Holy Spirit & Spiritual Gifts: King Without His Crown

The Holy Spirit not only blesses us with unique spiritual gifts, but also gives us opportunities to exercise these gifts in different positions of power to carry out God’s Will. Saul was the first king of Israel, but, after he ascended to the throne, his humble nature was replaced with one of pride and fittingly, he was replaced as king.

Saul learned of his destiny to become king of Israel after seeking out Prophet Samuel for information about his father’s lost herd of donkeys. Though Saul is described as very handsome, coming from a prominent family, stranding a foot taller than anyone else, and the most promising man in all of Israel, he questioned Prophet Samuel’s declaration that Saul would own all the wealth of Israel as king, challenging that he was not deserving of such an honor since he came from the smallest family, of the smallest tribe (1 Samuel 9:1-21).

Samuel anointed Saul with holy oil and after coming across a band of prophets playing instruments, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul and he prophesied amongst the musicians. When Saul returned home, he told his family that Samuel had informed them that the donkeys had been found, but he did not to talk about his experiences with the prophets, nor Samuel’s prophecy that he would become king (ref. 1 Samuel 10:1-16).

Saul’s humbleness was seen again when Samuel gathers all the tribes of Israel so that a king can be appointed over them. After being chosen as supreme leader, Saul does not take the stage and arrogantly claim he deserved the position because he was head and shoulder above all men (ref. 1 Samuel 9: 2; 10:23). Instead, Saul was found hiding amongst the military munitions (1 Samuel 10:22).

Before Saul was anointed King over Israel, Prophet Samuel informed the newly crowned Saul that there would come a time that he would have a need for Samuel to offer sacrifices on his behalf at Gilgal, one of the sacred locations on Samuel’s circuit. When this time came, King Saul was to stay at that location for seven days, until Samuel arrived to perform the sacrifice (1 Samuel 10: 7-8).

Two years into his reign, before a major battle with the Philistines, King Saul gathered his men at Gilgal and waited for seven days as Prophet Samuel had instructed him. Since Samuel had not arrived by the beginning of the seventh day, Saul’s army became afraid, since they were greatly outnumbered and many abandoned him. In frustration, King Saul took it upon himself to kill the animal for sacrifice and just as he was placing it on the altar, Samuel arrived. When questioned why he directly disobeyed God’s command, Saul reasoned that Samuel had taken too long, too many troops had already left, and if a sacrifice wasn’t made soon, the Philistines would attack him there. This impertinence cost Saul his family lineage as kings over Israel.

Later, when Samuel instructs Saul that he is to lead an army to utterly destroy the Amalekites who had attacked the Israelites, after they had escaped Egypt, Samuel made it extremely clear that all humans and animal were to be slaughtered. Rather than follow this command, King Saul listened to his men and spared the Amalekite leader, King Agog, and took the best sheep and cattle as booty. When Prophet Samuel confronted King Saul as to why he rebelled and didn’t follow God’s command, Saul admitted that he feared the army and listened to them instead, making the excuse that the captured King Agog and the best sheep and cattle could be used as a sacrifice to God.

After his victory over the Amalekites, Saul set up a monument in his honor in Carmel (1 Samuel 15: 12), a literal sign of his arrogance. Saul’s self-worship is also displayed when he talked to Samuel concerning offering sacrifices to Samuel’s God, failing to claim the Creator as his own focus of praise (ref. 1 Samuel 15:15, 21, 30). Even after being told through Samuel that, due to his disobedience, he would no longer be king and that his position would be given to a better man, Saul dismisses his sin and is more concerned with Samuel honoring him before the elders of his tribe and the nation of Israel.

Saul was initially chosen by God because Saul did not want to be king. He didn’t think his family was prestigious enough for the honor and though he was physically above all the other men, when given established power over his countrymen, he shrunk himself away. But the pride that came from being king swelled him up and he became more concerned with his military men no longer following him, rather than following the instructions the Lord gave him. When told to totally annihilate the tribe that attacked the Israelites when they had fled from Egypt, Saul kept the spoils of war and paraded the captured enemy leader before building a statue to himself. Even when told the kingship would be taken from him for his disobedience, Saul was focused on maintaining the praise of men, rather than the approval of God.

Saul’s fall is still relevant to modern Christians in our current Age, since we are not chosen by God because of how tall we stand, but because of how humbly we bow before Him. Any offerings and sacrifices pale in comparison to obedience to His Voice. By maintaining the humble serving hearts we had when He promoted us, He will continue to give us more responsibilities, opportunities, and positions within His Spiritual Kingdom.

 

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

 

Holy Spirit & Spiritual Gifts: Breaking the Nazarite Vow

The Holy Spirit is the source of our deepest connections with our Creator and empowers us to fully experience His Presence and operate in our spiritual gifts. We must be mindful of this great privilege and honor and not take the Holy Spirit for granted. Though destined to serve as a powerful Judge on behalf of Israel against the Philistines, mighty Samson instead tried to live on his own behalf and failed to recognize the ultimate role that the Holy Spirit played in his heroic feats, and lost everything, including his life, in the process.

Judge Samson’s birth was announced to his barren mother by the Angel of the Lord, instructing her to not imbibe any wine or strong drink, and to avoid any unclean things while pregnant. These restrictions, which included never drinking alcohol, touching unclean animals or the dead, or ever shaving his hair, would continue throughout Samson’s own life as a Nazarite, dedicated to the service of God. Despite knowing his obligations to abide by these restrictions, Samson broke them repeatedly to fulfill his personal desires.

While on their journey to arrange Samson’s marriage to a Philistine woman, which his parents objected to, a young lion roared against him, which he tore apart with his bare hands, after the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. Samson didn’t tell his parents; if they had seen this carnage, they would have chastised him for breaking the restriction of touching an unclean animal. After meeting with the woman he intended to marry, Samson came across the carcass of the lion he had killed and saw that a swarm of bees had formed in it. Samson again broke his Nazarite vow and reached into the carcass and grabbed the honey comb, which he ate and shared with his parents, but didn’t tell them where he had gotten it (ref. Judges 14:5-9).

During the wedding ceremony, it is heavily implied that Samson broke the restriction on drinking alcohol, since the word used for feast is mishteh, whose root shalthah means “drink” (Judges 14:10). Amongst their other drinking games, Samson issued a riddle with the reward of thirty sets of clothes and sheets. After having nagged him for the answer, Samson’s wife told the men at the feast how to solve the question, and in his rage at her betrayal, Samson went to the nearby Philistine city and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he killed thirty men and looted their corpses to pay the reward (ref. Judges 14:11-19).

After his wife was given to his best man (Judges 14:20), in a fit of vengeance, Samson caught 300 foxes, yet another unclean animal, bound pairs of foxes’ tails together with a flaming torch between them and released them into the Philistine’s grain stores, fields, orchards, vineyards, and olive groves, which were ready for harvest, setting everything ablaze. The ensuing destruction intensely crippled their economy and food production. In revenge, the Philistines killed Samson’s wife and father-in-law with fire, but Samson retaliated and viciously slaughtered many Philistines, tearing them apart limb from limb (ref. Judges 15:1-8).

The Tribe of Judah calmly captured Samson to ransom a peace treaty with the Philistines, but again the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and Samson broke through the ropes that bound him, as they approached the camp. Though he had just enacted a terrible defeat against the Philistines empowered only by the Spirit, Samson grabbed the fresh jawbone from a donkey skeleton, another unclean dead animal, and killed 1,000 men, while using it as a weapon (ref. Judges 15:9-16).

Samson broke his final restriction against cutting his hair after the devious Delilah convinced him to tell her the secret to his immense strength. Since he had already touched many unclean animals and their corpses and the bodies of dead men, and drank alcohol, he reasoned that his strength had always been in his hair, since it had never been shorn. After being bound while sleeping and having his hair shaved, Samson was unable to break the ropes that restricted him, not realizing that God had departed from him (ref. Judges 16:15-20).

After his capture, Samson had his eyes gouged out and was ironically forced to do the work of donkeys by treading out grain while imprisoned. He was flaunted as a war prize during the Philistine’s religious ceremony, where in his final moments, Samson pushed the pillars of their temple apart, killing over 3,000 of the Philistines’ societal leaders and himself in the process (ref. Judges 16:21-30).

Though Samson had been physically blinded by his Philistine captors, it was his inability to see how his strength was reliant on the Spirit of the Lord and keeping his Nazarite vow that truly disabled him. Likewise, we cannot expect to walk in the full grace, promises, and blessings God intends for us if we do not obey His Word, honor the Holy Spirit, or try to fulfill the purpose He has for our lives.

 

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

 

Holy Spirit & Spiritual Gifts: Equipping the Saints

Before the Holy Spirit became available to all those who were baptized by fire, prophetic signs foreshadowed the Spirit-filled Era we live in today. Moses desired that all of Israel could have the Spirit upon them, prophesy, and heed the Voice of the Lord. Likewise, Christ equipped His Followers to go before Him and also continue His Work after He Ascended.

While Moses was leading the Israelites through the Wilderness, they continually found new reasons to moan and grumble. The constant barrage of complaints and critiques overwhelmed Moses to the point that he cried out to God “I am not able to carry all these people alone; the burden is too heavy for me!” (Numbers 11:14). God heard Moses’ pleas and replied “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the Tent of Meeting, and have them take their place there with you. I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.” (Numbers 11:15-16).

After the seventy elders consecrated themselves and went to the Tent of Meeting, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they began to prophesy. When two elders, Eldad and Medad, also received the Spirit and began prophesying in the camp, a young boy ran to the Tent of Meeting to inform Moses and the other elders. Joshua, the Helper of Moses and future leader of the Israelites, became afraid, since the men prophesying in the camp were not ordained under Moses in the Tent of Meeting, which Joshua feared would lead to people challenging Moses’ exclusive leadership. Moses did not want sole responsibility over the Israelites and expressly desired “that all the Lord’s People were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!” (ref. Numbers 11:24-29).

Prophet Joel predicted the era when God would pour out His Spirit upon ALL flesh; and sons and daughters would prophecy, old men would dream dreams, and young men would see visions and His Spirit would even be poured out on the least of them (ref. Joel 2:28-29).

After Christ’s Transfiguration on the Mount of Olives, He appointed seventy of His Followers and sent them two by two before Him into every city and home He was going to visit and He gave them the power to heal the sick, preach the Gospel, and have command over demons (ref. Luke 10:1-20). A little while later, Apostle John informed Christ that they “saw someone driving out demons in His Name and told him to stop, because he was not one of the [70 Followers]”. Christ enlightened His Disciples that “No one who does a miracle in My Name can in the next moment say anything bad about Me, for whoever is not against us is for Us. Do not stop him” (ref. Mark 9:38-40).

Apostle John mirrored the same fears Joshua expressed hundreds of years earlier, that the 70 Followers would not have exclusive access to Christ’s Power. But Apostle Paul understood Moses’ and Christ’s desires that all should prophesy and develop spiritual gifts which would build up the Church (ref. 1 Corinthians 14:1-5, 12).

The responsibility of leading the Israelites was so great that Moses could not handle it on his own, so God provided a way for His Spirit to overflow onto others so they could help carry the obligation of governance. When Christ began preparing His Disciples before His Crucifixion and Ascension, and the roles they would have in leading the New Testament Church, He ensured they understood that many others not ordained during His Earthly Ministry would be working alongside them doing His Will. During Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fulfilled the prophecy that God’s Spirit would come upon ALL flesh.

Though Christ is the Ultimate Leader of His Church, we all share a responsibility within His Spiritual Kingdom. After our baptism by fire and being filled with the Holy Spirit, we were equipped with a spiritual gift to fulfill our distinctive roles in our ministries. God does not desire that we be overburdened, but has given us the Holy Spirit as a Helper and our Brothers and Sisters in Christ to assist us as we mature in our gifts and walk with Christ and work together to build and edify the Body.

 

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

 

Fruits of Spiritual Harvest-Pomegranates

While all of the Seven Species (wheat, barley, grape vines, figs, pomegranates, olives, & dates) were acceptable Tabernacle and Temple offerings, only pomegranates were actively incorporated into worship service. Pomegranate’s iconic blood-red juice and it’s hundreds of nutrient-rich fruits pointed ancient Israel to Christ who would not only heal sickness, but whose blood would cover their spiritual blemishes.

Pomegranates are highly popularized as a “super fruit” for its array of health benefits. Pomegranate’s deep red come from polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants, which can help remove cell damaging free radicals. Due to its anti-inflammation properties, preliminary studies suggest that it can alleviate symptoms associated with arthritis and pomegranate juice’s ability to improve blood flow may aid in lowering blood pressure in patients not taking medications like statins. Like the previously written about copper, silver, and gold metals seen throughout the Tabernacle, pomegranates have shown to be strongly antibacterial and antiviral possibly helping to prevent contraction of common infections and viruses.

Several cultures viewed pomegranates as symbols of fertility (ref. Ezekiel 19:10; Song of Solomon 6:11, 7:12, 8:2) and beauty due to their hundreds of jewel shaped fruits. Song of Solomon describes a beautiful woman’s blushing cheeks (or temples) behind her locks of hair (or veil) like two halves of a pomegranate (ref. Song of Solomon 4:3, 6:7). Pomegranates were signs of prosperity and their absence was considered a signal that Israel was being punished (ref. Number 20:5; Joel 1:12).

Though they can contain between 400-1,200 arils, due to their strong connection to Jewish religious practices, it had long been rumored that pomegranates contain 613 seeded fruits, corresponding to the 613 commandments of the Torah, thus motivating many ceremonial Torah scrolls to be decorated with pomegranates on their handles. The pomegranate’s six petal flower has also been suggested to have inspired Israel’s current national symbol: the Star of David. Ancient coins struck during the First Jewish Revolt against Rome before the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. bear the image of a three fruited pomegranate branch, signifying that the Jewish independence fighters considered pomegranates national and religious symbols. Coins minted by the modern Israeli state continue to bear trios of pomegranates.

Aaron’s ministerial High Priest ephod garment was adorned with red, blue, and purple pomegranates around the hem of the robe. Alternating between these woven pomegranates were golden bells, whose sound would “be heard when [the High Priest] enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when [the High Priest] comes out, so that he will not die” (Exodus 28:35). This verse has unfortunately led to the incorrect belief, based on 13th century Jewish scholar Zohar’s conclusion, that the high priest wore a belt around their ankle or waist to be pulled out of the Tabernacle in the event that they died while ministering, just as Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were burned up by Divine Fire when they offered “strange fire” (Leviticus 10:1-3). The silence of the golden bells, while the High Priest was in the Holy of Holies, was not something to even consider, since he only wore white linen garments while ministering on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:4,23,24,32).

When Solomon built the first Temple of Jerusalem, he ensured the inclusion of pomegranates in the design. The entrance to the Temple contained two 27 foot tall copper pillars which were decorated with a series of latticework carved in the form of 100 pomegranates encircling the capitals which crowned the pillars (2 Kings 25: 17; 2 Chronicles 3: 15-17). The pillars also included carved lilies amongst the pomegranate encircled capitals, which when considering the hem of the high priest’s ephod, may have also been bell-shaped, possibly implying they were Lilies of the Valley.

Pomegranates are famous for their deep blood-red juice, which seems to penetrate and stain nearly everything it comes into contact with. This seemingly stands in strong contrast with the radiantly white bell-shaped Lilies of the Valley they are likely paired with on both the hem of the High Priest’s ephod and around the capitals of the two pillars at the entrance of Solomon’s Temple. If pomegranate’s crimson nectar is meant to represent Christ’s Blood covering our sins and making them white as snow (ref. Isaiah 1:18), that would explain why the Ephod, hemmed with the crafted yarn pomegranates and golden bells, was not worn when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. Simply wearing lily white linen garments would have been the only way to have come before the Lord (ref. Ezekiel 44: 17-19; Revelation 19:8; Exodus 28:41-43).

Pomegranate’s maroon antioxidant-saturated nectar not only promotes radiant health, but represents the Blood of Christ that washes us as white as the Lilies of the Valley, offering us Eternal Life. Their hundreds of jewel like fruits are reminders that we are each capable and responsible for producing an overwhelming amount of spiritual fruits.

 

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