Footsteps of Messiah:
No Place for Chickens
Part One
Thanks to the availability of rabbinic reference books, most people now understand that the rooster crow in Jerusalem wasn't likely on the Temple Mount. When Yeshua warns Peter that he will deny Yeshua by the third rooster crow, the meaning is likely referring to the official Temple trumpet blowers, who signaled the Temple's daily activities from special posts on the Temple Mount. To this day, you can view the tumbled stone on which they stood, which was found lying in the rubble at the base of the Temple Mount in 1968.
- It is forbidden to raise fowl in Jerusalem because of the “Holy Things”, [fowl may bring impurity in to sacrificial items] nor may priests raise them [anywhere] in the Land of Israel because of [the laws concerning] pure foods. (Mishnah Bava Kama 7)
On the other hand, the rooster was used to signal the trumpet blowers when it was daylight, which was especially important on feast days with so many to accommodate in the services. Where was this rooster? Perhaps just outside the city walls, in which case, he would be easily heard.
The Temple was no place for chickens.
Now that you are called into covenant of royal priesthood with the Holy One of Israel, a little Temple sent to the nations, there's still no room for chickens. There's no room for a people too afraid to obey the Word.
The appearance of Yeshua as the conqueror in Revelation is one of authority, and his feet are bronze, just like the bronze sea of the Temple. Seas in Scriptures often represent the peoples. The washing of water by the Word is what Yeshua sacrificed himself for on the altar. It is also what a royal priesthood is called to do. No chickens.
The burnished bronze feet were also on the feet of the Four Living Creatures in Ezekiel 1:7-14, representing the Ruach sent quickly to do the will of the Father, no delaying: an ox, a lion, an eagle, a man with burning coals in their midst. No chickens.
The burnished bronze feet of Yeshua (Re 1:15 & 2:18) shine his obedience. In the Footsteps to the Coffin series, we saw how feet can represent where Heaven and Earth meet on the Temple Mount, a place set aside for the purest of obedience so that Heaven can once again descend as in the Garden of Eden. The service of this Temple begins with the bronze altar. In Revelation, this altar actually "talks"! The souls under the bronze Heavenly altar agree with the Holy One, and they've dedicated their lives to sacrificial living. Now they await the resurrection of the dead, asking "How long, O LORD...?" from the bronze altar of sacrificial believers. Bronze feet are evidence of a sacrificial life. No chickens.
Let's take a closer look at our Messiah Yeshua when his bronze feet are revealed to the nations, the seas for which the Temple services were to create a House of Prayer for All Nations:
- Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and 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 1:12-13)
The sash is an essential part of the priest's wardrobe. As we see in the passage above, it is associated with the menorah and the incense service. This is also true in the Midrash Rabbah. Not only do the priests have to wear a sash, the wordplay hints to the services...
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“‘Go near and hear all that the LORD our God says; then speak to us all that the LORD our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’ The LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well [הֵיטִיבוּ] in all that they have spoken. Oh, that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever! (Dt 5:27-29)
The root of "well" is tov, in hetivu above. Doing good or well (think of the Creation days!) is a matter of the Word accomplishing what the Holy One sends it to do. In the case of human beings, they have a chance to do well, good, when they hurry to perform His commandments. They were created to be a royal priesthood. The Levitical priesthood gives many hints and sets some patterns for that royal priesthood to do well, to pray, listen to the Voice of Elohim, and obey:
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You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you. Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims [בְּהֵיטִיבוֹ] the lamps. (Ex 30:5-7)
In the context, Adonai links the incense service with the "good, tov" of servicing the lamps of the menorah. The verb form of making good is:
- Yatav - יָטַב yâṭab to be (causative) make well, literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right):—be accepted, amend, use aright, benefit, be (make) better, seem best...
Incense symbolizes prayer. The Midrash shows how the wordplay hints to how laypeople can perform priestly service every day. When we learn and obey the Word [pray and obey] with the power of the Ruach HaKodesh as symbolized by the incense service and menorah, then we fulfill our vow to be royal priests, “making good” on our promise. We make good and beauty in the world, sending the concealed light of the menorah to the bronze sea nations. We become a house of prayer for the nations, praying not only to intercede, but to bring them to realize growth potential so that they, too, may wash in the water of the Word and the many good waters of the Voice of Elohim.
This incense prayer service of the menorah had to be done “well” daily. When the incense was prepared for the service, the Temple official in charge would say,
“Grind thoroughly (well), thoroughly (well) grind.” 4§4
“Hedek heitev, heitev hedek.”
Don't just stir it with your finger, smash it! No chickens! Let your prayers be fervent as James said in 5:16. A righteous person is experienced in sacrifice, and the righteous person knows that incense cannot be offered until the burning coals are first taken from the bronze sacrificial altar. It burns away all self-serving intent, leaving only the purest coals of "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," and this is where the bronze feet touch the Temple Mount.
Yeshua is the one in the middle of the menorah, which is the place of authority, the central pillar of gold from which the other six branches were hammered out. He appears there wearing a sash, or belt, which signifies both authority from Heaven and a specific task or mission. When Peter was jailed during Passover, without hope because his fellow disciple and beloved friend James was just martyred, he experienced a Passover miracle, perhaps because of the fervent prayers offered on his behalf. Peter's mission wasn't completed yet:
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And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” (Acts 12:8)
Girding ourselves is a matter of acknowledging our mission or task. In this Passover re-visitation of deliverance from prison, Peter is told to gird up, put his sandals on, and put on an outer garment for his exodus from jail.
Our walk in the Word requires us to gird up, to strengthen ourselves with a “belt” and cover ourselves with more than a garment of salvation, but to maintain readiness to walk in additional robes of righteousness. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much. Righteousness is more than obedience, it is obedience with experience! It is experience that requires sacrifice of any personal goals that interfere with the goals and mission of Heaven.
Pray and obey. Obey and pray. Tighten up the belt of truth, which is the Word. When Heaven sends you with a mission to sow the Word, He will gird you with a belt of His truth. It is up to you how firmly you fasten it around you. Just a tip, though: the more Word you have experienced, and the tighter you bind it because of that confidence, the more secure you will feel with a new mission, for the Word surrounds you. No reason to run around like a chicken with its head cut off.
The funny part of Peter's deliverance is that the girl who met him at the gate ran off! Sometimes we're so surprised by the answer to a fervent prayer that we don't believe it. Sometimes it is hard for a believer to believe it!
Pray and obey is the incense offering powered by the light of the menorah.
No chickens.
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Shabbat Shalom!
