Rabbi Schneider - The Golden Menorah

Seven is the biblical number for completeness and perfection, one, seven different flames, one Holy Spirit, all issuing forth from Yeshua, hallelujah, Ha Mashiach. Today we're going to launch right in, beloved, to the first piece of furniture that we encounter once we actually walk inside the physical tabernacle. You walk in through the one entryway, you walk in through the fence to the one entryway, you had your sins forgiven at the brazen altar. That's the prerequisite for walking fellowship with God.

Your sins, hallelujah, beloved, and my sins must be forgiven and it was a shadow, beloved, that innocent animal that died in the place of the ancient Israelite's sin and was then bound to the altar, that was a symbol of Yeshua who took our sin in His own body on the tree, and died in our place, and then we saw the priest go towards the tabernacle to the next piece of furniture in the outer court there, which was the brass laver.

I talked much about that last week and talked about how the brass laver was made from the mirrors, Exodus 38:8, of the women that ministered outside the doorway of the tent of meeting which is another way of saying the tabernacle and the reason that the Lord had that brass laver made of mirrors, in Exodus 38:8, is because He's teaching us that the only way that you can be cleansed of your sin, because the brass laver was all about the priest being cleansed on a daily basis, the only way that you could be cleansed of your sin and be brought into intimacy with Me, is if you'll allow Me to show you, that's why it was made of mirrors, what do you use a mirror for? To look at yourself.

The Lord's saying you can only be intimate with Me if you'll allow Me to show yourself and agree with Me, that it's not mom's fault, it's not dad's fault, it's not your brother-in-law's fault, stop blaming people, stop procrastinating, stop making excuses and allow Me to hold the mirror of the Holy Spirit up to your life to show yourself, and take responsibility for your own sin, and ask Me to cleanse you. Now, beloved, all of us need to humble, and stop blaming, and making excuses, and saying, yes Lord, it's me. You know a lot of times people make us mad and it's understandable why some of the things that happen in this world do make us mad, and why we lose our temper, why we mishandle situations, etc. but you know what, as long as we're blaming somebody else for our anger, we're never going to be cleansed of anger.

It's only when we say, Lord, it was my anger, I chose to get mad, I allowed myself to get mad, I take responsibility for my own anger, as long as we're blaming other people for our situations in life, as long as we're blaming other people for our sin, as long as we're blaming others and circumstances for the reason that we mishandle things, God cannot cleanse us, beloved. I remember the Lord spoke to me in a dream years ago. It always stuck with me and in this dream I was preaching to this congregation and as I was preaching to the congregation, the congregation stood up while I was preaching. They put their hand over the heart and they started saying the Pledge of Allegiance and literally drowned out my preaching as they were saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I couldn't even hear myself preach anymore, because the whole congregation was saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, drowned me out completely.

In the dream I remember feeling so humiliated. I mean to have a congregation rise up while you're preaching and drown out your preaching. I remember in the dream leaving the place where I was preaching and going into a bathroom across the hallway and in the bathroom I felt so humiliated. In the dream, I said, "Lord". I said, "I feel so humiliated, do I have to go back in there"? And the voice of the Lord, Yadid, spoke to me in the dream and He said, "Go back in and finish". I walked back into the place where I was preaching and that's when somebody stood up, where I started earlier, that's when somebody stood up and said, "They don't want to listen to you anymore". But I went back up and I finished my sermon. After I got done finishing my sermon, a voice spoke to me in the dream. You know the Lord can speak to you in dreams; He speaks to me in dreams.

Remember Solomon, the Lord came to him and it says, "And the Lord spoke to Solomon in his dream". And since Solomon began to speak to the Lord, back and forth, the Lord said to him, "Ask me what you will". So listen, be open to the Lord speaking to you in your sleep. We're going to talk about that today as we look at the Menorah, the golden menorah in the tabernacle. But in the dream the Lord spoke to me and He said to me, "You did a good job while you were here". And then He said to me, "Unless people ask me to cleanse them every day," listen, "unless people ask me to cleanse them every day," cause we're talking about the brass laver and being cleansed for intimacy, and the Lord told me at the end of the dream, He said, "Unless people ask Me to cleanse them every day, the best preacher in the world won't be able to help him".

And then the dream was over. But the dream really grieved me because I thought to myself, well what did I do; where have I failed as a leader that the congregation would rise up like that in the middle of my message and show such disrespect? I mean, where am I failing, Lord, where am I weak? What vulnerability or insecurity am I showing that people would do that to me while I'm preaching Your Word? And I just get the enquiring of the Lord, deeply disturbed by it, and several days later I was sleeping in a hotel one night, getting ready to preach somewhere the next day, and the Holy Spirit clearly spoke to me and here's what He said to me, I didn't hear it audibly, it was just communication in my heart by His Spirit, and this is what the Lord said to me, He said to me, "It wasn't you".

"It wasn't your weakness as a leader that made them rise up and begin to drown out your preaching with the American, with the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America". He says, "What I was showing you was people aren't being cleansed by Word and they're not being helped by My Word because they're more concerned about pursuing the American dream, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of... they're more concerned about becoming successful in achieving the American dream," the Lord was telling me, "than they are about following Me and allowing Me to cleanse them, and allowing Me to become preeminent in their life". And the Lord is saying, "Unless My people are waking up every day and asking Me to cleanse them". To cleanse us, beloved, of the mind of the world that we've picked up from living in a secular society, unless we're looking at ourselves and saying, "Lord, you're right, this is true about me". Unless we do that, beloved, there's no hope in getting intimate with God.

Well, we talked about the brass laver last week. From the place of the brass laver we begin to get humble, and get on our knees, and admit our own sin. Remember it was made from the mirrors of the women that ministered outside the tabernacle, to look at ourselves. From there, beloved, we're ready to go in to the tabernacle itself and as we enter into the tabernacle, the first thing that we see is the Holy Place. There were two rooms in the actual tabernacle. There was the Holy Place, the Holy Place was thirty feet long, fifteen feet wide, and fifteen feet tall. Inside the Holy Place was the Golden Menorah, which we're going to talk about today, the Table of Showbread, and the Altar of Incense, which we'll get to in the weeks ahead, Lord willing, but when you walked into the Holy Place after being cleansed now, you're being...

Remember, there's a progression here, every piece of furniture is laid out exactly where the Lord has it positioned to teach us of progressing in intimacy with Him, we start out, once again, at the altar where our sins are forgiven and then we begin to become experientially sanctified at the brass laver, or we begin, not only to have our sins legally forgiven because the Innocent One has died in our place at the altar, but now we start to get experientially cleansed of our sin at the brass laver where the Lord chose us ourselves. We get down on our knees and say, "Lord, cleanse me," and once that happens, we're literally now being drawn into the presence of God's Spirit, and so now we find our self inside the tabernacle, experiencing His intimacies, and the first thing that we see when we get inside, beloved, the Holy Place, we're drawn to the Golden Menorah.

Now notice the Golden Menorah, beloved, it has seven different candles coming from it, seven different branches, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Now this Golden Menorah, beloved, is made, get this now, from one pure piece of gold. The entire Menorah here, beloved, has been made from one pure piece of gold. It wasn't like this piece was made and then it was attached to this piece. But rather this started out as one pure piece of gold and it never was disconnected. It was always attached. It wasn't that this piece right here was made separate and then it was attached, It has, it was like, it was shaped, it was molded from the one pure piece, one pure piece, seven different flames coming from it. Now what does this mean? This symbolizes to us, listen to this now, beloved, what does this mean? It all has meaning, this symbolizes, this is the symbol, this is the copy and the material realm of, listen, God's Holy Spirit which we call in Hebrew, the Ruach Hako'desh.

I want to read to you now from the Book of Revelation and show you the fulfillment of this. The actual description of this Golden Menorah is found in the Book of Exodus, chapter 25, verses 31 and 40 and how we do understand what the meaning of it is? I'm going now to the Book of Revelation, chapter number 1, I'm reading from verse number 4 where the Lord begins to greet John on the Island of Patmos. Remember John was on the Island of Patmos. He had been exiled there because of his faith as a believer, and the Bible says it was on the Lord's Day the Spirit of God came upon him, and the Spirit of God came upon John, and he heard a voice say, "Come up here," and immediately John was in the spirit and he began to see into the spiritual realm. He saw spiritual reality and as he's brought up to experience the Lord in this encounter, Yeshua greets him and listen to what the Lord says here in Revelation, chapter 1, verse 4, "Grace to you," the Lord says to John, "grace to you and peace from Him who sits on the throne".

Let me read it again, "Grace to you and peace from Him, the One," listen to this now, "who is, who was, and who is to come". So who is that? The Bible says that... John hears God's voice and God says, "Grace to you and peace from the One who is, who was, and who is to come". There's only one person who is, who was and who is to come, that's the eternal God and then the Lord goes on to say there, "and from the seven spirits that are before His throne". So God is greeting John and He's saying I am the eternal One, I'm the One that is, who was, and is to come and I'm the One with the seven spirits of God that are protruding from my throne. Now we continue this in Revelation, chapter 3, verse number 1, Yeshua Himself is speaking here, and listen what Yeshua says, "And to the angel of the church Sardis, write," Yeshua is speaking this to John, and He says, "I'd want you to write now for Me to the angel, the church in Sardis".

Here's what Yeshua says: "He who has," listen now, "the seven spirits of God". Who has the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, beloved, proceeds forth from the Father and the Son. So now Yeshua says, "He who has," Revelation, chapter 3, verse 1, "he who has," Yeshua says, "the seven spirits of God". So you think about this, now the Lord greets John as the One who is, who was, and who is to come, the One who has the seven spirits of God before his throne, and now Yeshua says, "I am the One that has the seven spirits," and you tie that in now to the Golden Menorah that is in the tabernacle, and Hebrews, chapter 9 tells us that the tabernacle was a shadow and copy of Jesus.

So this, beloved, this Golden Menorah, represents Jesus and the Spirit that comes forth from Him, the Ruach Hako'desh, and the reason that it has seven is because seven is God's perfect number. It represents completeness and the reason that there are... that it was one pure piece of gold that had never been disconnected, in other words, again, the pieces weren't pieced on there but it was one pure piece of gold that had been hammered out is to show, beloved, that when God says from the seven spirits, He's not talking about seven different, isolated, individual spirits, but rather seven is the biblical number for completeness and perfection, one, seven different flames, one Holy Spirit, beloved, seven different flames all issuing forth, beloved, from Yeshua, hallelujah, Ha Mashiach.

And so, we walk into the, into the Holy Place and we find the first thing there that we're drawn to is this Golden Menorah representing the Holy Spirit and this is all about, remember, having intimacy with God today. What's the point, beloved? The point is if you and I want to walk in intimacy with God, listen to me now, you and I are going to have to learn how to walk, listen, in the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us in the Book of Romans, "Those that are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God". In our culture today I believe that many of us, that are sincere lovers of God's word, are missing it when it comes to relying and depending on the Holy Spirit. You see, the church has taught many of us that when the Bible was written, the gifts of the Spirit ceased and the problem that this creates is that we stop actually looking for an encounter with the mystical Spirit of God. There is a mystery, beloved, in being led by the Lord and it involves, beloved, Him leading us by His Spirit.

Let me tell you, if you're in the market right now for a house, if you're right now at an age in life where you're looking as to who to get married, the Bible doesn't tell you what house to buy and at what street to buy it on, and the Bible doesn't tell you the name of the person that you're supposed to marry but you know what, God does care what house you buy, He's your Father, and your Father also is concerned and has an interest in who you marry. The Bible's not going to tell you who to marry but guess what, God's Holy Spirit can lead you in these decisions but unless you and I develop a sensitivity to His Spirit and we're open to being led by His Spirit, listen, we're going to miss it. God wants to speak to us by His Spirit, He wants to lead us by His Spirit, but unless you and I recognize that the Holy Spirit is alive, He's active, He's real, we're going to have ears, beloved, that aren't hearing.

Over and over again in the Book of Revelation, Yeshua says, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches". You see in Acts, chapter 2, beloved, when the Spirit of God was poured out, Peter Cephas stood up and said that these men weren't drunk, the power of God's Spirit had so powerfully fallen on those there in the upper room, the one-twenty that, you know, they were kind of staggering around, to those people that didn't know what was going on, it looked like these guys had lost their balance, like they were drunk or something, and Cephas Peter says, "These men aren't drunk as you suppose but what you're seeing," he said, "is the fulfillment of what was prophesied in the Book of Joel chapter 2". The Lord said in Joel chapter 2, "In the last days I'll pour forth," get this now, listen to this, "My Spirit on all flesh," and He said, "Your sons and daughters will prophecy, they'll be able to speak by inspiration, by the leading of the Holy Spirit".

"Your young men will see visions, they'll be able to see in the Spirit, and you're old men," He said, "will dream dreams". And when the Spirit of God was poured out in Acts, chapter 2, Peter Cephas said that what had taken place there was this event that Joel had prophesied about, that God's Spirit had now been poured out and Peter said that the experience of those, in Acts, chapter 2, that the Spirit of God had been poured on, that their experience now was going to be that they're going to be able to speak by inspiration of the Spirit, they're going to able to be prophesying, they were going to be able to see in the Spirit, and they were going to have dreams at night from the Holy Spirit. You think about it, how often in Scripture the Lord led His people through dreams at night?

I mean go back to all through the Hebrew Bible, think of Joseph, how he was led by dreams. Think of Jacob, how he was led by dreams, and you know, when he saw, he saw the Lord's angels ascending up and down, and when he laid his head on the rock at Bethel, he realized from that experience that God was with him, and you go on, and on, and on. Think about Paul, he went into a night trance and realized he was supposed to go to Macedonia and preach the Gospel. Think about Yeshua's father, Joseph, and how he was led by dream to take Jesus to Egypt and then after the ruler of Israel had died, that was after the male Hebrew children's life, the angel again spoke to Joseph, Yeshua's father, and said to him, take Yeshua, take Jesus back to Israel.

God leads us, beloved, in our sleep. God's not sleeping when we're sleeping and a lot of times when we're sleeping and we're not tied to the material world so much the way that we are when we're awake, that's an opportunity that God takes when we're kind of hovering between the natural and the spiritual, that God intrudes and speaks to us. We need to be paying attention, beloved, to our dreams. The point that I'm trying to make here, is if you and I want to walk in intimacy with God, beloved, we need to realize that God is a living God. He's still speaking to us by His Spirit.

If you're not expecting Him to speak to you, you're probably not going to hear Him when He does, cause remember what the Lord said? "He's not sometimes in the fire, He's not sometimes in the earthquake, but he's in the gentle wind, and in a still, small voice," and I know there's been many occasions when the Lord has spoken to me, and I know that if I would not have been paying attention, it was so subtle the way the Lord spoke, if I would not have been paying attention, if I would not have been exercising faith, if I would not have recognized that it's God speaking to me, I would have missed it. I would have missed it. You remember, beloved, the little boy was sleeping and the Lord kept coming to him in his sleep and at first he thought somebody was calling, he didn't recognize it was the Lord and then the prophet had to say to the little boy, this is the Lord speaking to you. It takes, we need to be aware that God is speaking to us or we're going to miss His voice.

A lot of times the Lord will speak to you just by putting a picture in your mind. A picture, beloved, sometimes tells a thousand words. There's been so many times in life I've had to make decisions, and the Lord has just put a picture in my mind, and He's going to do the same for you. We need to become, beloved, more aware to God's Spirit in our life. You see, Jesus said, "If you believe in Me, rivers of living water will flow from your innermost being," and the Scripture says there, this Yeshua was speaking of, of His Spirit.

Let me tell you, beloved, the Bible is not designed to replace the Spirit of God. The Bible's not designed to replace the Living God. The Bible's designed to lead us to a Living God. God is alive and He still works today the same way He did, beloved, in the lives of all the men and women whom the Bible writes about. Listen, God does not want our life in Him to just be about reading about the people that He did speak to. He doesn't want us just to read about how He spoke to Paul. He doesn't want us just to read about the miracles that he did for Peter. I believe, hallelujah, that He wants to do those same miracles for you and I today. He's the same God. He changes not and you and I need to get out of dead religion, we need to get out of, beloved, a conservative -ism. I'm a conservative person too by nature but sometimes people get into such a conservative rut that they can't hear the voice of God.

Beloved, God is alive, and God is real, and we need to start being sensitive to His Spirit. I want to encourage you just to begin to spend time before God, sitting before Him and just saying, "God, help me to become more aware that You're inside me, and help me to become more aware of Your Spirit speaking to me today". "Help me to become more aware of the gentle prodding's of Your Spirit, Father, God speaking to my heart". "I want to become more sensitive of Jesus' reality abiding inside me, Messiah, in you, Yadid, beloved one, is your hope of glory". He's real, He's alive, He's in you, and He's leading you today. His Spirit is just as much alive today, beloved, as it was during the days that the Scriptures were written and He wants to bring you into the same experience that He brought all the biblical characters into you. God bless you and shalom.