Ron Sawka Ministries
October 4, 2023; Tishrei 19, 5783
www.rwsministries.com
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37–39).
“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God’” (Rev. 21:3).
Four New Songs for the New Year—The Significance?
My son Pete has been led by the Lord to write a series of songs for this new year. Three have been uploaded, and the fourth will be available this Friday—the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles—at 6 p.m. Japan Time. Links are as follows:
1. Rosh Hashanah—A song for soaking in the goodness and greatness of God
2. Day of Atonement—“Let There Be Nothing”
3. First Day of The Feast of Tabernacles—“The Upright”
4. Last Day of the Feast of Tabernacles—“Isaiah 60.” This will be released this Friday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. Japan Time. You can subscribe to Pete’s YouTube channel and be notified when the song is available (a link will also be posted on my Facebook page).
Why is this important? I pondered this and feel the Lord spoke to me from 2 Chronicles 5:13, which states, “And it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, ‘For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,’ the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud” (ESV, emphases added).
In other words, the musicians weren’t singing or performing for the people, but for the Lord. When their sound was released to God, He released the cloud of His glory. As you listen to these songs, may His cloud of glory rest upon you.
A River Flowing From Us (Feast of Tabernacles)
We are in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles (Tishrei 15–21/Sept. 30–Oct. 6). To me, the outstanding and most meaningful teaching that comes from it has to do with water or rain of the Holy Spirit. Receiving water and rain is connected to the Feast of Tabernacles. Zechariah 14:17 states, “And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.” Without rain, crops don’t grow and poverty and shortage ensue. God’s presence would ensure they had rainfall.
During the Feast of Tabernacles in Jesus’s day, the priests would pour out containers of water from the top of the temple steps, declaring that since people had come to worship the Lord for the Feast of Tabernacles, He would bless them with abundance of rain and water in the coming year.
But then Jesus added a new and deeper dimension. It was during the Feast of Tabernacles—probably just after the priests had poured out the water—that Jesus shouted, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).
This new and deeper dimension was the Holy Spirit. John 7:39 continues, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” The other part of this new dimension is not just that Jesus quenches our thirst, but that it will result in the flowing out from us of a stream of the water of life (Holy Spirit).
Maybe the best way to explain the Feast of Tabernacles (FOT) is to summarize it, as follows:
1. FOT is a picture of the summary of history. God created man for someone to love and who would genuinely and freely love Him back. God doesn’t want this to be a “distance” relationship, but wants to live with us. Revelation 21:3 declares, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”
2. Mankind is incomplete and always thirsty if not in relationship with God. It’s why Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). We drink by believing in Him. The more we are conscious of our relationship with Him moment by moment, the more we drink of Him.
3. FOT is to emphasize God wants to actually live with us. We are not to compartmentalize and ignore Him in our daily lives. (The temporary booths/tabernacles emphasize that God is not to just be met with in church, but is in every part of our lives.)
4. Not only will our thirst be quenched, but a river will flow out of us. Think of the river flowing out of the temple in Ezekiel 47—shallow at first, but gradually deepens and heals everything it touches.
5. Jesus continually walked in the blessing of God His Father, as well as continually was able to bless and impact everyone He met.
6. FOT is a demonstration that as we allow the Lord to be part of our daily lives, 1) a river will both fill, heal, and bless us, and 2) this river will bless and impact others.
Thanks for praying,
Ron and Teddy
A New Beginning—Blessings for the Hebrew Month of Tishrei
Tishrei—The Seventh Month of the Hebrew Year 5784
Sept. 16–Oct. 15, 2023
Tishrei 1 is called Rosh Hashanah or “Head of the Year,” and Tishrei has three important dates.
Feast of Trumpets or blowing of the shofar all day long for the first two days (see Lev. 23:23–25), which is a call to all of mankind, including us, to wake up to the goodness and grandeur of God.
Day of Atonement (Sept. 25). See Lev. 23:27–32. Jesus is the one who carried our sins and sorrows and removed them from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12).
Feast of Tabernacles. Tishrei 15–21 (Sept. 30–Oct. 6).
A more complete description of Tishrei may be found here.
Travel/Ministry Schedule
Oct. 2–8, Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu
Oct. 22–23, Taiwan, Kaohsiung CPE
Oct. 24–25, Taiwan, Taoyuan CPE
Oct. 26–27, Taiwan, Taipei CPE
Oct. 29, Taiwan, Isaac International Apostolic Center
Oct. 30, Taiwan, P.H. Church/Coffee
MPP (Mondays–Fridays, 6:00–6:45 a.m.)
MPP begins again on Monday, October 2.
Weekly Broadcast Schedule (Times are listed in Japan Time, UTC+9:00.)
Apostolic for Russia—Fridays, twice monthly: Oct. 13, 27, 7:00–8:00 p.m. Join us on Zoom (Meeting ID: 840 2016 0640, Code: 219951), or watch on YouTube.
Apostolic for China: Rain of the Holy Spirit—Saturday, Oct 14, 8:00–9:30 p.m. Join us on Zoom (ID: 823 7276 5237, Code: 878174)
Apostolic Center Training—Tuesdays, 8:30–10:00 p.m., English/Chinese, registration required. Please contact chinese@rwsministries.com.
Note, I usually post links to my public Facebook page.
Resources
Ron’s new book, How to Activate Prophecy and Revelation Gifts, the first title in our new “Apostolic Center Training Series,” is intended as a tool for training others in prophetic activation. It is now available for Kindle. Print copies can also be obtained from our office in Sano. Contact info@rwsministries.com for information about ordering copies, or to obtain any of the four books from the “Building Apostolic-Prophetic Foundations” series, which are also available on Kindle:
• Judah Goes First: The Power of Apostolic-Prophetic Praise
• Activated to Prophesy: The Essential Experience for This New Church Era
• Apostles and Apostolic Anointing: Raising Up the End-Times Believers
For English or Japanese books, contact info@rwsministries.com.
For Chinese books, chinese@rwsministries.com
For more information or to connect with our ministry team, please write us at info@rwsministries.com or info@mppjapan.com.
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