THE JOSEPH ANOINTING

Like the Patriarch Joseph, who lived in Egypt during the reign of a Pharaoh who considered himself "The manifested God," the believers in Yeshua, have contended for the faith, with rulers of this sort. One of the most strategic battles ever waged against the true Messianic-Judaic monotheism of the New Testament, is seen in the clever devices of Emporer Constantine, against the Messianic Jewish believers, whose one-God" beliefs, were based on the Shema: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord," together with obedience to the first commandment, as Messiah taught in Mark 12:29. Constantine bitterly opposed all Jewish Christians as Judaizers. Yet, we see the Messianic Jewish concept of One God in Messiah, clearly outlined in Colossians 2:9:

"In Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead in bodily form." We see an example of this in Rev. 21:21-12. "And I saw no Temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it." (22) This does not personify "two members of the Trinity, but ONE God in Mashiach/Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. (2 Cor. 5:19) ..."And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light (Greek: LAMP i.e. "visible representation of God's person.") thereof." (23)

Contrary to the popular belief of many in the demoninations, the church did not begin in 325 a.d. with their denominational leader "Pastor Constantine."

To those first century Messianic Jews whom God used as spiritual leaders to lay the foundations of the Christian faith, as well as the believers in Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ, of today, who hold "The Revelation Yeshua haMashiach," (Rev. 1:1) which Apostle John held, (Rev. 1:8) ones revelation of the Godhead, doesn't come from a third century Catholic council, where the anti-semitic spirit of their pagan leader Constantine, and those 318 bishops present, drummed the Messianic Jewish leaders out of the corps, "forbidding to marry--" i.e. (those calling themselves Christians) to marry anyone who was a Messianic Jew." Remember that it was at Antioch, (Acts 11:26) that believers first called themselves Christians. Prior to this, Jewish believers in Messiah, continued to see themselves as Jewish.

Our faith should be centered in Yeshua haMashiach, as focal point, as it states in Colossians 2:9: "For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead in bodily form". He is no lesser God. He is the great and true God manifest to us all. The Almighty Living God, who incarnated Himself "in the fulness of time" in Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ. Scripture admonishes not only the Hebrew Community, as the Apostle Paul writes in his epistle of Hebrews, but to all those whose spiritual focus should be Yeshua/Jesus, saying to them:

"Looking unto Yeshua, the author and finisher of our faith." (Hebrews 12:2)

"And he will speak out against the Most High, and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law..." (Daniel 7:25)

CONSTANTINE'S CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD

Constantine was no fool when it came to military campaigns. He had a secret agenda, and he was on a subversive mission, to "invade with his troops," (Habakkuk 3:16) i.e. demonic spirits-- the liberty-filled church of believers in Yeshua. The means by which to accomplish this was given him by the demonic realm, as well. There were charges that a group of followers of a man named Arians "made Yeshua/Jesus some form of lesser God." After a sinful life of political intrigue and , Constantine had one of the bitterly hated Arians baptize him. By the time the Nicean Creed was set in place, Constantine, a friend of the Arians, had achieved a grand victory. Those calling themselves "representatives" of the church, had deposed Arius, but were so confused that their own misunderstanding of doctrine "made Yeshua/Jesus the "lesser God." Ask most calling themselves Christians today, about the Godhead, and their belief in who Jesus is in relation to the Trinity, and they will totally confuse covenants, because many fail to understand that Messiah is not just the "second member" but calls Himself "the Almighty God" by His own confession in Rev. 1:8. Pointing to the Son of Man who lived in absolute obedience to the Father they say: Yeshua/Jesus said: "The Father is greater than I." (John 14:28) In what capacity was this said? In the capacity that:

"Though He was found in the form as God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient unto , even the of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Yeshua/Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." " (Phil. 2:6)

The pagans united under Constantine, would not stand for Messiah being the head of the church. The emperor was their only ruler, and he looked to Mithra, for his power. Their focus, therefore was on Ra-the Sun God, in the form of Mith-ra, the Indo-Iranian god of the sun. The only prevelent faith of Rome, was this diety with the feastday of Dec. 25th in honour of the pagan deity, which the Messianic Jewish church repudiated with a passion, and refused in. God told His church, "that righteousness has no fellowship with unrighteousness, and Christ had no concord with Belial (meaning: "mixture")(2 Cor. 6:15) He that believes has no part with an infidel. This should have eliminated 318 bishops from participating in a church council at Nicea, in 325 a.d, but those who attended, chose to ignore the clear-cut warnings of scripture. Besides the Emporer paid their way, and they were flattered. Daniel the Prophet also warned that "Many shall cleave to them with flatteries." (Dan. 11:34)

Sunday also was the day set aside for Mithra worship, as contrasted with Shabbat of the Messianic Jewish community. This also served to separate out the Jewish leaders and their converts, and to identify them for the pograms which were to follow. Constantine and the church councils carefully eradicated both the autumn Jewish festivals, and Shabbat observances, which Messianic Jews participated in, instituting that of Mithra, but calling it "Christian," and anathamizing anyone who violated these "Catholicized holy ordinances." This opposed the Apostles doctrine:

"Let no man act as your judge in regard to food or drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a sabbath day, which things are a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Messiah." (Colossians 2:16)

The doctrine of the trinity, a decidedly Gentile invention, lacks the revelation of the oneness of God found in Judaism, which Messianic Judaism, came by revelation from the mouthes of the Jewish apostles, whom God Himself anointed and ordained. Of course the oneness belief of the Jewish nation, which God commanded for thousands of years and never retracted, was of little concern to the political ambition of Emperor Constantine, and the bishops of the Nicean Council, who toyed with it for several days and came forth with a compromise doctrine. His greater focus seems to have been in getting the Jewish church leaders influence "out of" the church, because they stressed not merely Messiah in the Godhead, but the Godhead in Messiah, as the scripture states: "For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead in bodily form," adds, "And ye are complete in Him." (Col. 2:9) It liberates people to know this.

Modern day doctors and counsellors would be penniless in the face of this revelation of this Godhead. They have preferred "The Spirit of Mammon," to the revelation of God, found in the bible. Isaiah 9:6, calls the child that was to be born: Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Yet today, at the slightest twinge of pain, men and women frequently fail to avail themselves of Messiah as Wonderful Counsellor. The scriptures are given that we might be walk in the light of the Lord. "Is any afflicted, let him pray," we are commanded. (James 5:13) Through prayer--we will come to know the voice of the Lord and to receive His counsel first-hand.

With the Greek philosophies in so many of the cities in early New Testament times, it was to the advantage of church councils to water down the gospel, and alter the Godhead, with threats to excommunicate any one who disagreed. i.e. The Jewish segment of the church, whom they derided with mockeries beyond imagination, so that the church could become thoroughly estranged from the teaching of it's Jewish apostles, and hellenized. See the article "The Conspiracy of the Great Harlot)

By the medieval era, there was such Nicolaitan authoritarian abuse, that the common people didn't own a bible, and Catholic popes bribed whole nations with threats of anathema. Yet in many places such intimidation did not prove fruitful, as men and women hungered and thirsted "Him whom to know aright if life eternal." They came into an understanding of the "oneness of God," repudiating the doctrine of the trinity. Quakers like George Fox, and William Penn, would have rather died than accomodated "the spirit of intimidation." Penn was once placed in the Tower of London and given a life sentence, for his writings: "On The Errors of the Trnity, and "A Sansy Foundation Shaken."

ONE GOD IN CHRIST VS THREE PERSONS OF GOD To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not inputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Cor. 5:18-19)

And where did Elohim, Yahweh and Adonai of the Old Testament fit into the scheme of things? With that so-called logic with which some designate the titles Father, Son, Holy Spirit as three members of the Godhead, did the Gentiles of the church councils, which eliminated the representation of any Jewish leadership, see the titles Elohim, Yahweh and Adonai as another triad?

Yahweh states: "Before me was not formed a God." (Isaiah 43:10) This means there were no other members of any supposed trinity. In speaking of Messiah, we read: And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the ; that in all things He might have preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell. (Col. 1:18) Why does Messiah have preeminence? "Because the Father is glorified in the Son of God." (John 14:13, 12:28) Messiah glorified the Father in His obedience even to His on the cross, and for this cause, God has highly exalted Him.

Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and given him a name above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess thaaaat Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

(Phil. 2:9)

In the phrase "a name above every name," we also understand the preeminence as seen in the fact that the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Messiah in bodily form. "He is the image of the invisible God." (2 Cor. 4:4, Col. 1:15) The express image of God's person. (Remember that "person," in Greek, doesn't mean "person" but is from two Greek words, which basically mean "appearance.")

In defining the doctrine of the trinity, which supposed member of the Godhead is denoted as "The Father?" Elohim, Yahweh, haShem, Adonai? Isaiah prophesied an incredible prophetic word concerning Messiah, in Isaiah 9:6, that the Son who would be born unto us, shall be called "The Everlasting Father." (Is. 9:6) Yahweh's statement is that of Heavenly Father in Exod. 4:22, where He says: "Israel is My Son, My firstborn." Some trinitarians, define Elohim as the Father as to His is creating of the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1) Isaiah 43:15 states that The Holy One (i.e. The Holy Spirit) is the Creator of Israel. Messiah Himself, tells us what His own doctrine was/is concerning the Eternal Godhead: "He that has seen Me has seen the Father." If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. I and My Father are one. (John 14:3, John 14:9, John 10:30) Never did He claim to be one member of the Godhead and say His Heavenly Father was an entirely separate, distinct person, or Godhead member.

Who is the trinitarian Godhead member defined as "Spirit, the Holy One, in Greek, or the Holy Spirit?" Is the Father even seen as a Spirit? Or does only the Holy Spirit equate to some as Spirit?

Messiah said: In that day you shall know, that I am in My Father and you in Me and I in you." When the apostles assayed to go to Bithynia, the "Spirit of Jesus" forbid them to go." (Acts 16:7) How many spirits are in the Godhead? One or two or three? Ephesians tells us there is but "one Spirit," even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. (Eph. 4:4) Yet many see, in a triune Godhead, Spirit #1, and Spirit #2, and the Messiah as if He had no Spirit at all--and is merely flesh, as if there are at least two Spirits. However, in Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts, he states these come through the working of "that ONE and self-same Spirit, dividing to each man severally as He wills." (1 Cor. 12:11) Again, we see God's Spirit is "one," exactly as defined in Eph. 4:4. Not two and certainly not three. When you read Rev. 1:8, Messiah terms Himself as that Spirit--saying: "He who was and is and is to come, the Almighty!" "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!" (2 Cor. 3:17)

In the Old Testament, God is always seen the King Eternal, or King of the Universe. Isaiah 43:15, calls the Holy One (i.e. Holy Spirit) your King. The New Testament states that Messiah is King of Kings, (Rev.17:14, 19:16) the Blessed and ONLY Potentate. The blessed and only potentate does not ever equate as "three in one." Blessed and ONLY is exactly that. If Messiah is the ONLY Potentate, or King, where does this leave the Trinitarian's other persons of the Godhead? Israel in the Old Testament knew but "one king eternal." Only through the incarnation, would Israel recognize this King of theirs.

Messiah is hardly in the subordinate position, as King of ALL Kings. In Psalm 2, God states that He Himself has established Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ as King, upon His holy hill. (Psalm 2:6) When the apostles wrote of the Godhead, they only give this in benedictions and salutations: From God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to define the incarnation, and work of the cross of Mashiach/Christ. There is an absence of any reference to "3 in one," as the church espoused from Emperor Constantine's Nicean Council in 325 a.d.

MESSIAH: CO-EQUAL OR SUBORDINATE IN HEAVEN?

The Son of God has long been viewed by Trinitarians as in a subordinate position, to the other supposed two members of the Godhead--which they state are the Father and the Holy Spirit--A doctrine formulated through an evolution of sorts--but primarily ratified at the Council of Nicea, in 325 a.d., with the three Godhead members they surmised as "Co-equal and co-eternal." Why? Because of the fact that people fail to understand that Messiah is the Victorious King Israel has looked for! The children of Israel saw the prophetic promises concerning the triumph of Messiah over His adversaries. What they many times failed to observe, was that this high exaltation, would be made possible only through a Lamb meek and lowly, that would shed his blood and die for the sins of the people. It was for the "sufferings of ," on the cross as the Lamb of Pesach, that He was made a little lower than the angels." (Heb. 2:7) Not a subordinate Trinity member forever, but as the glorified Lord, who calls Himself, "The Almighty." You must read the rest of the book, clear through to the end.

In Revelation 1:8, as Messiah brings forth the revelation of Himelf, now glorified, He calls Himself, "The Almighty." What part of "ALMIGHTY" do people fail to understand? Those who tend to shrink Messiah into the subordinate role, but nevertheless calling Him co-equal and co-eternal with the other supposed Trinity members, need to see Him as the ALMIGHTY God, not as one third of God! He's the focus both now, and the eternal "focal point," with the church "looking to Yeshua/Jesus, as Author and Finisher of our faith. (Heb. 12:2) Such ignorance flourishes in a climate in which the church is too encumbered and overtaken with the cares of life, to search out the scriptures as the Bereans whom Paul termed as "More noble than those Thessalonica, for they searched the scriptures daily, to see if the things he was teaching were so." (Acts 17:13)

The disciple Thomas called Messiah: My Lord and My God! (John 20:28) What portion of "In HIM dwells ALL the fulness of the Godhead in bodily form," subordinates Him to the other so called members of the trinity, as if some lesser life form?

And Unto the King, Invisible, Immortal...be honour and glory forever and ever amen? And "The Only wise God, our Saviour?" (Jude 25) Where does this leave the other two members of the Godhead, if the Blessed and Only Potentate (1 Tim. 6:15) is "the fulness of the Godhead" in bodily form? (Col. 2:9) The point is the Godhead emmanates from His glorious face. (Rev. 21:21-23) Isaiah said: "He shall be for a glorious throne to His fathers house." He's not just seated at the right hand of God, but He is the throne. (Is. 22:23) These are metaphors for His position of all-power in heaven and in earth which have been given to Him.

Now, centuries later, many worship Him, not as "the King Immortal, Invisible, the ONLY wise God, (1 Tim. 1:17) the Blessed and ONLY Potentate, (1 Tim. 6:16) with the focus solely upon His glorious person, but simply as "a part or portion of God." How many kings do you count here? Timothy states there is just the blessed and ONLY Potentate or King!

Moreover, they see Him not as Apostle John saw Him, as "The Almighty," but as much less than that.

Thomas, the Jewish disciple, called Christ: My Lord and My God. The old Jewish Apostle John, saw the glorified Messiah, as Ancient of Days who did sit, in Rev. 1:8. And the glorified Saviour identifies Himself in Rev. 1:8, saying:

"I Am Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was, and who is to come, The Almighty."

Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to fulfill the Great Commission, saying: "Go into all the world, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the "name-singular not titles plural) of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe and to do whatsoever things I have commanded you: and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world. (Matt. 28:19) He stated in Mark 16:18-18, "These signs shall follow them that believe."

• In my name they shall cast out devils. (Acts 16:16)
• They shall speak with new tongues. (Acts 2:1-4)
• They shall take up serpents. (Acts 28:3)
• If they drink any ly thing it shall not hurt them.
• They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. (Acts 5:12, Acts 9:33,Acts 14:10)

Those Jewish apostles, who had walked with Yeshua/Jesus, and had known and touched Him, went forth and did a seemingly strange thing to the Gentile or Trinitarian mind...They baptized into the name singular of Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ. This was the Messianic Jewish and Gentile Christian belief of of the first century, that had come down to them from the Apostles of the Lamb, who were all Jewish, and who understood the truthes of scripture by direct revelation, from God. Revelation is still available to those who want to know the Lord. (Luke 10:22) Messiah said: "Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject to you, but that your names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. In that hour Yeshua/Jesus rejoiced in Spirit (Greek shows Him dancing) and said: I thank thee O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto s. even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to meof my Father. and no man knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is, but the Son, and him to whom the Son will reveal Him. And he turned to His disciples and said: Blessed are the eyes which see the tings that you see. For many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear, but have not heard them. " (Luke 10:21-22)

In the present day, as with other generations, God is calling leaders to teach the precious truthes of His word, and among them, is a proper understanding of the Godhead, with signs and wonders, confirming God's word.

When Jewish leaders were persecuted and driven from Jerusalem, and other areas, and omitted from the Councils of the emerging Roman Catholic church, those with a mixture of pagan and Christian beliefs prevailed, and endeavor to prevail over the Church of Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ until this day.

Where are the Judah Maccabees of our day? Where were they, when the Council at Nicea and successive councils were hammering out false doctrine, and ratifying it at church councils, one after another? There is the wide-spread hellenizing even now of those Messiah died to save. Pick up your workman's Hammer Judah! Where are the sons of Judah, who hate to see the hellenizing of their Messiah's teaching? How many of the sons of Judah, have for hundreds of years permitted the hellenizing of the faith once delivered to the saints?

It was a clever ruse that was used to perpetrate such truth of scripture, and to erode solid doctrinal foundation in people's lives. A strategic but spiritually military ploy or thing was done, as an actual military campaign, to raise the banner of an anti-christ spirit, through false apostles, by anointed principality spirits who are angels of light. (2 Cor. 11:14) But the New Testaaament on the Day of Pentecost, shows us that "This is that..." The real apostles of God baptized in Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ's name alone, (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:5) spoke in tongues, (Acts 2:1-4) cast out demons...And the kingdom of God came to earth as it is in heaven...The persecution was also quite immediate, coming then, through an attack primarily against the Jewish segment of the church. To be Jewish at all, was to be called a Judaizer, by those subservient to the Emperor Constantine.

RECEIVING THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THROUGH REVELATION FROM GOD'S UNCHANGING WORD

Yeshua said: "All things are delivered to Me of My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and him to whom the Son sills to reveal Him." (Matt. 11:27)

God always intended that belief or knowledge of God in Messiah (Immanuel "God with us", Yeshua= "Yahweh the Saviour") come by revelation. As men and women repent of sins, and do the will of the Lord, God's will is made clear, for God's word states: If any man will do my will, he shall know the doctrine, whether it's of God or whether I speak of Myself. (John 7:17)

Messiah called Nathaniel a "true Israelite," in whom is no guile, stating that "Hereafter you shall see the heavens opened and the angels of the Lord ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." (John 1:51) This indicates that ones "heart condition or humble attitude" is a central issue in the understanding of doctrine, and eliminates Constantine as a teacher of doctrine.

Jewish believers of the first century, did not fragment Messiah, as Messianic Jews were taught to do through the intimidation of Catholic Gnosticism which compartmentalized the Godhead as three separate distinct persons, in later centuries. The Roman Catholic church that held sway over whole nations with their threats to anathemize all who disagreed with their pagan hierarchy, filled the Catholic coffers. They paraded and still parade the bone relics of saints, and have enough supposed splinters of the cross to build a cathedral. Many succumbed, to the "trappings of the Great Harlot," as Jews in the story of Hanukkah, came in subjection to Antiochus Ephipanes. (Feast of Dedication-John 10:22-23) When Hellenized Jews submitted to Antiochus Epiphanes threats, commanding them to bow to his gods, those children of Israel who found this abhorrent, had to be ready to die for the faith.

The birth of Messiah which occurred during an autumn Jewish feast period, was also changed to that of December 25, the pagan Sun-God, so as to accomodate pagans without the need for conversion. Under the guise of eliminating legalism, which was not of major import to Constantine, who history records ed his own family members for political advantage, he purged Messianic Jews so as to accomodate a new breed he could effectively work through.

When the Apostle Paul taught all believers to accept one another, he was not accomodating false doctrine, which he hated, and worked to correct, warning of "science falsely so called, overlords over the flock of God, and many other things. He said to:

"Accept one another, just as Christ also acceped us to the glory of God. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers," and for the Gentiles to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I give praise to Thee among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to Thy name. (Romans 15:7-12)

The Council of Nicea opposed the truth of God's word to "accept one another," which was God's heart brought forth by the apostles. Constantine declared that there should be "punishing and excommunicating of all those observing the Messianic Jewish Sabbath."

The day which the pagans of the kingdom set aside for observance of Nithra which was Sunday, became through new laws passed by church councils, the Christian Sabbath. The Jewish "calendar year" was eliminated and replaced, with Roman months of the year, which recall the pagan feast days or holidays. Today, in America, the public recognizes the Roman names given to the days of the week. The New Year celebration for a many, is the license for drunken debachery, rather than the holy associations of the autumn Feast of Roshashanah, which speaks of the need for searching ones heart before God and for repentance.

On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time [321 CE].)

The Council instituted the observance of Easter with it's fertility symbols, to replace Pesach's lamb sacrifice.

It was basically Pharaoh of Egypt all over again, observing that God had blessed these Jewish apostles, and believers, who had gone into all the world, to fulfill the Great Commission, as Messiah commanded, baptizing converts in the name of Yeshua haMashiach. (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:5)

They'd been fruitful and multiplied, replentishing the earth with converts of the faith in Messiah, through the careful observance of as holy men and women of God, and preaching of God's word...Now what to do to reduce their effectiveness. Constantine would utilize the Council of Nicea, to gain entrance into those areas where gnosticism failed.

Moreover, the Messianic Jews had prophets. Gnosticism had succeeded in suffocating much of this among Gentile believers, but not among Jews with a long heritage of hearing from God through prophecy. Harsh discriminatory decrees followed, such as Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea which cited:

"Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ".

EMPEROR CONSTANTINE'S POST HUMUS WAR AGAINST THE END-TIME JOSEPH

The following excerpts are from a letter of the Emperor (Constantine) to all those not present at the council of Nicea. (Found in Eusebius, Vita ConsL, Lib 11118-20)

"When the question relative to the sacred festival of Easter arose, it was universally thought that it would be convenient that all should keep the feast on one day; for what could be more beautiful and more desirable than to see this festival, through which we receive the hope of immortality celebrated by all with one accord and in the same manner? It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of festivals to follow the customs (the calculation) of the Jews, who had soiled their hand with the most fearful of crimes, and whose minds were blinded in rejecting their custom, we may transmit to our descendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter; which we have observed from the time of the Saviour's passion (according to the day of the week).

We ought not therefore to have anything in common with the Jews, for the Savior has shown us another way; our worship following a more legitimate and more convenient course (the order of the days of the week): And consequently In unanimously adopting this mode, we desire, dearest brethren to separate ourselves for it is truly shameful for us to hear them boast that without their direction we could not keep this feast How can they be in the right, they who, after the of the Savior; have no longer been led by reason but by wild violence, as their delusion may urge them? They do not possess the truth in This Easter question, for in their blindness and repugnance to all Improvements, they frequently celebrate two Passovers in the same year. We could not imitate those who are openly in error. How then, could we follow these Jews who are most certainly blinded by error? For to celebrate a Passover twice in one year is totally inadmissible.

But even if this were not so it would still he your duty not to tarnish your soul by communication, with such wicked people (the Jews). You should consider not only that the number of churches in these provinces make a majority, but also that it is right to demand what our reason approves, and that we should have nothing in common with the Jews."

*Gleaned from Dr. Henry R. Percival's "The Nicean and post Nicean Fathers". Vol. XIV
Grand Rapid: Erdmans pub. 1979, pgs. 54-55

AND HATED HIM"

The scriptures admonish us:

Take unto you the full armor of God, (which is the word of God) that ye may be able withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, with your loins girt with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer, and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."

(Eph. 6:13-17)

What God has joined, let not man put assunder! The warfare a marriage goes through is serious business. That "first love," those once cherished vows, can turn sour in a moments time, if you don't guard your marriage and hold it sacred. Remind your husband--Remind your wife of your covenant vows. Perhaps you have never been aware of the kind of spiritual warfare that our adversary the devil can generate in his hatred of Christians. This can be at times, subtle, or downright oppositional. The inlaws will ask me: Aren't you concerned, that you won't be able to find a job? This will undermine my wife's faith in me. "Many waters can not quench love, neither can the floods drown it." (Song of Solomon 8:7) Still and all, as you act in faith, you really might look like "Joseph the Dreamer, in the eyes of those relatives!" Be secure and confident in your knowledge of God and His word!

Sometimes Christians do not heed God's command to:

"Come out from among them and be ye separate." (2 Cor. 6:17)

They continue to receive counsel from their ungodly relatives, which make the truth of God of no effect. Relatives who at times are envious, because their own evil lifestyle has not brought down God's blessings upon them, while they observe yours has.

One young woman was constantly battled with temptations to commit ery. One day it became apparent that she was in fellowship a great deal with a sister of hers, who was erous.

"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of sin. (2 Pet. 2:19)

At other times, it's a wife, complaining: "My husband doesn't act very spiritual. He's a good provider, but I wish he would act more like the spiritual head of the house." A domineering mother may attempt to interfere, simply because she doesn't want her child to do anything that takes the individual out from under her control. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh." (Gen.2:24)

Pastors, seeing the magnitude of an individual's calling, may advise that you to take more time in preparation. And as we look into God's word, we see God working with people to prepare them for a calling, to which He has called them. Much of the spiritual warfare individuals go through, is because they do not wholly obey the word of the Lord.

THE COMPLICATIONS OF WILFUL DISOBEDIENCE

It was approximately 25 years from the time God spoke and promised a son to Joseph's ancestor Abraham. He was old when the promise came, and Isaac was born in the fulness of God's prophetic time. That's the way it is with God's prophetic promises. Abraham's hope wasn't hung out there on nothing, as he hoped against hope! His faith covered him like a huppah, or canopy, those long years he waited, and God prepared him to receive God's marvellous promise. With regard to Abraham, God called him and he didn't say: Abraham, ten years from now, I want you to move out of Ur. But God did command him saying: "Leave those relatives of your fathers house, behind. Do not take them along." The Lord worded it to Abraham this way:

"Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy fathers house, unto the land which I will show thee." (Gen. 12:1)

In the bible, Abraham's father, Terah's name means "Delay." Terah, who was father of Abraham, Nahor and Haran, is said in God's word, to have been an idolator. (Joshua 24;2) Abraham seems to have not readily understood that God wanted to separate Abraham from the idolatrous culture in which he lived, as part of the covenant promise and blessing. Perhaps, like it is to some people today, the word of God appeared in conflict, to what were emotional ties and social obligations.

Terah was old! At Abraham's birth Terah was no less than 70 years of age. Some speculate he was over 100, or as old as 132. After Abraham's marriage, Terah, Abraham, Sarah, and Lot emigrated from Ur of the Chaldees on the road to Canaan, stopping in Haran. (Gen. 11:24-32)

Abraham also took his nephew Lot with him, who having no children of his own, appears to have been looked on as somewhat of an heir. Then Abraham went out not knowing whither he went. (Heb. 11:8) Whereas Abraham had been a wealthy man in Ur, and moving would necessitate "not taking it all with him, Lot was also rich in possessions, so a dispute arose with regard to the water and pasture rights of the flocks and herds. (Gen. 12:7-8)

With regard to the choice of land, after the move, Lot chose the well-watered plains of Sodom. This decision caused him to be vulnerable. He was at one time kidnapped by the kings of Sodom, and Abraham had to rescue him, which was time consumming. (Gen. 15:1-5)

Sarah was old when God gave her husband this prophetic word concerning the birth of a son. She laughed! Have you ever wondered how many women God would have to pass over today, to find one--especially a mature older woman, to whom he could say: I want to give you a child, that shall be great in the kingdom of God?

Did Sarah have any concerns about what her women friends would think of this idea of an old grey haired woman who was pregnant? Oh Sarah, old age happens to everybody. Now I think you are just afraid or uncomfortable with growing old! A kid at your age? Go enjoy soebody elses children, there are plenty of them around! God's idea of removing her from Ur, helped protect her from the obtrusive remark of the neighbor in Ur?

It was God's covenant blessing to give to Abraham a new land, in which to raise his son, Isaac. Have you ever felt God was calling you to relocate, or considered the effects of such a move on your family?

THE PILGRIM IMMIGRANTS TO AMERICA

What did the pilgrims immigrants do, when fleeing England, leaving relatives behind, in search of religious freedom? After arriving in America, they often sent for them! This was a marvellous thing if relatives shared belief in Messiah. Sometimes today, people who move from one continent or country to another, work and pay the passage of their kinfolks. Depending on whether those relatives have a heart for God, or not, has the potential to effect generations. In no time, America has become the vast mixed multitude "Israel" had to deal with before they left Egypt!

Some of these pilgrims or immigrants fled purposely because they knew that ungodly relatives had an extremely negative or derrogatory impact upon the family, and they longed to raise their children in a more godly atmosphere.

Gideon was a man who learned to be selective in who he took along with him on a mission of importance. (Judges 6:11) He looked for "fruit," in the lives of his men, because the conflicts they would face demanded spiritual strength in their physical bodies, as well as their souls and spirits. By the time he finished weeding out the "takers," there were but 300 warriors left.

We see Joseph, in the end, tests his brothers, and looks for fruitfulness in their lives. They didn't know he could even understand their language, as they talked. It takes more than a vast multitude-- to produce the fruitfulness God desires. God often begins with just one man or just one woman and gives them a prophetic promise, such as He gave to Abraham. Like he promised the man Joseph.

Joseph in these end-times must be a virtual grain silo, filled with God's word. (Amos 8:11) He must learn to withstand social pressure, and to be led of the Spirit of God. The success of your venture will depend in part on how discerning you become with regard to people, their character and motives. We move or act when God tells us. God sent Joseph before his brothers as a type of first-fruits of a harvest...that he might be a blessing! We hear a lot of bold faith these days, which is confrontational. Sometimes faith ambushes. It can be stealthy, such as Rahab was when asked if she'd seen spies. (Josh. 2:1-6:25) It can act courageously, even secretively, like the midwives in Moses day. (Exodus 1:20) All of these biblical examples were manifestations of godly wisdom.

THE ARMS OF HIS HANDS WERE MADE STRONG BY THE HANDS OF THE MIGHTY GOD OF JACOB

It's by faith and patience, that we obtain the Lord's promises. (Heb. 6:12) Our strength comes from the absolute faithfulness of God's promises, which are contained in His word. His blessings are sure because His word is true. The bible says: They are amen, to him that believes. Through these come with trials, so that through them we will gain a deeper understanding or knowledge of God than we have ever had before. So that we will not become complacent, in our pursuit of God. That "having done the will of God, we might obtain the promise." What has God promised you? Your true blessing is in God's hands, now. It is a stephanos, or "victor's wreath," which awaits you at the completion of what God has told you to do. This is the victory that overcomes...even our faith!

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written: The just shall live by (out of) his faith." (Romans 1:17)

What has the Lord revealed to you is necessary on your part to secure it? Joseph was given a vision from God of great blessing. He received it too, and is even now receiving it, let him that has an ear hear what God's Spirit is saying...

From the time you receive a prophetic word from the Lord, till God brings it to pass you will be tested. The scriptures tell us "Joseph, like our Saviour, was put to grief. "The archers sorely grieved him, and shot at him. But his bow abode in strength." Why? "The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob." (Gen. 49:23-24) And after the blessing comes, you'll experience trials, holding onto what God has give to you, through your faith in Him.

When Jacob found himself in the midst of one of the deepest trials of his entire life, the natural situation looked gloomy, but God was still on the throne. The story focuses on the prophetic covenant promises passed down through the ages, as it was given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, prophesies before Israel dies, he reiterates God's blessings to his own 12 sons, prophesying the things which shall befall the sons in the last days.

Jacob speaks to us concerning what God sees with regard to our own strengthes, weaknesses and ultimately prophesying not just the destiny of the nation of Israel, but of the "Israel of God," and of their children's children in the "latter days." This isn't "replacement theology." For God's word says that "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and circumcision is of the heart." Apostle Paul says "the true circumcision" are those who have turned their hearts to Messiah, and received salvation through faith in His name. We that have believed on Jesus, have the sign of which represents our faith. 1) We worship God in Spirit. 2) We glory in Christ Jesus 3) We put no confidence in the flesh. (Phil. 3:3) God has a holy seed," even a remnant that will be brought through the fire.

FROM THENCE IS THE SHEPHERD THE STONE OF ISRAEL (EBHEN YISRAEL)
SEEING GOD FACE TO FACE

"....The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob, from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel."

In this verse, we see another witness to the Messiah's statement "I and my Father are one, (John 10:30) for Israel has but one Rock. The Rock of Israel, said: Beside me there is no Saviour. (Isaiah 43:11) So who is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel, if Israel has but "one Rock?" And beside Him, there is no Saviour?" He anointed the prophets to prophesy of Messiah, who was to come.

The psalmist wrote: "Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my Rock; be not silent to me: lest if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down to the pit." (Psalm 28:1) And again: "From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." (Psalm 61:2) The greatest blessing by far is to "know Him whom to know aright, is life eternal." (John 17:3,I Jn. 5:20)

...Following his resurrection, Messiah appeared to His disciples, telling them to "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in "haShem" (the Name) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 28:19) Without deviating from their assigned mission, those apostles obeyed the voice of their Lord, and baptized their converts "Into the name of Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ." The 3000 children of Israel on the Day of Pentecost, were baptized in the name of Yeshua haMashiach, for the remission of their sins. (Acts 2:38) The Samaritans were baptized into haShem-"The Name" of the name of Lord Jesus. (Acts 8:16) The Gentiles were baptized by the apostles "in the name singular "of the Lord." And the Ephesians were baptized in Acts 19:5, "in the name of the Lord Jesus."

Jacob received such a revelation Bethel, when he laid his head on a rock for a pillow, and saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven. That ladder on which he beheld the angels of the Lord ascending and descending, typified Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant. (Genesis 28:12) In the New Testament, Paul taught that at the time of the Exodus, Israel drank from the Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. (1 Cor. 10:4)

Jacob received revelation from God at Penial, (Gen. 32:30) as he wrestled with God in the form of an angel, or what we sometimes call "the theophany," because the manifestation of God's presence was God in the form of the angel of the Lord. (Gen. 16:7-13, Exod. 3:2-6,Judg. 6:11-24) How do we know it was this? Jacob says: "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." In Genesis 35:9-10, "God appeared to Jacob "again," when he came out of Padan-aram and blessed him, stating: "Your name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and He called his name Israel." God first appeared to him at Shechem, when he commanded him to go to Bethel. God reappears here, confirming the Abrahamic Covenant.

"I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply, a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins. And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee, will I give the land."

Are you a daughter of Sarah, as I Peter 3:6, exhorts Christian women to be? Are you a son fo Abraham? Then God has a place for you--an inheritance in this life and in the life to come.

Jacob's encounter with the living God, involved his own personal sanctification. Sanctification is part of God's preparation for receiving the fulfillment of prophecies given to us. Jacob would raise a son named Joseph who also would have a destiny in God.

A son that would be torn from him while he was still very young, and the spiritual survival of that young man would depend to a great extent, upon those truthes his father taught him about God, and his own holy and his own personal relationship with the Almighty. In exile, as always, "the arms of Joseph's hands would be strengthened by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob." (Gen 49:24)

God needs those, in these last days, whose faith will be a kind of firstfruits, that heralds a harvest. Joseph's father Jacob had known God, but God wanted to to be known in a deeper way, than Jacob could ever fathom at that time. How often is "good" the enemy of best? The scriptures teach us that the "kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." (Matthew 11:12)But too often, ones attitude toward spiritual things can become complacent!

Jacob had a hunger for God. His son Joseph pursued the Lord, but the whole family doesn't possess the same heart, as we will see. What sort of things can make us complacent, or our family members so that as individuals we shut down and turn off? Preoccupation with the cares of life. (Luke 8:14,Luke 21:34) Or even family issues, such as those with which Jacob was involved with Esau, concerning his inheritance. In such situations, people can feel slighted, but God gives us "an inheritance that fades not away."

A "birthright" which causes us to keep this miriad of disappointments in the proper perspective. We believe that we know God's will for us, but trials come our way, and it can appear that things crumble, and dreams turn to dust.

What we see in Joseph's father Jacob's life was that God never ceased working to bring Jacob to the place God wanted him to be. God's word says: "This is the will of God concerning you, even your sanctification." (1 Thess. 4:3) What does "sanctification" mean? It means to be "set apart," for the purposes of God. These two essential things--a) "A revelation of God, and b) personal sanctification unto the purposes of God; are crucial to the anointing of God upon our lives.

A KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD:

At Bethel, Jacob made camp. Selecting a stone for a pillow, he laid down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed a dream, in which he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. In this place, the Lord stood, and reiterated the promise:

"I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon you lie, I will give to you and to your descendants." (Gen. 28:13)

In awe, Jacob replied: "This is the House of God, and the Gate of Heaven," referring to that place where one receives direct revelation from God. As believers when we trust in the Lord and believe on the name, of the only begotten son of God, our Messiah, Jesus Christ, we stand at the gate of heaven, knocking on heaven's door. The entering in, comes first and foremost through our understanding of who God is. For scripture states that we must believe "That He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

The prophet Isaiah in the nineth chapter, describes Messiah in this way:

The term "Everlasting or Eternal Father, has previously been a familiar name and attribute of God in the Old Testament. As a human father is seen as the progenitor or life-source of his own descendants, many references to the fatherhood of God, portray Him as Creator. (Gen. 17:5, Romans 4:11) This places emphasis not only upon relationship, but on origin. Moses taught Israel: "Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?" (Deut. 32:6) The Prophet Malachi cried: "Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?" (Mal. 2:10) The Prophet Isaiah prophesies that "Everlasting Father," will be, one of the titles by which Messiah will be known.

At Penial, where Jacob had fled from his angry brother Esau, who felt he'd been robbed of his birthright, Jacob wrestled with God. Not only was his name changed to Israel, (Prevailer, or Prince with God) when in that lonely place, estranged from his family members, but desperately holding onto God, he became a changed man.

With the new revelation of God which he'd received, no longer did Jacob, whose name meant "Deceiver" win "by hook or by crook," for now he'd seen God "face to face," and his life was preserved. For the rest of his life, he halted upon his thigh, for this was part of the blessing God blessed him with, at the place called Peniel. It was a place God crippled that dependance of Jacob on his flesh. For the rest of his life, "he halted upon his thigh," as a memorial of an encounter of the close kind with Almighty God, in the form of an angel.(Genesis 32:30)

AS STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND
(We Can Each Have An Open Heaven...)

God promises in the last days, to pour out of His Spirit on all flesh, saying:

Your young men will see visions and your old men dream dreams. (Joel 2:23-32)

This was quoted by the Jewish Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost, as this prophecy was fulfilled. (Acts 2:17)

It will come to pass in the last days,' God says, 'that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will work wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and a cloud of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and splendid day of the Lord, 21 and it shall be that everyone shall be saved who calls on the name of the Lord.'

Jesus Christ identifies Himself in scripture, as the "Door of the Sheephold," by which men enter in, and this was Peters sermon to 3000 Jews who had come to Jerusalem to "celebrate the feast." Christ is the portal, by which we become citizens of the "heavenly kingdom." (John 10:9) Jesus defines "an open heaven," in a message to an Israelite named Nathaniel; not as a locale, but a heart attitude, in which one is pure in heart, and "without guile". Becoming sanctified through faith, can only come by believing in Christ Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter stood and in answer to the query of a crowd of 3000 who asked "What must we do to be saved?" He replied:

Repent, be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

In contrast to Christianity's Hebraic roots, and revelation of God based upon prophetic revelation, the Greeks coined a term in relation to the gentile Greek theatre, which identifed one actor playing out many parts in a play, as "PERSONA."

This concept of the persona or "mask" for the face, is utilized in preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, in describing the fact that "In Him (MESSIAH) dwells all the fulness of the Godhead in bodily form. (COl. 2:9) Jesus said: "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father!" The term employed by New Testament writers, however, is the Greek word, PROSOPON, which is translated "person," or "persons," in Matt. 22:16, Mark 12:24, Luke 20:21, 2 Cor. 1:11, 2 Cor. 2:10, Gal. 2:6, Jude 16, but the meaning is better understood as "appearance." The term is found in Greek dictionaries as the term "appearance," from PROS="towards" and OP="an eye."

(Vines Expository Dictionary)

In Greek theater, masks were attached to small hand held sticks, which the actor would hold up to his face. As he changed the character of the play, to begin acting out a new part, he held up a new mask. This expresses idea of roles, not persons expresses the Greek term "PERSONA."

Like many English words, 'persona' comes from the Latin: "person, n. [L. persona, primarily a mask used by actors, hence, a character, a person, from personare, to sound through - per, through, and sonare, to sound.]" (Webster's International). The Latin 'persona' is directly equivalent with the Greek 'prosopon', as Boethius, as a sympathetic sixth century observer of Christianity, noted:

"For the word "person" seems to be borrowed from a different source, namely from the masks (personae) which in comedies and tragedies used to represent the people concerned...The Greeks, too, call these masks 'prosopa' from the fact that they are placed over the face and conceal the countenance in front of the eyes: đáńá ôďő đńďň ôďőň ůđáň ôéčĺóčáé (from being put up against the face). But since, as we have said, it was by the masks they put on that actors respresented the individual concerned in a tragedy or comedy - Hecuba or Medea or Simo or Chremes, - so also of all other men who could be clearly recognized by their appearance the Latins used the name 'persona', the Greeks 'prosopa'." (Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, Contra Eutychen, III).

God said to Moses:

"You cannot see My face ['prosopon' LXX]; for no man shall see Me, and live.'" (Exodus 33:20). Yet God has made a way for people who have deeply longed for relationship with Him on a deeper level, to see God and live: "So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." (Genesis 32:30). There is a face of God which no man can see and live. Yet there are those who have seen God and lived. Does the Bible contradict itself? That cannot be! Some, like Daniel, have seen similitudes and visions in the night, but others are plainly stated to have encountered the LORD Himself, face to face:

"So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle." (Exodus 33:11); "Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?" (Numbers 12:7-8); "But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face ['prosopon kata prosopon' LXX]..." (Deuteronomy 34:10). Thus, there is a face of God which no man can see and live. Yet prophets and patriarchs have seen God and lived. Jacob saw God face to face, in the form of an angel: "So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God face to face [prosopon pros prosopon LXX], and my life is preserved.'" (Genesis 32:30)

"He took his brother by the heel in the womb, And in his strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, And there He spoke to us - That is, the LORD God of hosts. The LORD is His memorable name." (Hosea 12:3-5). "The LORD bless you and keep you, The LORD make His face ['prosopon' LXX] shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance ['prosopon' LXX] upon you, And give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26). "Restore us, O God; Cause Your face ['prosopon' LXX] to shine, And we shall be saved!... Restore us, O God of hosts; Cause Your face ['prosopon' LXX] to shine, And we shall be saved!... Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face ['prosopon' LXX] to shine, And we shall be saved!" (Psalm 80:3-19).

The concept of portraying roles, with masks is familiar to Asians where the custom prevails in their theatre, using masks of this sort.

The Romans utilized persona to describe the actors mask. The Septuigent translators of the Hebrew bible, translating the bible into Greek, substituted the term PROSOPON, as the "sounding mask" through which God spoke, or signifying "out of the mouth of the Lord."

New Testament Greek Lexicon:

Strong's Number: 4383 pro/swpon
Original Word/Word Origin
pro/swpon from (4314) and ops (the visage, from (3700)
Transliterated Word Phonetic Spelling:
Prosopon or pros'-o-pon

Definition:
• a) The face, the front of the human head
• b)Countenance, look, the face so far forth as it is the organ of sight, and by it various movements and changes)
• c) The index of the inward thoughts and feelings the appearance one presents by his wealth or property, his rank or low condition outward circumstances, external condition used in expressions which denote to regard the person in one's judgment and treatment of men the outward appearance of inanimate things

  Translated Words:

  KJV (78) - countenance, 3; face, 55; misc, 5; not tr, 1; person, 7; presence, 7; NAS (73) - ahead, 2; appearance, 5; before, 2; coming, 1; face, 37; faces, 5; openly, 1; outwardly, 1; partial, 3; partiality, 1; people, 1; person, 1; persons, 1; presence, 11; sight, 1;

  Often Latin translators at times preferred to translate the word as PERSONA. King James translators also in an effort to be creative, would take a single term and translate it invarious ways. With the passing of time, Latin words meanings have been obscured.

  YOU SHALL CALL HIS NAME YESHUA/ JESUS:

  Does all this have bearing on the Joseph Generation, prophesied by the Patriarch Israel in Genesis 49? Yes, for ones revelation of God is foundational, according to Jesus Christ's statement:

  "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." (Mark 12:29)

  We see this concept of God is ONE," summed up in Hebrews 1:1-2, where God, "who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in times past in the prophets, but has in these last days spoken unto us in His Son." This is what the incarnation was all about. The one true and living God robed Himself in flesh. The angel told Mary: You shall call his name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21)

  It was prophesied that a virgin would conceive, and bear a son. This happened exactly as God said. He was born in Bethlehem of Judea, as the prophet Micah spoke, in Micah 5:2. (Matt. 2:1) He is Immanuel: God with us. (Isaiah 7:14, Matt. 1:23) Now, after paying the redemption price for all mankind, He has ascended into heaven, some 2000 years ago, where he ever-lives to make intercession for the saints.

  Again, Yeshua/Jesus poured forth His Holy Spirit, (Acts 2:33) that people might know Him intimately, and walk in His ways. John the Baptist prophesied that Messiah would baptize believers in the Holy Spirit. (John 1:33)

  Some have known God in incredible closeness and power. Apostle Paul was caught up to the third heaven, where God revealed to him, things he was not at liberty to disclose. (2 Corinthians 12:2) Do you long to know God to a greater degree than you have up to this time? God has spoken to us in these last days in His Son. (Heb. 1:1-2) The revelation God gives of Himself through the blood of the precious Lamb of God is by far the greatest understanding there is. His Spirit calls you to "Come and dine." Yeshua Himself said: Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no part of me. Sound strange? It's about appropriating oneness with God, through the blood shed as a propitiation for sins. He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit. (1 Cor. 6:17) We are bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh. (Eph. 5:32)

  In His prayer in John 17:21-23, the Lord prayed that we might walk in Him and know God with the intimacy Messiah Himself knew God, and do the greater works He said we would do, when He returned to heaven:

  "That they all might be as thou Father in Me and I in thee. That they might be in us, that the world might believe that you sent me. And the glory which you have given Me, I have given to them, that they may be as we are. I in them, and Thou in Me, that the world may know that you did send Me, and that you d them, even as you d Me."

  WORSHIPPING GOD IN SPIRIT & IN TRUTH

  "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth." (John 4:23) Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. (Leviticus 17:11) In Messiah, the Lamb of God, God prepared Himself a body, that that blood would be the protitiation for the sins of the world. (Heb. 9:22) Messiah is the ONLY True God.

  1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, [be] honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; 1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: 1:20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. (I Timothy 1:17)

  This is the True God, and eternal life. (I John 5:20) God is ONE.

  CHRIST IS MADE UNTO US THE WISDOM OF GOD
  (Providing For Others In Time of Spiritual Famine)

  Teach what is seen in scripture, and do not deviate from it. God is ONE! Jesus said in Matt. 28:19, to baptize in the name (singular) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." By revelation, the apostles, both Jewish and Gentile, baptized "in the name of Jesus Christ," for the bible says that in Messiah dwells "all the fulness of the Godhead in bodily form, and we are complete in Him." (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:5)

  Jesus Christ, being Jewish, taught the Jewish nation to whom He came, from the standpoint of the Messianic prophecies which they'd heard for hundreds and thousands of years, from the mouthes of their Hebrew prophets. It was an abomination to think of the Godhead as more than one person. The God of the Old Testament who is Israel's "Rock," is the One Lord of Israel. (Psalm 18:2,42:9) He is the same Rock of Ages He has always been. He is not another person, or second Rock in the New Testament. The Great King of the Old Testament, is not one person of the Godhead, and Jesus Christ a second King. That is a ludicrous assertion, isn't it? God is ONE!

  Messiah had always been a manifestation of God Himself come in human form, as the Lamb of God, the sin-bearer which takes away the sins of the world. As King of Kings, He shall rule as the "Son of David," who destined to sit on the throne and rule forever. When Messiah made such "oneness statements" as "I and My Father are one. He that has seen Me has seen the Father," the Jews accused Him of "making Himself equal with God." Not lesser mind you, but having equality, with God.

  This simply oneness belief is not a polytheistic Gentile or gnostic thought such as these possess, which divides the Godhead into compartments. That same Spirit that raised Christ from the , dwells in us. My bible says of Messiah, "Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Cor. 3:17) The passage is speaking of the difference between the administrations of law through Moses and of grace which came by Jesus Christ. He's the same glorified saviour who appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road, and whom Saul of Tarsus recognized as Lord, in the SHEKINAH, though how could he be? And the Lord said: "I am Jesus!" (Acts 9:5) Jesus recited the SHEMA, when asked which was the first and greatest commandment. God is one! And speaking about "face to face" encounters with God...and the topic of spiritual inheritance:

  Rev 21:21) And the twelve gates [were] twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city [was] pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
  

  Rev 21:22) And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
  

  Rev 21:23) And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light (Gk.="LAMP") thereof.
  

  Rev. 21:21-23, shows that the fulness of the Godhead emanates from the face of Jesus Christ. The next time you look at a street lamp, or that lamp in your living room, remember this about Jesus Christ: He is the image of the invisible God. (Col. 1:15) The express image of God's person. Believers have "this treasure" in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power might be of God andnot of us.(2 Cor. 4:7)

  UNTIL THE TIME THAT HIS WORD CAME
  (The word of the Lord tried him...Psalm 105:19)

  "Whose feet they hurt with fetters. He was laid in iron. Until the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him..." (Psalm 105:19)

  Those we love can disappoint or even betray us out of envy, but how we respond to our sufferings deterines the blessing we shall derive from our trials. We read: Jacob "loved Joseph," more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age, and he made a richly ornamented robe, (KJV) a coat of many colours, for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him, more than any of them, they hated him, and could not speak any kind word to him. (Gen. 37:3-4)

  Jacob dwelled in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan, with the children born to him. Joseph was born 6 years before he left his Laban's household. Of his childen, he had a special love for Joseph, and made him a coat of many colours. The Hebrew word for coat of many colours, here, is kethoneth passim, indicating a garment made up of differently coloured stripes of cloth. From then on, Joseph's brothers hated him, and could not speak peacably to him. The Hebrew text indicates not so much that they quarreled, but they did not offer the customary blessing of "SHALOM LECHA! Peace be with thee," when they saw him approaching.

  When he was 17, Joseph was sent by his father, to assist the sons of Bilhah, and Zilpah, his father's concubines, in Shechem. (Gen. 37:2) Joseph said:

  "I have dreamed a dream, and we were binding sheaves in the field. and my sheaf arose and stood upright, and your sheaves stood around and bowed down."

  They did not want to see that coat there. How come "he" has that? They wanted to throw him and the coat out. He wears it here. He wears it there. How irritating. He never takes it off. He sleeps in it. One young street person told me he had to sleep with his shoes on at the men's mission, or the guys would steal his shoes. You just have to keep going on in faith. The patriarchs believed this, journeying as strangers in a strange land. But the psalmist said of God:

  You brought us out into a wealthy place. (Psalm 66:12)

  Even when it seems there is no rest, Jesus Christ is our resting place. He told us to take his yoke on us, and to learn of him, for He is meek and lowly of heart, and we will find rest for our souls. (Matt. 11:29)

  I see a vision of a young man. He returned home to find his clothes on the doorstep. This is what was in store for Joseph in a round-about way, as he joined his brothers one day in the field. It's a painful experience to feel rejected by your own brethren. In a vision I see another "Joseph." He grew up in the church, where he enjoyed great popularity. He was sent out to assist his brethren in another state in a church planting effort. He was very excited about this. But as the weeks wore on, so many things seemed to go wrong. When he got there to the new post, his biggest trial began. The people to whom he was sent didn't seem to like him. Sometimes he felt like he wasn't so fond of all of them, either. The house didn't sell immediately, so there was the additional strain on his marriage of a financial burden. Other trials erupted. He felt alone, forsaken, cut off from fellowship. At the hospital, as his wife gives birth in an emergency sitution, it's an entire day, until anyone from church contacts him, and he is shaken. This young pastor, who had been a champion at the large home church, had yet to learn to stand in times of feeling totally alone. Here real growth would take place, as he learned in a greater measure to lean upon the Lord.

  He asked the advice of some experienced Christians, thinking they'd give him some piece of real "cutting edge revelation." They did--they both said exactly the same thing: You're planting a church? Then Satan is going to attack you so hard. Better just lock yourself up and pray.

  I knew a Christian family with several children. The church prayed for many years that single mom would get married, and one day she did. The youngest brother cried, when the wedding service was over, and he had to change clothes and they had to take the tux back to the store, because he'd never had a coat that was really nice. Many years later when the older brother got married, he said to the younger brother, who was to be in the wedding party: I'm going to BUY you a tux, so you'll have it forever. The mantle God gives is forever. Nobody can take it away from you, for no man is able to pluck you out of God's hand.

  God gives me another vision, and I see a youth pastor. He has had a situation that has been so frustrating to him. At the youth retreat, some of the youth seemed totally unresponsive. One particular youth at the retreat, was a real problem. After they'd returned home, he felt annoyed as he spoke with the boys mother. But he said to himself: "I will give up a days pay, and I will pray." He prays and within three monthes there is a dramatic change in a family in his church, which takes place in a very unusual way. Without the youth pastor giving another rebuke to this young man, he suddenly disappears from the youth group. He is removed from the family, by the juvenile authorities, never to be returned. That family goes on with God, as they wanted so much to be able to do, as they were doing, but they were weary of fighting the shame, and violence. Just as this situation was hidden from the youth leader, Joseph's plight or the total answer for the solving of it, was hidden from Jacob who watched for the family. There are the hidden things, which God sees, like he saw the tumult growing in Jacob's family toward Joseph. By Him actions are weighed. The youth leader was frustrated, because he felt responsible. The parents, both intercessors, and prophetically gifted, with a zeal for evangelism, were ashamed, because they felt they should be able to straighten this kid out. But the truth is, this young man's salvation could only come from God. The various individuals God used, were various components, which were important. There is liberty in seeing that at times we can take on such a burden, that we ourselves feel "totally responsible." Ultimately, God alone is saviour. Trust in the Lord. The brothers of Joseph, who hated him the more, said: Oh, so you think you are going to reign over us?

  And Joseph dreamed another dream, telling it to his father and brothers. "The sun, moon and 11 stars bowed down to me." (Gen. 47:9) When they saw him coming, they said: "Here comes that dreamer..." They felt he was "exalting himself." He seemed to signify that he was the firstborn, and he was not. How could Joseph receive the blessing of the firstborn portion? Ultimately, even Joseph's own father seemed annoyed, responding: "Shall I and your mother and brothers indeed come and bow ourselves to the earth before thee?" (Gen. 37:11)

  One day, Jacob said to Joseph: "Don't your brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Go, I pray you, see whether it be well with your brethren, and with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, to Shechem, some 60 miles away. (Gen. 37:14) A certain man found him wandering in the fields looking for the brothers, and said: "They left here," so Joseph walked another 8 miles, till he found them in Dothan. As the brothers saw Joseph afar off, they said: Here comes that dreamer. (Heb="BAAL HACHALOMOTH, "Master of dreams") And they devised a plan to slay him.

  Their first thought was to him, but after Reuben intervened, saying: "Let's not kill him. Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit i the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him." The scriptures tell us that Reuben hoped to deliver Joseph out of their hands, and to return him to his father again. (Gen. 37:21-22) As he approached, they grabbed him, and tore the "milti-coloured coat off of him, casting him into the empty pit.

  The brothers deliberated over their meal, how to rid themselves of Joseph, and lifting up their eyes, they beheld a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices and balm and myrrh, which they were transporting to Egypt. Judah said, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and hide his blood? Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not harm him. After all, he is our brother--our own flesh. And his brethren were content with this." It was decided that they would "sell the teenager to the Ishmaeites, for 20 pieces of silver.

  THE WORD OF THE LORD TRIED HIM

  "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations." (I Peter 1:7) "...Who are kept by the power of God through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last days..." (I Peter 1:5)

  There is a significant period of time which occurs between believing and receiving the fulfillment to a prophetic word or vision. The things which happen in the natural realm, during this phase of testing, are a paradox for they seem incongruous as far as the promise is concerned. In this does the trying of our faith become so crucial. We must continue to walk in the word of the Lord. Joseph's brothers set out to show Joseph whom would bow to whom.

  They dipped their brother's beautiful coat in the blood of a goat kid, returning with it, to their father, to say: "This is what we found. We don't know if it is your son Joseph's or not." And Jacob recognized the coat, and said: It is my son's coat; an evil beast has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces."

  The Ishmaelites, or Midianites hastened on to Egypt with their load of spices, and newly acquired slave. Here they exchanges Joseph, for 20 pieces of silver, to a man named Potiphar. Potiphar was the official over the palace guard, and captain of the guard, in whose service he remained for ten years. The Hebrew phrase denoting the type of employment Potiphar was engaged in is saris, translated "officer." The term "sar hattabbachim," signify Potiphar was the "Chief of the butchers." An apt term, in a land where to offend the king, meant "Off with his head!"

  THE SPIRITUAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE OF FALSE ALLEGATIONS

  "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Potiphar made Joseph "overseer," of all his house." (Gen. 39:2-6)

  The term for "overseer," here, is hiphkid, from pakad," meaning "to visit, to take care of, to superindend." The scriptures tell us that:

  "All Potiphar had was in his hand, and he didn't know what he had, except the bread he ate. Joseph was a goodly person and well-favoured." (Gen. 39:6)

  And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and said: Lie with me." But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, My master has committed all that he has into my hand. There is none greater in this house than I. Neither has he kept back anything from me but you, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And it came to pass, that day after day, that he hearkened not to her to lie by her, nor to be with her.

  And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and none of the men were in the house. And she caught him by his garment saying: "Lie with me," and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got out. (Gen. 39:6-14)

  And it came to pass that when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had gone, she called to the men of the house, and spoke to them saying:

  See he has brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us. He came in to lie with me, and I screamed, and he fled, leaving his mantle in my hand. And she laid the mantle by her, until Potiphar came home.

  When Potiphar arrived, she said:

  And note the way in which the manipulative eress wife of Potiphar first tries to influence the household staff against her own husband, who hired the Hebrew servant named Joseph, with her remarks suggestive of the judgment of Potiphar. Perhaps a bit anti-semitic. Then she turns these remarks to Potiphar in behalf of herself, saying:

  "The Hebrew did this..."

  "The Hebrew servant you brought to us, came in to mock me, and I screamed, and he fled. When Joseph's master, heard the words of his wife, his wrath was kindled." (Gen. 39:19)

  Potiphar took Joseph and put him in the prison, where the kings prisoners were bound. This word for "prison" is BEITH SOHAR, and literally means "the round house."

  But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour with the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed all into Josephs hand, all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was in Joseph's hand, because the Lord was with him, and that which he did the Lord made it to prosper." It was an act of faith, for Joseph to flee from the presence of Potiphars wife. He was a man of holiness and godly integrity, who knew that he stood in the presence of God.

  God has end-time sons and daughters, those in the temple, who "stand by night," but because they are believers in Messiah, who do the works of Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ, the presence of God within their own heart and life, is the SHEKINAH light and glory about them.

  The scriptures call the sinful worldly system "the Harlot." In your life, you will see the miriad of ways in which it is seductive, appealing to you as a holy person, as a godly person in Messiah, to compromise what the word of God says is true. Remember Joseph, as an example. Most of all, remember the life of Messiah, himself, who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. (Gen. 39:21-23)

  The fact that God blesses is an invitation to evil men and women that feel they can manipulate, control or in otherwise exploit things for their own benefit, and Satan is not called DIABOLOS ("to throw through-to riddle with doubts") for nothing. The motive may be jealousy, or feeling envy at what they feel they themselves cannot have. There may be the desire to see the one who is blessed, have to suffer, "as they themselves do." Yet the wicked, fail to perceive that part of their problem comes from their own lack of integrity, or obedience toward God.

  We live in times in which "allegations of every description are being leveled at people, no matter how godly they may be.

  In America, false allegations remain on an individuals police record, even if there is an investigation and the person is proven . If you are a person God has blessed, you may find allegations of a vicious nature leveled at you. If you walk in the authority of the Spirit of the Lord, be a person of prayer. Pray also for those who would envy your prosperity, or make you the object of their scorn. These may be false friends, relatives, or strangers. In some countries, allegations may come from the authorities, suspicious of your motives for even being there.

  There's a psychology to this sort of allegation. It demoralizes and brings deep discouragement or depression. Scandals of various sorts, from financial discrepancies, to moral failures erupt continuously, in various cities across the globe. Fighting for your innocence in court is time consuming and a waste of resources. Do not allow gossip-mongers to erode away the faith of your house of worship. In your home, teach your children:

  "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, than ran down the beard, even Aaron's beard; that went down to the skirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore." (Psalm 133:1)

  It is tempting to think: "Because I am a righteous man, or woman, I will never suffer from such problems. Look at the life of Joseph. From the life of Joseph, we see that personal integrity before God, is by far the greatest measure of protection you can have. But it is no guarantee that we will not suffer for righteousness sake. For the sake of our belief in one true and living God.

  THE PROSPERITY & BLESSING OF GOD

  Jesus Christ, the Messiah Himself was "delivered up because of envy. The bible says of envy...

  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous, but who is able to stand before envy? (Prov. 27:4)

  There are several Hebrew terms for "trials," and each speaks of fire, because it's related to the custom of refining gold, is a smelters pot. bachan, means "To be tried, proved and tested." massah, means "A trial, proving, testing. In the New Testament, the Greek words, dokime, and peira, speak of the trying of our faith, that it might come forth as gold when that is purified and separated from the impurities or dross.

  God's word teaches us that "If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him." (2 Tim. 2:12) Romans 5:21, teaches us that we must reign through righteousness. The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians, who assumed that they were on the cutting edge, "Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God that you did reign, that we also might reign with you!" (1 Cor. 4:8) So it is that as individuals, it is possible to possess spiritual knowledge, but to lack keen spiritual sight. I was invited to a church once that was training others of various churches, and God gave me a prophetic word which said that there was an unnatural "spirit of conformity." Where people quench the spirit out of fear or intimidation, this is seen. God wanted to pour out tremendous revelation on the place, that the corporate anointing might be copious. But there was a hindering principality spirit. What accomodates this type of thing? I believe one thing is "comparing themselves with themselves," as scripture warns not to do.

  JOSEPH IN THE MELTING POT

  As Joseph sits in prison, the butler and baker, also offended the king, and are sent to prison. The term mashkeh, translated as "butler," is "cup-bearer." opheh properly means "baker." As kitchen staff, they may have been accused of displeasing the king in the preparation of his meal, or of attempted . Whatever the case, they are now found to be state-criminals, detained in the same facility as Joseph, where Joseph continued a season in the ward. Then the two men both dream a dream, and as the dreams were not understood, or did not seem good, they were very sad. (Gen. 40:6)

  God gives to Joseph the interpretation of the dreams, and he relates the truth, as God has shown it to him, to each of the men, and the prophecies come to pass in a remarkable way, exactly as they were interpreted.

  Soon the Egyptian Pharaoh himself is given a dream, and Joseph is released and called to the palace to interpret the kings dream.

  The king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the people and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of his substance: to bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his senators wisdom." (Psalm 105:20) But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand, when He appeareth? for He is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap. And He shall sit as a refiner, and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi,and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:2-3)

  What a culture shock there is in an exile experience. Joseph's initial estrangment from the family, and slavery was tragic in itself. Now he finds himself unjustly imprisoned, with racial slurs being made toward his ethnicity, which amounts to slander of his faith, and allegations of ual assault toward a high officials wife.

  When a culture experiences a transformation because their borders are altered due to religious persecution, or war, and an individual is forced to move from one culture to another, as Joseph's captivity forced him to do. There is an immediate "immersion experience," in store for the DIASPORA, in which the new language is learned, one takes on the clothing of the culture, the learning of behaviour modification, so as not to be offensive to the foreign culture.

  My own ancestors endured such hardships many times. Some of my ancestors came under persecution in Germany. In France, in the 1600's, others of the family fled over the German border, living and working till the German Palatinates came under religious persecution, at which time they fled up or down the Rhine River, in small boats, to neighboring countries, where refugees without relatives in a city, lived in tent communities, or were driven off, sometimes aboard rat infested, prison ships to prison in another location. Or working in the new country, till passage could be earned for immigrating to America. The trip up the Rhine alone took 6 weeks, and the small scows had to slip unseen and unheard, past the campfires of enemy troops, in spite of crying children and babies, or individuals including elderly family members who may be ill. Yet God has been faithful to us throughout the generations.

  In ancient times, captives were deported to a place unfamiliar to them, where they underwent a complete cultural modification, enforced by their captors. In modern times, cultural modification is done for various reason. It's utilized for business purposes, by sales people traveling between countries, such as the learning of the Japanese culture, or some other facet of the sales business, to assist them in their public relations.

  Following the Sept 11, 2001 tragedy, our nation became more aware of the Islamic culture. The government, from a military standpoint, studied such strategic elements of warfare, as illegal immigrants, or falsified immigration documents, to ascertain, to what extent there had been penetration, by advancing foreign forces. On a local level, we became more aware however, of more subtle, changes.

  When we found it necessary to stay in a motel on the Olympic Penninsula, not long ago, we were amazed to see the walls covered with Islamic paintings. We were struck by the fact that this was a new style of motif in this region, than we'd seen before.

  Having occasion to stay twice in the same place, in two different rooms, the art was exactly the same. As an artist, I am facinated with and enjoy art, but these colorful painting, depicting warring Islamic horses and riders, seemed somehow "out of place." As if all your life, you lived in Mexico and Arizona, with art filled with cactus,and sombreros on motel walls, and suddenly you find the walls adorned with artwork depicting Islamic mosques.

  In the Pacific Northwest, tourists have come to expect motifs such as pine boughs and pinecones, especially when we take a trip to the mountains. Perhaps Islamics are living in these mountainous regions of the United States, as this is the topography of their homeland. Having been raised in a missions-minded home, around ethnic people and indiginous art, and I am comfortable with artwork of various forms as long as demonic spirits signifying their fortified strongholds, are not the subject of the piece. There seemed to be fear or intimidation depicted in the forsemen of this artwork, as one might see cruel-faced temple dogs of jade guarding gates in China.

  I found myself wondering how many Islamics live in the region? Did an Islamic person own the building? Did he expect a high population of Islamics to visit his establishment? Or did he simply feel that with the Sept. 11, 2001 situation, that Islamic art would be of interest to his tourist trade?

  THE CULTURAL IMMERSION EXPERIENCE

  We see this cultural "immersion experience" utilized by the Babylonians to turn Jewish captives into Babylonians, who also loved the arts, and their artwork now identifies the various places they invaded, or conquered. Intercessory prayer newsletters tell us that these cultural motifs are identifying characteristics which help one understand something about "spiritual warfare."

  Daniel and the 3 Hebrew children, Shadrach, Mescach and Abednego, chose not to be assimilated, but remained stedfast in their Jewish faith. Moses underwent 40 years of training as "the son of Pharaoh's daughter in Egypt, and was learned in all of the manners of the Egyptians.

  After Constantine merged the pagan beliefs of sun-worship with Christianity, this too became a cultural immersion experience that has extended it's pagan influence on believers in Messiah, to contemporary times. The first followers of Yeshua haMashiach, were largely Jewish followers of Messiah. As anti-semitism was aimed more and more at Jewish leaders and meeting places, such as Saul of Tarsus enforced in Acts 9, depleted the church of those with a pure understanding of the Judaic roots of this heritage.

  Did the Council at Nicea in 325 A.D. have any Jewish leaders at all? Probably not.

  As Gnosticism crept in, beliefs differed dramatically in such essentials as praise and worship. Gnosticism, with it's denial of "matter," caused worship to take on more of a silent, or mental form, and all Messianic Jewish dancing as worship, was excluded!

  One of the deep senses of sadness believers feel, is that we know from God's word, that within a human family, we cannot ever share the joy of knowing Messiah as one with a birth family is opposition, to those who do not believe in Messiah as Saviour and Lord, though we care deeply for these birth families we were born into.

  It was God who allowed the separation to come in Joseph's life. When we are born again, it's God's word which causes a separating work of God within us, which separates us unto Him, and places our allegiance with Him.

  THE END TIME JOSEPH & THE RULERS OF THIS PRESENT AGE

  "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that are come to nought. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory; Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." (1 Cor. 2:8)

  From the writings of Daniel the Prophet, we learn that when a demonic territorial spirit, which Ephesians 6 refers to as "world rulers," supplants the territorial spirit of another region, there is often a complete "takeover." Daniel prayed for 21 days, and received no answer. When the angel of God came, he told Daniel, "I am come for thy words.

  Daniel was given revelation by the angel, concerning the demonic resistence of "The Prince of Persia," which delayed angelic intervention. The angel gave the Prophet Daniel revelation concerning "the latter days." (Dan. 10:12-13) The angel said: "After I am gone forth, lo, the "Prince of Grecia" shall come." (Daniel 10:20) This was exactly what transpired in human history. The world government of the Medo-Persians was supplanted and Alexander the Great, took the known world, subjecting it to the rule of the Grecian world government.

  Nothing is more crucial, than God's intervention in the world system, in which we live. It was important that He worked through Joseph in the Old Testament, setting him as a leader in the land of Egypt. It is critical now. Throughout scripture, we see many politically influencial people ministered to by God's word, used to assist God's people, or converted to Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ said: You will be brought before kings and rulers for My names sake. (Luke 21:12) New Testament believers in the early church came from every strata of society, from business or sales people, and tradesmen, educators, correctional institutions officers, kings and judges courts in the land.

  As culture immersion projects in colleges, universities and public elementary schools feature such religions as Islam, across America, what we should observe as Christians is that religious groups such as Islamics, and others will continue to utilize America's "constitutional rights" in the propagation of their faith.

  As early as autumn of 1999, God began to speak prophetically to various intercessors and prophetic people across America, concerning Islam at the Gates of America. Cindy Jacobs, of Generals of Intercession published a prophetic word. I asked a Messianic Jewish friend, who visits her mother in Europe fairly often, about this, and was told that in Berlin, high school s walk about in burbas, because they "think it's cool." Pastors in Philadelphia were interested to learn that 10,000 Muslim missionaries were being sent to their city. Simultaneously, a London paper ran a full page ad, by the Islamic community, commanding the British nation to convert to Islam, or their blood would be on their own heads. A publican from Vatican City, printed a report stating that the Italian pope favored the Italian Communists and Islam.

  ...More recently, 4,200 freshmen and transfer students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were scheduled to discuss a book about the Qur'an that university officials assigned over the summer.

  We have pondered the fact that the U.S. military is fighting for freedom on Iraqi soil, and here at home, the nations public school children, and universities are receiving a "cultural immersion experience." What remains to be seen in the end, is who will prove to be the vanquished and who will be the conquerors? Is this "cultural immersion" thing the proverbial "Trojan Horse," or what?

  Consider the various ethnicities which make up the American populace. Yet, public school children, are not taking on Ukrainian Pentecostal names, and being water baptized.

  THE ENDTIME JOSEPH & THE JOB MARKET

  • Joseph's wisdom and guidance, from God, came partly from visions and revelations he personally received, or others received, and God gave him the interpretation. As an Israelite, Joseph also had been taught by his father Jacob/Israel, the vision God imparted to Abraham,Isaac and Jacob, for this was a progressive purpose of God. Joseph's own family did not receive these same prophetic words,nor agree with them, when he shared them, but misinterpreted the prophetic words, sometimes partially out of jealousy.

    "The vision is yet for an appointed time." It would speak in the "end." (Habakkuk 2)

  • God will continue to use Christians in political positions, whether all believers agree or not. Joseph is a type of Christ here, of whom it was prophesied: "The government shall be upon His shoulder..." (Isaiah 9:6) Jesus Christ is ruling in the heavenlies now. In these last days, God looks for men and women of integrity to rule through, that they might "Be fruitful, multiply, and replentish the earth" with the holy seed. Not a bad resume for an individual who's spent a portion of their life in prison. success story.

    Joseph's job experience is multi-faceted, and his resume would read something like this:

    CAREER EXPERIENCE:

    PERSONAL INFORMATION:
    • Name: Joseph (Gen. 35:26)
    • Gender: Male (Gen. 35:26)
    • Birthplace: Padan-Aram (Gen. 35:26)
    • Ethnicity: Hebrew
    • Married to Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On(Gen. 41:45)
    • 2 Children: Ephraim & Manasseh (Gen. 41:45, 50, 52)
    • Criminal history-Unfounded charge
    Job experience includes, but is not limited to:
    FEEDING & CARE OF LIVESTOCK
    • Care of Jacob's flocks & Herds (Shechem) (Gen. 37:12)
    • Assistant (Dothan) (Gen.37:17)
    • Served: Spice exportation business of Ishmaelite origin. (Gen. 37:28) (Their company did not deal in spices alone, but also other facets of the import/export business.
      Potiphars House:
      • Potiphars house, Capt. of the Royal Guard.
        Domestic Engineer, Superintendant of Household Staff (Gen. 37)
        
      • Promoted to: Chief Steward Potiphars House (Gen. 37)
      • Oversaw all facets of household duties (Gen. 39:4-6)
      EGYPTIAN CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OFFICER

      Outstanding achievments included:
      

      • Outstanding performance review-Prison Warden-Egypt (Gen.39:23)
      • Asst. to Chief prison guard (Gen. 39:22)
      • Consultant-Anxious,& depressed inmates, including row inmates. (Gen. 39)
      • Oversight of prisoners (Gen. 39:22-23)
      • Interpretor: Prisoners dreams.(Gen. 40:1-23)
      • Prophet to the Prison House (Gen. 40:5-23)
      • Recruited to serve as advisor to Pharaoh (Gen. 41:15-36)
      GOVERNOR OF EGYPT/MIZRA'IM
      • Prophet-Advisor to Pharaoh, King of Egypt (Gen. 41:25)
      • Interpretor: Pharaoh's dreams and visions
      • Oversight of grain conservation program-7 yrs Gen. 41:48)
      • Land developer
      • Supervisor of Aid to Dependant Families Health & Welfare Bureau-Egypt (Gen. 47:12)
      • Responsible for the infrastructure necessary for grain stores. (Gen. 41)
      • Disaster preparedness specialist-FEMA
      • Loan Officer (Gen. 47:14)
      • Real Estate Investor (7 yrs Gen. 47:20)
      • In charge of Egyptian emergency feeding program (7 yrs Gen. 41:56)
      • Financial Oversight of Egypt for 7 years
      • Special public relations officer (Gen. 43)