Revival?

 "Move of God. Fire fall down! Wind of the Spirit. Manifest presence of God. Revival is here!"

All of these are phrases that I’m seeing all over the place, in regards to an isolated event at a college. I’d like to throw some caution and concern for any who are actually willing to slow down and investigate a bit before jumping to emotion-driven conclusions.

What does the Bible say of these matters? What do phrases like “fire fall down!” and “move of God” mean, according to Scripture? What is the “wind of the Spirit” and what does it produce, biblically? Can our common Christian euphemisms be explained and defined via the Scriptures? I’m seeing so many people read an article interviewing someone who is at the event then inundate FB with a lot of excitement…. and assumptions.

I’m all for *biblical* revival. I am. But a room full of people raising their hands and praying for a few days does not have to equate to a biblically-defined “move of God”. All I’m saying is this: Let us be a people that cry out in repentance and for a return to Father’s Ways. Yes! But in our longing for biblically-defined returning to come to earth, we must be a discerning people and friends, discernment *takes time*.

Allow me to repeat myself. Discernment… takes… time. It takes fruit examination and fruit takes much time to develop and grow.

Sadly, most people just want “revival” so bad that they use big, flashy words that just can’t be biblically sourced to talk about it. I get it. I’m just imploring Believers to slow down. Think about what you’re saying. Examine the Word to make sure your words are correct and applicable. When they’re not, please show self-control and restraint, for the good of Yahweh’s Great Name.

We must learn from these “revivals” and be willing to take hard looks at the fruit from them before we jump on the train. We have to ask hard questions. This is not simply being a downer that wants to run revival off in disbelief. This is proper biblical examination of a matter.

The biblical pattern for prophesied revival is found with many specific texts and can be summarized by a returning to Father’s Ways. We see just one example of many in Daniel chapter 9.

“So I set my face to Yahweh to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to Yahweh my Elohim and confessed, saying: ‘O Yahweh, the great and awesome Elohim, who keeps covenant and mercy with those who love Him and keep His commands, we have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have acted wickedly; we have rebelled; we have turned away from Your commands and from Your rulings. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our leaders and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.”

Here, and elsewhere, we see many examples of returning via repentance and confession. Confession is of utmost importance, yes! A confession of abandoning Father’s Ways. Time and time again we see this biblical pattern – past, present and future. So, please examine well, in patience, and allow the Scriptures alone to define what is - and what is not - “revival”. Selah.

Context, Covenant & Conditions: A Brief Challenge to the “Grab-N-Go” Approach to the Bible

* This is also a video episode over at Path To Zion Podcast here.

Reading, studying and quoting the Bible can be an amazing thing. It is a life-giving Word that is surely living and active. Because of this, we must do our best to handle it rightly. I have elevated the value of proper Bible study over the last several years and it has changed my life.

In light of this, today we’ll be using a handful of verses in Isaiah to demonstrate what I have learned is a problem within how mainstream Christianity approaches the study and use of the Bible. We have been taught to simply read biblical texts and quote verses that seem applicable to a life circumstance, but many times, when studied in their proper context, they are not what we have made them.

I realize now how dangerous this is and I’d like to humbly warn others to consider if they too have been guilty of this. Let’s allow some verses in Isaiah to be our example as we set verses that are considered “easy to understand” beside ones that most Christians are unwilling to look into and discuss. Why do so many Believers embrace “chapter 3, verse 6”, yet say that “chapter 4, verse 2” is not “for them”? Let’s find out. (The brief commentary within the reading of these verses are only found in the video version of this.)

12:2&3 Behold, Elohim is my salvation! I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Yahweh is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

2:2&3 It will come to pass in the last days that the mountain of Yahweh’s House
will stand firm as head of the mountains and will be exalted above the hills. So all nations will flow to it. Then many peoples will go and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the House of the Elohim of Jacob! Then He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” For Torah will go forth from Zion and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.”

30:18 Therefore Yahweh is longing to be gracious to you. Thus He will be exalted, so He may have mercy on you. For Yahweh is an Elohim of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

58:13&14 If you turn back your foot from Shabbat, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call Shabbat a delight, the holy day of Yahweh honorable, If you honor it, not going your own ways, not seeking your own pleasure, nor speaking your usual speech, then You will delight yourself in Yahweh, and I will let you ride over the heights of the earth, I will feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

43:1-3 But now, thus says Yahweh—the One who created you, O Jacob, the One who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, or through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flame burn you.  For I am Yahweh your Elohim, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

59:1&2  Behold, Yahweh’s hand is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.  Rather, your iniquities have made a separation between you and your Elohim. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

43:18&19  Do not remember former things, nor consider things of the past. Here I am, doing a new thing; Now it is springing up -  do you not know about it? I will surely make a way in the desert, rivers in the wasteland.

56:1&2  Preserve justice, do righteousness. For My salvation is about to come,
and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the one who does this,
the son of man who takes hold of it, who keeps from profaning Shabbat, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

57:15 For thus says the High and Exalted One who inhabits eternity, whose Name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, yet also with a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and revive the heart of the contrite.

66:22&23 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me” - it is a declaration of Yahweh - “so your descendants and your name will endure. And it will come to pass, that from one New Moon to another, and from one Shabbat to another, all flesh will come to bow down before Me,” says Yahweh.

These few verses represent only a small snapshot of the issue at hand. We have inherited a way of reading and studying Father’s incredible Word through a skewed lens of religious bias. We endorse what we have been taught is “for us” and ignore what we have been told is not. This is a poor study method that we must investigate, if we will be found finding and possessing Truth.

Some proposed remedies that I have personally seen change my entire view of how I handle the Bible.

#1 We must practice reading and studying the Word via context and covenantal conditions!

#2 We must know the identity of those that prophecies were written about or unto. Read the ENTIRE written account and then ask questions.

#3 We must filter what we read through the ENTIRETY of Scripture. This requires much personal time and study. Do not simply assume you already know or that whoever you may be listening to knows either.

#4 We must admit that we have been handed an improper way of handling the Bible correctly. Humility is a master requirement. If you think you already understand the Bible perfectly, you’re the best candidate for repentance.

We must face the fact that the Christianity that we have inherited has cherry-picked Bible verses that we want to apply to us and abandoned what ones we feel do not.

Remember, Peter warned us of unlearned and unstable men twisting and mishandling the Scriptures. Friends, we have inherited a Christian doctrine that has done just that. Even many who seems so educated towards biblical truth have unknowingly run with the “grab-n-go” approach of incorrectly handling Bible verses. Time after time we see Bible texts used completely out of context, in order to promote mainstream Christian doctrine.

I would suggest that little is worse than errantly using the Bible to create a belief system. Why? It seems right. (After all, it is the Bible.) But we must be careful as all of us are capable of mishandling the Word and thereby risking missing the full Truth that is hidden - for us to dig out. We must be responsible to rightly ask questions - of the entirety of the Word - as we read, study and meditate upon the Word. 

What is the context? What are the covenental requirements and what are the conditions? 

The Rains Will End

Nearly seven years ago we left all that we knew in Georgia and moved to the beautiful foothills of Virginia. The best that we knew at the time, we were venturing out into country living and becoming increasingly less dependent upon the world and her systems. I’ll never forget that first Winter, after we had purchased our own cows and had them brought onto the property. Life was surely quite full of new adventures in that season.

Southwestern Virginia winters are primarily marked by constant rain and dark, dreary days. The ground just never really dries out until late April. We moved here in the Spring season, when all was incredibly beautiful and green. But after our first Winter here had a couple of months in its pocket, I could no longer find the beautifulness that we had moved into, no matter how hard I tried.

Pasture areas, that became feed centers for the cows, went through an incredible transformation. Where there was normally beautiful green grass, there became ankle-deep slop and mud. Some areas literally become impassable entirely. As one who was not raised on a farm, I literally did not know that the earth could be transformed into such a consistency. I remember being quite stressed over it at the time.

I learned however, as that first winter here moved out and the sunshine returned, all would be alright. As absolutely unbelievable as it seems, the earth always settles back down and grass returns. Year after year. Sunshine and time always bring the beautiful green pastures back to life again. It’s amazing really.

Today, however, we are still in the midst of the dark and wet Winter. As my son and I went out again this morning to tend to chores, we encountered the Winter’s toll yet again. “Will it ever stop raining, Dad?” he appropriately sighed and asked. “Eventually,” I said. “It always does. Sunny days will return, we just have to wait... and practice patience in the waiting.”

From there, I did some introspection. As is usually the case, this way of life is always pointing to greater, deeper things - if one has the eyes to see. Our lives right now are kind of like the conditions at my farm. It’s been “raining” non-stop for quite a long time now. The ground has become hard to walk through. At most every turn there is something that needs tended to, yet I can’t quite pull it off. In important life issues, I too am often found looking up, sighing and asking “Father, will ‘the rain’ ever stop?”

Yet here’s the encouraging part. Just like I have learned in the natural, even in only our few years here, the rains will stop and the sun will return. The land will again return to its beauty. Likewise, the challenges of life also move as seasons. Some are surely longer than others, but we have a long, ongoing testimony that the clouds will one day clear; the sun will return and pleasant days will resume.

Until then, we endure well and patiently wait. We tap maple trees for sap. We play in the snow, when it comes. We laugh together when our boots get us stuck in the mud. And we bicker. We grumble. Most importantly however, we constantly lift our eyes together, to where our help comes from and we search for the good.

This is no mere “think positive, happy thoughts” endeavor. No. It’s much greater than that for any man could do that in his own strength. My ability to endure well is not my own. Our hope is not sourced in conditions and circumstantial changes. It is much deeper and ultimately rooted in the fact that we are but sojourners here. My Father is fully capable of properly holding and handling all of what sits round about us in the season. No matter how many concerns I have penned in the journal of my heart, He is there.

So what about you friend? How are you enduring in your circumstances? Are you facing them head-on for what they are or are you merely looking away? Have you been empowered by the Set-Apart Spirit to endure well? Are you living as though your life is but a vapor and is then gone away? Do you willingly embrace suffering, in order to learn obedience as Messiah did? Have you entered covenant with Yahweh, via His Son Yeshua and thereby have a promise that is yet before you?

Let us be found properly situated in humility before our Elohim Most High. He alone is enthroned above all principalities, powers, authorities, kings, rulers. Yes. But, perhaps most of all we need to establish and then remind ourselves that He is also installed and enthroned as being seated ruling over my entire life. Right here. Right now.

 

SALVATION: Only According to Father's Word

 Psalm 119:41 May Your lovingkindnesses come to me, Yahweh. Your Yeshua (Salvation) according to Your Word.

 

I would propose that this verse is one of the most important verses that we will ever read, in our entire lifetime. Here, in the longest chapter of the Bible (both in the number of verses and words) we see a poem, written by David, that uses the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet to lavish his great love for Father’s Torah.

 

In this verse specifically, he asks for Father’s great mercy and then for His Yeshua (salvation). I’d like to draw your attention to how he requests that Yahweh’s Yeshua (salvation) comes to him – “according to Yahweh’s Word.”

 

And here is where the importance of “how salvation comes” becomes our main focus. The absolute only way that Yahweh’s Yeshua (salvation) can come is when it is according to His Word. It cannot come any other way, for all others are not sourced in Him. We see the most familiar use of this “word” in Psalm 119:11 – “I have hidden/treasured Your Word in my heart, so I might not sin against You.” “Word” here, in Hebrew is “imra” and refers simply to speech or commandment.

 

It does not take a Bible degree to know that when David penned this, the Torah was the only “Word” that existed. Father’s Torah Instruction was (and is) what defined sin. Therefore, the treasuring of it in one’s heart, kept one “free from sin” (as we saw in the literal life of Yeshua/Salvation).

 

This continues into the Newer Testament as well. As in Acts 4:11&12 where we see “This Yeshua (salvation) is ‘the stone, rejected by you, the builders, that has become the chief cornerstone.’ There is Yeshua (salvation) in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved!”

 

Friends, there is only One Yeshua (salvation) and any other that does not bear His Name and entirely fit the criteria of the Word is a false messiah. The Bible makes this perfectly clear. If we truly allow the Word of Elohim to be our absolute authority, Salvation must come through the name of Yeshua (Salvation) and this Yeshua (Salvation) must be the One that fits the criteria of the Word.

 

Herein is why I believe that this verse is of utmost importance for us to meditate upon - perhaps for days and weeks. Please study this verse more for yourself and, if deemed necessary, allow Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see. We must be found knowing Yeshua (Salvation) according to Yahweh’s wonderful Word, for there is salvation in no other. 

Selah. 

A SHELTER and a SHADOW

Psalm 91:1 “One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will lodge/abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

DWELL: "yaw-shab'" To sit down, remain, stay, inhabit.

SHELTER: “say'-ther” Secret place, hiding place, covering, a protection.

LODGE: “loon” To stop over, pass the night.

SHADOW: “tsel” As on a dial, also speaks of protection yet is always transient; moving.

We can follow this theme throughout the Scriptures. When we consider our natural parents in the Garden – all that they needed was provided. Intimacy with Creator was perfectly established. Had they remained there, in that condition, Paradise would have continued. Yet, as we know, they broke Father’s Instruction, went their own way and were banished from the SHELTER that Yahweh had placed them within. As we know, they chose to go their own way and suffered the consequence of doing so – separation from Yahweh. They willingly left His protection and provision via disobedience.

At Passover, all who entered the house and did as they were commanded were spared. They were protected and preserved. Judgment came for those who did not heed the Word of Elohim. Those who obeyed then prepared themselves (literally) to venture out and sojourn into the unknown – the Caster of the SHADOW was about to lead Them out. The Most High was about to show Himself mighty and go before Them, just as He had promised.

When the children of Israel ventured out and literally followed Yahweh - in the form of fire and cloud - protection, security and provision was always present. Endless patterns were instated in this span of time. When Yahweh’s People went their own way (exiting the sheltering qualities of Father), they were vulnerable, at risk, in danger.

We, of course, know that They were busy fashioning a golden calf at the exact same time that Yahweh was extending His Instruction to Them. Their unwillingness to reside in His SHELTER moved them outside of His covenantal protection. Father’s People are always wrestling with committing to follow His Ways and then abandoning Them entirely, due to doubt, fear or self-preservation (ourselves included).

Enter Yeshua. The human form – the physical manifestation - of the Caster of the shadow amongst humanity. He had nowhere to lay His head. He called men to leave all behind and follow Him. He was and is the Great Shepherd and His sheep, who know His voice go wherever He leads. He told men to leave their livelihoods and families in order to go where He would lead. With Him, in Him, is a SHELTER – a secret hidden place of provision.

This is yet another reason why we must know of Yeshua’s correct identity and function. As Rabbi, it was understood that His students would always be found following His every step – watching, learning – literally found in His SHADOW. This has crossed all time and been extended to us today. We now have the same covenantal promises of Father AND the Example of Messiah Yeshua (our Rabbi) who perfectly lived Them out. We can literally look back through time - watch and follow the SHADOW that His life cast. Yeshua taught His Father’s Torah, by example, and was the perfect , flawless satisfaction of It! We have the wonderful offering of the New Covenant and are now empowered by Holy Spirit to have the want-to - to follow Yahweh wherever He leads. He is still “the“ SHELTER. Because Yeshua perfectly stayed within the secret DWELLING of the Most High, at all times, we can as well, via His pattern. The beauty of the New Covenant!

This is where we must insert the proper understanding of “lodge” or “pass the night”, in regards to the SHADOW. (First mention: Angels with Lot – Genesis 19.) When we look back, we see that the SHADOW was always moving. It never remained in the same place. The proper biblical definition of Yahweh’s People, while in a foreign land, is a People of movement. If we are going to be at all like the Hebrews 11 saints, we must live like this land is not our home. We must spend the rest of our days pulling up the tent stakes of the religious doctrines of men that have taught us to go our own prescribed way. This has unknowingly moved us out of His safety and provision, We must learn from those who went before us, lay aside our own wanderings and follow the Rabbi.

When we willingly forsake man-made traditions, idolatry and ways of the nations (Gentile-living), we make Yahweh our SHELTER, our Dwelling. How? By doing what the children of Israel did (when they obeyed) and what Yeshua always did – we follow the SHADOW, wherever He leads. We willingly lay aside all that is not sourced in Him – our entire Provision. This is where we must insert the proper understanding of “lodge” or “pass the night”. (Biblical first mention: Angels with Lot – Genesis 19)

In conclusion, I’d like to offer how I believe that we can extend this type of living to others. I would submit that we invite them to “look in” – into this secret abode. Example: “Would you be willing to ‘look in’ and see this safe place?” Father has prepared a place for His People, but it is a covenantal dwelling. It was and is a lodging for those Who choose to submit to His covenantal Ways. It was the way in then and it is the exact same now.

One followed the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night and one today now looks to Yeshua, the exact representation of the same. He is the Door into the same hidden, covered dwelling. What a wonderful residence that He has extended to us! A SHELTER literally fashioned by Yahweh for His covenantal People! His Possession! His Set Apart Ones! This place is hard to find and few, even upon finding it, will enter in. Like all who have gone before us, it will cost us everything, but it is the only safe SHELTER, for it is of the Most High. All who choose to covenantally dwell here will “lodge” in the ever-moving shadow of the Almighty. Selah.