Daleth - Banner / Flag and Vav - Streamer, Dimensions and bands of love

The bride: “His banner over me is love.” (Song of Solomon 2:4b)

The bridegroom: “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.” (Song of Solomon 6:4).

It is written about David, who was a king and a prophet and wrote most of the psalms, that he was dancing before the Lord with all his strength (2. Sam. 6:14b). He wrote: “He brought me out into a broad place (Psalm 18:19). He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights (Psalm 18:33).”

Daleth

The name David begins with the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet: Daleth. Daleth means door, but it can also mean way or dimensions. The love of God has four dimensions: It has a depth, a height, a breadth and a length (Ephesians 3:18). Likewise, our love for God should have four dimensions: We should love him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength and with all our mind (Luke 10:27).

In the depth of God’s love, we experience healing, cleansing and restoration. There we have intimacy with God, and we participate in his treasures, secrets and wonders. In the depth of God knowledge will be pleasant to our soul (Proverbs 2:10). In the height of God’s love wisdom will come into our heart and we rule together with him in the spiritual world. In the breadth of God’s love, we live and practice faith, love and hope. We have fellowship with each other und experience rest and peace. Discretion watches over us (Proverbs 2:11). In the length of God’s love, we experience that his arm is not too short to save and that his love endures forever (Is. 59:1 and Psalm 136). Mission and evangelization belong to this dimension of length. Understanding will guard as in this dimension.

Daleth has the shape of a flag. Flag in Hebrew is called degel; the word picture means: The door/the way to lift up authority. Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations (Is. 62:10).

The symbols used for praise dance are doors/gates in the spiritual world and they correspond to letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The flag, degel corresponds to Daleth (d).

Vav

In the Song of Solomon it is written: His banner over me is love. The banner, the flag is a symbol for love. The name David means beloved. In Hebrew it is written with three consonants: Daleth-Vav-Daleth. Vav is the sixth letter and it is a symbol for a joining hook. The Hebrew Word Picture of the name David means: The dimensions, the doors, the ways of two persons are hooked/joined together. We are loved when we join/link our dimensions to the dimensions of another person and when we answer to the four dimensions of God’s love by loving him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength; these are namely our four dimensions: The heart our height, the soul our depth, the strength our breadth and the mind our length. This is the key of David: The dimensions of God and human joined together in love. This is what the psalms are about.

“These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name” (Rev. 3: 7-8).

Through our dancing for Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) we confess his name and we move in him and the four dimensions of love (Acts 17:16). We express with all our strength love and surrender/commitment. There is a prophecy about the bride of the end times written in the Song of Solomon 6:10: “Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?”

A special type of flag is the streamer. Streamers are long and they remind us of the length and endlessness of God’s love, "the bands of love" (Hosea 11:4). Love is the bond of perfectness (Colossians 3,14). Streamers have the shape of a Vav, the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which is a symbol for a joining hook. Through praise dance we join our dimensions to the dimensions of God, we join/link Heaven and Earth together.

Make his praise glorious! (Psalm 66:2)

God has put a new song in my mouth, a praise unto our God, many shall see it and fear him, and shall trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:3)

Worship and praise are not only to be heard, but also to be seen.

Dance is a way to make praise visible.

Let them praise his name in the dance … (Psalm 149:3)

By the use of banners and flags for praise dance we can make spiritual truths visible. Banners and flags proclaim biblical and spiritual facts and have the character of a call-up and a signal. Flags are visible made spiritual verities!

God himself has set up a banner. Jesus is the banner of God in the spiritual realm!

The root of Jesse, which shall stand as an ensign/banner of the peoples; unto him shall the nations seek, and his resting-place shall be glorious. (Is. 11:10).

Jesus as a banner is excellent, he leads us, he shines from afar. Jesus goes ahead.

We shall follow him and reflect his message. We shall be living banners for Jesus.

All of us reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord who ist the Spirit, transforms uns into his very likeness, in an ever greater degree of glory. (2. Corinthians 3:18)

Lift up a standard/banner for the people. (…) Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold your salvation comes (…). And they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord and Jerusalem shall be called, sought out, a city not forsaken. (Is. 62:10-12)

There is the physical and the spiritual Jerusalem. The spiritual Jerusalem is the headquarters of God. God reigns from Jerusalem. Likewise Babel/Babylon are not only names for a city. They are also names for the headquarters of Satan, the antichristian world.

Set up the standard/banner against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen (…) (Jer. 51:12)

Through our commitment to Jesus we set up a standard/banner against Babylon. Babylon will fall as the Lord has planned. By the use of flags we declare and proclaim that Jesus is King and Lord of this church, this town and this country.

When we lift up the banner against Babel/Babylon, the headquarters of Satan, then we are as beautiful as the town “Tirza, lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.” (Jer. 51:12 and Song of Solomon 6:4).

We will rejoice in your salvation (literally: in your Yeshua) and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfill all your petitions. (Psalm 20:6)

Gimel - Vessel of adoration

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth (John 4,23a).

 

Another symbol used in worship dance is the vessel. This reminds us to capture the presence of God, to be cleansed and become a fragrant offering for Him as Christ became a fragrant offering for God through His sacrifice (Eph. 5,2). The frankincense is a symbol for cleansing, prayer, worship and fragrance.

The apostle John had the following heavenly visions related to the golden bowl full of incense: Then the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down in front of the Lamb. Each one had a harp. They were holding golden bowls full of incense, which stand for the prayers of God's people. Here is the new song they sang. “You are worthy to take the scroll and break open its seals. You are worthy because you were put to death. With your blood you bought people for God. They come from every tribe, language, people and nation. You have made them members of a royal family. You have made them priests to serve our God. They will rule on the earth.”

(Rev. 5,8-10) Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand (Rev. 8,3-4).

The letters of the Hebrew alphabet are holy signs of God, that announce His works and His praise. In psalm 119, 89 we read: “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” The 3^rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Gimel (g), that resembles a camel.

According to the traditional Jewish view camels represents nations. The camel is an animal of the desert; it wanders the desert from one oasis to another seeking continuously after water. The water represents the truth. The Bride of Christ, who is fulfilled with living water, that flows from the throne of God to us, and praises God in Spirit and in Truth, is as pure as “a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain” (Song 4,12b). In Isaiah 60,6 it is written, that herds of camels from foreign countries will come to Israel. They will carry gold and incense and they will proclaim the praise of the Lord. Gold symbolizes faith refined in fire, and it is a symbol for kingship. Frankincense represents prayers, worship and symbolizes priesthood. We are a kingly priesthood. In the Song of Songs we find that the bride is coming up from the desert (wilderness) leaning on her beloved (Song 8,5). She is a „garden locked up“ for her bridegroom and she says: “Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere.” (SOS 4:16). This is a call for the Spirit of God. What was dry will be refreshed by the north wind and brought to life. The north wind has the power of resurrection and possesses the force to give revelation. The south wind enables us to express what we have received from God.

As the fire of the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples, they preached with boldness and with the fire of the first love. Both winds must come together to enable us to smell the fragrance of love, which flows out of our hearts for our bridegroom Jesus. As well as the Holy Spirit carries the fragrance of love through the north wind and the south wind towards us, similarly, he carries it back out of our garden to Him. When the Spirit of God blows through our personality and our garden, then we live, move and have our being in him (Acts 17,28). This happens also when we dance for him. The Bible gives us examples which encourage us to express our praise, our offering of frankincense also through movements: “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141,2). In Revelation 4 we read how the twenty-four elders fell down before him who sits on the throne. In the Hebrew language Gimel (g) can also mean “lift up”. And the Hebrew picture for garden “gan” means to lift up life. In the Garden of Eden God lifted up the man to life. In the Garden Tomb Jesus was raised/lifted up to life. Who comes back to the first love and overcomes, to him Jesus will give to eat from the tree of life, that exists in the Paradise (Garden of Eden) of God (Rev 2,7). We should lift up life as the gardens of God. Jesus is the life and we should lift him up. Flags and staffs used in worship dance are symbols for lifting up.

In worship dance the symbolism of the colours has a crucial meaning. White symbolizes purity, holiness, the bride of Jesus, light and victory. White is also the colour of frankincense. Gold symbolizes the presence of God, his glory and majesty. He overlays his bride, his congregation with glory and clothes her in gold (Psalm 45, 10 and 14). We should be vessels of the glory and of the presence of God and be an offering of frankincense, a fragrance for him with all our being.

Beth - Praise, the dwelling place of God

This is the gate of Heaven (Genesis 28:17)!

The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Beth (b) means house, dwelling place. The house symbolizes the creation and our body (2. Cor. 5:1). Jacob called the place where God revealed himself Bethel, House of God. Our body shall be the house of God. The Hebrew word for Heart, Leb means the authority of the house. Beth is also a symbol for the Son of God, the Word (Logos) who became flesh and dwelt among uns (John 1:14). The word (Logos) of Christ shall dwell richly in us and we shall make music for him in our hearts (Col. 3:16). Psalm, in greek psalmos, comes from the word psallo. Psallo means to make music on the strings of a harp. The harp on the picture symbolizes our heart, the center of our being, which was created to praise God. Aleph (a) stands for the beginning, for eternity, for God, his strength and rulership. After he had created everything God gave the eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11). This is the alphabet (in Greek) or alephbet (in Hebrew).

When Jacob was with his family on his way back to home, there he met angels of God. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that means two hosts, double host (Genesis 32:2-3). The host of God joined the host of Jacob to protect him when he met his brother Esau. Before the conquest of Jericho the prince/captain of the host of the Lord (Sar Tseva Adonai) appeared to Joshua (Josh. 5:13-15). The Hebrew pictographic meaning of Prince, Sar, is warrior. This was the Prince/Warrior of Peace (Sar Shalom), who fought for peace between Jacob and Esau with his angelic hosts. Jesus denoted himself as the prince/captain of the host of God when he said: Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53) Shofars were used at the battle for Jericho and the Hebrew word picture of shofar means the mouth of the prince/warrior. The army of the Lord is a heavenly force which battles for Israel (2. Kings 6: 16-17, Judges 5:20). Jacob saw in Bethel a ladder between Heaven and Earth and angels were ascending and descending on it. The ladder is a picture for Jesus. Jesus said: Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man (John 1:51). Angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14).

In the Song of Songs we can read about the Shulamite, a picture of the Bride of Christ, who dances the dance of Mahanaim, the dance of the two hosts (SOS 7:1). This is a prophecy of the awesome glory of the two hosts, two armies of God united in one purpose. The Dance of Mahanaim is the coming together of the Armies of God in Heaven and the Armies of God on Earth, moving in unison—two armies with one purpose and divine mission – to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Jesus is the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Armies! Angels are about to be released en masse to restore, to protect, to heal, to guard God’s purposes and to minister to the saints, however the Armies of Heaven are also sent to war, to defeat the enemies of God. 

Mahanaim was a levitical city on the tribal area of Gad. The Levites served the Lord as priests. Gad was the seventh son of Jacob. The name Gad means fortune. Jacob prophesized about Gad: Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels (Gen. 49:19). When we dance for the glory of the Lord then we are joining ourselves to the heavenly hosts, who battle against the demons, the enemies of God. Then we find ourselves in Mahanaim, the double host in the land of fortune. This is a land which will be continually attacked by raiders. Jesus said: All who have come before me are thieves and robbers. (…) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:8 and 10). The enemy deprived the church of dance for centuries, because he knows that dance is a powerful weapon. Because of this the devil wants to keep dance in his toolbox, as we can see it on demonic dances in pagan rites. He wants to let dance be hidden In our toolbox. Because of this we experience much resistance against praise dance. Moses compared Gad to a lioness (Deu. 33). As the Israelites captured the land of Canaan the tribe of Gad went ahead of the people. Gad carried out the Lord‘s righteous will. Because of this Gad received the land which was conquered first and took his inheritance in possession as the first. Through dancing for God we honour him as priests like the Levites and we battle like Gad, expel the raiders and take our inheritance in Christ in possession; we are in Mahanaim, the double host of the earthly and heavenly armies in the land of fortune.

Aleph - Mantle of glory and calling

I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father (Is. 58:14).

We live in times of restoration of all things. God restores all things which must be restored before Jesus (in Hebrew: Yeshua) comes back. Peter announced in his first sermon on Shavuot (Pentecost): Repent and turn to God, so that he will wipe away your sins, so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord‘s presence, and that he may send Jesus, who is the Messiah he has already chosen for you. He must remain in heaven until the times of restoration of all things, as God announced by means of his holy prophets of long ago (Acts 3:19-21).  

The understanding of our Jewish foundation and inheritance, the understanding of the biblical symbols and of dance as praise, worship, intercession and warfare belong to those things, which must be restored. The understanding of the Hebrew letters, which declare the glory of the Lord and speak about our story and the story of the world, is a part of our Jewish inheritance. 

The first letter is Aleph (a, Alpha in greek), the last letter is Tav (t). The ancient word picture for Tav was a cross. The symbols used for praise dance are doors in the spiritural world and they correspond to letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The mantle, Aderet in Hebrew, corresponds to Aleph. The ancient pictographic meaning of Aderet is the first door for a person of the cross. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness (Is. 61:10). The mantle is a symbol for salvation, redemption, righteousness, anointing and calling. The mantle is a symbol for the threefold anointing: The anointing with blood, water and oil (1. John 5:6-8). God wants to give us the oil of joy instead of mourning, and the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness (Is. 61:3). You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent (Psalm 30: 11-12). God wants to turn our mourning and our sickness into dancing. We can receive this promise by faith and start dancing before the Lord even while we are still in the midst of sorrow or pain. By taking a dance step we can activate our faith so God‘s healing power can be released. I have seen it in my own life and also in the lives of others. I don‘t feel my pains when I dance for God. Worship and praise are the best medicine for depression or for any anxiety or fear. We would surely have less people among us with psychical disorders, if there would be more freedom in the churches and people would feel free to dance for God. More people would experience healing for their bodies, minds and souls. 

 

Aderet does not only mean mantle, but it also means glory and splendour. The prophets wore mantle as a symbol for their calling. Joshua received the mantle of Moses. The mantle of Elijah fell on Elisha. The mantle of Messiah is too big to fall on any one person. On the Day of Pentecost the Spirit of God fell on his disciples and they received the mantle of Messiah. Everyone who is born from God receives a part of Messiah‘s mantle. It is in his mantle that our calling and ministry are found. There is a calling for the ministry of praise dance. In June 2016 we danced with Movement in Worship on the streets of Augsburg. We danced with staffs as a testimony for the visible and unvisible world. While we were dancing a sister had a vision: She saw Jesus sitting on a white horse and he had a very long mantle; and we all praise dancers were inside his mantle. This means we all were fullfilling our calling! The mantles of the prophets were made of animals´ hair like the mantle of John the Baptist. The mantles were big, great and heavy. The mantles we receive often seem us to be too big and too heavy. They are greater and more glorious than we are, who wear them. Our mantles are not meant to fit who we are now. They are meant to fit who we are to become. Our mantles must be beyond us, that we can grow into them and rise to them. We should appreciate and respect our mantle, our calling and the mantles of our brothers and sisters as a part of the mantle of Messiah! 

We can use mantles for dance as a form of surrender and honour like the people who spread their clothes on the road before Jesus (Luke 19:36). We can also use the mantle as a weapon against the powers of darkness: Let my adversaries be clothed with shame and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle (Psalm 109:29). For though we walk in flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2. Cor, 10:4-6).