Jesus in the Feast of Tabernacles, Part 1

The biblical Feast of Tabernacles lasts for seven days.  It is the last of the fall feasts and the final feast of the year.  It is also known as "the Feast of Ingathering" because it was observed after all the crops had been harvested and gathered up. This year the feast was celebrated on September 19th through the 25th.  This feast is celebrated today with great rejoicing and thankful hearts for God's goodness and past provision (beginning at the 40 years wilderness journey where God's people lived in tents - as did God Himself among them - and where God met their every need); and thanksgiving is made as well for God's future goodness and provision.

The word tabernacle means "booth" or "hut" and as a memorial to the wilderness experience, small temporary huts are built in each family's backyard (or in Jerusalem on their rooftops if they are flat and accessible), so that the entire family can reside in the sukkah (Hebrew for tabernacle) for the seven days of the feast. The sukkah is constructed with walls made with branches and sparsely thatched roofs that keep the sun out during the day but allow the stars to be seen through the thatching at night. It is a type of campout that the whole family enjoys as they remember God and all of His goodness to them; and it honors the Lord in that all the materials from which the sukkahs are constructed are of His creation,  not man's.

The first day of the Feast and the day after the last day of the Feast (the 8th day) are considered sacred assemblies or Sabbaths;  no work is permitted on those two days, according to the law or Torah. I will remind you of this fact in another posting to follow shortly which will focus on the 8th day alone.  But for now, back to the Feast itself.

The following section is taken from the book "The Feasts of the Lord" written by Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal; a book that is listed to the right of this posting in JAGS Favorite Books and has been since the beginning of this blog. It is there because it is a book that I refer to many times each year.  I pray, I sincerely pray, that each of you will acquire this book or one similar to it which details the biblical Feasts both in past application and in future application; and not only acquire it, but read it...over and over again each and every year until the Lord returns. The lack of knowledge of these feasts as provided from the Torah (and as expounded upon in this particular book), brings with it a lack of understanding of scripture in the New Testament. It is a sad thing to not read scripture for all that it is worth simply because we neglect the Old in favor of the New. So, here is a small portion of how Howard and Rosenthal describe the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles as celebrated while the Temple still stood, that will add richness to your reading of New Testament scriptures concerning this Feast:

"In the days of the Temple, Jewish pilgrims flocked to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.  They came from every village within the nation, and from many foreign countries, most often in large caravans for protection.  It was a joyous trip with much singing and laughing along the way. Upon arrival in Jerusalem, the pilgrims focused their energies upon building booths for the feast.  By the afternoon of Tishri 14, thousands upon thousands of leafy booths lined the streets and dotted the surrounding fields and hills.  All were carefully located within a Sabbath day's journey (a little more than a half mile) of the Temple." (p. 137)

"During the Feast of Tabernacles, the intense anticipation of rain came to be reflected in the Temple services. Each morning of Tabernacles, a water libation (sacrificial pouring out of a liquid) was offered to the Lord as a visual prayer for rain. Shortly after dawn each morning, while the many sacrifices were being prepared, the high priest was accompanied by a joyous procession of music and worshipers down to the Pool of Siloam.  The high priest carried a golden pitcher capable of holding a little more than a quart of water.  He carefully dipped the pitcher into the pool and brought it back to the Temple Mount." (p.138)

Recall, if you will, that in John 9:7 we are told that Siloam is translated as "Sent."  Now picture the high priest dipping that pitcher of "gold" into a pool of "water" called "Sent" and allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate.

"Meanwhile, the high priest with the water from the Pool of Siloam had reached the southern gate of the Temple.  It was known as the Water Gate because of this ceremony.  As he entered, three blasts of the silver trumpets sounded from the Temple, and the priests with one voice repeated the words of Isaiah: "Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." (Isa. 12:3) (p. 138)

"As the high priest poured out the water libation before the Lord, a drink offering of wine was simultaneously poured into the other basin....At the proper time, the congregation waved their palm branches toward the altar and joined in singing: "Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity" (Ps. 118:25)....Psalm 118 was viewed as a messianic psalm and as such gave the feast a messianic emphasis....This same imagery is in view in Revelation 7:9-10 where redeemed saints worship, with palm branches in hand, around the throne of God and the Lamb." (p. 139)

Jewish believers in Jesus Christ, all over the world this past week, were waving palm branches and celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles (as were orthodox Jews who do NOT believe that Jesus is the Messiah).  This is a type of the same celebration will take place around the throne of God and the Lamb.

Why then are we Gentile believers in Jesus Christ NOT practicing this celebration, not even observing this Feast in any way?  Most Christians were not even aware that this past week was the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, just as they are not aware of the dates of any of the other biblical feast days; yet the Feasts are taught in the Old Testament.  Why do we give them (the Word of God) so little thought?  Why are we not waving palm branches in anticipation of that great day when we WILL be doing so, apparently because the Lord wills it to be so, in His presence? 

But enough of mourning over things that were lost to us Gentile believers during the time of Constantine; the effects of which we continue to endure still today.

Happily, on the 25th of September this year, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, I was in Reno (and a dear sister in the Lord with me) listening to Heidi Baker, a powerful servant of the Lord, missionary to Mozambique, who spoke about the river of living water, and of humbling ourselves, who said that we must prostrate ourselves face down before the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, if we want to drink of these waters that run down low where the humble dwell, not up high where the proud reside. 

Much needed instruction for me; and I thank the Lord, the light of the Feast of Tabernacles, for greatly reviving me that night; saved once more by living water in a parched land.

So much of what is in this posting has pointed symbolically to Jesus.  I hope you saw it.

In the next posting, we will actually look at Jesus during the exact same Feast of Tabernacles, held while He was here with us, in the flesh, on earth. Remember that the Feast has a Messianic emphasis.  And all Jews who celebrate this feast understand that it has a Messianic emphasis.  The Jews who were alive at the time of Jesus had no New Testament to prepare them and describe the Messiah to them.  They had only the Law (the Torah), and the Psalms, and the Prophets.  And yet, many knew the Messiah when they saw Him!  Not only by the works He did, but even more by the words He spoke and the authority with which He spoke those words!

I wonder if we would be as quick to identify Him having only the Torah and the Psalms and the Prophets to show us the Way? 

Sadly, I think not.

Feast of Trumpets

Last night, right after sundown, I had a little Feast of Trumpets service by myself in my own home.  It is to be a holy convocation (a holy gathering of God's people) and the closest I came to that was having dinner with my two daughters who both love the Lord as I do.  Dinner with my daughters was a blessing!

But then I came home, lit two candles, said a prayer of praise to the Lord, sang some worship songs to Him, prayed for anyone who came to mind as well, and asked blessings for all of my household, which I consider to be my children, their spouses, and their children.  I began my service by blowing the shofar in the one long, three shorts, nine staccato, and a very long ending pattern that I had seen demonstrated not only online but also by the Hassidic Jew who blew my shofar for me in Israel. (I cannot figure out how to cut that video and present only that part to you, so I had to abandon that idea of letting you hear "my" shofar being blown.)

However, I did find these two videos (on you tube of course!) that demonstrate the sounds of the shofar, and I hope you will enjoy them; and you will see the differences between the two types of shofars.

This first video demonstrates the sound of the shorter ram's horn shofar; listen for the pattern of long, three shorts, nine staccato, and one very long at the end.  On Rosh Hashanah (New Year/Feast of Trumpets) the shofar is blown in this pattern 100 times in the synagogue; not sure how they decide which shofar to use, the short or the long, except that, in my opinion, the longer Yemenite shofar (as seen in the second video has an even more dramatic and beautiful sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKQrBURDtQE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVMiZAqTWQ0

Immediately following the Feast of Trumpets is the Seven Days of Affliction, followed by the Day of Atonement, on which many Jews will fast. This year the Day of Atonement begins at sundown on Friday, September 13.

If I had stayed home for dinner this evening I would have had the traditional roast lamb, an apple with honey and challah bread (if I could find it locally!) 

I am "observing" these biblically holy days for no other reason than that I want to bless the Lord by setting apart my time on the days that His Word says are important to HIM and I pray that He will, through my observance, impress upon me even more the significance of each day!  Since Jesus has, by faith, become my righteousness, there is no need to "work" at being righteous, in other words, I am not trying to get "saved" by my obedience to the law of the Feast Days and Sabbaths.  Jesus finished that work on the cross and I can add nothing to it!

But that doesn't meant those Sabbaths and Holy Days are not still holy unto the Lord God who never changes!  And so, in love and gratitude to Him, believing that He still counts them as being important to us, I will observe them to the best of my ability (without condemnation if I fail to do it correctly), observing these days with the same passion with which I observe the instructions Jesus spoke throughout the gospels, and the words of Paul and Peter and James, whose instructions all came through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God....all, both Old Testament and New, preserved for my instruction and for my good by a most loving Father!

Although I do not have access to local Jewish believers in Christ to show me how best to observe these holy days.

Yet, observe I will, and it is in this manner that I believe we Gentile believers in Christ can stand united with our brethren, the Jewish believers in Christ, even though we might not be sitting in the same church or synagogue...which is, to me, a great loss to us all. 

Fulfillment of the Feasts

One of my favorite books on my bookshelf is titled The Feasts of the Lord by Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal.  I believe every believer should have this book on their bookshelf.  It has been for quite some time on my list of favorite books that are listed to the right of this posting on this page (see "JAGS Favorite Books".)

I would like to run through some highlights of this book briefly in anticipation of the coming Feast of Trumpets, sundown September 4th through sundown September 5th (and 6th according to Jewish tradition ever since the second temple was destroyed) soon to be followed (ten days later) by the Day of Atonement.

The authors provide biblical evidence that Jesus fulfilled four of the seven Jewish holidays known as "the feasts of the Lord" and that the word feast means appointed times. Those four feasts were fulfilled by Jesus at His first coming...there are three more that will be fulfilled at His second coming.

Here is a list of the seven feasts of the Lord; the first four (those that Jesus has already fulfilled) are spring feasts, the last three (still to be fulfilled) are fall feasts:

1) The Feast of Passover
2) The Feast of Unleavened Bread
3) The Feast of Firstfruits
4) The Feast of Weeks

5) The Feast of Trumpets
6) The Day of Atonement
7) The Feast of Tabernacles

All of these feasts can be found in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus, but are also mentioned in various places throughout the bible.

"These seven feasts typify the sequence, timing, and significance of the major events of the Lord's redemptive career.  They commence at Calvary where Jesus voluntarily gave Himself for the sins of the world (Passover), and climax at the establishment of the messianic Kingdom of the Messiah's second coming (Tabernacles). No box has to be manufactured, no text twisted, and no truth manipulated to make these appointed feasts conform to specific events in the Messiah's life." (The Feasts of the Lord, p. 14)

But what I find to be most amazing and wonderful is that Jesus fulfilled the four spring feasts on the exact biblical date of each feast (according to the Jewish calendar, of course, not the Gregorian calendar that we use)!  Which would lead us to conclude that His fulfillment of the remaining fall feasts will also occur exactly on the Jewish calendar date of each of the fall Feasts. 

Here is a quick look at the Feasts that Jesus has fulfilled already:

The Feast of Passover: Jesus became the Passover Lamb for us when He died on the cross for our sins and we know from the Bible that it was at the Passover Feast time: Jesus had Passover meal the night before His crucifixion (remember that Jewish days begin at sundown so that meal was at the beginning of the day of Passover) and He was crucified the next day, which was still Passover as Passover would not end until sundown that day.  Remember His disciples wanted to remove His body from the cross as soon as they could in order to have it in the tomb prior to sundown that day, as sundown would be the beginning of the Sabbath (Friday evening to Saturday evening); and no work was to be done on the Sabbath, even carrying the body of Jesus into the tomb.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread: He was without sin; biblically "leaven" signifies sin, thus "unleavened bread" would signify the sinless (unleavened) Christ (the bread of life for us who believe.) Further, "unleavened bread speaks of sanctification.  He was set apart.  His body would not decay in the grave." (The Feasts of the Lord, p. 23)  The first day of the seven day Feast of unleavened Bread occurs on the second day of Passover. Jesus' body was in the tomb on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a feast at which leaven was strictly forbidden; and His body saw no decay, none of the decay which happens in breads containing leaven.  He was truly the Bread of Life.

The Feast of Firstfruits: the resurrection of Jesus Christ happened on the day of Firstfruits, Jesus being the firstfruit of the many believers to come who will follow Him in life everlasting. "Jesus rose again on the third day (literally the third day of Passover season, Nisan 16), on the day of the Firstfruits....the resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee and the beginning (the firstfruits) of the final harvest, or resurrection, of all mankind." (The Feasts of the Lord, p.86)

The Feast of Weeks: 7 weeks (49 days) from Firstfruits (from the resurrection of Jesus Christ) and then on the "day after" is the Feast of Weeks.  Also known as Pentecost as it contains 50 days. It was on the actual Feast of Weeks holiday (the 50th day) that the Holy Spirit came upon the believers gathered in the Upper Room. Jesus Himself sent the Holy Spirit for the fulfillment of this feast.

So, what does that tell us about the next Feast Day that I am always so excited to see arriving each year?  It tells us, as I stated in an earlier posting, that beginning on the evening of September 4 and all day tomorrow until sundown on September 5th, it is possible that this will be the year (as it is possible each year) that Jesus will come back to fulfill the next Feasts in chronological order (as He fulfilled each of the spring feasts in chronological order) beginning with this Feast of Trumpets!

Look at this excerpt from The Feasts of the Lord (p. 114) concerning "The Last Trump":

"Scripture often speaks of men or angels blowing trumpets, yet only twice is it recorded that GOD blows a trumpet.  In both instances, it is the shofar.  The first occasion was at Mt. Sinai when the Lord revealed Himself from Heaven and prepared to bring the nation (the Israelites) under the Old Covenant.  The Shekinah glory of the Lord descended with a fiery tempest and the sound of the shofar: 'Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire...And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.  Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai.' (Exodus 19:18-20)

The last occasion on which the Lord will blow the shofar will be at the Messiah's return.  The Lord will once again descend from Heaven with the whirlwind, the clouds of His glory fire, and the sound of the trumpet.  The prophet Zechariah predicted: "Then the Lord will be seen over them.  And His arrow will go forth like lightning.  The Lord God will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south." (Zech. 9:14)

As the Day of the Lord begins, God's last trump will be sounded, the Messiah will reveal Himself in great wrath, and He will prepare the nation (of Israel) to be brought into the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31; Ezek. 20:35-38; Zech. 13:9)

Both of these great events - God's last trump and the resurrection of the righteous - are intricately connected to the Rapture of the Church in the New Testament (1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)....like Israel's ancient trumpet, God's last trump will accomplish several purposes.  First, it will gather an assembly to the Lord in what is known as "the Rapture of the Church." The righteous will be delivered "from the wrath to come" (1 Thess. 1:10) since God has not appointed them unto wrath (1 Thess. 5:9).  The righteous dead will be resurrected, and the living will be gathered "from the four winds" (Matthew 24:31).  Second, the last trump will sound God's battle alarm against Satan and this wicked world as he begins "the great day of His wrath" (Rev. 6:17).  This will draw the day of man's rebellion to a close.  Finally, the last trump will announce the coming and soon coronation of the Messiah, for He alone will be "exalted in that day" (Isaiah 2:17)."

If you don't have this book, you need to get it!  This is only a small sampling of the wealth of biblical information that it contains!  I refer to it many times a year...it is an essential book for me.

This evening begins the Feast of Trumpets, and I will find a way to celebrate it in a biblical fashion, including blowing the shofar!  But I hope to hear another shofar, "the trump of God," even more!




 

Beautiful Prison

The things we choose OVER the LORD can lead us into a captivity of suffering. The decisions we make without consulting HIS will, or decisions we make even though we know His will but choose to ignore it, become the keys to the door of our prison. Willful disobedience closes the door behind us and places the keys forever out of our reach...but not the Lord's.

The same deception that leads us into this sin of willful disobedience against the LORD, continues to deceive us, for a while, in making the walls of our prison appear beautiful and warmed by the golden glow of the love for that person or thing which we have placed above GOD.

But the beauty that our sin-clouded eyes see is in reality (God's truth being that reality) only the foul uncleanness of death and the stench of the resulting decay that death brings....spiritual death that is...for we have chosen death instead of life. Only we don't know it quite yet.  But we will.

For the same God who called us out and anointed us for His purposes (as He did David) loves us enough (as He did David) to reveal the deception of our great sin (as He did David) so that we might come to repentance (as David did) and be restored to God (as David was.) Because God willed it to be so.

Without knowing about David, from beginning to end, we frail humans would be without hope when it comes to our own sins. Without the knowledge such as is contained in the book of Romans, we frail humans would live in complete condemnation because of our sins. I look to those two areas of the Bible more than any other when faced with my sin....for in both I see the love, grace and redemption of the LORD for frail man...for us who are called according to His purposes and in whom no condemnation is found because of Jesus Christ...once we are brought to repentance.

Jesus is the one who holds the key to our prison cells whose walls once appeared beautiful, but which eventually, in His light, we see as being anything but beautiful.  And also, eventually, He is the only One who can open the door and sets us free to get back on the path that He originally intended for us to walk.

I went away this long weekend to be alone with the LORD, seeking His help, asking Him to deliver me from my suffering. His Word says that when we call out to Him, He will hear us. 

He heard me this weekend. 

I want to share it with you in hopes that other believers in Christ who willfully entered into a marriage with an unequally yoked unbeliever, will know that though their dreams of their spouse being saved might not ever happen, for there is no guarantee with agents of free will, still God loves the believer and will eventually deliver the one who trusts in Christ from the prison cell of the marriage that they willfully chose to enter into...against God's will for them. 

If you are a believer who has never lived with an unbeliever, especially an unbeliever who willfully rejects Christ, then you have no idea of the suffering that the believer endures in such a situation. And the suffering is worse because you allowed yourself to love that one who rejects Christ.  It is a very lonely place to be in, especially in churches filled with couples who are both believers. 

My husband is such an unbeliever who filed for divorce recently, a no-fault divorce it is called, meaning that no one did anything heinous to bring the divorce about, there are just irreconcilable differences; in this case, the irreconcilable differences were spiritual which led to there being differences in every single thing that matters in life. We married later in life and had no children together, but we both had our own children, from previous marriages that had ended because of sexual immorality on the parts of our respective spouses. I felt free to marry again, biblically, but I knew it was not right to marry an unbeliever. Yet "love" prevailed.

I signed and returned those divorce papers this past week. The Bible tells us when an unbeliever wants to walk away from a marriage, they are free to do so.  But my heart, that against God's will I had attached to this man for 23 years, was left broken. I needed a word from the Lord to help me out of this prison I had willfully entered.

And He gave me just that.

I was reading past journal entries of mine, not sure why exactly, when I came across an entry from 2006 in which I described a double dream that I had. I wrote about double dreams on my blog back in October 2011 when studying the story in Genesis 41 about Joseph interpreting the double dreams of the Pharaoh.  Genesis 41 says this about double dreams:

"And for the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." 

Joseph goes on to say that "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace."

My double dreams were very vivid, my journal says, and even though I wasn't sure of their meaning back then, the LORD showed me very clearly the meaning this weekend.

I won't give the full entry here, but will describe the dreams, two nights or so apart from each other.

In the first dream, my husband and I were about to board a plane. But suddenly I knew that the plane was going to crash and that while I was saved and would be with the LORD, my husband didn't know the LORD and could not get on the plane.  The plane did indeed crash, but all the way down, I was at peace because I knew the LORD and He knew me. I woke up just before it actually crashed.  And as I awoke, still not quite awake, I saw two numbers: 4 and 14. I thought to myself that perhaps those numbers were the flight number or date or something.  But I didn't know for sure at all.

Two nights later, I dreamed the dream again only this time it wasn't my husband who was boarding the plane with me, it was my daughter, Gianna, who does know the LORD. I asked Gianna if she knew the number of this flight, and she said 14. As the plane began to go down, we both remained calm and at peace because we both knew the LORD and He knew both of us.  Again I woke up before the crash, but I knew that Gianna was confirmation for me both of the number and of the first dream in some sense.

Still I didn't know what the dream was about.  I mentioned it, at that time, to a cousin of mine, Frank, a very wonderful believer in Christ and he told me that the numbers 4 and 14 were significant biblically, but I never wrote the significance down, only saying in my journal that he would mail me the information, which he never did for some reason; possibly because it was not God's timing for me to have the interpretation of these dreams.

Then a few days later, again according to my journal, I told my two daughters about the dream and one of my daughter's, Gianna, said to me "Well, it's kind of weird but my mailbox is #4 and #14.  It is Unit #4 and the box # 14 in that unit.  Isn't that weird?"  It was indeed strange for, just as in the dream, here was Gianna "confirming" the numbers for me, just as she had in the dream on at least one number, but this time both numbers, but in a strange sort of way to the two of us, for there still was no clear meaning to the dream or to the numbers.

The year 2006, it seems, was not the year in which this dream was meant to have its interpretation, but all that which happened back then became significant on this particular weekend here in 2013, seven years later. (And there is great biblical significance to the number seven!)

After finding this journal entry, I decided to look up the biblical significance of the numbers 4 and 14.  And then I understood what the dream was about, for the Lord gave me the complete interpretation of it.

The number 4 signifies "division."  Such as spiritually divided people; or such as two people physically and legally divided by divorce.

The number 14 signifies "deliverance."  Such as being delivered from the suffering of an unequally-yoked marriage; or such as being delivered from the consequences of one's sin.

The plane was our marriage union, and the plane was going to crash. I was going to be at peace even though it crashed, but my husband couldn't have come along in that peace because he isn't a believer in Christ.

But what about Gianna confirming the numbers?

It turns out that when my husband and I separated back in December, I had no home to go to.  So I lived with my daughter Gianna for several months while I secured for myself a new little home.  Her address became my address, which at the time of the dream contained the numbers of her mailbox, indicating that I would be living with her, I believe.  Back in 2006, at the time of this dream, the LORD knew where I would go, even though I have two daughters living within a couple of miles of each other and could just as easily lived with the other daughter instead.  But He knew because He was bringing this about; He was establishing the thing.

Back in 2006, the LORD prophesied that my marriage would end, that I would be in peace about it, that my daughter Gianna would confirm the numbers for me, and that those numbers signified a double meaning, just as the double dreams had significance that it was OF THE LORD. Seven years later (7 - the biblical number of completeness!) the Lord hardened my husband's heart against me, as He did Pharaoh's heart against the Israelites, until both the Pharaoh, and my husband, wanted those that belong to the Lord out of their sight and released them. The Lord gave Pharaoh time to repent, and He gave my husband 16 years (before the dream in 2006) to repent...but it never happened.  So God made something else happen.  My release. [Even though our union was against God's will, I do believe the LORD when He says that He is able to make all things work together for our good...even our rebellious ways.  I do believe this marriage did not have to end in divorce, and that God gave my husband 16 years to repent, but because he would never come to repentance, then God caused my deliverance from this marriage to come about instead, knowing that I could not do so myself.]

Finding the record of this dream has brought me peace during a time of great distress. I had been plagued, very burdened and even depressed since December with a non-ending barrage of questions I kept asking myself such as "What did I do to cause my husband to hate me so? What could I have done differently? Why did this happen?"

But when the LORD revealed to me the meaning of this dream seven years ago, the questions stopped, and peace came...finally and completely.

More than six years ago, the LORD prophesied to me in these dreams that divorce was on its way. And by giving me double dreams He told me that it was of His doing, He was establishing the division (in other words, leading my husband to file for the divorce that would bring me out of the arms of my lover, and the consequences of my sin), delivering me completely back into the arms of my GOD, for He is a wonderfully jealous GOD!  More than six years ago the LORD shared with me, even though it was not the time for me to see it, that what He had established (the division), He would also bring to pass shortly...at least shortly in His own reference of time and space.

[In fact, even with Joseph and the Pharaoh it took seven years to bring about the famine that the double dreams prophesied would come; seven being the number of completion.]

Then He confirmed all of this with the numbers 4 and 14, with two witnesses, my daughter Gianna and my cousin Frank; and with double dreams.

Knowing this, that the LORD cared about me, even in my captivity, never forsaking me completely, even when I had forsaken Him by going against His will and knowing His willingness to let me in on His plans for me even before I could completely understand them back in 2006, was more encouraging than I can adequately describe.

It was without a doubt the "answer of peace" to all of my questions that I sought from Him this weekend. And I will be forever grateful to Him for it!

Now, in the LORD, I have peace to move forward, leaving the past forever behind.