The day of Shavuot approaches. It is a special day commemorating not only the giving of the Torah at Sinai, but the hearing...and even seeing...of the Torah at Sinai. We recite the Shma daily, so do we still
hear and see the words of affirmation we speak, or do they become rote? Without the ability to hear the commandments, one cannot "have ears to hear," the necessary component of decoding both Yeshua's repeated Gospel prophecies and the Book of Revelation.
The ability to hear the commandments is the ability to obey them with all one's might, or abilities. My ability may not be as great as another's, or my ability may exceed another's, but the important thing is that I hear them with all MY might. Hearing is understood in the context of both the spiritual and the physical Torah.
All the people perceived [saw] the thunder and the lightning flashes
and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. (Ex 20:8)
Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire;
you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form-only a voice. (Dt 4:12)
The Israelites
saw the voice, but it had no form. Consider these connecting symbols that appear throughout Revelation:
Vision, Seeing, Lamp, Torah, Word, Eyes, Horn = Spirit
And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and
seven eyes, which are
the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. (Re 5:6)
Then he said to me, 'This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts...' For who has despised the day of small things? But
these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel-- these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth. (Ze 4:6-10)
The natural eyes are not spiritual eyes, only a natural parable of the reality of the spiritual. Because we lost our ability to "see" the Spirit when we fell in the Garden, now we rely on natural seeing, but how does one see a voice?
They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
He said, '
I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.' (Ge 3:8,10)
Elohim made a sound walking in the Garden...what did Adam and Eve normally hear and see in the sound when they obeyed His Word? One thing is for sure, when they had obedient spiritual hearing, they also had clothes of light. And what did Elohim see? He could see their disobedience in the absence of clothes.
It was these special clothes of righteousness that enabled the First Couple to move between both the timeless spiritual and created natural realms. These are clothes Yeshua's disciples will receive at the resurrection, for they had "ears to hear," and therefore, "eyes to see."
One sees it by hearing it first. Hearing is accomplished through obeying the Word: "Hear O Israel, the LORD your God, the LORD is One... These words, which I am commanding you today..." Once heard and obeyed, the voice of Adonai is seen. Prophecy and vision is restored, but first, one has to say, "Here I am."
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And
word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (
now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was, that
the LORD called Samuel; and he said, "
Here I am." (1 Sa 3:1-4)
Because the High Priest's vision had grown dim, word from the LORD and visions were infrequent. Eli was unwilling to say, "Here I am," for he declined to pay the price of obedience. Prophecy faded. Earthly families eclipse spiritual families. Eli's vision had grown dim because he overlooked his sons' blatant sins committed in the holiest places in all Israel. Even one's family can make one deaf and blind.
The menorah, which represents the Seven Spirits of Adonai, "had not yet gone out." In other words, both physical and spiritual Torah were growing dim in Israel. Where there is no hearing of the Word, there is no seeing of it, no matter what we think we see. We cover our eyes when we recite the Shma because it signals that we want to "Hear" first, not see with fallen natural eyes. Spirit eyes follow spiritual hearing.
Where there is no
vision, the people are unrestrained, but
happy is he who keeps the law [Torah]. Proverbs 29:18
The law [Torah] is no more. Also,
her prophets find no vision from the LORD. Lamentations 2:9
Prophecy and vision come from the Torah. One must hear it in order to experience authentic prophecy and visions on a consistent basis. Of course, even a wicked person like Balaam can have a prophecy or vision, but it is IN SPITE OF his disobedience. He describes himself as one "falling down,
yet having his eyes uncovered." It was not the usual thing for a wicked man to receive true, Heavenly prophecy.
Demonic prophecy cannot tell the whole truth, for it cannot hear or see the whole truth even though it is unbound by time while human beings are! Uncovering the eyes occurs with shedding fig-leaf disobedience and putting on Torah-light willingness to obey cheerfully, not begrudgingly. In that case, one's hearing is followed by seeing, for ancient prophets were called "seers."
Yeshua taught the principle of hearing the Torah and Prophets:
But Abraham said, 'They have
Moses and the Prophets;
let them hear them.' (Lk 16:29)
He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God. (Jn 8:47)
No Torah? Then there's no prophecy, no vision. Beware of those who claim to be prophets or prophecy teachers, yet they do not live lives characterized by obedience to the Torah. They may be given authentic prophecy in rare situations, but they are just as likely to be hearing, and therefore, seeing, demonic voices. Prophesying and prophecy teaching are based in the Torah.
The Spirit of the Lord describes our obedient movement as determined by the Word speaking to our hearts with a sound, "Let there be..."
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Ps 119:105)
For the commandment is a lamp and the Torah is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way [
derek] of life. (Pr 6:23)
A "way," or
derek, is the path on which one walks. If Adam and Eve heard the sound of Elohim walking in the Garden, then where was He? On the
derek of life! If we want to hear the sound of Elohim walking, then we stay in the path of the Torah, the Tree of Life. Early believers were called "The Way," for they heard and obeyed the voice of the one in the midst of the lampstand, Yeshua:
...
in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. (Re 1:13).
The Son of Man, however, is no priest like Eli, whose hearing of the commandments and spiritual vision grew dim, leaving the lamp of God dim on earth. After all, if Israel does not bring the crushed oil to the priest, and the priest does not use it, then what stands between the world and judgment? The whole world grows dim when Israel grows dim in hearing and seeing. Let's quit complaining about the depravity of the world and catch fire to intercede for them and light them up!
His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and
His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and
His face was like the sun shining in its strength. (Re 1:14-16)
Yeshua is on fire with hearing and seeing the voice of Elohim!
Peter reminds believers that they are awaiting the "dawn" to arise in their hearts. Yeshua is the morning star, the sign in the Heavens that separates the night from the day:
So we have the
prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. (2 Pe 1:19)
Peter is very firm in saying that disciples do well to pay attention to the "lamp," the menorah, which represents the Seven Spirits of God. The prophetic word of Torah is also a Lamp, lighting the physical commandments with the spiritual. It brings forth the prophetic word: "For we know that the Law (Torah) is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin." (Ro 7:14) Without this lamp of the Torah, one cannot hear or see the dawn.
Bind up the testimony, seal the law [Torah] among my disciples. And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. When they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,' should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?
To the law [Torah] and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. (Is 8:16-20).
Yeshua is the Lamb who is worthy to open the seven seals of the Torah in Revelation. It is sealed up among his disciples, and it will reveal those who have the dawn and the Morning Star in their hearts. It is a dawn and Star that they first heard before they saw, but their hearing and vision is true testimony.
The King of Babylon, a parable of the Adversary, was once a symbol of the dawn and Morning Star in obedience, but he fell into disobedience. One reason was that he wanted to sit on the "mount of the assembly," or the "mount of the
moed." Satan wants to control the holy appointed times of the Seven Feasts, either through obliterating them, twisting them, or stripping the Spirit of the Torah from those who claim to keep them:
How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!
But you said in your heart,
'I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And
I will sit on the mount of assembly [moed]... (Is 14:12-13)
In his Revelation vision, however, John assures the reader that those who have "ears to hear" will receive the Morning Star (Re 2:28) and see:
'I am the root and the descendant of David,
the bright morning star.' The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And
let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. (Re 22:16-17).
Yeshua is both root and descendant of Jesse; he preceded him, and he followed him! He is clothed with the eternal, timeless, righteousness of Elohim, and he calls those who hear Elohim. For those who hear, they will be restored to the four rivers of Eden, which "gave drink to the whole Garden." They will hear the sound...and see the sound...of Elohim walking in the Garden. They will be clothed in the Light of the Torah, and they will not be afraid of hearing and seeing the thunder, the lightning, or the voice.
Don't let Satan sit on your Shavuot assembly when the shofar blows. Say, "Here I am. Come!"
The Shma
Hear, O Israel!
The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
