One Thing You Still Lack
CONT., page 7
OTHER ATTESTING WITNESSES
There are two individual groups in the Bible that most frequently characterize or typify the Remnant. These two groups are the Levites and women. The Levites typify the Remnant in that they are the priesthood whose work is to minister to Yahweh, to minister in the functions of the temple of Yahweh. Women typify the Remnant in that they represent the bride, and the Remnant is the bride of Yahshua. These two unique groups provide a consistent witness of the one common work of the Remnant.
Why would these two groups provide this testimony; what is it about them that lends to this representation? Certainly they are distinctly different from each other, particularly in that a woman could never be a priest or serve in priestly activities and services. A woman was excluded from religious activities. So what is it that provides a common expression lending these two to a like representation? The answer is that neither of these seemingly dissimilar groups possessed the things of this world.
The Levite did not possess the things of this world because he belonged to Yahweh. When Yahweh killed the first born in Egypt in the final plague, He made claim to all the first-born Israelite males for sparing them. But, in an even exchange (which we have already covered), He chose rather the Levites in the payment of that debt of ownership, an ownership that meant that they would serve Him in the functions of the temple (Numbers 3:40-51).
This ownership not only set them apart in function from all the other sons of Israel, but also in their relationship to the things of this world that Yahweh would provide. In Numbers 18:20 we read - "Then Yahweh said to Aaron, 'You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.'"
So, what did the first Remnant do when the church was initiated? They actually followed in practice precisely what was commanded of the Levite; not because they were bloodline Levites, but in truth they were the spiritual Levites. In this position, both in act and in attitude, they practiced not owning "any portion among them."
This obviously did not mean that they had no property at all, for they had to live somewhere, even as did the Levites. But their attitude was, as we read - "What I do possess is not mine. It is owned in common and if there is a need and the need is best met by my selling property, then let the needs be met." While they obviously still possessed some property, they did not regard it as their own. Why? Because they had become spiritual Levites, and Yahweh was their inheritance, their portion.
This is precisely the same economic position of the other subject testimony of the Remnant - the woman, the bride. All property was inherited through the man. The woman did not have an inheritance in the land. Even when all the men in Naomi's house died, this did not mean that the land then went to her. No, the land was to be redeemed by the closest male kin, which through a process went to Boaz.
So even as it was said of the priest, "You shall have no inheritance in the land," this was likewise true for the woman - she also had no inheritance in the land. Thus, in regard to an inheritance in this world, the woman was in reality priest-like. She, like the Levites, had no inheritance. Her provision was totally dependent upon and relative to whom she married. In like position as the priest, her husband was her "portion." Does this strike a cord? In today's culture, this requirement for women would be viewed as wrong or unjust; but, we can be most glad that this is Yahweh's way, His law, and His plan, even if modern man does not follow it.
The way, law, and plan of Yahweh provides for the woman, the bride, to obtain her possessions based solely on marriage; and Yahweh has a blessing for the bride which is only possible through this.
The bride of Yahshua is in the masculine body of Yahshua until the time for her to come out. We have seen in the writing Carmel, that when she comes out, the male is actually legally dead (asleep), and she is free to be joined to another. This is precisely what happened for Abigail and Bathsheba. The death of their first husbands allowed them to be joined to David. Granted, this is mixing patterns; but hopefully you get the point.
What was the wellbeing and daily provision for these two women? Before the death of Nabal and Uriah, their wellbeing was limited to what was possessed by these former husbands. But, with the death of these two men, the two wives' provisions were immediately increased to that of the household of a king. In one moment they went from a regular wife and widow, to an intimate identity and relationship and having possessory rights with royalty (or royalty to be). What made this possible? Was it their ingenuity or their hard work? Was it by their planning or scheming? Was it by their might and strength to conquer another? No, it was the provision that comes by the place of the bride, the woman, who, like the Levite priest, did not have an inheritance in this world, but her portion was in being united with the one who chose her. Thus we see not only the law of provision for the woman in her similarity to the Levite priest, but also the GREAT benefit this means for the bride, the woman. This law of Yahweh allows the bride of Yahshua to receive everything that Yahshua has in one swift moment, strictly based on her marriage to Him. Thus, it is the bride right, and not might, that affords this provision! For the bride, it means going from common existence to royalty in one brief ceremony. No labor, no pain, no conquering, no struggling - only love!
For this bride of Yahshua to take her position, for the Remnant to take their position of Levitical priesthood, they must likewise be in a position of having no inheritance in this world; for as Yahshua said only in Matthew and Luke - "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Yahshua wants to possess the heart of His Remnant bride; thus her heart cannot be attached to the possessions and the cares of this world, any more than His was - "the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (found only in Matthew and Luke).
If we truly believed that we would soon ascend to be with Yahshua and reign with Him, would we hold onto the things of this world? Would they hold attraction and meaning to us? They held not attraction for Yahshua. They held not attraction for the first Remnant. All the possessions of the first Remnant were deemed as nothing more than common property, something to be sold when the common need arose. Why would they hold onto these earthly things? Yahshua was returning soon. What was more important - the kingdom, or the things of this earth? For the first Remnant, possessions were nothing more than items to facilitate the return of the coming King. And He would have come, He would have completed the work that He began, if it was not necessary for the first Remnant to be separated from the second Remnant, if there did not have to be that long dry breach.
The breach came, and the church lost sight of what was necessary in order to be the legal bride, the Levite. So the church began to amass possessions; the people were told by Paul - "If you don't work, you don't eat," and for 2,000 years the body of Yahshua has labored and warred in its masculine role. All the while, in clear contrast it has been written - "A favored woman attains honor, and violent men attain riches" (Proverbs 11:16). While the masculine body of Christ church has amassed riches for 2,000 years, the Remnant bride will not seek to possess riches, but will rather seek the favor that comes from being joined to another, to Yahshua the King.
Through these two uniquely related testimonies, we see yet another great evidence that the requirement for and the covering of the bride will be this first Remnant example of selling all and holding all things in common. This is a necessary part of becoming the bride, the woman, as well as becoming a Levite priest in the service and ownership of Yahweh. For both, their inheritance is not in the things of this world.
Before closing this section, we see that this voluntary poverty associated with the woman and the Levite is equally shared with one other group. Who is it that might have such similar association as well as promised blessing? The answer is - the poor. Yes, it is once again, to varying degrees, this matter of one's relationship to worldly possessions that unites the poor, the woman, and the Levite priest into one common testimony. Certainly there are obvious differences in these three, but there is this one common tie that unites them. And once again we see Yahweh's promised blessing to this third Remnant-attesting group. Let us see what Yahshua said concerning the poor, knowing that these teachings surely had a very dramatic and persuasive influence on our first Remnant examples.
Let us begin by seeing how Yahshua began His "beatitudes." This is His teaching as recorded in second Remnant Luke 6, verse 20.
And turning His gaze on His disciples, He began to say, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."
Note, He did not say here "poor in spirit," as recorded in first Remnant Matthew 5:3. This varying degree of requirement or commitment is in keeping with the testimony we saw concerning the disciples more committedly leaving "everything" in Luke when called by Yahshua. Also, as we have similarly seen, none of these "beatitude" teachings are even recorded in Christianity Mark.
No, in Luke He plainly said - "Blessed are you who are poor," period, "for yours is the kingdom of God." Did He mean what He said, that the poor are blessed with receiving the kingdom of God? When we see the most significant calling and purpose and place of the poor second Remnant, and that this message is recorded specifically and uniquely in second Remnant Luke, it is obvious that this message is intentional, very specific, as well as most significant! To the second Remnant who are called to sell all and hold all things in common as a legal atonement or covering over them, this is a MOST significant command! As such, this Luke message deserves being repeated - "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."
Did the disciples, the apostles, voluntarily become poor under the teachings of Yahshua? Indeed they did! Per His teachings, we read the words of the disciples - "Behold, we have left our own things, and followed you." Yahshua then said to them - "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, life eternal" (Luke 18:28-30). These were the attitudes and actions, as well as the environment, that Yahshua created while upon this earth. These were the practices set forth and followed when the church began with the first Remnant. And these .... (This only we can finish.)
Let us once again look at another message that is unique to second Remnant Luke. We find this poor Remnant message and example most often here in Luke, to the extent that the consistency of this unique message goes beyond the possibility of chance. Luke very clearly has a distinct message of "selling all," of giving to the poor, of being poor, and as such receiving His kingdom. We have seen evidenced on several occasions up to this point this unique message in Luke; but you can be assured there is more. This message of becoming poor is most consistent in Luke. Let us continue with this examination by reading Luke 14:12-24.
And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
And when one of those who were reclining at table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed is everyone who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!" But He said to him, "A certain man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ' I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.' And another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' And another one said, 'I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.' And the slave came back and reported this to his master.
Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.'"
Once again we see the message in Luke - "Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame." And not just once did He send them out for that purpose, but you will notice that in harmony with the calling out of the two Remnant, He specifically sent the message out two times. These two callings will obtain the two ingatherings of poor dinner guests, in order that His house may be filled! As Yahweh now for the second time sends out the call for His second Remnant dinner guests, many of those who hear the message will not be able to respond. Why? Because like the "friends" who were first invited, they likewise will be too involved and too caught up in the cares and responsibilities of this world.
Who will respond? The poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Does this describe you? Many I talk to feel very crippled and weak and lame. And we are all blind; the only way we can see is to admit our own blindness. And yes, we are poor. We lack very much the wealth of that which is from above - the true riches. And though this parable is certainly intended to pertain to more than just literal riches, it is most unique that this message of the poor being invited to His dinner is once again in Luke. Let us now note one more message that is again unique to Luke. And equally, the message has to do with giving to the poor.
This time we see the account involving a man who, like the identity that is so often assigned to the Remnant, was "small in stature." As we have seen earlier in this writing, the second Remnant is characterized as being small - small in strength and small in size. Here we find as recorded only in Luke a man who was equally and quite prophetically small - Zaccheus.
In addition to the Remnant-attesting size of this man, Zaccheus' name carries with it the testimony of the Remnant. In the account involving Elijah, we saw two significant testimonies (in addition to the matter of miracle provision). One was the matter of smallness; the other was in the meanings of the names of the two places where Elijah was cared for during the drought. Here we found that Zarephath meant - "refining or purifying by fire."
While Zaccheus was equally a small man, even as Elijah's provision came from the widow's small portions, Zaccheus' name is unmistakably similar in meaning to that of the town where Elijah found refuge and provision. Zaccheus means - "cleansed or purified."
So once again we find the common testimonies of smallness and purification - both unique and often repeated qualities of the second Remnant. (We will consider this matter of cleansing once again in this writing,)
In this account concerning Zaccheus, his small size produced the situation that when Yahshua went to him there in Jericho, he was up a tree. He did this in order to see Yahshua; but it cannot be helped to note that, for the Remnant, we too when called by Yahshua are "up a tree" in several regards. One, in desperation out of our own plight, yet in another way in that we are desperate to see Yahshua. Thank Yahweh that as Yahshua passes our way, He stops to call this little Remnant bride out of their tree.
But what is the response of this little man as he dined with Yahshua? This little man stood to his feet and declared the Remnant testimony regarding his own possessions - "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give it back four times as much" (Luke 19:8).
"Well," you might note, "he did not give all." No, but when one reads that he made his commitment to give back four times as much to those he defrauded, you wonder what this tax-gatherer might have had left of this remaining half. According to his own accounting, and you can be sure that this man according to his trade was a good accountant, he knew that he could not give all that he had. His need to maintain some of his money to attempt to reconcile his wrongful actions was a testimony to his purified heart.
Obviously this was pleasing to Yahweh, for in response to his standing (in more ways than just physical), Yahshua declared - "Today salvation has come to this house." Salvation is coming to the Remnant as a result of their Zaccheus-like response regarding their own possessions.
This account concerning Zaccheus is likewise in clear contrast to the events that occurred immediately before this. Just outside of Jericho, the rich young ruler approached Yahshua and could not give up his possessions (Luke 18:18-30). Oh such a contrast of these two men and the events that occurred so close in time and place. The one could not divest himself of his possessions, and walked away very sad; and yet the other freely gave of his possessions, and salvation came to his house. Basically the only event separating these two encounters was that a most desperate and persistent blind man was healed and received his sight. Do you think that there may be some intended significance to this contrast and the event in-between? Intended or not, the truth is quite evident - we too will reject Yahweh's covering over the bride if He does not heal our blinded eyes to respond to His call to sell all and follow Him. We are up a tree and he is calling us to come down and sup with Him. What will be our stand? Will it be the response of the rich young ruler, or will it be the contrasting response of the little man, Zaccheus? The contrasting message here in Luke once again seems much too obvious to ignore.
Let us take a break from examining what the Scriptures specifically teach and reveal, and see what it is that Yahweh has attested to in history regarding this Remnant practice of holding all things in common. History is very important to consider in discerning what Yahweh is doing and what He will do. Remember, all creation groans and travails for the revelation of the sons of God, and we should be able to see in creation not only this groaning and travailing, but reflections of what Yahweh will do in finally bringing forth these sons. Remember, history is nothing more than "His story," and as such we should be able to see His repetitive plans and ways in it (since there is nothing new under the sun).
Continue to page 8 of One Thing ... for HIS-STORY, PART I