Thy Kingdom Come Part 2
Thy Kingdom Come • Sermon • Submitted
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The Model of the Kingdom
The Model of the Kingdom
The Book of Revelation has been through more Western interpretations than any other book of Scripture. But through eyes of a Jewish disciple from the mouth of a Jewish Messiah and the Spirit of the God of the Hebrews, it is part of the Ketubah כְּתוּבָּה or Jewish Wedding Covenant; it incorporates the Tribes of Israel; it is tied to the intent of the Creator in Bereshith בְּרֵאשִׁית (the Beginnings); and it is modeled after the Eternal Lamp stand.
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
“ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
In the history of the Jewish people’s enslavement, from the days of Daniel to the days of Rome, Jews were imprisoned until a trial concluded. This typically was a ten day period then either a release or punishment followed. Daniel and his fellow Israelites were tested for ten days (Daniel 1:12-14). Most often they were either falsely accused and it was just a means of justifying the execution of the followers of Adonai. But Jewish belief insisted that those who were faithful unto death received a Crown of Victory or Eternal Life in the presence of Adonai. But those who were wicked in heart and deed, Jewish tradition held that they would experience the horrors of the “Second Death”. This referred to the annihilation of the wicked and all that offends the Kingdom of God and their resurrection for eternal torment and eternal separation from God.
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
As we dive a little deeper into this study let these words of Christ Jesus encourage your hearts. Those who are in Christ Jesus shall overcome and conquer. For the light of Christ has come and it has overcome the darkness.
I pray you have the heart and mind of a disciple to better understand the context of the words of Jesus in Revelation. This study by no means is exhaustive. But I pray that what understanding you receive provokes you to not just be another generation sitting back waiting to escape this earth and it’s kingdoms but instead to be better prepared for the return of Messiah by doing what He said do while He still tarries and that is building His Kingdom.
When Moses encounters God on the mountain, the burning bush he encounters was a foreshadow of the menorah. It was a flame that did not consume nor was it initiated by man but became a divine lamp stand with many branches consumed with the glory of God Almighty.
The menorah was not just given for Israel but was a prophetic message of Messiah to the world. It was a pattern of God’s plan to redeem us unto Himself.
In Numbers 8:2 and Exodus 25:37, God instructs them that the lamps should face forward giving light “in front of” the lampstand. The word used here is panim פָּנִים meaning face. When the Priests came in to commune with God, God desired a face-to-face encounter. He wanted the light shining on their faces. He desired a relationship with them as Moses had with Him. At the top of each lamp stand sits a lamp where they would put oil in the top and a wick in one side and light it.
“Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.”
You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it.
Three branches on one side represent Israel while the other three on the other side represent those from the nations who follow the way of the Adonai. In John 15:1-8, Jesus says, “I am the vine and you are the branches” (netser נֵצֶר) from which came the name of the town of Nazareth.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Even Isaiah spoke of the vine that would shoot from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). In Isaiah 11:2-4 he presents the seven spirits of God that will be upon Messiah and we see them again in Revelations.
Seven Spirits of God in Isaiah 11:2-4
Seven Spirits of God in Isaiah 11:2-4
Wisdom
Understanding
Counsel Strength
Knowledge
Fear of the Lord
Righteousness
These each correspond with the seven branches of the Lamp Stand of the Lord. As well, we see this pattern in the Seven Days of Creation and the Seven Feasts given to in the Torah.
In Zechariah 4:1-14. The Prophet has a vision of a menorah and a plumb line. The plumb line is the shamash שמש. It is the measuring point of perspective for all the other branches. The plumb line is the foundation and brings the balance and is the measure for building something new.
The main trunk of the menorah lamp in the Tabernacle was called the ner tamid נֵר תָּמִיד which means eternal light (Leviticus 24:2). It is also called the shamash שמש which means servant or sun. According to Dr. Wheeler, Genesis speaks of two lights, the greater and the lesser light. John reveals that Christ is the greater light, the light of the world. The shamash lamp is what they used to rekindle the other six branches to keep them burning when they have been pruned. The sun, the lesser light, was created on the fourth day of creation and the shamash holds the fourth position on the menorah. Chazal חז״ל (Rabbinical Sages) taught that this represented the position of Messiah, the center and light of the world. (Klein, John and Spears, Adam; Lost in Translation Volume 1; Bend, OR; 2016)
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
John said, Jesus was the light of the world but the world knew Him not. Jesus is the shamash that kindles the fires of those filled with the Holy Spirit and we are to take the light to the world (Matthew 5:14-15).
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
Jesus said that you and I through Him we are to take the light to the world by being the light to the world. As Dr. Wheeler states, this lamp of light is not to be put under a basket but set upon the lamp stand (menorah) where it draws from and is eternally kindled. It is referring to the menorah, the Lamp Stand of the Lord. Meaning, they must be connected to the vine or the shamash.
Most peoples perspective of the menorah is a candle stand. But it was not so in the Tabernacle. It was a stand of which individual lamps would be placed when refilled with oil and the flax restored (Isaiah 42:3). Each with their flames facing forward.
I believe that the wheel vision that Ezekiel saw in Ezekiel 1:15-28 and the vision John saw of the lampstands in Revelation 1:12-20 are related. I believe that both were seeing the perpetual (never ending and never changing) flame of the Word of God in the light of the world Messiah.
Yeshua made Seven Proclamations of Himself backed up by the words of the Prophets and the works of God:
I AM the Bread of Life
I AM the Light of the World
I AM the Door
I AM the Good Shepherd
I AM the Resurrection
I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life
I AM the Vine (Shamash)
In Revelations we are presented with seven interconnected menorahs (seven sets of seven) introducing forty-nine events that unfold the coming of Messiah’s Kingdom. We are not going into the forty-nine events. But we will look a little deeper into a few of the seven significant things mentioned:
Letters – סֵפֶר seper which means legal documents, indictments, book of records or prophecies, book of law and commission. However, the root is סָפַר sapar (sa-fare) which means to rehearse and recount. These are seven letters to seven churches in Asia, not Israel. These are seven letters to seven brides’ maids. In Matthew 25, the ten virgins in this wedding parable are brides’ maids. Yeshua is giving this parable in context of the Kingdom of Heaven. They all went to meet the Groom but the foolish ones took no oil for their lamps.
Seals – חָתַם hatam that which is used to secure with the mark and name of authority. In Ancient Hebrew script the letter Tav was the symbol of two sticks forming a cross that marked one’s property. As well, the Dalat-Tav is the parent root of dath דָּת meaning edict, law or “Covenant”. Remember the parable in Matthew 13 of the wheat (fruitful) and tares (poisonous weeds; ba-sah בָאְשָה). The Persians and the Romans were the first to use the crossed sticks to crucify people who opposed their kingdoms and thus marking the land and the people with their authority. Most Christians concern themselves more with the seals of Tribulation and the mark or seal of “The Beast”. We would do more church to be concerned with ensuring we have the mark or “seal” of Adonai:
Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
Trumpets – יוֹבֵל yobel meaning jubilee year. Another word is שָׁפַר sapar (shaw-fare) meaning to be pleasing and beautiful as a bride when the veil is removed. Yet, the word used for Feast of Trumpets is Rua רוּעַ a shout of triumph or a battle cry.
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
Thunders – קוֹל qol meaning a voice calling (Rev. 10:4; Ps. 18:13; Rev. 4:5 ); This thunder interrupts the blowing between the sixth and seventh trumpet.
And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,
Bowls – מְנַקִּית menaqqit meaning sacrificial bowls; bowls for drink or pour offerings.
Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Proclamations (Edicts) – קָרָא qara meaning to call out; declaration; summons. In Revelations seven angels to seven churches preach to them summoning them to true righteousness and their calling. Later in Revelations, seven angels with seven trumpets summon judgement upon the nations.
Oppositions to God’s Kingdom – שָׂטַן satan meaning that which stands in opposition as an adversary to God; to act or resist the Kingdom of God.
Proverbs 6:16-19 declares the Seven things that God hates; Seven things that stand in opposition to His Kingdom:
Haughty Eyes - a heart with an attitude that esteems itself above others while looking down upon or having contempt for others. To think of oneself superior to others.
Lying Tongue - the mouth that makes untrue statements with intent to deceive; the heart and mouth that leaves false or misleading impressions.
Hands that shed innocent blood - murder; the heart of malice; the vindictive heart; the hands that wound or kill not only the flesh of another but also their image, reputation or soul.
A heart that devises wicked plans - the heart and mind that manipulates situations, plants ideas, leaves little seeds of chaos, that strategically plots out plans of deception and instigates things in motion for their own personal gain or satisfaction.
Feet that make haste to run to evil - the one who with all due diligence seeks out and takes pleasure in doing that which is contrary to the precepts and principles of Adonai; one who enjoys selfish living at the expense of others; a spirit of rebellion.
A false witness who breathes lies - the one who unjustly kindles falsehoods and stirs up quarrels among others; one who breathes lies and draws others to their cause of division.
And one who sows discord among the brothers - one who strategically picks their field, prepares the soils of the hearts and minds of others, then plants the seeds, waters them, then enjoys the pleasures of watching the fruits of strife, contention, confusion, mistrust, and division grow among others.
Note that each of these seven address the eyes, the ears, the mouth, the hands, the feet, and the heart or inner man and his motives (kavanah כַּוָּנָה). Together they paint a picture of Ha Satan (adversary to the Spirit of God). They are anti-covenant choices. They all result in division among God’s people which is adversarial to the Kingdom of God.
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
This is how we build His Kingdom. Let your light shine!
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Thy Kingdom Come Oh Lord, Thy will be done Oh Lord, in me as it is in Thy Word.