Basis for our Studies:
The Bible tells us that the “End (of the world) is declared from the “beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). Certainly, this means that the early Biblical record of human history bears End-time prophetic significance. But, it’s actually even more specific than that. The original Hebrew word translated as “beginning” in Isaiah 46:10 is תישאר (rê’shı̂yth). This is the root of Bereshith, which is the Hebrew name of the first Book of the Bible, “Genesis”. In other words, prophecies of the End of the World are found in the Book of Genesis.
The Torah is one of the five keys for unlocking End-time Prophecy… Prophecy is unlocked through the Statutes!
The Lessons and Tests of Israel in the Wilderness are Prophetic - for the Last Days
1 Corinthians 10:1-6 – The experiences, lessons and tests of Israel in the Wilderness are “examples” for us.
1 Corinthians 10:11 - “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
What is being worked on in each Test/Lesson is ONE THING: Shema – Love Yahweh with all your heart, soul and might
· Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear (shema: to hear intelligently, to pay attention, obey, be a witness and proclaim / live it for others to see), O Israel (those that bear the 42 letter Name): Yahweh our God is one (primary, solely God, supreme, first) Yahweh: And thou shalt love Yahweh thy God with all thine heart (emotions, innermost being), and with all thy soul (breath, will – choices), and with all thy might (strength). And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house (that’s our down-time of resting, at the end of day), and when thou walkest by the way (in the commute, travel time), and when thou liest down (when you first lay down and before you fall asleep at night), and when thou risest up (when you first wake up in the morning). And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes (we are sealed in the forehead and hand… the Shema is the Sealing). And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
Campsite #2: Etham ("contemplation", "from them", "plowshares")
· · Israel is coming out of Rameses, in Egypt…
· Yahshua
said the “Seed of Abraham” do the “works of Abraham”… Abraham’s works involved leaving the
idolatrous, dark realm behind and choosing Yahweh
§ Hebrews 11:8-10 – right here we see that the Land
Abraham sought wasn’t of earth… He’s
seeking the City that Yahweh Built.
· We
are to be separated out from the darkness of the world
§ 2 Corinthians 6:17 – Israel is
called out “from among them”, which is one of the meanings of Etham…
(Revelation 18:4)
§ Jeremiah 51:6
§ Zechariah 2:6-7
· The
Way of Life is not too high of a Calling. It’s the Way of Love… When we love someone we are dedicated to that
love, that relationship, that person – to the exclusion of others… Similarly, with Yahweh, we are
Called to be dedicated to Shema Him, to be dedicated to our Relationship
with Him, to serve and worship Him exclusively as God.
· Deuteronomy
5:29 – Yahweh seeks those who will have a heart for Him.
· No
one can be drug (kicking and screaming) out of darkness… In the end, we choose… Like Lot’s wife… Etham is about making that choice.
· Etham is
a call to wholeness – which is the meaning of having a “perfect heart”… A perfect heart isn’t one that doesn’t need a
Saviour… It’s someone who is whole-hearted in their choice for Yahweh.
Contemplation
(one of the meanings of the Hebrew word “Etham”) refers to “counting the cost”… We don’t choose Salvation/Yahshua because this
is the easy path, a “prosperity gospel”. Scripture speaks of “counting the cost”
before buying a property… We must count
the cost when choosing Yahweh.
Etham
also means “wholeness”, which is the meaning of “perfect”, as in having a “perfect
heart”. A perfect heart is one that is completely given to Yahweh. There’s no
double-mindedness… no one eye on the
world and another eye on Heaven… trying
keep hold of both kingdoms…
· Philippians 3:13-14 – “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind (Egypt,
of our old ways and sins and lusts and love of the world) and reaching
forth unto those things which are before (the Kingdom of Heaven), I
press toward the mark (the Seal of Yahweh) for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Yahshua.”
Etham also means plowshares, as in exchanging them for swords, as said in Isaiah 2:4… Plowshares is “ayth”…
Isaiah 2:4 “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
· Joel 3:10 – Let the Gentiles beat their plowshares into swords
· Micah 4:3
The point
is not to literally lay down the sword – it’s a mental and spiritual shift… It’s learning or agreeing or understanding
that Yahweh is the Defender, the Protector…
So the mental sword is laid down, because even when the literal sword is
being used by Yahweh’s people, they are to know that it is useless unless He is
their Defense.
At Etham, Yahweh manifests to them as the Pillar of Cloud by Day, and the Pillar of Fire by Night. Etham is the Place where we see Yahweh and we choose Him and we go all in with Him.
Campsite #3: Pi Hahiroth ("mouth", "kindled wrath", "to subside, to be calm, to be quiet in the face of wrath")
· · Pi Hahiroth is about that moment when you really are between a rock and a hard place… But the Truth is that GOD is your REALITY, NOT YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES!
· Exodus 14:2-3 “Speak unto the children of Israel, that
they turn and encamp before Pi hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over
against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will
say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the
wilderness hath shut them in.”
Book Links
Called to Canaan (3 book set, by Danette Davis and Shauna Manfredine)
Video Links