Articles
Waiting for Messiah: Come Away with Me!
Barbara L. Klika, MSW, Undershepherd, Life Coach
October 2015
October, 2015
Written for Wisconsin Christian Newspaper
This edition of the Wisconsin Christian Newspaper finds Set Apart Ministries away for the Feast of Tabernacles, also understood to be the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. We understand the Feasts, as found in Leviticus, not as “Jewish Feasts” but as His Feasts, His appointed time for us to focus on Him. They are the pictures that our Father put in His Word, each one depicting the Person and ministry of our Messiah, Yeshua. They are called “mikrey kodesh” which means “holy rehearsals” essentially. We understand, along with millions around the world, that we are practicing walking out the appointed times on His calendar that our God has established. It is the annual cycle that takes us through the already finished work of Messiah, and the work that He will soon return to complete. As we walk after Him, we are much like the Israelites, called to walk after the clouds of fire and smoke as they left Egypt. The Feast of Tabernacles is also the time that we celebrate the birth and life of Messiah who left heaven to dwell or tabernacle among us on His first coming. (John 1:14)
This was the final blood red moon of the tetrad which appeared at the Feasts of Passover and Tabernacles in both 2014 and 2015 though we could see little or none of the earlier ones. We were able to watch this eclipse with a photographer among us recording the whole process. I hope to put a series of pictures on our website. A blessing…a beautiful clear night to observe this sign in the heavens, followed by a night that was completely clouded over!
Our Tabernacles theme this year has been: Trim Your Wick! Have Fresh Oil! As we depart from our normal daily routines and homes to go into the “wilderness” we are heeding the importance of learning how to be willing to set aside our plans and follow His plan. Be assured it IS a learning as it comes with a price to walk in a way different than the world, and even the traditional church calendar. It is His calendar, events and timing that are of eternal significance, while all that we have here on earth is only temporal, most destined to be burned as dross. Trimming your wick is a metaphor for dealing with these clay vessels we have for this season of life. If we do not tend to the wick, the lamp will either burn too low to be seen or too high, causing smoke and soot to blur our vision. The oil is commonly understood to be the Presence of the Holy Spirit. It is this oil within us that causes us to shine, but by the time our Bridegroom, Messiah Yeshua returns, if we haven’t already established our relationship with Him, in which we learn His ways, not our own ideas, we will not have His oil. No time to buy any then! (Matthew 25)
We remembered the wise men who saw His sign in the stars and went to find the newborn Messiah. Using our E. W. Bullinger Biblical astronomy studies as well as a Stellarium program, we were able to identify the constellations within which this blood red moon appeared and thereby derive some of the message of the Gospel that is written in the heavens. Though it is there for all to see, the original Hebrew names and meanings for the stars have been “covered up” by the Babylonian names. So it has required us to take time to learn His alphabet in order to read what would have been common knowledge long ago. (Romans 1:18-23) His Word says we have no excuse, because the message is written there, and so it is! This blood red moon occurred within the Band of Pisces, in Hebrew, Dagim. It has to do with the coming Redeemer and that Deliverance is sure. Too much more to enumerate here!
Once again, we heard the call to come away from the world system, from Babylon and once again we did so. A blessing of additional understanding fell our first day away; that each time there has been great distress in the world, our God has called His people to “come away” with Him. When Adam and Eve fell to sin and had to leave the Garden, it was still under His covering, though they could no longer see Him. Abram’s call to leave his family was a call to “come away” with the Elohim of Israel; with Isaac and Jacob also heeding the call in their seasons. When Israel was taken out of Egypt, it was a call to “come away with Me” in the wilderness, away from that experience of slavery within the Pharaoh/world system. Paul and each of the disciples also heeded the “come away” call. There will be a call to come away to the wilderness when the Great Tribulation comes to His wrath.
Have you left your own ideas behind, gotten your lamp ready with trimmed wick and fresh oil? Have you told the cares and the authorities of the world to get behind you while you “come away” with our Beloved Messiah? There is still time.
If you would like to learn more about what we have learned as a Set Apart community, please check out the website at www.set-apart-ministries.org
Waiting_for_Messiah___Come_Away_Oct_2015_WCNwebsite.pdf