Zechariah 2:

Haftarah portion for this week's B'Ha'alotkha came from Zechariah. In B'haalotkha, we see the preparations for the Children of Israel to leave from Mt. Sinai, and very quickly we see complaining in the camp, there's no food, it's uncomfortable walking for three days and three nights in the hot desert, and worse, the group that the Tribes are looking to for leadership, the very core of the Tribe of Levi, Moshe, Aharon and Miryam are quarreling. I thought we were supposed to look up the the Priesthood! So along comes this portion from Zechariah, and let's take a close look at the "priest" in this picture.

Zechariah 2:10 to 4:7 10 "Sing, daughter of Tziyon; 11 Whenrejoice! For, here, I am coming; and I will live among you," says ADONAI. that time comes, many nations will join themselves to ADONAI. "They will be my people, and I will live among you." Then you will know that it was ADONAI-Tzva'ot who sent me to you. 12 ADONAI will take possession of Y'hudah as his portion in the holy land, and he will again make Yerushalayim his choice. 13 Be silent, all humanity, before ADONAI; for he has been roused from his holy dwelling.'" 1 He showed me Y'hoshua the cohen hagadol standing before the angel of ADONAI, with the Accuser [Hebrew: Satan] standing at his right to accuse him. 2 ADONAI said to the Accuser, "May ADONAI rebuke you, Accuser! Indeed, may ADONAI, who has made Yerushalayim his choice, rebuke you! Isn't this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" 3 Y'hoshua was clothed in garments covered with dung; and he was standing before the angel, 4 who said to those standing in front of him, "Take those filthy garments off of him." Then to him he said, "See, I am taking your guilt away. I will clothe you in fine robes." 5 I said, "They should put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and gave him fine robes to wear, while the angel of ADONAI stood by. 6 Then the angel of ADONAI gave Y'hoshua this warning: 7 "ADONAI-Tzva'ot says this: 'If you will walk in my ways, obey my commission, judge my house and guard my courtyards; then I will give you free access among these who are standing here. 8 Listen, cohen gadol Y'hoshua, both you and your colleagues seated here before you, because these men are a sign that I am going to bring my servant Tzemach [Sprout]. 9 For look at the stone I have put in front of Y'hoshua: on one stone are seven eyes; I will engrave what is to be written on it,' says ADONAI-Tzva'ot; 'and I will remove the guilt of this land in one day. 10 When that time comes,' says ADONAI-Tzva'ot, 'you will all invite each other to join you under your vines and fig trees.'" 1 Then the angel that had been speaking with me returned and roused me, as if he were waking someone up from being asleep, 2 and asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I've been looking at a menorah; it's all of gold, with a bowl at its top, seven lamps on it, and seven tubes leading to the lamps at its top. 3 Next to it are two olive trees, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left." 4 I then asked the angel speaking with me, "What are these, my Lord?" The angel speaking with me said, 5 "Don't you know what these are?" I said, "No, my Lord." 6 Then he answered me, "This is the word of ADONAI to Z'rubavel: 'Not by force, and not by power, but by my Spirit,' says ADONAI-Tzva'ot. 7 'What are you, you big mountain? Before Z'rubavel you will become a plain; and he will put the capstone in place, as everyone shouts, "It's beautiful! Beautiful!"'

To set the scene, it's judgment day - pictured by the Feast of Atonement. Yeshua and HaSatan are standing there, as are the 24 Elders, and all the Angels. Yehoshua is pulled out of Hell - Yes, He was destine for Hell. He was a stick burning. HaSatan is not pleased, he though his accusations of Yehoshua's sins had cast him away from Yahweh forever, but Yeshua plucked him from the flames, and saw the filth he was clothed in, and ordered him cleansed, washed, and dressed in clean clothes. - that's a picture of Salvation. But that dirty sinful guy - Yehoshua, not only has he just been saved from eternity in hell, Yeshua has ordered a turban put on his head, this makes him a priest. You see, Priests are just like us, sinful humans, saved by grace. Now did Yehoshua do anything on his own to deserve that? Did he EARN that? Certainly NOT. Remember, he was in the flames! But What is it that the Angel of Adonai tells him, what's the warning?

'If you will walk in my ways, obey my commission, judge my house and guard my courtyards; then I will give you free access among these who are standing here.

If you will walk in my way - James 4:12 says it is Yeshua who gave us the Law, the Torah, the teaching and instructions. Torah is His Way. We're to obey it.. not because it earns us salvation.. but because it's His Teaching - His Instruction, His Way. We do get to judge the house of Israel, judging each other according to Torah, keeping each other accountable, encouraging each other to walk in righteousness - why - because we Love one another. If we fail to keep each other walking in His Way, does that not mean we have failed to protect one another from falling into sin? and the last part is GUARD MY COURTYARDS - this brings me the picture of Pinchas, who slew the man and his Midian wife for bringing pagan ways into God's Tabernacle. We must STAND UP for God's righteousness, even if it means we are persecuted for it. And why would we do all these things? Because if we do these things, we'll be able to live for eternity in the presence of God. Remember where Yehoshua was snatch from, from the flames of hell. Hell is the absence - not the absence of God, there is nowhere where God isn't present - but Hell is the absence of His Attributes, No Living Water, No Bread of Life, No Breath of Life, No Shalom, No Shabbat, No Communion, No Fellowship, .. but God's eye is still on that place, He knows everything that goes on there.. He is not absent. Then later in the

Horses

The day Stuart worked on the tree house, I went to visit the horses at the pasture and took these little clips.





Yesterday, I spent a good hour brushing out Sahara and Negev's manes.. that's very relaxing for me, even though it's a tough job. Their manes get full of twisting knots from the wind..like rasta dredlocs.  I love horsey smell.

The boys and I were reading in Isaiah today - we read 3-4-5-6.. but 5 was my part and OOOH Boy, it sure spoke to me about God's people needing repenting.
Chapter 5: 1 I want to sing a song for someone I love, a song about my loved one and his vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug up its stones and cleared them away,
planted it with the choicest vines,
built a watchtower in the middle of it,
and carved out in its rock a winepress.
He expected it to produce good grapes,
but it produced only sour, wild grapes.

3 Now, citizens of Yerushalayim and people of Y'hudah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard
that I haven't already done in it?
So why, when I expected good grapes,
did it produce sour, wild grapes?

OOOH - we're so that vineyard and we're producing sour grapes. Yes, we should look on this "vineyard" as a whole.. the nation of Israel - that includes Natural born Israel (which we call Jews), and those Adopted into the nation.. we Gentiles... we're not the united nation of Israel as God had intended, we're not the United Bride of Christ... not even the Gentile Church... not even the Protestants, .. not even Evangelicals, not even neighbours... and often not even husbands and wives. But don't forget to look at this on your own. Are you producing Sour Grapes? Now if you say to your self.. No - not me.. surely not me, surely I'm the good grape... check yourself again. If God's Word says His vineyard is producing Sour Grapes.. I'd be careful of assuming everyone else is a sour grape, but that you yourself are one of the few good grapes growing in the vineyard.


5 Now come, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge, and [its grapes] will be eaten up;
I will break through its fence, and [its vines] will be trampled down.
6 I will let it go to waste: it will be neither pruned nor hoed,
but overgrown with briars and thorns.
I will also order the clouds not to let rain fall on it.
7 Now the vineyard of ADONAI-Tzva'ot is the house of Isra'el,
and the men of Y'hudah are the plant he delighted in.
So he expected justice, but look - bloodshed! - and righteousness,
but listen - cries of distress!

Are you seeing a little produce of sour grapes in your life? Has God's hedge been removed from around you? Are you feeling a little trampled down? A little wasted, are you feeling in need of a little pruning? How about some refreshing rain, do you need some of that?

8 Woe to those who add house to house
and join field to field, until there's no room for anyone else,
and you live in splendor alone on your land.
9 ADONAI-Tzva'ot said in my ears,
"Many houses will be brought to ruin,
large, magnificent ones left empty;
10 for a ten-acre vineyard will produce only five gallons of wine,
and seed from five bushels of grain will yield but half a bushel."
11 Woe to those who get up early to pursue intoxicating liquor;
who stay up late at night, until wine inflames them.
12 They have lutes and lyres, drums and flutes, and wine at their parties;
but they pay no attention to how ADONAI works
and never look at what his hands have made.

Heed the warning. This is talking about the idolatry of self and wealth... the idolatry that we can live on our laurels, that money will save us, that our prosperity is what brings us joy. Return to God, and God's ways. For God does not call us to live this debaucherous life. His Teachings teach us how to live.

13 For such lack of knowledge my people go into exile;
this is also why their respected men starve
and their masses are parched from thirst.

Do you have a lack of knowledge?

14 Therefore Sh'ol has enlarged itself and opened its limitless jaws -
and down go their nobles and masses, along with their noise and revels.
15 The masses are lowered, the nobles are humbled - proud looks will be brought down.
16 But ADONAI-Tzva'ot is exalted through justice,
God the Holy One is consecrated through righteousness.
17 Then lambs will be able to feed as if they were in their own pasture,
and those wandering through will eat from the ruined fields of the overfed.


18 Woe to those who begin by pulling at transgression with a thread,
but end by dragging sin along as if with a cart rope.

God's warning your about the slippery slope here. His Ways are righteousness.. if it's not His ways, it's not righteousness. But you might say.. ah, but it's just a little thing.. or oh, but I'm doing this for His Glory.. but if He didn't ask you to do THAT for His Glory.. then it's not Righteousness.. and you're pulling that transgression along with a thread.

19 They say, "We want God to speed up his work,
to hurry it along, so we can see it!
We want the Holy One of Isra'el's plan to come true right now,
so we can be sure of it!"
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who change darkness into light
and light into darkness,
who change bitter into sweet
and sweet into bitter!
21 Woe to those seeing themselves as wise, esteeming themselves as clever.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, men whose power goes to mixing strong drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for bribes but deny justice to the righteous!

Don't take the first set of verses and think.. it's "THOSE PEOPLE" Or "THAT DENOMINATION" or "THE JEWS" or "THOSE NEIGHBOURS" or anyone else.. stop looking at everyone else.. look at yourself. Where are you not walking on God's path? Do you even know what God's path is? Can you point to it exactly? Do you know what exactly is and isn't sin? Can you make a list? Are you sure you're not walking the path of sin? (I"m not talking about salvation here.. I'm not questioning your faith in Jesus - whether you call Him Jesus, Yeshua, Messiah, Christ, Salvation... this is not a salvation issue.. this is HOW you're living out your Saved Life!)

24 Therefore, as fire licks up the stubble, and the chaff is consumed in the flame;
so their root will rot, and their flowers scatter like dust;
because they have rejected the Torah of ADONAI-Tzva'ot,
they have despised the word of the Holy One of Isra'el.


I need to shed a tear here.. Beacause some of you will reject me and my words - I know you will. I know you think I'm wrong.. I know you think I'm taking scripture out of context... I know you think you don't need to keep the Torah. But how can you deny God's Word here? How can you not see God's Word?

25 This is why ADONAI's anger blazed up against his people,
why he stretched out his hand against them and struck them
[so hard that] the hills shook, and corpses lay like trash in the streets.
Even after all this, his anger remains, his upraised hand still threatens.
26 He will give a signal to faraway nations,
he will whistle for them to come from the ends of the earth;
and here they come, so fast!
27 none of them tired or stumbling,
none of them sleeping or drowsy,
none with a loose belt,
none with a broken sandal-strap.
28 Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung,
their horses' hoofs are like flint,
and their [chariot] wheels like a whirlwind.


Do you know who this is? Who is it that is ready, prepared, awake and ready to go... to assault and destroy God's Nation?


29 They will roar like lions -
yes, roaring like young lions,
they growl and seize the prey
and carry it off, with no one to rescue.
30 On that day they will growl at them,
like the sea when it growls - and when one looks toward land,
one sees darkness closing in;
the light is dissipated in the obscuring overcast.

If you're feeling despair, go back and re-read and see why this is happening. As we read on, Myles gave me a glimmer of hope.

From Chapter 6: 13 If even a tenth [of the people] remain, it will again be devoured. "But like a pistachio tree or an oak, whose trunk remains alive after its leaves fall off, the holy seed will be its trunk." That grain of hope, I want to be that Holy Seed.. the trunk of the oak... who will remain. And I can only be that Holy Seed that remains, if I keep my eyes on God, and follow His Path.


Now friends, lest you think I think I'm righteous and I'm preaching to you because I think I've got it all right and need to set you straight.. oh.. oh.. I have so far to go. I see my sin - I struggle to keep God's Word, I struggle to feed myself on His Word and to refresh myself with Living Waters. I fail to keep the commandments which I know Adonai has written to keep me from sinning. At times, I don't even WANT to try. At times, I think a life without Torah, without God, would be so much easier.. without having to think about what is right and what is wrong.. and just do things my way, what ever I want, whenever I want... But if I did that... you all know that path and where it leads. And so, I have put my trust in God and His Salvation, and because He has blessed me with HIS salvation, I do desire to keep trying, to keep correcting the sins I've committed, and keep trying to stay on His Path. He gave me my Salvation. I want to give Him my whole life.

So, I know I've taken up so much of your time.. but please watch this video http://www.galileeofthenations.com/forgottenpeoplevideo.shtml

slideshow