Ants....

Earlier this year I started to write another post but never got around to finishing it, so here it is...

It's that time of year when Hebron is invaded by ants....so many ants!  Sometimes I get concerned that all the burrows and nests underground are going to give way and we'll be plunged into the deepest bowels of the earth, to be carried away as fodder for the queens and their minions!

I remember the poem Robyn wrote about millipedes (it was a cracker) and was tempted to try and write something as witty about the current ant invasion but each person must know their limits and in this instance I bow to the lyrical master.

 I know that Solomon, in all his wisdom, had the deepest respect for ants and yes, their work ethic and social structure can't be faulted.  But it's the numbers, the sheer numbers of them out here that are mind boggling.  You're constantly doing a tap dance while watering the garden, the dog can't rest, the chooks are pestered, the bees are forced to defend their honey stores and the joint frustrated cry can be heard across the hills....ENOUGH ALREADY!

 So it's down to the stores to buy up supplies of ant powder and little toxic trails are created to give some necessary but brief respite.  Gone are the days of utopian organic goodness; it's awash with chemicals out here now.  But as my environmental scientist-in-the-making son tells me, there's a need for some critical thinking when it comes to the use and understanding of chemicals so for now I disperse ant powder with glee, spray out glyphosphate with abandon and let my conscience rest easy.

While I'm recovering from surgery I'm forced to spend a lot of time resting, which gives way to lots of reflection, musings and wonderings, hence the diatribe on ants.  But I have been pondering how the ants and bees have a queen and dominant female structure, yet Yehovah has given us His designated structure.  This authority structure cannot be mistaken for the societal patriarchal structure that has been experiencing change since the last century.  Our generation takes it for granted that women can now vote and own land!  So if you're curious to take a peek into the odd workings of my mind, come with me on one of the topics of my ponderings this week.

So back to the ants.  Well to the ants and a few comments that were made a couple of weeks ago at the Shabbat convocation relating to Rev 2:20. 

But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

Bear with me, this all relates.  YHVH blessed Israel with His torah and within it lay the structure and framework for relationship, community, sustenance and redemption.  The apostolic writings confirmed the torah and continue to provide each generation with wisdom and instruction.  The authority structure for Israel and the messianic community was outlined in the torah and the apostolic writings and therein lies His blessing and wisdom.  

When we step outside of His designated authority structure we are essentially becoming lawless and imitate the nations around us.  It's popular to support a feminist mentality, and whilst we do encourage women to be strong contributors and exercise their talents and giftings, it is not YHVH's wisdom for them to take on the leadership roles within the community.  Everything is for a purpose, everything has a prophetic element and everything YHVH has set in place inherently contains blessings and consequences.  

I'll stick my neck out and say that as a woman I can see and understand the strengths and blessings that our Creator has placed within us, but I also see how those strengths can so easily be used to usurp authority, even in a subtle (or not so subtle) and oh-so-feminine way.  We know that Jezebel was terribly manipulative and wicked, but we need to also understand that Athaliah (Ahab's daughter) was even more murderous and took the throne for herself.  Ahab allowed his authority to be weakened with disastrous consequences.  So what are these teachings and foods of Jezebel that the messianic community was warned against?  Doctrines of demons, 'deep' mysteries and 'hidden' knowledge that puffs up, creates divisions and rebellion.  

We are a work in progress.  We make mistakes, we unlearn and relearn, are tested, refined and filled again with His wisdom and understanding.  Our little community is blessed with righteous men and women who have a common appreciation and understanding of YHVH's authority, and we are continually being moulded so that His Name can be exalted.  Hebron continues to develop and grow, not only in the natural, but also in the spiritual and as such there will always be times where that will be exercised and tested.  It is our fervent hope that in a world where righteous male authority is being eroded that His wisdom and strength will be made manifest in righteous apostolic authority, especially as the Day approaches.  

 Of course as a woman I am tempted to moderate my comment so as not to cause offence, but we cannot allow fear or past abuses to dictate our values and decision making, we must adhere to His scripture and His truth.  We can do this because we trust Him and He has proven Himself to be good, trustworthy and able.  

Maybe the blessings from His hand continue towards Hebron and this community of ours as we seek Him and His ways.