Chapter 5

Yahuwdy

Related to Yah

Knowing Yahweh's Name and Word...

The Reformation opened a door. The advent of the printing press, and the will to use it, put Yahuweh's Scriptures into the hands of the masses and precipitated a revolution in spiritual awareness that's still bearing fruit. Out of Sardis, a dying fire with only a few live coals smoldering among the ashes, would come, Philadelphia, the second to last assembly on John's mailing list. The Philadelphians used the new life breathed upon them by Yahuweh's teachings to rekindle the flame of truth.

But it would be too little, too late for most. It wouldn't take man long to go back to work, plastering over God's Word. Laodicea, the last of the seven, the most prominent church today, put a cold, wet blanket on the dead and spent coals of a failed religion of Sardis. They created a morass of half truths and lies that is of no practical value to anyone.

The spiritual landscape of our present era is characterized by three radically different assemblies: the residual glow of Philadelphia's light, Protestant Laodicea's rising chorus of confusion, and the dead coals of Sardis Catholicism. They exist side by side. Sardis has become completely Jezebelian, Satan's seat of power. Philadelphia is fueled by Yahuweh's Scripture and filled with his Spirit. Laodicea acts like a fire that has been doused with water - there's lots of hot air and blinding smoke.

Yahushua used a different metaphor to explain how the productive ekklesia would exist beside the disruptive and unproductive ones. "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' He said to them, 'An adversary has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.'" (Matthew 13:24-30)

There's an eschatological element to this that we'll address in due time as it speaks to who will be raptured and those who will be left behind. But for now, suffice it to say that the Philadelphian ekklesia and the Sardis and Laodicean churches represent the bread of life and choking weeds growing together, side by side.

The sixth out-calling, Philadelphia, is one of only two ekklesia in John's list that received no condemnation at all from Yahushua. His letter to them opens sharing an aspect of Yahuweh's nature and purpose. "And to the messenger of the ekklesia in Philadelphia (Philadelpheia - brotherly association; from philos, meaning friend, associate, or familial relationship and adelphos, meaning brother) write (grapho - engrave, permanently record, and describe), 'These things relates He who is awesome, cleansed, and set-apart (hagios - blameless and separated), He who bears the truthful identity and the true name (alethinos), He who has and holds (echo) the costly (dapane - expensive) key (kleis - the power to unlock or lock, open or shut; the one with the authority to grant entrance), He who opens (anoigo - makes possible by enabling people to see, hear, and know the truth) and no one (oudeis - nobody and nothing) closes (kleio - shuts up, can obstruct or withhold), and when shut (kleio - closed and withheld; prohibited) no one (oudeis - not one, nobody, and nothing) can open.'" (Revelation 3:7) The passageway to salvation is the pole upon which Yahushua hung. The key that unlocks the gate is Yahuweh's Scripture.

In Hellenistic writings, hagios "signified an object of awe" and "denoted cleanliness and purity." Thus, a Deity who was hagios inspired reverence.  Hagios was often used in the context of a tabernacle or sanctuary, a place set apart unto God. Hagios is the Greek equivalent to qodesh, meaning "set-apart and clean." By using it, Yahushua is saying that He is the redeeming manifestation of Yahuweh set-apart to cleanse us of sin by paying the price Himself.

Alethinos is the real deal, the genuine article. Amplified, alethinos means: "the one who has the right name and bears the accurate resemblance, corresponding to the true nature in every respect." Alethinos provides a sharp contrast to the Adversary because it conveys: "the one who is open and expressive rather than concealing and deceiving." As the alethinos, Yahushua is: "the genuine name." It tells us that the Messiah is "the authentic manifestation and not an imaginary counterfeit." Even its basis is revealing. Alethes means "the one who loves truth, speaks truthfully, and is true."

There is considerable debate as to whether Yahshua said that He "holds the costly key" or "holds David's key." Since this is the key to paradise and to eternal life, we know that the power to unlock this door is derived exclusively from Yahshua's costly sacrifice. He alone provides the way. This key could only be David's in the sense that the prophet and king provided the key to understanding how the door would be opened. David was second only to Isaiah in composing Messianic writings depicting the means to our salvation. And David was the exemplar of the way in that he embodied the kind of engaged and passionate, relaxed and yet reliant, conversant, open, true, and loving relationship Yahuweh desires with His creation. That is why the consonant root of David in Hebrew, dwd, means "love," thus making it "love's key." Collectively, these concepts describe the kind of relationship that causes Yahweh to open the door to His home and His arms to us.

But either way - as the costly key, David's key, or love's key - the verse confirms that the Roman Catholics are wrong. They don't hold the keys to heaven as they so vociferously claim - neither the Pope, nor the Church. That is what oudeis, "no one, no body, and no thing" means.

Using transitions and metaphors masterfully, Yahshua confirms that the Philadelphians will walk through the portal He has opened to spend eternity with Him. "I know what you do (ergon - that which occupies your time, your endeavors, your businesses, deeds, acts, and works). Behold (idou - indeed, look and see), I have given (didomi - bestowed and delivered to) you an open door (thura - portal, entrance, gate, or way; an opening through which sheep can pass and the doorway to a home), which no one (oudeis - no body and nothing) has the power or ability (dunamai - permission or capability) to shut (kleio - to withhold or make inaccessible, obstruct or close)..." (Revelation 3:8)

There are three insights in this verse. First, this is further confirmation that the "keys of the dominion of heaven" Peter was given to "bind (deo - restrict from standing upright) and setting free (luo - dismissing and releasing) on earth," only prevailed in heaven because of his recognition that Yahshua was the Rock of our salvation, Yahuweh manifest in human form. The Messiah has made that unequivocally clear in this verse, telling us that no one, no body, and nothing can withhold, obstruct, or close the doorway He has opened.

Second, the portal Yahshua opened provides a way, The Way, to pass from our temporal, restricted, and corrupted three-dimensional existence to His perfect and eternal four-dimensional (and possibly seven-dimensional) realm. The Shepherd has unlocked the gate for His sheep. He has opened the door to His home for those who know Him and love Him.

Once the Philadelphians pass through the thura/portal He has opened, we will become infinitely more dunamai/powerful, possessing more of the life force, energy, and light of our Maker, giving us the dunamai/ability to do things that currently exceed the limits of our imagination. As we shall soon discover, the reason the Philadelphians will be given this gift is simple. We read, studied, distributed, and applied His Scripture.

The third insight is one that gives me great comfort, flawed and weak as I am and continue to be. The door that has been opened by our Savior cannot and will not be closed. The ransom our Redeemer paid to provide this portal is irrevocable, and completely independent of our ergon/endeavors. Our liberation is dependent solely upon His dunamai/ability and power to provide the portal and requires no strength on our part to keep it open.

"...for the reason (hoti - because, by way of explanation, and since) you have and hold (echo - possess and echo) a comparatively small amount or quantity of ability, power, and energy (mikros dunamis - a relatively short supply of the inherent authority and force needed to control space-time that resides in the nature of the miraculous source who puts it forth)..." (Revelation 3:8) Thankfully, our invitation to His home, and the means to get there, are provided by one whose authority, power, ability, and mercy are infinite.

Then, continuing to speak of the reason why the doorway has been provided and held open, we read: "...and (kai - also) you have carefully attended to and observed (tereo - taken care of, guarded, kept, heeded, preserved and maintained) My Word (logos - sayings and thoughts, discourse and reasoning, concepts and teachings), and have not denied or disregarded (arneomai - renounced or rejected, refused or relinquished, recanted or retracted) My proper and personal name (onoma - authority and character)." (Revelation 3:8) If you want to pass through Yahuweh's open portal there are some things you must do: study His Scripture, heed what is there, and never deny or disregard His proper and personal name. And since the Savior has but one name, Yahushua, relinquishing the power of that name by rejecting it and refusing to use it, by recanting or relinquishing it, could well create a quid pro quo: Deny My name and I will deny knowing you.

The door to Yahuweh's home has been opened to the Philadelphian ekklesia for two reasons, reasons which are encapsulated in four words: tereo in relationship to legos and arneomai in relation to onoma. This is significant, literally life and death, since the previous three assemblies have been called "the seat of Satan," "Jezebelian (married to the Whore of Babylon and exalting Lord Ba'al)" and "dead." So these four words provide a remarkable contrast. They are the Way to and through the open door.

The primary meaning of tereo is "to keep in view and to take note of." The object of this scrutiny is "Yahuweh's Word." The root of logos is lego, meaning "speech which affirms and advices." In this case Yahushua is advising us about the relationship He desires for us to have with Him while affirming the way to obtain it. Etymologically, logos means "to gather," adding another dimension of meaning to Yahushua being the Logos/Word, especially in this context.

Arneomai is proceeded in the text by ou, "expressing a direct, full, objective, and absolute negation" of what follows. Unlike me, ou does not allow for conditions, subjectivity, or any hypothetical musings. Therefore, the Philadelphians have an open door because we do not "arneomai/deny" Yahushua's "onoma/personal and proper name."  We do not "arneomai/verbally renounce knowledge of or relationship with" Yahushua's "onoma/personal and proper name."

That is what these four words mean. That is all they mean. And yet, the Roman Catholic Church at its inception (Pergamos - as it established itself as Satan's powerbase by building a hieratical religious structure), during its adult life (Thyatira - where the Church married Jezebel, the Whore of Babylon), and during its long and painful death (Sardis - where lifeless teachings destroyed lives and damned all but a few souls) has done the antithesis of these things. The Roman Church hid the Word from the people for a thousand years so that they could promote their own words. Rather than regard, acclaim, and profess the proper and personal name of our Savior, they renamed Him "the Lord Jesus Christ" - Ba'al, the Horned One, who Drugs and Whitewashes.

So here is the bottom line: the Philadelphians are saved, they have had the door to heaven opened, because they have "carefully attended to and observed Yahuweh's Word and they have not denied or disregarded Yahushua's name." The Philadelphians, unlike the Catholic Pergamosians, Thyatirians, and Sardisians, haven't "arneomai/repudiated His portal, denied His name, disowned His Word, or refused to follow Him."

The alternative choice, the more universal or Catholic choice, the way that is twisted and broad, isn't wise, yet many will select it. Sadly, it is the path to destruction, death, and damnation. There is but one portal to life and it is found in tereo in relationship to legos and arneomai in relation to onoma.

Prophetically, the spirit of the Reformation is embodied in the Philadelphian era. Yahuweh's Word came to be known by many, and by knowing it, the people came to reject the false (unscriptural) assertions of the Catholic Church. Religion was replaced by relationship, control by liberation, darkness by light, lies with truth, death with life. While the Reformation was no less flawed than the reformers, choice was returned to the people. Those who were seeking Truth, could now find it and Him.

And while the Roman Catholic Church hid the truth of salvation for 1500 years, and thereby led billions to their doom, they were not alone. Muhammad viewed himself as the Messenger of God, even as the Messiah. He claimed that his Islam/Submission was the religion of Abraham, that his Qur'an confirmed and corrected the Torah and Gospels, and that his spirit - Allah - was God. As a result all mosques (Arabic for places of prostration) became the synagogues/assemblies of Satan. In other words, poison comes in more than one flavor.

Therefore, those who prostrate themselves in this verse could be Catholics or Muslims. "Behold (idou - indeed), I will deliver (didomi - compensate; produce and assign; deposit) the separated (ek - those from), the gathering (sunagoge - the binding together, assemblages, congregations, and unions) of the Adversary, Satan (Satanas - the Accuser), who say (lego - profess and maintain) they are Yahudim (Ioudaios - a transliteration of the Hebrew Yahudi) and are not. As the antithesis and in opposition (alla - but to the contrary) they deliberately deceive (pseudomai - purposely utter untruths and falsehoods; they knowingly lie). Behold, I will make them (poieo) come (heko) and prostrate themselves (proskuneo - fall upon their knees and touch the ground with their forehead as an expression of submission), in the presence of (enopion - before, in sight of) your feet (pous) so that (kai) they know (ginosko - learn, come to understand, being absolutely and clearly aware) that I have loved you (agapao - that I am pleased with you, that I have welcomed you, and that I dearly adore you)." (Revelation 3:9)

Each word exudes so much information we will need to spend considerable time on this passage. First, sunagoge is from sunago. It denotes a "gathering together" and is used in relation to "harvesting fruit or grain" and of "netting fish." That means that those in association with Satan, are not only separated from Yahuweh but are bound together with the Adversary. In this verse we are told that they are living in denial and that they deliberately deceive. In the context of the letters which have preceded this one, it is apparent that Yahshua is speaking of the Roman Catholic Church and those she has misled.

That brings us to the line "who say they are Yahudim and are not." This is especially intriguing. With only a brief respite during the reign of David and Solomon, Jews have served as prey, something very few people have pretended to be. Throughout history, Jews have denied being Jews to escape annihilation, but not the other way around. So what does Yahushua mean when He says that people during the Philadelphian era will falsely claim to be Yahudim, but will not be? To answer that we must come to understand what a Yahudi actually is.

But before I provide that answer, I need to apologize. I have been lazy. Early on, I stumbled into something that suggested that a Yahudi was a follower of Yah and I left it at that. I should have known better. Every name Yahuweh coined in His Scripture conveys an essential truth. And to understand the essential truths contained in Yahuweh's Word, we must understand what the words He chose to use mean. Yahudi is no exception.

In Revelation, the Apostle John was taking dictation directly from Yahushua, and it is certain that while most don't know what Yahudi conveys, Yahushua did. After all, He created the people and conceived the term. John was simply transliterating what he heard. "Ioudaios" is from the Hebrew Yahuwdiy (יְהוּדִי). It is usually transliterated Yahudi. The name appears 86 times in the Old Covenant and is translated "Jew or Jews" on each occasion. The compound term is directly related to Yahuwdah (יְהוּדָה), the son of Ya'aqob through whom David and the Messiah would be born. Since a "w" or "ָוִ" is found in the middle of Yahuweh's name and also in the midst of Yahushua's name each of the 65 times it is rendered in the Old Covenant (Yahshuw'ah), we will focus on the "dy" suffix to determine why Yahuweh choose to call His people Yahuwdiy. (Incidentally, we also find a "w (ָוִ)" in the middle of David's (Dawyd (דָּוִד)) name, a name whose consonant root, "dwd," means "to love.")

There are two Hebrew words in which the consonants "dy," and only "דִּי" appear. When these letters are vocalized as diy, they mean "that which belongs to." Diy is "used as a mark of genitive." Genitive conveys "related to or relating to, expressing a relationship while marking the source of that association." Thus, with the addition of diy to Yah we discover that to be a Yahudi is to "belong to Yahuweh, to be related to Yahuweh, to express an association with Yahuweh, and to acknowledge Yahuweh as the source of the covenant relationship." In that light, I am a Yahudi, and I hope you are too.

That being true, in the context of Revelation 3:9, the people who were separated, the people who were associating with Satan, were falsely claiming to have a relationship with Yahuweh. Since the Roman Catholic Church has been called the seat of Satan, and since we have learned that they have associated with the Adversary's Whore of Babylon, both while falsely professing to be "Christ's Vicar on Earth," it's pretty clear what Yahushua was saying and to whom He was saying it. And that's really bad. This is the fourth time in four letters that the risen Yahushua has associated the Catholic clergy with Satan. I say "the clergy" rather than Catholics in general because Yahushua just told us that the people who were "bound to the Adversary deliberately deceive."

Throughout their long and plagued history, Catholic clerics have consciously, intentionally, calculatingly, and knowingly misled the laity for personal gain. The facts, their history, and their preposterous claims speak for themselves. Not only have they instituted all manner of rites and doctrines that are contrary to Scripture, each corruption can be tied directly to Ba'al, to Babylon, and to Satan himself. Each of the following are alla, the antithesis of Scripture and in opposition to the Word: a hierarchal clergy, popes, cardinals, nuns, monks, and fathers, clerical robes, crowns, and seats of honor, the notion of priestly forgiveness and thus the Catholic confessional, infant baptism and baptismal regeneration, justification by works, indulgences, and purgatory, the Rosary, the Madonna and Child, the reverence shown to Mary, statues and petitions to Mary, the Sacred Heart, crucifixes and especially the Sign of the Cross, holy water and the use of wax candles, reverence for relics, canonizing saints and prayers to and for the dead, the mass and most every aspect of the Eucharist, the teaching that Peter was a pope, that popes are Christ's representatives, and that popes are holy and infallible, the crusades, inquisitions, and the use of torture, Sunday worship, the celebration of Lent, Easter, the Nativity of St. John, the Feast of the Assumption, All Saints Day (a.k.a. Halloween), and Christmas, editing Yahuweh's name out of His Scripture and changing Yahushua's name and title, and worst of all, keeping Yahuweh's Word from the people for one thousand years. Therefore, based upon this evidence and Yahushua's testimony, it is reasonable to conclude that the Catholic clergy represent: "the assembly of the Adversary, Satan, those who profess and maintain that they are Yahudi and are not. As the antithesis and in opposition they deliberately deceive."

According to Yahushua's prophetic letters, the Roman Catholic Church has gone from being born bad, to marrying poorly, to dying. Now, in this passage, their rulers are being judged following their temporal demise. But since we are in the last days, since the Philadelphians are the administrators of divine justice during the millennium, and since these Catholic clerics, especially popes, have claimed to be Christ's representatives to whom the people must bow in reverence, they will be forced to prostrate themselves before the Yahudim. Imagine being brought into the presence of Yahuweh, learning the truth and witnessing the capacity of Yahweh's love, only to be kept from both.

God is always fair. If you choose to have people honor you as God's chosen and grovel at your feet while you sit on your throne, as a thousand years of popes have done, then you will grovel at the feet of those Yahuweh actually loves, those who chose Him. And there will be no sympathy. These men purposely, knowingly, and selfishly caused billions of people to live in hellish conditions without light or choice and to die separated from their Savior. These clerics will endure the perpetual anguish of the abyss where they will be reunited with Satan while the souls of those they deceived will simply cease to exist.

Before we move on, there is a second, equally probable meaning for the "dy" suffix which follows Yahuweh's name in Yahuwdiy, that is worth examining. When these letters are vocalized as day (pronounced dahee), they mean "sufficient is the abundance that comes from and out of" Yahuweh. In this light, God is saying that His people are those who view Him as their Savior, those who accept His sacrifice as "sufficient," recognizing that it alone leads to an "abundance" of life, that there is nothing we can do to add to it. Further, the source of this life is Yahuweh Himself - the Set-Apart Spirit who "comes from and out of" God. Therefore, to be a "Yahudi" is to be "someone who by relying entirely upon Yahuweh's redemptive gift has been born anew from above in Yahuweh's Spirit, thereby inheriting an abundance of life."

Since this, too, is profound, suggesting that those who call themselves "Christians" should actually be using the term Yahuweh selected for His people, Yahudi, let's examine day in the context of Yahuweh's revelation because the Creator's first three uses of the term are especially revealing.

We find in Exodus 36:3-7, that Yahuweh's: "family ('am)" had through "free choice (nadabah - free will) come in (bow' - they had arrived and entered; they were included in the association and were harvested), becoming great (rabah - gaining abundance by being enlarged and increased exceedingly) on account of (min - out of and from; by means of, by way of the source of an event which marks) the sufficient (day - adequate abundance according to, out of, and from the) service ('abodah - labor) of the work of the visible manifestation of God (mala'kah - the business of the mal'ak, the heavenly messenger or representative, the theophany, the visible, human, manifestation of God), who by association ('asher), as a miraculous sign of the direct relationship ('eth and 'ath), Yahuweh decreed, directed (tsawah - instructed and commanded with force and authority; assigned One to the role and function with a focus on the authority of the One who made the appointment) and accomplished ('asah - fashioned, produced, and completed; prepared, observed, and celebrated)." (Exodus 36:3, 5) In that 'abodah is the Hebrew word for "service, labor, and work," we can be assured that Yahuweh chose mala'kah, a word that blends the concept of the "heavenly messenger of God" with the "business" of God which is the salvation of mankind.

Therefore, the first use of day in Scripture tells us that "free choice" leads directly to "an association" with God. It leads to "great abundance on account of the sufficiency of the service accomplished by the visible manifestation of God," Yahushua, the "one who by association, and as a sign of direct relationship with Yahuweh, completed what Yahweh authorized, decreed, and directed," the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb who accepted the sins of all mankind. The passage is a succinct summary of the Good News inherent in Yasha'Yah's Messianic prophecies and in the whole of the Renewed Covenant.

And speaking of "Passover," the next verse explains: "And Moses (Mosheh - the one who draws out, delivering people from trouble) instructed (tsavah - explained, focusing on the authority of the One making the appointment), 'The Voice who calls aloud (qowl) will pass over ('abar - will take away transgressions of) the encampment (machaneh - the body of people; from chanah, the pitching of tents where people dwell and abide), saying ('amar - promising and avowing), "Let neither ('al) man ('iysh) nor woman ('ishshah) do ('asah - perform, produce, fashion, or accomplish) anything besides ('owd - any more than or in addition to) the work of the visible manifestation of God (mala'kah - the business of the mal'ak, the heavenly messenger or representative, the theophany, the visible, human, manifestation of God) as an offering to be raised (taruwmah - as a contribution; from ruwm, to raised up on high) and set-apart (qodesh - to be purified and prepared, cleansed and consecrated, sanctified, separated, and dedicated; to be the Sanctuary or Tabernacle of God)."'" (Exodus 36:6)

Moses is explaining that the "Voice or Word or God will pass over the body of believers, taking away their sin." He is saying that "men and women cannot add anything to the work that will be accomplished by the visible manifestation of God" in regards to their redemption, "to being raised up on high, cleansed of sin, set-apart and separated unto God, becoming a Tabernacle" of His Spirit.

Qodesh seldom appears in secular Hebraic writings so there is little more than the context of the Scriptural texts themselves to ascertain that it means "to be cleansed, separated, and set-apart." In Akkadian, the earliest recorded language on Earth, the tongue of the early Babylonians and Assyrians, qodesh meant "to be clean and pure, dedicated to the purpose of God."

This passage concludes with the second use of day. "For the work of the visible manifestation of God (mala'kah - the mission and purpose of the mal'ak, the heavenly messenger or representative of God, the theophany, the visible, human, manifestation of God) exists as (hayah - was, is, and forever will be) sufficient, providing adequate abundance according to, out of, and from (day) the totality of (kol) the work done ('asah - performed, produced, fashioned, and accomplished) as a miraculous sign in relationship with ('eth or 'ath) that which is performed by the visible manifestation of God (mala'kah - the representative of God who performs His business; from mal'ak, the heavenly messenger or representative of God, the theophany, the visible, human, manifestation of God), leaving nothing to be done (yatar)." (Exodus 36:7) That deserves a Wow!

It means that, dy, as used in connection with Yahuweh, testifies to the fact that a Yahudiy is someone who affirms that the work Yahuweh's messenger performed was sufficient for their redemption, cleansing and purifying them, setting them apart, raising them up and providing abundant life for them in accordance with His nature. I am a Yahudi by this definition too. I pray that you are as well.

Yahuweh's third use of day confirms this assessment. In the midst of a discussion regarding the Yowbel, the fifty year cycle celebrating and commemorating the Lamb's Redemptive Sacrifice, God says: "Indeed when (kiy) man ('iysh) exists (hayah) without (lo') a kinsman redeemer (ga'al), take hold of (nasag) His hand (yad - His strength and power) attaining (matsa' - securing and possessing) sufficient (day) redemption (gaullah - redemptive payment from a redeeming kin)." (Leviticus 25:26)

Returning to Yahushua's open letter to the Philadelphian Ekklesia/Called-Out Assembly, we find the Word reconfirming the importance of His Word. Prophetically speaking, it will keep those who esteem Him and it out of the great tribulation. "Because (hoti - by way of explanation, for the express reason that) you have carefully attended to (tereo - thoughtfully observed and consistently kept in view) My Word (logos - sayings and thoughts, discourse and reasoning, concepts and teachings, individual expressions, narratives, nature, descriptions, tidings, treatises, and maxims) to cheerfully endure (hupomone -  to be consistent and to persevere, to live and to abide), indeed, I also (kai) will watch over you and carefully attend to you (tereo - constantly keeping you in view, protecting you from injury or loss), keeping you out of (ek - withholding you from) the hour (hora - day, age, season, time, or period) of tribulation (peirasmos - the experience of evil examination, of testing, proving, adversity, submission, temptation, and trial) which shall come (mello erchomai - must inevitably come) upon (epi - against) the whole of (holos - the entire portion of) the inhabitants of the world (oikoumene - the peopled places of the planet) to test (peirazo - scrutinize and examine) those who reside (katoikeo - dwell) on the earth (ge)." (Revelation 3:10)

There is the possibility that the opening statement might read: "Because you have constantly kept the Word of My enduring life in view...." The definite article may before "Word" and "My" could be attributed to "consistently abiding and living forever." This difference is actually quite profound. "My Word" is the Old and Renewed Covenant Scriptures. "The Word" can be Yahushua, the human manifestation of Yahuweh, His written revelations, or both. So with the second rendering, the Savior could be saying that redemption is the result of knowing and regarding Him as well as His Scripture and that they both lead to eternal life. While His Word is the truth, while His Word leads to Him and while His Word enlightens the path, Yahushua Himself is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

While we are all familiar with the opening of John's witness where he confirms that Yahushua is the Word, that the Word is both with God and is God, and that the Word became flesh and tabernacled with us, the apostle wasn't the first to refer to the visible manifestation of Yahuweh as "the Word." We find this in I Samuel 3: "And Yahuweh was seen (ra'ah - appeared) again in Shiloh (Shiyloh - a town thirty miles north of Jerusalem that served as home for the Ark of the Covenant. It was destroyed by the Philistines around 1050 BCE. Shiyloh means: He to whom tranquility belongs and it is based upon the Akkadian word selu, meaning Counselor), for indeed (kiy) Yahuweh revealed Himself (galah - uncovered and disclosed Himself) as God to ('el) Samuel (Shamuw'el - a prophet in the days of Saul and David; a compound of shama' and 'el: the one who hears, listens attentively to, understands and heeds the call of 'el/God) in Shiloh by the Word (Dabar) of Yahuweh." (I Samuel 3:21) The visible, human, manifestation of Yahuweh is Yahushua, the "Word of Yahuweh."

Focusing again on the prophetic verse in Revelation, there is some especially wonderful news in the passage. If your life manifests the characteristics of the Philadelphian Ekklesia, if you are a Yahudi, related to Yahuweh and reliant upon Yahushua, if you are immersed in His Word, if you know and use Yahuweh's name, you will be kept out of the Great Tribulation - you will not be tested, scrutinized, enticed, or examined.

For those who say that there is no rapture, and for those who say that there is one but not until the middle or end of the Tribulation, God does not concur with your conclusion. The reference to "the hour of tribulation which shall come upon the whole word" can be none other than the Great Tribulation detailed in this very book. And ek means "out," that is all ek means. Yahshua has identified those things which characterize those people He will personally attend to and rescue. He says of the souls for whom He has opened a door that no one can shut: "...you have carefully attended to and observed My Word and have not denied or disregarded My proper and personal name." These souls are "Yahudim: those who belong to Yahuweh and are related to Yahuweh, those who express an association with Yahuweh and acknowledge that Yahuweh is the source of the covenant relationship, those who accept Yahshua's redeeming sacrifice as sufficient." Of those precious souls He says: "Because you have carefully attended to, thoughtfully observed and consistently kept in view My Word to cheerfully endure, indeed, I also will watch over you and carefully attend to you, constantly keeping you in view, protecting you from injury or loss, keeping you out of the hour of tribulation which shall come upon every inhabitant of the world to test those who reside on the earth." The rapture, or harpazo in Greek, the snatching and gathering up of believers, this great harvest of souls, is Scripture's only prophesized event that attests to what is being described here. Now you know what the beneficiaries will be like.

And lest I forget, by saying that He will keep the Philadelphian Ekklesia out of the Tribulation, Yahshua is once again confirming that these letters are prophetic. They speak of assemblies and events nearly twenty centuries distant from their divine dictation. Those who participated in the actual out-calling in Philadelphia when John wrote in 69 CE were not removed from the Tribulation as this time was two thousand years distant from their time. Moreover, Yahshua is confirming something that I have recently come to appreciate. While the seven ecclesiastic eras all have a definite beginning date they do not have a termination date. The Philadelphian ekklesia is the sixth on the list and yet they will endure to within a breath of the end. Further, the Smyrna epoch still exists in the Sudan where three million "Christians" have been brutally murdered over the last twenty-five years. Catholicism as depicted in Pergamos, Thyatira, and Sardis still deceives.

From the perspective of the Philadelphian age, and their ultimate place in the timeline of salvation history, this next phrase is temporally accurate, especially when you recognize that it follows a reference to the rapture. "Behold (idou - look and see), I will come (erchomai - leave one place and arrive and appear in another; become known) suddenly (tachu - shortly, swiftly, soon, without delay, speedily, quickly, and momentarily)! Grab hold of and possess the strength and power (krateo - seize the hand and don't let go) of the one whom (hos - or what) you have (echo - you hold, possess, and echo) in order that (hina) no one (medeis - or no thing) may take (lambano - lay hold of and deceptively exploit) your crown (stephanos - that which encircles and surrounds you [symbolic of the Spirit]; the exalted rank, prize, and eternal reward [symbolic of eternal life])." (Revelation 3:11)

There are two future "comings" and they are not related. Yahshua will come for His ekklesia prior to the beginning of the Tribulation, meeting them spiritually in the air, and He will physically come to wipe out all evil from the earth during the battle of Armageddon, touching down on the Mount of Olives five days prior to the end of the Tribulation. The occurrences are different and one event follows the other by a minimum of seven years and a maximum of twenty - either of which would be tachu/suddenly or momentarily from the perspective of the six thousand years of the salvation story or the two thousand year life of the ekklesia.

Yahushua's advice to those who know Him and who are thereby related to Him is to hold on and never let go. Simply stated: trust His Word and rely upon Him.

While "naos" can be translated "temple" in this next verse, it actually means "dwelling place" and thus confirms that we will spend our eternity in Yahuweh's presence - never departing from it. "He who prevails, I will make him a pillar (stulos - an upright support column) in (en) the Temple (naos - divine dwelling place) of My TS (placeholder for 'Elohiym, from theos, God) and he shall never depart from it." (Revelation 3:12)

Stulos is from stuo, meaning "an upright pillar or pole." Both are derived from the base of histemi, which means: "to stand upright so as to enable others to stand." Histemi is "that which is put in place, established, paid for, and maintained; that which is acknowledged, valid, and recommend." The one who histemies "establishes and upholds." They "authorize, abide by, and continue to be present with" those they "acknowledge and validate." Stauros, meaning "upright pole," is the Greek word that was erroneously translated "cross" by the Roman Catholic Church.

By saying that He will make Yahudim upright support columns in the Temple, Yahushua is saying that He will transform us so that we are like Him because Yahushua in Hebrew is the 'edon, the "Upright Pillar, the Foundation of the Tabernacle." But sadly, the majesty of all of this is lost when clerics change 'edon to 'adon, replace Yahuweh with 'adonay, and then change stauros to cross, transforming the Divine into the Satanic.

Yahuweh introduced the concept of the "pillar" in the Exodus. There He says that He would "show His family the way" and that he would "look after them and take care of them.... Yahuweh walked (halak) in their presence (paniym) by day in the appearance of ('anan) an upright pillar ('ammuwd - a vertical support column; from 'amad, meaning to come upon the scene, appear, present oneself, become a servant, to be upright and to stand upright, thereby supporting and establishing others, enabling them to stand, to rise and to endure) in daylight (yowmam - in the light) leading the way, guiding them (nahah derek - directing them to a more favorable state by creating a beneficial opportunity) by an upright pillar ('ammuwd) of fire ('esh - of blazing light, or 'ish - of existence, or 'osh - of the foundation) at night (layil - in darkness) to provide light ('owr - and to become light)." (Exodus 13:21) Not only is this upright pillar, or vertical support column, identical to the stulos in Revelation, the basis of both words is identical, and both provide a precise explanation of who the Messiah is and what He has done for us. 'Ammuwd and histemi are equally majestic, equally descriptive, equally informative, and equally redemptive.

The repeated reference to My TS in this portion of the letter to the Philadelphians is not an acknowledgement of a God to whom Yahushua served but instead to Yahushua's Deity, of Him being part of Yahuweh. "And I will inscribe (grapho - write) upon (epi) him the proper and personal name (onoma) of My TS (placeholder for 'Elohiym from mou theos - literally, the God of Me) and the proper name of the city of My TS ('Elohiym), the New (kainos - regenerated or renewed, recently made and unprecedented) Jerusalem (Ierousalem - a transliteration of Yaruwshalaim), which comes down out of heaven from My TS ('Elohiym), and My new (kainos) name. He who can hear, let him listen to what the PM (placeholder for Ruach, Spirit) says to the called-out assembly (ekklesia)." (Revelation 3:12-13)

The proper and personal name of Yahushua's 'elohiym is Yahuweh, meaning I Was, I Am, and I Will Be and the name of His city is Yaruwshalaim. It is a compound of yarah, meaning "to pour out, to teach and to instruct" and shalowm, meaning "favor and salvation, the blessings of completeness, health, peace, tranquility, contentment, friendship, companionship, and relationship; a reward that brings prosperity and rest by way of paying recompense, restoring through redemption, restitution and making amends." Thus, the meaning of Yahushua's new name is "the One from whom the favor of redemption flows."

The "New Jerusalem" is described in chapter 21 of this Revelation. Like Yahuweh, it is a fine brand, a most excellent logo. The New Jerusalem is something that we will cover in detail later. But for now, know that it represents a hypercube, finite in three dimensions and infinite in the fourth. It is paradise - the place of eternal peace.

Names are as important to Yahuweh as is His Scripture. They form the basis of a personal relationship. When we choose to love Him, He engraves His name upon us. In that it means "I Exist," this confirms that we will be eternal and that we will be able to maneuver in space-time. In that onoma conveys "character and authority" too, we will become more like Him - no longer just a pale reflection with comparatively little force, power, or energy.

We should all want to be Philadelphians - members of the ekklesia of brotherly love - Yahudim - those who love Yahuweh and who are loved in return. Yahushua was compassionate enough to share the requirements and benefits of membership. He uttered no words of rebuke for these folks, just praise. So we just learned what makes God happy.

The Philadelphians have also made man happy, or at least happier. Western civilization is a byproduct of the Philadelphians. Europe emerged from the Dark Ages and out from under the tyranny of the Roman Catholic Church because Yahudim challenged their authority by exposing their lies to the Truth. They translated the "Bible" into most every language known to man and then they capitalized upon the recently invented printing press to make the Word available to everyone who could read. The Philadelphian Assembly thereby changed the world. America was a derivative. So was the explosion of learning, science, prosperity, freedom, and technology that followed their Reformation. Men and women seized upon and grew to trust the power of Yahuweh's Scripture, echoing its teaching. But behold, this rebirth was not universal and it comes near the end of the age.

One of the things Yahushua said to the Philadelphians was, "I know your works." When we hear those words we usually think of things like feeding the poor, healing the sick, preaching the gospel to those in darkness, and basically living like civilized human beings. And yes, the assembly at Philadelphia was doing - and is still doing - all those things, but in the context of Yahushua's letter, that's not what He was referring to.

After introducing Himself as the "revealing Spirit of truth" He tells us what the Philadelphians did that was so good: "...you have carefully attended to and observed My Word and have not denied or disregarded My proper and personal name."

Yahushua was once asked to define "the work of God." The answer was surprising, especially for those who were looking for some kind of legalistic laundry list like the Ten Commandments. The conversation began with men trying to define a new religion. But that is not where it ended. "They asked Him, 'What shall we do or make (poieo - produce, construct, fashion, or author) then so that (oun) we might be engaged in (ergazomai - labor and work in) the business (ergon - employment and undertaking, the enterprise) of God (Theos)?' Yahushua responded (apokrinomai - concluded and answered) them and said, 'This is (houtos - he or she is) the work (ergon - business and undertaking) of TS ('Elohiym), that you trust without reservation and totally rely upon (pisteuo - think so that you know what is true, becoming convinced of the truth and relying upon it with total assurance, fully committed to trusting) Him whom He has separated from Himself, prepared, and sent out (apostello - compound of apo, meaning separation of a part from the whole from which it was taken, and stello, meaning to prepare oneself for use)." (John 6:28-29)

That is precisely what the Philadelphians were doing. They had "kept His Word" and translated it into every language. They printed billions of copies, interpreted it, and pontificated on it. True Philadelphians are Yahudim who have "not denied his name."

This passage also hints at one of the things that made the original assembly at Philadelphia effective. Philadelphia was the seat of Greek enlightenment at the time. It became the strategic stepping off place for the first Yahudim to evangelize the world based upon truth, reason, and rational thought. Yahuweh's message has always been well received by bright, well informed, thoughtful, and intellectually open and honest seekers of truth. This trait and tendency were to be manifest again in the great evangelical revivals that swept through Europe and America in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

It is also interesting to note that even as late as the Middle Ages when the Muslim hoard swept Asia Minor, Philadelphia successfully resisted Islam. In fact, while other surrounding cities fell to the Muslims, the Philadelphians endured steadfast. This may be yet another reason why Yahushua spoke about the assembly of Satan in his letter to the Philadelphians.

The Philadelphia Ekklesia is a mutual love society. They love Yahuweh - His name and His Word. And Yahuweh loves them in return.