Light to the World
God is rebuilding the Family (Sukkah, Mishkan) of David, Mishpocha in the fullness of the word, both Jew and Gentile. It’s making a holy camp for a holy God.
Amos 9:9-12. "For when I give the order, I will shake the house of Isra'el, there among all the Goyim, as one shakes with a sieve, letting no grain fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners among my people who say, 'Disaster will never overtake us or confront us,' will die by the sword. 11 "When that day comes, I will raise up (Koom: arise, rise, accomplish, confirm, order, establish, confirm) the fallen (Naphal: fallen, cast away, divided) sukkah (root word Shakan-dwell in, the same as Shekhinah which means divine presence, and Mishkan or Tabernacle) of David. I will close up its gaps, raise up its ruins and rebuild it (Banah: rebuild, establish, establish a house, establish a family) as it used to be, 12 so that Isra'el can possess (Yaw’rash: posses, occupy, inherit, take possession of, succeed) what is left of Edom and of all the nations bearing my name," says ADONAI, who is doing this.
Why does God do this in front of the Goyim, the Nations! We’ve always been taught to correct in private, reward in public! Second, what is happening in this shaking among the Nations? It’s a process of eliminating the sinners who doubt God, who think judgment is never coming. Such is the hour we are in today! And it’s done before the nations so that they might come to fear the Lord, to come to the light! And in the midst of this shaking, this judgment God raises up, confirms, establishes the fallen, cast away, divided family of David. God rebuilds, He establishes a house, He establishes a family that will posses, inherit, occupy, succeed in the Nations that bear His name!
This is why it’s done before the nations, to be a light for them. It will be a Family, the family of David (Messianic) per God’s covenant with David that it would be of his lineage that the Messiah Would come, David, from the tribe of Judah, the fulfillment of
Genesis 49:10. The scepter will not pass from Y'hudah, nor the ruler's staff from between his legs, until he (Shiloh in Hebrew: epitaph of the Messiah, a Messianic Title) comes to whom [obedience] belongs; and it is he whom the peoples will obey.
The very embodiment and fulfillment of God’s covenant promise, of His redemption and salvation of both Jew and Gentile through the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Yeshua that was told to us in Genesis 49, is confirmed to David
II Samuel 7:12-19. When your days come to an end and you sleep with your ancestors, I will establish one of your descendants to succeed you, one of your own flesh and blood; and I will set up his rulership. 13 He will build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. 14 I will be a father for him, and he will be a son for me. If he does something wrong, I will punish him with a rod and blows, just as everyone gets punished; 15 nevertheless, my grace will not leave him, as I took it away from Sha'ul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Thus your house and your kingdom will be made secure forever before you; your throne will be set up forever.'" 17 Natan told David all of these words and described this entire vision. 18 Then David went in, sat before ADONAI and said, "Who am I, Adonai ELOHIM; and what is my family, that has caused you to bring me this far? 19 Yet in your view, Adonai ELOHIM, even this was too small a thing; so you have even said that your servant's dynasty will continue on into the distant future. This is [indeed] a teaching for man (adam: man, mankind, all humanity, human beings) Adonai ELOHIM -
Adonai tells David that He himself, not David, will establish His true Mishkan or Sukkah, which will be a descendant of David, whose kingdom and reign Adonai Himself will establish, a rulership that will never end. This is the Messianic promise that runs throughout Tanach and is fulfilled by Messiah Yeshua. The person God is talking about here appears when David’s days come to an end and you sleep with your ancestors. Yeshua was born of the lineage of David hundreds of years after David rested with his fathers. A Son with whom God would be His father, a throneship that lasts forever, and Gods grace will not be removed as it was with Saul and ultimately with Solomon!
Again, all of this is done amongst the Goyim so they will all see, witness, and experience the power and salvation of the Light!
Exodus 34:10. He said, "Here, I am making a covenant; in front of all your people I will do wonders (Neefla’ot: Wondrous, Miraculous. Root word is neefdeh: Hebrew for redeemed, ransomed, rescued!) such as have not been created anywhere on earth or in any nation. All the people around you will see the work of ADONAI. What I am going to do through you will be awesome (Ki Nora: Light–literally the power and revelation of the light- fear of the Lord - intensity The transliterated letters - NUN VAV RESH HEY – LAMP)!
All the People, Goyim, the nations, all Israel will see, witness, and experience the redemption, this light, this lamp. The nations shall see the light! All the people in the lands surrounding Egypt and the new land of Israel has heard what had happened and they feared the God of Israel. Let’s read another example. God’s plan all along was for Israel to be the light bearer to all of humanity!
We, in our restored, established family are the Godly example to an ungodly world. We are not to selfishly keep God to ourselves, rather, we are to bring the God of Israel to the world. Our lifestyle is to be an example to those who do not know God. That’s why we are to be different. Not for the sake of being different but that people will ask why are you different, what makes you different? We, Israel is to be the light to a dark world! Now we’re back to Romans 11. The nations are grafted in and are joint heirs, joint sharers in the “Good News” which means that as a believer you are tasked, by your walk and lifestyle, to share God with an unbelieving world! It is not an exclusive fraternity. No on has God exclusively! I don’t have God, God has me! There is not an exclusive theology or denomination. It’s a family!!!!!!! Here’s the key:
Psalms 133:1. A song of ascents. By David: Oh, how good, how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in harmony.
This can’t be done through any divisive attitude, or religious haughtiness. God chose us, Israel to model the heavenly, family relationship, to model the love of family as brothers and sisters in unity that pierces the world and its darkness where over 70% come from broken, dysfunctional homes and families!
Ephesians 2:19. So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's family (oikeios {oy-ki'-os}: Family, related by blood, God’s Family, devoted, adherents of a thing)
It’s the love of Family, the love we have for one another that speaks to the world that for the most part doesn’t have the love of Family in a traditional biblical sense. The lack of family is why Gangs are so prevalent among young people from dysfunctional background. Even a corrupted model of family that is deviant is more appealing than no family. Yeshua commanded us to love each other that way He love us!
John 13:34-35. "I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other. 35 Everyone will know that you are my talmidim by the fact that you have love (agape: brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence) for each other."
Love is the basis for covenant relationship both with each other and with God. Love like covenant isn’t based upon emotions which is contrary to popular thought and culture. We are assaulted, bombarded from all media and entertainment sources that love is physical, tingling the senses, something that we fall into and out of, a matter of fate. Those descriptions are all emotional and physical which rise and fall like the ocean tides or a roller coaster. When we base our model and understanding of Love from romance novels, movies, or social media we are setting ourselves up for disappointment and failure. Love is a choice, love is something you do, love is a verb, love is an action.
Deuteronomy 6:5 (RSV). And you shall love the Lord (Ahavah; love for another, includes family and sexual, love for God, THA ACT OF BEING A FRIEND, SHOWING YOUR LOVE.) your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
As I have shared before Love is command from God, we choose (verb-action) to Love. This scripture calls for a complete devotion to God. There is no paradox in commanding love when we understand that love is an action vice the conventional emotion. Loving God is not a sentiment or an emotion. It is loyalty, devotion, and a strong desire of action through deeds (With all your heart, mind, and soul) toward God and your neighbor. The Rabbinic interpretation of Love is that one is willing to give their life for God, Yeshua said the same:
John 15:13. No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends.
Ahavah, Agape, love is the supernatural force that brings about unity. It’s no accident that the Hebrew word ahavah has the same gematria (numerical value) as echad (one). Marriage, one of the most striking examples of covenant relationship, it’s only successful when there is love. Love, which you choose to do, is the force that keeps couples together through crisis, tribulation, arguments, disagreements, differences, sickness, and even financial crisis! Love brings you back together even when you don’t feel like it! God loves you even when you sin against Him, the sin separates you from Him until you resolve it, but He doesn’t stop loving you! Love, like covenant, is unconditional!
If love is not unconditional, it is dependant or conditional. Then: "Whatever love is dependent on something, if that something ceases [to be there] the love ceases. But a love which is not dependent on something never ceases". Pirkei Avot ("Ethics of the Fathers") 5:20. This is the top of the list that God has given us in order to succeed, everything we need for life and our relationship with God!
II Peter 1:3-8. God's power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowing the One who called us to his own glory and goodness. 4 By these he has given us valuable and superlatively great promises, so that through them you might come to share in God's nature and escape the corruption which evil desires have brought into the world. 5 For this very reason, try your hardest to furnish your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with perseverance, perseverance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if you have these qualities in abundance, they keep you from being barren (argos: lazy, inactive, useless) and unfruitful (Akarpos: without fruit, barren, without yield) in the knowledge (epignosis {ep-ig'-no-sis}knowledge, discernment, knowledge of things divine and ethical) of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
Godliness and brotherly love lead to a fruitful, active life in knowledge and discernment of things divine and ethical. You become a Tzadik, a righteous person in a righteous family! What fruit are we talking about? Souls! This is where it all comes together, it’s taken a few minutes to lay this out but its only through our unity, our love of each other as brothers and sisters, real Kingdom love, unconditional, covenantal, love that is the apex of Godliness! A love that isn’t dependent on something so it never ceases. It’s that Agape, Ahava love that produces fruit, souls!!!!!!
Proverbs 11:30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life (Etz Chaim: Etz is tree Chaim is life, living, alive, renewal, and revival), and he who is wise wins souls (Nef’fesh: Souls, self, life, the inner being, living being with life in the blood).
This is the exactly what Adonai has called us too, in His love, which He is actively showing us His love by His actions, through what He’ll do:
Isaiah 42:6 (TLV). "I, ADONAI, called (Kaw’Raw: called, appointed, commissioned, proclaimed, invited, summoned) you righteously, I took hold (Y’Chazak: hold, secure, strengthen, prevail, make bold, make strong, support, sustain, and support) of you by the hand, I shaped you and made you a covenant for the people, to be a light for the Goyim,
I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep (Nat’sar: Guard, watchover, protect, kept secret) you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light to the nations;
We are the covenant of light, the fruit of God’s love.
Matthew 5:14-16. "You are light for the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Likewise, when people light a lamp, they don't cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for everyone in the house (This is profoundly powerful, the same word from Ephesians 2:19 and God’s family - oikeios {oy-ki'-os}: Family, related by blood, God’s Family, devoted, adherents of a thing). 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people (Anthropos: All human beings, all humankind), so that they (Anthropos) may see (Ei’do: To perceive with the eyes and senses, to notice, discern, discover, understand, to have knowledge of), the good things you do and praise (doxazo {dox-ad'-zo}: Praise, extol, magnify, to think upon, to honor) your Father in heaven.
Our light, Or, the knowledge and understanding of who God is, shines from us as a unified family in Yeshua to all humankind…….! It’s about winning souls! It’s what God has appointed us, commissioned us, summoned us to do! God will protect and watch over us as we do so! He will secure, sustain, and strengthen us to be bold, strong, effective and sharing the light through our covenant love for God and one another!
Let your light shine brightly, blessings and shalom,
Rabbi Eric S Carlson
Amos 9:9-12. "For when I give the order, I will shake the house of Isra'el, there among all the Goyim, as one shakes with a sieve, letting no grain fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners among my people who say, 'Disaster will never overtake us or confront us,' will die by the sword. 11 "When that day comes, I will raise up (Koom: arise, rise, accomplish, confirm, order, establish, confirm) the fallen (Naphal: fallen, cast away, divided) sukkah (root word Shakan-dwell in, the same as Shekhinah which means divine presence, and Mishkan or Tabernacle) of David. I will close up its gaps, raise up its ruins and rebuild it (Banah: rebuild, establish, establish a house, establish a family) as it used to be, 12 so that Isra'el can possess (Yaw’rash: posses, occupy, inherit, take possession of, succeed) what is left of Edom and of all the nations bearing my name," says ADONAI, who is doing this.
Why does God do this in front of the Goyim, the Nations! We’ve always been taught to correct in private, reward in public! Second, what is happening in this shaking among the Nations? It’s a process of eliminating the sinners who doubt God, who think judgment is never coming. Such is the hour we are in today! And it’s done before the nations so that they might come to fear the Lord, to come to the light! And in the midst of this shaking, this judgment God raises up, confirms, establishes the fallen, cast away, divided family of David. God rebuilds, He establishes a house, He establishes a family that will posses, inherit, occupy, succeed in the Nations that bear His name!
This is why it’s done before the nations, to be a light for them. It will be a Family, the family of David (Messianic) per God’s covenant with David that it would be of his lineage that the Messiah Would come, David, from the tribe of Judah, the fulfillment of
Genesis 49:10. The scepter will not pass from Y'hudah, nor the ruler's staff from between his legs, until he (Shiloh in Hebrew: epitaph of the Messiah, a Messianic Title) comes to whom [obedience] belongs; and it is he whom the peoples will obey.
The very embodiment and fulfillment of God’s covenant promise, of His redemption and salvation of both Jew and Gentile through the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Yeshua that was told to us in Genesis 49, is confirmed to David
II Samuel 7:12-19. When your days come to an end and you sleep with your ancestors, I will establish one of your descendants to succeed you, one of your own flesh and blood; and I will set up his rulership. 13 He will build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. 14 I will be a father for him, and he will be a son for me. If he does something wrong, I will punish him with a rod and blows, just as everyone gets punished; 15 nevertheless, my grace will not leave him, as I took it away from Sha'ul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Thus your house and your kingdom will be made secure forever before you; your throne will be set up forever.'" 17 Natan told David all of these words and described this entire vision. 18 Then David went in, sat before ADONAI and said, "Who am I, Adonai ELOHIM; and what is my family, that has caused you to bring me this far? 19 Yet in your view, Adonai ELOHIM, even this was too small a thing; so you have even said that your servant's dynasty will continue on into the distant future. This is [indeed] a teaching for man (adam: man, mankind, all humanity, human beings) Adonai ELOHIM -
Adonai tells David that He himself, not David, will establish His true Mishkan or Sukkah, which will be a descendant of David, whose kingdom and reign Adonai Himself will establish, a rulership that will never end. This is the Messianic promise that runs throughout Tanach and is fulfilled by Messiah Yeshua. The person God is talking about here appears when David’s days come to an end and you sleep with your ancestors. Yeshua was born of the lineage of David hundreds of years after David rested with his fathers. A Son with whom God would be His father, a throneship that lasts forever, and Gods grace will not be removed as it was with Saul and ultimately with Solomon!
Again, all of this is done amongst the Goyim so they will all see, witness, and experience the power and salvation of the Light!
Exodus 34:10. He said, "Here, I am making a covenant; in front of all your people I will do wonders (Neefla’ot: Wondrous, Miraculous. Root word is neefdeh: Hebrew for redeemed, ransomed, rescued!) such as have not been created anywhere on earth or in any nation. All the people around you will see the work of ADONAI. What I am going to do through you will be awesome (Ki Nora: Light–literally the power and revelation of the light- fear of the Lord - intensity The transliterated letters - NUN VAV RESH HEY – LAMP)!
All the People, Goyim, the nations, all Israel will see, witness, and experience the redemption, this light, this lamp. The nations shall see the light! All the people in the lands surrounding Egypt and the new land of Israel has heard what had happened and they feared the God of Israel. Let’s read another example. God’s plan all along was for Israel to be the light bearer to all of humanity!
We, in our restored, established family are the Godly example to an ungodly world. We are not to selfishly keep God to ourselves, rather, we are to bring the God of Israel to the world. Our lifestyle is to be an example to those who do not know God. That’s why we are to be different. Not for the sake of being different but that people will ask why are you different, what makes you different? We, Israel is to be the light to a dark world! Now we’re back to Romans 11. The nations are grafted in and are joint heirs, joint sharers in the “Good News” which means that as a believer you are tasked, by your walk and lifestyle, to share God with an unbelieving world! It is not an exclusive fraternity. No on has God exclusively! I don’t have God, God has me! There is not an exclusive theology or denomination. It’s a family!!!!!!! Here’s the key:
Psalms 133:1. A song of ascents. By David: Oh, how good, how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in harmony.
This can’t be done through any divisive attitude, or religious haughtiness. God chose us, Israel to model the heavenly, family relationship, to model the love of family as brothers and sisters in unity that pierces the world and its darkness where over 70% come from broken, dysfunctional homes and families!
Ephesians 2:19. So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's family (oikeios {oy-ki'-os}: Family, related by blood, God’s Family, devoted, adherents of a thing)
It’s the love of Family, the love we have for one another that speaks to the world that for the most part doesn’t have the love of Family in a traditional biblical sense. The lack of family is why Gangs are so prevalent among young people from dysfunctional background. Even a corrupted model of family that is deviant is more appealing than no family. Yeshua commanded us to love each other that way He love us!
John 13:34-35. "I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other. 35 Everyone will know that you are my talmidim by the fact that you have love (agape: brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence) for each other."
Love is the basis for covenant relationship both with each other and with God. Love like covenant isn’t based upon emotions which is contrary to popular thought and culture. We are assaulted, bombarded from all media and entertainment sources that love is physical, tingling the senses, something that we fall into and out of, a matter of fate. Those descriptions are all emotional and physical which rise and fall like the ocean tides or a roller coaster. When we base our model and understanding of Love from romance novels, movies, or social media we are setting ourselves up for disappointment and failure. Love is a choice, love is something you do, love is a verb, love is an action.
Deuteronomy 6:5 (RSV). And you shall love the Lord (Ahavah; love for another, includes family and sexual, love for God, THA ACT OF BEING A FRIEND, SHOWING YOUR LOVE.) your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
As I have shared before Love is command from God, we choose (verb-action) to Love. This scripture calls for a complete devotion to God. There is no paradox in commanding love when we understand that love is an action vice the conventional emotion. Loving God is not a sentiment or an emotion. It is loyalty, devotion, and a strong desire of action through deeds (With all your heart, mind, and soul) toward God and your neighbor. The Rabbinic interpretation of Love is that one is willing to give their life for God, Yeshua said the same:
John 15:13. No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends.
Ahavah, Agape, love is the supernatural force that brings about unity. It’s no accident that the Hebrew word ahavah has the same gematria (numerical value) as echad (one). Marriage, one of the most striking examples of covenant relationship, it’s only successful when there is love. Love, which you choose to do, is the force that keeps couples together through crisis, tribulation, arguments, disagreements, differences, sickness, and even financial crisis! Love brings you back together even when you don’t feel like it! God loves you even when you sin against Him, the sin separates you from Him until you resolve it, but He doesn’t stop loving you! Love, like covenant, is unconditional!
If love is not unconditional, it is dependant or conditional. Then: "Whatever love is dependent on something, if that something ceases [to be there] the love ceases. But a love which is not dependent on something never ceases". Pirkei Avot ("Ethics of the Fathers") 5:20. This is the top of the list that God has given us in order to succeed, everything we need for life and our relationship with God!
II Peter 1:3-8. God's power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowing the One who called us to his own glory and goodness. 4 By these he has given us valuable and superlatively great promises, so that through them you might come to share in God's nature and escape the corruption which evil desires have brought into the world. 5 For this very reason, try your hardest to furnish your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with perseverance, perseverance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if you have these qualities in abundance, they keep you from being barren (argos: lazy, inactive, useless) and unfruitful (Akarpos: without fruit, barren, without yield) in the knowledge (epignosis {ep-ig'-no-sis}knowledge, discernment, knowledge of things divine and ethical) of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
Godliness and brotherly love lead to a fruitful, active life in knowledge and discernment of things divine and ethical. You become a Tzadik, a righteous person in a righteous family! What fruit are we talking about? Souls! This is where it all comes together, it’s taken a few minutes to lay this out but its only through our unity, our love of each other as brothers and sisters, real Kingdom love, unconditional, covenantal, love that is the apex of Godliness! A love that isn’t dependent on something so it never ceases. It’s that Agape, Ahava love that produces fruit, souls!!!!!!
Proverbs 11:30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life (Etz Chaim: Etz is tree Chaim is life, living, alive, renewal, and revival), and he who is wise wins souls (Nef’fesh: Souls, self, life, the inner being, living being with life in the blood).
This is the exactly what Adonai has called us too, in His love, which He is actively showing us His love by His actions, through what He’ll do:
Isaiah 42:6 (TLV). "I, ADONAI, called (Kaw’Raw: called, appointed, commissioned, proclaimed, invited, summoned) you righteously, I took hold (Y’Chazak: hold, secure, strengthen, prevail, make bold, make strong, support, sustain, and support) of you by the hand, I shaped you and made you a covenant for the people, to be a light for the Goyim,
I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep (Nat’sar: Guard, watchover, protect, kept secret) you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light to the nations;
We are the covenant of light, the fruit of God’s love.
Matthew 5:14-16. "You are light for the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Likewise, when people light a lamp, they don't cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for everyone in the house (This is profoundly powerful, the same word from Ephesians 2:19 and God’s family - oikeios {oy-ki'-os}: Family, related by blood, God’s Family, devoted, adherents of a thing). 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people (Anthropos: All human beings, all humankind), so that they (Anthropos) may see (Ei’do: To perceive with the eyes and senses, to notice, discern, discover, understand, to have knowledge of), the good things you do and praise (doxazo {dox-ad'-zo}: Praise, extol, magnify, to think upon, to honor) your Father in heaven.
Our light, Or, the knowledge and understanding of who God is, shines from us as a unified family in Yeshua to all humankind…….! It’s about winning souls! It’s what God has appointed us, commissioned us, summoned us to do! God will protect and watch over us as we do so! He will secure, sustain, and strengthen us to be bold, strong, effective and sharing the light through our covenant love for God and one another!
Let your light shine brightly, blessings and shalom,
Rabbi Eric S Carlson