Footsteps of Messiah:
Exit the Sixth Millennium
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As the Footsteps of Messiah approach, a key code is contained in the Song of Songs, or in Hebrew, Shir HaShirim. The language is prophetic, historic, and epic, guiding 1000 generations to the exit of the Greater Exodus. Maybe we can call it The Greater Exit Us!
We continue to look at that Exit through the lens of the Midrash Rabbah to Shir HaShirim, which contains so many explanations of the Hebrew wordplay.
Here is our next line from the Shir, Chapter Four:
- “Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is beautiful.”
Another translation:
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“Your speech [midbarekha] is beautiful.”
This verse quite literally describes a crash on the Temple Mount. Make that a CLASH on the Temple Mount. When it was time for the wine libation to be poured into a conduit on the altar each day, there was a particular procedure. The Kohen HaGadol would begin to pour the wine, creating a scarlet thread of the liquid pouring into the altar. The backup Kohen HaGadol would then signal to a Levite holding a set of cymbals, and the cymbals were clashed together to tell the Levitical choir that the scarlet thread had begun, and it was time for beautiful speech to begin. The choir then began singing the psalm of the day.
The Levites had prescribed daily songs to sing in the Temple, each reflecting a theme of the seven days of Creation:
- First Day [Sunday]: YHVH’s is the earth and its fullness. (Ps 24:1)
- Second Day [Monday]: Great is YHVH and much praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain... (Ps 48:2)
- Third Day [Tuesday]: Elohim stands in the Divine assembly, in the midst of the judges shall He judge (82:1)
- Fourth Day [Wednesday]: O El of vengeance, YHVH, O El of vengeance, appear! (Ps 94:1)
- Fifth Day [Thursday]: Sing joyously to the Elohim of our strength, call out to the El of Yaakov... (Ps 81:2)
- Sixth Day [Friday]: YHVH has reigned, He has put on grandeur... (Ps 93:1)
- Seventh Day [Shabbat]: A psalm, a song for the Sabbath day... (Ps 92:1)
If you review those psalms, each one reflects its corresponding day of Creation with the exception of one, the Shabbat. Or does it? We'll take a look. But first, let's summarize the correlations between the days of Creation and the daily psalms for the Temple service.
- First Day : YHVH’s is the earth and its fullness. (Ps 24:1)
Elohim created the earth.
- Second Day: Great is YHVH and much praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain... (Ps 48:2)
The Midrash says: “The heavens, which were in a state of flux, solidified and created a division between the waters above and the waters below. This set the stage for God to establish His dwelling in the heavens above, which is invoked by ‘the city of our God,’ similarly describing God’s ‘dwelling place ‘ in Jerusalem.”
Jerusalem below was yet to be revealed...
- Third Day: Elohim stands in the Divine assembly, in the midst of the judges shall He judge (82:1)
This psalm speaks of judges and was recited on the third day because dry land upon which the judges rendered judgment became visible; it was drawn out of the water. Judgment is to render visible that which is concealed, and judgment is a matter of counsel, or etzah. The trees (etzim) were created on the Third Day.” Moses was told he would be a “judge” or elohim to Pharaoh. Moses was drawn out of the water:
מֹשֶׁה Môsheh, mosheh'; from H4871; drawing out (of the water), i.e. rescued; Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver:—Moses.
- Fourth Day: O El of vengeance, YHVH, O El of vengeance, appear! (Ps 94:1)
The sun, moon, and stars were set on the fourth day of Creation. Ultimately, the God of vengeance will exact retribution from the idolators who worship these heavenly bodies. These form the foundational gods of the world, which is echoed in the message to the Fourth Assembly of Thyatira in Revelation, lamenting teaching of sexual immorality and eating foods offered to idols.
- Fifth Day: Sing joyously to the Elohim of our strength, call out to the El of Yaakov... (Ps 81:2)
God created various species of birds and fish on the fifth day of Creation. When man beholds these myriad species, his soul is moved to sing joyously in praise of the One Who created such diverse, wondrous creatures. The fifth spirit of Adonai is gvurah, or strength, related to oz, the type of strength alluded to in the psalm
Birds on the Fifth Day gave first voice to songs with the breath of life.
- Sixth Day: YHVH has reigned, He has put on grandeur... (Ps 93:1)
On the Sixth Day, the work of Creation was complete, and God reigned over it, and man, who could recognize and testify to God’s Kingship, was created.
The context of the sixth day Psalm affirms the role of mankind, to affirm the testimonies of Elohim and uphold the holiness of the House, or Temple: Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting... Your testimonies are fully confirmed; Holiness befits Your house, O LORD, forevermore. (Ps 93:2,5)
Now what about that Shabbat Psalm? Please read Psalm Ninety-two carefully, and you'll see no correlation to the Seventh Day, the Shabbat. However, the sages see it differently.
- “This psalm is a song for the Future Era, for a day that is entirely a Shabbat, and a day of rest leading to everlasting life.” (Tamid 7:4)
The psalm of the Seventh Day is the link between the end of the Sixth Millennium and the beginning of the Seventh. It prophesies of the Days of Messiah's rule on earth in his Father's name, an era of peace when all foes are vanquished.
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Since the text of this psalm contains not a single reference to the Shabbat, the Mishnah interprets its opening verse’s mention of the Sabbath day in a different way. At the end of the six millennia from the time of Creation, the world as we know it will cease to exist for one millennium. The hymn refers to that millennium, for ‘day’ in the Divine context refers to a thousand years, as in the verse (Ps 90:4), ‘For a thousand years in Your eyes are like a day.’ At that time God will be the sole extant Force in the universe, as Isaiah 2:11 states: ‘HASHEM alone will be exalted on that day.’”(Shir 4§9)
In one of his more apocalyptic passages, Peter affirmed the sages' view of the time of the Exit Us:
- But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. (2 Pe 3:8)
Psalm 92 tells us that just prior to the Exit Us, there will be a proliferation of mockers and an incredible sprouting of wickedness, so many that they will seem as numerous as the blades of grass. Why must they be fruitful in wickedness at the end?
First, the Father is not willing that any perish. He is giving the lukewarm time to repent in before that Day. Also, He wants the wicked CLEARLY revealed before their destruction. In other words, He's separating wicked fruit from the fruit of the Ruach HaKodesh, so that in the end, the righteous will be full of sap, very green, and exceedingly fruitful in righteousness without obstacle or impediment. There will be no wicked lurking around to sprout mayhem because the tribulation exposed them. What a Day that will be!
Curious as to our Father's view of the moment of the Exit Us? It's right there, in Psalm 92. It's worth reading again, don't you think?
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Wars of Kings is a foundation for using the template of the first Exodus to understand the Greater Exodus and the accompanying plagues in the Book of Revelation. Click on Wars of Kings to go to the first segment of the Wars YouTube video. Last week's video explained up to plague five, and this week's video will complete the rest of the plagues, providing examples from our time to connect with the texts. Click Siege to join the Wars livestream at 4:00 pm Eastern on Shabbat.
