Prophetic Principles, Properties, & Performances-
G3D Decides Who Should be Counted

As major political elections come to a precarious standstill, debates rage on concerning whether only votes cast within the constitutional timeline should be counted, or if we must allow all ballots, even if they lack necessary legitimizing details. Scripture gives us G3D’s guidance as to how He resolved this issue during King David’s reign.

Though most Believers are familiar with the census that led to Christ’s Birth in Bethlehem, the Bible actually records three major sets of role counts. The first sets were taken during the Israelite’s time in the Wilderness.

Though the Israelites had rough estimates of their total numbers (600k-Exodus 12:37 & Numbers 11:21), G3D gave specific instructions regarding the census of Israel, ordering that every single military age male give a ransom for himself to the Lord, so that there would be no plague amongst them, when they were numbered. Each was required to give a half shekel of silver (twenty gerahs) according to the shekel of the sanctuary and the atonement money was to be used for the service of the Tent of Meeting, and was to be a memorial to the sons of Israel to atone for their lives (ref. Exodus 30: 11-16).

When the silver was collected from the congregation, it numbered one hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred seventy five shekels. When counted at a half shekel per each male twenty years and older, there was a total of six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty men (603,550). This census was taken during the first year that the Israelites were in the Wilderness as the atonement offerings had already been collected and used to make the silver bases for the Tabernacle, which was erected on the first day of the first month of the second year (ref. Exodus 40:2).

A second round of census was taken a month after the construction of the Tabernacle, on the first day of the second month. But unlike the previous tally, the Levites were not counted as they were to be dedicated to the maintenance and operation of the Tabernacle. Amazingly, the total number was 603,550, the exact amount of the previously recorded census.

The total number of firstborn of Israel, one month and older, which were originally planned to be dedicated to Temple service, were also counted, totaling 22,273. The total amount of Levites were also taken, with a grand total of 22,000. G3D ordered that the additional 273 be redeemed with the collection of five shekels each for a total 1,365 shekels (ref. Numbers 3).

After the plague that struck Israel for yoking themselves to the Baal of Peor, a final census was taken before the tribes crossed into the Promised Land. The men of Israel had slightly decreased to 601,730, while the Levites had increased to 23,000 (ref. Numbers 26:51, 62).

Several hundred years later after Kind David had re-unified the Nation of Israel and won major battles against the Philistines and other neighboring warrior nations (1 Chronicles 20), David and the nation of Israel became proud of their military accomplishments, which they incorrectly believed came about by the efforts of their own might. King David eventually came to the conclusion that he should take a census of all the men of military age, to be able to boast of the might of his troop numbers.

General Joab, David’s nephew and a ferocious war hawk, questioned David’s reasoning, asking “May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord the king want to do such a thing? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

The king was insistent, and Joab went to take the census.

But Joab did not include the Tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him.

The members of the Tribe of Levi were not to be men of the sword, but wholly dedicated to the ministry and worship of G3D. These men obviously should not be expected to fight on the king’s behalf.

Though the Tribe of Benjamin was notoriously small due to the events of the Benjamite/Israeli Civil War, they were fierce warriors who were legendary for their ability to strike within a hair’s breadth with their left handed slings. But many Benjamite men were still loyal to the house of Saul who was their warrior champion, and had recently fought against the reigning king during the civil war between Saul’s youngest son Ish-bosheth, & the victorious King David. This struggle was not just a few recent skirmishes, but had been a decades’ long military engagement since King Saul’s reign. To expect that the Tribes of Benjamin would agree to risk their lives for the vanity of a king’s expansionist desires, was repugnant to the General, despite his infamy for his blood thirsty vengeance and appetite for political assassinations.

Ironically, despite not counting them, the Tribe of Benjamin would remain loyal to the Tribe of Judah, Jerusalem, and G3D after the splitting of the United Kingdom of Israel.

The entire census took nine months and twenty days to complete (2 Samuel 24:8), and General Joab reported the total number of fighting men to the king. Fittingly, there are two different measures recorded in Scripture. 1 Chronicles 21:5 describes one million, one hundred thousand men, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah alone, but this number also includes the standing army of twelve divisions each consisting of 24,000 men (1 Chronicles 27). 2 Samuel 24:9 documented eight hundred thousand men, with five hundred thousand coming from Judah, including the thirty thousand who helped bring back the Ark of the Covenant.

David became conscience-stricken, realizing that he had done a very foolish thing.

The Word of the Lord went to Gad the Prophet, David’s Seer, informing him that G3D had declared a nationwide punishment for David’s hubris. The nation would experience a three year famine, three months of attacks from raiders who would force them from their cities, or a massive three day plague.

Hoping that G3D would be merciful, King David chose a three day plague.

After watching how the infection ravaged the population, David pleaded with G3D to punish himself and his family instead. Prophet Gad instructed David to build an altar to finally end the plague, which he did, but not before seventy thousand men of Israel had fallen.

When G3D took the censuses in the Wilderness, He originally used them as tools to fairly divide responsibility for funding and maintaining the Tabernacle, then to transfer responsibility for ministering to Him from the firstborns to the Levites, and finally to divide land equitably amongst the tribes. Each measurement was done out of love and concern for His People and a remembrance that G3D saved them. When David conducted his counting of men, it was done out of arrogance to see how many men he had who could fight, kill, and die on behalf of his political ambitions.

Likewise, both chroniclers of these numbers cannot agree how many total people should be counted, with each including an additional different set of warriors, which had already fought and were previous counted elsewhere. Even General Joab, who was tasked with collecting the numbers, correctly decided that the Levites should not be considered since they were dedicated to G3D, but presumptuously assumed that the Benjamites who had been at war with Kind David for decades shouldn’t even be counted since he thought there was no way they’d pledge their allegiance to a previous enemy. The true number was off because of men’s political goals and prejudices, and was further distorted after the death of 70,000 men during the three day plague.

As additional votes are discovered to pump up the numbers for the Political Establishment’s decided candidates, we must remember the ultimate consequences of these actions. These manipulations will be ultimately be challenged and sent to the Supreme Court, & we must pray that the newly restructured bench, be moved to fulfill the Will of G3D, the Ultimate Judge. Likewise, our concerns should be wholly focused on whether we are counted by G3D as His Select Remnant for what is about to take place soon.

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

Prophetic Principles, Properties, & Performances-
Hung by their Own Gallows

As political elites have had their institutionalized power threatened, they have become increasingly blatant in their corruption and open manipulation and interference of the upcoming elections, including assassination attempts. The Jewish celebration of Purim commemorates the day that an evil corrupt official was caught up in the very same trap that he had set up to destroy an honorable man & the People of G3D.

After a disrespectful and dismissive queen named Vashti, was banished from her position and sent back to her royal family, King Ahasuerus of the Achaemenid/Persian Empire, was counseled by his closest advisors to hold an empire wide beauty pageant in order to find a new queen. Mordecai, an official in the King’s court, brought his beautiful orphaned cousin Hadassah (popularly known as Esther), whom he had adopted as a daughter, to the court.

Esther was under the care of Hegai, the custodian over the women, during a yearlong training session, where Esther was to learn the customs of royal life, in addition to receiving an extensive beautifying routine. After the courting phase had ended, the King, who loved Esther above all the other young women in his harem, decided to make her Queen over Persia.

Throughout this whole period, Mordecai would wait by the king’s gate to hear about what was happening to Esther and to give her advice and counseling. During one of his visits, he overheard two members of the king’s security team, Bigthana and Teresh, talk about an assassination attempt. Mordecai told Esther of the plot, and she told the king, who confirmed the matter, and they were both hung on the gallows for their treachery.

While these events were transpiring, the king had promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, to the title of vizier, which was above all the other princes and officials in the court. The king also decreed that all who came into Haman’s presence were required to bow down to him and pay homage. But because Mordecai was a Jew, he refused to bow to or revere any person or image, but G3D alone. The other officials noticed this and tried to convince Mordecai to change, but he was immovable in his faith.

Haman was informed of Mordecai’s refusal to pay him homage, and this rejection to do as everyone else pressured him to do, infuriated Haman to such a degree that he planned to not only kill Mordecai, but all of his fellow Jews. Haman convinced the king that G3D’s People should be destroyed because they would not follow the laws to fall down to their knees as their overlords passed by. They were a menace that put the entire empire’s safety and stability into question and should be totally eliminated. The king was convinced by his vizier and issued the command that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, all Jews would be killed and their possessions plundered.

The public decree burdened the souls of the Jews throughout the empire, and Mordecai was deeply troubled and depressed and in his grief, wore sackcloth and covered himself in ashes. After Esther discovered the plot to destroy all Jews, she consulted with Mordecai who explained the prophetic principle that even if she decided to remain silent, relief and deliverance would arrive for the Jews from another place, but she and her father’s house would perish. That perhaps, G3D had placed her in her position for this exact moment. Together, they devised a plan to first gather all the Jews present in the surrounding province to collectively fast, while Esther and her royal handmaidens fasted as well.

After the three days of fasting were over, Esther asked the King to attend a drinking banquet that she had prepared for the king and Haman. During the celebration, the king asked what Queen Esther desired and she asked that he and Haman attend an additional banquet the following evening.

Haman the vizier was very pleased at having been invited to both of these drinking banquets, and bragged to his wife and friends about his material success, his high position, and his political power. But none of this brought him happiness as he was not able to control Mordecai, who still refused to follow the arbitrary rules regarding honoring Haman. His wife Zeresh suggested that he build a gallows and at the next banquet suggest to the king that Mordecai be hung from it. Deranged from his hatred, Haman built the large public platform, with the intention to display Mordecai’ corpse for all to see. (Depending on translation, Haman created a large pike to run through Mordecai’s body, or perhaps some kind of noose to hang him from.)

That night, the king could not sleep, and in his insomnia, called for the book of records of the chronicles be brought and read to him. Upon recalling the plot by Bigthana and Teresh to assassinate the king, which was thwarted by Mordecai, the king asked how he had been repaid. When he learned that Mordecai had received no honor or dignity, he demanded that this error be corrected and asked advice from his court advisors.

Haman had just entered the court and when the king asked him “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?”, believed that the king was referring to him. Thinking that he would be receiving what he suggested, Haman explained that the king’s royal robe should be placed on his shoulders, that he should ride the king’s horse, and that the king’s most noble leader personally adorn this man and parade him on horseback through the city square.

Haman was horrified to hear the king reply “Hurry, take the robe and the horse as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who sits within the King’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken”. After leading a parade in Mordecai’s honor, Haman went to weep to his friends and wife who prophesied his coming downfall.

That night, during the second banquet, Esther revealed Haman’s evil plot and instead of Mordecai being killed, Haman was hung by the very gallows that he had built earlier that day for Mordecai. Haman’s royal position as vizier was also given to Mordecai. But the royal decree still stood that, the Jews were to be killed and their possessions taken away.

Queen Esther wisely helped devise a law that allowed the Jews to defend themselves against those who wished to kill and plunder them, and when the day came for the first law to come into effect on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the Jews banded together and fought off those who wished to break into their homes and businesses to burn, loot, and murder them. Other leaders who had planned to use the law to kill the Jews and extract their wealth and the sons of Haman were taken into custody and killed before being hung like their father. Those who defended their lives, homes, and businesses from the violent criminals ended up righteously killing over seventy-five thousand of their enemies, but unlike those who sought to kill them, the People of G3D did not touch any plunder.

Though the corrupt public officials and celebrities have openly shown their hand that they intend to eliminate all who stand in the way of their power and will devise plans and traps to try to destroy their political enemies, over and over again they have been caught up in the devious webs they have laid out for others. Whether it’s hypocritical Hollywood elites being canceled for more despicable things they tried to eliminate others for, cultural provocateurs having their own homes, businesses, and positions targeted even after bowing down to mobs that they riled up into a violent fury, or politicians begging their constituents to change their voting methods because the insecure procedures they tried to use to vote tamper later, have been struck down or are actually working against them.

When’s G3D’s People are aligned with His Will, He will thwart the plans of their enemies, because they are also His Enemies. He will force them to honor those G3D seeks to hold in high esteem, and He will crush these evil minded people with the same tools they devised to torture His Chosen. We live in terrifying and historic days, but if our hearts are tuned to executing His Will, over the concerns of our lives, we will be saved and share in His Glory and Goodness.

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

Prophetic Principles, Properties, & Performances-
Blindsided by Justice

As the presidential election draws near, one candidate has recently gone into hiding due to an accidental betrayal caused by a family member’s negligence, revealing evidence of criminal and treasonous activities. Likewise, Scripture is filled with corrupt leaders who were crushed by this prophetic principle and removed by G3D, in ways they couldn’t have imagined.

During their wandering in the Wilderness, Moses and Aaron were repeatedly harassed by the Israelites who complained over every inconvenience that arose and constantly tried to usurp the power and position of the men whom G3D had placed in leadership positions. One of the most infamous moments of political theater was Korah’s Rebellion.

After Moses explained the rules and regulations that G3D had for the Levitical Priesthood and stipulated that only those of the line of Aaron could serve as High Priests, Korah, son of Izhar, led a coup against his first cousins Moses and Aaron. Korah gathered two hundred fifty princes and men of renown from among the assembly and hoped that this large number of famous names would be enough to challenge Moses and Aaron’s legitimacy as the Israelite’s leaders.

Moses understood that the only vote that mattered was that of G3D’s approval, and he convinced Korah and his followers that they should come the next morning so the Lord could decide whose incense He would accept as a worthy offering. The next morning, the two hundred and fifty men gathered with their fire-pans ready, but G3D would not entertain their gifts, and enraged, threatened to destroy the entire Israelite community for allowing the revolt to think they could impeach the leader He had decreed.

Moses and Aaron prayed that the nation be spared and G3D relented with the compromise that only the leadership and those who officially associated themselves with the insurrections would be punished. The ground underneath the rebels’ homes opened up and swallowed their tents and families in a horrifying display and during the ensuing panic, the two hundred fifty high ranking leaders who sided with Korah’s uprising were consumed by Heavenly Fire from the Lord (ref. Numbers 16).

While the Israelite tribes were staying in Shittim, the men began to make sacrifices to the Moabite gods in order to engage in cult prostitution with the Moabite women in the region. They ate the sacrificial meal and bowed before the graven images and yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. G3D sent a plague into the Israelite camp and charged the Israelite judges to put to death those who had yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.

Twenty-four thousand people had already died by the plague and Moses and the whole assembly of Israel were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting when Zimri, a prince of the Simeonite family, brought Kozbi, a Midianite temple priestess and princess of an esteemed Midianite family, into the camp. Prince Zimri was aware of all the people who had been killed by the plague and was still contemptuous of Moses’ leadership and dictates.

Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the High Priest, was a mild mannered, patriotic, but peace loving young man. Phinehas would later be recorded as leading a massive military expedition without losing a single soldier, being sent on a peace keeping mission when rumors of a separatist movement arose, ended the civil war with the Benjamites, and according to Jewish legend, was one of the two spies that investigated Jericho. Phinehas was continually seen as a man who cared about his countrymen and tried to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Phinehas was no blood thirsty warrior, but was zealous for G3D’s Honor, so it would have come as a huge surprise to Prince Zimri when Phinehas grabbed a spear and followed Zimri and Kozbi into their tent and ended the plague with their deaths (ref. Numbers 25).

Israel again fell into idol worship during the reign of King Ahab and his temple priestess Queen Jezebel, who instituted the worship of Baal and Asherah on a national scale, before purging the Prophets of Yahweh from Israel. In addition to her war between Elijah and her false prophets of Baal, Queen Jezebel was infamous for convincing King Ahab to falsely accuse a man named Naboth of blasphemy against G3D and the king, in order to steal Naboth’s vineyard. Prophet Elijah condemned Ahab for this theft and murder, and G3D decreed that King Ahab’s royal line would be annihilated.

Three years later, King Ahab was killed in battle by a stray arrow that pierced through the joints in his armor, an unfeasibly impossible shot (ref. 1 Kings 22). His son Ahaziah inherited the throne but accidently fell from his roof balcony and never recovered, later dying from his injuries after trying to consult the prophets of Baal-Zebub (ref. 2 Kings 1:1-18), that era’s representation of the aforementioned Baal of Peor. Ahaziah’s younger brother Jehoram was crowned king, but Prophet Elisha commanded one of his disciples to instead anoint Jehu, commander of Jehoram’s army, as king (2 Kings 9:1-13).

As leader of the military, Jehoram would have expected that Jehu would have been completely loyal to his administration and family, so would have been shocked when he was killed by Jehu, who also hunted down the last surviving male member of the House of Omri: Ahaziah, nephew to Jehoram (ref. 2 Kings 9:14-29). Jehu would famously confront Queen Jezebel, who had dressed up in all her finery, make-up, and jewelry, thinking that if she was going to die, she would die with the dignity befitting a queen. But she would not be afforded that as her eunuch servants threw her from the window. Her body ruptured with such force that her blood splattered across the walls and courtyard of the castle and her remains were consumed by dogs (2 Kings 9:30-37).

G3D’s Judgment against the leaders of nations can often be swift, terrible, and unpredictable. G3D has many ways to fulfill His Will and will use supernatural events, such as the ground swallowing up Korah and his followers. G3D might use His righteous followers to enact punishment by their own hands as seen in the Zeal of Phinehas. Sometimes, when their crimes are extremely reprehensible, corrupt leaders are struck by freak accidents, or betrayed by those closest to them whom they trusted such as King Ahab, Queen Jezebel, and the Omri Dynasty.

As the crimes of former leaders begin to become exposed, G3D is setting up triggers to enact His Vengeance. Those who challenge G3D’s Will and Ways think that they can escape retribution because they are able to pay off others who are also corrupt, thinking that Justice can be persuaded with the things of this World, such as power, positions, and money. Soon, they will realize that if you think you can blind G3D’s Justice, you will be blindsided by it.

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

Prophetic Principles, Properties, & Performances-
The Last will be First, and the First will be Last

2020 has been one of the most unprecedented times in history, and the rules that govern the World seem to be changing constantly. But Scripture shows us that G3D has not bound Himself by Man’s Laws and has done as He wishes to manifest His Will.

Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent’s entire or main estate. It was a long standing tradition before written history, but G3D has ignored this custom over and over.

Starting with Adam and Eve’s first children Cain and Abel, Cain the older brother should have received preference over his younger brother, but because Cain did not bring the finest of the fruits of the soil, and Abel brought the best of his flocks, G3D showed favor over Abel’s offering. This anger over not being recognized lead to Cain killing Abel, but the history of Mankind did not follow Cain’s legacy and instead flowed through his younger brother Seth (ref. Genesis 4).

Abram had been promised decedents as numerous as the stars in the sky (ref. Genesis 15:5), but due to his and his wife Sarai’s advanced ages, they believed they needed to find another way to have children. After Sarai gave her handmaiden Hagar to Abram, Hagar became pregnant and began to despise and torment Sarai who responded with greater unkindness. The illegitimate child was named Ishmael and rather than being a blessing as the first borne of Abram’s family, Ishmael would be “a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers”. After the birth of Isaac through Sarah, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away because G3D told Abraham that though He would “make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring” it would be “through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned” (ref. Genesis 21:12-13).

Isaac, the second born of Abraham, married Rebekah who gave birth to a set of twins: Esau and Jacob. While she was still pregnant, the babies wrestled with each other within Rebekah’s womb, causing her extreme fear, but the Lord explained “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Esau, the first born, resented his birthright, but was the favorite of his father Isaac because Esau was a skilled hunter and brought his father wild game from the open country. Rebekah knew that her younger son Jacob had G3D’s blessing and loved that he preferred to stay at home, rather than venturing out in the wild like his older brother. Rebekah went so far as to devise a plan to trick her blind husband Isaac so that he would give Jacob the birthright before passing away (ref. Genesis 27: 1-29).

Like his parents before him, Jacob showed favoritism among his wives and children. He loved his second wife Rachel and her sons Joseph and Benjamin, but his first child, Reuben, came from his first wife Leah. But despite being the default leader of the twelve tribes of Israel, Reuben would not inherit the most desired titles: the priestly tribe, which went to his younger brother Levi, and the royal tribe, which was crowned upon Judah. Ironically, neither of these tribes officially received the double portion from the firstborn birthright. Jacob adopted the sons of his favorite child, Joseph, so they could share equally with Jacob’s other sons. The younger son Ephraim, was given favor over his older brother Manasseh, and even when their father Joseph tried to correct his father’s Jacob’s blessing, Jacob crossed his hands to ensure that Ephraim, the younger was given the greater blessing (ref Genesis 48:1-22).

Despite officially receiving the birthright, the tribe of Ephraim was overlooked by G3D who would bring forth the Messiah through the line of David, from the Tribe of Judah.

Judah’s older sons Er, and Onan, were systematically married to a woman named Tamar, but since both were “wicked in the sight of the Lord” (ref. Genesis 38:7), G3D kills them. Because Judah did not give his last and youngest son to Tamar as a husband, Tamar tricked Judah into impregnating her instead. Tamar births a set of twins, Zerah, the official firstborn, and Perez who is the forefather of Boaz and his son Obed, and his grandson Jesse of Bethlehem (ref Ruth 4: 18-22).

When the Lord told Prophet Samuel that He had rejected Saul as King over Israel and would declare a new king, He directed Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem, informing him that one his sons would be king. Jesse’s oldest son Eliab, a tall and handsome warrior, was thought by Prophet Samuel to be a fit successor to King Saul, but G3D rejected all of Jesse’s sons and instead David, the youngest, was anointed the future King of Israel (ref. 1 Samuel 16:1-13).

When King David was planning on revealing his successor as King, he makes reference to his family’s unlikely history. “Yet the Lord, the G3D of Israel, chose me out of all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah as leader, and from the House of Judah He chose my father’s household, and from my father’s sons He was pleased to make me king over all Israel. And of all my sons-for the Lord has given me many sons-he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the Kingdom of the Lord over Israel” (ref. 1 Chronicles 28:4-5).

For generations, G3D did not chose those the World thought worthy, nor did He use the systems that the rest of the Nations of Mankind favored. Since the beginning, G3D looked at the heart of Abel and found his offering worthy because he brought his best, likewise David the shepherd boy, was chosen over his accomplished older brother, because David loved G3D. This is one of the most important Prophetic Principles: G3D will not chose His Select based on what the World valued, but on their Hearts.

As the World begins to reorganize and a New Era of G3Dly Administration begins, we must remember that the systems of men are inherently flawed and will ultimately fail. But G3D will chose His Select and ensure that they receive the blessings that He has deemed them worthy of. Those who have been overlooked or forgotten by the World, but who have been faithful to G3D, will be remembered by Him and they will be blessed and given power in this new era.

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

Prophetic Principles, Properties, & Performances-
Christ’s Transfiguration on the Eighth Day

Though Sukkot was a seven day festival, on the eighth day, they were required to have an additional day set aside as a separate special event. This day not only marked the moment when Christ publicly revealed Himself to the World, but also the day of His Transfiguration.

Sukkot was considered the most joyous time of the year and as a Fall Harvest Festival was comparable to Thanksgiving. There were two well-known celebrations that had been incorporated into the Sukkot ceremony over generations. The Water Libation Ritual and the Lighting of the Candelabra both took place in the Women’s Courtyard, which made both processions completely available to the public.

The Water Libation ceremony involved a priest drawing water from the Pool of Siloam, which was fed by the Gihon Spring, which ran under the City of David. This spring was the same one where King Solomon was anointed by High Priest Zadok (1 Kings 1: 38-39) and was reminiscent of how King David would be the source of the Messiah’s lineage, but also how the Messiah would be a source of life to the Nation of Israel and eventually the World. The priest would take the water from the spring and pour the water and wine together onto the altar as a plea to G3D to send the showers in the upcoming rainy season.

It was a prophetic performance foretelling the moment after Christ’s death on the Cross, when a soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear and immediately there spilled out both blood and water (John 19:33-34). This was a fulfillment of G3D’s declaration that He would “pour out on the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and Supplication, and they will look on me, the one they have pierced”. While the onlookers were praying for physical water, G3D had intended to send His Spirit upon His People.

The only descriptions we have of the Lighting of the Candelabra come from the Talmud which stated that “Men of piety and good deeds would dance… with lighted torches in their hands, singing songs and praises. Levites without number with harps, lyres, cymbals, trumpets, and other musical instruments (were) there upon the fifteen steps leading down from the Court of the Gentiles to the Court of the Women.” (Sukkah 51 a-b; 53a) Supposedly, seventy-five foot high candlesticks were erected in front of the Temple, whose light could be seen in every courtyard of the city.

After the week-long celebration, on the eighth day, the entire country rested and gathered at the Temple. It was during the water libation ceremony that Christ stood and said in a loud voice “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of Living Water will flow from within them” (John 7: 37-39). Also on the eighth day He declared in front of the giant candle in front of the Temple “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life” (John 8:12)

Also on the eighth day, Jesus brought Peter, James, and John to the Mount of Olives (John 8:1) to pray. It was there that Jesus was transfigured before them, His Face shining like the sun, and His Clothes were as white as Light. Moses and Elijah appeared before them as well.

One of the most significant virtues practiced during Sukkot was the concept of Ushpizin. Though it did not receive its name or become fully conceptualized until after the Destruction of the Second Temple, Ushpizin was the anticipation that guests would arrive at your shelter and you would have the blessed opportunity to attend to and provide for them. Some version of this practice might have existed in the First Century since Peter upon seeing all this responded “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters-one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”.

A bright cloud covered them and a Voice from the cloud declared “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

Earlier in the week, while the crowds were clamoring to hear His Teachings and see His Miracles, there were whispers about who Jesus truly was. When Jesus asked His Disciples, they repeated the rumors that had been spread, but Peter recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living G3D (Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9: 18-20). Christ’s Transfiguration not only confirmed this, but also showed that Jesus was G3D Himself. The Sons of Thunder would have realized later that while Moses face shown brightly after coming down the mountain after talking with G3D, Jesus was not reflecting G3D’s light, but was the source of it.

Like the Spring Feasts, Passover and Pentecost, which revealed Christ’s identity as the Body of G3D and the Final Offering, and was the moment that the Spirit first became available to all Mankind, Sukkot was the revealing of G3D’s Glory, which had been dwelling in Jesus’ Tabernacle. G3D used the newly added Jerusalem Temple ceremonies to further prove who He was to the audience that had gathered from all over the world to participate in the mandatory Fall Feast.

The eighth and greatest day of Sukkot was the day that G3D decided to reveal Himself to the entirety of Israel through His Son, through His declarations that He was the Source of Living Water and the Light of the World. Though Apostle Peter had understood that Jesus was the Messiah just a few days earlier, it was during the Transfiguration that the Disciples realized that Jesus was the G3D of Israel as well.

During this Season of Sukkot, Believers need to recognize that the festival was not about living in tents, as Peter originally thought, but how the Presence of G3D dwelt within the first Tabernacle. Likewise, the Messiah was the True Source of Light and Living Water to not only Israel, but the whole World.

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