Ekklesia the called out assembly of the Yahhuwdym

Spiritual birth of the ecumenical out-calling that would include Gowyim, Gentiles in addition to Yahudim, Jews.

Pentecost is all about the universal blessing of the Spirit on the ekklesia - those who were called out. In Acts, Yahuweh confirmed His scripture. The initial ekklesia was ecumenical. It was comprised of people of all races and all nations. The first followers of the way, the first to be immersed in the Spirit, the first to be born anew and to be adopted into Yahuweh’s eternal family became in effect, a united nation - one whose government was of another world. It would be as wrong to call the initial "church" Jewish as it would be to call it Gentile.

The place of Yahuweh’s choosing during the Exodus was the Tabernacle. When the Yisra’elites settled down it became the Temple. When they moved away from God, God’s tabernacle became Yahushua the Anointed Messiah. And now, thanks to the Festival of Sevens, Yahuweh has chosen many homes, many places, where His name resides. We are called Yahhuwdym - those who belong to Yah.

Book V Good News Chapter 7 Sheba' excerpt below

There is a unique aspect of the Miqra of Seven Sabbaths that wasn’t delineated in the Levitical presentation, but was evident in the Acts fulfillment. Thankfully, Moses explained the ecumenical, all inclusive nature, of the Feast of Fifty in Deuteronomy. Let’s turn to it now so that we fully understand the connection between the Old and Renewed Covenants.

To begin, Yahuweh wants us to know that this, like all His Miqra, are for us, not for Him. "You shall accurately count (saphar - reckon, record, relate, rehearse, and regale) seven sevens (sheba’ shabuwa’) for yourself." (Deuteronomy 16:9)

Then God tells us that one way to acknowledge His charity is to show some ourselves. But even with this, He wants it to be our choice. Nothing is to be compelled. "Keep (‘asah - attend to and celebrate) the Festival Feast (chag) of Sevens (Shabuwa’ - Weeks) to Yahuweh your God (‘elohiym) with a sufficient (miccah - an appropriately affordable portion; from macac, an ultimately meaningless) voluntary offering (nadabah - freewill contribution; noncompulsory donation) from your hand, which by association (‘asher) you can give (nathan - bestow, deliver, and entrust) relative to how (‘asher) Yahuweh your God (‘elohiym) blesses and adores (barak - kneels down and favors) you." (Deuteronomy 16:10) Nothing we do or give will save us. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be giving. We are to follow our Savior’s example.

Not only does Yahuweh like to party, He likes a really big party. Everyone is invited. The Festival Feast of Seven Sevens is a come as you are celebration - a homecoming that includes men and women, rich and poor, young and old, Yahudim and Goyim, common workers and Levitical priests, the fatherless and the forsaken, those who have settled down and those who are just passing through. "Rejoice and be glad (samach - express your joy and happiness outwardly) in the presence of (paniym - before) Yahuweh your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites, strangers, travelers and newcomers (ger - foreigners from different racial and cultural group), orphans (yatowm - fatherless children) and widows (‘alman - the forsaken) who are in your midst, standing up at the place (maqowm - the home) where Yahuweh your God chooses (bachar - selects and decides is best) for His personal and proper name (shem - designation, reputation, and glory) to tabernacle and reside (shakan - to abide and dwell, to settle in and be called home)." (Deuteronomy 16:11)

The place of Yahuweh’s choosing during the Exodus was the Tabernacle. When the Yisra’elites settled down it became the Temple. When they moved away from God, God’s tabernacle became Yahushua. And now, thanks to the Festival of Sevens, Yahuweh has chosen many homes, many places, where His name resides. We are called Yahhuwdym - those who belong to Yah.

While most of us haven’t all been slaves in Egypt, before any of us were saved, we were all besieged by the Adversary. "Remember (zakar - always be mindful) that you were (hayah - you existed as) a slave (‘ebed - one who works and serves subject to another) in Egypt (Mitsrayim - plural of matsowr, meaning in hostilely besieged by a foe and confined by the adversary). Celebrate (‘asah) this reality (‘el-leh), carefully keeping, guarding, and observing (shamar - treasuring and retaining) the prescribed inscribed statutes (chaqaq - clearly communicated written prescriptions)." (Deuteronomy 16:9-12)

And that is all there is to all of this. The whole of the Word and His redemptive Miqra are "clearly communicated written prescriptions for us to celebrate, to carefully keep, guard, and observe." They are the way to God. They are the path to life. They provide the roadmap to prophecy, past, present and future.

This pattern of seven was and is important to Yahuweh. There is a weekly reminder in the commandments - six days shall you work and on the seventh, the Sabbath, you shall rest. There is an annual reminder, the seven sevens of the Miqra of Shabuwa’ - a yearly celebration of universal redemption. The Yowbel/Year of the Lamb’s Redemption mirrors Shabuwa’, but counts years rather than days. And there is a millennial variation - one which follows the pattern of the Sabbath Commandment - six one thousand year periods of man’s work followed by a Millennial Sabbath of rest with Yahushua.

Yahuweh’s name is seven letters long - four consonants and three vowels. Yahushua’s name follows the same pattern. Yahuweh’s name was written exactly 7,000 times in the Old Covenant. 6,868 of them are still evident in the Masoretic. The Dead Sea Scrolls document 132 instances where rabbis edited Yahuweh’s name out of His own revelation. Yahushua’s name was written exactly 77 times in the Hebrew Scriptures.

If I were to list the seven most important sevens, I would begin with the seven Miqra - six feasts and a fast. The middle, or fourth of which, was even called "Seven Sevens."

This would be followed by the seven days of creation which foretell the timing of man’s salvation. They reveal the epochs of future history in thousand year increments.

Similarly, the seven ekklesia in Revelation reveal the future history of the "church." It isn’t a pretty picture, but these seven letters are essential to our understanding of why Yahuweh craves relationships and hates religions.

Then we have the pattern of six plus one manifest in the Fourth Commandment. And even at ten, the Commandments provide three focused on our relationship with God and seven that speak of our relationship with our fellow man.

There are seven advents of the Messiah. They begin with visits to Adam, Abraham, Ya’aqob, Moses, and Samuel in the Old Covenant. They end with the Renewed Covenant’s Passover Sacrifice and Atonement return.

There are seven harvests depicted in Scripture, too. The first was Enoch, followed by Lot and Elijah. The FirstFruits harvest was fulfilled during Yahushua’s resurrection. The paralambano/acceptance harvest will precede the Tribulation during the Miqra of Taruwah. The final two harvests of souls are described in Revelation.

And finally, there are the Seven Spirits of Yahuweh. Each represents one of seven metaphors. I’d like to conclude our review of "sevens" with Yahuweh’s presentation of the Seven Spirits.

Yahuweh begins by associating the Seven Spirits with Yahushua. "A shoot (choter - a branch) shall come out and go forth (yatsa’ - proceed with purpose and deliver) from the stem (gaza’ - trunk, root, or stock) of Jesse (‘Yishay - meaning the substance of existence; David’s father, and therefore the Father of Love). A Nazarene (Nazer - from nasal, meaning a Savior) shall bear fruit (parah - show fruitfulness, producing a harvest of offspring) out of his root (sheresh - source of establishing and nourishing, His foundation). The Spirit (ruach - a feminine noun meaning wind or air, the universally accepted ancient term for the Spirit of God; from the verb ruwach, meaning, to perceive, to accept, to find relief, to remove a burden, to delight, and to be infinite) of [1] Yahuweh shall rest upon (nuwach - settle and remain on) Him, the Spirit (ruach) of [2] Wisdom (chokmah - the one who teaches, instructs, nurtures, and makes wise) and [3] Understanding (biynah - discernment, knowledge personified, the means to observe, consider, and know, the act of distinguishing between right and wrong, good and evil, life and death), the Spirit (ruach) of [4] Counsel (‘etsah - advice and purpose; from ya’ats, meaning the adviser, consultant, and counselor; the one who facilitates communication and togetherness) and [5] Might (gabuwrah - power, strength, and courage; the ability to perform miracles; the source of limitless energy; the one with the ability to raise), the Spirit (ruach) of [6] Knowledge (da’ath - the ability to know and recognize the truth by way of understanding information; from yada’, meaning to know in a relational sense, to reveal and make oneself known so as to enable discernment and discrimination) and of [7] Reverence (yir’ah - respect and to love, to recognize the awesomeness) of Yahuweh." (Isaiah 11:1-2)

Yahuweh’s words are as clear as they are profound. You do not need my commentary to appreciate them or benefit from them.

But I think there is a connection to the seven metaphors Yahuweh uses throughout Scripture that may be useful. The most common and revealing is Light. This is followed by the Bread of Life, the Upright Pillar, Living Water, the Rock of Salvation, the Word, and the Set Apart Family.

Curious as to whether I had ascribed these correctly to the Seven Spirits, I discovered something interesting. Here is the process I used. First I connected the seven most universal divine metaphors to Yahuweh’s seven spirits in the order He presented them: 1) Yahuweh is Light, 2) Wisdom is nurtured by the Bread of Life, 3) Understanding comes from Upright Pillar, 4) Counsel is provided by the Living Waters of the set-apart Spirit, 5) the Mighty One is the Rock of our Salvation, 6)  the Truth and the Word are equivalent, and 7) Life is derived from, is the result of, and is modeled after, the Set-Apart Family.

Light is ‘owr in Hebrew and begins with the letter alef. Bread, which is lechem, begins with lemed. The Upright Pillar is ‘ammuwd in Hebrew. Its first letter is ayin. Water is mayim, which begins with mem. The Rock of Salvation is tsuwr, whose initial letter is tzadee. Word in Hebrew is dabar, which begins with a daleth. Set Apart is Qodesh. It is the most used adjective in Scripture and it defines the Family of God - Mother, Father, and Son. Its first letter is the Hebrew qoph.

Using just the initial letter of the seven symbols in the order of the seven Spirits we have: alef-lemed - ayin-mem - tsuwr-daleth-qoph. The first word, alef-lemed is ‘el, the Hebrew word for "God." There is no other possibility. The second word, ayin-mem is ‘am. It is the Hebrew word for "family" or "people." It is the only Hebrew word composed of just ayin and mem. The third word is tsuwr-daleth-qoph. It spells tsadaq, which means "to vindicate." That is all these three letters spell.

‘El ‘am tsadaq means: "God’s people are vindicated!"

Excerpts from Yada Yahweh