Author: Hollisa Alewine

Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 160 (Satan’s Place in Heaven)

Satan’s Place in Heaven
Let’s start with our familiar text:

Awake, O north wind,

And come, wind of the south;

Make my garden breathe out fragrance,

Let its spices be wafted abroad.

May my beloved come into his garden

And eat its choice fruits!” (So 4:16)

This call to “Awake, O North” is thought to encompass three distinct calls recorded in

1. Jeremiah 31:7-8 (exiles of Israel),

2. Isaiah 41:25 (Messiah)

3. Gog and Magog (Ezek 38:2)

Why are Gog and and Magog are so attracted to “the beloved city” and its inhabitants to want to destroy them at least twice in Biblical history? Last week’s study of the yetzer ha-ra, or evil inclination, as it pertains to satan, was a key piece to the answer. If we can understand that the power of satan is strong against the holy things of this earth, that will explain it.

It does need to the be strong to cultivate evil from the wicked. They are already his willing subjects. It is the holy who require him to exert his maximum strength. This sounds incredible, but Scripture reinforces this Jewish principle:

“The evil inclination, as a general rule, gravitates toward holiness, and functions at its greatest strength where holiness resides…Evidently, it is because the forces of evil concentrate their greatest efforts on enticing the righteous, those people most deeply immersed in holiness.” (Midrash Rabbah to Shir HaShirim 5§4)

WHAT? You’re telling me that if I pursue holiness by obedience to the commandments that I make a bigger target?

I put that in all caps because we always seem so surprised and indignant when bad things obstruct our pursuit of the Word. I’m not usually an all-caps writer. More than one question mark is just a bridge too far, though. I don’t think I’ve ever had a peeve as a pet, but if I did want a pet peeve, that would probably be it. Multiple question marks instead of one. Only one per interrogative. Please.

So, yes, Scripture suggests that holiness acts like a magnet to evil. Even more perplexing, sometimes the Ruach HaKodesh leads us to the place or situation to be be tested in the Word. Here are a few examples of the principle:

“I was watching Satan fall from Heaven” (Lk 10:18)
“…there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.” (Re 12:7-9)
“And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.” (Re 12:13; 16, 17)
“the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.” (Job 1:6)
e. “…a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, ‘These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.’ She continued doing this for many days.” Acts 16:16-18; 8:9-18)
f. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Mt 4:1)

When Scripture identifies the intense effort to sabotage the righteous ones and the Holy City Jerusalem, then it is quite evident that the dragon’s desire to dominate the heavens is still strong even when bound!

For that reason, the satan, the evil imagination, must be bound in our daily lives. It does not go away…it is bound. Disciplined. Exercised authority over.

How do the pre and post millennial battles with Gog of Magog (the wicked among the nations, “Amalek”) relate to the texts of Shir HaShirim 4:16 and 5:1?

Both attack the Garden-ruled Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Song of Songs 4:16 invites the awakening of the Anointed One to execute the process of the resurrection of the righteous dead and the purging of the wicked, including the satan. He will be bound and tossed into the Abyss, which will be sealed over him for 1,000 years. That’s important. If he is only bound or imprisoned by the Holy One, then we cannot try to kill it. We must learn how to discipline and bind it with “It is written.”

Just quoting “It is written,” however, is not enough. It must be written and applied in the proper context in which we are tempted! The Word is frequently used by the serpent deceptively…out of context.

This is why Job’s friends fell so short in their “counsel” to the suffering Job. They really hadn’t invested the time to understand how what they knew of the Holy One really applied to Job’s situation. They didn’t understand the dynamics of what had taken place in Heaven in order for Job’s test to be authorized. Job was already confused as to why his pursuit of righteousness was being punished:

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2)

Knowledge in Hebrew is daat, which means an intimate understanding and relationship. It is beyond wisdom and understanding. It is sacrificial love. Job had wisdom and insight to the Holy One, but until he’d suffered through testing, he would not “know” Him. For a man to “know” a woman is for them to cohabit and bear fruit. In Job’s case, the result of the test would be greater fruit and a greater revelation of who the Holy One is. The verses in Job are majestic in their revelation of His Majesty and glory.

Job could not “bind and loose” the satan completely on his own, but with the authority of Yeshua, we do have the authority to exercise a system of judgment within the holy community as well as to appeal to the Holy One when we are sorely tested. We can invoke Yeshua’s Name, for Yeshua is interceding on our behalf, perhaps something which Job did not enjoy. In His mercy, the Father may respond by shortening the test Himself (“Lead us not into hard testing” of Matthew 6:13) or reveal to us what we need to do to reach the conclusion faster. He will always refer us to His Word as a greater revelation of Him in that test. It is His desire that we answer these situations with “It is written…” accurately.

A proper “It is written…” really does get rid of the satan faster!

Something else to try is to forgive. The Luke text of the Disciples’ Prayer alludes to the appeal to escape hard testing with forgiveness:

“And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” (Lk 11:4)

Although spirits are not bound with physical chains, the Living Word, which is Yeshua, does hamper the work of the evil one among the holy. It is as close as we can come to putting cuffs on the satan like the Holy One, for in our obedience, we are exercising His power over the accuser and saboteur of our holy life.

While the satan is bound during the millennium, the nations will be free to learn of and obey Yeshua without that evil inclination constantly hampering their efforts. What a deal, right? Perhaps this is the reason the satan is released one final time, to test those nations. Will they truly love Yeshua and restrain evil, or will they join Gog as Magog to rebel against the Word?

For 1,000 years, the un-resurrected among the nations will be subject to the Word, loving restraing “cords” of the YHVH, Messiah, and the royal priesthood:

“Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing?The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’” (Ps 2:1-3)

This uproar among the nations and their rebellion against Jerusalem’s administration is possible because the satan, the yetzer ha-ra, is released to once again deceive and threaten the Garden and rule of righteousness from the Holy City.

The Gog and Magog deception frogs will once again sing a song of deception like they did before the millennium: “And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs…” (Re 16:13)

Among the nations are leaders and people who will invite the deception to take root in their hearts that enjoyed the privilege of learning the Word without its evil inclination for 1,000 years. Ultimately, they will be bound with the lies they believed because they chose not to trust Elohim, their Creator, and His saving right hand Yeshua. They will learn of Him in peace, yet they will reject Him.

The sages associate this rebellion of the created against the Creator as the rebellion of a degenerate child against his parent. They read the prophecies of Gog and Magog along with the rebellion of Absalom against David:

Rabbi Jacob bar Acha said: Why is the portion of Absalom juxtaposed with the portion of Gog and Magog? To teach that a wicked son is more difficult for a father than the war of Gog and Magog…” (Midrash to Tehillim 3:2)
Degeneracy in a man’s house is considered far more grievous than the war between Gog and Magog. For with reference to the war between Gog and Magog it is written: Why are the nations in an uproar? (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 1:7)
and…

Avraham’s taking of a skin of water and bread in sending away Ishmael is also associated with Gog and Magog. “Immediately, “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water…” , teaching you that he hated Ishmael because he set out on a path of depravity, and sent him and his mother Hagar emptyhanded…and without sustenance?…The path of depravity in a person’s household is worse than the war of Gog and Magog, as regarding Gog and Magog it is written: “Why do nations rage and peoples meditate in vain?”…, wealth, and good deeds….he bound him and tied him, and [Isaac] did not prevent [him from doing so].

The perfect marriage of YHVH through Messiah in the Beloved City and “married” Garden Land with the holy ones, the righteous, is ultimately and finally gained through purging the unrepentant wicked who refuse to cede authority and rulership to their Creator.

It reminds me of a beautiful song from the 90s:

One day every tongue will confess You are God

One day every knee will bow;

Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose You now.

(Brian Doerksen. 1998 Vineyard Songs)

Let us choose to serve the Holy One of Israel now. Even before satan loses his place in Heaven. Before he is bound, loosed, and bound again. Let us be counted among those gathered who will be perfected, no longer susceptible to sin after the resurrection. Inheritors. Forever.

“Depart from evil and do good, so you will abide forever. For the LORD loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. (Ps 37:27-29)

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Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 159 (The Rage and Age of Gog and Magog)

The Rage and Age
of Gog and Magog

Let’s start with our familiar text:

Awake, O north wind,

And come, wind of the south;

Make my garden breathe out fragrance,

Let its spices be wafted abroad.

May my beloved come into his garden

And eat its choice fruits!” (So 4:16)

This call to “Awake, O North” is thought to encompass three distinct calls recorded in

1. Jeremiah 31:7-8 (exiles of Israel),

2. Isaiah 41:25 (Messiah)

3. Gog and Magog (Ezek 38:2)

Why are all three being called to “Awake” simultaneously?

To awake in Scripture can have a few connotations. The contextual explanation is that there has been a period of inactivity, and the prophetic call is to arouse each group to action. Messiah will begin to gather the exiles who have aroused from a period of spiritual apathy, and simultaneously, Gog and Magog will awaken in that generation to create the chaos and darkness necessary to awaken Israel from spiritual “sleep.”

Because the gematria of Gog and Magog is 70 [Gimmel-Vav-Gimmel Vav-Mem-Gimmel-Vav-Gimmel, 3+6+3+6+40+3+6+3], they are thought to represent the symbolic 70 nations of the world, which will gather against both 1. Adonai and 2. Israel.

Various commentaries make oblique references to Gog and Magog, but it will not be understood fully until the day arrives. Some say it is the descendants of Amalek among the nations. Amalek, from which King Agag arose, is the murderous spirit of Edom, or Rome, the fourth beast, headed by Babylon.

In that sense, Gog (chief person) and Magog (his nation, people) has arisen in every generation to provoke the Holy One and people who trust in Him and obey Him. The Scriptures cited below reiterate that Gog and Magog are not a single ruler and nation, but a wicked remnant embedded among all nations. In some generations, they will rise up with enough strength and cunning to marshal huge numbers of the population to join their murderous schemes.

The pre-millennial war will bring Israel to repentance, and Adonai Himself will destroy Gog and Magog with confusion, thunder, hail, blood, and lightning (Ezek 38-39). In other words, an amalgam of Egypt and Assyria’s judgments.

Psalm Two is traditionally associated with Gog of Magog:

Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing?The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,“Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.” (Ps 2:1-6)

The commentators note that in this attack of Gog, it revisits an important precedent in Babel: at the tower of Bavel, the united conspirators agreed to attack Heaven itself. As a result, YHVH confused them, and the 70 languages of the nations were born. This is the traditional location of Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue. Amalek in the Torah portion Balak is referred to “first of the nations,” in other words, the first to openly rebel against Heaven itself by attacking Israel in the wilderness; this “first” attack was also the first direct attack against Heaven since the “nation of mankind” attempted to penetrate it rebelliously at the Tower of Bavel.

At the final attack of Gog from Magog, the nations will once again undertake to assemble and attack YHVH and Messiah DIRECTLY, thinking the Holy City Jerusalem has a “Patron” who will defend it. They believe this was the wicked Amalekite Haman’s fallacy, attacking the Jews first instead of their God. Something will cause them to believe they have the wherewithal to wage war directly against YHVH and King Messiah.

What do Gog and Magog have to do with the third “awakening” of the winds?

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.” (Re 20:1-3)

The “satan” is the adversary, or yetzer hara, Evil Inclination, which wars and accuses humankind; it is adversarial to the righteousness of the Spirit. The yetzer hara, identified with satan, is in conflict with the image of Elohim in every person, for He is the Creator, and He made mankind in His image. We are “inclined” toward imaginative creative, thought. What should lean toward tov, good imaginations, the yetzer tov, instead wars against the mind of Elohim with evil imaginations:

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“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Ge 6:5)  

Not part time, but full-time yetzer hara.

The satan is the Dragon, who holds the authority that is passed on to ”The Beast.” He operates first in deception to usurp the Garden. In CG Workbooks Two and Four, you learned that The Beast represents the appetite, emotion, intellect, and desire of the nefesh (soul), which wars against the truth of the Ruach HaKodesh, “it is written.”

As nations/empires, the Dragon is represented by Egypt, and its deceitful “authority” was wielded by the Beast empires: Babylon, Medea/Persia, Greece, and Rome in conquering the nations. Greece’s “spots” were its systems, much adopted from Persia and Babylon, by which it enticed, coerced, and forced subjugation of the nations. These systems incorporate the natural leanings, “yetzer,” lust of the nefesh: appetite, emotion, desire, intellect.

A wicked seed is deception. It can take root and form intent. Intent leads to wicked action.

And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. (Re 16:13)

Lacking the “food and water” of the Word, the beast/nefesh within a human creature is never completely satisfied because the nefesh, or soul, dominates the ruach/spirit.

When we fail to walk in ever-increasing holiness, immersing in the Word Yeshua, we are part of the serpent’s deception among the nations of our exile. Our sin deceives people concerning the purity of the Kingdom coming fully to this earth.

A believer should not be a deceiver.

We can deceive either through

1) not studying to understand the Word 

2) failing to apply it

To the undiscipled/undisciplined soul, an achievement or acquisition brings temporary happiness and satiety, but it quickly loses its luster, and the beast must hunt the next soul meal.

In contrast, a soul at rest is “like a weaned child,” (Ps 131:2) able to relax until the next challenge, test, or accomplishment, knowing the Ruach HaKodesh responds to the Word readily, but the nefesh is still in faith training [l’hitamen], re-wiring thoughts and actions to “It is written.”

“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Re 20:7-10)

Although Gog and Magog (the hostile nations) are defeated at the beginning of the 1000-year-reign, when the evil inclination is released again, the evil remnant among the nations gather for war again. The “sand of the seashore” is a hint to the ruined King of Egypt’s dead Egyptian army who served the dragon, the crocodile of the Nile. They were last seen on the sand of the seashore of the Reed Sea, or Yam Suf (the final sea).

Are you awake yet?

Next week, we will learn why Gog and and Magog are so attracted to “the beloved city” and its inhabitants to destroy them. We will also learn why the power of satan is so strong against the holy things of this earth.

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Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 158 (Walking on Water Part 9 – Fruit Loops)

FRUIT LOOPS

This week is a review of our mini-series of Walking on Water as a prophecy of the Greater Exodus.

Walking on Water has been a mini-series full of encouragement and hope. It grew from this verse in the Song of Songs:

“Awake, O north wind,

And come, wind of the south;

Make my garden breathe out fragrance,

Let its spices be wafted abroad.

May my beloved come into his garden

And eat its choice fruits!” (4:16)

To wrap up our series, let’s review some key points. First, the walk through the Reed Sea is connected to the separation and gathering of waters at the Creation in Genesis One as well as the Tree of Life and the River of Life in Revelation. That’s quite a swim, so Baruch HaShem we can walk on water!

What those Creation and Revelation bookends have in common is fruit trees along the water. This fruit symbolism appears in natural cycles, which reflect fruit cycles in their spiritual cycles. The natural world is merely the parable of the spiritual world, but by studying the creation, we can see the spiritual fruit cycles to which we will be in perfect tune in the millennial kingdom of Yeshua.

This is one reason it is so important to study and practice the feasts of Scripture, which are themed around agricultural themes. Israel works the fields to produce natural fruits which are offered as tithes, firstfruits, and offerings. The natural is elevated to the spiritual realm where it is perfected, just as those resurrected from the dead will be planted mortal, yet raised immortal, fully equipped to function in either the natural or spiritual world.

The feasts of Adonai loop year after year, offering believers an opportunity to be nourished by His fruit loops. No artificial dyes, added sugar, or whatever else it is that makes Froot Loops bad for you. This is fruit for those entering the Kingdom as little children, needing nourishment for maturity when they emerge from the water:

Bahya writes. When they were walking in the sea and their children cried, the mother took an apple or a pomegranate and gave it to the child. There were apple trees and other fruit in the sea. The Holy One made them grow quickly and had fruits in the sea. *Bahya, Exodus, 14:22. [Tze’enah Ure’enah, Beshalach] *The Bahya text is a reference to Midrash Rabbah to Shemot 21§10 (Exodus 14:21-22)

The trip over the water-and-earth-bridge of the sea provided a taste of Eden. Not a complete transition to the Garden, but a brief experience, like their everwear clothes and sandals, food, and water.

What did the water bridge provide? It lifted their feet from the natural earth, supplying a cushion of purifying water for the swift journey. Things that ascend to the Garden in a physical body must pass through fire or water to purify them for holy use.

“You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

If we sanctify ourselves on earth, Adonai sanctifies and perfects us in heaven. It is our duty, and it allows the world to be enticed by our odor of holiness instead of despairing that a holy walk is impossible or not even a fruitful one. We die to the sin slavery of the natural body, yet we live according the resurrection spirit of Yeshua.

We have available the washing of water by the Word. This might explain Yeshua’s washing of the disciples’ feet…they would experience the supernatural, like Philip’s rapid translation after he witnessed to the Ethiopian. 

Our immersion in the water of the Word in the Torah cycles and feasts is like walking in Fruit Loops. As the mothers of Israel took fruits from the walls of water in the Reed Sea on the journey, so we enjoy the fruits of the Ruach when we enter the Kingdom as a little child.

As we mature, we also bear fruit to give to others who are maturing by the River of Life, for we are a part of the Tree of Life. The crossing of the Reed Sea recalled the Creation, yet according to the Song of the Sea, the nations witnessed Israel’s journey as they walked on water.

It was dark, the waters split, nations saw the good fruits, and the fragrance wafted abroad. Likewise, Yeshua’s return to gather his bride into the clouds of glory will be witnessed by all the earth: “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.” (Re 1:7)

The pillar of cloud and light moved behind the Israelites, protecting their entrance to the “Garden and giving the Bride the opportunity to invite him after her into the Garden, which is customary. The Bridegroom does not enter the chuppah until invited by the Bride: “May my Beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits!” “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Yeshua.” (Re 22:20)

As we taste his choice spiritual fruits, so he tastes the choice fruits the Ruach produced in the Bride who cultivates natural fruits of earthly service to offer the Bridegroom.

The pattern is this:

Water represents spirit (as does fire)
The earth is the substance of mankind, adam
When YHVH turns the sea into dry land as a way of escape, that which was spirit became substance/flesh in order to provide a new beginning for Israel/mankind, a resurrection from the sin decay of mere earth to earthly life with the spirit, a promise of perfections from above
New life follows a mikveh in Messiah, the Great Hand of YHVH.

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” (Re 22:17) Those fruits renew every month beside the River of Life. The Bride will be eternally new and renewed by the Ruach, free of mortal decay.

When Yeshua has perfected his Bride at the resurrection of her body and Body, she will invite him to once again join her in the Garden under the chuppah. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of YHVH. Lekha dodi. Come, my Beloved, to meet the Bride. The Ruach of Shabbat we receive.

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Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 156 (Walking on Water Part 7 – The Dead Messiah and Stickin’ Chickens)

I have chickens. They are not my chickens. They belong to the neighbor. He already had chickens in a chicken coop. Now he has ten more chickens. They are not in the chicken coop. They are in my yard. My flowers. Digging holes in the yard and around the foundation of the house. Pooping on the porch. Hanging out.

I tried playing red-tail hawk sounds really loud. I tried taking watermelon rinds and veggie scraps over to their property, but they still lurk in the shady spots and follow me around every time I go outside to work. They just stick around.

It took me a whole day to lay chicken wire under the flower bed mulch to keep them from destroying my carefully designed and freshly-planted flower beds.

We let the neighbor know, but so far, we still have sticken’ chickens.

I even told them the story of when Billie Idol went missing, but while they enjoyed story time, they don’t connect Billie’s demise to their current situation.

Chickens are like that.

When I was four years old, my first pet was a chicken named Slicker.

Grandma’s cat Fuchsia ate it.

I didn’t connect a cat to Slicker’s current situation.

I was telling a good friend about our sticken’ chickens yesterday, and we were chatting about the danger of Moses’ forty days of absence on the mountain. The Israelites and mixed multitude pretty much gave up on his return. In spite of every miracle they’d seen, they couldn’t wait forty full days for the next one. Not only that, they started breaking the Big Ten. An idol. Sexual immorality. You know the story. They’d been delivered from slavery in Egypt; they’d been immersed as a congregation in the Reed Sea; they’d witnessed the glory of Adonai and agreed to His covenant at the mountain…and yet, they had sticken’ chickens from Egypt. They went right back to feeding slavery to sin.

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea…” (1 Co 10:1-2)

The tunnel of the Reed Sea was like a birth canal. Immersion has always been a symbol of a resurrection that is more than symbolic. On the Third Day of Creation was a birth of life from the water to fruit trees. On the dawn of the Seventh Day of Passover, the Israelites completed a supernaturally fast, effortless journey through the Reed Sea.

Likewise, immersion (mikveh) is undertaken as a rebirth. The pattern is this:

• Water represents spirit (as does fire)

• The earth is the substance of mankind, adam

• When YHVH turns the sea into dry land as a way of escape, that which was spirit became substance/flesh in order to provide a new beginning for Israel/mankind, a resurrection from the sin decay of mere earth to earthly life with the spirit, a promise of wholeness and perfections completed from above

• New life follows a mikveh in Messiah, the Great Hand of YHVH.

This is the mystical picture of the Reed Sea. When YHVH turned the sea into dry land, he figuratively resurrected the Israelites. When the natural body dies, it returns to the earth. In Messiah Yeshua, the bared arm of YHVH, mankind is resurrected from earth through water.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” (Ro 6:1-7)

When we turn back to sin, we’re not quite dead enough.

Few who entered the Reed Sea mikveh entered as newborns in physical age; Israelites and the mixed multitude entered in various stages of aging. In that sense, we understand why a mikveh symbolizes rebirth, yet it is available to all ages for their various reasons.

Regardless of the age entering it, emerging from the mikveh is a re-set upon emerging. Immersion is a type of resurrection, especially as the water becomes the “dry land” of burial. It is a fresh start for a newborn who has yet to choose sin.

Purities of obedience begin in the home…

“There are seven dwelling places listed in the Seder Gan Eden, and in each there is a righteous woman who teaches the Torah: Batyah, daughter of Pharaoh, Yocheved, mother of Moses, Miriam, sister of Moses, Huldah the Prophetess, Abigail, David’s wife, and beyond this point, the matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.” In one source, those who enter Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) go through four transformations through their learning experience. Upon entry, the righteous individual is changed into a child and tastes the joys of childhood (Raphael, p. 187)… “When the Torah was first given, it was taught to the women first. It is written, ‘Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob’ – the women – ‘and tell the sons of Israel’ (Ex 19:3).” (Kaplan, p. 59)

Whether literal or not, the principle is that purity and obedience are first learned in the home, the domain of the mother: “My son, observe the commandment [mitzvah] of your father, and do not forsake the teaching [torah] of your mother.” (Pr 6:20)

Yeshua reiterated how important childhood is in entering the Kingdom without a habit of sin, without the pride of rebellion against the Word.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:1-4)

The humble child is like a slave, not yet inheriting, yet he/she already has everything. Children of every age are equal, yet honor and responsibility according to growth age.

There is no least or greatest in that sense. All are children. All begin as little children and need time to experience spiritual childhood because of its pure joy and lack of responsibility. Just because a child is precocious doesn’t mean he/she is ready for the keys to the Kingdom.

The Hokey Pokey of Eden

Yeshua said, “Unless you be “converted” and become like children…”

?????? stréph?; to twist, i.e. turn quite around or reverse (literally or figuratively):—convert, turn (again, back again, self, self about).

“Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything…”(Ga 4:1)

Immersion into Messiah Yeshua mimics this growth principle, re-setting to childhood for a new cycle, preparing the child to inherit the Kingdom. No getting around it! What the child must not do is mistake himself or herself for the slave who has no inheritance! A slave inherits nothing! A slave has Egyptian sticken’ chickens of sin. A child, though awaiting and learning in the Father’s house, will inherit the estate. The child does not serve because of his past, but because of his future.

A child who hangs around slaves, however, may believe he is a slave. He may begin to mimic sins that are not his mother’s training for the inheritance of their father…and Father.

This principle is so elementary to our faith. We must mature in our faith, learning to be holy on earth because He is holy in Heaven, our inheritance. Through repentance and conversion, constantly turning around to live innocently according to the “new man” that was immersed in Messiah, we can mature in the Word to inherit the Kingdom:

“Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.” (He 6:1-8)

That’s horrible. Our continued sin crucifies and shames Yeshua again! It is as if we are among those screaming, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” It is as if we whipped Yeshua, spit on him, and drove the nails into his hands and feet. We are false witnesses, for while in one breath we speak of Messiah Yeshua, in the next breath we sin as if Yeshua is dead. If he is alive, we are his little children, learning, repenting, correcting, and trusting Yeshua the Living Word is alive in us. If we practice sin, we proclaim the death of Messiah, but not his resurrection.

If we don’t believe Messiah Yeshua is dead, then we need to cease dead works.

Dead works, too, are a testimony, not of Messiah Yeshua’s life, but of his death.

Let the world see the life of Yeshua in us resurrect us to increasing pure, holy, and faithful works when we trip over sticken’ chickens and fall. We can do the hokey pokey and turn ourselves around, but we must make the connection to our current situation.

Although I have sticken’ chickens during the day, at night, they go home to roost. Ultimately, that’s what sin does. It returns to the one who provides it a resting place. Those kinds of chickens should find no place to rest or roost in a believer. Yeshua lives. Let the little child arise from the waters of immersion, no matter what our age. Children were Yeshua’s greatest fans, and he always welcomed them with open arms, no matter how busy he was healing, teaching, and delivering the grownups.

How does water relate to the resurrection of the whole spirit, soul, and physical body? When we make transgressions, the spirit of grace offers a path of reconciliation with our Father, our King. If we sincerely repent and immerse, we come up a new creation, a new child. Forget the Fountain of Youth-this water is WAY better! It is a fountain of youth with an eternal inheritance!

As we wait for Yeshua’s return, let us not grow weary of waiting or become vulnerable to Egypt’s sticken’ chickens. An inheritance awaits.

“For we will surely die and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life but plans ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from him.” (Wise Woman of Tekoa in 2 Sa 14:14)

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