AV 5785

AV: The Father Over Many Waters

The month of Av is upon us, and the circumstances surrounding this month in Israel, globally and individually are super charged on many levels. Now we find ourselves in Israel once again surrounded on all sides by enemies, somewhat confident in our natural defenses, but lacking in the supernatural ones overall, however we remember that we are not led by how we feel, or even by what we see, but by what we believe which is the Word of God. With enemies at the gates in the natural here in Israel and in all of our lives in different ways, the Holy Spirit has been leading us to declare 2 Samuel 5:20-21 where King David speaks of Baal Perazim (Lord of the Breakthrough). In Israel, this is a month of mourning and a lack of feasting as we remember the time of the destruction of the first and second temple in Jerusalem on the 9th of Av (Aug. 13). But for believers it is different as we know we no longer need a temple as the Father is looking for worshippers in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24).

But nonetheless, we are in a moment when the world at large is bearing down upon us in Israel in the natural, but also like never before against all things we hold dear as believers in Yeshua and we ourselves around the world. But just as Israel was besieged and outnumbered in the time of King David as the Philistines occupied Israel, we say today over our lives, families, congregations, cities, businesses and nations just as David did overlooking Jerusalem, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” So he named that place Baal-perazim (master of breakthroughs). The Philistines abandoned their [pagan] idols there, so David and his men took them away [to be burned].

This Av, God is breaking through all that is not of Him, and all that is standing in the way of His will being done over you. His throne is over many waters and the river of life which brings this breakthrough comes from the throne of the Father where your breakthrough comes from today.
“Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Yeshua), in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2). You are seated with Yeshua at the right hand of the Father and these waters of breakthrough and the Lord of the breakthrough are with you and go before you.

CONSTELLATION: ARIE OR LION

The Lion is the constellation of the month of Av. In the Living Word, the lion is an animal that represents royalty, judgement, and blessing. “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:5). Not just in the book of Revelation, but all throughout the Word there are examples of lions being an animal to bring judgement, ending either life in a display of God’s grace, or death, in a display of His wrath. These are just some of the instances of men in the bible who were saved from the mouths of lions: Judges 14:5-6, Daniel 6:22, 1 Samuel 17:34-37, 2 Timothy 4:17, Psalm 91:13.

Men like Sampson, Daniel and David show us the power of the Spirit of God who protects us in our greatest hour of need. All of these men, when they were in obedience to the call of Yahweh over their lives, killed lions with their bear hands and were saved from being eaten by a den of hungry lions. The story of Sampson killing the lion on the road (Judges 14:5-6) is a perfect example of how in His mercy, The Lord of Hosts transforms that which was meant for our destruction into a blessing. “Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it” (Judges 14:8-9). Jesus has taken us, who deserve death, and given us life everlasting (John 5:25), the greatest miracle of salvation and forgiveness, the ultimate mercy and act of love. Let us eat of the honey that is produced out of the victory of He who conquered the grave this month in the face of what the world tries to tell us is defeat. But let us also remember that God humbles the proud and lifts up those who were humble (Luke 1:52).

The Lion of Judah deals out justice in mysterious ways, and no one goes unscathed, Israel included as we remember the 9th of Av, but also see how the leaders of both Hamas and Hezbollah have been taken down in one swift stroke in a matter of two days, and the President of Iran just a couple of weeks earlier. As we said, Israel is not immune to God’s wrath, but neither are Israel’s enemies. This goes for each of us individually as well and a reminder to also pray for those who curse us and bless those who hate us as this is a way to stomp on the heads of scorpions and snakes as well (Luke 10:19).

What is His Name?

As the name of this month is literally translated as Father, the name of God is in focus, but it is something the world has tried successfully to keep us from saying out loud. In Israel we say Adonai or Hashem meaning “the Name” or “blessed be God”, but it is not HIs real name. In Christianity most say Lord, but the other word in the Bible for Lord is Baal, the name of a false God. The point being, the Father God is named Yahweh, the name that every Jew is banned from saying according to tradition, and the very name that has power over every other name, Yeshua as well. All other religions have no problem naming their so-called gods by name, but for some reason both Jews and Christians do not. It is a grand deception that has lasted nearly 2,000 years in the history of the Body of Yeshua and rabbinic Judaism.

There is power in the name of Yeshua, and there is power in the name of God the Father, Yahweh. In the month of Av, the month of the Father, it is time to redeem this error while being seated with Yeshua at His right hand over the waters, the nations, and declaring in the name of Yahweh, HIs will be done on earth as it is in heaven the breakthrough that is coming to pass. A shofar of God’s name is being blown as we enter into the month of the Father. The rivers, the highways in the spirit are flowing and the call to let the damns break is going out unto the gatekeepers of every nation. The Father over many waters is speaking, and we will answer, let the rivers flow in Yeshua’s mighty name.

Antisemitism Back With A Vengeance

For the first time since World War 2 the hatred of Jews is at a fever pitch around the world. On the news, major headlines are reporting people getting beaten and killed just because they are either Jewish or support Israel. It has happened over and over again throughout history, specifically on the 9th of Av. Here are just a few examples.

• Av 9 – 587 BC – The armies of Babylon destroyed Solomon’s Temple.
• Av 9 – AD 70 – The Romans destroyed the 2nd temple.
• Av 9 – AD 135 – The Final Defeat of Jews by Rome.
• Av 9 – AD 1095 – The 1st Crusade was launched, which killed thousands of Jews.
• Av 9 – AD 1290 – The Jews are expelled from England.
• Av 9 – AD 1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain
• Av 9 – AD 1942 – The Jews were deported from the Warsaw ghetto to the death camps.
• Av 9 – AD 2005 – The expulsion of the Jews from Gaza began.

Now we approach the 9th of Av once again. But under the pretext of threats of the destruction of Israel from nearly every country surrounding us. This attack is said to be imminent in the next 48 hours and even greater than the previous attack from Iran and its proxies. So how do we pray? We pray that repentance just as happened in Israel and Nineveh go forth from each side, that mercy and grace and love find even the lowest, and that God’s perfect will be done aside from those things as it is a decision that we are all free to make whether it be personal, National or international. The watchmen on the walls are being called up in a major way and that means you. This is also a major call for prayer for Aliyah, the return of the Jewish people to Israel, a call that is Biblical and a sign of these end times which needs to come to pass before Yeshua returns. Let’s answer the call!

TRIBE OF AV: SIMEON

Simeon, meaning “God has heard” represents this month and was the second son of Jacob and Leah. God is not deaf, but He is slow to anger, and although He is merciful, when He passes judgement it is swift and in such a way that people know this is God. She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, He gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon” (Genesis 29:33). We must remember that when we hear clearly what Yahweh is saying, we must also act on what He is saying. Ezekiel was very clear to the citizens of Jerusalem when delivering the message of warning from Elohim, they heard clearly, but they did not react to said warning, continuing as usual. “Time and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers, because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of Yahweh against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36:15). We see the terrible consequences of ignoring the voice of God in so many instances in the Word of God, but we also see the abounding mercy of the Father when His creation listens intently to His rebuke or correction. There is a much different outcome than the book of Ezekiel in the case of Nineveh where upon hearing the message of warning that God had given Jonah for the city., “The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth” (Jonah 3:3-5).

We see a stark contrast in the reaction of Yahweh to the people of Nineveh versus Jerusalem. “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened” (Jonah 3:10). The Almighty had mercy on Nineveh when He saw that they turned from their evil ways, but Jerusalem was not so attentive. We pray here in Jerusalem and Israel that such an attitude does not remain as we do for every nation, tribe and tongue. The two attitudes we see on display with these two examples are humility and pride. While the former is the root of Love, the latter is the root of sin and evil. Just as we as individuals have to deal with the root of our issues (Pride) to be rid of them forever, the same goes with any group of people from mere friendships to entire nations. Because Nineveh had a king that feared the God of Israel, Nineveh was saved, but in the case of the judgement of Jerusalem, the leadership mocked the same God that led them from Egypt to the promised land. If the heart is not humble, the rest of the body becomes corrupted, and if the leadership is not humble before the King of Kings, the populace suffers the same fate as its leaders. Let us pray that this is the case for Israel and the nations of the world.

In Simeon’s life, he paid a price for disobedience, a price that was passed down through the generations all the way to the promised land hundreds of years later. When Jacob brought together his twelve sons before his death, he prophesied over each of them. “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come’” (Genesis 49:1). Simeon and Levi are paired together in the prophetic word given to them as it was tied to an infamous event in the past. Just as Reuben’s actions lost him and his lineage, the inheritance as the first born, the actions of disobedience in the case of Simeon and Levi also cost them dearly. “Simeon and Levi are brothers, their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel”(Genesis 49:5). Jacob is referring to the decision of Simeon and Levi to kill all of the Shechemite men after their Prince had raped their sister Dinah, then marrying her. They did this without informing Jacob, and could have cost the promised inheritance of God to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob had the tribes of the land united to destroy Israel after this act of treachery (Genesis 34). Some may say this act was just, but the Word of God is clear when it says, “The Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them. Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man, or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare” (Proverbs 22:23-25). What decisions are you making out of anger and which ones out of peace? Action will be the outcome of our decisions either way, but from whom are we receiving our orders? Let us hear clearly from the Father this month.
The final part of Jacob’s prophecy came true when Israel entered the promised land. Simeon was the smallest of all the tribes of Israel (Numbers 26:14), was omitted from the blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33:8), and both the tribe of Simeon and Levi had land inside of the territories of the other tribes (Joshua 19:1-9). They were indeed divided and scattered. But once again we see that God’s judgement is thorough, but avoidable when we listen to the warnings of Abba, repent and correct ourselves.This is the month to do just that.

Conclusion

This month of Av is the month when we get to exercise one of the greatest gifts of God, choice. We cannot be forced to love, it is a decision that we are free to make. Had the God of Israel “forced” us to love Him, it wouldn’t be love, but because we have been given a choice, we are not drafted into God’s army and family against our will, but rather volunteers. Having made this choice, we must now decide whether or not we will be in rebellion to the will of God, remaining slaves to pride and fear, or to humble ourselves before the Potter, so that He can continue to mold us into the person that has been written in the books of heaven. “Good and upright is Yahweh; therefore He instructs sinners in His ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way” (Psalm 25:8-9). Now is the time to rise to the occasion, because the race of the past is finished, but the race of the new beginning has begun. When we run the race of the world with the yoke of oppression upon our backs, fear, guilt, shame, etc. the finish line will never come into sight. So let us accept the invitation of the Light, in whom there is no darkness that says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). Even while war rages here in Israel and within ourselves, the Lion of the tribe of Judah is fighting our battles and the victory is assured. Yahweh, Who’s throne is seated upon the river of life, is releasing a torrent so mighty that the enemy cannot stand, and as long as we are seated together with Him in His Will we will not be washed away, but victorious against every plan and scheme of the enemy. The time of refreshing has come, like new socks on bare feet, cold water on a hot day, the smell of coffee in the morning, a broken heart made whole, and the sins of the past forgiven and forgotten, this is your time to put your ear to the heart of the Father so that His plans will be revealed to you and you will walk in it. May your ears be opened, your heart be humbled, and your feet be steadfast on the path that Yeshua has made straight just for you in this season. Yahweh bless you and keep you!