A Menorah Miracle with a Message
Published on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 by Rita BennettRead More Worship
“Christian reasoning says: ‘The so-called laws of nature codified by human science are God’s usual way of doing things.’ God, however, for His people, will change His accustomed ways of doing things to meet their needs, and thus, too, show them that He is sovereign and has all power” (Bennett, “The Holy Spirit and You,” 2005).
“The record of Elijah and his disciple, Elisha, speaks to us today. Elisha asked that he might have a ‘double portion’ of the Holy Spirit that rested upon Elijah (2 Kings 2:9-14). Sure enough, the Scripture records that Elisha did twice as many miracles as Elijah [32 miracles]!
“This is symbolic of what happened to believers after Jesus’ ascension, although He did not bequeath just a ‘double portion’ of His Spirit – He set no limit. He simply said, “Greater works than these shall you do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12). (Ibid, p.132).
“The power to do greater works comes from the fact that Jesus ascended into Heaven, and the full power of the Holy Spirit was sent at Pentecost, and has been available to Christians ever since” (Ibid, p.133).
When Jesus performed miracles, He did not do them for ‘show,’ but to meet a human need. When He walked on water, it was done to comfort His fearful disciples. When He miraculously fed the multitudes, it was because food would not be available otherwise. When He turned water into wine, it was because it was needed at a wedding reception.
The disciple of Christ who wants to be used in any of the supernatural gifts, needs to practice the fruit of humility and be careful not to take personal credit.
“Miracle of Scripture”
I began studying Hebrew in 1995 and found how miraculous our Hebrew foundation is. Some Hebraic Christians are continuously discovering miracles in Scripture. One of those students is author, J.R. Church. He has written a book on the subject of the Jewish Menorah, that is, the seven branch golden lampstand Moses was instructed to make. The middle lampstand (or candle today) is called the Servant Candle and is used to light the other six candles. Christians automatically sense that the Servant Candle represents Jesus. Once you look for groups of sevens in Scripture, you may find your own sets of menorahs.
For example, Isaiah 11:1,2 is one of those biblical menorahs. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of His roots.
“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord…”
Servant Candle (7) Fear of the Lord (6) Spirit of knowledge (5) Might (4) Counsel (3) Understanding (2) Wisdom (1)
When you look at this Scripture Hebraically, you would read it right to left, not as in English left to right.
Recently in J.R. Church’s magazine he tells of a discovery. “Psalms 117 is the middle chapter of the Bible. Psalm 117 has 594 chapters before it and 594 chapters after it. There are 1189 chapters in the Bible, making a total of 1158 chapters apart from the middle chapter. It is remarkable that the middle verse should be Psalm 118:8, thus alluding to those 1,188 chapters. . . Maybe that is the secret contained in the Menorah – look for the Servant Lamp. You will find it [Him] in the middle of the Bible!” (Church, Prophecy in the News, May 2010, p. 38).
“My Menorah Miracle”
I have traveled to Israel three times and each time God gave me affirmation when I returned home.
One Saturday I was at a Bible Study, the Menorah candles had been extinguished before lunchtime. As we were all gathered at a table eating, my friend Erin said,
“Look. A candle has relit itself.”
“I wonder which one that is” I said, and looked up Isaiah 11:2. Counting right to left, I reported, “The 3rd candle is counsel.”
When I said, “counsel,” the candle extinguished itself!
Erin and I looked at one another in surprise.
I can’t prove to you it was a “message,” but I was touched and wept as I drove home. This was three days after my last trip to Israel.
Six months later, in 2005, I enrolled in graduate school and in 2008, I received my M.A. in counseling.
I had discovered the purpose of “my menorah miracle.”
(Spiritual gifts will be continued next time.)
Note: A line was inadvertently left out of my column last week: “Cleaving to our Lord.” It is found in the ninth paragraph following “hearing and obeying His word.” For the complete updated column go to "http://www.edmondsbeacon.com/"www.edmondsbeacon.com.
“The record of Elijah and his disciple, Elisha, speaks to us today. Elisha asked that he might have a ‘double portion’ of the Holy Spirit that rested upon Elijah (2 Kings 2:9-14). Sure enough, the Scripture records that Elisha did twice as many miracles as Elijah [32 miracles]!
“This is symbolic of what happened to believers after Jesus’ ascension, although He did not bequeath just a ‘double portion’ of His Spirit – He set no limit. He simply said, “Greater works than these shall you do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12). (Ibid, p.132).
“The power to do greater works comes from the fact that Jesus ascended into Heaven, and the full power of the Holy Spirit was sent at Pentecost, and has been available to Christians ever since” (Ibid, p.133).
When Jesus performed miracles, He did not do them for ‘show,’ but to meet a human need. When He walked on water, it was done to comfort His fearful disciples. When He miraculously fed the multitudes, it was because food would not be available otherwise. When He turned water into wine, it was because it was needed at a wedding reception.
The disciple of Christ who wants to be used in any of the supernatural gifts, needs to practice the fruit of humility and be careful not to take personal credit.
“Miracle of Scripture”
I began studying Hebrew in 1995 and found how miraculous our Hebrew foundation is. Some Hebraic Christians are continuously discovering miracles in Scripture. One of those students is author, J.R. Church. He has written a book on the subject of the Jewish Menorah, that is, the seven branch golden lampstand Moses was instructed to make. The middle lampstand (or candle today) is called the Servant Candle and is used to light the other six candles. Christians automatically sense that the Servant Candle represents Jesus. Once you look for groups of sevens in Scripture, you may find your own sets of menorahs.
For example, Isaiah 11:1,2 is one of those biblical menorahs. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of His roots.
“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord…”
Servant Candle (7) Fear of the Lord (6) Spirit of knowledge (5) Might (4) Counsel (3) Understanding (2) Wisdom (1)
When you look at this Scripture Hebraically, you would read it right to left, not as in English left to right.
Recently in J.R. Church’s magazine he tells of a discovery. “Psalms 117 is the middle chapter of the Bible. Psalm 117 has 594 chapters before it and 594 chapters after it. There are 1189 chapters in the Bible, making a total of 1158 chapters apart from the middle chapter. It is remarkable that the middle verse should be Psalm 118:8, thus alluding to those 1,188 chapters. . . Maybe that is the secret contained in the Menorah – look for the Servant Lamp. You will find it [Him] in the middle of the Bible!” (Church, Prophecy in the News, May 2010, p. 38).
“My Menorah Miracle”
I have traveled to Israel three times and each time God gave me affirmation when I returned home.
One Saturday I was at a Bible Study, the Menorah candles had been extinguished before lunchtime. As we were all gathered at a table eating, my friend Erin said,
“Look. A candle has relit itself.”
“I wonder which one that is” I said, and looked up Isaiah 11:2. Counting right to left, I reported, “The 3rd candle is counsel.”
When I said, “counsel,” the candle extinguished itself!
Erin and I looked at one another in surprise.
I can’t prove to you it was a “message,” but I was touched and wept as I drove home. This was three days after my last trip to Israel.
Six months later, in 2005, I enrolled in graduate school and in 2008, I received my M.A. in counseling.
I had discovered the purpose of “my menorah miracle.”
(Spiritual gifts will be continued next time.)
Note: A line was inadvertently left out of my column last week: “Cleaving to our Lord.” It is found in the ninth paragraph following “hearing and obeying His word.” For the complete updated column go to "http://www.edmondsbeacon.com/"www.edmondsbeacon.com.