ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: August 2015

Saturday, August 29, 2015

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: A REVELATION OF GOD'S GLORY, Part 3

Another Coffee Break:

A Revelation of God's Glory, Part 3

August 28, 2015

Last week's Coffee Break kind of scratched the surface in dealing with the four Hebrew letters that make up the name, the onoma, the shém, the very character and nature of the Lord God. I would really like to expand more on that picture, and perhaps we can take another look in the weeks to come, but this week let's consider the very nature of the Glory.

Let’s begin today's sharing by looking at some of the specific prophecies that have been given to us throughout the Word.

Numbers 14:21: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

Habakkuk 2:14: For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 40:3-5: The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

We get something of a picture of these statements in John the Baptist’s preaching in the wilderness as he quotes from Isaiah’s prophecy:

Luke 3:4-6: As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

The Greek text of Luke uses a word which most English translations render as “salvation” rather than “glory,” but J.H. Thayer, in his Greek-English Lexicon renders the word, soterion (which comes from soteria, which in turn is extrapolated from sozo) like this (and I’ve edited it a bit to reflect the present tense): The sum of benefits and blessings which Christians, redeemed from all earthly ills, enjoy [in] Christ in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God.

That “sum of benefits and blessings” is illustrated in the Hebrew word, kabod, which is often rendered “weighty.” But it goes beyond that. You may remember how Abraham was described as he left Egypt:

Genesis 13:1-2: And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

Dr. William Gesenius, in his Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, defines kabod like this: to be made heavy, be honoured, enjoy honour, be made abundant, to be glorious, to have splendor; numerous, rich, honorable; to make weighty.

To these definitions, we could add: to be made highly visible, to provoke awe and great respect.

The description of Abraham indicates a weight of great wealth and abundance. Where the KJV uses the word “rich” to describe Abraham, the Hebrew uses a derivative of kabod: kabad: which adds to the meaning of kabod: to be promoted to honor, to have been made weighty [with nobility].

All of these terms are defining of the word, glory, but there’s a whole lot more that words don’t capture. There's an old cliché you've all heard, and this is one place it really applies: "A picture is worth a thousand words." When you have seen the Glory of the Lord -- even one time -- there are not enough words in the dictionary to really adequately describe what you've seen.

That said, consider a picture in words that Isaiah draws when he begins to prophesy concerning the Glory of the Lord being revealed in the earth. I will begin with the conventional KJV translation, and then expand upon that translation from the Hebrew.

A quick note before we get there -- and it seems like I've shared this before -- rabbinical scholars have told me that there are not less than seven layers of interpretation and depiction in every prophetic utterance in Scripture. One rabbi recently suggested to me that there were not less than twelve. In any case, this prophecy is filled with metaphors, as you will quickly see.

Isaiah 60:1-7: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the LORD.

All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

This prophecy is filled with Hebrew metaphors that get lost when translated literally, word by word. We’re going to run long, but let’s take this step-by-step and amplify this prophecy out of the Hebrew.

Stand up! Accomplish, confirm and decree the dawn, the break of day — that moment when light overwhelms the darkness! That light has been introduced to the world and reached maturity in you and the splendor, the weight, the glory and honor of the Lord now irradiates you!

See and consider the misery, the destruction, the sorrow, the wickedness, the ignorance and death that will cover the earth, and the impenetrable gloom the people: but God Himself will manifest on you irradiating and exposing His light, His life, His character and makeup; and His splendor, His weight, His glory and His honor will be visible and discerned as inhabiting you.

That will cause the masses, the heathen, the nations of the world to be drawn and come, desiring to be conversant with that brightness, that revelation of the Lord that is in and upon you; and kings, royalty, heads of state and leaders of every kind will come, desiring to receive the light of the revelation now coming forth from you.

[Forget the past! Stop focusing on what was, and what you have seen in the past!] Pay attention now to what is taking place around you. See? They are all gathering around and assembling before you! They are coming to you! Do you see them? Your sons, your grandsons, your great-grandsons — all those whom you have nourished in the past — are coming from remote and distant places; your daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters are returning to receive the impartation of faith and trust [so there will be a permanence of that revelatory character they see in you.] (Isaiah 60:1-4, RAC Translation & Amplification)

When that takes place, you will see and be utterly astounded at the overflow of joy that will flood all of you; your heart, your soul, your understanding will be awestricken, and your mental restrictions — (your religious boxes) — will be broken; [the scope of your understanding will be greatly enlarged] because the masses and wealth of many peoples will suddenly turn to your favor (those who have opposed you will be overturned, and the attitudes of those who’ve doubted who you really are (and your integrity in God) will utterly change as they are converted; the wealth, the power, and the efficient might of the nations will turn to you, resorting to you as their strength.

Companies of laborers with their burden-bearers will cover [your needs]; the young, burdened with contention and gloom will come; they of the Covenant will bring you their gold and their sweet-smelling incense; all of these will come together, publicly giving thanks and singing the praises and adoration of the Lord.

All those flocks who have been in darkness and gloom will gather and assemble around you; [at the same time] those who are strong and abound with fruit will attend to your needs, ministering to every aspect of your life: with joy and pleasure will they come to offer sacrifices (of praise), and I will embellish, vaunt and beautify the family — MY family — whom I shall honor with majesty. (Isaiah 60:5-7, RAC Translation and Amplification)

The Glory of the Lord is NOT passive by any means. Not only does it change the atmosphere and environment around us, it has a very creative, drawing power. It draws people into the presence of the Lord.

One thing I have found as a constant, and that is that God’s Glory always becomes visible. Consider for a minute a couple of statements that Jesus made.

John 14:12-14: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

The works that Jesus did brought Glory to Father, but that Glory was also revealed in the Son, Jesus Himself. Jesus made it clear that our asking for ANYTHING in Jesus' onoma (not simply in His name, using the name, Jesus, (or Yeshua) like some kind of magic formula) was His purpose and desire, and that the very asking -- accompanied by the answer -- would manifest God's Glory.

You realize, of course, in what Jesus just stated that the works that He did were almost a foretaste of that which is to come in the people of God! Greater works? Greater than what everyone saw Jesus do? Yessiree!! Buckle your seatbelts, folks! You ain't seen nothin' yet!

Then there is the statement He made as He prepared to ascend into Heaven:

Mark 16:15-18: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

The visibility of the Glory is manifested in the signs, the wonders, the displays of healing, of miracles, of communication. But it goes beyond the realm of the miraculous — at least that which we treat as miraculous.

A year ago last fall, as Rich Warren and I were leading worship at the Miracle Ranch men’s retreat over on the Olympic Peninsula, the presence of the Lord became tangible in the room. Because the weather was cool, the very large fireplace near the center of the main wall was lit, and logs were burning.

The room began to fill with what at first appeared to be a haze. There was no smoke odor, however, and a careful glance at the fireplace made clear the fact that what we were witnessing was not smoke. The haze remained just that. It was fairly light — not thick and overpowering — but we became aware that what we were seeing was a manifestation of the presence of the Lord. A peace flooded the atmosphere such that it quieted the whole place. No one moved and no one uttered so much as a word for a good ten minutes. You could have heard a pin drop.

Not until the men left the building later that night did they begin to talk about it. It was the first time any of us had ever witnessed anything like it, and yet we hadn't even scratched the surface of where God is taking us.

There is another aspect of the Glory of the Lord as it is seen in the Word, as well as in the events that are about to take place in the Bride of Christ in the coming days, weeks and months. That's where we will go next week.

I remind those of you in need of ministry that our Healing Prayer Call takes place on Mondays at 7:00 PM Eastern (4:00 PM Pacific). Once again, the number to call for healing is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#. We also want to alert you to the fact that come September 14th, our prayer call number is going to change. Our current conference line has experienced drop-outs and periodic audio quality issues, so this is needed! We will keep you apprised of the new number in the days ahead.

At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific. That conference number is (605) 562-3140, and the access code is 308640#. We hope to make these gatherings available by Skype or Talk Fusion before long. If you miss the live call, you can dial (605) 562-3149, enter the same access code and listen in later.

Blessings on you!

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944

Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org

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Wednesday, August 26, 2015

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: A REVELATION OF GOD'S GLORY, Part 2

Another Coffee Break:

A Revelation of God's Glory, Part 2

August 21, 2015

One thing that is a certainty in God's economy is the fact that if you hear a genuine Word from the Lord in one part of the country -- or the world -- you are going to hear that same Word somewhere else. It has been fascinating to me to see others in the prophetic community who are sharing nearly the identical Word that God has given to me; and that's something that lends tremendous confidence to the fact that we are hearing and sharing exactly what Holy Spirit wants His people to hear.

When Jesus began His ministry, he faithfully shared that what He spoke was what Father was saying. What He did in the way of miracles, signs and wonders, He did what He saw Father do. I'll get into this more as we progress in this series, but one thing that is very clear is that the Glory of the Lord will NEVER be released to, nor allowed to be revealed in folks who put limits on their responses to the dealings and drawing of Holy Spirit. Let me give you a couple of quick examples.

The body of Christ has been plagued with what we refer to as "Cessationism." That is a description for doctrines which do away with the gifts and miracles of Holy Spirit. It relegates them to the life spans of the original apostles and prophets of the first and early second century, declaring that they died out with the death of those early leaders. Correspondingly, those who espouse cessationism believe that one is automatically filled with the Spirit when they are saved, and that there is no need for anyone to speak in tongues in this day and age.

The problem with those doctrines is that there isn't one shred of evidence in the Word to support them. At the same time, they miss completely the fact that what we refer to generally as "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" is a door-opener into a realm of the Spirit that cannot be accessed any other way. Those who espouse the idea of these things vanishing for this modern era do so because they themselves have never walked in this realm and have no idea what they are talking about.

We absolutely CANNOT place these kinds of limits on the operation of Holy Spirit if we expect to work the works that Jesus worked -- never mind the greater works that Jesus promised -- or even begin to see the Glory of the Lord revealed in the earth through the Bride of Christ!

That said, let's move on where we left off last week.

As I said last week, there are literally dozens of names given to the Lord to describe His various attributes, and I won’t take the time here to try to cover all those names; but let’s take a look at just those four letters that make up what we generally refer to as “the tetragrammaton” — four Hebrew letters that are words all by themselves with distinct meaning and character.

Yod : this is the smallest of the Hebrew letters, considered the “atom” of all consonants — the form from which all letters begin and end. Jewish scribes treat Yod as a divine point of energy Since Yod is used to form all other letters, and since (according to Jewish Rabbis) God uses these letters as the building blocks of creation, Yod indicates and depicts God’s omnipresence.

In fact, the letter/word, Yod, depicts the geometry of creation. It begins with the Yod itself as a dot, and then moves downward from the divine to the created to form Vav, which is the hook of creation.

Yod literally means “arm” or “hand”, and in its form suggests a hand reaching toward heaven. It forms something resembling a cupped hand, and is representative of care, provision, mercy and tenderness. I don’t want to get into the weeds trying to deal with everything that Yod represents, so the last element of this letter/word that we will discuss its numerical value, which is 20 — a number which is revealed in the word, chazah, and represents vision — the capacity to see far into the future.

Hey: the Talmud states that God used the letter, Hey, to create the present world, and Yod to create the world to come. Thus, Hey is the breath of creation. The meaning of Hey is, “look” or “behold”!

Hey has always represented the divine breath of God, with revelation and light (and we see “light” mentioned five times in the Creation narrative.

Psalm 33:6 tells us that: By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

The Talmud states that “the breath of His mouth” refers to the sound of the letter, Hey — the out-breathing of His Spirit. Uniquely, in Genesis 2:4, the Hey takes a smaller form than in the rest of the words denoting the “Son of God” and indicating that the Son was the actual breath and sound of Creation.

Hey has a prophetic connotation to it. Whenever we see God changing names — such as changing Abram to Abraham, or Sarai to Sarah — He inserts the Hey into their names as prophetic of what He is changing their character, nature and makeup to be. Abraham and Sarah were changed from impotent, aging individuals into youthful, virile, life-giving people capable of producing a son of Covenant.

When we see God breathing life into Adam, and Adam becomes a living, speaking spirit, the Ruach breathed into him. Thus, Ruach begins with the letter, Resh — which is representative of outward force — and ends with Hey — breath.

An interesting side note is that where the letter, Hey, has a dot (or Mappiq) inserted into it, that wind, or breath, carries a sound with it. Thus when God spoke, His breath carried that prophetic sound which created the heavens and the earth.

Finally, we come to the letter, Vav.

Vav: this letter looks somewhat like a tent peg, and has the meaning of “hook.” Vav is the divine connector between Heaven and Earth and represents the binding between the realm of the Kingdom of God — that which is spiritual — and the earth.

When we are told that God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion…. etc.” we see this in the letter, Vav, since this letter has the numerical value of six (6) and also resembles the form of man.

The way this letter is used throughout the Old Testament is rather extraordinary. In Numbers 25:12, God makes a statement concerning Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, in which He says, “Behold I am giving him my covenant of peace.”

In this instance, the word, shalom, (for peace) has a broken letter, Vav, indicating the brokenness of man after the fall. Not until we see the birth of Perez (from the union of Tamar and Judah) do we see the Vav re-joined together. The Vav, therefore, becomes the symbol of Covenant.

Perez was the great-great (five generations) grandfather of Salmon, who married Rahab, whose son, Boaz, married Ruth, who gave birth to Obed, the grandfather of David. The lineage of Perez, was representative of the restoration of the coming Covenant between mankind and the Lord Jesus Christ — that Covenant that would repair the breach between mankind and God, caused by the sin of Adam.

The restored Vav, therefore, is the connector between God and man, and is representative of God and man in union.

I remind you of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 in which He prays:

John 17:21-23: That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the Glory that thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one even as we are one:

I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Thus, Vav is that part of the nature and makeup of God that makes His personality, His authority and power accessible to us, in us, and through us, through the New Covenant with Jesus Christ.

The letter, Hey, repeats as the fourth letter of the name of God, giving us Yod Hey Vav Hey. The secondary application of Hey in the name gives us the picture of transcendence — authority and power — absolute dominion!

It gives us a picture of Holy Spirit and is indicative of why it became necessary for the believers on the Day of Pentecost to be filled with Him — for the breath of God to be given voice in them in the form and sound of the tongues of men and of angels — languages not previously learned, along with the accompanying evidence in signs and wonders and miracles to follow.

As an aside to the above, I know that there are folks who believe that it isn’t necessary for them to speak in tongues in order to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, but what they don’t realize is that the resistance to speaking in tongues is tantamount to a resistance to the breath of God breathing out of them with life-giving authority and power.

What they also miss by their resistance to allowing their voice to become an extension of the breath and voice of God, is that they also cut themselves off from the Glory of the Lord being revealed in and through them.

If we can’t allow our voices to be used by Holy Spirit and to be under His control as we speak things in languages we have no knowledge or control of, then we break the Vav in the name of God and reject the Covenant of Hey.

Let’s wrap up this discussion on the Yod Hey Vav Hey by noting that the last part of God’s “name” is Hey Vav Hey — pronounced, “hayah” in the Hebrew.

It is a literal picture of the Aleph—Tav, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.

Hayah is one of those extraordinary picture words which begins with: “to come into being.” It is followed with, “to be established,” then “to remain,” “to continue to exist.” That is followed with, “to accompany,” or “to be with.” It wraps up with “to come to pass,” “to be done,” “to finish” or come to completion.

Remember what Paul wrote to the Philippians?

Philippians 1:6: Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

THAT’s the picture of “hayah!” God never begins something that He doesn’t bring to the finish.

And that brings up an interesting element of the Hebrew language and Hebrew thought, versus the Greek language and Greek thought. Hebrew thought AND the Hebrew language are circular. There is a beginning to something, but it always come back around to the completion and fulfillment of what began.

Greek thought, on the other hand, is linear. All of our Western thinking and reasoning is based in linear Greek. We have our reasoning and rationalization in Greek thought, and while the New Testament was written in Greek with frequent use of Greek similes and metaphors, it is entirely based in Hebrew thought.

Western images and concepts of Glory just don’t get it. Consider the struggle that most Christians have today with something that Paul wrote concerning Jesus.

Philippians 2:5-11: Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] Who, although essentially being One with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness and attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.

And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the Cross! Therefore, [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and given Him that Name (onoma) which is above every name, That in and at the name of Jesus every knee should (and must) bow, in Heaven and on Earth, and under the Earth, and every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ IS Lord, to the Glory of God the Father. (Amplified Version)

I’m cutting this discussion short because of where we need to go next, but we wrap up with the fact that the promise of Glory comes both in the confession that Jesus Christ IS Lord of Lords and King of Kings — AND the literal fact of being IN Christ, and He being IN us. Without those factors in place, we have no promise of Glory!