New Moon Meeting: May 04, 3:45 EST
Christian Unity

Zahakiel: Now, can I get a volunteer to open our meeting with a prayer?

Qinael: Father, we come before you on this New Moon day, remembering the other half of the gift you have given us in this symbol. That although we are as dead bodies, black without you, the Sun of Righteousness still does shine through us nonetheless. We thank you for this day of learning and humility, as well as finding any uncleanness in our own selves by your Spirit’s leading, so that we may perfectly reflect your rays to the world and to each other.

We ask that you be with us as we go into today’s study, and open our minds and hearts to your Word. In Yahshua’s name, amen.

Zahakiel: Amen :)
Crystle: Amen :)
Pastor “Chick”: Amen.
Barbara Isenburg: Amen.
Jerri Mae: Amen.
Israfel: Amen.
Annetta: Amen.

Zahakiel: All right. Now, ever since the last feast, one of the major thrusts in the things I have written has been about unity. I have really been led to feel a strong need to emphasize that.

It is not always easy to realize the solemn responsibility we few have in these last days. We are not so few as it seems, for we have people who are understanding the Victory, and living by it, in all parts of the world, such as the congregation in Kenya... But on the other hand, our recent discussions with them have revealed that they are not yet equipped with the full information to make a firm stand for all the principles we have been shown, and so it really comes down to just a handful.

To accomplish the task set before us, we have to be utterly forgetful of self – we have to subject our desires to the Word of Yah, and we see clearly that our role must be to reach out to people. But more than that, and I have been greatly burdened with this from the last feast (well, even long before that), we need a house that is clean to receive them. I wrote a relevant testimony about this some time ago to the congregation, and we have looked at it more than once, but I know that Satan is obviously more interested in breaking up our operation than probably any other on the earth. There are many groups out there doing “good,” but there is only one Church of Yahshua.

There may be other groups out there who already know and believe the Gospel, and need only be told about the “details” as we understand them, and against them the wrath of the Dragon surely burns hot. But the demons know that if they can get us to be “comfortable” in a state of anything less than the unity shared by the Father and the Son, all our evangelism efforts will ultimately be useless.

Zahakiel: There is a passage from the Gospel of John that contains a beautiful promise, but also an implied warning. The passage is this one, and if you have read anything I have written recently or heard pastor speak on this topic, you are probably familiar with it already. This is Christ praying to His Father on behalf of His disciples:

“As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” (John 17:18-23)

Zahakiel: Let me know when you’re finished reading it.

Pastor “Chick”: Finished.
Barbara Isenburg: Finished.
Qinael: Finished.
Jerri Mae: Finished.
Crystle: Finished.
Israfel: Done.
Annetta: Done.

Zahakiel: Okay :) Now, this passage should be considered for a while before we move on. There are lots of Scriptures we could cite in support of this concept, and it might be good for us to look at some of those supporting passages for both the unity of the Body Itself, that is, among the members, and the unity that must exist between the Head and Body. Now for the first one, the unity among the members – perhaps you can think of some Scriptures for that.

Qinael: The passage that says we are to be members one of another. (I don’t have the reference with me.)

Zahakiel: That was Romans 12:5: “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” Any others? And actually Ephesians 4:25 also says we are members “one of another.”

Pastor “Chick”: Psa 133:1 – A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Crystle: Something about “Till we all come in the unity.”

Qinael: “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” (1 Cor. 12:26)

Zahakiel: And Crystle’s one was close to Eph 4:25. She is actually mentioning verse 13 of that chapter: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

Zahakiel: Okay, so now that we see there are verses to support that idea, that we are “members one of another,” how about the unity between the Body and the Head? Maybe we can list some of those here as well.

Annetta: Eph 4:3 – “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Zahakiel: That one could be applied to either, yes :)

Crystle: And the one that says something about the whole body.... Ahh... I found it..... Eph 4:16; the whole body joined and knit together.

Qinael: “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Saviour of the body” (Eph. 5:23)

Barbara Isenburg: John 17:11

Pastor “Chick”: John 17:11: “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”

Qinael: “And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” Col. 2:19

Zahakiel: Colossians is a good one, yes... one of the ones I had in mind.

Crystle: How about 4:15 where it talks about how we (the body spoke of in the earlier text) may grow up in all things into Him who is the head?

Zahakiel: Right, and Crystle’s one is good as well... showing a reaching upward and forward.

Zahakiel: All right, now let’s look at the original passage again from John 17...

“As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” (John 17:18-23)

Zahakiel: We have here clearly outlined two essential things that come from the unity of Christ’s body with both Itself and with the Head. The first of these is that the world may know that Yahweh sent His Son. This may seem like a big responsibility, and it is. What does it mean, therefore, if we are not at one with each other, even as the Father and Son are one?

Pastor “Chick”: We would exemplify the “mind of Satan.”

Zahakiel: Yes.

Pastor “Chick”: It is the “I can do without YOU” attitude.

Zahakiel: Right; and we’ll get back to that :) But in terms of that passage... there is a specific consequence implied.

Qinael: It would raise the question of whether or not Yahweh has sent His Son into our hearts; and would show us as false witnesses of His being sent at all.

Zahakiel: Right. It means that it wouldn’t matter how well we can speak, or write, or explain Scripture. It means that no matter how spiritual others consider us to be, or even how big our Church is – both in terms of building size or membership – none of that matters. If we the Remnant are not united as a people, the world will not have an avenue by which to know Christ. These are the things (membership, building size, apparent knowledge of the teachers) the world uses to judge how well a church is doing.

But Christ looks at one thing only – how well are we doing in terms of the commission He has set before us? And that has both a “personal” and an evangelistic application. Those who have the mind of Satan (which is the only other option to the mind of Christ) cannot do the job. Based upon that Scripture, one of the best ways we can tell is by how well we love and care for each other.

Some may say, “Oh, people can learn about Christ from reading the Bible for themselves.” Yes, very true as far as it goes. However, that does not excuse US from carrying out our job, just because Yah has mercy on people who have not met us.

Zahakiel: Do you understand that? Some people have sort of used that idea as an excuse to not work as a collective Body. No one among us here, I don’t think... but we’ve certainly heard it before.

Qinael: <nods.> It could be followed to the point of not doing evangelism at all. Since “Yah winks at ignorance.”

Zahakiel: Yes. If we don’t do our work, as the Bible says, even the stones would cry out, so Yah will bring a good thing even out of a bad... but the channel He established – His “intended” method of teaching the people of earth about His character – has always been His people. He could have just started showering Bibles from Heaven, but He didn’t. Instead, and without minimizing the value of the Scriptures at all, His way has been to raise up a people OF that Book, and to send them forth into the world to gather them into His barn as is pointed out in Matthew 24.

That some people have been led to a knowledge of the Father and Son by the Spirit directly, or through a reading of the Word on their own is a wonderful thing – but bear in mind that had the Church of Christ been faithful from the beginning, this would never have needed to be. It is a provisional blessing, not the “ideal.”

Pastor “Chick”: This phrase, “ send them forth into the world to gather them”... is what Luke and I have been talking about lately.

Zahakiel: Amen :) And that fits right into the second thing brought to light by that passage. The first thing we see from that passage is that the purpose of unity is so that the world may know that Christ has been sent by Yah. The second thing is so that the world will know that Yah has loved and sent us. Right at the end there it says, “and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved THEM, as thou hast loved me.” So if we are not in unity, we can easily see what impression the world will get concerning this aspect.

Pastor “Chick”: OK, let me get down to where “the rubber meets the road”... We talk about “unity” and preach about “unity”... We say that we “need unity”... We need a “mirror” to “see” wherein we fail to “have” that “unity” :)

Zahakiel: Right... that is just where this lesson is getting at. <nods.>

Pastor “Chick”: Let me give just a fast testimony (related)... I gave this at communion...

Zahakiel: Okay :)

Pastor “Chick”: YAH has blessed this congregation in TN :) We have NOT “seen” the blessing... We have NOT “seen” the “fruit” of our work... But, I went to a neighbor last week to ask him if he had “ought” against me... He said, “No, I have nothing against you.” And he stated further... “I have heard not one thing bad about you people since you started down there.”

Zahakiel: <smiles.>

Pastor “Chick”: :) Our work here is like “leaven”... It is doing its work very imperceptibly...

Zahakiel: Great.

Pastor “Chick”: And in this, the outsiders would never “know” that there is a need for still greater unity among us... and yet, we “know” it, and it is a curse that hinders the work world-wide.

Zahakiel: Right. Now, pastor has mentioned that what we need is a mirror to see they “why” and the “where” regarding any lack of unity in the Body. That was where I was moving next :)

I recently read a quote from Mrs. White... and pastor and Luke, and probably many others have seen it already. It reads thus: “God is leading out a people, not a few separate individuals here and there, one believing this thing, another that. Angels of God are doing the work committed to their trust. The third angel is leading out and purifying a people, and they should move with him unitedly.” That is from Testimonies for the Church Volume One, page 207.

The rest of this Testimony she wrote goes on to describe two problems, two principles that work against the unity of the Remnant, and I would like for us to look at those two things today.

Pastor “Chick”: Amen

Zahakiel: The first of these problems she describes as people who “run ahead” of the angel. She talks about those who do not wish to move in harmony with the Church, but go out to establish independent ministries – essentially they are what are described in 1Cor 12:21... They are like eyes that say to the hand, “I have no need of thee,” or like the head that says to the feet, “I don’t require your assistance in my ministry.” Like pastor said just a few lines up, “It is the ‘I can do without YOU’ attitude.” As Mrs. White points out, the third angel leads a people in unity. To move out of harmony with that is to work at cross purposes with the Spirit of Yah, which is given to us so that we may be one.

As I point out in my introduction to the book, The Two Temples, – the Bible teaches that “ye” (plural) are the temple (singular) of God. Individual members, while temples of themselves, are nevertheless only “living stones” in the larger, true, Spiritual Temple of Yah on the earth. To look at it another way: Our bodies are His physical temples, and the Church is His spiritual temple. If the stones are not fitly joined together... well, how can it stand? The first breeze that comes along will knock it down – the first temptation that comes sends members scattering.

And if you want a mirror... we have SEEN this in the CSDA Church. Half-committed members, and those who had not given their all to this message but were there for some other reason... the first controversy that comes along has them forsaking both the members of the Church, and the Message they once claimed to believe. The reason was simple – they were not in unity with the message we teach. If you have your eyes on a man, for example, and that man is maligned, there are rumors about him or something (and we have several examples of this kind of thing in the Bible), then it doesn’t matter how right the message is, you’re out of there. If we are not united because of our common faith, it won’t take much to separate us, and the world will not know that Yah loves us, or even that He has sent His Son. That blood is therefore on us.

Zahakiel: So that first thing was people who do not understand the bond of fellowship between believers, and they rush ahead of the unifying influence of the Third Angel – which, by the way, is the angel that deals with avoiding the Mark of the Beast – and so either establish their own independent Churches or ministries, or they are easily shaken out by trials and temptations.

Has everyone understood this so far? Or with anything to add?

Qinael: Understood; nothing to add.

Pastor “Chick”: Following...

Zahakiel: Okay. So the first thing is “rushing ahead” of the third angel. The second thing is not so much people that rush ahead of the angel, but people that linger behind. You see, there is a ditch on both sides of that road as well.

Some may agree with everything we teach, and they may even be able to articulate it very well. But when it comes to setting their seal to it, when it comes to knowing the message in their hearts – so that it becomes everything to them – and when it comes to entering into covenant with Yah as solemn as a marriage, they hesitate.

Pastor “Chick”: Amen

Zahakiel: “Maybe I’m not good enough,” or “But I have all these things about myself I need to fix first...” A lot could be quoted there, perhaps... They’re lingering behind the angel. We have had people that were with us for a considerable amount of time. Months, even – and they seemed to understand and believe all we said. Then, for what appeared to be rather silly reasons, or sometimes even for no reason at all that they were willing to share, they just left. For some it may not go so far as actually “leaving,” but there’s still no seal there. I think the longer people remain close to the messengers without committing to the message, the harder it becomes to do so. It’s like a “trial marriage.”

And let’s look at that for a while... Some people of the world are convinced that they need to experiment with marriage before making it official. It’s become quite popular for young men and women (and even some older ones) to live together before committing to each other in a spiritual union, or even a legal union. But I’ve seen the numbers on that... very few ever actually make it to the altar or courthouse. Most break up, and others simply remain content to live as they have been living. If they have any kind of Biblical knowledge, they may imagine that their actions are less “fornication” because of the amount of time involved. But a true marriage (although they may be considered married in a sense since there was a unity of the flesh) can only be performed by Yah.

Lots of people do that; perhaps the vast majority does that, when it comes to Churches. Last feast we met a woman who attended a congregation for quite some time, because she and they were able to tolerate each other. They were able to “get by,” and so she graced them with her presence every week. In a very real sense, that’s a “pretend marriage.” There is no commitment there, no covenant that can be blessed. No blood was shed to seal it. You know that for every covenant, there must be blood... and not to get into that too much, in a marriage that is the ideal, the union of a man and a woman is no exception.

Annetta: Is there any hope for those who linger behind the angel?

Zahakiel: Yes, there is hope until probation closes. But we are about to see the cost of the thing. The cost of the union.

Annetta: ok

Zahakiel: Here is the cost. Spiritually, there must be “blood” shed to join in marriage with the Church. It takes a death to self, just as it does in a marriage to Christ the Head. A marriage TO Christ is a marriage WITH the Church. Does everyone understand that? Christ is the Husband to whom we are married, but we all enter into the marriage as one Body – joined with each other.

Pastor “Chick”: Flesh of flesh and bone of bones.

Zahakiel: Right :) The blood is shed in that we must be crucified to self and worldly desires, or we will not be able to stand in Christ’s presence, or with His people. A union with Christ, as Mrs. White pointed out and many Scriptures confirm, means a union with His people – one does not exist without the other. Now to the flesh, it may not seem easy... especially if one has been in the habit of either rushing ahead or lingering behind. Sometimes I sit astonished... wondering what will save the people I talk to online. Once they are convinced they have their own ministries, for example.... how hard it would be for them to humble themselves. It would mean rethinking their very idea of the God who gave them, as they suppose, their commission. It is a hard, hard thing to do in the flesh... it is a shedding of blood.

And similarly, if they have been lingering behind... how hard it is to catch up. Yah gives everyone the time to do it, as Annetta was asking about. But running over those stones, and they are sometimes sharp, will cause a letting of blood. Most people I talk to online about Church Membership are simply in the dark about the need to be united, I could list several examples off the top of my head. They’ve been taught compromises in Christianity for so long, that it is a part of their religion to “settle.” It’s our job, and our great privilege, to show them the beauty of true Christian unity.

In regards to a common purpose... at one feast, I remember we had a visitor who was talking to pastor and myself about the messengers, the people who were presenting the message during the sermons. And he said to us, “I liked one of the evangelists, but not the other.” People have different personalities, that’s true. But if we begin to “prefer” one individual to another past a certain extent... well, James talks about that in a slightly different context, but it is applicable.

He said, “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.” (James 2:9) James is speaking about those who treat rich members of the Church better than poor, but the spiritual application of this should be very plain. If, for any reason, you have “respect to persons,” that is if you start thinking of one member as “better” than another in a general sense, it means you don’t see the common Spirit.

Zahakiel: Being a member of the family means getting past that, seeing the Spirit of Christ in the oldest and the youngest, and loving impartially. It means trusting that we are indeed working toward a single, common goal, that of showing the world that Yah sent His Son, and showing the world that Yah loves us. Getting past our own issues, whether they tempt us to rush ahead of the third angel or linger behind it... as I’ve said requires a shedding of blood. It requires a death to self. That is the only way the covenant can be “ratified,” or confirmed. It takes a deep commitment, and a great personal sacrifice, and there may be those among us, more than one, and perhaps many, who do not feel the urgency needed for this level of unity.

I ask that you consider what we’ve talked about today (though we’re not quite done yet), and that you pray earnestly, deeply, and continually– it may take more than one session of heart-searching – that you be given the gift of understanding this. Though Yah Himself takes the reins in this last movement, in terms of our individual roles, understanding the need for walking in harmony with the Third angel is our only real hope. He does not need us, even stones can do our job if needed... but He wants us, He loves us, and He invites us to have a share in this work.

Before we close, though, I want to point out in a very general sense what it is that leads people to both these ditches. A mirror to consider. In the book I’m working on regarding the Two Temples, I call them “Teraphim.” In the Bible, this term is used to refer to “household gods,” and they are the great enemy of the House OF God. They are idols that people may (knowingly or unknowingly) cling to that keep people from surrendering all to Yahshua. Now understand this, and try to picture it in your minds...

Only when we are wholly surrendered to Christ do we have a place to fit in the temple, a Christian-shaped gap in the wall that only our talents and strengths can fill. A Christian-shaped gap in the wall that is designed to show our strong face while supporting our weaknesses, reinforcing us on the sides where we require assistance. Each hole is perfectly prepared to bolster our blemishes and reveal our smooth, polished surfaces, so that the house may be perfect and beautiful, even though composed of members who have (none of them) always been faithful and realized their full potential by a lifelong abiding in Christ. Has everyone understood this so far? I don’t want to go on if we don’t have a clear picture of this.

Qinael: I didn’t quite understand the “none of them” part.

Pastor “Chick”: I hope to see a graphic of it sometime.

Zahakiel: For Qinael: It is the same as “all have sinned.” Yah had a plan for the life of every human.

Qinael: Ah okay... so members who have *not*.

Zahakiel: But that plan can only be perfectly realized with a life of commitment that begins at birth. No members have not sinned from birth :) So we all have blemishes. The purpose of Church membership and sanctification is to polish those away... But even so there are weaknesses in terms of temptations that may be harder for some or not others. So the “you-shaped hole” is designed to have you fit in just where you need to be. Revealing the strong, and the stones around you are strongest where you are weak. Does anyone else have questions about this? (and a graphic is a good idea)

Annetta: I thought we were not to have blemishes.

Zahakiel: We can talk about those kinds of blemishes in a bit :) And you can go ahead and ask if anything else occurs.

Let’s look at this, now... The Bible has another name for Teraphim... and it is “foreign wives.” We can see a couple of brief passages that point this out. First we go to Romans 7, where Paul says...

“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” (Rom 7:1-4)

Zahakiel: Let me know when finished.

Qinael: Done.
Pastor “Chick”: Finished.
Jerri Mae: Done.
Barbara Isenburg: Finished.
Crystle: Finished.
Israfel: Done.
Annetta: Done.

Zahakiel: All right. So for a brief recap... we see, looking at the Spiritual temple, that there is a place for every member, a place that is perfectly suited for them. If the word “blemish” is not the best, then think of it as people who need to be encouraged more strongly in some areas than others :)

The House of Yah is designed that everyone gets what they need to be refined perfectly to reflect the character of Yahshua. Now, the biggest problem with the household is the concept of “household gods,” idols that are kept “in the house.” And we are going to look at it from another angle as well. Paul speaks about a man married to a woman... and that woman is not free to marry another man until that first husband is dead. I like that passage for this study, because it reveals something interesting.

The next and final passage we’ll look at is from Ezra; where the problem is that men were taking wives that kept them from unity with the holy people. But in this passage, Paul reverses the analogy and applies it to the Church as a woman – so the problem here becomes a “foreign husband.” The principle is the same in either case, and it is this: as long as you are married to something else, you are not free to marry Christ.

That may seem “basic,” and maybe even too obvious to be worth stating.... BUT, if every potential member had understood this perfectly, and applied it properly, we wouldn’t be talking about a need for unity. Spiritually, if you are committed to something else more than you are to the great commission – the Gospel to all the world – you will not see a need for either a full surrender to the Head, OR having a place to fill in the united Body. Until that “husband” be dead, then you are not free to marry Christ. The law binds you to that idol, to that first love, until it is buried in the grave. If we try to be true to Christ while having a “first love” that is still alive, we are going to be the most miserable of all men, and women. I think it was Ellen White who said this, but I’m not sure... that a halfhearted Christian is the most useless of all people, because they don’t even make good infidels, and they certainly don’t make good witnesses for the Savior. Does anyone remember that reference?

Qinael: It is familiar, but I don’t know it, no.

Zahakiel: All right. Maybe I can look it up after and put the reference into the transcript.

[Note: It is found here: “Halfhearted Christians are worse than infidels; for their deceptive words and noncommittal position lead many astray. The infidel shows his colors. The lukewarm Christian deceives both parties. He is neither a good worldling nor a good Christian. Satan uses him to do a work that no one else can do.” – Our High Calling, page 348, paragraph 4]

Zahakiel: But Christ said it another, and perhaps more direct way: “Ye cannot serve both God and Mammon.” (Matthew 6:24) Knowing these things, and trusting the authority of the speakers, I would counsel you to not even try it. Make sure you are free from your “first love,” and then turn to the One who first loved us. Make sure you are not married to anything else, and then by law you are free to marry Christ. And if you don’t “feel” free to marry Christ, don’t hesitate :) If you know yourself free, be free. If you know you are not free, then get free.

This final passage points out what a very good time for this kind of examination is, not coincidentally. Let’s look at Ezra 10. The setting of this is that Ezra returns to Jerusalem to help rebuild the city after the Persians released them from their captivity. You remember, they were carried away by Babylon, and were now attempting to rebuild the Temple and the walls. And we could have a sermon on just that idea alone – and I think that in the past we have :)

But for now, let’s look at a specific problem facing the Remnant. It turns out that some of the men had married foreign wives, idolatrous women from the neighboring nations. If you look at the numbers involved, you find that the number of men involved in this transgression was actually very small. It was maybe something like 2% of the population. But if you read Ezra, you get the impression that the transgression was very great and widespread.

Annetta: Ezra 10 ?...

Zahakiel: Yes. And I’ll give the verse shortly :) So now we see that, based on the number of the people returning to Israel (and the Bible is very detailed about the lists and numbers of their names) we see that a very small percentage of the people are involved in what is described as a very great sin. Well, the truth is the transgression was great. Do you remember the story of Achan?

Qinael: I remember the story, yes.

Pastor “Chick”: Yes

Crystle: Yes, I remember the story.

Barbara Isenburg: Yes

Zahakiel: Okay :) Well, for the benefit of the others, a brief summary is this, and please read it when you have the time in Joshua 7.

Annetta: Yes, I remember the story too

Israfel: Yes

Zahakiel: The Israelites were commissioned to cleanse the land of Canaan from the heathen people that were living there. They were having a string of unbroken victories until they came to this one city called Ai. (I think it was pronounced Ay-eye) Well, there was a man named Achan who disregarded an instruction to burn and destroy all the property the Israelites recovered in the wars. But Achan saw the expensive garments (A “Babylonish” garment, by the way – which would literally be “a garment of confusion,” and the spiritual application then becomes obvious), and the gold lying around the place, and he decided that it wouldn’t “hurt anyone” if he just helped himself to a little of the spoil. So he hid a little gold and the garment in his tent. Because of that, Yah was unable to bless the army. The angels sent to assist them were bound, and the Israelites were beaten back.

Zahakiel: This was something of a shock to the people, who had been winning the wars since they set foot in the land, and so naturally they began to pray and call upon Yah to tell them what was going on. Eventually, Yah revealed to them that it was because of a transgression among their people... and so Achan was discovered in the due course of the investigation. And he was removed from membership – rather forcefully.

After that the Israelites were able to take Ai and continue their conquest. But the lesson should not be lost on us. 2% is not an “acceptable” amount of apostasy in the body of Christ. In terms of sin, as Annetta pointed out, we are to be without blemish; without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Now Ezra well knew this... so when he heard the news that some of the men of Israel had married foreign wives, he had quite a reaction. He tore his clothing (twice), he fell on his face before the temple ashamed of his brethren, he tore out his hair and beard, and he sat without moving for hours on end, until the time of the evening sacrifice. He probably sat there before the temple in a daze for more than 6 hours, and there was plenty of time for the people to see him and to understand that something was very wrong.

Eventually, he rose up, and some of the more faithful members of the congregation encouraged him, saying, “Whatever you decide we should do about this, we will support you,” and one made the suggestion that those who had married these foreign wives should put them away. This, after much prayer and fasting, was decided to be the best course of action, and the verses here describe the procedure.

So this is the first of the verses from Ezra 10. “And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.” (Ezra 10:16b)

It was decided that an inquiry would be made to see who had married foreign wives. Now, don’t get the idea here that this was an invasive search. This is important... They didn’t go house to house like the Inquisition dragging people around. The men who wished to be clear before Yah came voluntarily to the examination, and simply reported his name, his family, and his marital situation. You can see from chapter 10, verses 11 and 12 that the people were favorable to this measure, even if it may seem extreme to some. It was necessary, and the people knew it. Those who did not wish to give up their idolatrous marriages were free to keep their chosen family; no persecution was imposed on them. The penalty was only the natural one – they could not have a role to play in the rebuilding of the City, and because their offspring was mixed, they would have no inheritance in Israel. Thus they were separated from their people, exiled for the protection of the “Holy Seed,” as another verse describes it. It is important that we see... though there was a stern and strict examination, there was no oppression, there was no worldly force employed.

But notice the date, as I’m sure some of you already have. The investigation took place on “the first day of the tenth month.” The examination of the Body of the Remnant took place on a New Moon. Now, it didn’t just take a day, it took 3 months, but here is the end of the matter:

“And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.” (Ezra 10:17)

Not only was this a New Moon, it was a New Year. It was a fresh beginning for the former captives. And you know, from that point on, intermarriage with the “heathen” was never really known in Israel again. They were pure of that sin. In fact, you may consider that they went too far, and Christ Himself had to come an introduce a corrective element there, when they began to see the Gentiles as so unclean they could not even eat without washing in a special way after contact with them, and so on... But in terms of the current crisis, we see that the examination both began and ended on the New Moon day, and at the conclusion of the matter, there was a New Year.

There was a new sense of unity, a new drive to get the job done. Now, there were persecutions ahead, and temptations, and trials, and Nehemiah had to show up some years later to get the ball rolling again, because there were other matters that needed to be resolved before the people were wholly pure... So the work of sanctification is indeed a process... but if we see a problem, we become responsible for it, and this was certainly the case with the foreign wives in the days of Ezra. In our day, we may well learn what we can from this occasion, and I pray that we continually find (if there be any) whatsoever barriers may exist between ourselves and a loving, committed relationship with the Head and Body, and that we do what is necessary to accomplish this great union, even if it means reaching out to the other “lively stones” for support... Even if it means there must be blood shed to humble ones’ self and see the work that the Spirit of Yah is accomplishing in these last days. And even if it means slowing down or speeding up, so that we may move in harmony with the third angel of the Gospel, moving forward now with the power and authority of the fourth.

Zahakiel: Does anyone have anything to add to this?

Israfel: No

Pastor “Chick”: Very inspiring. Please post this one on the web...

Zahakiel: I will do so :)

Pastor “Chick”: Do you have a folder for New Moon Talks?

Zahakiel: On my hard drive... but our regular meetings are so new that I haven’t thought of posting them routinely. I can take the best ones for that purpose :)

Pastor “Chick”: So be it :)

Zahakiel: <nods.> Shall I pray, then? And please feel free to ask me any questions about this as they occur to you :)

Pastor “Chick”: OK

Zahakiel: I think that this study is a very key one... So let me close it, and feel free to approach me at any time about it.

Zahakiel: Our loving Father in Heaven, we thank you for this blessed New Moon day. We give you thanks for the sacrifice of your Son, that you have been willing to shed blood for us, and to redeem us from destruction. We thank you that you have not abandoned us to the tendencies of our hearts, but have accepted us, and renewed us, given us new hearts... and we thank you that your plan for us is one of glory, and service, and eternal life.

We thank you for the great commission you have given us, a part in a work so important that words fail to convey it, and writing fails utterly to explain it... that the fate of your beloved children have, in a large measure, been committed to trembling hands, even as the fate of your nation was once committed to the trembling voice of Moses. But the promises you gave to him are the promises you give to us... that you will send an angel before us, bearing your Name. We thank you that by your Spirit you are leading a people into all truth.

We ask for the eyesight to see him ahead, and the will to walk after in harmony. We thank you for the temple on earth, and that we have all we need pertaining to Godliness, for you have poured out all of Heaven in your Son, that we should lack nothing. Give us only the heart as a people to act on it, and we will surely do the works of omnipotence. Bless us and be with us in all our plans and in all our ways. In Yahshua’s name we pray, Amen.

Pastor “Chick”: Amen.
Qinael: Amen.
Jerri Mae: Amen.
Annetta: Amen.
Barbara Isenburg: Amen.
Crystle: AMEN!!
Israfel: Amen.