Wagons were given to the Levites to transport the Mishkan structure.  The first mention of wagons or carts in Scripture is when the Egyptian wagons were sent to Canaan to fetch Joseph's family's wives and children to the safety of Egypt during the famine.  Wagons in Scripture protect the things that are precious to us, including some of the articles of the Tabernacle.

The Egyptian wagons in time became symbols of the easy ride into slavery instead of salvation from drought.  These wagons demonstrate the potential for good to become bad through disobedience, apathy, and bad attitudes.  In Naso, two of the Levite families were allotted wagons to assist them in carrying heavy parts of the Tabernacle.

Although packed with seemingly unrelated instructions, the common thread that runs through Naso is individual accountability to manage emotions and desires, whether of jealousy, love, wine, ambition, praise, worship, and even grief.  Naso means to lift up, and when emotions are elevated over the ruach (spirit), they become excessive instead of expressive of truth.  Humans can love, drink, work, and grieve to excess.  Even praise and worship may be experienced as something self-serving, not God-serving.

Responsible parents do a lot of wagon-fixing for their children.  This is not because the parent merely wants to impose his or her personal will upon the child.  The motivation is a sincere desire to train and equip the child to be a productive disciple in the Father's Kingdom and to nurture growth before both God and men.  It is a discipline of love, and it does bear fruit.  The fact that I'm writing these words and you are reading them is a testament to the diligent wagon repairs both my parents performed on my backside and in my heart.

There are people who will try to fix others' wagons, but the motivation is not that of a concerned parent for a child.  They try to fix the wagon to be a carbon copy of their own; in other words, they want everyone to roll with what is loaded on their wagon; they do not discern the variety of Tabernacle structures that must be apportioned among the Levites.  Not every wagon would be loaded identically, but according to the gifts dispensed to the Levite clans by the authority of the Holy One of Israel. 

Some loads shouldn't be carried in a wagon, but by a group.  Unauthorized wagon-fixing merely stops the progress of the Mishkan and separates brothers and sisters who should be working together.  The wheels come off, the ox stumbles, and the cart ends up stranded while everyone tries to figure out what went wrong.

The Ruach HaKodesh can help us identify those people who we need to help us fix our wagons.  These are the people who don't ask, "You know how I roll?"  These are the people who ask, "You know how WE roll?"  These are the relationship-builders within the body, and they understand structures of authority within the Scriptures.  They don't let individual ideas of "correctness" stand in the way of the true mission, which is to move the Mishkan from growing place to growing place in preparation for the return to the Land.  They differentiate between stewardship and ownership.

When such a "We" person exercises properly assigned and invested authority over another individual within a congregation, the "time outs" given are loving discipline, not an attempt to stamp out unmatching or rival wagons.  It doesn't mean the little princes and princesses of the Kingdom won't suffer some hurt feelings, but this is a normal part of growing up and having one's wagon fixed.

Shavuot 2017

JUST IN TIME! ON TIME!

 

 

What's on your calendar? The appointed times of YHVH? Maybe it's time for the doctor and dentist appointments, the family reunions, the social events, and sports activities to be re-prioritized and for ETERNAL appointments to be written in bold print in the daily planner.

When we make room for Adonai, then we find that He is our Healer and our Father. Those who do the will of the Father are our mother, brothers, and sisters. His feasts are reunions with the spiritual family. There is futility in playing games at appointed times, for these are times that the Father wants to "dandle" His children on His knee (Isaiah 66). Who are we "penciling in" over the Sabbaths and feasts?

       

Sariella Creeger has just released her next BEKY Book, 

GROWING IN HOLINESS: THE HEBREW CALENDAR DAY BY DAY.  

If you want simple explanations of anything you might read on a Jewish/Hebrew calendar, this is a forever reference book. For instance, what is "Shabbat Shekalim"? 

If your boss wonders why you want to take off work at the appointed times (or family why you have holy commitments on your calendar), give him/her this simple read. After that, he/she has a great quick reference guide.

Like to read? Join the growing Messianic reading group on Goodreads. You can rate, review, or virtually shelve and mark "To Read."

 https://www.goodreads.com

 

LaMalah Children's Centre

Orphanage Update

Special thanks to our regular donors and our new donors.  You're making a huge difference in the lives of these young people, including their health, safety, secular education, Biblical education, and most of all, spiritual growth with strong and compassionate mentors.  This is the heart of the moedim and Shabbat.

If you have children's clothes or children's books (in English) to send, you can mail them to:

Peter W Ndungu
P.O.Box 724
Limuru 00217
Kenya
East Africa

Also, if you are traveling to Kenya and you would be willing to transport a suitcase of children's books for LaMalah, please notify us.  These are heavy items, and it costs a small fortune to mail them.

If you can help toward this goal, as always, we welcome your assistance.  For those of you who send monthly support to the orphanage, we can't thank you enough for fulfilling Messiah's commission.