Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 82 (The Greater Exodus Pt 12- Wars of Kings Pt 7: Locusts in Your Face) for week of September 24, 2023
Your neck is like the tower of David,
Built with rows of stones
On which are hung a thousand shields,
All the round shields of the mighty men. (So 4:4)
Our working text for the Footsteps of Messiah is the Song of Songs. From the above text, we previously connected the shields of a thousand generations with the offspring of Abraham, the righteous remnant in each generation forming the faithful shield of their generation. These are faithful warriors of the Word. Deuteronomy gives us insight into how Israel is instructed to prepare for war:
Before a soldier could go to war, he was required to enjoy the fruit of his labors. A soldier who built, planted, and betrothed without consummating the joy of his labors expected to die in battle, an attitude that would discourage his fellow soldiers. Comfortable shelter, food and drink, and a family relationship are the building blocks of human joy. The feast time of Sukkot teaches this pattern. Every family comes to Jerusalem to commemmorate the Divine provision of food, drink, shelter, and family relationships, including the extended family who will share in the offerings along with strangers, aliens, Levites, and even the kohanim:
In the passage above, there are some interesting questions: If Israel is at peace, then why instructions for war? What do the Three Questions suggest about the spiritual state of the nation at war? Why is joy so important in a festival of shelter, food and drink, and family?
Each question asked of a soldier involves his “wife”: house, vineyard, and betrothed. Each of those in certain contexts represents one's wife. A wise woman builds her house; a man's wife is his vineyard (Ps 128:3); his betrothed is his future wife with nothing left but the consummation of the marriage to complete it. It's not as if such a man is lazy; quite the contrary! He has labored hard to build, plant, and consider a family. He simply hasn't allowed himself the final commitment to fully enjoy it! These are the gifts of Adonai to human beings. He gives us the ability to build, plan, create, and imagine. Part of the joy is in that process, but the crown of joy is to eat the fruit of one's labor. Strangely, it is the Feast of Sukkot that celebrates the partnership of Adonai and His People to build, plant, and live in intimate relationships.
If a young man works, yet refuses the fruit, instead leaving it for someone else, he is cutting himself off from faith in the root and fruit of blessing. Not only is he entitled to it, he is OBLIGATED to it. It is as if he plans to die in battle, a hidden mindset that will discourage his fellow soldiers on the day of tribulation. This hidden fault can be exposed by the priest and remedied if he will go back and enter into joy in the commandment. If not, he will likely die in battle and another man will enjoy the blessings of fulfilling his unfulfilled mitzvot, which ironically, is what the hopeless soldier expects to happen.
Sukkot is about embracing the joy of offspring, whether one's own household or the household of faith, even those just curiously sitting in. Sukkot defies the fear of death. Sukkot says that the Holy One will shelter us in His sukkah on the day of trouble; He will feed us and give us drink without sorrow; He will betroth us in righteousness. The blessings He's enabled us to set before our families and friends is the proof of even greater blessings of peace and prosperity yet to come if we believe and obey His Word.
Having joy in the commandments is a type of armor on the day of battle. Don’t live a life of ascetism in the Name of Heaven. Fast when you must, but like Yeshua, don’t refuse the joy of this life for which he was criticized:
Others want us to conform ourselves to the childish emotional flavor of the day. Instead, we conform to “it is written.” There is a time and season to everything, appointed times for fasting and feasting. Do not be so consumed with tribulation that you fail to invest in joy, nor so gluttonous as to refuse days of sober fasting and intense prayer for war. This life is a brief investment window from which we will continue eternally to enjoy its yield from the Root of Jesse and his fruit which the Father has placed in our hands.
Your joy at Sukkot is part of the battle plan. Arm yourself with a lulav. Can't you just imagine Yeshua sitting among his parents, his brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and cousins, and all his disciples and their families in Jerusalem at Sukkot, laughing big belly-laughs while he watches the nieces and nephews romping around the barbecue pit? What a mitzvah! What a war hero!
Wars of Kings is a foundation for using the template of the first Exodus to understand the Greater Exodus and the accompanying plagues in the Book of Revelation. Click on Wars of Kings to go to the first segment of the Wars YouTube video. Last week's teaching explained up to plague five, and this week's video will continue the plagues, providing examples from our time to connect with the texts.
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