of Israel: “You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” In this instance, he is using the word holy in relation to a nation. He’s obviously not talking about wearing a cross or a liturgical robe or entering a religious order.
So what does the concept mean? There are two related connotations of the word that I want to emphasize here: one of them is “pure,” and the other is “devoted” or “dedicated.”
These words signify, first of all, something that is set apart specifically and purely for a certain use. In this sense, holiness can be applied to many things. For example, I could set apart my favorite cup and say, “This may only be used by me for drinking hot tea, nothing else.” I’ve sanctified it by setting it apart and dedicating it for a specific purpose. Thus, the word pure in this context means something beyond just “clean.” It has to do with being pure in use.
In relation to human beings, the King said his people needed to be “holy unto me.” How can you be holy unto a person? Holiness, in this connection, means, “I am devoted only to you. Not only am I dedicated to you, but my loyalty to you is not tainted by any other loyalties. I have no ulterior motives.”
Next, let’s look at what it means for the Creator-King to describe himself as a “holy” Yah. Does it mean he’s devoted to himself alone? No, it means that he is true to himself. He is faithful and consistent in who he is, what he desires, what he says, and what he does. I associate the word holy with integrity. The King is fully “integrated” or unified. His nature is so pure that he can never have an ulterior or deceitful motive. This is why the King cannot lie. This is also why the King-Father can never disagree with the King-Son, who is the Offspring who came to restore the Governor; and this is why neither of them can disagree with the Governor. The three persons of the Creator-King are one or integrated.
Having personal holiness therefore means “to be one with yourself.” When Yahusha of Nazareth told his disciples, “Be perfect [holy], just as your [King-Father] is perfect,” he was saying, “Be one with yourself, as your King- Father is one with himself.” Here is the practical application: if you say that you will do something, you do it. If you promise something, you fulfill it. If you are truly holy, you can never say something and then do something contrary to it. Your public behavior is the same as your private behavior. Nothing the King does is ever in conflict with his nature so that he has to hide it. You don’t have to hide anything unless you are saying or doing something that is contrary to what you say you are. Adam and Eve had been totally integrated before they disobeyed the King and then lied about it, destroying the trust he had placed in them.
The central issue of the Old Testament is that, when Adam and Eve rebelled, the Ruach HaQadesh had to leave humanity because human beings were no longer pure in motive or integrated in themselves, and consequently were no longer set apart for Yah or in agreement with him. The Governor is a pure Spirit and could not live in intimate relationship with humanity in that environment.
Stages of the King’s Plan
When human beings cut themselves off from the Governor, the King was faced with a supreme challenge. Human beings needed to live in his presence, and to have his presence within them. However, their current state would not permit this. If he wanted to restore the Governor to his children and continue his purpose of having the earth reflect his kingdom, something had to happen to change their state of being.
The King’s plan to fully restore the Governor unfolded in stages:
1. He implemented a program that allowed the Governor to come upon people, although not within them, so as not to violate his integrity. His Spirit could come upon any person who chose to submit to the influence of the heavenly government. Since the Governor had been recalled and was therefore “illegal” on earth, he would come and rule in someone’s life when that person yielded to his prompting and direction. This wasn’t the same influence over the entire world that was in place before the rebellion; it was what we might call “selective rulership” or “rulership by submission.”
2.The sacrificial system, which the Hebrew people practiced, and which we will talk more about shortly, allowed the Governor to work on earth through a special nation of people who were meant to be a prototype of the return of the kingdom to the whole world.
3.The King himself would come to earth to restore integrity to humanity, and thus provide a way for the Governor to again live within human beings on a permanent basis.
Understanding the Creator-King’s program to restore humanity puts the entire Old Testament in the proper light. It is not a group of stories strung together or a handbook of rituals. It is about the King initiating his restoration program.
In Genesis, when the King said that the Offspring would come and “crush the head” of the serpent, this was actually the first promise that he himself was coming to earth—incarnated as a human being—and would defeat humanity’s deceiver, reconcile his people to himself, and restore the Governor. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Yah, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
The King-Father was preparing the earth to receive the King-Son. And the old sacrificial system would be replaced by a permanent sacrifice made by the King-Son himself. The New Testament writer to the Hebrews, quoting Psalm 40, wrote, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.” From Genesis onward, therefore, the King-Father was working to set apart and preserve a lineage dedicated to his Son’s eventual coming to earth. Let’s take a fresh look at the Old Testament from this perspective.
Influence over Earth’s Environment
The Governor’s presence on earth through the submission of individuals to the heavenly government was always accompanied by the manifestation of kingdom influence over the earth’s environment. In other words, when the King made himself known to people, and they responded by yielding to him and his redemptive purposes, miraculous things would happen on earth. Yet what we call “miracles” were not extraordinary from the point of view of the kingdom of heaven. They were natural outcomes of the influence of the heavenly government in the lives of those yielded to the King.
Noah and the Flood
After the rebellion of Adam and Eve, the culture of the world became so evil that it had to be virtually destroyed in order to preserve a lineage for the coming Offspring. This is why the Creator-King came to a man named Noah and instructed him to build an ark to save himself and his family from the flood that would destroy the rest of the earth’s inhabitants.
His message was essentially this:
“Noah, the people of the world have become totally wicked, and I need to preserve a pure lineage. Therefore, I’m going to start over again with you and your family because you have a heart that is obedient toward me.”
Notice that the King’s words to Noah after the flood were almost exactly the same as the ones he had first spoken to Adam: “Then Yah blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.’” The King was continuing the same program with Noah’s family that he had begun with Adam and Eve; he did not change his original purpose for humanity on earth because of the rebellion. Instead, he was working out his plan to restore it. Noah was not the actual source of the restoration but was part of the pure (set apart) lineage that needed to be preserved for the coming of the Offspring. The worldwide deluge and the survival of Noah and his family on the ark were the result of the kingdom manifesting its influence through the faith Noah placed in the King and his ultimate purposes for humanity.
Abraham
Ten generations later, Noah had a descendant named Abraham, and the King’s plan of preparing a lineage and a body for himself started to take more specific shape. He told Abraham that even though he and his wife were old, they would have a child. This child would be the beginning of a great nation, which in turn would be a prototype of what the kingdom of heaven on earth was supposed to look like. Moreover, one of his descendents would be the promised Offspring.
Sarah’s ability to conceive and bear a son in her old age was a result of Abraham and Sarah’s willingness to cooperate with the purposes of the heavenly government. Although they did not fully understand the plan, their relationship with the Creator-King brought about the next stage in his redemptive purposes for earth.
Both Noah and Abraham believed and obeyed the King’s instructions. Belief and obedience were the means of their holiness or righteousness before him. Righteousness refers to “right standing” or “right alignment” with evident authority, and Noah and Abraham lined themselves up with the government of heaven.
The Tribes of Israel
Abraham had his miracle child, Isaac. Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob, and Jacob was chosen as the one to carry on the lineage. Jacob’s name was later changed to Israel, which means “Prince with Yah.” He was the heir of the promise of the coming Offspring. Jacob had twelve sons, and each son’s family grew and became a large tribe; this was the origin of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Creator-King chose Jacob’s son Judah as the one through whom the special lineage would be carried on, even though all the tribes were destined to play a part in the unfolding drama.
The Israelites: A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation
Eventually, the twelve tribes moved to Egypt because of a famine in their homeland. They were preserved through the heavenly government’s intervention in the life of another son of Jacob’s, named Joseph, who became the Egyptian pharaoh’s second-in-command. But the tribes eventually become slaves of Egypt under a different pharaoh. After several hundred years, the Creator-King called a man named Moses, of the tribe of Levi, to free the Israelites as part of his plan to preserve a lineage for the birth of the Offspring.
All the events we read about in the life of Moses show the manifestation of kingdom influence on earth through Moses’ submission to the purposes of the kingdom government. For example, Moses’ ability to bring the plagues of locusts and flies was an example of a human being exercising dominion over “all the creatures that move along the ground” through the power of the King’s Spirit. The same is true for the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea that allowed the Israelites to cross over on foot and escape the pursuing Egyptians. Moses was the heavenly government’s instrument to bring about many manifestations of kingdom influence on earth during his lifetime.
I want to reemphasize that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the Israelite nation were not preserved in order to create a religion. The nation of Israel was an instrument in the hand of the King’s unfolding purposes to reconcile the whole world to himself and to restore the Governor—it was not an end in itself. The Israelites were called and set apart as a special nation so they could rediscover the King and his ways for the purpose of becoming a nation with a holy (dedicated) purpose. As we will shortly see, they were to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” to help fulfill the King’s plan of restoration for the world.
The Hebrew word for “kingdom” in this context is mamlakah, which means “dominion” or “rule.” Here we return to the theme of earthly dominion. Kingdom indicates governing responsibility, while the role of the priest was to help people become realigned with the heavenly government. In essence, priestly work involves lining up with true authority, and kingdom work has to do with executing rulership under that authority. The Creator-King wanted a kingdom or nation of priests on earth. He wanted the entire nation of Israel to be properly aligned with him, all the time, the way Adam and Eve had been when they still had the Spirit of the Creator living within them. Every human being was meant to be a priest personally aligned with the Creator-King and a ruler having dominion over the earth.
Yah had told the Israelites when they came out of Egypt that, if they continued to believe and obey him, he would make them the greatest nation in the world. He gave them instructions for living, called the law. This was a comprehensive picture of how they were supposed to think and act as a kingdom of priests and rulers living in integrity. If they did so, he would provide for them and protect them; they would have everything they needed, and they would never be defeated by their enemies. The nation as a whole was to be a prototype of what the King would do for all who were submitted to his Governor and were ruling their homes, communities, and nations under his guidance.
Sadly, the nation of Israel didn’t live up to its high purpose. The people rejected the laws of the King, just as Adam and Eve had. They were no longer in alignment with him.
Consequently, they failed to be an example to other nations of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Although there were times when the people returned to their King, they rejected him over and over again throughout their history as a nation. Whenever this happened, the King allowed other nations, which didn’t acknowledge him, to overrun them so they would see their need and return to him. Throughout the Old Testament, we read how the nation was often overtaken by other peoples, such as the Canaanites, Moabites, and Hittites.
The Meaning of the Law
When the Israelite people first came out of Egyptian slavery, they had forgotten much about the King and his ways. They had lost a clear conception of his nature and will. They didn’t know about Abraham’s personal relationship with the King, but had only a vague idea that Abraham was their forefather. This is when Yah instructed Moses to tell them who they were and what their true purpose was as a nation of kings and priests:
This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: “You your- selves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.
With these words, the King established his relationship to the Israelites, and their relationship to him. Then he instructed Moses to tell the whole nation to meet him at the mountain where they were encamped. He wanted to give them his laws directly. He didn’t want to give them to just one person who would pass them along to the people; he wanted the whole nation to hear them because all of them were to be rulers and priests. When they came to the mountain, and the King descended to talk to them, they were afraid of the display of his power and greatness. Moses told them not to be afraid but to reverence the King. But instead, the people wanted Moses to serve as their mediator.
Again, the King gave the law so the people would know what it meant to live according to his nature. Yet his ultimate desire was not to have his laws recorded merely on stone or even paper. He wanted them to exist in the spirit of their minds. He revealed his ultimate plan with these words, which he gave to his prophet Jeremiah: “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time....I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their Yah, and they will be my people.” This is a direct reference to the eventual return of the Governor to live within humanity.
For now, however, Moses received the written code, the laws and principles of the kingdom, or the “kingdom standards,” to give to the people. Their King wanted them to understand how his Spirit thought and how his kingdom worked so they could stay in alignment with him. If the nation obeyed the King’s laws, they would attract his Spirit because they would be living in holiness and be in harmony with his nature.
When Moses came down from the mountain after meeting with the King, the people agreed to obey the law. As we saw, however, this didn’t last long. Joshua, Moses’ second-in-command, eventually took the people into the land the King had promised them. What we consider amazing miracles at this time, such as the parting of the waters of the river Jordan, the collapse of the walls of the city of Jericho, and the sun standing still and not setting for about a full day during a battle, were merely evidence of kingdom influence over the physical universe. Yet even with all these demonstrations of the presence of the kingdom of heaven among them, the people turned away from the will of the King. They began to intermarry with citizens outside the prototype kingdom and took on the traits of nations that did not acknowledge the King. They gradually became alienated from him and unaligned with his kingdom purposes.
The Priesthood and Sacrifices
This is where the priesthood comes in. I don’t believe Yah’s real desire was to have a specific group of people called priests. Remember that he wanted a kingdom or nation of priests. But in order for the Israelites to remain his prototype nation, he provided a way for them to be restored when they rebelled against him and violated his kingdom standards.
Since they had forsaken their calling to be a nation of priests, the King appointed Aaron, Moses’ brother, and Aaron’s sons, who were of the tribe of Levi, to be the nation’s priests. Their descendents would succeed them as priests. He also told Moses to set aside certain other men of the tribe of Levi to assist the priests in their duties. The priests were to keep themselves aligned with the King. They performed rituals of sacrifice prescribed by the King, which served to atone for (cover over) their rebellion and position the nation of Israel in alignment with the heavenly government again.
In this way, the Governor could reveal the will of the King to the people, and his kingdom culture could come on earth through them. The result was that they would bring all other nations back to the King through their example. Therefore, all the sacrifices, the rituals involving the blood, the incense that was burned, the various components of the tabernacle, and later the temple—all these things were for the purpose of realigning the people with Yah so they could be what they were originally called to be.
The rituals that the priests performed involved the sacrifice of animals because the culture of rebellion, murder, and death that human beings had created needed to be paid for. So did individuals’ infractions of the King’s law. The first-century writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, “The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” In the system of sacrifices, therefore, the blood atoned for the violations against the kingdom law that the people had committed.
When we read about all the intricacies of priestly dress and practice, the systems of worship, and the specific details of the animal sacrifices, we tend to be caught up in the particulars and miss their overall meaning. The ultimate goal of the King’s program was not the priests, the robes, the incense, the showbread, the goblets, and the inner and outer courts. Some people almost seem to consider these things as mystical religious icons. Instead, they were a means to an end. They were Yah’s provision (his temporary program) for realigning the people with him so that his Spirit, the absent Governor, could come back to them and intervene on the earth.
The ultimate goal of the entire Old Testament ritualistic program was designed, motivated, and developed for this purpose: when the high priest went into the innermost chamber of the tabernacle (later, the temple), the sacrifices would be accepted on behalf of the people, and the Spirit of Yah would be able to come and dwell between the cherubim on the mercy seat (or atonement cover) there because the requirements for holiness had been fulfilled.
Everything that came in the presence of the Spirit had to be holy because he is a Ruach HaQadesh. The sacrificial blood would cleanse both the people and the high priest who would stand in the immediate presence of the Governor in the inner room of the tabernacle, called the “Holy of Holies.” As a result of these sacrifices, a most beautiful thing occurred. The Spirit came back. The Governor was on earth! All the temporary sacrifices brought the Governor into the people’s presence, but not into them. He could not enter into human beings at that time because the permanent sacrifice had not yet been made.
The animal sacrifices had to be offered again and again because the people were continually rebelling against the authority of heaven, and the sacrifices were a temporary method of atonement that allowed the heavenly government to intervene in their lives, even though it couldn’t change their rebellious nature.
Whenever the people of Israel were aligned with the King and his Spirit was with them, they won every battle, had no sickness among them, and experienced peace. Why? They were living as true human beings again. They were living as they were intended to live—above their environment and circumstances.
Great lengths had to be taken by the priests just to ensure the Governor’s presence in the inner chamber of the tabernacle or temple so the people could be at peace, prosper, and fulfill their role as the prototype nation. When the people disobeyed Yah, the Ruach HaQadesh left them, and their lives became chaotic again. When they received forgiveness through the sacrifices and again obeyed Yah, the Ruach HaQadesh would return, and they would have success.
The sacrificial system served its purpose, even though it was inadequate to fully solve humanity’s dilemma of separation from the heavenly kingdom. It actually emphasized the incompleteness of the temporary cleansing to keep the people aligned with Yah. They were “sprinkled” with the blood because the blood of animals cannot permanently cleanse a person from the inside out. The intent of the hearts of men and women are basically and continually evil. The unholy (nonintegrated, non set apart) state of the human heart and its potential for evil are always under the surface and always emerge in one way or another.
Yet this program was the Creator-King’s temporary provision for working with human beings, whom he couldn’t yet dwell within because of their unholiness but still needed to influence. He created his own environment of holiness through the sacrificial system in order to work among his people without violating his purity and integrity. The prophets, priests, and kings of the nation of Israel would receive the Spirit of the King upon them for specific instances where they would speak or act on earth in behalf of the King.
Many people like to study and teach all the intricacies of the Old Testament rituals; some even make quite a bit of money off books and products expounding on such things as the “ten keys to the tabernacle.” I’ve found that many people are (at best) missing the main purpose of these things, and other people are (at worst) exploiting people by overemphasizing them. They were not ends in themselves. We must always remember that their whole purpose was to be a means of bringing the governing influence of heaven back to earth for the benefit of humanity.
The Kings
Because the Israelites wanted to be just like the other nations around them, having the same standards and lifestyle, they had asked for their own earthly king. The King had told them, in effect, “No, you really don’t want an earthly king. A king will just oppress you with taxation and forced labor. I am your King, who provides everything for you and gives you what is good.” He was trying to tell them, “You are not like other nations. You are supposed to be an example to them. You’re supposed to be the prototype for my kingdom.”
Human kings were not the King’s ultimate plan for his people. He wanted a whole nation of kingdom rulers who would be directed by him. This idea reflects his ultimate goal of having every citizen on earth be a local governor, exercising authority under the chief Governor. Yet the Israelites insisted on having a king, so he gave them what they wanted.
The people’s desire for a king indicated a lack of alignment with the King and complete misunderstanding of their calling. After they told the prophet Samuel they wanted a king, “the Most High told [Samuel]: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.’” They were rejecting their heavenly King once more.
Yet the King used the institution of kings to further his redemptive purposes. The second king over Israel, David, was a man who desired what the heavenly government desires. Kingdom influence was manifested in his life in many ways. His amazing slaying of the giant Goliath when he was still a youth was an example of a human being exercising kingdom dominion over a pawn of the kingdom of darkness. When David said to Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Most High Almighty,” he was saying, “I come to you under the authority of the government of heaven.”
Ultimately, the King used the line of Israelite kings to preserve the lineage for his Son’s coming to earth. The Offspring would be a descendant of David.
The Prophets
However, most of the nation’s kings, who were supposed to represent the King’s justice on earth, became corrupt. The priesthood also become corrupt. The very ones who were supposed to align the nation to the King had become unaligned themselves. So the King raised up people from within the Israelite nation, at various times, who could speak to both priests and kings on behalf of the heavenly kingdom.
A distinct pattern is emerging: The nation of Israel was raised up as a prototype to address the need of a rebellious people called humanity. The priesthood came about when those who were meant to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” failed to fulfill their corporate calling. The institution of kings was established when the people rejected the Creator- King as their ruler. The King therefore raised up individual voices the prophets who called upon the kings, priests, and people to change their ways and come back into alignment with him.
The prophets would begin their assignments by saying something like, “The word of the Most High came to me.” Where does the word of the Most High come from? It comes from his Spirit. The Spirit would come upon the prophet, and the prophet would tell the king and the priests to correct themselves so they could correct the nation.
In other words, the prophet’s job was to bring the earthly king back to the Creator-King so the king could execute the heavenly government’s justice and help bring the nation back to the law and ways of the Creator-King. He was also to bring the priests back in alignment so they could help bring the people and nation back in alignment. In this way, the nation could return to being the prototype of the kingdom of heaven. The nation could then correct the nations of the world, for the ultimate purpose of redeeming the whole earth.
The prophets manifested the influence of the kingdom on earth in many ways. For example, because the prophet Elijah was submitted to the King, the heavenly government used him to bring back to life the son of a woman who was also submitted to the kingdom. We should not really be surprised at this particular administration of the kingdom, since the King’s Spirit originally gave life to humanity and can also restore that life. The heavenly government was manifested in the life of the prophet Daniel when he received special communication through the Governor regarding the future of the Israelite people and when he escaped harm after being thrown into a den of ravenous lions. His “miracle” of preservation was, again, an example of the dominion of the kingdom of heaven over the earth.
However, how did the leaders and people usually react to the prophets? They would ignore, criticize, threaten, or kill them! Eventually, the people were so disobedient as a nation that they were perpetually unaligned; the result was that the Spirit left the temple prior to the people’s captivity in Babylon. The Israelites had only the trappings of their old way of life. The prototype nation was essentially gone, setting up the next phase of the plan for the complete restoration of the kingdom on earth.
The King spoke through his prophets, saying, “I’m not going to keep sending word to you through other people. I’m going to come there myself to bring you back to me!”
Governmental Messages about the Coming King Who Would Restore the Governor
The entire Old Testament is therefore about the repetition of the promise of the Governor’s return, and the evidence of heavenly kingdom influence selectively manifested through the prototype nation and individuals who were submitted to the kingdom. Over the centuries, specific prophets, as well as other leaders such as Moses and David, spoke messages from the King announcing that he himself would reestablish his kingdom in the colony of earth, paving the way for the restoration of the Governor to humanity. For example, the prophet Isaiah said,
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Yah, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The King of the eternal, invisible kingdom was going to reclaim his property. When the colony was regained, he would set up his government on earth again and recommission his Spirit as Governor once more. Yahusha told a parable about him- self that describes the King’s desire to implement his plan of extending his influence on earth, and of the resistance of most the earth’s inhabitants to him until he himself came to rectify the situation:
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son,” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?... The kingdom of Yah will be...given to a people who will produce its fruit.
The Mandate of the Coming King
The last book of the Old Testament ends with the prophet Malachi giving this message from the heavenly government about the coming King of heaven: “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” This was the mandate of the Offspring, whom the prophets referred to as the “Messiah,” to reconcile the children of Adam and Eve to their Creator-King. When this was accomplished, the Governor could be restored to his earthly residence within them.
The Governor’s Return Is for All Humanity
The prophet Joel gave one of the major messages from the heavenly kingdom regarding the Governor’s return:
Afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Joel was saying, in effect, “I see a day coming when we aren’t going to have to read or study the law in order to know how to obey the King because his Spirit will come upon young and old, and they will obey the King as naturally as they formerly disobeyed him.” No longer would there be a need for “selective rulership,” with only certain individuals being influenced by the Governor. All of humanity had lost the Spirit, and Joel was saying the Spirit would be poured out on “all people”—male, female, Israelite and non-Israelite, free and slave. Earthly prejudices related to gender, race, or social status would disappear in the face of the Governor’s return.
The Ruach HaQadesh is not just meant for people of a certain “religion” or nationality. The whole world lost the presence of the Governor within them, and the King wants everyone in the world to receive him into their lives again through the provision of the Offspring. The Governor is the key to life for all of humanity.
The Era of the King’s Coming
The idea of the Spirit’s coming upon the people probably seemed incredible to the Israelites when they heard Joel’s message. In their experience, the Ruach HaQadesh would only come upon the priests, the prophets, and some of the kings. Or, he would dwell between the cherubim on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies in the temple. Joel referred to the time of the Spirit’s coming as “the day of the Most High.” The word “day” in this context means “era” or “age.” Therefore, the day of the Most High would be the era or the time when the King came to earth.
The word “Most High” here is the Hebrew word for “self-Existent or Eternal” one. The message of these prophets was, “Animal sacrifices and other rituals can’t restore humanity to its relationship with the King, so the King himself is coming.” When he came to earth, his Spirit would also return. The Governor would come upon young and old men, young and old women. More than that, he would once more be able to dwell within humanity.
The prophet Malachi was the last prophet to promise the King’s return before the King himself came. The heavenly government gave him this message:
“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Most High you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Most High Almighty.
The first messenger mentioned would prepare the way. The second messenger, “the messenger of the covenant,” was the one who would “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” This messenger was referred to as “the Most High you are seeking.” What was his covenant message? It was the restoration of the Spirit to humanity, which had been promised since the initial rebellion.
Announcing the Arrival of the King
When we turn the page of the Scriptures from Malachi in the Old Testament to Matthew in the New Testament, we encounter the messenger who prepared the way for the King’s coming:
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Most High, make straight paths for him.’”
“The kingdom of heaven is near.” In other words, the King’s government was imminent because the King had come to earth. What was the theme of this message? The Governor. John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire.”
The King would baptize them with his Spirit, thus aligning them with the kingdom. The Spirit’s coming would no longer be a temporary appearance but a permanent one. The Governor would be like a consuming fire, burning out every false mindset and philosophy that alienated the citizens from the heavenly kingdom. He would correct all their confusion and satisfy all their hunger to know and fulfill their purpose in life. At last, they would be permanently reconnected to the King and his kingdom. The earth would be a colony of holiness and power again because its inhabitants would finally have the Spirit of holiness and power living within them once more.
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