If you are like me you may have assumed that the phrase "shadow of death" only occurs in Psalm 23, which we know so well.

The fact is that this phrase occurs 17 times in the Old Testament. More than half of these occurrences are actually in the Book of Job.

Our world is living under a "shadow of death". In my nation of Australia, in 2020 thus far, we have experienced unprecedented drought, fires, pandemic and most recently floods.

But, bear in mind that, a shadow cannot be cast unless there is light in the vicinity.

Which brings me to the word picture behind "shadow of death". Here it is: a harvest of heart knowledge regarding the anointing of the nail, making secure the covenant of the nail.

This word picture meaning is the "Light" behind the "shadow".

John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Isaiah 9:7

Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The word picture behind zeal is: breathing in the breath of God's divine revelation and light; the perfect judgements of the Kingdom.

John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Is it possible that He who is the Spirit of truth is also the Spirit of zeal?

Romans 12:11(ESV) Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Ephesians 5:18 (CSB) And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:

Exodus 28:29-30

“So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the LORD continually.
“And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually.

We are living in a culture where the first reaction of the vast majority of human hearts, is to judge.

You and I, however, are called to live out the culture of the Kingdom. So, where does judgement sit in that culture?

Matthew 7:1-2 “Judge not, that you be not judged. “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

In secular culture Judgement is spoken or written.

Can I suggest that in the Kingdom judgement is not spoken or written, rather it is worn on our hearts as the breastplate of righteousness.

The word picture for judgement, in the context of the breastplate, is: God an all consuming fire, speaking concealed truth and potential good.

The word picture for Urim, in the context of the breastplate, is: insufficiency giving rise to expectation in the right hand of power, the connecting force between heaven and earth and the hand on the staff.

The word picture for Thummim, in the context of the breastplate, is: ratify covenant with the womb of God, the right hand of power, the hand on the staff. 

Hence, this breastplate containing the Urim and Thummim, becomes a filter over our hearts impacting all the words that we speak.

Ruth 4:14
And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.

The book of Ruth has only four chapters. Yet in this tiny book we find this Hebrew word go'el a total of ten times!!

In our English translations this word is rendered as kinsman or redeemer. However, in Hebrew it is one in the same word: go'el.

One of the word pictures behind go'el is: to lift up God.

Another word picture we discover in go'el is: continuity and governmental perfection in the house of the power of the covenant.

This latter word picture is both amplified and explained by the story of the book of Ruth.

In brief, Ruth gives birth to Obed, the great grandfather of King David. 

Remember these much loved verses:

 Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

For Ruth and her mother in law Naomi, life was as good as over. They literally had no means of survival in the culture in which they were living. Until, of course, Boaz stepped forward as their kinsman/redeemer.

For the Bride of Christ, it appears she has no means of survival, given the culture in which we are currently living. Nevertheless, I encourage you to take heart because Yeshua is going to step onto the world stage as our Kinsman/Redeemer and of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

The word picture behind reconciliation is: the measure revealed.

If you dig a little deeper you discover that the idea of measure is also linked in Hebrew to revealing the cloth you are clothed with. This cloth can be your human skin, a uniform you wear either literally or figuratively or your personal opinions (wearing your heart on your sleeve so to speak).

Yeshua linked this idea of measure with judgement.

Matthew 7:1-2 “Judge not, that you be not judged. “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

Clearly, Yeshua desires that we not judge/measure each other by the colour of our skin, by our gender, by our socio economic status or by any other measure we may devise.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

What we may "measure" as a negative, in some one, actually has the potential to be redeemed and become a positive in the Body of Christ. That "measure", as it is changed from a human negative to a kingdom positive, becomes the key that opens the door to experiencing what it is to be built together in love.

Eph 4:15-16 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
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There is a worship phenomena sweeping the globe at present referred to simply as "The Blessing". It is based on the very ancient Aaronic blessing given by Adonia and recorded in the book of Numbers.

Let's look at the word picture:

"bless": to bend the knee for the redemption of an individual, (household, town, city, state or nation).

To bend the knee is to assume a posture of humility.

2 Chronicles 7:14 “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Is it possible that Yahweh is offering us a unique opportunity, in the midst of this current global crisis, to bend the knee and see the redemption of individuals, households, towns, cities, states and nations.

Psalm 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
His praise endures forever.

The word picture for wisdom is: to bend the knee to the yoke, opening the womb of Yahweh's revelation.

What prompted me to look at the word wisdom was some insightful teaching from Elizabeth Enlow on Wisdom as relationship with Holy Spirit. Here is the link to that teaching http://podcast.johnnyandelizabeth.com/ . You will need to scroll down to 19th April 2020 for the first of this six part teaching.

Here is one of Elizabeth's observations: "Humility causes us to partner with Holy Spirit as Wisdom moment by moment to discover the right or wrong next step, thought or perspective. When we live partnered with Holy Spirit, with Wisdom, we must embrace sufficient humility to want His help, to want to know the right or wrong next thing to think or perceive or a step to take."

When we view the above through the lens of our word picture we see that " to bend the knee" is humility. The yoke is " to partner with Holy Spirit as wisdom". Opening the womb of Yahweh's revelation is: "moment by moment to discover the right or wrong next step, thought or perspective".

It is my prayer for you, in these challenging days, that the God of Yeshua, the Father of glory, may give to you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Him.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

When we read the word blind; or blinded as we see it in the above Scripture, we tend to immediately think it refers to being unable to see.

However, the Hebrew concept of being blinded is to have your seeing bound to the negative.

You can see just fine, but you are passing all that you see through a filter of negativity.

​As believers, if we allow our seeing to be bound to the negative, then we will fail to see the light of the Father shining in the midst of the current chaos of darkness.

Genesis 26:1,12 & 13
There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;

Here we are living through a modern day expression of "famine". 

Interestingly, one of the word picture meanings behind famine is: trembling inside the house (body).

This trembling inside, at its zenith, manifests in verbal and physical violence towards others.

Isaac found himself in the a famine and in the midst of it God caused him to prosper, continue prospering until he became very prosperous.

The word picture behind prosper, which in Hebrew is gadal, is: to lift up a way of life that teaches heart knowledge.

​Whilst Isaac was blessed materially in the midst of famine, I believe God's agenda was more focussed on lifting up Isaac as an example of a life that teaches heart knowledge.

The first occurrence of this word gadal in Scripture is in Genesis 12:2 where God announces His blessing over Abraham, Isaac's father:

I will make you a great (gadal) nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great (gadal) ;
And you shall be a blessing. 

Given that Abraham is our father in the faith, could it be that God is calling us to step into this "generational" blessing in the midst of this worldwide famine (trembling inside the house) to be a people who are an example of a life that teaches heart knowledge?

Matthew 19:26
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Mark 14:36
And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

I was stunned when I looked at the Greek rendering of the above verses. Here is the more literal rendering in the Greek: 

​Matthew 19:26
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men incapable, but with God all powerful."
Mark 14:36
And He said, “Abba, Father, all powerful. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

​The word picture understanding of this word(s) possible/powerful is: to experience the pull towards support.

As Yeshua faced the prospect of the cross, in Mark 14:36, He experienced the desire of the Father to give Yeshua His full and powerful support.

We see the full blown evidence of this "powerful support" in the reality of the empty tomb.

​Our world is going through a death experience in which there is a very real sense of our being "incapable" of dealing with it. There has never been a more poignant moment for us to experience the desire of Abba to give us His full and powerful support.

 Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.