As I was studying this week’s Parsha Pearl written by my dear brother Nathan, I was reminded of a contemplation I had one morning this week. Before I go to work I like to spend as much time speaking with Father, reading and meditating on what He reveals to me at such times
I was struck by a frustrating sadness that often overtakes when I think of this subject: ‘fulfilling the potential within me’
  About twenty miles from where I live are Yorkshire Dales. I grew up walking in these dales and also into the Yorkshire Moors which is a lot more hilly and rugged.
  I remember years before I was saved I would take my dog ‘Monty’ a beautiful silver, white and grey-bearded collie onto the dales with me. One day I came across a descending stream between the cleft of two hills. By the stream was a single large rock by which you could sit in peace and hide. Monty would run off and bound over the heather and I would think and ponder over life which really was not good for me at the time. It was a place to escape and a place that would see me visit many times. I know now that YHVH heard every word I spoke and every thought and saw every tear.
  Yeshua was with me even though I had not committed myself to Him and would not say the ‘Sinners prayer’ for many years. I’ll speak about that prayer in a moment.
  I always believed in God. I was brought up a Roman Catholic but I never knew I had to have a relationship with Him and that Yeshua had provided me a way to do it. My religion was all about rules and the church as far as I could understand. Monday mornings at school brought trepidation amongst the class as the priest would visit each classroom and find out who missed mass in the morning.
  Just as the Israelites in the passages we have read and will come to study further in the Parsha Pearls we too reflect a life where God is there but we never get to know Him. We still follow our traditions and heathen ways. We fear man more than God. We see in the early years of their relationship building that YHVH’s grace flowed abundantly over them. He gave them time to change internally and spiritually and to show that change externally.  For these people, things would not change for many years to come. Nonetheless, YHVH, loved, protected and supplied their every need.
Our maturing in the faith does not go unnoticed by YHVH. As we trust in Him we know that the tasks and ministries He gives can be done because His grace is sufficient and empowers us to fulfil those tasks. He is showing us that He trusts us also with these things. Father, knows us better than we know ourselves. If YHVH has given you a task then we should know that we can do them because we can do all things in Him. The Ruach Ha’kodesh is charged with helping us and equipping us to do them. In turn, the offices or gifts within the body are charged with doing the same. However, because we are known by our Father, He knows that we will have times when we fail and fall. There is a caveat that comes with each appointment, this we must always be acutely aware of. We must not exceed our limitations or ignore the terms and conditions.
  As Nathan has said, we often draw close to YHVH at these times of struggle and do the opposite when times are good. In fact, times don’t need to even be that good, they just need to be better.
This shows that we are a fickle people. Our loyalties are forever changing.
Israel as a chosen people are the epitome of this duplicity; the struggle and love for the God of Israel.
When I feel like giving up and putting the ministry aside, I too remember my great YHVH who’s has done so much for me, my family and for us. My time in this ministry may only be for a short time or maybe that it remains with me until my passing. I say this because it belongs to YHVH. We are just custodians and workers in it. We hold it tightly and lightly at the same time.
Responsibility and maturity will help me to know when things have run their course and my course is hoping to finish the race and to be known by Him.
For some time now I know that YHVH has been asking me to think of the deeper things of life and what it means to be in a relationship with Him.
  Inside all of us is the person He made us to be. We really are not that person through nature, nurture and the experiences of life. We are ultimately shaped by this world.
Often we desire to be someone other than ourselves. The popular culture of society breeds that desire and disgruntlement. We can change whatever we want and be whoever we want. We strive for wealth and the acquisition of the material and are catered for by media, commerce, and the economy. Financial crashes, wars, and conflicts are caused by it. Often we want to emulate or be like someone else. Whether it be an actor, sportsman, politician, saint or sinner our focus is drawn away from who we really are. So we see that along the course of life’s pursuits we begin to lose ourselves along the way. Men cannot prepare us for entry into the kingdom for any semblance of this world disqualifies us. It is only by being changed by the hand of the potter that we can enter.
  Nathan spoke about fasting. Generally, we consider this through abstaining from food but do you know that there are other things that feed us. Whatever we fill our hours with is another source. We can be addicted to mobile phones and other devices, we can spend hours watching TV or spending time in the gym. And it’s not that difficult to abstain from them. When I go camping or walking I am surprised how fast it takes for me not even to consider these things.
  My wife and I used to walk through a graveyard by a church near a river in the dales and it was there that I began to think of the millions of souls who reach the end of the lives never fulfilling the potential within them. Now let us take a moment to consider (not just remember them) the events of our lives and what you have become because of them. Without them, who are we, what are we?
Think of this:
If I have faith then I have the potential to be the person God made me to be?
If I have no faith then am I someone else. I am who I want to be or what others want me to be.
If we strip away the things that have made us and influenced us then who are we? Really!
  We are educated to work and strive and pursue the things which we believe enriches our lives. In some way, we might even believe that those things fulfil us. Often we go for careers that we are good at or trained at but what if we could just be who we were; do the things that God made us to do and not what we were trained to do or told by others to do.
  Let me share something with you. Apart from the first three months of being saved, I have been in ministry and leadership. In those early days, I carried and fetched, cleaned toilets and swept floors, moved chairs and set up the church, and PA systems. Most times I would arrive before anyone else, even the pastor. I travelled across town and country picking people up. Sometimes, in the early years, I would have to get up early to pick people up across town and find that they were just getting out of bed when I arrived. I used to get really aggravated over this and found it very disrespectful. Here I was getting up early. Believe me, an extra half an hour would have been a delight. Putting petrol in the car, stacking up the mileage, getting to church to clean a setup and finding myself not getting back home until gone 3 pm. That was my ministry life for years and still, I had to work full time. It was tough and my marriage was suffering because of it.
  The aspect of leadership as Nathan has highlighted in this week’s pearl begins with service; service to each other of course but service to YHVH primarily. I serve because I have a relationship with Him and that’s how He expects all of us to act.
  As I act out my service I am finding out who I am. I was born with artistic skills and worked as a commercial artist for a company for many years. Those were natural skills. I learned different techniques and applications but being born with the talent helped me to learn those techniques very quickly. However, I trained and worked as a cook when I first left school. I enjoyed cooking and decided not to pursue an artistic career because I was not encouraged to do so. I had to find my own way. After four years I realised that what I wanted to do was to pursue that career as an artist. I am 57 now and have worked longer for myself that I ever did for anyone.
After all, this time, have I come to know who I really am? Well not quite, because YHVH is still on my case. I am, however, understanding that I have a yearning to be who I really am as a human being on this earth and to be a child of the most high.
  YHVH is saying to me and to you. ‘Don’t settle for what you have become, of who the world says you can be or should. If you believe in Me and trust Me you will be the person I made you to be. If you allow Me to make the necessary changes you will fulfil the potential I have placed inside of you. I have made you, I have chosen you to walk the path I have for you with Me. I will never leave you or forsake you. Just trust Me!
  Conflict begins when you don’t want to walk that path. When you contend with YHVH it will only be for a while because His word says that HE will not contend with us forever. You either want Him or you don’t.
  Now to the sinner's prayer. You will not find it anywhere in scripture. But what it does is that it draws us to the realisation of our condition. Within and of ourselves there is no hope. Hope for us comes from a greater external force. What we hope for is the chance to move out of the life we live into another one; to find a better way and a better place. YHVH wants us to live the high life with Him not the high life on this planet. He wants us to be distracted by Him and not the things of this world. The relationship He demands begins by believing that He exists and is the creator of all life and order in the universe. Once having found Him we hand over this life to Him and allow Him to take control. But He won’t just lead you in this life form. Your life has to be changed and born again. It needs to reach a higher spiritual condition. This transformation allows you into His presence so that we can commune with Him. We see in scripture that all those chosen and used by YHVH for a purpose had to be changed in this way.
  So let us be real for a moment. The saying of that prayer does not mean that you are born again. The mark of dedication and commitment to following the way and the fruit of that way is the qualifier. I know people who have said that prayer in church and in meetings and have not changed their lives in any way. There has been no genuine conversion. The prayer was said during an emotional moment. There is not only one signature on the covenant agreement my friends. For it to come into effect in our lives we have to sign and agree to the terms. YHVH knew you before you ever said the sinner’s prayer. However, He sees the heart of every repentant sinner. In all of this the struggle between what we have become and who we can ultimately be prevails. YHVH just wants you to realise that He can change your life for Him if you let Him. That’s the commitment and it’s a serious one.
  Don’t think about things too long. There has to come a time when things need to be said and done. We have to allow YHVH to impact us so that we can be a people who impact others. We have to be a people that make a difference because we are in the here and now. Touching the lives of the young for instance will change the future. You were born for this time so take it, touch it and use it. YHVH has given it to you.

Before I leave let me give you somethig to think about.

Psalm 139
1For the Leader. A Psalm of David.
O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me.
2Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
Thou understandest my thought afar off.
3Thou measurest my going about and my lying down,
And art acquainted with all my ways.
4For there is not a word in my tongue,
But, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether.
5Thou hast hemmed me in behind and before,
And laid Thy hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
Too high, I cannot attain unto it.
7Whither shall I go from Thy spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
8If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there;
If I make my bed in the nether-world, behold, Thou art there.
9If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10Even there would Thy hand lead me,
And Thy right hand would hold me.
11And if I say: ‘Surely the darkness shall envelop me,
And the light about me shall be night’;
12Even the darkness is not too dark for Thee,
But the night shineth as the day;
The darkness is even as the light.
13For Thou hast made my reins;
Thou hast knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I will give thanks unto Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15My frame was not hidden from Thee,
When I was made in secret,
And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance,
And in Thy book they were all written--
Even the days that were fashioned,
When as yet there was none of them.
17How weighty also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand;
Were I to come to the end of them, I would still be with Thee
  This scripture tells us that before you were born YHVH knew you and had a plan for you. That means that in His eyes you were born because this world needs you. That’s why you were born. How wonderful is that?
  I pray that our ministry is blessing you and that you will consider this message and the pearls we send out to you each week. As we move on as a ministry we have to constantly draw near to Father for instructions. So we are aware that our work is changing. We ask that you continue to pray and support us. In the coming weeks, we will be developing the website so that we can get more information and teachings out to you. Please let us know your thoughts and how Father is speaking to you so that we can pray for you too. We’d like to invite others to submit articles and letters, so please contact us if you feel led.

May the LORD bless you and keep you on the path.
Shalom.
Grant Marshall: Co-founder Arrows of Ephrayim Ministries.

  The following passage in Jeremiah 2 is the accusation of YHVH against a rebellious people. The indictment of adultery and idolatry ring loud in the court. Jeremiah prophesied during the latter part of the 7th century BC and declared the judgment of YHVH on Israel because of their return to idolatry.
  Because Israel had forsaken YHVH, the covenant was broken; Solomon’s temple was destroyed and Israel went into captivity in Babylon 585BC as Jeremiah had prophesied. 
  Jeremiah’s calling happened during the time of King Josiah, son of Manasseh, son of Hezekiah. It was Manasseh’s rule that saw the people fall back into pagan worship despite the righteous rule of his father Hezekiah. Unsuccessfully, Josiah failed to turn the people back to repentance and thus with the word of the Lord burning in his mouth Jeremiah prophesied.
Jeremiah 2Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
2 The word of Adonai came to me: 2 “Go and shout in the ears of Yerushalayim that this is what Adonai says:
‘I remember your devotion when you were young;
how, as a bride, you loved me;
how you followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.
3 “‘Isra’el is set aside for Adonai,
the firstfruits of his harvest;
all who devour him will incur guilt;
evil will befall them,” says Adonai.
4 Hear the word of Adonai, house of Ya‘akov
and all families in the house of Isra’el;
5 here is what Adonai says:
“What did your ancestors find wrong with me
to make them go so far away from me,
to make them go after nothings
and become themselves nothings?
6 They didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai,
who brought us out of the land of Egypt,
who led us through the desert,
through a land of wastes and ravines,
through a land of drought and death-dark shadows,
through a land where no one travels
and where no one ever lived?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to enjoy its fruit and all its good things;
but when you entered, you defiled my land
and made my heritage loathsome.
8 The cohanim didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai?’
Those who deal with the Torah did not know me,
the people’s shepherds rebelled against me;
the prophets prophesied by Ba‘al
and went after things of no value.
9 “So again I state my case against you,” says Adonai,
“and state it against your grandchildren too.
10 Cross to the coasts of the Kitti’im and look;
send to Kedar and observe closely;
see if anything like this has happened before:
11 has a nation ever exchanged its gods
(and theirs are not gods at all!)?
Yet my people have exchanged their Glory
for something without value.
12 Be aghast at this, you heavens!
Shudder in absolute horror!” says Adonai.
13 “For my people have committed two evils:
they have abandoned me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water!
14 “Is Isra’el a slave, born into serfdom?
If not, why has he become plunder?
15 The young lions are roaring at him --
how loudly they are roaring!
They desolate his country,
demolishing and depopulating his cities.
16 The people of Nof and Tachpanches
feed on the crown of your head.
17 “Haven’t you brought this on yourself
by abandoning Adonai your God
when he led you along the way?
18 If you go to Egypt, what’s in it for you?
Drinking water from the Nile?
If you go to Ashur, what’s in it for you?
Drinking water from the [Euphrates] River?
19 Your own wickedness will correct you,
your own backslidings will convict you;
you will know and see how bad and bitter
it was to abandon Adonai your God,
and how fear of me is not in you,”
says Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot.
20 “For long ago I broke your yoke;
when I snapped your chains, you said, ‘I won’t sin.’
Yet on every high hill, under every green tree,
you sprawled and prostituted yourself.
21 But I planted you as a choice vine
of seed fully tested and true.
How did you degenerate
into a wild vine for me?
22 Even if you scrub yourself
with soda and plenty of soap,
the stain of your guilt is still there before me,”
says Adonai Elohim.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not pursued the ba‘alim’?
Look at your conduct in the valley,
understand what you have done.
You are a restive young female camel,
running here and there,
24 wild, accustomed to the desert,
sniffing the wind in her lust --
who can control her when she’s in heat?
Males seeking her need not weary themselves,
for at mating season they will find her.
25 “Stop before your shoes wear out,
and your throat is dry from thirst!
But you say, ‘No, it’s hopeless!
I love these strangers, and I’m going after them.’
26 Just as a thief is ashamed when caught,
so is the house of Isra’el ashamed --
they, their kings, their leaders,
their cohanim and their prophets,
27 who say to a log, ‘You are my father,’
and to a stone, ‘You gave us birth.’
For they have turned their backs to me
instead of their faces.
But when trouble comes, they will plead,
‘Rouse yourself and save us!’
28 Where are your gods that you made for yourselves?
Let them rouse themselves,
if they can save you when trouble comes.
Y’hudah, you have as many gods
as you have cities!
29 Why argue with me? You have all
rebelled against me!” says Adonai.
30 “In vain have I struck down your people.
They would not receive correction.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets
like a marauding lion.
31 You of this generation,
look at the word of Adonai:
Have I been a desert to Isra’el?
or a land of oppressive darkness?
Why do my people say, ‘We’re free to roam,
we will no longer come to you’?
32 Does a girl forget her jewellery,
or a bride her wedding sash?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days beyond numbering.
33 You are so clever in your search for love
that the worst of women can learn from you!
34 Right there on your clothing
is the blood of the innocent poor,
although you never caught them breaking and entering.
Yet concerning all these things,
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely he’s no longer angry at me.’
Here, I am passing sentence on you,
because you say, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
36 You cheapen yourself
when you change course so often --
you will be disappointed by Egypt too,
just as you were disappointed by Ashur.
37 Yes, you will leave him too,
with your hands on your heads [in shame].
For Adonai rejects those in whom you trust;
from them you will gain nothing.”
  Prophets are called to work out the word of the Lord; in other words what they experience in their own personal lives and relationship with YHVH is allegorically manifest as a sign. During a period of persecution Jeremiah was captured and thrown into a muddy cistern and left to die. Symbolically it shows us that in our own rebellion we drink from broken or useless cisterns. They are wells that can never sustain us. The waters which they are meant to hold, run dry. Friends, YHVH is telling us that we too drink from that cistern; the cistern of adultery. Whatever the world provides we consume. We may argue that we want none of it but we are sadly part of it.
  The truth is that there is a place that YHVH has prepared for us. It is the estate of the King in which the garden removes our dependency on all the things we have come to believe we need.
  There was in that original Eden a place meant for us. We were clothed in glory. Spending time together, the Creator and His child, friend and fellow, communed. There was no need for food, work, clothing, knowledge; no need for healing, no sickness, no old age, just peace. All was at peace.
  Everything we needed was provided by Him and He delighted and was pleased with it all. The creator wanted His creation to procreate and inhabit the world so that the image of God the creator would fill it. I will return to this thought later but first let me share something with you but before I do, do not think for one moment that Eden has gone. It is still there, hidden from us and protected by a Cherubim.
  On a recent trip to Italy, the grandeur of its ancient architecture and cutlure, statues and art, was established for one thing ; the glory of Rome. The institution of the church believed that they could continue this form of adulation and give it to God but what they built was for themselves. The busts of the wealthy and the pious occupy every church, museum, courtyard and piazza. Images of the naked forms of human beings and god’s fighting great beasts and hybrids though astonishing in its execution of artistic prowess stand as monuments to those who commissioned them. The timeless signatures of artists and sculptors and ultimately the grand buildings especially of the greatest of all the great temple of Rome - the Vatican - stands only as a mausoleum to the dead Popes and phenomenally wealthy who helped established a corrupt religious system and an empire financed by wars and greed. The first popes if the truth be known were in it for themselves. Corruption, adultery, greed and sexual sin pervaded their minds. Like the ancient kings of Israel some subsequent popes tried to establish a more religious and pious form of worship.
  The emblem of the eagle embellishes architecture and memorials everywhere. Its symbol is the great crest of Babylon. That very same symbol taken by so many conquering nations since, now adorns the largest of all empires which includes nations we were born into. America is the offspring of Rome and heads the group of nations as the super power of the world. Within it stands the principalities of that kingdom; wealth, economy, military might. The central motif of the eagle of Babylon is emblazoned in its shield of government. Its official seat of government is called the house of congress and is home to 100 senators (named after the political institution of Rome) along with other house representatives.
Like Rome, America became a nation by gathering the principalities around it and became powerful by allowing other less powerful nations to join it.
Rome is not dead. Its offspring survives today. The statue in Rome of Romulus and Remus suckling from the she-wolf is an allegory of who and what we have become and ultimately what we depend upon.
  The Vatican - was built in the 16th century on what was the circus of Nero where many Christians and where the apostle Paul was said to have been executed. Hundreds of years earlier the site was swamp land. Later the site was a place of pagan worship and of prophecy. The prophets were called at that time Holy seers and that is why the name today for the site of the Vatican on which St. Peter's basilica stands is called the Holy See. Recent archaeology believes that is has discovered the tomb of Peter beneath the basilica but this is in dispute.
  In another part of the city the Byzantine Pantheon (meaning ‘temple of every god) was commissioned during the reign of the Emperor Augustus 27BC-14AD and finished by Emperor Hadrian in 126 AD. It was a place of pagan worship and a temple dedicated to the gods of the conquered nations an became a Christian church and remains so to this day as  ‘the Basilica of St Mary and the martyrs.
  The empire of Rome ultimately could not survive, simply because it clashed with the civilization’s and cultures it tried to assimilate into its own. The clash caused nothing but conflict. That same goal is trying to be achieved with the UN in its quest to create a single world system. They call it now ‘The Global Partnership’ and soon every nation will have to agree to its terms. We have seen many of its policies and strategies rolled out in the last two years. Their historic agenda came into force in September 2015 and was officially adopted at the UN summit on Sustainable Development on 1st January 2016. Their policies have a fifteen year window in which to be implemented which will take us to 2030.
  Centuries later that same imperial model of Rome transferred itself to another nation that became a global empire; Great Britain a United Kingdom with a commonwealth of conquered countries. Once again, the clash of nations began. Historians though not all in agreement state the official moment of its imperial status began in the mid 1500’s -1600’s. By the end of WW2 its decline began to speed up and by the 1960’s we began to see the independence of many of its colonies. That's less than 500 years. In 1997 the independence of Hong Kong sealed the end of an era.
  The nation of Britain opened corridors of government, global trade, influenced the economies and religious and judicial systems of many countries in much the same way as the empire of Rome.The legacy of Rome bequeathed to the modern world its offspring - the daughter of Babylon.Historically, the western empire of Rome during the Republican Era lasted also about 500 years compared to the 1500 years of the eastern Byzantine empire that eventually succumbed to the onslaught of its Arab wars, internal and civil conflict and finally to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
The whore of Babylon earned its title from sleeping with the nations. In the modern era its illegitimate offspring gave rise to a united nation of states made up of many nations.
The eagle, the imperial symbol of the power of Rome, emblazons the coats of arms of many nations and has found its way into the symbology of the church. Often found holding the word of God, it stands as lecterns in many churches today in all its golden sculptured glory.
  When we look closer into the ancient imagery of Rome we can see in many places throughout the city the statues of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf. Romulus is the brother after whom Rome was founded. There is however debate on whether their story is myth or reality. However, the symbolism draws our attention to the dependence of men upon the beast.
I try always on my travels to ask the Lord to reveal, if anything He wants me to gather. On this occasion and having gotten over the splendour of Rome I asked the Lord if there was any correlation with what I have seen and what is now transpiring in the weather front on the coast of the USA. Hurricane Irma is now ravaging the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Floods in recent weeks in Texas a state as large as some countries have caused vast amounts of destruction and the pictures coming from the devastated areas left in the wake of the storm are truly apocalyptic.
From east to west we have seen devastation by fire and water, wind and wave. Opposite the Colosseum and the circus of Maximus in which many Christians were martyred lies an area called the Palatine Hill. Developed into place of respite for senators and the elite of Roman society the gardens incorporate a cistern. The hydration of the area is truly a feat of engineering as is the rest of the water supply through miles of aqueducts built across the ancient city. The Palatine Hill was the place that was said to have been the abode of Romulus.
  I have tried in a nutshell to bring you a little history and some sort of correlation between the ancient and modern forms of Babylon. I believe that what the Lord is saying very clearly is that our dependence is on the beast as we feed from under him. The cistern represents the cup from which we drink and are sustained.
Do not be offended by this statement my friends. We are of Christ and are under no condemnation but what I speak of is concerning the world and the world we are part of.
  Friends, the reality is this; that even tho we call ourselves Christians and Believers in Messiah Yeshua we are still in the system of Babylon and we drink from its cup. We do not realise how much we depend on it.The call and the challenge to us seems clear; the time to come out of her is getting closer. The judgement of the wind and wave is coming upon the world. It represents a storm that is increasing in magnitude in heaven and manifesting upon earth.
  On September 9th during the London Para-Olympic Games in 2012 during a ceremony called the ‘Festival of Fire’ a Druid convocation was uttered.  
Ex-Soldier Rory McKenzie (who had lost one leg due to roadside mine in Iraq) – stood on a stage high above the crowd in the Olympic stadium, wearing a leather jacket, and appearing to be `reading a book by hand’. Calling to the spirits of Autumn, Winter, spring and Summer…and the energies of Water, Earth, Air & Fire.
This what he spoke;
“I call upon the Spirit of Summer. The spirit of fire, of energy of passion; spirit of the noonday sun, the heat of summer, vitality and abundance. 
I call upon the spirit of Winter. The spirit of earth, of the womb of creation; of the night and the snows of winter, deep roots and ancient stones. 
I call upon the spirit of Spring. The spirit of air, the breath of life; of sunrise, of new life and new growth. 
I call upon the spirit of Autumn. The spirit of water, of the ebb and flow of emotion; of open seas and running streams, of cleansing rain; spirit of the evening sun, of twilight and of Autumn.”
Rory then went on to talk about the Earth, Ancestors, Circle and more..
“The circle is unbroken,
The ancestors awoken.
May the songs of the Earth
and of her people ring true.
Hail to the Festival of the flame
of root and branch, tooth and claw,
fur and feather, of earth and sea and sky”

The declaration was broadcast from this nation to 700 million viewers world wide.
  As a ministry we highlighted this event in our gathering at Tabernacles and a prophetic message that judgement was about to come upon the earth in the form of extreme and un-presidented events. The responsibility as a result of that invocation fell upon this nation.
  On that day a curse was spoken and many watching and taking part in that celebration unknowingly agreed with what was said. The festival of fire was a celebration of man’s creativity and industry. It was glorifying the deeds and accomplishment of men. Remember the ancients games the Olympics were dedicated to the Roman god ‘ Zeus’
  The imperial model is a system that we were all born into. Our parents register us into it when we are born. We observe its laws, religions, education and economy, banking systems and pay taxes to it that fund insidious and malicious causes and of course many good ones too. Though America can be said to be a daughter of the Babylon it nonetheless is part of a larger imperial system; a super nation among nations. It is a principality in a greater kingdom - the UN. The unification of nations was the concept of Rome. Today, even the Roman Catholic Church allows its members to practice idolatry and witchcraft so long as they remain within the church. The relationship between God and man on earth comes through mediation of the Vicar of Christ and not through spirit.
With whom do we as Believers find congress? Who is the one we serve and worship.
Mathew 15:6-9’ Thus by your tradition you make null and void the word of God! 7 You hypocrites! Yesha‘yahu was right when he prophesied about you,
8 ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away from me.
9 Their worship of me is useless,
because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’”[c]
10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand this! 11 What makes a person unclean is not what goes into his mouth; rather, what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean!”

Isaiah 29:13
Then Adonai said:
“Because these people approach me with empty words,
and the honor they bestow on me is mere lip-service;
while in fact they have distanced their hearts from me,
and their ‘fear of me’ is just a mitzvah of human origin --
14 therefore, I will have to keep shocking these people
with astounding and amazing things,
until the ‘wisdom’ of their ‘wise ones’ vanishes,
and the ‘discernment’ of their ‘discerning ones’ is hidden away.”
It’s what comes out of our mouths my friends that defile us!
Come out from among them, be separate, be Holy the Lord say’s.
  The truth is that if we do not obey this then we are being disobedient and if we don’t believe that we can achieve this then we are in distrust or faithless. We are disqualified from being Just and are just like the spies who brought back the bad report.
The challenge to walk away from the system is the greatest one we will face.
We are in this world but not of it…Our role is bring the news of the Kingdom and get out
The present system will fall as Rome fell and as Britain fell and as America is falling so is the kingdom they are all under.
The falling away will come from the faith as the world system and the corrupt virus infects those who love it and are drawn to it. But as those that fall from the faith trust to their own pantheon so will true believers fall from the system of men.
Get off the tower before it falls. Get out of the house before the roof comes down. YHVH is going to judge soon. The window of grace is open still but the gap is getting smaller and time is running out.
The great lie of the world is that we are free. The doctrine of Rome and the democracy of nations wants us to believe it. But only a personal relationship with God through Jesus can give us that true freedom.
It comes through worshipping God who is spirit and it comes by obeying His laws that give us true freedom of life. It is the way we were made to function. Worship in any other form is bondage and idolatry.
The Exodus Principle.
 I spoke earlier about the world that YHVH wanted us to occupy. Well we have certainly done that. But there is a problem. The world we occupy is not the one that He created it is the one we have created. That’s why YHVH’s desire is that we come out it. If we are meant to be in this world but not of it then how do we reconcile the following passages of Yeshua?
John 15:19Amplified Bible (AMP)
19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love [you as] its own and would treat you with affection. But you are not of the world [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this the world hates you.
John 17:16Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.


1 John 4:5Amplified Bible (AMP)
5 They [who teach twisted doctrine] are of the world and belong to it; therefore they speak from the [viewpoint of the] world [with its immoral freedom and baseless theories—demanding compliance with their opinions and ridiculing the values of the upright], and the [gullible one of the] world listens closely and pays attention to them.
How great was that sin that the first people committed that despite the countless billions of humans and thousands of years since past we still find ourselves here. In essence a filter of people and time still has not brought us to the end of the course; but soon my friends we will be there.
YHVH will not fail and His Will will be fulfilled. The return to the garden is imminent.
Is it at all possible that we can make it? Of course we can, but our decision means that we are to except the realization that the world can never give us what we need. The cistern is broken. There is no reflection to be seen in its waters. It is all smoke and mirrors sent to deceive us; it will not cushion your fall if you should topple into it.

In the recent disasters; there is no doubt that many prayed for help. As Believers we pray to YHVH the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel but I am perplexed by the prayers of those who did not and do not know Him; who do not know Yeshua as their Lord. Who did they pray to? I am sure also that perhaps many found our saviour amongst the wind and the waves. That must be the truth.

The beginning of our journey in the wilderness establishes this one principle; it is to trust in the Lord. And the only way that trust is developed is in a personal relationship. If I am going to follow Him and walk with you through every valley, up every hill and mountain, then I must know that He is YHVH and what YHVH says He will do He will do. Doubt and fear have no place in that relationship. I has not been written on my map.

If we cannot trust in the word of the Lord then in whom do we trust? We cannot even begin the journey if we have any distrust or question. The journey begins with the choice to follow and take up the challenge. Within the multitude and even with the will to begin and change; there will be the desire to turn back to Egypt where life in bondage seems simpler and easier. Though the roads ahead will not be easy there will be no burden to carry. The will to survive will be planted in generations to come. The path we walk is the narrow one that Messiah spoke of and many will not pass through the door even if they desire to. How much time we spend with our Saviour and how much change which has occurred will qualify those who wish to enter..

When that exodus begins it will begin with YHVH’s people realising the state in which they are in and the state of the state they occupy. Exiting the imperial system will bring true freedom but it will come at a cost because the umbilical link will be hard sever. When the support system is turned off we will struggle as a baby learns to breath on its own but that initial breath of air will revive and exhilarate us.

If Yeshua is not your Lord and YHVH not the God you worship then you have signed up for the wrong course. To be a person of the Way means that there is at least a simple understanding of it.
Wanting simply to leave the world system will not get you through. Our desire as believers to leave this world is great and the cry of the bride I believe is getting louder and YHVH hears it. Heaven is being prepared. The war in the spiritual realm is increasing that is why we are all feeling that something must and will happen soon. The signs are so clear. Are you feeling the tremor’s my friend?

One day we will ascend the mount of God and breath that pure and perfect air and feel the gentle breeze but until then we have to breathe the oxygen of this earth and partake of what sustains our frail human frames
Proverbs 5Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding;
2 so that you will preserve discretion
and your lips keep watch over knowledge.
3 For the lips of a woman who is a stranger drop honey,
her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death,
her steps lead straight to Sh’ol;
6 she doesn’t walk the level path of life --
her course wanders all over, but she doesn’t know it.
7 So now, children, listen to me;
don’t turn away from what I am saying:
8 distance your way from her,
stay far from the door of her house;
9 so that you won’t give your vigor to others
and your years to someone who is cruel,
10 so strangers won’t be filled with your strength
and what you worked for go to a foreign house.
11 Then, when your flesh and bones have shrunk,
at the end of your life, you would moan,
12 “How I hated discipline!
My whole being despised reproof,
13 I ignored what my teachers said,
I didn’t listen to my instructors.
14 I took part in almost every kind of evil,
and the whole community knew it.”
15 Drink the water from your own cistern,
fresh water from your own well.
16 Let what your springs produce be dispersed outside,
streams of water flowing in the streets;
17 but let them be for you alone
and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain, the wife of your youth,
be blessed; find joy in her --
19 a lovely deer, a graceful fawn;
let her breasts satisfy you at all times,
always be infatuated with her love.
20 My son, why be infatuated with an unknown woman?
Why embrace the body of a loose woman?
21 For Adonai is watching a man’s ways;
he surveys all his paths.
22 A wicked person’s own crimes will trap him,
he will be held fast by the ropes of his sin.
23 He will die from lack of discipline;
the magnitude of his folly will make him totter and fall.


YHVH’s word to us is to drink not from the broken cistern but from our own.

John 4:13-16.“Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty again! On the contrary, the water I give him will become a spring of water inside him, welling up into eternal life!”
15 “Sir, give me this water,” the woman said to him, “so that I won’t have to be thirsty and keep coming here to draw water

Shalom.
Grant Marshall Co-founder AOE Minstries.

​The word 'Cult' means a system or group of people who observe or follow a figure to which they ascribe devotion. It can apply to a trend or fashion within society as well as to a person. With regards to religious cults who often appear small,society often sees them as misguided, strange and sometimes imposing.
The following of Yeshua/Jesus is also a cult, why? because by accepting 'The Way' we are transferred from one realm/kingdom to another and our very culture changes.
Whatever we follow and adhere to becomes our nature and culture.
We are a small community and even out of the great numbers of believers through out time YHVH has extracted a smaller number He calls the remnant. All true believers are part of this company.

The saying goes like this: we become like the company we keep. 
That becomes our culture.
That culture educates us and teaches us in the way that we should go,
But it goes far deeper than that.
Once it reaches and permeates into our thoughts it is almost impossible for us to turn away from it.
There is a sublime interdependence on it. It builds fences around us that we are too happy to keep because it makes us feel safe.
We don't have to think of anything because the world says 'we have provided it for you'. From the food we take into our bodies to the knowledge we take into our minds that's what we become. That is our culture and woe be tide anyone who wants to think differently and disturb the peaceful apple cart.
But friends, what if there really was a way that is far better than all of that? What if there was a better way, a purer undiluted way of living a life that can change a persons thoughts and habits that can make everyones life far far richer. What if suddenly the parameters  of our fences were suddenly widened or removed. What if that interdependence not longer rested on the powers and authorities of this world but upon the greatest power that exists today and that has ever existed.
Why do so many choose not to even look at that alternative culture.
The answer is FEAR.
We need reassurance and a gaurantee that the choices we make will turn out good. You see in the most part we are only comfortable if we know someone has gone before us and the more celebrity or status that person has the more credible it will be. That for us is a far better witness.

For example let us take a famous name who has found Jesus. his reputation precedes him and the change of circumstances from his previous life is so extreme that surely it must be heard by everyone. So like so many churches do they get them to come and speak. So they come and the house is full after charging a ticket price of course. The speaker receives their reward and gets to sell a few books or cd's and we go away telling everyone who we'd just come to see. What for instance would be the scenario if we met a man on the street; his demeanour and dishelvedment tells us that he may be at a point of need. Maybe if we took a little time we might find out that he really has given up all for Jesus. I wonder what the chances are of getting that man on the stage of the church to tell his testimony.

Now those two examples might seem extreme but Jesus teaches us this:

 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.Luke 12:33 (NIV)

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 14:7-11

I wonder how many will leave their services and boast about meeting the HOLY SPIRIT and go out and buy His book.

John 10: 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.

The better way comes by being renewed through a transformed mind and having in possession a new heart. Choice and freedom is not doing want we want but doing what is right. God gives us the choice to live righteously by receiving the righteousness of Christ.
The better way is not as big as the world as we are led to believe no!  It's much smaller than that. The better way goes beyond our set parameters and the thoughts and systems of a fallen world. The enemy of our souls has presented to us as he did in the garden an alternative where we can be who we want, when we want and how we want. We have the ability to make and conjure up our own celebrity and pursue it at all cost.
However, the spirit of truth says this.

25 Now large crowds were going along with Jesus; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]—he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross[expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow after Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] cannot be My disciple.Luke 14:25-33Amplified Bible (AMP)

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

My friends the challenge of change demands that we overcome fear and begin to trust in God. If it means that we go against the so called norm then that is what we need to do. 

It may come as a shock to some but this is the truth; the world is not how we see it but how God sees it. It was His vision that began it and it will be His decision when He brings it all to an end. But the redeemed can rejoice because our eternity is in the habitation of our Great King.

Dedicated Service
12 Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you]. Romans 12:1-3Amplified Bible (AMP)

The choice for us today is : Get with the plan!
Blessings.
Grant

​We are coming up to the first festival of YHVH, that of Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, yet, what does it mean when we say, as scripture states Yeshua is our Passover lamb? When we look at Passover we see that this reveals a picture of Yeshua the Passover lamb of YHVH who takes away the sins of the world, but what does this mean? Let us look at the Passover and seek to understand this as we strive to lay precept upon precept in an endeavour to understand the deeper meaning within this crucial concept, of Yeshua being our Passover lamb.

Let us look at Passover and the purpose of the Passover lamb, to do this we need to look at the first Passover which took place just prior to the Exodus from Egypt.

We read within scripture how YHVH defeated all of Egypt’s gods through the various plagues He brought upon Egypt, while at the same time YHVH was revealing who He was to Israel, showing that He is the one true Elohim, El Shaddia. The final plague, death of the firstborn is the one we will focus on.

We read in Exodus 12: 21 -23 the instructions YHVH gave to Moses on how He will save the first born males of Israel.  Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

We further read in Exodus 12 how YHVH instructed the people to take a one-year-old male lamb, one without any defect or blemish, and that the bones are not to be broken.

When we remember Passover we can draw many parallels with Yeshua and the passive lamb, however, there is a deeper meaning found within this account, one that is entwined within Messianic expectations revealed within Bible prophecy concerning the Messiah of Israel. It is this I want to examine more closely in relation to Passover.

Within scripture we find that the Messiah will unite the tribes of Israel, that He would unify the House of Judah and the House of Israel, which this is the New Covenant which the Messiah would make with the children of Israel (Jeremiah 31:31, Hebrews 8:8). A key note here is that the word for New found in Jeremiah 31:31 is strongs 2319 chadash (khaw-daws) new:--fresh, new thing. It comes from strongs 2318 chadash (khaw-dash) a primitive root; to be new; causatively, to rebuild:--renew, repair. The word New used is not referring to a new thing but rather something being renewed, repaired like when we say “it is a New moon” it is not a new moon but rather a renewed moon. It is this understanding of the word New which is used here in Jeremiah 31:31 and quoted in Hebrews 8:8. This therefore implies that it is renewing of a covenant which has previously been established but has for some reason broken down. It is not a new covenant that disregards the previous one.

A key Messianic expectation as outlined within prophecy is the renewing of the covenant with the House of Israel (Ephraim) and the House of Judah, which in doing so will reunite the tribes and make them on in the Messiah’s hand, as records in Ezekiel 37.
However, the Rabbis cannot understand how the Messiah can do this, as the House of Israel often referred to Ephraim or Joseph was given a bill of divorce by YHVH (Jer 3:8) and sent into the nations for committing spiritual adultery with pagan gods. Therefore, under Torah a man cannot remarry his wife whom he has divorced for adultery, nor can a priest marry an adulterous woman (Lev 21:7,14; Deut 24:4). Therefore, how can YHVH bring back the House of Israel into covenant with himself when He has already stated within His Torah, this cannot happen?

The answer is found within the Torah, one which Sa’ul refers to when speaking about the renewed covenant, that the wife is free to remarry once the husband has died. Therefore, when Messiah died to pay the price for sin, He also made a way for the House of Israel (Ephraim) to come back into covenant, but not just for them but for anyone who believes in Him, who calls on the name of YHVH.

You see so much more happened on the cross, than what people teach today. Yes, the gospel message is a simple message, even when it is taught in its entirety, as it reveals how Great YHVH is.

But, what about the Passover lamb, well what was the Passover lamb for? The purpose of the Passover lamb was to save, redeem the first born sons of Israel, so that they would not die. However, for them to be redeemed they had to obey the commandments of YHVH, that of staying inside the house and placing the blood of a one-year male lamb on their doorposts with hyssop. If they did not place the blood on the door or remain in their homes, then the first born male would die. They had to in faith apply the blood of the lamb and obey YHVH’s commands, expecting as they trusted in YHVH to redeem and save the first born males of the household.

Does YHVH have a first born? We find in scripture that YHVH has a firstborn son, it is Ephraim or the House of Israel (Jer 31:9). Therefore, what we see in the Passover, is that the Messiah would come and redeem the firstborn of YHVH the House of Israel- Ephraim by paying the price for sin, as scripture states, Ephraim had made a covenant with death, which was because they had rejected YHVH resulting in them being given a bill of divorce. Yet, YHVH had already made a way to redeem them and bring them back into covenant, but in doing so He would also make a way for all of humanity to come into a covenant relationship with Him. As He grafts in the wild olive tree back into the main root of Israel, He makes a way for all to come to YHVH, through the atoning sacrifice made by Yeshua.

You see Messiah did so much more when He died than what is taught, we see this in the parable of the prodigal son, which his often taught that the prodigal is a sinner who does not know YHVH, but let me ask how can someone who does not know YHVH be called a son? It is impossible for to be a son of YHVH is to be in covenant with Him. John himself writes this that through Yeshua we have the right to become sons of YHVH (John 1). A none believer is not a son of YHVH but a son of HaSatan, they do not become a son of YHVH until they enter into covenant as they are gentiles, out of covenant. It is when they come into a covenant and are no longer a gentile as they are in covenant that they become a son of YHVH and a citizen of Israel. You see the parable of the prodigal son is speaking of the House of Israel the son who goes away and the House of Judah the one who remains with the father.

This is the Gospel of the kingdom which is to be proclaimed prior to the return of Messiah, it is this gospel which Sa’ul proclaimed which he said if anyone comes to you and proclaims a different gospel let him be accursed (Gal 1:8). Why did he say this? It is because if the hearts of the fathers and the hearts of the sons do not turn back to each other, the land will be cursed (Mal 4:6; Luke 1:17). Thus if this fact is not proclaimed then HaSatan has won, this is why he has sort to water down the word of YHVH and prevent the Gospel in its entirety from being proclaimed. However, YHVH is moving in these days by the Ruach HaKodesh so that this Gospel of the kingdom, as shown in the Passover, in the parables, as prophesised by the prophets is being proclaimed and will be proclaimed prior to Yeshua’ return. It is this unity which Yeshua was referring to in John 17, for it is as the unity of the houses is brought about that YHVH’s name is glorified. It is the House of Israel who are the sheep which had been scattered because they were not shepherded correctly. It is these which Yeshua said, I have sheep who He would bring into the pen, which His sheep know His voice. We see this in the passage in Genesis when Joseph is watching his father’s sheep, in the Hebrew it says that they are the aleph and the tav sheep, who is the alpeh and the tav? Messiah Yeshua, and Israel are His sheep and He will shepherd them, He will unite them when He returns.

The above is just a very brief overview of the Passover lamb and the gospel of the kingdom, which is the mystery of the gospel which Sa’ul wrote. I encourage you to re-examine key prophecy’s concerning the reunification of the houses and study the history of Israel, as it will give you a greater understanding of Bible prophecy and of the Gospel of the Kingdom which will be proclaimed. Remember Yeshua is the king of Israel and He will reign over a united Israel.

The gospel of Salvation preached today is only a part of the Gospel of the Kingdom, that when we accept YHVH’s gift of salvation and make Yeshua our Lord and king we become a citizen of the kingdom if Israel but this is only the beginning we are then to submit to the word of YHVH and Yeshua and be discipled in how to live in the kingdom of YHVH, which Torah is key to this as the commands of YHVH contained within all scripture are the key principles of kingdom living.

I pray I have left many questions as it is as we question we learn; the answers are found within scripture if we read it in context.

May YHVH bless and keep you,

shalom

Nathan