Are You a Believer or an Observer?

I’ve been examining things in my life over the past few months in preparation for my upcoming visit to the United States.  Some areas seem well, and other areas could use some “remodeling”.  We all could more than likely say the same.  Wouldn’t you agree?  That really isn’t the focus of my piece this month even though my introspection has led me to pen what follows.  After the Feast of Tabernacles 2014, Abba began stirring up a desire within me to rededicate, renew, and restore.  I had not realized when this desire began just a few weeks before the shmita started.  For those of you not familiar with the term shmita (sabbatical year in Torah), it is called the year of release.  Every seventh year of the seven year agricultural cycle in Israel the land was to rest for a whole year, and the produce that came forth was left for the poor to take as they pleased.  The shmita was a financial reset button as well where all debts were to be forgiven at sunset on Elul 29.  Elul 29 probably doesn’t ring a bell for most of my Christian brethren reading this but let me give you a few examples as to what took place on Yahweh’s Biblical calendar on this date in years past.  We can go back further and see the pattern, but I want to focus on two dates that happened in our lifetime.  Jonathan Cahn has written extensively about these dates, as well as others, but does September 17, 2001 ring a bell?  Sure, it was six days after the towers were “allowed” to be hit by planes, but what took place on this date I believe was bigger than September 11th.  On September 17th, the stock market fell, or crashed, by 684 points, and that was the greatest one day crash up until that time.  Anyone want to take a wild guess as to what day on Yahweh’s Biblical calendar that September 17, 2001 fell?  Let’s move forward SEVEN years later to September 29, 2008.  Does that date ring a bell?  Probably not off the top of your head, but it did affect you and is probably still affecting you even without you realizing it.  A record was broken that day in history.  That day the DOW fell, or crashed, 777 points, thus taking the throne of the previous held one day record stock market crash on September 17, 2001.  It remains to this day the greatest one day stock market crash in history.  Anyone want to take a wild guess as to what day on Yahweh’s Biblical calendar that September 29, 2001 was associated with?  Wait for it; wait for it. BAM! Elul 29!!!  Now Joel, there you go with all that “Jewish” stuff again that has nothing to do with us Christians because it’s been done away with, and it’s just archaic history.  Well, it sure seems like to me it’s HISTORY!  Just for kicks, Elul 29 falls on September 13, 2015 this year.  We must wait and see if another crash is in the making.  I sure find it funny that at the end of these two dates a financial reset button was pushed in accordance with the commandment in Torah to release debts.

Now, let me move on to the heart of this piece. I was recently having a conversation with a good friend of mine, and the topic of believing and observing came up.  I told him that he just helped me write my next ministry newsletter article.  These two areas are related to what Abba was talking to me about since after the Feast of Tabernacles 2014.  I believe we are getting ready to see some of the greatest and most successful acts of terrorism on the U.S. soil that is going to help the empire finally bleed out. These acts of terrorism are going to change our religious freedoms and many other freedoms that we have enjoyed and grown accustomed to.  Our government has been shaming the pagan god of Islam and their false prophet Mohammed for so long that they no longer can stand the shame and are now rising up to bring honor to the names of their false pagan god and false prophet Mohammed.  I encourage those of you who don’t understand honor and shame from an Ancient Near East perspective to please go study it so you can understand why ISIS puts their captives in orange jumpsuits.  Understand why Jordan kills two ISIS prisoners and the King of Jordan personally went on a bombing campaign against ISIS when they killed just one of Jordan’s citizens.  We don’t understand this in our culture, nor do many even care to understand it.  This is no longer going to just come through he television into our homes; this terrorism is going to show up on our doorsteps and affect every single person in the U.S.

Pause, and open your scriptures to Ezekiel 7. Read it slowly.  This is what we are getting ready to face. I will write more in the future about what I sense will happen to the nations who come against Israel, but for now I can tell you the outcome is destruction.  Whenever a nation votes in favor of Palestine for a two state solution or even abstains in the vote, it is a treasonous act against the King of the Universe who gave a land grant covenant to Israel through Abraham. When the boundaries that the King established are moved, He not only declares war on the nations that move His boundaries but CURSES them.  Which again, without a shadow of a doubt, proves that His Torah STILL APPLIES TODAY AND IS NOT JUST A “JEWISH” THING.

How does this all tie into being a believer or observer?  It’s simple, and the answer can be found in the scriptural definition of these words.

Most folks, when asked if they believe in God, would respond yes.  For example, rock stars or Hollywood actors will receive an award and acknowledge and give thanks to God no matter how vile or wicked their music or movie was.  The belief that these individuals have is based on what they have convinced themselves of or the image, or idol, they have manufactured the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob into.  Unfortunately, this type of belief doesn’t just apply to Hollywood, but it applies to some believers in Y’shua, not just in Christianity but Hebrew Roots and Messianic communities, also.  I know Hebrew Roots believers who are convinced, or believe, that it is ok to work on Shabbat so I’m not trying to single out Christians.  I can clearly see why Hebrew Roots and Messianic believers have lost our effective witness with our Christian brothers and those in the world.  Even though we may be convinced by our belief, others aren’t, and they see the hypocrisy in it.  Now, let’s move on to the word observer. What does an observer mean scripturally?  The word observe in Hebrew is shamar.  It means to watch over or guard in the sense of preserving or protecting.  This is the picture that the word shamar gives us from the Ancient Near East perspective.  When shepherds had their flocks out grazing in the wilderness, there were always predators waiting to take advantage of an easy opportunity.  At night, the shepherds would construct a corral of thorns and briers around the sheep in order to preserve and protect them.  When we are observers, we are not just guarding and protecting the Word, but also are protecting the name of the One who sent the Word.  There is a big difference between one who believes, or is convinced of something, and one who observes.  The one who observes something will be set apart because of their action. This is another aspect to the word shamar.  We are acting out what we hear in order to bring honor and glory to the One we serve, thus we are not PROFANING His name within the camp nor amongst those outside the camp.  In other words, an observer will not just say something but will actually do what they are saying.  We are nearing the day of accounting when we will stand before the King of kings. What will be our answer?  If all we can say is that we believed in Him, then we might be in trouble.  The time to shamar, to hear and obey, is right now!  Shalom.