Preparing the Bride of Christ For His Return By Janet Van Hierdan
A Tale of Two Brides is now available on Amazon.com:
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Another
Coffee Break:
Going Beyond, Part 9
January 9, 2015
Well, have you gotten past
the hustle and bustle (and commercialization) of the Christmas season and New
Years? Whewww!!! Get's really tiring, doesn't it? Unless a person is really focused on what's
taking place spiritually, and the new dimensions of the Spirit that God is
taking us into, this holiday season can really become stressful and distracting
with all of the sales pitches, and all of the Regressives' (I refuse to call
them Progressives, and they are NOT liberals -- they are anything but!) efforts
to get rid of the name of Jesus, taking every spiritual significance away from
the celebratory activities of the season.
Anyway,
let's get on with our discussions.
Hebrews 6:1-3, KJV:
“Therefore
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;
not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith
toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of
hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.”
So
far we have talked about the foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith
toward God, and we spent weeks dealing with the doctrine of baptisms. This week (and next) we need to talk about
the impartation that comes from the laying on of hands. Let’s take time today to lay some foundations
in our understanding as to both the historical and post-Pentecost implications
associated with this.
In
order to properly deal with this subject, we need to get back to the root of
Hebrew thought so as to understand where this practice comes from, and the
spiritual significance of having hands laid upon someone.
Out
of several hundred references throughout Scripture, the very first time we see
someone laying hands upon another occurs when Jacob lays his right hand on
Ephraim, and his left hand on Manasseh — the two sons of Joseph.
Genesis 48:13-20, KJV: And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right
hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s
right hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his
right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left
hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the
firstborn.
And he
blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham
and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, The Angel which redeemed me from all
evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my
fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of
the earth. And when Joseph
saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased
him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto
Manasseh’s head.
And Joseph
said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy
right hand upon his head. And his father
refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people,
and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than
he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that
day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and
as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
We
can infer in each of the previous instances where we see the Blessing conveyed
that hands were laid upon the one being blessed, but this is the first time we
actually see it happening. What makes
this event so important in our understanding is that we see the laying on of
both the right hand — to Ephraim, who was the younger son of Joseph — and the
left hand — to Manasseh, who was the firstborn son of Joseph, and normally the
one to whom the primary blessing would be conveyed.
As
Jacob begins the blessing, however, he speaks the same words over both Ephraim
and Manasseh (see verse 16: The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless
the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers' Abraham
and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.) He thus communicates the same blessing with
both right and left hand, conveying the onoma
of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
But
watch what happens next. Joseph knows
from family history and from the general practice of the time that the one
receiving the greater blessing must have the laying on of the right hand. Jacob, however, has a direct word from the
Spirit of the Lord and acts accordingly.
Where we read that Jacob guided his hand “wittingly,” we see the Hebrew
word, sakal, which means: to act
circumspectly, to act with wise insight and foreknowledge. Interestingly, it also contains the meaning: to cause
to prosper.
Notice
how Jacob differentiates now between the blessing of the right hand, and the
blessing of the left hand (see verse 19):
And his
father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a
people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be
greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
It
becomes clear, therefore, from this example, that the right hand conveys power,
authority, multiplication of the specifically imparted in a manner which is
easily seen and demonstrated in the years to come. It’s not that the blessing conveyed with the
left hand is anything to sneeze at (and we will talk more about this later):
it’s just that there is a totally different character to the blessing of the
left hand.
It
should also be clear from Jacob’s words that he was describing a blessing that
would manifest itself in not just years, but generations to come. One does not become a multitude of nations in a generation,
or two generations, or even three generations!
The Hebrew word translated “multitude” is the word, rob, which literally means: huge,
multiplied in number, an innumerable abundance.
The
blessing and impartation that comes by the laying on of the left hand,
therefore, is of great consequence, and not to be diminished or degraded.
There
is an aspect of the laying on of hands that needs to be considered — and this
is one that is generally missed because it is not so obvious or plainly written
in Scripture — and that is the impartation of the anointing of Holy
Spirit. Consider Samuel and David:
I Samuel 16:12-13, KJV: And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy,
and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD
said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of
oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD
came upon David from that day forward.
One
of the aspects of the commissioning that happens when folks are anointed is
that it comes with the right hand. Though
not specifically stated in this instance, Samuel would have used his right hand
to pour the oil upon David. Once the oil
was poured on him Samuel followed the priestly tradition of using his right
hand to rub the oil upon David’s head and smear it liberally into his hair and
skin.
Every
time we see the anointing of a king or a priest anywhere in the Old Testament,
the oil was first poured upon the individual, and it was then rubbed into their
head, signifying a saturation that was to spread throughout their entire being.
The
anointing was a commissioning which set a person apart for the purpose to which
God had called and designed that individual to fulfill.
Laying
on of hands is not, and was not, strictly a New Testament — post-Pentecost —
realm of ministry. One only has to look
at how David and/or Solomon describes the hand of God — or more accurately, the
hands of God, and what each hand signifies.
Take a look at a few examples from the Psalms and Proverbs:
Psalm 16:11 KJV:
Thou wilt
show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand
there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 20:5, KJV:
Now know I
that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with
the saving strength of his right hand.
Psalm 21:8, KJV:
Thine hand
shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate
thee.
Psalm 48:10, KJV:
According
to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand
is full of righteousness.
Psalm 77:10, KJV:
And I said,
This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the
most High.
Psalm 89:13, KJV:
Thou hast a
mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
Psalm 91:7, KJV: A thousand shall fall at thy [tsad: left] side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it
shall not come nigh thee.
Proverbs 3:16, KJV: Length of days is in her right hand; and in her
left hand riches and honour.
Ecclesiastes 10:2, KJV: A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a
fool’s heart at his left.
We
have only looked at a tiny fraction of the verses that consider the right hand
and the left, but in these few we see the following:
The
right hand is the hand of strength, power, authority, salvation, health,
provision, as well as being the bearer of long-life.
Conversely,
the left hand is the hand of mercy, of tenderness, discernment, steady support
and assistance, protection and safety, wealth and prosperity and honor (respect
from society) — and for those not in tune with the Lord, frowardness (foolish
and non-thought-out direction resulting in chaos or destruction.)
Now,
consider the application of both hands at the same time in the Word. Take a look at the following picture:
Exodus 17:8-13, KJV: Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in
Rephidim. And
Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek:
tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him,
and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the
hill.
And it came
to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let
down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
But Moses’ hands
were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon;
and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other
on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek
and his people with the edge of the sword.
There
are two individual pictures seen in this event: the first being that of Moses
holding the Rod of Authority in his right hand, the second of the necessity of
having his left hand outstretched toward the ongoing battle between Joshua
(with his soldiers) and the Amalekites.
It
was much more than simply having his right hand outstretched with the Rod of
Authority. That Rod of Authority, of
course, represented the hand of God against the enemy.
The
left hand needed to also be outstretched in order for Joshua to experience
complete safety and protection from the enemy he was pitted against. When both hands were extended, Joshua was
able to fight effectively and completely subdue his foe.
We
see one of the first examples in Deuteronomy 7 of what takes place when both
hands are laid upon an individual as a sign of separation, or being set apart
from the corporate body — and in this case, the act of separation is the
execution of the judgment of the Law of Moses.
In this instance, Moses is talking about someone who has been witnessed
bowing down to, or serving some false god, and the contamination that would
bring into the camp of Israel.
Deuteronomy 17: 5-7, KJV: Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman,
which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that
woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. At the mouth of two witnesses, or three
witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth
of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses
shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the
people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
Here
we see that those who serve as witnesses (in this instance, against someone who
has committed evil) must lay both hands upon the individual who has
transgressed as a sign of separation, and as an authoritative and legal act. Their act of laying hands upon the offender
becomes the first witness against him or her, but it is still necessary for the
camp of Israel to agree and for them to stretch forth their hands and lay them
upon the individual as the final witness of separation.
In
the case of a person committing an act against God within the camp of Israel,
the significance of the separation from Israel meant death to the
offender. For those laying their hands
on the offender, they were swearing their lives to the truth before God, and
they were acting as His proxy in enacting and executing His judgment.
This
brings us to the critical aspect of knowing whereof we testify or bringing
witness, either for or against, as proxy for the Lord. David puts it like this in Psalm 24:
Who is it
that will be elevated to a high place and promoted by God? Or, who shall live and continue to be
ordained to live and stand as having been set apart to the holy places and
things of God?
He whose
hands are clean, innocent and blameless, whose heart is clear and does not
condemn him, whose soul and mind have not been self-elevated to idolatry and
the worship of reason [which is useless and deceptive], nor has he sworn [by
sevens] and testified falsely and fraudulently [in order to execute judgment
against another]. (Psalm 24:2-3, RAC
Translation & Amplification)
To
add to what David has already written, he makes the following prophecy in Psalm
28:4-5: Give them according to their deeds, and
according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their
hands; render to them their desert.
Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor
the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.
Let’s wrap up this basis for understanding
the laying on of hands by looking at one other use of the hands as David sings
it:
Psalm 63:3-4, KJV: Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my
lips shall praise thee. Thus will I
bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
In this instance (and many other similar
Psalms), David expresses the extending forth of his hands as the means to bless
the Lord, to magnify the Lord, to praise His Name. When he says, “I will lift up my hands IN thy
name,” he is giving his hands to the Lord, placing them IN and INTO His very
character, makeup and essence — making his hands available to the Lord for His
plans, purposes and destiny.
That’s our stopping place for today. Next, we will take up the transfer of the
power of God!
We have resumed our
normal Healing Prayer Call schedule for Mondays & Wednesdays at 7:00 PM
Eastern. Once again, the number to call
for healing is (805) 399-1000. Then
enter the access code: 124763#. To get
into the queue for prayer, when Randy opens the call up for everyone, hit *6-1
on your keypad. Let us minister to your need for healing!
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
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Another
Coffee Break:
Going Beyond, Part 8
January 2, 2015
We left off in this series
the week before Christmas talking about baptisms, and specifically the baptism
of fire. I'd like to wrap that up today
and then try to move on to the fourth item in the list of foundations that Paul
makes reference to in Hebrews 6 -- the laying on of hands. As a refresher, however, let's revisit
Hebrews 6:1-3, and then continue from there.
Hebrews 6:1-3, RAC Translation & Amplification: Therefore, and as a consequence, it is critically
important that we forsake [what Jesus has already eradicated from existence]
the beginnings and commencement of the [initiating] Word of the Anointed One
and His Anointing (Jesus Christ),
Let us move
forward energetically to the place of completion and consummation; not laying
down [or setting in front of you as a continual requirement] the legalistic
requirement to repent, and re-do your thought processes concerning the old,
dead works and requirements of the Law [as though it were necessary in order to
attain redemption from past sins or iniquities], under the guise that this
builds faith in and toward God, the line-upon-line, precept-upon-precept
instruction in the purification processes in baptisms, the necessity of laying
on of hands (for impartation or conveyance of power), [the foundational truth
that Jesus provides] resurrection from the dead and cancelation of the curse of
death, and — finally — the understanding and revelation of the judgment and
decrees that exist throughout the eternity of the eternities.
And this is
what we will be enabled to do conditional upon God’s transfer of authority,
granting license and liberty to move past these foundations.
We
left off in Part 7 talking about the things that Paul experienced, the
overcoming processes worked in him through persecution, through tribulation --
through the fire -- as Holy Spirit worked in him the character and nature of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we see
recorded in these passages from Paul’s letters to the Corinthians came in the
midst of his total, unreserved, unabashed responsiveness to the direction of
Holy Spirit. The fire that bathed Paul
allowed him to lay the same foundations and patterns for growth and development
in believers that we walk in today!
The
impartations he left behind him produced a global Ekklesia that saw growth
patterns in Rome alone exceeding 50,000 new believers — believers who gladly
and willingly went to the fires, the lions and the gladiators in the “games”
that cost them their lives.
THAT,
folks, can only come when there is a genuine impartation of the life of Jesus
Christ in people. Where there is the
baptism of fire, there is true revelation!
Before we move on, let’s finish the discussion from Paul’s letter to Timothy
where we began this discussion a couple weeks ago.
The
Baptism of Fire produces testing — testing of the word in a practical
dimension. It takes away the theoretical
and replaces theory, academia and supposition with experience; and that kind of
experience is never subject to the whims, the ideas, the wants, the “hope-so’s”
and the deviations in doctrine that are the by-product of theory.
Paul
admonishes Timothy to be a “tried and tested laborer who has no fear of being examined” or challenged by
wily, deceitful men (and women) with their clever arguments designed to water down
the truth so as to escape the fire of the Word, necessary to produce the
living, demonstrable life of the Lord Jesus Christ in us.
He
phrases his description of these religious arguments as advancing ungodliness
which produces a “gangrene pasture” — a source of spiritual, physical and
emotional poison.
Consider
what the infiltration of these watered-down doctrines has done to the body of
Christ. We have had century after
century after century of wanna-be representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
Kingdom of God who name the name but have no power to back up what they preach.
It’s
been OK to have pastors and missionaries, but woe be unto you if you promote
apostles and prophets! There has been a
brand of grace preached which allows people to continue on in their sin because
“love covers a multitude of sins” and God’s grace takes care of everything!
How
did the Day of Pentecost manifest to the believers who were all gathered together
“homothumadon”?
[There’s
a 64-dollar Greek word for you! Our
English translations say that the 120 were gathered together “in one accord,”
but the Greek word used in the original text — homothumadon
— is a contraction of homou: at the same place and at the same time,
unanimously,
and thumos: great passion, breathing hard, breathing with
fire.]
What
took place was a literal demonstration with the flame of fire that appeared in
their midst and the individual tongues of fire that sat upon each of them. What it produced was fire from their lips in
the form of tongues: other languages that they had never previously learned —
and with those tongues “of men and of angels” went forth the tongues of fire
that set the world ablaze with the Gospel.
The
Azusa Street Revival at the turn of the 20th Century produced the same kinds of
manifestations. There was a flame of
fire that appeared over the building where William Seymour was preaching. It was a fire that the local fire department
couldn’t put out despite their best efforts — one that left the Los Angeles
Fire Department in utter consternation and immediately grabbed the attention of
the news media! It produced a couple of
generations of people who personally set the religious world on fire.
I
shared with you three weeks ago my grandparents’ experience in 1921 when their
farmhouse was filled with the sound of the “rushing mighty wind” (my Grandmother called it the sound of a
tornado), a large flame of fire appeared in the middle of the room above the
gathered people who were praying, broke into little tongues of fire and set
down on the heads of each person. Every
person in the room experienced the “tongue” of fire and began to speak in other
tongues — languages they had never before learned or heard.
That
event produced a series of events and a generation of people whose changed
lives — and the power and authority of the Kingdom that went with them —
produced an expansion of the Kingdom of God that is still being felt today.
From
1957 through 1960, a flame of fire and a column of light that reached into
Heaven appeared over the church building I helped my father build as we saw an
extension of Acts 2 repeated, resulting — as I shared last week — a move of God
and an outpouring of Holy Spirit with people speaking in tongues from eastern
Siberia through arctic Alaska, across arctic Canada and into Greenland.
Let
me address one last point to consider before we take a different look at this
baptism of fire.
In
every instance where we see Holy Spirit baptism, we see speaking in tongues.
The grand entrance of Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was with tongues of
fire. That was not just symbolism, it
marked a singular change for a people in fire — and a people with whom the fire
of God would bring change to the world: salvation, and everything that goes
with it!
Now,
consider something that Peter writes to the body of Christ at large.
I Peter 4:12-13, NASB: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal
among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing
were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of
Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may
rejoice with exultation.
Here’s
another application of the same terminology that Paul uses in his letter to
Timothy — this time Peter is using it.
Peter uses the kind of descriptive words which come out of the refining
of precious metals. Where we see the
phrase in the NASB, “fiery ordeal” (“fiery trial” KJV), the Greek word is purosis: literally meaning,
to
smelt, to heat to the place of conflagration as a test of purity.
For
the past century and a half, the body of Christ has been plagued with a
teaching on escaping what is erroneously referred to as “tribulation” and being
snatched out before things get too hot here on earth. Those who have believed and propagated this
doctrine have placed themselves in direct opposition and conflict with something
that is absolutely necessary in order for Jesus to have a holy and purified
Bride — a Bride who, like Jesus, has “learned through the things {she) has
suffered.”
Take
a quick look at how Paul describes what Jesus went through as our “pattern
Son.”
Hebrews 5:8-9, KJV: Though he were a Son, yet
learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.
Let’s
see if we can amplify and clarify this a bit more.
Though He
were [the] Son, yet He learned compliance and attentive listening by means of
those things He experienced [in the testing and trial ]; and being finished —
made whole and complete [through that testing] — He became the author — that
One who caused and brought about the access to — salvation, deliverance,
wholeness, safety, health and prosperity throughout the eternity of the
eternities. Hebrews 5:8-9 (RAC Translation
& Amplification):
OK? Does that help?
This
baptism of fire is not strange in the least!
Jesus went through it before us so that we would have this as our
pattern, and know that if we are going to become obedient to Him as the
firstborn Son (who Himself was totally obedient to Father), the baptism of fire
is something we must all embrace and run towards rather than run from.
Holy
Spirit’s Baptism of Fire is NOT for our undoing or our destruction, it is for
our deliverance from everything which
impedes and obstructs our relationship with the Lord. It is to prepare us for the kind of rulership
that awaits — and that rulership is not in “the sweet bye and bye,” it is for
the here and now.
We
have been designed to rule and reign. We
have been designed for dominion. We have
a destiny as kings and priests. Our role
as priests, of course is as intercessors for those who are yet to come into the
Kingdom, and for those who have awaiting them the same kind of testing and
preparation we are currently experiencing.
Here’s
how Paul describes this in writing to Timothy.
II Timothy 2:4-7, KJV: No man that warreth entangleth himself with the
affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a
soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except
he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the
fruits. Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all
things.
We’ve
been chosen and called by Father. We
have been chosen and called by the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in a series of processes designed and
prepared for us by Holy Spirit, Who is our Paraklete, our comforter (in the
midst of this preparation), our “drill sergeant,” and the One who knows just
how hot the fires must be in order that we be fully prepared, tested and tried.
And
that brings us back to Paul's instruction to Timothy.
Be instantly responsive to the Lord, making
yourself available to Him in the midst of the crucible, a tried and tested
laborer who has no fear of being examined – one who, by virtue of God’s testing
and the time spent in the crucible with Him, knows the proven Word of
Truth. II Timothy 2:15 (RAC Translation
& Amplification)
This is God’s testing! This is Holy Spirit’s testing!
Our time in the crucible, our time
in this baptism of fire — this trial by fire — brings us to the place where we
KNOW the PROVEN WORD OF TRUTH! It is no
theory to us. It is no religious
doctrine.
The tongues of fire have a
deliberate and specific purpose in our lives.
Our immersion into the fires of Holy Spirit baptism rids us of everything
which slants the Word to our comfort and wishes. Once we have been there, once we have
experienced the fire and the testing and trial that goes with it, we don’t have
to guess at what the Word means or try to make that which has been written fit
our understanding: we fit into the Word Himself, and what He says and directs.
I once said to the Lord, “Whatever
you have to do to me, through me, or in me in order for your best to be worked
in my life, do it! Even if you have to
hit me upside the head with a 2 X 4, do it, Lord!”
Ouch! I meant it and still do to this day, and I
would not trade a minute of the fire for what He has worked in my life. The fire may not be done, but I won’t run
from it!
Looks like we'll have to
wait until next week to deal with the foundation we refer to as "the
laying on of hands." See you then.
Next Monday, January 5th, the prayer
calls will resume our normal schedule.
Once again, the number to call for healing is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#. To get into the queue for prayer, when Randy
opens the call up for everyone, hit *6-1 on your keypad. Let us minister to
your need for healing!
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
All Coffee Break articles are
copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting,
copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution
and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available
at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break
articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
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CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry.
Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this
ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses,
or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Another
Coffee Break:
Christmas
December 26, 2014
It has been a constant source
of amazement to me that Jesus has always been painted as poor and indigent --
never mind what the Word clearly states.
Ever since the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, error after error after
error has crept into the body of Christ, and promulgated with traditions that
have no validity in the Word. The
compromises that Constantine made with church leaders in order to bring the
Roman Army into the church and declare them to be "Christian" have
contaminated the truth ever since.
Before
we launch into some Biblical and historical facts, let me strongly recommend
the following DVD to you and a good site where you can purchase it. Christian Book Distributors (CBD) sells THE
STAR OF BETHLEHEM (here's the site: http://www.christianbook.com/star-bethlehem-dvd/pd/806763?kw=dvd%20star%20of%20bethlehem&mt=b&dv=c&event=PPCSRC&p=1018818&gclid=CPn6kcOBhcICFSVk7Aod7X4AXA) produced by
attorney, Stephen McEveety. My reason
for recommending this DVD to you is that it provides extremely accurate
astronomical data in demonstrating just when Jesus was born and when the Magi
visited Him.
We've
all been contaminated throughout the generations with the idea that Jesus was
born on what amounts to December 25th on the Julian calendar. The problem with the Julian calendar is that
it is totally out of sync with God's calendar -- the calendar everyone likes to
refer to as the Hebrew or Jewish calendar.
It misses completely the Word that was given at Creation when God
specifically said:
Genesis 1:14-18,
KJV:
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the
heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for
seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the
firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the
greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he
made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the
night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was
good.
The
key here is that God specifically made the Sun, the Moon and the Stars -- NOT
just for a division between day and night, but for His signs, for seasons, for
days and for years! That's critical to
our understanding as we move forward.
With
this concept firmly planted let's look now at some specific days that God
ordained to be set aside as His days.
First
is the Feast of Passover.
"And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded,
your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in
haste: it is the LORD’S Passover."
(Exodus 12:11)
"And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye
shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep
it a feast by an ordinance forever." (Exodus 12:14)
"And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread;
for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore
shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. In the first month, on the
fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the
one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven
found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that
soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a
stranger, or born in the land. Ye
shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened
bread." (Exodus 12:17-20)
What
we see with this Feast is that this was an event to be celebrated
"forever!" That word in the
Hebrew text is 'olam -- a word which can be
translated: throughout
the eternity of the eternities.
This was not just a Jewish feast, or one that Israel ONLY was supposed
to keep: this feast was kept by Christians continually until Constantine's
"Edict of Toleration" in which Christians were forbidden to honor it.
Let's
continue.
In
the seventh month on God's calendar, He specified the following feasts:
Leviticus 23:24-25,
KJV: Speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month,
shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy
convocation. Ye shall do no
servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto
the LORD.
The
first day of the seventh month, therefore, begins with what we know as
"The Feast of Trumpets." Then
we see the following:
Leviticus 23:26-31,
KJV: And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, Also on the
tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of
atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict
your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same
day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before
the LORD your God. For
whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he
shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that
doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his
people. Ye shall do no manner
of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in
all your dwellings.
Thus,
on the tenth day of the seventh month, we see the Day of Atonement. There's a term that appears here that gets
missed in the English translation out of the Hebrew, the word, dor (which comes from the root, dur) and is translated
"generations." In fact, the
word more properly translates as: a revolution of time. The root word, dur,
means: to revolve, to move continually in a circle. While the translation,
"generations," certainly applies, our English word loses the picture
of revolving continually without end -- hence, time
without end! I'll talk more about this momentarily.
But
we're not done with the seventh month.
Leviticus 23:33-41,
KJV: And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day
of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for
seven days unto the LORD. On
the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Seven days ye shall offer an
offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy
convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the
LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
These are the feasts
of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer
an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering,
a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything upon his day: Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and
beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill
offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh
month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast
unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on
the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day
the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick
trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God
seven days. And ye shall keep
it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a
statute forever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh
month.
During
the early years of the body of Christ -- in fact, during the first couple of
centuries -- Christians kept these feasts.
They understood that God's command to keep these feasts 'olam -- throughout the eternity of the eternities -- didn't just
apply to the Jews under the Mosaic Law, God's command applied to His people --
and there was no question that as Christians, they had been grafted into God's
select company.
Sadly,
Christians today have been stuck with the belief that to keep these feasts is
to be stuck with and caught up in legalism.
To be sure, we don't offer burnt offerings; WE are the burnt offering
unto the Lord, having been purified by the blood of Jesus and by the Holy Ghost
and fire!
Now,
I know many of you are looking cross-eyed at me and saying, "What in the
world does any of this have to do with Christmas?" My first answer to you is, "watch the
DVD, THE
STAR OF BETHLEHEM." My second answer is, "consider the
significance of the dates on the Hebrew calendar within the framework of Jesus'
birth, His death on the Cross, His resurrection, His command to the disciples
to NOT go forth to teach or to preach "until ye be endued with power from
on high" -- and event which began with Pentecost -- and, finally, His
promise that He would return to dwell with us again.
Consider,
now the following implications of these feasts, and how they relate.
On
the night that Jesus was born, Luke records that shepherds were in the fields,
watching their flocks during the night.
That is not a wintertime event in Israel. Because Luke tells us that the angel of the
Lord came to tell the shepherds of the birth of the Messiah, and immediately
following the sky was filled with angelic hosts praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward
men."
According
to all that we can ascertain historically, and considering corresponding events
in the heavens that are clearly recorded, this would have happened as early as
the fourth of September on our calendar (and the first day of the seventh month
on the Hebrew calendar, Tishrei), or as late as the 24th of September (also the
first day of the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar). This places Jesus' birth on the Feast of
Trumpets.
Using
the phenomenal work that Stephen McEveety did with his astronomical research as
it relates to the Star of Bethlehem that announced Jesus' birth, and the travel
time that it took the Magi to reach the young child after having seen the Star,
we know from the Greek text of Matthew 2:8 that by the time they reached Jesus,
that he was above two years of age.
How
do we know this, you ask? The Greek word
used in Matthew 2:8 is the word, paidion. This word is significant because it does not
describe a new-born babe. Consider the
five words in Greek that describe the growth and development of a person.
(1) Brephos describes a child in the womb
between conception and birth. (2) Nepios describes a child between birth and
the age of two when it is expected that the child has been weaned from the
mother's milk. (3) Paidion describes a child
after being weaned from the mother's breast until it reaches the age of 12 (for
a boy) or 13 (for a girl).
(4) Teknon describes a child who has reached
the age of accountability. [From a
spiritual perspective, Paul describes this in Galatians 4:1-2 as "being
under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father."] The ceremony for a boy at age 12 is bar-mitzvah. The ceremony for a girl at age 13 is known as
bat-mitzvah.
(5) Huios is the word that describes a son who
has generally reached the approximate age of 30, has finished his tutoring and
has father's approval to act in his stead to operate father's business in his
name. Once "the time appointed of the
father" is reached, a general ceremony takes place in which father
announces to his friends and associates, "this is my beloved son in whom I
am well pleased."
As
is obvious, it takes no great imagination to see this same pattern unfolding
with Jesus. Tracking the position in the
sky of the Star of Bethlehem that led the Magi to Jesus in Bethlehem, we have
every reason to believe that they arrived at the home of Mary and Joseph to
bestow their incredible and lavish gifts on this young "King of
Kings" on December 25th, if you correlate it to the Julian calendar. Going back to my opening commentary on the
fact that so many Christians think Jesus lived His life in abject poverty, the
Magi came to see Jesus – either as kings themselves, or as representing kings
from major eastern countries – to honor Him as the King of Kings. Kings NEVER brought token gifts to other
kings, and in this case, the Magi would have brought lavish gifts. If we use the analogy of the Queen of Sheba
bringing what calculates in modern terms to the equivalent of $119 Million in
gold as a gift honoring Solomon, the Magi would have brought nothing less to
the One they were honoring as the King of Kings!!
I
have no problem celebrating December 25th as an important day in Jesus' life, but
it was not the day that Jesus was born.
Using Steven McEveety’s calculations from the signs in the Heavens, it
is most probably the day that Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb – the day that
the Angel, Gabriel, appeared to her and announced that she would be the mother
of the long-awaited Messiah! December
25th was a day adopted by Constantine in agreement with the various bishops --
a day that corresponded with a heathen feast, Saturnalia, on the Roman calendar. Constantine issued an edict in utter ignorance
of God's commands which forbade the Christians to observe what he called
"Jewish feast days," when in fact Christians had been celebrating
them continuously. Jesus kept the
feasts, and the feasts were signs of major events on God's calendar.
Let
me wrap up quickly today by saying that at the exact moment during the Feast of
Passover at 3:00 PM in the afternoon (specifically on the Day of Atonement)
when the High Priest was slitting the throat of the sacrificial lamb, Jesus
expired on the Cross -- slain for the sins of the world as the once-and-for-all
sacrifice.
When
Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to hundreds of people over a period of
some 40 days, and then prepared to ascend into heaven, he instructed the
disciples to "tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with
power from on High."
Fifty
days from the day that He was crucified and died on the Cross, the Feast of
Pentecost was celebrated, and Luke tells us in Acts 2 that when the day of
Pentecost "was fully come" the disciples, their families and others
who had joined with them "were all with one accord in one place."
Luke
goes on to tell us of the unfolding of Pentecost as Holy Spirit appeared as
fire, tongues of fire sat down on the heads of those gathered, "And
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Thus, the Feast of Pentecost -- as a feast to be commemorated
continually among God's people -- took on the manifestation that Jesus promised
before He ascended into Heaven.
If
I understand anything at all regarding the Feasts being a fulfillment of God's
timetable for His people, then we can expect Jesus to return to fulfill the
Feast of Tabernacles in order to dwell with us continually. The Feast of Tabernacles is on the 15th day
of the seventh month, the month of Tishrei.
Thus
we see the pattern unfolding in Tishrei: (1) on the first day of the month, we
celebrate the Feast of Trumpets -- the day that Jesus was born; (2) on
the 10th day of the month, we celebrate the Feast of Atonement, when Jesus
became the sacrificial lamb -- the "Lamb slain from the
foundation of the earth"; and (3) the 15th day of the seventh month, which
is the Feast of Tabernacles – the Lord dwelling with us. Jesus was and is the pattern Son for us all.
That
said, Merry Christmas to you all!
We
have a little more to share on the baptism of fire, and we will return to these
discussions on foundations next week.
During the rest of
this Christmas holiday season, our Healing Prayer Calls have been
suspended. Monday, January 5th,
the calls will resume our normal schedule.
Once again, the number to call for our healing call is (805)
399-1000. Then enter the access code:
124763#. To get into the queue for
prayer, when Randy opens the call up for everyone, hit *6-1 on your keypad. Let
us minister to your need for healing!
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
All Coffee Break articles are
copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting,
copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution
and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available
at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break
articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry.
Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this
ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses,
or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
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