The Sheaves and Flocks of the Night Watches
In the last installment of our Footsteps of Messiah series, we examined Yeshua’s prophecies of return, particularly of the the second and third watches of the night. Delaying the Shema; that is, delaying the affirmation of the Torah Covenant until the second and third watches of the night, put the believer in jeopardy. At the end of days, delaying to fulfill the will of Adonai can be dangerous, for He describes it as being “lukewarm,” worthy only of being vomited out of the glorious Land of Israel, or in the language of the sages, “intermediates.”
In this study, we will see suggestions that those who are lukewarm will simply be thrown in the Wrath of the Lamb with the wicked. Can they still repent? The gates of repentance are always open, but one has to wonder why every single warning to repent was ignored up to that point. Can this person really change? If so, repentance may save his soul, but the prophecies imply a punishment of the body with the wicked. We’ll leave those questions for the Dayan Emet, or True Judge.
For the righteous, this historical time may be the final affirmation of the Torah Covenant, a time for which we’ve all longed. Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesy of a time when the Torah will be written on our hearts, and there will be no more struggle against the holy Words within us. This characterizes the promises of the New Covenant, which was inaugurated with Yeshua’s blood.
What the believer soon realizes, though, is that his heart is frequently not interested in obeying the terms of the Covenant. There is still a struggle to obey the Word, and although we walk in the Ruach HaKodesh to renew His Word daily, we must admit that there is still part of that prophecy to be fulfilled. Although we fight the fight and run the race to perfection, the foot of the Mountain is still the finish line. It is there we will once again affirm the Covenant, promising “We will do and we will hear.”
That sealing appointment at Shavuot seems to be when Passover time-cup is filled up. The seven perfect sevens of the omer are complete, and we will be set as a seal on HIS arm, like the Holy One’s own tefillin, which believers mirror by donning physical tefillin.
- “Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, jealousy is as severe as Sheol; its flames are flames of fire, the flame of the LORD.” (So 8:6)
This seal (John 6:26-58) is set upon Yeshua, who said he was the Bread of Heaven, the Word that gives eternal life. We are to eat his flesh and drink his blood, an ancient way of saying that the Words must be internalized to the point of transformation.
For instance, the traditional belief of the binding of Isaac, the type of Messiah, is that the site where Abraham offered Isaac is Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount. This mountain's Divine Presence was believed to have been picked up and settled over Mount Sinai like a blanket so that the Israelites actually perceived the Mountain of God, the Temple Mount.
Abraham called that place "YHVH Yireh," or "YHVH will see." The thicket where the ram was caught is believed to be a tree! An important detail is found in:
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Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day [today], “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided [will be seen].” (Ge 22:13-14)
By translating the Hebrew more literally, the sacrifice of Isaac occurred "today," and "for all generations to come, it will be seen until this day, to the day in which they stand to the day they read the verse." (Rashi to Ge 22:14-15). "This day" is interpreted as the days of the future. The sacrifice of Isaac, and the sacrifice of his substitute ram, changed the future "todays."
It clarifies the "YHVH will see" as the name of the location. Because of the sacrifice that happened there, every year at the appointed time (Feast of Trumpets), "'HASHEM will see' this binding, to forgive Israel because of it every year, and to save them from punishment, so that it will be said on this day in all the future generations, 'On the mountain of God there will be seen' the ashes of Isaac still piled up, as if he had actually been sacrificed, for atonement on behalf of Israel.'" (Rashi to Ge 22:14)
Like the flesh and blood of Yeshua is not literally eaten, but internalized with much sacrifice so that it is internalized and becomes like the literal flesh and blood of Yeshua, and his flesh and blood is seen in us as if we had been sacrificed, so Yeshua, the Word of God, is the agent of not just transformation, but resurrection to eternal life. Yeshua's ashes become our ashes on the altar, and those ashes are those who cry out in Revelation, "How long, O LORD...?" The transformation of the righteous is the sign itself, ashes piled up on the altar, on the Mountain TODAY, not some spectacular miracle or dynamic, charming personality.
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“The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Lk 17:20-21)
The signs that the Talmud mentions are not signs to be “observed,” but instead, heard, a man and woman talking in bed and the sound of a baby nursing in the pre-dawn as we learned in the last lesson. Yeshua says those in the Kingdom somehow will already be in the Kingdom. Yeshua also warns of a false messiah who will be able to provide signs, but they are a deceit to the eyes. The signs of Yeshua's return are heard, not seen. They are done by the believer, not found externally.
The righteous will already be in this Kingdom and will not need a sign, for they have internalized the Covenant, and they recognize the Word of Adonai. It is the fool who seeks a sign that was given long ago and who believes that obedience to His Word is no longer required, nor will he be judged according to that Word. All Israel was gathered to Mt. Sinai to affirm the Covenant, and once again they will be gathered from the nations to which they were scattered, pictured by the gathering of Acts Chapter Two:
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"Hear the word of the LORD, you nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away, and say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and He will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.” (Je 31:10)
While the wicked world and lukewarm run to and fro for a sign from Heaven, the righteous have already gathered to affirm as one, “We will do and we will hear.” They repent of self-will and rebellion. They will be sealed up, awaiting the resurrection of the dead at Rosh HaShanah, the Feast of Trumpets, listening for the shofar they heard at Mt. Sinai. Moses reminded the Israelites that there were many more at the Mountain than could be seen with the physical eyes:
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“Now it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant and this oath, but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God, and with those who are not with us here today…” (Dt 29:14-15)
The righteous were gathered by the Great Shepherd of the Sheep and reaped by the Son of Man to rejoice with him in the Temple. They were not there "today," on the time-bound day, but in their generations, they were with Israel "today," for today is the day in which you hear and obey His voice no matter what your generation (Dt 4:4, 40; 5:3; 6:6; 24; 7:11; 8:1, 11; 10:13; 11:8, 13, 27, 32; 13:18; 15:5, 15; 19:9). We were there, and we are here...TODAY.
Those who wait until the fall feasts are already behind, still spiritually asleep on Thyatira’s sickbed of idolatry. Their ashes have not yet been seen on the Mountain.
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“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.” (Je 31:31-34)
These New Covenant citizens of Israel and the Holy City “know” Him because they’ve obeyed His Word, from the least to the greatest. No more will their struggle be toward perfection, for they will be made perfect when the Holy One writes His Word on their hearts. They will sin no more.
Once we cross over, we can serve Adonai whole-heartedly according to His judgments. The traditional idea, though, is that once we are resurrected, we can no longer add to our reward for doing His will. We can serve at the level we’ve achieved by obedience in this life, but there is no adding of service in the commandments for additional reward, for it is pictured by the Shabbat. As John says in Revelation, “
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"And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.” (Re 14:13)
The rest from labor is in the cessation of spiritual struggle to overcome the evil inclination that battles with the Ruach within. The level of willing labor achieved on earth becomes the reward, for the believer can now rest. There are no “advancement opportunities” in the Heavens. One is assigned to serve at the exact level to which he strove to achieve obedience in this life.
This is not to be confused with one’s eternal salvation, but his dedication to living and proclaiming the will of Adonai in his own generation. Those struggles will be weighted according to one’s ability, not someone else’s, which is very good news! In Matthew 25:14-30, Yeshua’s parable of the three servants describes this principle. When the lazy servant’s talent is taken away from him for not committing its increase to the Master, it is given to one who did work hard. The additional reward for the five-talent person is that he didn’t have to do additional work, but simply to rest at his own level along with the additional potential forfeited by the lazy servant. This is not so much advancement as reward. It couldn’t be earned once the Master returned, but it was earned before He returned.
Everyone is judged and rewarded according to his or her ability, not the final balance in the Master’s account. Salvation is an equal gift to all, no matter when they agree to serve, even at the last hour. Rewards are enjoyed based on how well one reached his or her spiritual potential, then rewards are added if unused by the lukewarm, wicked servants.
David writes of his anticipation in the night watches of exile:
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“I cried out with all my heart; answer me, LORD! I will comply with Your statutes. I cried to You; save me and I shall keep Your testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. My eyes anticipate the night watches, so that I may meditate on Your word. Hear my voice according to Your faithfulness; revive me, LORD, according to Your judgments.” (Ps 119:145-149)
The “sleep” of exile or even of death are not without consciousness, but of meditation upon the Word of Elohim, Yeshua, which will eventually resurrect the person (or not for those who did not believe it). Like David, we prepare in the night watches, BEFORE dawn, to meditate on the Word of resurrection. We don't wait until the dawn breaks so that we can literally see the Kingdom. We hear and do in the Kingdom in the night watches.
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Rav Yitzḥak bar Shmuel said in the name of Rav: The night consists of three watches, and over each and every watch the Holy One, Blessed be He sits and roars like a lion, because the Temple service was connected to the changing of these watches (Tosefot HaRosh), and says: “Woe to Me, that due to their sins I destroyed My house, burned My Temple and exiled them among the nations of the world.”
So now the wine press passages have a context. Rather than destroy His people Israel, Adonai destroyed the Temple and its services, which provided benefit to the entire world. He scattered Israel and made them to be little sanctuaries among the nations, yet the Lion still roars over the loss of His House due to hatred, idolatry, and immorality. Imagine how angry the Lion must be when His people continue this rebellion in the exile of His night watches! How must He roar when they abandon their posts!
The Lion roars over every night watch because He longs to restore the Temple and His people. An awareness of the “watches” is an awareness of repentance and shofar-gathering-scattering prophecies.
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“So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.” (Re 14:19-20)
The use of a sickle to harvest grapes suggests that an un-alert or sleeping Vineyard of Israel may be harvested for wrath with the nations, no distinction between grapes, vines, or leaves. Instead of entering the Holy City for the festivals, particularly the festival of Sukkot, they are trampled OUTSIDE of it. The outskirts have never been a safe place for the righteous to dwell.
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“From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.” (Re 19:15)
Now the slight editing of Gideon’s army makes sense as prophecy:
Judges 7:18 has Gideon’s “Passover battle” instructions:
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“When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets around the entire camp and say, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’”
Yet in Judges 7:20, the 300 say this:
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“When the three units blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
The Passover army of 300 prophesied of a second watch of the night when Israel and the nations can either yield to the Sword of the Word in Yeshua's mouth or be destroyed by it. It is a contranym, either peace or wrath.
Back to the roaring of the Lion in the night watches... Yes, the “time” of Heaven is reflected on Earth. Why the repetition in these Jeremiah prophecies below? What is the context?
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When He utters His voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and He makes the clouds ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses. (Je 10:13)
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When He utters His voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and He makes the clouds ascend from the end of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings out wind from His storehouses. (Je 51:16)
The angels of the four winds in Revelation will one day be loosed to blow, sending lightning, rain, and wind in judgment and wrath. There will be roaring waters in the heavens, the faithful among the peoples, the sound of the righteous echoing and affirming His voice over many waters. These waters have been gathered and protected from the day of judgment when the storehouses open.
Sheaves of barley and the little flocks become those gathering, ascending clouds. They were already in the midst of the Kingdom, so they were just lifted up to finally see where they’d been standing all along…what they’d been HEARING and DOING all along.
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