The following Scripture passages are offered to aid beginning fellowships. The readings and commentary for this week are more in line with what has become usual; for the following will most likely be familiar observations. The concept behind this Sabbath’s selection is entering into God’s rest.

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The person conducting the Sabbath service should open services with two or three hymns, or psalms, followed by an opening prayer acknowledging that two or three (or more) are gathered together in Christ Jesus’ name, and inviting the Lord to be with them.

The person conducting the service should read or assign to be read Exodus chapter 33; followed by Psalms chapter 95; and by Numbers chapter 20, verses 2 through 13, and verses 22 through 29.

Commentary: Moses did not enter the Promised Land of Judea. Because he struck the rock at Meribah-kadesh rather than speak to it, he was prevented from crossing the River Jordan … he struck the rock twice, and this act of hubris cost Aaron his life. Yes, Aaron as the spokesman for Moses died because of what Moses did, which to endtime disciples does not seem like that great of a sin (Num 20:24).

Death reigned over all of humankind from Adam to Moses (Rom 5:14), but when death reigned, sin was not counted against human beings for the law had not been given (v. 13). Humankind was covered by natural grace, the lifeless shadow of the grace under which disciples of Christ presently live (Rom 6:14) … when sin or lawlessness is not counted as sin, the person is under grace. This was the universal condition of all of humankind from when Adam was driven from the Garden of Eden until the giving of the law from atop Mount Sinai. Human beings did not have “life” in the spiritual realm; no person is born physically with an immortal soul. The only life a person had/has until born a second time is that which comes through the oxidation of sugars at the cellular level. Therefore, death reigned or reigns over every person not born of Spirit. Only the person promised eternal life escaped from death’s reign, and even that person would die because the promise of salvation was not to the flesh but to the “spirit” of the person.

Prior to Jesus’ resurrection, Ascension to the Father and return to Jerusalem to breathe on ten of His disciples (John 20:19-23), Jesus was the only person who was “born of Spirit,” and not born solely of the red mud from which the first Adam was formed.

The patriarch Abram received use of the Breath of Yah when the linguistic radical for breath—/ah/—was added to his name: God Almighty [El Shaddai] told Abram to walk blameless before Him, and He would make His covenant with him and would make Abram the father of a multitude of nations and would change his name to Abraham and He would give the land of Canaan to him and his offspring as an everlasting possession, and He [El Shaddai] would be their [Abraham’s offspring] God (Gen 17:1-8). But Abraham was not the last Adam; rather, he, like the first Adam, was an earthly type and shadow of the last Adam.

In the analogy the Apostle Paul established when he said that disciples were like Isaac in that they were children of promise, whereas the natural nation of Israel was like Ishmael, the children of the slave woman Hagar, Paul places Jesus in the position of being the only offspring of Abraham (a position not supported in translation into English, which treats /offspring/ as plural). Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring [to the seed of him —. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings [to the seeds; referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring [to the seed],’ who is Christ” (3:16). So what Paul does is jump dimensions, something seen throughout his epistles but something not understood by his contemporaries. Instead of natural Israel being the seed of Abraham, Paul uses faith as a pole and vaults over the natural nation, landing in the domain of the spiritual nation that has hearts circumcised by Spirit and not foreskins clipped by the hands of men. It is in this realm where Jesus of Nazareth is the firstborn man—the first to be made alive through receiving the divine Breath of the Father [pneuma Theon] in a manner analogous to Adam receiving life from the breath of Elohim [singular in usage] (Gen 2:7).

Note the above: as Elohim [singular] sculpted red clay mud into the form and shape of a man, forming limbs and inner organs from these elemental elements of the earth, Jesus of Nazareth, as the only Son of Theos, sculpted the elemental elements of this earth into the image and likeness of God through living for thirty years (until mentally mature as a male) without sin. When Elohim [singular] had finished forming the man Adam, a still lifeless physical corpse, Elohim breathed into the man’s nostrils and the man became a nephesh, a breathing creature. When Jesus reached the age when He could serve in the temple (if He had been a Levite, which He wasn’t), He told John to baptize Him to fulfill all righteousness (Matt 3:13-15), with baptism representing the death of the old self, now a created “perfect” self. Although John protested baptizing Jesus for his baptism was unto repentance and Jesus had no need for repentance, John nevertheless baptized Jesus—and immediately, the divine Breath of the Father descended as a dove to give a second life to Jesus (v. 16-17) … baptism truly represents death. Jesus became, then (at that instant), the Son of the Father, whereas He had entered His creation as His own Son, the only Son of Theos (John 3:16). So the forming of physical elements into physical things, even into living creatures, forms the lifeless shadow of God forming obedience and the elements of character into spiritually living sons (i.e., angels before, and now younger siblings to Christ Jesus).

The man David, after knowledge of his sin with Bathsheba was brought to his attention, prayed in Psalm 51, “Hide your face from my sins, / and blot out all my iniquities. / Create in me a clean heart, O God, / and renew a right spirit within me. / Cast me not away from your presence, / and take not your Holy Spirit from me” (vv. 9-11). David knew Yah as the God of Israel, and apparently, David knew that Yah, in a hypostatic relationship, was the discernible face or voice of YHWH (cf. Ps 146:1; 148:1; 149:1). So the Spirit or Breath that David asked not to be taken from him was the Breath of Yah, which was with him but which did not give him life in the heavenly realm. David has the promise of inheriting everlasting life, but he was not born of Spirit. Although some spiritual novices will dispute exactly what David meant by asking that God not take His Breath from him, the textual evidence is that possession of the Yah’s Breath or Spirit equates with the promise of salvation: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, / and uphold me with a willing spirit” (v. 12).

Neither Abraham nor David, both of whom had received the Breath of Yah, the use of which bringing with it the promise of inheriting everlasting life, were born of Spirit—and being born of Spirit is receiving a new or second breath of life, with this “second” life being real life in the heavenly realm as a son of God, a son of the Most High, the Father and God of Christ Jesus (John 20:17). Thus, the Holy Spirit that David had, that Abraham received when his name was changed, that Sarah received at the same time—this Holy Spirit was the Breath of the Creator, the Breath of Theos. And the Logos as Theos does not initially give spiritual life to the dead. Giving life is the prerogative of the Father alone (John 5:21), who will eventually give spiritual life or a second life to every human being who has ever lived. Judgment has been given to the Son to give life to whom He will (vv. 21-22)—this second giving of life to those whom the Father has made alive occurs through the mortal flesh putting on immortality. Hence, it was within Yah’s prerogative to promise those to whom He had given His Breath eternal life; for at some moment in the future, the Father will resurrect the person from death and the Son, having already made a judgment concerning the person, will then execute that judgment by causing the perishable flesh to become imperishable.

So no one who had the “Holy Spirit” prior to Jesus receiving the divine Breath of the Father received a second life, a spiritual life or life in the heavenly realm. No one received the earnest of the Holy Spirit; i.e., the Breath of the Father [pneuma Theon]. Rather, what Abraham and David received was the divine Breath of Yah, with this divine Breath promising the recipient everlasting life through inheriting this life in the resurrection of firstfruits. This is different from what Peter, John, Paul and other disciples of Christ Jesus received when they received the Holy Spirit: the disciples received a second birth through having the Father make them spiritually alive when He gave them the earnest of His divine Breath. In a real manner, the Father raised the disciples from the dead when He drew them from the world—and this is the principle better promise added to the second covenant (Deut chaps 29-32) when its mediator changed from Moses to Christ Jesus.

Now back to Moses: before the law was given at Sinai, when Israel camped at Rephidim (Ex 17:1), Israel quarreled with Moses, demanding that Moses give the nation water, no small amount was needed for the two million or more people who had left Egypt. Moses cried out to the Lord [YHWH], who told Moses to take the staff with which he struck the Nile and strike the rock and water shall come forth from the rock (vv. 2-6). In the eyes of the unbelieving nation, Moses brought forth the water everyone needed … Moses did it; Moses brought forth water; Moses is this nation’s deliverer. And God says to Moses, concerning the golden calf incident, that, indeed, Moses brought the nation out of Egypt (Ex 32:7).

Before the law is given from Mount Sinai, Israel had no promise of salvation: death reigned over Israel as it did over every other people on the earth even though God called Israel His firstborn son (Ex 4:22). Abraham was selected by God for his faith. As the husband of an orchard finds a wild fruit variety that he wishes to propagate, breeding this variety for a generation or two to see if it will breed true, God found in Abraham a human variety that He wished to propagate and He did so by delivering to Abraham a son of promise, Isaac, who in turn, received two sons of promise, Esau and Jacob, one hated, one loved.

But the descendants of Jacob did not continue in the faith of Abraham, walking upright before God, keeping His commandments, statutes and laws (Gen 26:5). Rather, this nation rebelled against God even when it was in Egypt:

Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them saying, I am the Lord [YHWH] your God [Elohim]. On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. (Ezek 20:5-8)

If the husband of an orchard finds a wild apple that grows fruit tasting like raspberries, the husband will take from this wild tree scion wood and graft these wild branches to domestic rootstock growing in another location. If the grafts bring forth average fruit and not the distinctive fruit of the wild tree, the husband might conclude that it was the unique characteristics of the land that combined with the tree to produce the desired fruit, so another generation of grafted rootstock would be brought back to the land where the wild tree grew to see if the grafts would there produce the desired fruit … Israel in Egypt brought forth bitter fruit for God, and not the obedience that Abraham had displayed by faith; so God set about to bring this nation back to the land which He had promised to give to Abraham. But even before the nation that had rebelled in Egypt reached the Promised Land, the nation had ten times rejected God—and the tenth time was the last time. The adult nation that left Egypt was not allowed to enter into God’s rest. Instead, this nation perished in the wilderness because of its unbelief.

Moses was of the nation counted in the census of the second year, but Moses had left Egypt forty years earlier. So in analogy, Moses differed from the nation that, like once wild scions grafted onto the root of righteousness, was bringing forth the fruit of unbelief … the natural nation of Israel had been like the wild olives branches to which the Apostle Paul compares Gentile converts. Abraham was the selected wild tree: it was Abraham’s faith that God was seeking as the desired fruit. And it is from Abraham that the so-called domesticated variety comes—“domesticated” in that the nation of Israel was the deliberately propagated selected variety. Therefore, the Gentile converts that Paul compares to wild olive branches grafted onto the root of righteousness (Christ Jesus) are now “domesticated” Christians in the same way that the natural nation of Israel in Egypt was the firstborn natural son of God. It was the faith of these Gentile converts that God sought, with this faith being manifest as obedience that could be counted to them as righteousness. But as Israel in Egypt reverted back to producing unbelief and disobedience, the descendants of early Gentile converts have also reverted back to producing the bitter fruit of rebellion against God.

The adult nation that left Egypt quarreled with God for the tenth time in the wilderness of Paran and was there condemned to disobedience and to death: this nation could not enter God’s rest. Today, Christendom, as Israel was defiled in Egypt—Israel in Egypt was covered by natural grace through being bondservants of Pharaoh—is a nation defiled by its lawlessness, but covered by grace until the second Passover liberation of saints from indwelling sin and death. But as the nation that left Egypt perished in the wilderness, the Christendom of today will, with only the exception of a spiritual Joshua and a spiritual Caleb, perish during the first half of the seven endtime years of tribulation. This nation will not enter into God’s rest, the heavenly realm.

But Moses entered into God’s rest through a spiritual route even though he was not allowed to cross the River Jordan.

When Israel again quarreled with God concerning water at Kadesh, God commanded Moses to speak to the rock, for God intended that Israel see that it was God who quenched the nation’s thirst, giving to the nation living waters by which a person would never thirst again (John 4:13-14). By striking the rock twice, Moses prevented Israel from seeing the hand of God at work; from seeing the beginning and end of the matter. This was a very serious transgression against God although it truly does seem a little thing to the carnal mind.

The person who claims to heal another commits sin against God: Moses said at Meribah-kadesh, “‘Here now, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?’” (Num 20:10) … it wasn’t Moses and Aaron that brought the water, but God who was not exalted in the eyes of Israel, by this time a nation in transformation. Certainly water poured forth from the rock when Moses struck twice, but the act of striking the rock was an act of hubris on Moses’ part. Moses took credit for what God did and was doing.

Today, the restoration of knowledge occurring in Philadelphia is part of the restoration of the Church. This restoration is of Christ, not of any individual. And no individual can take credit for what has already been done, or what will be done in the near future. To give an individual credit for what has been restored is wrong.

When Moses intercedes on behalf of Israel following the golden calf incident, God tells Moses, “‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’” (Ex 33:14). This rest is entering into the presence of God, and this rest remained with Moses in his shining face which he covered with a veil (Ex 34:29-35). In type, Moses had entered into the heavenly realm where he would be glorified.

The rest of God is heaven. Entering the rest of God is entering heaven. The natural type of this rest is entering Judea [Canaan, the Promised Land]. The spiritual type in this era of entering into God’s rest is Sabbath observance. Christ’s Millennium reign over the earth will be from the heavenly realm and the last shadow of entering heaven.

Moses’ disobedience at Kadesh prevented Moses from physically entering God’s rest that he had spiritually entered when he was in the presence of God. This will be the case for disciples in this era. The disobedience that resides in the flesh of every disciple will physically prevent the person from entering heaven; will ensure that the disciple dies physically. But the disciple who enters into the presence of God as Moses did—who becomes a spiritual descendant of Moses, believing his writings—will take on the glory that shown on Moses’ face as a type of mortal flesh putting on immortality. The disciple, now with real life in the heavenly realm dwelling within the person, will be glorified.

Following the golden calf incident, Israel stripped off its ornaments, its jewelry, its gold and silver—those things that reflected light—so that only the face of Moses shown.

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The person conducting the Sabbath service should close services with two hymns, or psalms, followed by a prayer asking God’s dismissal.

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"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

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