The Wise Timers are Teachable

Old Timers vs Wise Timers-Korah’s Rebellion & the Songs of His Sons

After the Israelites escaped from Egypt and God gave His Laws through Moses, their hearts began to harden and their ears were closed off to God and His Prophet Moses. Korah, the leader of a mutiny against Moses, quickly discovered that his faith in human understanding and reasoning was as unstable as the ground which swallowed him and his followers.

Korah was the son of Izhar, the grandson of Kohath, and the great grandson of Levi, making him the first cousin to High Priest Aaron and Prophet Moses. Since the priestly line came from his grandfather Kohath, Korah reasoned that he and his sons had just as much right to serve as High Priest as Aaron and his sons. Korah gathered “two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown…against Moses and Aaron” accusing that they were taking too much undue power for themselves. They argued that since everyone in the congregation was holy and the Lord was among them, they should all hold the same standing in the Tabernacle, charging that Aaron and Moses were raising themselves above the rest of the priestly class (ref. Numbers 16:1-3).

Moses challenged Korah and the rest of the Levites who had aligned themselves with the rebel to come back the next day with incense in their censers to see whose offering God would accept. It would be through trial by God’s standards, rather than man’s self-sanctification, that they would decide who was holy. Moses quipped back that it was they who were trying to take too much power for themselves (ref. Numbers 16:5-7).

Moses directly confronted Korah and his defiant fellow Levites, asking why they thought so little of the fact that God had separated them from the rest of the congregation of Israel and brought them near to Himself, to do the service of the Tabernacle and stand before the congregation to minister unto them. Despite the fact that God had brought them and the rest of the Levite Tribe closer to Himself than the rest of the other tribes, they still desired the Priesthood office as well so much, that they gathered themselves to defy God and those He had positioned over them (ref. Numbers 16:8-11).

The next day, Korah and his insurgents gathered at the door of the Tabernacle to challenge Moses and Aaron, and every man came with a censer filled with fire and incense. And the Glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation and the Lord spoke to Moses, instructing that the Israelites were to stay away from Korah and his cohorts (ref. Numbers 16:16-21) because God was about to punish them for their insurrection. And the ground under them gave way and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses and all the men that aligned themselves with Korah and all their goods. They all went down alive into the pit and the earth closed upon them. And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense (ref. Numbers 16:28-35).

Despite Korah’s revolt, God did not condemn his children (ref. Numbers 26:10-11; Ezekiel 18:19-20). Because they chose to listen to the Voice of their Father in Heaven instead, we see that they were given prominent roles in the Tabernacle service as well as the later Temple. They oversaw the baking in the Sanctuary, and bore the ark and the sacred furniture whenever the Tabernacle was moved.

The family’s most significant role was as the gatekeeper/porter (ref. 1 Chronicles 26:19) overseeing the entrance of the Sanctuary. Not only were they responsible for protecting the priests, they collected and distributed offerings, assisted with the slaughtering of sacrifices, and inspected both humans and sacrifices ensuring that all that entered the courtyard were ceremonially clean. While Korah wanted to be closer to God simply to attain the High Priest office, Korah’s descendants recognized through their roles as gatekeepers, that you must follow His laws before you can achieve greater intimacy and closeness with Him.

Korah’s lineage was listed among David’s mighty men (ref. 1 Chronicles 12: 1-2, 6), but not all were armed with physical weapons. When King Jehoshaphat went to war in the name of God, the Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, God of Israel, with a very loud voice. King Jehoshaphat appointed these men to stand ahead of the army as the spearhead and sing and praise the Lord as they entered battle, leading to a massive victory over the Moabites and Ammonites who killed each other in confusion (ref. 2 Chronicles 20:19-24).

Heman, the first of the three Levites appointed to lead the vocal and instrumental music of the Temple during David’s reign (ref. 1 Chronicles 6:31-33; 15:16-22), was the grandson of Prophet Samuel, both descents of Korah. The Sons of Korah are out rightly recognized for their contribution of Psalms (Psalms 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 84, 85, 87, & 88), which were heavily influenced by their ancestor’s infamous showdown and ultimate destruction.

The often quoted and sung Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” continues that “we will not fear, though the earth be removed” and when describing the Power of God, when “He uttered His voice, the Earth melted” are both obvious allusions to the earth swallowing up Korah and the rest of his rebels (ref. Psalm 46:1-2, 6).

Psalm 84 declares that “For a day in Your Courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the House of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Psalm 84:10) alludes to their current office as Doorkeepers and how Korah’s family only survived by fleeing their wicked father’s home before it was consumed by the earth.

Despite God not cutting off Korah’s lineage, his family suffered for his actions and were held in association with him despite resisting his rebellion. Psalms 88 reveals that they were “counted with them that go down into the pit,” which “pushed [their] friends far from [them] and made [them] an abomination in their friend’s eyes” and the singer feels as though they are “trapped and cannot come out”.

Korah tried to establish his own definition of who and what was holy and in a great example of God’s forgiveness, He gave Korah’s sons the office of Doorkeepers of the Tabernacle, assessing whether things met God’s standard to be able to enter. In another example of irony, the unteachable Korah who hardened his heart and closed his ears to God’s Voice, had sons who would lead praises to God, and write emotionally charged songs to teach others through worship.

Korah believed that his ideas concerning the priesthood were superior to what God laid out, but his family had the wisdom to recognize that God’s logic is greater than man’s. Their willingness to leave their earthly father’s philosophies for their Heavenly Father’s Voice gave them opportunity to help others align with God’s expectations and march and move to the rhythm that He set for His People.

Are you in sync with Him and where He is leading us today?

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

The Wise Timers & Their Prophetic Words

Old Timers vs Wise Timers-Methuselah: Destroyed for Lack of Understanding

Methuselah is renowned for being the oldest person mentioned in the Bible, living an impressive 969 years. But, despite being the son of the righteous Enoch, who was transmuted to Heaven, and the grandfather of Noah, who built the Ark to save mankind from the Flood, Methuselah was not spared.

Methuselah’s father, Enoch, is famous for being the only other person, besides Elijah, who never tasted death. “Enoch waked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5: 24). “By Faith, Enoch was taken up that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had transfigured him: for before his transfiguration, he had this testimony, that he pleased God,” (Hebrews 11:5). Enoch also prophesied “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His Saints, to Execute Judgement upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (Jude 1:14-15).

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked faithfully with God for another 300 years before he was transmuted at 365 years. Though Methuselah had 300 years to learn from his spiritually upright father, it is heavily implied that he perished in the flood.

Methuselah had lived 187 years when he had Noah’s father Lamech (ref. Genesis 5:25), who was 182 years old when he had Noah (ref. Genesis 5:28). Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth (Genesis 7:6), added with 187 years (Methuselah’s age at Lamech’s birth) and 182 years (Lamech’s age at Noah’s birth) totaling 969 years which was Methuselah’s age when he died, coinciding with the same year as the Flood.

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God”. God saw that the Earth and humanity was filled with violence and corruption and “so God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people for the Earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the Earth.” Noah was most likely around 500 years old when God gave him instructions on how to build the ark and “Noah did everything just as God commanded him” (ref. Genesis 6:9-22).

It is implied that it took Noah around 100 years to build the ark, so the destruction of the Earth would not have been an unexpected event. Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah, would have been aware of Noah’s construction project and would have remembered his father Enoch’s prophecy about God executing judgement upon all the ungodly for their deeds and words against Him, matching God’s explanation for why He was going to deluge the Earth with water.

Methuselah would have even had the benefit of having known the very first man, Adam, who was 687 years old when Methuselah was born, living another 243 years before passing away at 930 years old. Methuselah would have heard firsthand accounts of what the world was like before the Fall of Man and the Glory of experiencing God in such an intimate and connected manner before Sin entered the World.

Methuselah’s virtuous father, Enoch, set a perfect example of how to walk with God and in His Ways. His great ancestor Adam may have told Methuselah what the World was like during God’s Paradise and how sin caused the destruction of Man. Methuselah’s grandson, Noah, was trying to save a wicked and ungodly people filled with evil actions and words from God’s Judgement according to Enoch’s prophecy. In the face of all these advantages, Methuselah was not described as a righteous man as his grandson Noah is labeled, nor that he walked faithfully with God as his father Enoch did.

Even though Methuselah was the oldest recorded person in the Bible, he failed to gather the wisdom and knowledge about living righteously freely available to him from his surrounding family and most likely perished in the Flood. His advanced age made him old, not wise.

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

The Road to Miracles

Visions, Signs, Wonders & Miracles-Manna: Meaning Behind the Miracles

Manna, the Bread from Heaven, was a daily miracle the Israelites failed to truly appreciate during their time in the Wilderness. When Christ came as the Bread of Life, His own Disciples failed to recognize the significance of His most famous miracles and their prophetic symbolism.

After the Death of John the Baptist (ref. Matthew 14: 1-12), Jesus retreated in a boat to Bethsaida (ref. Luke 9:10), a fishing town on other side of the Sea of Galilee (ref. John 6:1), but was pursued by a great crowd, which arrived ahead of Him at the shoreline, waiting to be healed and taught (ref. Matthew 14:13-14; Mark 6: 31-34; Luke 9:10-11; John 6:1-2).

Seeing and being near Christ was so important to the congregation, that, rather than observing the Holy Feast in their family homes, which was typical, they were in the middle of a grazing pasture on the afternoon right before Passover, which would begin as the sun set (ref. John 6:4).

The significance and importance of observing the Passover Feast was not lost on Jesus (ref. Numbers 9:13) and He turned to Disciple Phillip asking “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” Phillip failed to recognize that Christ was testing him and his thought processes and Phillip calculated that even with six months’ worth of wages of two hundred denarii, they couldn’t even afford to feed them more than a morsel apiece (ref. Mark 6: 35-37; John 6:5-7).

A young boy, most likely a local from the Bethsaida fishing community, offered what may have been his portion of his family’s Passover meal. Because the Jewish communities had already ritually rid their homes of all flour, which had been exposed to leavening (ref. Deuteronomy 16:3-4), the bread that he presented would have been the unleavened Matzah served during the Passover meal. The fact that the bread is made out of Barley, the grain of the poor, demonstrated that the boy may have been a peasant and suffered from food insecurity, which was only more intensified by the fact that all other grain was now out of the house in preparation for Passover, so these pieces of bread and fishes he had humbly donated were the only sources of food he had.

The Sea of Galilea is home to the only fresh water sardine, a popular snack and spread in the region, and was probably one of the more plentiful fish caught and processed in the village. The Greek word “opsarion” used to describe the two small fish, implies they are not meant to act as an entrée in a meal, but serve as a savory condiment, similar to the paste Christ dipped His piece of bread in during The Last Supper a year later (ref. Matthew 26:23; John 13:26). The fact that the boy’s family could only contribute a basic condiment to their Passover meal, rather than the required lamb (Exodus 12:3), further highlighted their poverty and the relative worth of his gift.

Nevertheless, the Disciples saw the insignificant five barley unleavened loaves and two small fish as nothing compared to what was needed to feed so many hungry people, numbering around five thousand men, without counting women and children. Jesus ordered His Disciples to have them sit down in the uncultivated grassy pastures in groups of fifty before reciting the “HaMotzi” blessing which is the prayer over the unleavened Passover Matzah bread (ref. Matthew 14:19; Mark 6:41; Luke 9:16; John 6:11).

Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam Hamotzi lechem min haaretz.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.

After the blessing, Christ’s Disciples distributed the bread and fish to the crowds and after they had all eaten their fill, He instructed His Disciples to gather all the leftovers which amounted to twelve hand baskets. After the miracle of multiplication of the loaves and fishes, many people sought to force Jesus to serve as their King, having recognized that He was “indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world” but still they still incorrectly believed that His Kingdom was Physical and Political rather than Spiritual.

This lack of understanding continued the next day when the crowds went to Capernaum to find Jesus, looking to receive more food. Christ chastised them for looking for food that would fade away like the Manna that their forefathers ate in the Wilderness. After declaring Himself the Bread from Heaven and the Bread of Life, and whoever ate of this bread would live forever, and that It is the Spirit that gives life because the flesh is useless, many followers left him, confused and perplexed or disappointed that Christ was promising something spiritual and intangible (ref. John 6:22-59).

While Jesus was in the Gentile district of Tyre and Sidon, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” After initially ignoring her and then being prodded by the Disciples, Christ explained that He was “sent on to the lost sheep of the House of Israel” and that “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs”. The Canaanite woman humbly replied “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” He was impressed with her answer, declaring “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed (ref. Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30).

Jesus left the district and went to the region of the Decapolis, a group of ten Roman cities to the north of Galilee, where people brought their sick and saw “the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing.” And these foreigners “praised the God of Israel” (Matthew 15: 29-31; Mark 7:31-37). After healing the sick for three days, Jesus decided that the crowds should be fed before they traveled back home.

Unlike the feeding of the multitude of 5,000 Jews, Christ followed the Roman custom of separately blessing bread and meats when He took seven loaves and blessed them before distributing them, then blessing the few small fish and sending those out afterwards. Christ again instructed His Disciples to gather up the remnants after the foreigners had had their fill of food and it filled seven large full-body (ref. Acts 9:25) woven baskets.

Later, when Christ questioned His Disciples about the importance of these two miracles, they suspected that He was scolding them for not bringing bread for their trip. He stressed the numbers’ symbolic significance. The miracle of feeding 5,000 Jews with five fish and two loaves during Passover, which resulted in 12 hand baskets of leftovers was representative of the Jewish Pentateuch (Their five books of scripture and law) and the twelve tribes of Israel. The feeding of 4,000 Gentiles using seven loaves and a few fish represented the four corners/directions (North, South, East, West) symbolizing the rest of the World while seven was the Gentile number for completion.

Christ first came to save the House of Israel, but they were too concerned with physical matters such as food and establishing a physical political state, failing to recognize that Christ came to serve as the Bread of Life, giving eternal spiritual life. While they were foreigners, the Gentiles in the region were more receptive to Christ’s message and praised the God of Israel. But despite seeing the miracles firsthand and Christ stressing the most important symbols, His Disciples also thought Jesus was talking about foodstuffs, not realizing that He was saying that He came to provide Eternal Life to All Peoples, whether Jew or Gentile.

While we will be growing and raising food on the Campus, to nourish our bodies and those in the surrounding community, we recognize that the satisfying of people’s spiritual needs will take precedence. We pray that you will follow the wisdom of the peasant boy from Bethsaida who trusted God to provide and gave his only food so that a historic miracle could happen. If you feel urged by the Holy Spirit to give a physical gift so that miracles can flow in our Age, we hope you not only recognize what God is doing but contribute to its completion.

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator