Footsteps of Messiah:
The Revenge of the Hen
In last week's lesson, we learned how the Temple was no place for chickens, but "O, Jerusalem," is the very place where the little chicks will come home to roost. (Mt 23:37) Blessed is he who comes in the Name of YHVH.
This week, our Torah portion Bamidbar includes a census of the tribes for war. The army of Israel is not like other armies. Israel must first “pass muster” with Adonai Tzvaot, the Lord of Armies. When Israel falls into idolatry and other serious sins, their army is usually defeated, even routed shamefully. Israelite soldiers must pass a test of courage even before they are admitted to the ranks:
- Have you betrothed a wife, but not married her? Go home.
- Have you built a house, but not lived in it? Go home.
- Have you planted a vineyard, but not consumed its fruit? Go home. (Dt 20:3-8)
Such a person is planning to fail! He started with good plans, then at some point, he could not envision a successful outcome, one of the jobs we accomplish in prayer-work. If he fell in battle, then someone else would marry his wife, live in his house, and tend his vineyard. In fact, both the “house” and the “vineyard” are sometimes used as euphemisms for a wife, the wise woman and the Proverbs 31 woman who builds the house and is the fruitful vine. The wife, in turn, symbolizes the work of the Holy Spirit in his life (see Workbook Four). The Ruach (Spirit) is what implants successful vision within a believer.
Relating this to the No Place for Chickens Part Two last week, the spiritually deficient soldier did well at first, planning and imagining his life in the future, but when the enemy approached, he was unable to also plan and envision a victorious outcome to his prayer. This cowardice would become a cancerous discouragement to his fellow soldiers. A soldier planning a desolate house will be rewarded with a desolate house, for he does not remember the exhortation of the war priest:
- “Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” (Dt 20:3-4)
If the soldier cannot go forward with confidence after that reminder, he’s hopeless in battle!
In the following lament over Jerusalem, Yeshua evokes two important passages in the Torah:
1) the Ruach Adonai hovering over the surface of the waters at Creation and (Ge 1:2)
2) the torah of the hen and chicks, which assures the chicks’ safety if they will stay under their mother’s wings or in the nest with her. (Dt 22:6)
The Jewish sages say that the Ruach hovering over the Creation waters was Messiah, whose obedience would bring order out of chaos, light out of darkness. The verb used for “hovering” is merachefet, which describes how a mother bird beats her wings violently to call her chicks. Also in the tradition, the palace of King Messiah is located in the Garden of Eden. It is called Kan Tzippor, or “The Bird Nest.” King Messiah’s job is to gather the Father’s chicks back into the Garden, to minister the Word to them so that they can be restored to their original habitat. Frequently, the chicks are obstinate:
- “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” (Mt 23:37-39)
What can be derived from Yeshua’s lament?
- Jerusalem, the place of The House (Temple) rejects those sent to her in the Ruach Adonai; therefore, her House will be left desolate, like the coward soldier’s.
- Jerusalem, the place of The House (Temple) is a place of gathering for the moedim specifically. Until “Jerusalem” acknowledges Yeshua and welcomes him to the moedim, then they will not see him.
- Jerusalem, the place of The House (Temple), will one day say, BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!
When Yeshua returns, it will not be to an army of cowards. It will be to an army of prayer warriors who can plan, imagine, envision an answer to their prayers aligned with the Word of Adonai. They do not despair that the Roman beast has metastisized across the earth in its many systems of government, politics, military, education, sports, medicine, or any other method it developed from the Greek leopard-spot model. They will not be more immersed and educated in conspiracy theories and the news cycle than the Word that will conquer all, even the systems of Babylon and Egypt embedded within the holy city. Saturation in the Living Word is saturation in the kingship of Messiah Yeshua and the Father who will send him for His gathered chicks.
How do the chicks gather when they are scattered into the wilderness of the peoples? They gather for Shabbat. They gather for the moedim (feasts). They gather in prayer for Shavuot, expecting something Sinai-spectacular to occur with the fiery voice of the Word. No prayer cowards here. No place for chickens, just little chicks gathered under the wings of Yeshua through the power of the Ruach HaKodesh. This is what Yeshua promised the disciples if they would remain in Jerusalem…they would be clothed with power from on high, the power of his Ruach to call forth light out of darkness, order from chaos, courage from discouragement.
When King Messiah Yeshua returns, it will be to take vengeance on the wicked and the lukewarm who disregarded his sacrifice. It will be to execute justice upon the peoples. The blood of those soldier-servants who believed the Word, fought the devices of the enemy, and served sacrificially unto their dying days must be avenged (Re 6:9). It is a principle of justice that must executed in the earth, and it is Yeshua's burnished bronze footsteps the world will hear.
This is one of the functions of the bowls of wrath. At the Passover seder from older times, when the plagues were called out, the leader dashed a drop of blood (wine) and a drop of water into a bowl. With each plague and drop of blood/water, those gathered pronounced the name of an enemy of The Holy One and Israel such as Wicked Haman (may his name be blotted out), Amalek, etc.
After the ten plagues, a shamash (servant) poured out the blood and water into the earth outside. Yeshua’s side poured blood and water into the earth. When he returns, it will be to execute the Wrath of the Passover Lamb upon those rebel against his salvation and kingship. Do we regard Yeshua’s blood and water, the wrath he took upon himself for us on the execution tree, of no account? Then there will be an accounting. A judgment. Footsteps.
On one hand are those who have no faith. Cowards. On the other hand, there are those who plead, “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” On one hand, there is Sheol. On the other hand, the Bird’s Nest, the palace of Messiah in the Garden. Not so coincidentally, part of the Pesach haggadah includes:
BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!
NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!
Gathering at the feasts is truly the key to courage. Here are some samples from the Great Hallel of Psalms we pray at the Pesach seder:
• Precious in the eyes of Adonai is the death of His righteous ones
• My vows to Adonai I will pay in the presence of His entire people; in the courtyards of the House of Adonai in your midst, O Jerusalem, Halleluyah! (Did you vow, “We will do and will hear?”)
• BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!
• In famine You nourished us, and in plenty You supported us. From the sword You saved us; from the plague [midaver] You let us escape; and You spared us from severe and enduring diseases.
The plague, dever, is a contranym to davar, Word. In the wilderness, ba-midbar, one is tried in respect to the davar, the Word. From there, one may choose the deathly plague (usually on a beast) or believing the Living Word.
When the four horsemen of the apocalypse unleash judgments famine, sword, and plague upon the earth, and the seven bowls of wrath are poured out, remember the courage with which you prayed the Great Hallel at Passover, a time the Great Hallelujah when the Father set His seal upon you. Remember your Shavuot, when the power of the Ruach HaKodesh sealed you in the Torah and empowered you to learn and walk on to maturity in your salvation.
Bind up the testimony, seal the Torah among my disciples. (Is 8:16)
But what about the Rosh HaShanah trumpet judgment of the sheep of Israel that receives the final seal on Yom HaKippurim? Is it too late then? Why do we have courage to keep praying for lost and wandering loved ones? There is good news about judgment. There are many opportunities for prayers to be successfully answered, even if it seems they have been rejected hundreds of times and the clock is running out. Let’s review the four judgments:
- Mishna: At four times of the year the world is judged: On Passover, judgment is passed concerning grain; on Shavuot, concerning fruits that grow on a tree; on Rosh HaShanah, all creatures pass before Him like sheep, as it is stated: He Who fashions their hearts alike, Who considers all their deeds (Psalms 33:15); and on the festival of Sukkot they are judged concerning water, i.e., the rainfall of the coming year. (Rosh HaShanah 16a)
Until the resurrection of the dead at some future Rosh HaShanah, it is not too late. Although there will be a separation of the righteous from the intermediate (who have ten days to repent) and wicked, we pray for our loved ones every day, imagining and envisioning them saved, filled with the Ruach, free of the dark confusions of the falling and failing world. This is because EVERY DAY is a new day of judgment:
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Rabbi Yosei’s reason is from here, another verse, which states: “To make the judgment of His servant and the judgment of His people Israel at all times, as each day may require” (I Kings 8:59), which indicates that the entire world is judged every day. (Rosh HaShanah 16a)
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Rabbi Yosei says: A person is judged every day, and not just once a year, as it is stated: “You visit him every morning” (Job 7:18), meaning that every morning an accounting is made and a judgment is passed. Rabbi Natan says: A person is judged every hour, as it is stated: “You try him every moment” (Job 7:18). - (Rosh HaShanah 16a)
Every morning is a new opportunity to suit up for the battle of intercession. It is possible that some condition has changed with the passing of days, and on this morning, the request can be fulfilled with a favorable judgment:
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This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The LORD’S lovingkindnesses [chesed] indeed never cease, for His compassions [racham] never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (La 3:21-23)
Moses interceded for idolatrous Israel, requesting to see Adonai:
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And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious [chanoti] to whom I will be gracious [achon], and will show compassion [racham] on whom I will show compassion [racham].” (Ex 33:19)
Chanoti and achon are forms of chen, often translated as graciousness or lovingkindness. In fact, English translations often mingle the related Hebrew qualities of chen, chesed (mercy and lovingkindness), and racham (compassion) because they are so close in meaning and nestle together in context.
pronounce chen like hen + phlegm
The graciousness of YHVH is chen; and the righteous may access that favorable judgment day if they continue asking:
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But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness [chesed], answer me with Your saving truth. (Ps 69:13)
Until the final sealing of the judgments, we may petition every day, every moment, for a different judgment. After all, there is even a “grace period” after the Last Trumpet, ten days of repentance in which the old judgment can be ripped up and a new one written before the gates close at Yom HaKippurim.
So yes, Yeshua will come with wrath and revenge for the righteous chicks of Jerusalem, but until then, he intercedes for us and guards us like a mother chen with graciousness so that we will not be poured out like the blood and water in his wrath. We, too, should be intercessory, courageous soldiers.
How do we pray like a brave soldier-chiks?
“Please, Father, if you have a new mercy, a new lovingkindness, a new compassion for me this morning, then graciously judge my petition and gather my children to the nest of Messiah Yeshua. And may they continue to serve you in the congregation of the righteous. Amen.”
There will be no newsletter or livestream next week since we'll be with Pastors Ken and Lisa Albin at Save the Nations for Shavuot.
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Shabbat Shalom!
