By George A. Moorhead

Part I

Recently, I was camping out in the woods during the week of Tabernacles. It was a marvelous time reflecting on the holiday . This could be the season of our Lord’s birth. It is a season that has several different names such as "the Season of our Joy", "Season of the Ingathering" and of course the "Feast of Tabernacles." One thing that struck me was that all week there was a full moon. In the mountains this full moon lit up everything. It was so bright. Then it dawned on me that every year on the Feast of Tabernacles, there is a full moon. It then occurred to me that every year there is a full moon during the Passover season also. I started to search the scriptures and found several interesting things about the moon and the sun. I would like to share with you some of the items that were found. In the first chapter of Genesis, God created the sun and the moon on the fourth day of creation. Did you know that Yeshua (in human form) and the church came into existence on the fourth thousand year of creation? Is there a tie, maybe? Genesis tells us that the sun, moon, and the stars were created to be ‘for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.’ It is easy to see how the sun, the moon, and the stars represent seasons, days and years but it is more difficult to understand the sun and moon and stars as signs. The word signs also means a signal in the sense of a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, mark, and miracle. I wasn’t exactly sure what prodigy meant so I looked up the definition. Prodigy means something so extraordinary as to excite wonder and admiration. I believe that God in his word has revealed some of these signs for us to look for especially in these last days. The history of Joseph, son of Jacob, provides some insight to the sun and moon as signs. Research of the scriptures into the life of Joseph also reveals that he is a shadow or type of the Messiah, which is important in understanding the signs of the sun and moon. I will not go into the similarities of Joseph and Yeshua at this time but it is important to note that Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh are recognized as a type of the church. Let’s begin with Genesis 37:9. Joseph receives a dream that the sun and moon and eleven stars bow down before him. He tells his dream to his father Jacob. Jacob immediately rebukes Joseph. Jacob recognizes that the sun is himself and the moon is Joseph’s mother and the stars are Joseph’s brothers. This dream was prophetic because eventually Joseph’s entire family did bow down to him in Egypt. So here we see that the sun and moon in one aspect can represent the household of Israel. Next let’s go to Deuteronomy chapter 33. This chapter speaks of the blessings over the tribes of Israel by Moses before his death. Verses 13-17 speak of the blessing of Joseph. Verse 14 says, "And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon." The word ‘brought forth’ can also mean to go, come, abide, apply, attain, call, carry, follow, and the way. In other words, this precious fruit abides in the sun, It is called by the sun. It is carried by the sun. It follows the sun. Certainly, this scripture has agricultural context but Yeshua spoke many times in agricultural terms while referring to people. The other part of that verse ‘put forth by the moon’ means to be produced by the moon. Thus we have fruit that is called by the sun and produced by the moon. I believe that this verse is in reference to Yeshua as the sun and the church as the moon. Remember that Malachi refers to the messiah as a sun. "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall." Now look at Verse 17 of Deuteronomy 33, "His glory (Joseph’s) is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: With them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh." There are several key words from this scripture I want to look at here. They are ‘firstling’, ‘bullocks’, ‘horns’, ‘push’, ‘ten thousands’, ‘Ephraim’, ‘thousands’, and ‘Manasseh’. Bullocks are generally the sacrifice used for the nations and for the priesthood. It could be said then that the bullock represents a priestly nation. The firstling or firstborn is holy unto the Lord. It could be then said that the firstling of a bullock could mean the firstfruits of a priestly nation. ‘Horns’ in this verse can also mean projections, peaks of mountains, hills, ray of light and power. This word is used sometimes to indicate kings or powerful leaders. The followers of Yeshua are also kings and can fit the definition of horn in every aspect. We are mountains and hills. Mountains and hills in the scriptures are also used to speak of kings. Believers are to be rays of light to the world, We have also been given power through the Holy Spirit. These horns in chapter 17 push the people together to the ends of the earth. The word ‘push’ means to butt with horns, to war against, gore, and to push down. This could be in reference to the return of the saints with Yeshua to judge the world. The ‘ten thousands’ of Ephraim mean many or millions and ‘Ephraim’ means double fruit or fruitfulness. The ‘thousands’ of Manasseh (firstborn of Joseph) means literally thousands. ‘Thousand’ comes from the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet- aleph. This letter can also mean family, oxen, a sense of yoking or taming, to teach, to learn, to be associated with. ‘Manasseh’ means causing to forget, to neglect, to remit (pardon and forgive), remove, and deprive. So what we have here is a nation of kings and priests whose sins are covered and forgotten by God. They are under the authority of Yeshua, and coming in power by the millions to judge or make war against the earth. Sound familiar? By relating verses 14 with 17 we see that the sun and moon represent Yeshua and the church. Believers are the precious fruit (Ephraim) brought forth by the Sun of righteousness through his church the moon.