We are getting some fabulous questions about set-apart community, and we want to answer those questions. But in order to answer those questions, we first need to understand the spirit behind set-apart community. Because there is a certain Spirit of Elohim that, when we have it, we want to live in set-apart community, and basically nothing else will do. And when we do not have the Spirit, set-apart community becomes impossible.
Romim (Romans) 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, set-apart, acceptable to Elohim, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of Elohim.
If we really understand what Elohim is doing for us, then the only reasonable thing is to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to pay out our lives in service to Him. If we do not have that spirit, set-apart community is not going to work. If we do have that spirit, we are going to have a burning yearning desire to join in with set-apart community. Because as we are going to see, this is the very foundation and the basic building block. Just as the family is the basic building block of society, set-apart community is the basic building block of Elohim’s kingdom.
These are not easy things we are talking about. What we are talking about is something that goes against our very nature. Our very human nature is selfish, it is something that we want to do for ourselves. We want to get for ourselves, and we really do not think so much about what happens to other people. Really, we are just concerned for ourselves. Our Jewish brethren in the land of Israel have a saying about this and they mock this kind of an attitude. It is what they call the Yetzer Hara, or the evil inclination. When they mock it they say, “What I want and everyone else can die!” Because that is basically the way human beings are. We are concerned about ourselves and not truly concerned about communities beyond our own immediate family, at least not in our flesh. It is something else that is transformed that goes beyond the flesh, and that is what leads to true community.
Well, the reason we talk about this is that you have to change the heart of man before you can change the government of man. As we see in Revelation and the End Times, as well as in the video series Revelation Simplified, and as we have and will see in other presentations, we are coming into the end times. If in fact, we are not already there, it is coming upon us very, very quickly. As we explain in the Revelation studies, right now we believe we are around the time of the sixth seal. We are awaiting a war, and then after that comes the sealing of the hundred and forty-four thousand. The seventh seal opens and comes to the seven trumpets, or the seven years of tribulation, the second half being the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. It is going to be a time so difficult that we can barely even imagine it now. It is going to be that bad.
And then after that come the seven cups of judgment that are poured out upon Babylon and Babylon falls. So, Babylon falls at trumpet seven. The cup (vial or bowl) judgments are poured out and then after that comes Armageddon (or the wedding feast). And after Armageddon comes the in gathering when the harvest is brought back to the land of Israel. And then we settle in the land of Israel and eventually we end up with what is called the Nasi of Ezekiel 44-46. The Nasi is effectively a constitutional prince. So yes, he is a prince, and it is a hereditary rulership position, but he has laws he has to obey. He must obey Yahweh’s Torah constitutionally.
This is going to be an amazing time. One thing that is most important about this is the way things are going to have to work. And in this video presentation and in future portions, we are going to see exactly how the building blocks fit together, how Yahweh wants his people to live in set-apart communities, and how this is going to lead to the reign of the Messiah on the far side of the tribulation, Armageddon. and the ingathering. So, we are going to visit the same basic verses we always look at.
Daniel 7:26-27
26 “But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his [the little horn’s] dominion, To consume and destroy it forever.
27 Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High [us, Nazarene Israel]. His Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”
We are talking about Nazarene Israel, not Messianic Israel, not Messianic Judaism. Check out our studies, we stand by them. But notice that the reign is given to the saints, the people of the Most High, and yet this qualifies as the people serving and obeying Him. And the way that works is that He is our Head, we are His body. He is the Groom, we are the bride. Together we are one unit because husband and wife are one flesh, the Head and body are one body. But brothers and sisters, this takes that special spirit that was lost in and shortly after the Garden of Eden, and this spirit brings us back into connection with Yahweh our Elohim, the Most High. And that is the spirit we need to talk about in this presentation because that is the spirit that allows set-apart communities, the basic building block of the kingdom, to exist.
Tehillim (Psalms) 2:7-9
7 [Yeshua says] “I will declare the decree:
Yahweh has said to Me, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
We continue reading.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 2:26-27
26 “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations –
27 ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron’ they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessel – as I also have received from My Father…”
“He who overcomes” is Israel. The Overcomers of Elohim, Israel the Upright Ones are the Overcomers of Elohim. We need to ‘keep His works’, meaning, work while it is still day. We need to keep His works until the end. We cannot do that just sitting around in someone’s living room reading Scripture verses and not really doing much of anything else. It is not about sharing a few memes on Facebook. We have to actually keep His works until the end, we have to do the things He tells us to do. There is plenty to do.
So, what is going to happen? Are we going to smash the nations in pieces in Yeshua’s great love? No! What is going to happen is that Yahweh has always wanted a kingdom for His Son. That is what He has always wanted. So He is raising up a body as it says in Ephesians 4, to raise itself up into the head which is Yeshua. He is raising up a bride fit and worthy for His Son, but it is not an easy thing. And just because we are called to the task, and we are aware of the calling does not mean we are achieving the calling. We all need to work and keep His works until the end. It is so very important.
But what we see again as we continue reading in Revelation, is the formula that gives us the authority to rule and reign over the nations with Yeshua’s rod of iron. Because just as Elohim is love, there is a certain group of people who are protected in the end times. There are seven assemblies in Revelation but only one of them is protected from the time of trial in the end. I do not know about you, but I want to be a part of it.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 3:7a, 10
7a “And to the messenger of the assembly in Philadelphia write, …
10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
[You cannot change the government of man until you change the spirit in man.]
Philadelphia means true brotherly love or fraternal love. Love for the brethren. We are commanded to love Yahweh our Elohim with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our strength, and also to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. That is the spirit we need. To love Yahweh with all we have got, put Him above anything else in the world, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Philadelphia. But we must do it, not just to talk about it. But man must first change before governments will change.
Well, how is man going to learn unless someone shows them how to do it? This is our calling. Because the government of the world is going to fall at trumpet seven. Something has got to be there in order to take its place, a new form of government has to exist in order to take the place of the Babylonian government. And how are the people going to want to submit to it after all the tremendous abuses of Babylon over thousands of years? Unless they can tell it is a truly servant-led organization where the people truly care about others, at least as much as they love themselves. That is the key to the whole thing.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 4:8
8 Now Qayin [Cain] talked with Hevel [Abel] his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Qayin rose up against Hevel his brother and killed him.
9 Then Yahweh said to Qayin, “Where is Hevel your brother?”
10 [Qayin] said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The answer to that question, brothers and sisters, is a resounding “Yes!”. Since the beginning, Yahweh has expected all of us to realize that we are the brotherhood of mankind, but mankind has left its mission. So Yahweh is raising up a saved nation of Nazarene Israel to show the world the way things should be. And if we will understand that “Yes, we are our brother’s keepers”, then yes, we can live in set-apart communities. And yes, we can be the basic building block that forms the foundation of the unified kingdom of Yeshua that will rule and reign over the nations for a thousand years. Our children will be a part of it, and it is important to understand.
We are getting some really great questions about set-apart community. And as I prayed, I realized that the only way we could really answer the questions is to first talk about the spirit that makes set-apart community possible. Because spirits are basically energy. Spirits are attitudes. We have all heard people say that someone is ‘a very hostile energy’, or ‘Very negative energy about him’, or this kind of thing. Or you meet someone, and they say ‘Wow, that person really has a calm, soothing energy’. Well, our famous Jewish brother Albert Einstein had a theory of relativity which says that “E” equals “MC squared”. Basically, what that means is that energy is equal to mass mutlitplied by the speed of light, to the squared. What he is saying is that energy is equal to matter moving at a certain speed. Okay. If we can see that energy is equal to matter at whatever speed, then can we see that energy is effectively matter and matter is effectively energy? Can we see that? And why would it matter? Let us read First John in chapter 3, verse 15.
Yochanan Aleph (1 John) 3:15
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
His energy is wrong, he has negative energy. He has an energy that is going to manifest the works of the flesh because of his wrong spirit. So what is the correct spirit? Part of the correct spirit is that we need to realize our need to go beyond the flesh. This is what people fail at so many times, they do not go beyond the flesh. Even believers. So many of the Messianic and even some of the Nazarenes do not understand, at least not in practice, that the spirit and the flesh are opposites and that we cannot serve two masters. We are going to love the one and hate the other, or else we are going to hold that one and despise the other. We cannot have it both ways. There is effectively no way to be double-minded and walk both in the flesh and in the spirit, it has got to be one or the other. So we have to make a wholehearted commitment to having the renewing of our mind, and part of that calls for going beyond our flesh. Because it is not about flesh the kingdom, it is about His spirit.
Marqaus (Mark) 3:31-32
31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.
32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.”
Yeshua was not impressed with his physical family because Yeshua’s not judging things according to the flesh. Yeshua is judging things according to the spirit because that is the only way to judge them.
Marqaus (Mark) 3:33-35
33 But He [Yeshua] answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?”
34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!”
35 For whoever does the will of Elohim is My brother and My sister and mother.”
That is so important to remember. We have got to remember, we cannot choose for the flesh, we have got to choose for the spirit.
Well, Yahweh is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Yahweh does not change. Many people say that Yeshua brought something new, but we see he did not bring something new. He came to show us the way to understand and interpret our Father’s Torah, His Father’s instructions.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 13:6-8
6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers,
7 of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth,
8 you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him…”Devarim (Deuteronomy) 13:9-11
9 “…but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.
10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
11 So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.”
Now, we cannot put someone to death in the dispersion because right now we are submitted to the governments that are appointed over us. That is part of our punishment for having disobeyed His Torah. Part of the difficulty is that a misunderstanding of this verse is something that has been used to put Yeshua to death, and that is one of the reasons we are persecuted by our Orthodox brethren. Precisely because of this verse. They misunderstand this as applying to Yeshua because they do not understand that Yeshua is Elohim’s Son. But this verse still applies, this verse is still part of the Torah. And even though we cannot walk it out in the Levitical manner, the point has always been to help establish a kingdom for Elohim and His Son, whatever serves to bring us closer to the goal of a global, unified, ordered kingdom for Yeshua. That is what we need to be doing.
Luqa (Luke) 10:29
29 But he [the lawyer], wanting to justify himself, said to Yeshua, “And who is my neighbor?”
We see in Luke chapter 10 that the lawyer wanted to justify himself in his pharisaic, hypocritical position and is testing Yeshua. We are talking about attitudes. Let us look at Yeshua’s answer.
Luqa (Luke) 10:30-32
30 Then Yeshua answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side.
32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
In context, the man who fell among thieves was probably Jewish because he came down from Jerusalem. Now let us read about the Samaritan.
Luqa (Luke) 10:33-35 Wrong Version
33 “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he said, “Am I my brother’s keeper? He’s not my flesh or my blood, so he’s not my concern.
34 My mother and my brothers and my family are in another village, so I’m not going to worry about him. In fact, he belongs to another nation, so let his own people take care of him.
35 Look, I need to take care of me and my family, and everyone else can die.”
Oh no! Wait! That is not how it reads, is it? But is that not the way the world looks at most things? Especially for those of us who were born and raised in the United States? I mean, that is kind of the way the system works is that I am going to take care of me, and you are going to take care of you. That is basically free-market capitalism for you. So there are not really many people taking care of each other. Because the ethic is not one of taking care of each other, the ethic is not one of community where everyone is involved in everyone’s matters. There is more of a dog-eat-dog principle of ‘I am going to take care of me, let you take care of you, let the chips fall where they may.’ Because it is law of the jungle out there. Well, that is not how Yahweh wants it in Scripture, especially not among His own people. Let us see how the Samaritan actually reacted.
Luqa (Luke) 10:33-35
33 “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’
Those of us who know what the two-house theory is should understand the importance of this man being a Samaritan. As we know from the two-house theory (or the mystery of the two houses), the nation of Israel split into two parts. After the reigns of kings David and Solomon, the Assyrians then came in and took the northern ten tribes (actually the majority of the twelve tribes), took them out of the nation, and scattered them into Assyria. And then they brought in others from other nations and repopulated and resettled the northern kingdom area. The resulting mixed race was what are called the Samaritans. Well, being of a mixed-race is not really much news to Ephraim because our great, great grandmother’s name was Asenath, the wife of Joseph. So Ephraim is a half-breed right from the start. It is highly symbolic when we consider the fact this man was a Samaritan.
The Samaritan man had the right spirit. He did not have Qayin’s spirit, he did not say “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Luqa (Luke) 10:36-37
36 “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And [the lawyer] said,
“He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Yeshua said to him,
“Go and do likewise.”(This is the spirit that Yeshua wants us to develop, is that of doing good to all of mankind. This overcomes the spirit of Qayin.)
Yeshua wants us to develop this spirit of caring about people. Even though they are not of our own flesh and our own blood. Because originally, in the beginning, all mankind was meant to be a family. But most of mankind fell away. So the job fell then to Israel to be the tool through which Yahweh Elohim would bring about the brotherhood of mankind again. Yeshua speaks to the same spirit in Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 43.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:43-45
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I say to you, love your enemies,
bless those who curse you,
do good to those who hate you, and
pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust….”
Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:46-48
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Do not even the Babylonians do the same? Do not even our unsaved Jewish brothers do the same? Do not even the prosperity gospel Christians and the book salesmen do the same? Do not even the Babylonian believers greet one another? Do not be that way. Yeshua wants to make His kingdom nation out of those who love his brother and sister and who seek to live according to this spirit. There are certain people who understand what is required and those are the people that Yeshua wants to select as His bride.
Galatim (Galatians) 6:7-8
7 Do not be deceived, Elohim is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
However we are with Yahweh, that is how Yahweh is going to be with us. If we are going to be good to other people, Yahweh is going to make other people be good to us. When we put out the good, loving, Yahweh is going to make other people put forth a loving and kind energy toward us. I am not talking about karma. I am just talking about simple, scriptural principles.
Galatim (Galatians) 6:9-10
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
That is what we are talking about in set-apart community. Doing good to those who are of the household of the faith. Because we are forming the basic building block of Yeshua’s kingdom, as we are going to see in upcoming installments.
Well, the message of taking care of the household of the faith is not new to the renewed covenant. But a lot of Messianic do not get this. Yahweh says, “My name is Yahweh, I change not”. So Yahweh is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yeshua, Shaul, they are teaching the same things that come from the Torah. They are just showing us the way to understand and live them.
Vayiqra (Leviticus) 25:35
35 “If one of your brethren becomes poor,
and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.
36 Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your Elohim, that your brother may live with you.”(Especially within the household of the faith.)
We are even supposed to have the heart to help the strangers and the sojourners who want to join themselves to the nation. Because why? Because that is our job. To grow the kingdom for Yeshua is to create a global ordered kingdom for Yeshua. This is something that is supposed to be very real to us. So even though our brother becomes poor, we shall take no usury or interest from him. This is something the Frankist-Sabbatean sect could stand to listen to.
John also tells us it is the same commandments. Because Yahweh does not change.
Yochanan Bet (2 John) 5-6
5 And now I plead with you, lady [Rachel, sons of Rachel, meaning Ephraim], not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.
6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
How have we had this commandment from the beginning? We take a look at the Tanakh, How many examples do we see of people entertaining strangers? How many examples do we see of people serving one another and taking care of one another? That we are our brother’s keepers, that this is our job! This is something that we are supposed to do. To have love for a fellow man.
So, you know, we are talking about more than just resting on the Sabbath and feasts. We are talking about more than just reading Scripture. In context, we are talking about an attitude that wants to live in community with our brethren. Because why? Because the community is the basic building block of Yeshua’s kingdom.
But it takes service. Even Yeshua served.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 16:24-25
24 Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross [stake, gallows, tree], and follow Me.
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
In other words, let him deny himself. Let him spend himself for Yeshua. Let him lay down his life in the world. Let him not worry about his vacation plans, let him not worry about how new his car is, let him not worry about if he has the latest model of cell phone or about whether or not he is filled with the spirit. Let him worry about whether or not he is working the works of Yeshua, as we are fast approaching the tribulation. Let him deny himself, let him lose his life in this world. Let him spend his life for Yeshua that he might find it and keep it for eternal life. Let him take up his cross (pole, stake) and follow Yeshua, do as He did and walk even as He walked. How many times brothers? How many times do we see someone who is basically double-minded? He claims to be sold out for Yeshua, but he is still concerned about the things of the world and is serving two masters. It does not work. You have to choose. Are you going to serve the Spirit and trust in the Spirit in spite of all the trials, knowing and realizing that they are trials? Or are you going to focus on the wind and the waves, and no longer be able to walk to go see Yeshua because now you are sinking under the water? That is the choice for each and every one of us.
Yeshua asks, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” When he should be laying down his life to serve his brothers and when he should be spending his life to build Yeshua’s set-apart community? What matters to him most?
Marqaus (Mark) 10:25
25 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”(If we are His disciples, and we follow Him, shouldn’t we do likewise?)
Yeshua clearly believed that he was His brother’s keeper. We are talking about the Lion of the Tribe of Judah! We are talking about the Conquering King! But before he could rule, first he had to serve. Before we can rule, first we must serve. The only way we can serve is to go beyond our flesh. And the only way to do that is to ask to be rid of the spirit of Cain the murderer of his brother, who did not care about his brother. What we need instead is the spirit of the Samaritan, the Ephraimite, effectively. Who understands that he is his brother’s keeper. It is this attitude that makes set-apart communities possible. And in the next chapter, we are going to see how these communities need to be ordered and organized in a way that Messianic Israel is not even thinking about. We are going to talk about what Scripture says. We will talk about what is called community and The Matthew 18 Process. Please join us for it.
Shalom