We want to look at a time in Yeshua’s life that was considered very controversial. I suppose it was the most radical time in His life. It was when He overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple. I have heard people even say that this could have been a time when Yeshua sinned because He was angry and He did this destructive act. We know that Yeshua was sinless, but we do want to take a closer look at this time in Yeshua’s life. We might find that Yeshua’s message is for today and it is still as shocking as it was then.

The Moneychangers

Matthew 21:12 tells us, “Yeshua entered the Temple and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the Temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves.” So who were these moneychangers? The moneychangers (shulchani) were there to exchange foreign currency into the Temple shekels. You see, at the time of Yeshua, the people would have used Roman currency which had the image of Caesar on it, and it was forbidden to carry this currency into the Temple because of its pagan image; Caesar was considered a god. Most likely, those who sat at these tables were priests and Levites who had become dishonest. They were adding service charges and collecting far above the rate of exchange. Because of the Diaspora, many Jews had to travel to Jerusalem to make their sacrifices. At times it was too difficult for them to carry their sacrifices with them, so doves were sold to these people in the outer courts of the Temple. Though these people were offering a service for these travelers, it was against God’s Word to be doing this in the Temple; they should have been buying and selling on the street, not in the Temple courts.

Now, we have to put this in its proper perspective so that we can understand Yeshua’s actions. It was the time of Passover, and according to Torah, one was to thoroughly clean one’s house and rid it of any leaven, even if it was just a crumb. Leaven symbolized sin and corruption. How appropriate, then, it was for Yeshua to go into His Father’s House and clean it of the leaven, the sin and corruption. Yeshua, as He overturned the tables, quoted two Scriptures. We will be looking at both of them over the next two newsletters to get a better understanding of what Yeshua was thinking.

Isaiah 56:7

Isaiah tells us, “I will bring them to My sacred mount and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcomed on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.” We want to see why Yeshua would have quoted this verse.

First, I want to say that Rabbinically, when one quoted a part of a verse, it is as though he quoted the whole verse. So what was the content of this section of Scripture? The Scripture starts with “Observe what is right and do what is just; for soon My salvation shall come and My deliverance be revealed. Happy is the man who does this, the man who holds fast to it: who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and stays his hand from doing any evil,” (Isaiah 56:1-2). Isaiah declares that doing what is right and just and being obedient and careful in observing the commandments would give the people identity as a community. The declaration also states that the foreigner would also be allowed to become members of the community. Verse 3 goes on to say, “Let not the foreigner say, who has attached himself to the Lord, ‘The Lord will keep me apart from His people.'”

The prophet, speaking for God, tells the people, mainly foreigners who felt excluded, that Torah observation makes them complete members of the community. When we obey God’s Word, we will be a light to the nations and people will be drawn into our congregations. It seems as though Christians play the revolving door game. They just circulate from church to church, but this is not true church growth. This is not the lost coming out of darkness into the light. Throughout history we see many foreigners attaching themselves to Israel. We see this in the Exodus from Egypt; also, people like Rahab and Ruth who attached themselves and became part of the royal line of Yeshua. When the Jews left Babylon, many people turned to the one true God and went back with the exiles. In Yeshua’s day we see the Centurion who was a God fearer and also Cornelius who sent for Peter. This is why the Torah specifically addresses the issue of the foreigner and alien who sojourns with Israel.

In verses 6-7 God says, “As for the foreigners who attach themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it and hold fast to My covenant—I will bring them to My sacred mount and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” We clearly see that Yeshua’s heart was that all people would worship on His holy mountain and indeed they will, as He declared, “For My house shall be a house of prayer for all people.”

But this requires more than what we may think. He was not just referring to people going to their local church, but one day all people would be worshiping Him in Spirit and in Truth. One day all people would be keeping Sabbath and the whole of Torah.

A Heavenly Picture

As we go on, we will see that what Yeshua did that day and what He was declaring to the people was quite a serious charge and one that we need to heed today. God made it clear to Moses when He told him to be careful to do all that He had told him to do in the making of the tabernacle. God’s sanctuary here on earth is to represent the throne room of God in heaven. Every detail and every item represented the exactness in heaven. God is holy and He demands holiness and obedience to His Word. Isaiah declared, “I beheld my Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; and the skirts of His robe filled the Temple. Seraphs stood in attendance on Him. Each of them had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his legs, and with two he would fly. And one would call to the other, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy! The Lord of Hosts! His presence fills all the earth.’ The doorposts would shake at the sound of the one who called, and the House kept filling with smoke. I cried, ‘Woe is me; I am lost! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have beheld the King, Lord of Hosts.’ Then an angel took a coal from off the altar and touched his lips.” We see that even the angels must cover themselves in the presence of God. Isaiah, in the presence of God, recognized his sinfulness and his need to be cleansed.

The Temple laws were all about holiness and purity. The priest would stop at the laver, which was symbolic of one submerging himself in God’s holiness, cleansing himself from sin. There were many laws concerning purity which we are not going to go through now, but remember that the unclean represents sin and the clean represents purity. They both represent the two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness. The Psalmist writes, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, and has not sworn deceitfully.” This is talking about who may enter God’s presence.

God requires holiness; in fact, He demands it. Before we can approach God, we have to repent and confess our sins so that we remain in right standing with God. Then, we can approach God with confidence and liberality. We take that Scripture so out of context that we can approach God with boldness and a confidence. Yes, we can, but only if we have cleansed ourselves before God. We must understand that God is holy and He takes His holiness quite seriously. Paul tells us that we should examine ourselves before communion so we do not partake in an unworthy manner. Examine ourselves for what? SIN. When we pray, are we not having communion with God? James, writing to believers, says, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you,” (James 4:7-10).

Cleansing is not just a one time deal, but daily we are to come before God and confess our sins. Scripture says that everyone who has the hope of His coming purifies himself, just as He is pure. Sin separates us from God and only repentance cleanses us. God says, “A broken and a contrite heart I will never turn away.” Even though the physical Temple is gone, the operation of the Temple still remains. Now we are the Temple of the Lord. Our Temple must be pure and holy. Nothing unclean must enter our Temple. We are the priesthood and we must be clean and holy as we are going to approach the altar of the Lord. Only holiness can approach a holy God.

Let’s continue.

The Flesh vs. the Spirit

Yeshua tells us that God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must be in spirit and truth. Paul writes, “For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Yeshua the Messiah and put no confidence in the flesh,” (Philippians 3:3). So what is this putting confidence in the flesh? Yeshua tells Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,” (John 3:6). He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God,” (verse 5). Paul writes, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that please you. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law,” (Galatians 5:17-18). Why? Because if you are following the Spirit you are keeping the law.

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. You who practice such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God… But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh… For those who are led by the Spirit are the children of God,” (Galatians 5:19-21, 16; Romans 8:14). What are the deeds of the Spirit but love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, to mention a few.

Yeshua was against those who were corrupt, those who did not live by the Torah, those who were not living a holy life, and they brought this corruption and sin into the sanctuary of God. John writes to believers in his first letter, “Do not love the world, or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever,” (1 John 2:15-17).

We Christians like to believe that when we accept Yeshua as Lord and Savior that we now have a license to live as we want, for all our sins have been washed away. But this is only part true. Yeshua made the way for us to be forgiven and to be made right with God, but we must live according to His Word and keep His commands. Sin still separates us from God. We still must repent of our sins daily. John writes to believers, “If you say that you are without sin you are a liar,” (1 John 1:8). I know that I don’t always walk by the Spirit, and I know that if you are honest with yourself that you don’t always either. John writes in that same letter, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin,” (1 John 1:6-7).

We must daily walk with God, living by His Word, being led by His Spirit and walking in truth and righteousness. But, because we wrestle with the flesh that is at war with the Spirit in us, we struggle and we do not always walk as we should. We must repent and return, walking in God’s ways. We must not continue to lie to ourselves and think that God has overlooked our sins because of Yeshua. God is holy and He demands holiness from His people and that requires us to walk daily in the Spirit, crucifying our flesh. The leadership of our congregations must speak out about sin and they too must deal with their own sin. Scripture tells us in the last days that people will not accept sound doctrine but they will only want their ears tickled.

As the days go on, deep darkness will cover the earth and the evil deeds of men will increase and the Bible speaks of a great apostasy, the falling away of the saints. And we can only wonder, “Why?” The answer is in the second part of Yeshua’s message.

Last month we looked at Yeshua clearing out the moneychangers and overturning the tables on those who sold doves in the Temple. The priests and Levites who ran these tables began to get greedy and overcharge the people. Yeshua was against the unholy practice of these priests and Levites. I realize that the following may be harsh, but Yeshua’s warning was just that. Remember, it was a rabbinic practice that when you quoted part of a verse, it was as though you quoted the whole verse. So now we want to look at the second verse that Yeshua quoted in the Temple.

Jeremiah 7:11-12

Yeshua said, “Do you consider this House, which bears My name, to be a den of thieves? As for Me, I have been watching, declares the Lord. Just go to My place at Shiloh, where I had established My name formerly, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.” Verse 13 goes on, “And now, because you did all these things, declares the Lord, and though I spoke to you persistently, you would not listen; and though I called you, you did not respond. Therefore, I will do to the House which bears My name, on which you rely, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, just what I did at Shiloh.”

Shiloh was the place of worship before David moved the Ark of God to Jerusalem. So, what were these things that the people were doing that angered God? Verse 18 tells us, “The children gathered sticks, the fathers build the fire, and the mothers kneaded dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven and they poured libations to other gods, to vex Me.” So let’s go through this.

The sanctuary at Shiloh was destroyed because the people failed to observe God’s Torah, and Jeremiah was saying that the Temple in Jerusalem could be destroyed for the same reason. Yeshua was reminding the people that the Temple in His day also could be destroyed because of sin, which we know took place in 70 CE. In Jeremiah’s day, God tells Jeremiah not to even pray for the people (Jeremiah 7:16). Yeshua, when going to the cross, tells the women not to cry for Him, but for themselves because He knew what was coming in the future. So we see that it was this sin of idolatry that brought down God’s House.

Idolatry

Idolatry is a misunderstood concept; we just tend to think of a wooden image. The second commandment says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” So is this commandment done away with? I think not! I think it is for today even more so.

Ezekiel gives us the answer. He writes in chapter 14 regarding the elders, “Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols, in order to lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through their idols.”‘” Yeshua said, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me,” (Matthew 15:8). We are to love God with all of our heart, life, and strength. We can not serve two masters. Idolatry can be anything that we have in our hearts that keeps us from God, like lust, greed, unforgiveness, bitterness, lies, immorality, pride: it’s all sin. For the moneychangers, it was greed and dishonest gain; they were stealing from the people with their dishonest rate of exchange.

Paul writes, “Let us lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run the race that is set before us.” You see, if we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we are His holy priesthood, then we have to be holy, godly people, clean from any hint of uncleanness, any unrighteousness, anything that may suggest anything other than what is holy and pure. Yeshua was telling the people that the Temple had become common and corrupt. The leadership was not representing or teaching God’s holiness. Sin had crept into the Temple and was defiling it, and even though there were no carved images in the Temple, the leadership had set up idols in their hearts and in turn led the people astray. 1 Corinthians tells us, “Now these things happened as an example for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved. And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.’ Nor let us act immorally as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example and they were written for our instruction, upon which the ends of the ages have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” If this was written for our example, then we must live by it.

Sin separates us from God. The Psalmist writes, “If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god, would not God discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart,” (Psalm 44:20-21). Our hidden sins become our hidden lives. When the Word is allowed to convict us of our sin and those idols that we have put before God, then we will repent and turn from our evil ways and idolatry cannot take hold in our hearts. Yeshua cleaned out the Temple because of sin, because of idolatry. David wrote, “Search me, O God and know me,” (Psalm 139:23). He also wrote, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” (Psalm 51:10). Shouldn’t we examine our hearts to see if there is any sin in us?

An Idealistic Messiah

Just as sin can be an idol, we can fashion for ourselves an idolistic God, an idolistic Messiah. Yeshua was a Jew. We have made Him anything but a Jew. He has become a Western, Greco-Roman style Messiah. We called Him Jesus Christ and we have stripped Him of His Jewishness. Yeshua dressed like a Jew. He wore a kippa, prayer shawl, phylacteries, and tzitzit (fringes). Yeshua kept all of God’s Appointed Times including the Sabbath. Yeshua is the Word made flesh, and that Word is the Torah. When we did away with the Torah, we did away with the Jewishness of Yeshua. We have Hellenized the Scriptures with allegory, philosophy, and Western ideology. But Yeshua used none of this thinking. He used Rabbinic thinking, based on tradition and culture and a Jewish world view. The writers of the Scriptures also wrote from this point of view.

This is quite important, not only for how we relate to Yeshua, but how we live our lives. You see, rejecting the Torah is rejecting the one true God because we have based our teachings on a different foundation. We have eliminated God as though He was obsolete. Yeshua and the Father are one, not two different gods. Yeshua, before His death, prayed, “Set them apart in truth; Thy Word (Torah) is truth. As Thou did send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I set Myself apart, that they themselves also may be set-apart in truth,” (John 17:17-19). If we truly are disciples of Yeshua, then we must imitate Him. Paul wrote, “Imitate me as I imitate Messiah,” (1 Corinthians 11:1). This is true discipleship, that one must imitate his master. To do this we must have His mindset. When our idolatry controls our minds and hearts, there is only one way we react to that, and that is to live an idolatrous life. We now begin to serve a different master. We begin to think humanistically and we begin to build on a foundation of relativism, which, simply stated, is a concept of truth and moral values without absolute standards, so that what is right for you may not be right for me. My beliefs may tell me, “It’s OK to do what I am doing. Once I have accepted Jesus I can no longer fall. All my sins are forgiven and I never need to repent because I am not saved by my works.” We have substituted works for obedience. We are not saved by works, but we do live to be obedient to God, and God requires holiness and keeping His commands.

Where Has Holiness Gone?

Yeshua was very determined, when He overthrew the moneychangers, to set an example and warn the people that God does not tolerate sin and corruption in His leadership or in the lives of His people. The Temple of God was to be holy and the things of God sacred. We are to be holy just as God is holy. We must ask ourselves, “Do I live a holy life, one that represents the holiness of God? Is the music I listen to the music that God would listen to? (And I must add, just because they use the name of Jesus in the music does not make it holy, because many of these so-called Christian artists are not themselves living a holy life.) Is the TV that I watch holy and pleasing to God or have I just become accustomed to the trash? Are the movies that I watch something that God would sit down next to me and watch?”

Have we moved so far away from the “Turn or Burn” message of the 1800s that brought such great revivals? Have we no need for the principles of the “Holiness Movement” or the organizations that monitored purity and decency, or have we become callous and even blinded by our sins and the idols we have set up in our hearts? This is what our idols have done to us by telling us that we are OK in what we do. We close our ears and no longer hear, we hardened our hearts and our eyes have become blind. This is the process of sin. We take the parts of Scripture that we want to hang on to and pull them out of context and throw away the parts that we don’t like and say that Jesus got rid of them. Yeshua said that heaven and earth will pass away, but not one jot or tittle of God’s Word will be done away with.

Scripture tells us that judgment will come to the House of God first. You see, throughout Scripture it tells us to purify our hearts and unless we purify ourselves, we will not see the Lord. In Revelation it says, “These are the ones who have made their garments white,” (Revelation 7:14). You see, if we do not purify ourselves, then God will, and of course, God will always discipline His children. We have been taught that we will be raptured because God does not want to bring us wrath. He doesn’t, that is why we must repent of our sins and live a holy, godly life or, like the Scriptures tell us, we will be judged with the wicked.

This idea of the rapture is a fairly new concept. It really became popular with authors like Hal Lindsey and movies like “Left Behind,” and even at that, the concept is once again based on a Hellenistic view instead of the Jewish worldview; but we will address this in another newsletter. Yeshua warned the people in His day of judgment, and judgment did come to the House of God. I believe that we have begun to see that judgment once again with the abuse cases in the Catholic Church and ministers like Jim Swaggart and Jim Bakker and so many other ministers in all denominations who are being exposed for their idols, the sin that is in their hearts. We will see God expose even more, for God demands holiness from His people and in their places of worship. Yeshua is returning for a bride that is spotless, blameless, and holy. He will put His bride through the fire to purify them. He will judge His church so that He can rightfully judge the world. Because of the sin that is in the church, we have been taught that God will overlook our sin, but God does not overlook anyone’s sin. He has made the way for us to be forgiven. He has given us His Word so that we may know how to walk in His ways. He has given us everything we need unto salvation, but He has not given us a free ticket to live our lives how we choose. We are the light of the world and we are to imitate Yeshua. Yeshua was holy and blameless and a Torah-keeper. He did only what His Father required of Him. This was obedience to His Word.

Why will there be a great apostasy, a great falling away? Because we believe our idols saying that God requires nothing of us. He does! He requires of us to circumcise our hearts, to crucify the flesh, to put away our idols, and to walk holy and blameless lives totally devoted to Him. We are to honor Him and give Him our best. We are to have no part of the world. We are only to be a light to the world. And if you say that this is “works,” then that is exactly what it is! Yeshua’s message is for us today; it was written for our example and we need to heed His warning. With everything that is going on in the world today, and as we see God already beginning to judge His congregation of believers, it should open our eyes to see that His next step will be to judge the wicked. But first He will purify His people.

How close we are to His return! The position of the believers should be one of repentance and humility, one of prayer and intercession, one of weeping and mourning. This is Yeshua’s prayer: that one day the idols will be done away with and His House will be a House of Prayer, which the incense of the saints will be brought to, even to the altar of God by His holy priesthood as a holy and pleasing sacrifice before the presence of God. Paul writes about the peril of apostasy: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied the power… Beware of men who enter into households and captivate the weak, men always learning and never able to come to the truth. Men like Jannes and Jambres who opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards to the faith,” (2 Timothy 3:1-8). This is talking about Christians. This is talking about the result of unrepentive sin.

The apostasy of the last days is here, and judgment has begun in the House of God. Won’t you open your eyes and see? Won’t you open your ears and hear? Yeshua’s message was written for all of His people throughout the generations. God is holy and He demands holiness in the lives of His people and where they worship!

We have been looking at God’s holiness in His people and in their place of worship. Yeshua’s warning is one of judgment. This is a side of Yeshua that we do not always want to see or believe of Him. Yet we have to see that there is sin in our congregations. We have to also see that people are falling away from our congregations. We are not seeing an influx of new people coming to salvation, but what we are seeing is people going from church to church looking to be fed. All the gimmicks, all the drama, all the music is not what people need. What we need is truth; it is the truth that will set us free, it is truth that will make us strong, and it is truth that will allow us to be blessed. We are going to be looking at what is missing in the lives of Christians today.

The Covenant

When we accept Yeshua as Lord and Savior then we, by faith, enter into covenant with Him. By doing this, it means that we must keep all the requirements of that covenant. This knowledge of covenants is something that is not taught in the church. We do not understand how these ancient covenants worked. If we did, we would understand that the Torah is actually a covenant. Now, when we look at Yeshua we see that He lived out the Torah to the very stroke of the letter. It was because of this that He could be the spotless Lamb of God. Yeshua said that He was now going to renew the covenant; in other words, He was not doing away with the covenant but He was going to, let’s say, “amend” it. He was now going to be the Mediator and His blood was going to be the blood that would be sprinkled on the altar and on the people. We see this in Exodus 24. He spoke this at the Passover Meal. A meal was also a big part of ratifying a covenant. We see this in Genesis 31:54. One day we will eat at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which will be the fulfillment of the New Covenant which is spoken of in Jeremiah 31.

Some believe that God is the God of the Jews and Yeshua is the God of the Gentiles, but this is completely false. Yeshua is God and He is the God of the Jews and He is the King of the Jews and He is the Savior of the Jews. God’s revelation was ongoing from the time of Adam to John in Revelation. Throughout the years, God revealed more and more to His people. He began with a covenant with Adam (one man), and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (one family), Moses (a people), and Yeshua (all those who would believe). Paul tells us that we have been grafted into the covenants. He was speaking of the covenant of Adam, that a Savior would come; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which was a promise of land and protection and financial blessing; and the covenant of Moses, which requires us to be obedient and to walk in holiness. Yeshua did not do away with any of this, but He did make the way for us to now be partakers by grafting us in if we would believe in Him and be obedient to His commands.

Imitators of Yeshua

In Hebraic thought, to be one’s disciple was to imitate his teacher: his every word, mannerisms, and even thoughts. I guess we would say that the disciple would be a “clone” of that person. In a manner of speaking, this is what Yeshua was of the Father. Yeshua spoke only His Father’s words and He did only what He saw His Father do. Yeshua was the exactness of His Father. He told Philip, “If you have seen Me than you have seen the Father,” (John 14:9). We, too, must imitate Yeshua this same way, and so too His disciples learned from Him. When they asked Him how to pray, they, being Jews, knew how to pray, for prayer is the foundation of Judaism. But every rabbi taught his disciples their own forms of prayer; usually it was a shortened form of the Amidah (the eighteen benedictions) which was said only when they would be on the road traveling. The prayer he taught them is what we call today the Lord’s Prayer.

So as followers of Yeshua, we too must do entirely what He did. We must not just pray any prayer, but the prayers He prayed; Mark 11:25 refers to the Amidah which is said standing in the morning and the evening. We too must call people to repentance (Matthew 4:17) and show mercy and compassion (Matthew 20:29-34). We too must heal the sick and cast out demons (Mark 16:17-18). We must keep God’s Appointed Times, not man’s; in other words, we must take on the yoke of the kingdom. Paul tells his readers to imitate him as he imitates Yeshua. This means that Paul kept Torah. He kept the seventh day Sabbath and all of God’s Appointed Times, which we know from reading Scripture. He did everything Yeshua did. He did not change ONE thing! If he had, he could not have imitated Yeshua, nor could he have been Yeshua’s disciple. Scripture tells us, “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments (speaking of Torah) and so teaches others shall be called least in the kingdom” (Matthew 5:19). So we must imitate Yeshua to the letter. When Yeshua tells His disciples to go out and make disciples, He was saying, “Go and teach people to imitate Me.”

Yeshua’s Call to Follow Him

Yeshua went through the countryside and called people to follow Him. But He took it a step further and said if you wish to follow Me, then you must deny yourself and pick up your cross daily (Luke 9:23). What did Yeshua mean by this? Many people think that Yeshua meant that if they have an illness then that is carrying their cross, or if they have a problem child that they have to deal with that they are carrying their cross. But is this what He meant? Well, let’s take a closer look.

Yeshua continued by saying, “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it… For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds.” Paul tells us this: “Brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship,” (Romans 12:1). So we see that carrying our cross has to do with laying down our lives for the Kingdom of God. So let’s look at this.

The Cross

The cross was an instrument of death. It was designed to maximize pain and suffering. It was also designed to bring shame, for the person was hung naked. Paul tells us that, “We should not be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek… For the word of the cross is, to those who are perishing, foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” So despite the shame, as disciples we must pick up our cross and crucify ourselves along with Yeshua. Does Yeshua mean literally crucify ourselves? Well, we know the answer to that is “no,” but what He does mean is that we are to deny our flesh, our desires, our life by dying to ourselves. Paul writes, “But what ever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Messiah. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Messiah Yeshua my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Messiah, and may be found in Him not having salvation by the keeping of the law, but that through faith in Messiah I may have salvation which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

What does it mean to know Him? Well, this word “know,” yada in Hebrew, is the same word which is used when referring to the covenant. It’s not just to have the knowledge of Him, but to personally experience Him. God revealed His Name to the Israelites and through His judgments on Egypt and their deliverance from slavery, they experienced that this Name was true. He then further revealed Himself by the giving of the Torah. John writes, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we know Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” This word, “know,” is parallel to fearing Him (1 Kings 8:43), to serving Him (1 Chronicles 28:9), to trusting Him (Isaiah 43:10), and to walking in a straight path worthy of the Lord (Colossians 1:10).

So, we must have this intimate relationship with God. Paul was saying to know Him completely. So when we truly know Him we will also know His power. For the same Spirit which raised Yeshua from the grave lives in us when we truly know Him. Paul writes that “there are those who have a form of godliness but deny the power,” (2 Timothy 3:5). Again, this takes walking in the covenant, for this is the only way we can know Him in truth. This power is walking in salvation, which includes having the authority over rulers and principalities and evil forces in the heavenly places, over every kind of sickness and disease. These are the signs that shall follow a believer (Mark 16:17-18). But because we do not always see these signs and wonders, we say that they do not exist. We cannot keep justifying our wrongs by denying truth.

When we know Him and walk in His power, we will have fellowship with Him. John writes, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin.” The Book of 1 John is full of knowing God in that covenant relationship. To know God and to walk in His power, fellowship with Him will always bring about suffering. Yeshua told His disciples not to fear, for the world hated Him and it will hate them too. Yeshua, on the mount, tells His followers, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when men cast insults at you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Peter writes, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Messiah, keep rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exaltation. If you are reviled for the name of Messiah, you are blessed, because the Spirit of Glory and God rests upon you. By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God. For it is the time for judgment to begin with the House of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous are saved, what will become of the godless man and sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”

But all too often we think that fellowshipping in Yeshua’s sufferings are just when we tell someone about Him and they start to call us names or think us to be crazy, but to know Him and His power and to fellowship with Him means we have to take things one step further, and that is to be conformed to His death. Until we do this, we truly can not know Him the way we need to know Him, as to know His power and to fellowship with Him in truth. This is the point to which many Christians never reach.

I Too Must Die

For us to be conformed to Yeshua’s death, then we must die also. Paul writes, “Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Paul tells us that we are not to be conformed to this world, but to “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” John writes, “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world; if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world.”

To be a follower of Yeshua, we must put down the world and pick up the yoke of the kingdom. Peter writes, “Therefore, since Messiah has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties and abominable idolatries (Torahlessness). And in all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excess of dissipation, and malign you.”

Yeshua tells His followers, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” In other words, if we do not imitate Yeshua by carrying our cross and crucifying our flesh, by denying this world’s sinful lusts and pride, we cannot be one of His followers. We preach grace and faith, but not what it takes to know Him. We preach the love of God but not what He demands of us. We do not hear enough about sin and dying to self. Paul writes to the Christians in Rome, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Messiah Yeshua have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

The last several months, we have been looking at holiness. We started with Yeshua overturning the tables of the money changers and the warning that He told the priests of the Temple. We saw how that warning is for us today. Last month we looked at following Yeshua and picking up our cross and crucifying the flesh. This month we want to look at what we need to do to accomplish that.

Answering the Call Daily

When we answer the call to follow Yeshua, we begin our daily walk with Him. Scripture tells us that the Torah is a tutor leading us to Messiah. It is the only manual we have to teach us how to walk in holiness along with our Counselor, the Holy Spirit, who leads us in all truth. The Torah shows us our sin, and the Holy Spirit convicts us of that sin, and this process leads us to repentance. God prefers us to judge ourselves, but if we do not listen to His voice and we harden our hearts, then He must discipline us. Unfortunately, all too often, we do not repent because we have been taught that Yeshua died for our sins so they are all forgiven. Only part of this is true. Our sins are forgiven when we repent and turn from our sins, then the blood of Messiah washes us clean. Paul tells us not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies. We are not to be slaves of sin, but slaves of righteousness. There is no condemnation to those who are in Messiah Yeshua who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And it is this that we are going to take a closer look at.

Wrestling With Sin

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. Paul tells us how he wrestled: “For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Torah, confessing that it is good. So no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.” Paul, through this wrestling, comes to the conclusion that the only one who can rescue him was Yeshua, thanks be to God! But what we miss is when he says that the requirements of the law are fulfilled in us when we do not walk by the flesh but by the Spirit. Why? Because we are no longer sinning but living in God’s commandments. For those who are living according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are living according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Is your heart divided? Do you serve two masters? Do you want the things of this world more than the things of God? What do you spend most of your time doing? How far would you go for money? Do you find yourself looking at things that you ought not, even on TV? Are you angry with your brother, maybe even a little intolerable? Do you love the praises of men? Do you trust in your own righteousness, even blinded by it? We are to love God with all of our heart, all of our life, with all of our strength. So how do we begin to solve this problem? Let’s look!

I Must Die to Be Born Once More

When I accept Messiah Yeshua as Lord and Savior, than I must die to myself. I must die to the world and all its lusts and desires. I must lay down my life so that I can pick it up again in Messiah, so that it is no longer I who lives but Yeshua who lives in me. We must let go of self and robe ourselves now in Messiah. Job writes, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I shall return there.” What does Job mean when he says that he will return to the womb? Nicodemus asked Yeshua the same question, “Can a man return to his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” Job was referring to the second birth and Yeshua explained it to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.”

How is a person born again? Well, you must be born of the Spirit. Your new birth is a birth of the heart. Jeremiah tells us that, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Yeshua says, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of men proceeds the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.” Sin hardens our hearts and thoughts. We no longer hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us. We have seared our consciences and we make all sorts of excuses and we begin to rationalize our thinking. We walk according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit, though we can make ourselves believe that we are in God’s will while in reality we are not, and we do not even realize that God is no longer walking with us. The solution: we must cut away that which is of the flesh, we must circumcise our hearts. How do we do that?

God tells us that He will never turn away a contrite and broken heart. We must repent. Repentance is a turning back to God and walking now in His ways. A heart always in the state of repentance is truly a circumcised heart. Now I know that this is exactly what preachers teach against. They say you should not walk in guilt. Exactly! But remember, there is no condemnation to those who walk uprightly, those who are walking according to the Spirit and not the flesh. Repentance is God’s blessing to us. Do we not wash ourselves every day? Then why would we not want to spiritually cleanse ourselves daily? Remember, God’s mercies are new every morning. The difference between a repentive heart and a hardened heart is hearing God’s voice. This is a warning from God, “Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts like they did in the wilderness when they rebelled.”

We must be willing to lay our lives down on the altar and die to ourselves so that God can consume us with His Spirit and transform us into His new creation. The old man must die so we may become the new man in Messiah.

New Birth, New Life

Paul tells the Corinthians, regarding the Feast of Passover, to “clean out the old leaven (sin) that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover lamb also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” According to Torah, no person could celebrate Passover unless they were physically circumcised. This was because they were not considered a member of the covenant. Jeremiah, when speaking of the new covenant, says that, “God will write His laws upon our hearts.” God can not write His laws upon a hardened heart, a heart of stone. We must be people who walk in newness of life, not according to our former ways. For us to take part in our Passover Lamb, we must be made new. Just like Yeshua, we too must die and be buried and rise again, not as the old but as new, not of the flesh but of the Spirit. For if any man is in Yeshua, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away, behold, new things have come. John writes, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

Now as new creations, our lives are hidden in Messiah. It is no longer I who live but Yeshua who lives in me. And what is this new life in Messiah? It is one who abides in Him. Yeshua tells us that if we keep His commandments we will abide with Him. This abiding is done by walking in the Spirit, who leads us in all truth, the truth being His Word. Yeshua tells us that if we abide in Him, we will bear fruit, and what is this fruit? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” It is in these things that there is no condemnation, because this is the opposite of walking in the flesh. But, once again, to do this we must crucify the flesh and begin to walk in the Spirit. It is in this that we no longer live out the old man but we begin to walk in newness of life as new creations.

We now read God’s Word with new insight. It not only becomes alive to us, but it convicts us of our sins and it changes us from the inside out. We no longer can live behind our excuses and our rational thinking. We see ourselves as guilty of sin and we now feel remorse for those deeds done in the flesh, and this godly sorrow leads us to a broken and contrite heart of true repentance. We no longer run from truth, but we head for the Cross of Calvary on bended knee and confess Yeshua as Lord of our lives, so we surrender our will to His. He is faithful to wash us clean, pick us up, and walk with us again. We begin to love God more than our own lives. We become attentive to His voice. We long to hear from Him not occasionally, but daily. God has so much to say to us, so much He wants to show us and share with us. We fall in love with God all over again, and we love Him more each day, not less. He becomes more apparent in our lives each day, like John the Baptist who said, “He must increase as I decrease.” This is abiding in Him. This is the New Man. This is the Spirit filled life. And those who walk by the Spirit are the children of God, obedient to our Master’s voice. We become good and faithful servants.

Countdown to Pentecost

To understand Pentecost, we must have some background information. According to Torah, no portion of the sacrifice which was for the priest could be kept past three days, because by then it would begin to decay. Yeshua was our Passover sacrifice. Because of this, Yeshua could not have been left in the grave longer than three days. This was the miracle of Lazarus. Yeshua waited four days on purpose because of the Jewish belief that one’s soul remains with the body for three days before leaving, and so the body begins to decay. By waiting four days, Yeshua symbolically showed that the body and soul would one day reunite in the resurrection. Yeshua died on Passover which is the fourteenth day of Nisan. On the sixteenth day, the barley harvest was brought in and a wave offering was presented to the Lord. This was called the Feast of First Fruits (Yom Habikkurim), because it was just that: the first fruits of the harvest, and it was brought into the Temple as a wave offering. A wave offering was done as a sign of dedication. Anything that was dedicated to the Lord was waved.

This began the fifty day countdown to Pentecost (Shavuot). This time of counting is called the “counting of the Omer.” This particular Feast must have fallen on the regular weekly Sabbath at the time of Yeshua’s death. It was after sunset, after the Sabbath evening service, called Havdalah (which ends the Sabbath and begins the new day), that most Jewish scholars believe that the women went to the tomb to find that Yeshua had risen, only to fulfill this Feast. Scripture tells us that Yeshua is the First Fruit. He is the first offering, He is the wave offering, He is the Omer. Paul wrote, “But now Messiah has risen from the dead, and became the first fruits of them that slept.” This daily counting is a time when we should prepare for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It was during this time that Yeshua spoke these piercing words to Peter: “Peter, do you love Me? Feed My sheep.”

Yeshua restores us when we repent. Our hearts are now open to obey His voice. Every day that we count the Omer we remember His death and resurrection. It was also during this time that Yeshua returned to heaven with these words: “For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit (Ruach Ha Kodesh, the Spirit of Holiness) has come upon you; and you will be my witness both in Jerusalem and the remotest parts of the earth.” We acknowledge that we too are His witnesses, and we are ready to serve Him. We also are demonstrating that we are anxiously awaiting the Lord’s return. Pentecost is the second wave offering of the wheat harvest. This is very significant because it was Yeshua who said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

This brings us full circle. Unless we die to ourselves by crucifying our flesh, we cannot bear fruit. We cannot be a new creation; we cannot walk in newness of life. Only by picking up our cross and dying to our wants, desires, and the world can we live for Yeshua. We must put on the yoke of the gospel to be a true disciple of Yeshua, following Him in every step of obedience. It was at the Feast of Pentecost, which is an Appointed Time of God, a Sabbath, in which they were all gathered at the Temple, that Peter rose up and spoke to the crowd that was gathered for Morning Prayer: a restored Peter, no longer living according to his righteousness, but now walking in the Spirit of God. He was sober and ready to meet the challenge that Yeshua had placed before him to feed His sheep. Peter preached the message that Yeshua commanded them to preach, that “Repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47) and, “To make disciples, teaching them to observe all that He commanded them” (Matthew 28:19-20), and “All who would believe would cast out demons, speak in new tongues, pick up serpents, and drink deadly poison without harm, they would lay hands on the sick and they would recover” (Mark 16:16-18). They would be His witnesses (disciples). They would walk no longer by the flesh, but now by the Spirit: that same Spirit that raised Yeshua from the grave, that same Spirit which is the two-edged sword, the Word of God, which pierces as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The same fire that came down on Mount Sinai came down on the followers of Yeshua. It was on that day that lives and hearts were changed.

Now, when the people heard Peter speak the words of the Torah to them, they were pierced to the heart and asked what should they do? And Peter said, “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit… For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.”

How about you, have you repented? Have you taken on the yoke (the cross) of the kingdom? Have you answered the call? To walk in holiness is to walk in the Spirit, and it begins by losing your life to gain it.

The last several months we have been looking at holiness. This month we are going to look at the priesthood and how it pertains to holiness. Peter writes, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). This was not a new revelation to Peter. God tells Israel at Mount Sinai, “Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). Now, the tribe of Levi was the only people who could be priests, so how could God tell the whole nation this? Well, the Levitical priests were the priesthood to the nation of Israel, but the nation of Israel was to be the priesthood to the world. To understand this, we must understand the priesthood.

The Duties of the Priesthood

No other people except the Levites could approach God or minister to Him, and only the descendants of Aaron could be High Priests. They were set apart by God because God requires holiness in His temple. Everything that was done at the Temple was exclusively done by them. The Levites were divided by families, and each family would take their tour of duty. We see this in Luke’s account of the announcement of John the Baptist: “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. Now it came about, while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division….” (chapter 1:5). So it was the function of the priests to maintain the Temple, fill the oil in the menorah, put in new wicks, clean the vessels, replace the show bread every week, etc. But what we most likely think of is what they do at the altar. Now, there is great depth in all of their duties, so we want to look at only a few but first we want to look at their garments and as we do, we will see how Israel was a chosen race, a holy nation, a royal priesthood.

The Garments of the Priesthood

God spoke to Moses and said, “You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and beauty” (Exodus 28:2). Like everything with God, He requires a specific way to everything that has to do with Him because He is Holy! God often said to Moses, “Be careful to do everything that I have spoken.” This is very important to note because there is no place for “man-made” anything when it comes to God. We must always do things God’s way, not ours.

There were eight garments which were called “vestments of sanctity.” The Hebrew word for “sanctity” comes from the word for “holy,” which is Kadosh. Therefore these garments were only used in the service of the Temple and at no other time. We also see this with the utensils used in the Temple; in fact, everything associated with the Temple was considered holy and was to be handled in a special way. These garments were called garments of glory. The Hebrew word for “glory” comes from the root word which has the meaning “heavy,” as in full, like the fullness of the Lord. The garments were a picture of the dignity and beauty connected with serving God.

The Ephod

Biblical scholars did not know what to compare the ephod to because there was no piece of clothing to compare to it. The symbolism behind it could not even be determined because there was nothing similar to it in the ancient Near East: that is, until 1920 when they discovered tablets from Ugaritic. Ugaritic was in the modern Ras Shamra near the Syrian coast. We find that the ephod was referred to as an expensive robe, something worn by the upper class in the Near East. An ephod was worn by people other than the priests. Gideon made a gold ephod which caused Israel to go after other gods. An ephod had a permanent place in the Philistine sanctuary; it was behind this ephod where Goliath placed his sword.

The word seems to be linguistically connected with teraph, which was the household idol of Rachel. The fabric of the ephod was the same kind of fabric used in the curtains and veil of the Mishkan, the Tent of Meetings, thereby making a connection between the High Priest and the Sanctuary. The ephod contained all five colors of the Mishkan. The main function of the ephod was the “stones of remembrance.” These were two stones of onyx which the names of the twelve tribes were written upon, six to a stone. Aaron wore this on his shoulders, symbolic of the shepherd who carries his lambs on his shoulders.

The Breastplate

The breastplate was called the “breastplate of judgment.” The breastplate was a rectangular plate with jewels hanging from gold chains. It was worn by kings. Its purpose? Well, the high priest was considered the mediator between God and the people. He was to bring the sanctity, glory, and splendor of God to the people, and he was to bring the sinful man to God. The breastplate was worn over the heart. The breastplate was set with four rows of small square stones, each row containing three stones. The first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle. The second row was an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. The third row was a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. The fourth row was a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. These beautiful stones had the names of Israel engraved on them. When Aaron entered into the presence of God, these precious, beautiful stones were a memorial and testimony to God of His love for His people. These same stones will be used in the New Jerusalem which is described in Revelation 21.

The breastplate, along with its pouch, contained the Urim and Thummim. If the stones are a picture of the high priest representing us before God, the Urim and Thummim is a picture of the high priest representing God to us. The Urim and Thummim were two stones used as a means by which God’s judgment might be made known. Their meaning is light and perfection. They were considered like a lot, to determine God’s light in a matter or His perfect will. After the days of David, we no longer read about them in God’s Word. Those stones seem quite the mystery; scholars feel that this, too, like the ephod, may have been used before the time of Moses.

The Robe

This next piece of clothing is called “the robe of the ephod.” It was the robe that the ephod was worn over. The robe was quite unique with its bells and pomegranates on the hem. The bells were for the purpose that the people could hear them and know that the High Priest was ministering before God. This way the people could pray and repent as he was officiating in their name. Also they would know that he was not struck dead by God, but that God was receiving his offering. The Talmud (the collective work of the oral Torah) interprets the priestly garments this way: as sacrifices make atonement, so do the priestly vestments make atonement. The coat atoned for bloodshed, the breeches for lewdness, the head covering for arrogance, the girdle for impure meditations of the heart, the breastplate for neglect of civil laws, the ephod for idolatry, the head piece for brazenness, and the robe for slander because it says, “Let an article of sound come and atone for an offense of sound.” From this it seems that the rabbis considered the actual vestments worn by the High Priest on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) to be in some way involved with making atonement. Now if you consider Yeshua as our High Priest, He also entered into the Holy of Holies and made atonement for us; and did He not enter into that sacred place with all His glory and splendor like those garments represent?

How about the pomegranates? Well, a pomegranate contains 613 seeds representing the 613 commandments of Torah, thus this is a picture of the high priest carrying a constant reminder of the Torah on his clothing.

The Head Piece

The head piece, or crown, was made of solid gold and upon the head piece it is written “Holy to the Lord.” Thus it is said, “When Aaron stood before the Lord fully arrayed in all of his garments of splendor, God saw the gold plate flashing forth Holiness to His Name and accepted the people through the priest.” We also approach God by His Name, for all our prayers are in the name of Yeshua. So the head piece was upon Aaron’s forehead so that he would bring forgiveness for the sacred offerings that the children of Israel consecrated. And it shall be on his head always to bring them favor before the Lord. One day, Yeshua will wear the golden crown of splendor upon His forehead.

The Tunic

Not much is said about the tunic except, “You shall weave the tunic of checkered work of fine linen.” The tunic was made of white linen. The word used here for linen is shesh, which literally means “six.” This meant that the thread used in this garment was a six-ply linen thread. It was worn closest to the body and it represented purity. It teaches us that no one may approach God with impurity/sin. Yeshua was our High Priest and He was blameless and pure, without sin. Yeshua Himself wore a one-piece tunic which was like the priests and it was this that the soldiers cast lots for at His crucifixion.

The Head Covering

There were two different types of head coverings. The priests wore one type of which Josephus writes that it was a flattish cap of woven linen that was wrapped repeatedly around part of the head like a turban and then it hung down on the back. The high priest wore a beautiful wound turban around his full head and it then hung down on his back and the gold head piece was placed upon it. Yet, the turban and head piece left enough room on the forehead for the tefillin. The covering of the head spoke of submission. It symbolized humility before God. Because the entire priesthood wore some sort of covering on their heads, this is why Jews wear a covering on their heads even till today.

The Breeches

The breeches were like pants. They went from the hip to the thigh. Some commentaries refer to them as pants, others call them underwear. Nevertheless, the reason for them was for modesty. It was to cover up any potential nakedness when the priest would ascend to the altar.

Vestments of Splendor

God referred to the priest’s garments not only as garments of sanctity and garments of glory, but garments of splendor. Splendor could be translated as beauty. These garments added beauty to the sanctuary. These garments had the finest embroidery and stitch work, detailed weaving, and handiwork. But what also added to the beauty were the colors. The colors of the sanctuary were the same colors of the priestly garments. We are going to look at these colors and what they symbolized.

Gold: Gold is the purest metal and is often used in connection with royalty. This showed that the priesthood was a royal priesthood.

Blue: The sky blue color in Hebrew is called techelet. Blue was to represent heaven. It is also the same color as the tzitzit (the cords which are worn on the four corners of the garments). The priest’s robe was made of this blue. So like the tzitzit, it is a reminder to follow Torah; the priest’s robe was like one big tzitzit to remind the people to follow Torah. Now this blue was made from the blood of the chilazon. The chilazon was a Mediterranean snail. It was very rare. It took 12,000 snails to produce 1.4 grams of dye.

Scarlet: Scarlet is a color to remind us of our human nature. The high priest then represented mankind. The crimson color was produced by a worm called the crimson worm. The crimson red was called tola’at shani.

Purple: Purple was a combination of the blue and scarlet. Again, because of the difficulty in making this color, it was a sign of royalty. This dark red color which resembled purple was called argaman.

White: White represents purity; it’s on this basis that we come to God.

What a Picture

Now, the Hebrew word for “splendor” means beauty, but it means much more. The same root word is also used in Isaiah 61:3 and verse 10 to refer to the Bridegroom. Specifically, it refers to the beautiful headwear a bridegroom used to wear. So it would seem that the picture that God was painting was one of a beautifully dressed bridegroom serving his bride in their little house, the Mishkan (the tabernacle). So here we have our Great High Priest Yeshua, who serves His Bride Israel, and those who have been grafted in, the redeemed, in their little house, represented by several things like the sukkah or the tabernacle of our hearts and most of all, we too are being built up into a spiritual dwelling, a holy temple where our Great High Priest will reside full of glory and splendor.

What a picture of such glory and majestic beauty, the Bride and the Bridegroom, the Great High Priest ministering at the heavenly altar! But what does this have to do with us being a Royal Priesthood? Well, we too have clothing that we are to wear, and we too must minister at the altar. And the purpose of the priesthood was to lead the people in their act of worship which was done by their sacrifices. But all of this we will look at the next time.

In our last newsletter we saw that Peter said, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” But Peter was not the first to call us a royal priesthood. In fact, it was God who spoke those words to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai when He gave them the Torah. He said, “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine: and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” How could God speak this at Mount Sinai to all the people when He said that only the Levites would be priests? And what about us today who are not Jews? Well, for us, we have been grafted into Israel, so everything that God spoke to them and promised them we inherit when we accept the atoning work of Yeshua. But for the Jews, who God was speaking to, He was referring to those who one day would be seen in Messiah Yeshua, and when Peter was speaking on the Day of Pentecost, he was referring to what God spoke of on that first Pentecost, that those who would be in Messiah Yeshua would be the priesthood. But Yeshua was not a High Priest like Aaron, but as we see in the book of Hebrews, Yeshua is a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. So who is Melchizedek?

Melchizedek

To know Melchizedek, we have to go back to Abraham. There was a war between the kings of the area. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, was taken captive. When Abraham heard this, he gathered all his servants and went to rescue Lot. God gave Abraham victory, and as he was returning from the battle, Abraham meets Melchizedek. Moses tells us that Melchizedek was the king of Salem and that he was the priest of the Most High God. The Psalmist writes in this Messianic psalm, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek'” (Psalm 110:4). Years later, the writer of Hebrews tells us that Melchizedek, whose name means righteousness, was without father or mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he abides a priest perpetually.

Now, in this newsletter we are not going to debate if this was Yeshua or if this was a heavenly high priest and Yeshua became a high priest in his order. But what we learn is that in God’s sanctuary, the priesthood exists and we who are in Messiah Yeshua now become part of that priesthood serving at God’s altar. We are now priests of Melckizedek, priests of righteousness.

The Priests of Melchizedek

We saw in the last newsletter that the Aaronic priests wore vestments of sanctity, which were garments of holiness, garments of glory, garments which were like the fullness of the Lord. We too have garments to wear. As we compare our garments with theirs, you will see that our garments are not like theirs, for our garments are spiritual, for we worship at a tabernacle not built with human hands. “For we are living stones being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua, the Anointed One” (1 Peter 2:5). When we accept Yeshua then we become part of the Kingdom, and as servants of the Kingdom, we must live according to the ways of the Kingdom. One of these ways is that we are to serve God in His sanctuary. Remember, God told Moses to make the sanctuary exactly like the one he saw in heaven. That means we, as priests of the heavenly sanctuary, must also serve according to God’s ways.

Righteousness

The priests wore an ephod, robe, tunic, and a sash. Scripture tells us that we are to robe ourselves in righteousness. We see in Revelation that the righteous are clothed in white linen which represents their righteous acts. So what is righteousness? Righteousness is when we comprehend holy principles and live by them. It’s purity of heart, conforming one’s heart to Divine law. Righteousness is justice, honesty, virtue with holy affection. Righteousness is being free from guilt and sin in accordance to Divine law. Righteousness is obtained only in Yeshua, for our righteousness is as filthy rags. God’s sanctuary is all about holiness and purity. We see this in the Book of Zechariah. This book speaks about the Messianic Age. The book starts with a call to repentance, much like John the Baptist who preceded Yeshua. Without repentance, one can not minister before the Lord. The Psalmist writes, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully.” As we see in chapter 2 of Zechariah, the people are told to flee Babylon, which stands for the world and its ways. This is important because we can not serve two masters. We must forsake the world and be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We are to place our minds on things above, not on things below.

Then in chapter 3, we see Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord. This is such great insight into the spiritual realm. Joshua was clothed in filthy rags (sin) and those rags were removed. Scripture tells us that we are to take off the old man of corruption. We are to put off things like anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, immorality, impurity, evil desires, greed, and idolatry and put on the new man of righteousness, being clothed now in Yeshua, for our lives are now hidden in Him. It’s no longer I who lives, but Yeshua who lives in me. Joshua is told, “See I have removed your iniquity and clothed you with festive robes.” You see, when we repent and return to God’s ways, He then removes our filthy rags, which is our sin, and He then clothes us in clean garments of holiness and righteousness which are the festive robes, much like garments of the Bride and Bridegroom.

If you remember, we saw that these garments of splendor referred to the garments of the bridegroom. These are the garments of the priesthood. These are the garments of the service of the Lord. Scripture tells us that when the Bridegroom (Yeshua) comes for the Bride (the redeemed), the bride will be clothed in these festive garments. They will be white linen (purity) and they will be without spot or wrinkle, blameless and holy, now washed clean in the blood of Yeshua. He is our covering that we put on. It is His righteousness that we wear. We also see from the book of Zechariah that standing before God was also the accuser of the brethren. So serving at the altar of God can also include an encounter with the accuser of our soul. So our garments are holy and festive, but also garments of a warrior, for our service to the Lord requires us to fight a spiritual battle as well as doing the work of the Kingdom. We are going to take a closer look at these Garments of Righteousness.

The Breastplate

The breastplate worn by the priest was worn over the chest. We see that this covered his heart. This was also called the Breastplate of Judgment. Scripture tells us that we are to guard our hearts. It’s our hearts that lie and are deceitful. It is our hearts that the enemy of our soul wishes to have control over. So when battling the enemy, we are to put on the breastplate of righteousness. It is our protection, guarding our hearts. The heart is the center of our emotions. It is with the heart that we love or we hate, we forgive or we resent, we judge or we show mercy. We are to judge according to righteousness. We are to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience like we would put on clothing. We are to wrap ourselves in these virtues and live by them daily. When we live by these virtues, our hearts are protected from the accusing finger of the enemy.

The Head Covering

The priest wore a head covering that also included a head piece. We too are to cover our heads. We are to put on salvation as our covering. Part of the Armor of God is the helmet of salvation. This is to protect our minds. Paul tells us that we are to pray about everything and not to be anxious, for then the peace of God will guard our minds and hearts. We are to think about only good things, things of good repute, things that are honorable and lovely, that are true and right; and we are to put our thoughts on heavenly things, not on things of this world because Yeshua, our salvation, has delivered us from sin and death. God has now brought us out of darkness into His light. By dwelling on what is good, we will not allow the seeds of sin to grow in our hearts. Protecting our minds is protecting our hearts!

On the head piece was written “Holy to the Lord,” and we too have the name of Yeshua written on our foreheads. The Aaronic priest would give a blessing in which he would raise his hands and form them like the letter Shem which stands for The Name; God said, “I will put My name upon My people.” We find that Yeshua, right before He ascended back to heaven, lifted up His hands and blessed them. When He did this, He was actually putting His name upon them through the priestly blessing.

Covering one’s head speaks of humility. I know that Paul, in Corinthians, speaks of this, that if a man prays with his head covered he disgraces himself. But my opinion is if a man disgraces himself by covering his head when he prays, then God has led His people into disgrace for God had the priests all cover their heads and Yeshua Himself covered His head when He prayed. In fact, Paul covered his head when he prayed because he himself said that he kept Torah to the letter. In Zechariah we see that after the filthy rags were taken off Joshua the high priest that he was given a clean turban. So once again, if this was true, God would not have had His priests cover their heads. But what we need to understand is that Paul spoke and taught according to rabbinic thinking. What Paul was talking about was that a man was to be a covering for his wife and not vice versa. We see this in Ephesians that the husband was to be the head of the wife to sanctify her. Again, Paul refers to the fact that he was speaking in reference to Yeshua who is the head or the covering of the redeemed.

Humility, which the head covering represents, is what we are to strive toward. The writer writes, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.” You see, God is a holy God and we are to enter into His presence with humility.

The Sash

The sash was worn around the middle. We too have a sash that we wear, it is better known as truth. We are to put on truth as part of the Armor of God. Scripture tells us that God would send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. So when we are led by the Spirit and walk with the Spirit, we are walking in truth and righteousness. Without truth we cannot enter the Kingdom of God, for Yeshua said that He was the way to eternal life and that way was walking in truth. Of course, we know that Yeshua is the Word and the Word is truth. The middle of our body is the center of gravity to us. We are securely planted when the middle of the body is straight. So placing truth around our middle, which is the center of gravity, means that we will be balanced and we will not fall. It is like the foundation of a building: if the foundation is good then the building will stand straight and tall and will not topple over. This is what truth is to us when we put truth on as our sash around our middle; we will stand straight and tall and not topple over.

Gospel Shoes

Of course, we can’t forget the Scripture that says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” Again, setting our minds on what is good protects our minds and hearts and the beginning of that good news is repentance; if we repent, turn from our sins, and take off those dirty garments of the old man and put on the new man, the clean white garments, clothing ourselves in Yeshua, being covered by His blood, living in newness of life which is righteousness, and wearing the breast piece that covers our hearts and putting on salvation on our heads, walking in humility with the Name of Yeshua on our foreheads, with truth around our middle, this will give us a picture of who we are in Yeshua as we stand before God at His altar. This is what the Gospel is all about! These are the shoes that we are to walk in. Without these garments we can not stand before God. If there is something not right in our lives, we must make it right. Yeshua said, “If your brother has anything against you leave your gift at the altar and go make things right first.” God is a holy God and we too are to be holy, bringing praise and renown to His Name.

Are you wearing the vestments of the priesthood? Are your garments white and clean? Maybe you did not realize that we are to minister to God daily at His altar. People think that we can come as we are; well, that’s true when you first come to find Yeshua as your Lord and Savior, but then He cleanses you and gives you the garments of the priesthood. Today, if your garments are soiled, quickly stop where you are and repent, turn back to truth and righteousness, and Yeshua, who is our faithful High Priest who lives to make intercession on our part, will take those filthy garments off of you and give you the clean garments of the priesthood, the garments of service. He will welcome you to His altar where you can come and minister to Him in His presence once again.

The last several months, we have been looking at the priesthood. This month we want to look at the duties of the priests. It is important for us to understand the tabernacle (which later became a permanent structure called the temple) and the priesthood so we, as believers in Yeshua, can understand how we are to live and how we are to worship. When we study the duties of the priesthood, we will see that it leads to the path of worship. The earthly temple may be gone, but the heavenly one is not and as priests we must serve in the heavenly temple. When we think of the priests, we generally think of the sacrifices, but that was only part of what they did. The priests were responsible for the upkeep of the temple. So we are going to take a closer look at the duties of the priesthood and see if we may have the same duties as they did; and to do this, we must look at the different parts of the temple.

The Outer Court

For this study, we will be looking at the tabernacle which was in the wilderness at the time of Moses, but there is little difference between the tabernacle and the temple. Upon entering the gate of the tabernacle, one would arrive at the outer court. It is here at the gate that our worship begins. The Psalmist writes, “Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.” The Psalmist also writes, “How lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord.” And how are we to enter in but with thanksgiving and praise? The gate or the door into the tabernacle is very significant because Yeshua said that He was the Door (gate) and there is no other way to enter in except through Him. Yeshua said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” The gate was the only way into the tabernacle.

The curtains of the outer court were made of fine white linen and were seven-and-a-half feet tall. The linen curtains speak of the robes of righteousness the bride of Yeshua will wear on her wedding day. Remember, we saw that these robes were worn also by the priests and they were called garments of splendor, beauty, and glory.

When surveying the outer court, you would see the Bronze Altar and the Bronze Laver. The outer court was the place for atonement, worship, and cleansing in preparation to meet God. The altar of sacrifice, as it was also known, was made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze, which is a picture of Yeshua bearing the sins of man on the cross. The blood of the sacrifices was poured out upon the ground at the base of the altar, which was a picture of the shedding of Yeshua’s blood being poured out for us. The altar was the place where the people came to draw near to God. We see this throughout the Torah that God’s people, like Noah and the Patriarchs, would build an altar and sacrifice to God for one reason or another; but through this they would draw near to God. It was only through their sacrifices that they could draw near to God. Their sins had to be atoned for. Scripture tells us that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood.

The two types of basic sacrifices were the sin offering and the peace offerings (which not only included the peace offerings, but also the grain offerings and burnt offerings). Since Yeshua, we no longer need to bring a sin offering because it is through the blood of Yeshua that we can now draw near to God. His atoning sacrifice for our sins was once and for all. Now, we cannot confuse the sin offering with repentance. We still need to turn from our sins. Paul writes In Romans 6:1-2, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not saved by the law but by grace? May it never be!” He also says, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment.” Sin separates us from God, but repentance brings us back into that right standing with Him. Isaiah writes, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, though your sins are scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool if you consent and obey.”

Bronze Laver

This is what the Bronze Laver represents: sanctification. Sanctification is an ongoing process. It is the process of being cleansed from sin initially when we accept Yeshua’s sacrifice for us, but then it is a continual cleansing of our sins when we confess them before God. The Bronze Laver was a large basin for ceremonial washing. It was made of bronze and mounted on a base and lined with mirrors which the Israelite women donated to the building of the Tabernacle. Could this be what James meant when he said that we are to be doers of the Word and not just hearers? For anyone who just hears the Word and does not do it is like a man who looks into a mirror and then forgets what he looks like. When Yeshua prayed for His disciples He prayed, “Father sanctify them in the truth: Thy Word is truth.” It is by Yeshua’s blood we are cleansed initially, but it is in the keeping of His word that we remain clean. The sword of the Spirit, which is part of our defense against the evil one, is the Word of God and Scripture tells us, “He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” We are to continually renew our minds through the Word of God. The priests bathed their entire bodies in the laver when they were ordained, but after that, they only washed their hands and feet before going into the Tabernacle so that they would not die. The tabernacle was a place of holiness and so the priests were to remain in a state of cleanliness when offering the sacrifices. Yeshua tells His disciples that they have already been made clean because of the Word and only their feet needed to be washed. What did Yeshua mean by this? When we accept Yeshua’s sacrifice (the lamb for the sin offering) on our behalf, and we repent of our sins (that is, a heartfelt turning away from what is opposed to God’s Word), living by the whole Word of God’s counsel, we are totally washed by His blood, as if we ourselves went to the Bronze Laver. We are cleansed. But as we go day by day, we stumble, we fall, and we may drift away; so we need to be cleansed from our actions which are represented by our feet. Our feet can lead us to do good or to do bad, as it is written in Romans, “Their feet are swift to shed blood,” and again, “How beautiful are the feet of him who brings good news.” We are to make straight paths for our feet.

You see, accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice on our behalf should make us broken and contrite to think that a holy God loved us so much that He took our place, He took our punishment. So that should lead us to the peace offering or the thanksgiving offering, which it can also be called. A peace offering was always made with the sin offering. You see, true repentance will always lead us to true thanksgiving. The Psalmist writes, “To Thee I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the name of the Lord.” True repentance bears the “fruit of repentance” which are our righteous deeds, represented by our white garments. No longer do we do those dead works and ungodly deeds. The writer of the Book of Hebrews tells us, “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Messiah, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God.” The Word of God is alive and active; it is a two edged sword and when we read God’s Word and apply it to our lives, then the Word cleanses us because it changes us. So we see the Laver represents the waters of baptism. Paul continues to write in Romans 6:2 after he says that we should not continue in sin, “How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Messiah Yeshua have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

The Laver represents water, the waters of life. John writes, “This is the One who came by water and by blood, Yeshua the Messiah.” And again, “For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.” We have seen that the outer court consists of the gate which leads to life and the altar which leads us to the wells of salvation. Why the wells of salvation? Because salvation is redemption and when we repent of sin and turn from our ways, then we are redeemed based on Yeshua’s sacrifice and His shed blood which cleanses us from our sin. The songwriter writes, “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stain.” We see then that our duty as priests is first to be holy and righteous in Yeshua. Next, we must assist others as they draw near to God, leading them to repentance and accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice on their behalf.

So now that the Temple is not here, does that mean we no longer have sacrifices? Let’s take a closer look.

Today‘s Sacrifices of the Priesthood

When the Temple was destroyed, the sages had to figure out what would replace the sacrifices. Well, the morning and evening prayers always coincided with the morning and evening sacrifices. So they figured that would still remain. The three things that replaced the sacrifices were then teshuvah (repentance), tzedakah (righteous deeds, charity), and tephillin (prayer), all three representing the sacrifices, all three steps of holiness. The period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called the High Holy Days. It is a time to consider your deeds. It is a time for teshuvah, tzedakah, and tephillin. It is believed, traditionally, that on Rosh Hashanah the books are opened in heaven and this is the time for us to be sure that our names are written in the Book of Life before they are closed at the end of Yom Kippur. There is so much written in God’s Word about these subjects, so we will only briefly look at all three. We have already looked at repentance, so now we are going to look at only one righteous deed, for there are so many. We are going to look at charity.

Charity

Tzedakah is the Hebrew word for righteous. When we repent of our sins, then we go from doing dead works to righteous deeds, one being giving. Paul talks about charity. In Philippians he says, “But I received everything in full, and have abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice.” For the disciples of Yeshua, charity is not an option. Yeshua placed great emphasis on the commandment of charity; many of His parables and teachings centered on this important topic. In fact, Yeshua taught that if someone asks of you, you are to give to him and do not turn him away. We are commanded especially to give to those who cannot repay us. He taught that our money is not our own, but that it belongs to God, and we cannot serve two masters. He told the rich, young ruler to sell all he had and give it to the poor and then come follow Him. Paul tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. But when we give, we should do it in secret not letting our right hand know what our left hand is doing. The sages taught that there are nine levels of charity. Yeshua and His disciples would have known this teaching, for they taught from the same nine steps.

Living Sacrifices

Scripture tells us that we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of worship. You see, as true disciples of Yeshua, we too must lay down our lives as He did. He is our example. Yeshua said that we are to follow Him. Scripture makes it clear that if we choose to save our lives we will lose them, but if we choose to lose our lives then we will save them. As priests, we must lay down our lives on the altar of God and let God consume us. You see, the sacrificial altar now represents Yeshua and we are to lay our lives upon Him. Scripture tells us, “It is no longer I who lives but Messiah Yeshua who lives in me.” Our lives are now hidden in Him. Yeshua was the perfect Lamb of God. He was without blemish, which was required by God’s law, and we too are to be without spot or wrinkle as we lay our lives down upon the altar. Is this not the Bride that Yeshua is coming back for? There is no other way to get into God’s presence unless we enter in through the gate (door), Yeshua, and then first stop at the altar, laying our lives down, crucifying the flesh, submitting to God’s will, not ours, and then off to the Laver to be washed and to drink from the wells of salvation. You see, our lives, every moment that we live, is worship to God. True worship to God is not through ceremonial rituals. This was Paul’s main argument. True worship to God is from the heart that is totally surrendered to God which leads to total devotion. So everything that we say or do must be done in the name of the Lord, giving glory to Him with praise and worship and adoration. This begins our path of worship. This begins our duties in serving God.

Next month we will be looking at the holy place as we continue our path to worship. Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on September 12th which begins the High Holy Days which go till Yom Kippur September 22nd. Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? If not, why not consider your deeds and repent? Give your life over to Yeshua and begin to walk in newness of life. Maybe you have already accepted Yeshua as your Lord and Savior, but you are not walking holy and blameless. Maybe Yeshua is not really the center of your life or maybe you have not yet crucified the flesh; then repent, consider your deeds and turn for the good. We all need to stop at the Laver daily and be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us of our sins.

Last month we began looking at the duties of the priesthood in the Tabernacle and how they relate to us today. We saw that the Tabernacle was a place of holiness. Upon entering God’s gates, we begin our path of worship by entering with thanksgiving in our hearts and, as we enter His courts, with praise. We first stop at the altar where Yeshua, our sacrifice for our sin, was offered up, and now He becomes the altar that we lay down our lives on as an offering to God, and then we stop at the Laver (the fountain filled with Yeshua’s blood, the fountain of eternal life) to be cleansed. We did not discuss all the vessels used for the service of the Tabernacle, but even the vessels had to be clean and holy. Paul writes to Timothy, “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel of honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” What were these things Paul was referring to? The things that are not confessed and repented of that keep a person impure and not holy, the things we need to cleanse ourselves from.

After repentance and cleansing and sacrifice, we are now ready to enter into the next section of the Tabernacle: The Holy Place, the mikdash, also known as the sanctuary, which was the exact replica of heaven’s sanctuary. God said, “Let them construct a mikdash (Holy Place) for Me, that I may dwell (shachan) among them.” This was the whole idea behind the Feast of Tabernacles, God dwelling with man. This feast represents the coming age when God will permanently dwell with man, the Bridegroom and the Bride dwelling in the bridal chamber. Scripture tells us that we are being built into a mikdash so that God may shachan with us. Shachan is the root word in shachanah, as in God’s presence. This is why the feasts are so important for us believers to celebrate. They represent and speak of God’s plan for us.

Upon entering the Holy Place, one would see the Menorah (the lamp stand) on the South, the Table of Showbread on the North, and the Altar of Incense on the West just in front of the veil into the Holy of Holies.

The Menorah

The menorah was a seven branch candlestick. It weighed about 125 pounds and it was made from a single piece of gold. The menorah actually does not have candles, but seven branches like pipes that contain olive oil fed by a single source. The menorah represents the Tree of Life. The sages called the menorah the “Light of the World.” Now, do not get this confused with the Hanukkah Menorah, which has nine branches and was designed especially for Hanukkah to celebrate the eight day miracle. The menorah was the only source of light for the Tabernacle. The priest’s duty was to trim the wicks and keep the lamp lit at all times. The menorah represented God, who is light. Yeshua said that He was the “Light of the World” in John 9:5. When Yeshua returns, He will be the Light (the menorah) in the Tabernacle as it is said in Revelation, “The Lamb will be its light.” We are to be the Light of the World. We are going to stop here for a moment and take a look at what kept the menorah lit and what it takes for us to be the “Light of the World”.

God commanded Moses to only use pure olive oil to light the menorah. That was its source. We want to take a closer look at this source.

The Olive Tree

God told Moses, “Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light, to make the lamp burn continually.” Olive trees have played a prominent role in Scripture, not only as the source of oil for the light in the Tabernacle (Temple), but the doors in the Temple were made from olive trees, as were the carved Cherubs which covered the Mercy Seat. It was at the Mount of Olives that Yeshua was taken up to heaven and where He will one day return. We, Gentile believers, have been grafted into the olive tree (Israel). We see in the Book of Zechariah the two olive trees next to the Menorah, which were the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth. These were specifically the two branches that dripped into the receptacle, the main source of the menorah. Yeshua is referred to as the Branch in Zechariah. It says, “Hear O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant, the Branch,” the Branch dripping the oil for a light to the nations.

The oil represents the Holy Spirit. The two offices of Messiah, as our High Priest and King, both were anointed with oil. The word Messiah means “anointed one.” In Revelation, we see also these two witnesses who are referred to as the two olive trees and the two menorahs that stand before the Lord of the earth. As disciples and priests, we must also be anointed with the Holy Spirit. So we are going to look at the significant relationship between the making of the oil used for the menorah and for anointing and being a disciple of Yeshua.

Squeezing Out a Disciple

To start the process of extracting the oil, the olives were crushed under a stone for thirty to forty minutes. The crushed olives were then transferred to round baskets and were placed under high pressure to squeeze out all the oil. The first pressing was the purest, and only this could be used to light the menorah. The pressing and crushing of life is in our trials and tribulations. The Psalmist writes, “For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, and Your hand has pressed down on me.” We see this when Paul refers to all things as being lost and rubbish just to know Yeshua. He says, “I press on,” giving the allusion of the olives being pressed and everything being squeezed out. Again, he writes to the Corinthians, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even our lives.” Yeshua was crushed for our iniquities. It’s through this pressing and crushing that we are made pure and holy. It’s through this that the anointing flows throughout us.

Paul writes, “And not only this, but we also exalt in our tribulations knowing that tribulations bring about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope.” James writes, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” To be the true light to the nations, we must first be pressed and crushed and made holy and righteous, not putting confidence in the flesh, but letting God work through us. It is not by power or by might, but by the Holy Spirit that we can be the “Light of the World”. It is when we walk in the Spirit that we can be that true light, for the Spirit is Truth and He is never contrary to the Word. He is the light that dispels the darkness. He is the lamp to our feet and the light to our path. He is the oil in the receptacle (the source) that lights our lamp and as priests, we too must be that menorah.

Scripture says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under a bushel, but on a lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your righteous deeds, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Let us be like the five wise virgins who had enough oil for their lamps because they were tapped into the source. As priests, we must be filled with the Light so we can lead those who are in darkness to the truth. We do not want to overlook the command that the menorah is to remain lit at all times. The menorah, the ner tamid, which means “continual light,” hangs over the Ark which houses the Torah scrolls in the synagogue. God is ever present and so His light never goes out and we too as His priests should always let our light shine, always ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us. We must be ready to preach the Word in season and out of season, never ashamed of the Gospel. We must remain sober and alert.

We see that God takes it quite seriously that we be that light. In Revelation, John writes, “And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden menorahs; and in the middle of the menorah one like a Son of Man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden girdle. And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of mighty waters. And in His right hand He held seven stars; and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength . . . as for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden menorahs: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven menorahs are the seven churches.” To the church of Ephesus He writes, “The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden menorahs says this; I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your First Love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and remove your menorah out of its place—unless you repent.”

As the assembly representing God, we must be holy and be the true light and not in any way misrepresent God who is light. If we have let the light go out or maybe our church just doesn’t have the oil any longer, then we must repent and once again light the menorah of our lives. Paul tells Timothy, “I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God (the Holy Spirit) which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” We are to kindle the fire and keep it burning (through the Holy Spirit) as this was commanded to us by the True Light. Let’s be like the five wise virgins, having our lamps ready and filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit.

We have seen that the menorah is called the Light of the World and, of course, Yeshua said that He was the Light of the World and as disciples of Yeshua, we too are the Light of the World. In Isaiah, the Temple is referred to as the Light of the World and all the nations will come to it. In fact, during the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, they would light these giant menorahs and the whole temple area would light up so that you could see the light for miles. Like a lighthouse guides ships, these menorahs would guide the pilgrims coming into the city. Isaiah also calls Jerusalem the Light of the World. And why were the temple and Jerusalem called the Light of the World? Because the Torah is called the Light of the World and Scripture tells us, “And many nations will come and say, ‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths, for from Zion will go forth the Torah, even the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Proverbs tells us, “For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light.”

Is your light shining today? Here is a little test found in 1 John: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and the Word is not in us. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His Word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him; the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked . . . The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him, But the one who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes . . . Do not love the world, or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

Remember the sequence: Thankfulness and praise, repentance and sacrifice, cleansing and light. Next on our path of worship, we will stop at the altar of showbread.

The Altar of Showbread

As we move on from the menorah, we then stop at the table of showbread. On the altar we see twelve loaves of bread. These loaves were for the twelve tribes of Israel. Every week, fresh loaves of bread are put on the table. Now, the miracle of the showbread is that this bread was eaten by all the priests who were on duty that week, about 150 men, and yet even though there were so many men that ate of the twelve loves, they ate and were satisfied. Sound familiar? Not only that, but the bread which was baked the week before was still hot and fresh as though it had just been baked. Yeshua said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst . . . Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died . . . This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever, and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.” What was Yeshua saying? He was not saying to actually eat His flesh; that was totally against Torah. But what He was saying was that He was the Bread of Life. He was comparing Himself to the manna that came down from heaven. Yeshua is the Word made flesh and we are to eat of that Word. Isaiah writes, “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance.”

Let’s stop at the table of the Lord and eat from His Word and delight in His ways as we walk in the light of His Word.

Last month, we looked at the Menorah and the Table of Showbread, also known as the Table of the Bread of Presence. When confronted with the task of feeding the five thousand, Yeshua tells His disciples that they should feed the people. Yeshua tells Peter, “If you love Me, feed My sheep.” So we see that as priests we must be light in the darkness and lead the people to Yeshua and we are to feed the sheep not only with actual bread, but with the Bread of Life. So we want to continue on our path of worship. As we leave the Table of Showbread, after we have feasted at God’s table and our hearts are well-satisfied and we have drunk from the wells of salvation, cleansed and walking in the Light, now we can approach the Altar of Incense.

The Altar of Incense

With the assurance that God is Light and the Bread of Life, the priest approached the Altar of Incense twice a day. The altar was square and made of wood and overlaid with gold. The altar sat in front of the veil that concealed the Holy of Holies. The priest would take fiery coals from the Bronze Altar, the altar upon which the sacrifices were burned. They would take the fiery coals from the Tamid Sacrifices (the Morning and Afternoon sacrifices, which were the two continual sacrifices that burned on the altar) and then they would light the incense which was a special blend, according to God’s specification, upon the Incense Altar. Like all things with the tabernacle, it had to be done exactly as God had spoken. We see in Leviticus that Aaron’s two sons offered “strange fire” before the Lord and they were struck dead. God’s ways must be kept and remember, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. There is no new way with God. His tabernacle has not changed.

The incense, which was a special blend, was a sweet aroma which was pleasing to God, and the smoke from the incense went straight up like a pillar of smoke, going straight up to heaven. The incense was offered during the time when the menorah was cleaned, refueled, rewicked, and rekindled. We see that incense was one of the gifts of the Magi to the Baby Yeshua. At the end of the Sabbath during the Havdalah Service, the spice jar is passed around and as you smell the sweet aroma, it is a reminder to us believers of the sweet fragrance of Yeshua. Because there is no temple, the making of the anointing oil and the incense according to God’s specifications is forbidden. So if we can no longer anoint with the specific blend God requires and we can no longer offer up incense, then like the sacrifices, does everything come to a stop? No, because God’s tabernacle in heaven still operates. We saw what replaced the sacrifices and now we will look at what replaced the offering of the incense: prayer.

Scripture tells us in Luke that the multitudes of people were in prayer at the time of the incense offering. This was because of the morning and afternoon prayer which were said during these times. We see in Revelation that the prayers of the believers went up to heaven like the incense which rose straight up from the altar. We want to look at prayer and the different types.

Liturgical Prayer

Liturgical prayers come from the Siddur (prayer book) and were, and still are, the common prayers of the day. Yeshua and His disciples said these prayers, and even the early believers did up to about the 5th Century. Though we see in the Catholic Church that these types of prayers are still common, those are not the prayers that Yeshua said. We want to start with the Morning and Evening prayers (the evening prayers are said in the late afternoon). They were, and still are, said today. The Morning Prayer is called Shacharis and the Afternoon Prayer is called Minchah. We find in Genesis 19 that Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he stood before the Lord. So we see Abraham starting the tradition of the Morning Prayer, the Shacharis, by going to the same spot early in the morning. The Afternoon Prayer, the Minchah, was traditionally started by Jacob. Genesis 24 tells us that Jacob went out to meditate in the field toward evening before sunset. We see in 1 Kings 18 that Elijah waited until right before the time of the evening sacrifice before he built the altar on Mt. Carmel, so when the time came for the evening sacrifice he placed the offering upon the altar and God so miraculously consumed the water and the sacrifice and the altar. We see Daniel praying the Afternoon Prayers on top of his roof. And most importantly, we see Yeshua placed upon the cross at the time of the morning sacrifice/morning prayer and He died at the time of the afternoon sacrifice, the time of the afternoon prayer. If we look at the lives of the Apostles and believers, we see them also continuing this tradition of meeting in the Temple for Morning Prayer. So let’s take a closer look at these two prayers that replaced the Tamid sacrifices, the continual burnt offering.

Morning Prayer

The Morning Prayer starts with “How godly are Your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel. O Lord, through Your abounding faithful love I come into Your house, and reverently I worship You in Your holy sanctuary. I love being in Your house, the place where Your glory resides. Here I bow down to worship You, my Lord and my Maker. Accept my prayer, O Lord, and answer with Your great mercy and with Your saving truth. How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! I long, yes, I pine for the courts of the Lord; my heart joyfully sings to the living God. One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will pursue, That I may live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the graciousness of the Lord and to enter His sanctuary. Teach me Your ways, O Lord, and lead me in the right path. With You is the fountain of life, in Your light do we see light.” We see here that the prayer is going through those steps of worship, entering the gates with thanksgiving and praise, stopping at the fountain of life, the Laver, and entering into the Holy Place and seeing God’s light, His truth. The prayer continues with the daily Scripture, which is the light. Upon hearing God’s Word, the Shema is said, which is a declaration that there is only one God and we will serve Him with all of our hearts and life and strength, and we will teach our children to do the same. After this, Kaddish is said; this is a declaration of God’s glory and holiness. And finally, the Amidah is said, which are the Eighteen Benedictions.

The Afternoon Prayer

The afternoon prayer starts with Kaddish, blessing God’s Name, and then the Shema. On Mondays and Thursdays, part of the weekly Torah portion is read. Again the Eighteen Benedictions are recited, but then we pray for God’s protection as we lay down for the night. We end our prayer with Psalm 134 and Psalm 121, followed by the Aaronic Benediction: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” We sing a song after the Morning and Afternoon prayer. We do not know how much of the Morning and Afternoon prayer, as said today, was said in the time of Yeshua, but we do know that parts of the Eighteen Benedictions go as far back as King David.

Then there are the prayers said during the different feasts and Sabbaths; of course, there are liturgical prayers from Scripture like the Psalms and we can not forget Yeshua’s prayer which is a shortened form of the Amidah, The Eighteen Benedictions, which we call the Lord’s Prayer. But what about the prayers we say from the heart?

Praying From the Heart

Praying from the heart is exactly that, from our hearts. Everything we say in prayer should be from the heart whether it is traditional prayer or any other type of prayer. In fact, everything we do pertaining to God should be done wholeheartedly. God said that when we seek Him with all of our hearts, we will find Him. We are to pray without ceasing. We are to pray with faith and never doubting, trusting God to hear us and answer us. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

There are different types of prayers; there are supplications, intercessions, petitions and requests; in fact, everything we do in life is our prayer to God. Paul tells us that we are to lay down our lives, which is our spiritual worship. Everything we say and do we are to do in the Name of the Lord Yeshua, because it is our prayer, our priestly service before God. Paul writes to Timothy, “I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men. For kings and all who are in positions of authority . . . .” He goes on, “For such praying is good and right and pleasing to God, who wishes all men to be saved and increasingly to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the divine truth: that there is only one God and only one Mediator between God and men, the man Yeshua the Messiah . . . Therefore I want men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.”

We, as the Priesthood, have an obligation to pray for one another and for those who are perishing, that all may be saved. We must pray for the Body of Yeshua, for when one suffers, we all suffer and don’t forget that there are believers all over the world today who are suffering for the name of Yeshua. We must pray for our government, not with hate and anger, but that we, as a nation, will live under the Divine Laws of the One True God.

All of our prayers are to be accompanied by thanksgiving. Why? Because all of the burnt offerings were to be followed by a Thanksgiving Offering. When we receive God’s forgiveness, it should cause us to be thankful. Yeshua told a story about two men who had debts which they owed—one a large debt, the other a smaller debt. He asks His disciples which one will be more thankful, and they said the one with the larger debt; and so we should be thankful that Yeshua took our sins upon Himself and when we repent of our sins we are then forgiven. Remember, to light the Incense Altar, they took the coals from the morning and evening burnt offerings, the continual offerings, which should make us think of the time that Yeshua hung on the cross.

Prayer and worship are so closely related to the Tabernacle that it is hard to believe that as Christians we negate the laws that surround it. What we forget is that the heavenly Temple is still in operation and the earthly one with all of its laws and regulations was taken from the heavenly Temple. God is a God of detail; He is not only concerned about detail regarding His Temple, but He is concerned about every detail of our lives. God is also Just and Righteous and we see this in the fact that our prayers can be hindered because of our hearts’ condition.

Hindered Prayer

Now, if our prayers are associated with the Incense Altar which is connected to the burnt offerings, then we see that if we have sin in our lives, our prayers can be hindered. For example, if a husband is not living in a right relationship with his wife, this could hinder his prayers. Yeshua tells us that if someone has a grievance against us we are to leave our offering at the altar and go make things right.

What altar was Yeshua talking about? Well, you may say the altar at the Temple, but would that then apply to us? If not, then the concept of forgiveness would not apply to us either. Or maybe it was for those believers at the time; but then, if Yeshua is our example, should we disregard the things He says? Or maybe the process of worship is the same yesterday, today and forever. One day the Temple will return, but for now, the heavenly Temple still is in operation, and before we can come to God with our sacrifice of praise or even our monetary offerings, we must first make things right between us and our neighbor. If we harbor bitterness or unforgiveness, our prayers will be hindered. We must first humble ourselves and see the need to repent and stop at the altar and lay that sin down. It is as though we are stopping at the cross of Calvary, for the altar and the cross are one and the same. Then we can go to the Laver and be washed by the blood of Yeshua; in so doing we are walking in the light of God’s Word; in other words, our lives must line up with God’s Word. Then we can have fellowship with Him, feasting at His table. From there, we can stop at the Incense Altar and bring our requests and prayers before God. This is a process that we must go through. There is only one path of worship and this is it. Yes, Yeshua died for our sins, but we must still examine our hearts and go through the process. Scripture tells us that a man should examine himself before communion. But it goes on to say, “But if we judge ourselves rightly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world.” God is a holy God and so we are to be holy and when it comes to entering into God’s presence, we must be without sin, and if we deceive ourselves, that will only hinder our prayers.

Trusting God

When we have done all that we can do, then the Bible tells us to stand believing. Waiting on God is the essence to all prayer. The Bible tells us to ask and keep on asking and then you shall receive. It is in waiting on God that we grow in perseverance and in character. It is in this waiting and trusting God that the fragrance, the aroma of our prayers becomes more pleasing to God. The true worship of God is found in relying on our Father to be exactly that—our Father—knowing that He will never leave us or fail us. Now, does this mean that we will receive everything that we ask for? No. But this does mean that God will give us what we need and what will be good for us. Only a loving Father can do this. So when we lift up holy hands and praise the One true God, let us always remember that it is through Yeshua our Messiah that we are able to come and offer up our prayers and requests to God our Father. He made the way for us to be forgiven.

Next we are going to look at the veil, which was torn on our behalf so that we can now come into the Holy of Holies.

We have been looking at the priesthood and the Temple over the past year. We began the year with Yeshua clearing out the Temple and making a severe warning. We have seen that as believers, we are called to be a royal priesthood and in so doing we must follow the ways of the Temple. We have seen that there is an order of worship that needs to be followed. We have entered the Temple with thanksgiving and its courts with praise. We have stopped at the altar and, as Yeshua laid down His life, so we too lay down our lives. Because of the offering of Yeshua, we now can repent of our sins and be forgiven. We can be washed in the blood of the Lamb at the Laver. We then may enter into the Holy Place and feast at the table of the Lord and eat of the finest of wheat (God’s Word) so we walk in the light of God’s Word. From there, we come with the fire of our offering and light the incense of our prayers that go up to God. But now we must stop at the veil.

The Temple Veil

The veil separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Behind the veil sat the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat. The veil concealed the Presence of God. The High Priest was permitted to pass through the veil and entered the Holy of Holies once a year on Yom Kippur. Exodus tells us that, “All the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen.” Two cherubs were woven into the veil.

Miriam and the Temple Veil

The following is a story about Miriam the mother of Yeshua. Now this story is taken from a non-canonical gospel, so we can only look at the following in the light of history, and even maybe as a fictional event. In the days before Yeshua’s birth, King Herod the Great was involved in remodeling the Temple. The craftsmen and builders completed the renovation inside and out without disrupting the Temple service. There is a reference in the Book of John where it tells us that it took forty-six years to build the Temple. That would place the beginning of the remodeling project about a decade before the birth of Yeshua. Part of the remodeling project required the creation of new fabrics for the curtains and veils (the front veil and the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies). According to the apocryphal gospel Protoevangelium of James, which was a third century pseudepigraphical gospel, Miriam (the mother of Yeshua) was one of the women chosen to work on the veils; and there was a council of priests, saying, “Let us make a veil for the Temple of the Lord.” And the priest said, “Call to me the undefiled virgins of the family of David.” And the officers went away, and sought, and found seven virgins. And the priest remembered the child Mary, that she was of the family of David and undefiled before God. And the officers went away and brought her. And they brought them all into the Temple of the Lord. And the priest said, “Choose for me by lot who shall spin the gold, and the white, and the scarlet, and the true purple.” And the true purple and the scarlet fell to the lot of Mary (Protoevangelium James 10).

Within this same gospel is the story of the miraculous conception and miraculous birth of Mary, the girlhood of Mary, her betrothal to Joseph, and the miraculous conception and birth of Yeshua. The Orthodox Jewish scholar Samuel Safrai has suggested that Protoevangelium James might contain some historically based, non-canonical traditions about those events. Specifically, he points to the tradition of Miriam weaving the veil for the Temple. He deems it may possibly contain a kernel of historical truth because it has a direct parallel in the Tosefta Shekalim: “Women used to weave the veils of the Temple… and they were paid from monies donated to the Temple” (Tosefta Shekalim). Thanks to Protoevangelium James, church artwork depicts Mary, before the birth of Yeshua, almost always with a bolt of scarlet cloth. Miriam may have been employed to weave together the fabrics for the Temple at the same time God was choosing her to be used so that Yeshua the living Temple could become the veil; to quote the Psalmist, “Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb.” In Hebrews it says, “The veil, that is, His flesh….” Yeshua is the veil and when He died, the very same veil that His mother may have woven was torn in half so that all who accepted Him may go in.

Tis the Season to Remember Yeshua in the Holy of Holies

We are told that in the Garden of Eden, God dwelt with Adam and Eve and He walked amongst them. How He exactly did that we are not sure. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were cast out from the Presence of God, but God would one day again walk among men. The Lord said to Moses, “Let them construct a sanctuary (a Mikdash, a holy place) to My Name, and I will make My Shechinah (Presence) dwell among them.” The word for dwell, shachan, is also at the root of the word Mishkan, Tabernacle. Yeshua is the Tabernacle; He is the Shachan, the Presence.

The Holy of Holies was the place where God’s Presence resided. Behind the veil in the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place as it was also called the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was symbolic of the Throne room of God. Yeshua is the Mikdash, the Holy Place, for He is the Holy One. The Tabernacle was to be both a holy place and a dwelling place. As we have seen, the Tabernacle teaches us about Messiah. God required a holy place to dwell among His people; so too Yeshua needed a holy place to dwell, and that place was a human body. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory (shechinah), as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” So, to literally translate this verse, it should read, “And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us.” When God spoke to Moses to build the Tabernacle, the Targum Yonaton on Exodus 25:22 says of the Tabernacle, “I will appoint My Memra (Word) to meet you there.” Messiah fulfills these Scriptures literally. He dwelt among us in His physical body, a Sanctuary for God, a dwelling among man. Remember, Yeshua said, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” It was no coincidence that Yeshua was born during the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.

As the priesthood, we too are the Temple of the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit dwells within us and we too must be holy. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul reminds us of this. In 2 Corinthians 6:15-16, Paul says, “Or what harmony has Yeshua with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the Temple of God with idols?” For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God. And they shall be My people.” Holiness (to be set-apart) is mandated to have God dwell within us. John writes, “Fellowship with the world is enmity toward God.”

As the world celebrates the birth of Yeshua, let us remember His holiness (the Holy of Holies) and the miracle of the Word clothing itself within humanity (the veil).

The Ark of the Covenant

The Ark was almost 4 feet long and 2 1/4 feet high and 2 1/4 feet deep and inside the Ark was the Torah (the spoken Word of God, who is Yeshua), a jar of manna (the Bread of life, who is Yeshua), and Aaron’s budded rod (the authority and fruitfulness of the priesthood of believers who are in Yeshua). The Ark was so holy that only the tribe of Levi could carry it. After Aaron’s sons were struck down because they lit strange fire before the Lord, God told Moses that Aaron and his sons could only enter into the Most Holy Place once a year (Yom Kippur) and then they had to make atonement for themselves and the people. Maintaining holiness requires boundaries. If a holy space is treated like normal space, it loses its sanctity. So on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies and he would sprinkle the blood of the sin offering upon it.

The cover of the Ark is called Kaporet which comes from the word Kaphar which means “to cover” or “to atone.” Upon the Ark sat the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat is the place of atonement. Two winged cherubim covered it with outstretched wings again, a picture of Heaven with the two cherubim before the throne of God. It was here at the Mercy Seat that God spoke to Moses. Thank God through our Lord Yeshua that He has entered in behind the veil with His own blood as the sacrifice once and for all, and now He has become our Great High Priest who lives to make intercession on our behalf!

Hush, God is Present

When we entered into the first veil or door of the Tabernacle/Temple, we entered with thanksgiving and praise, shouting and celebrating; but when we entered into the last veil, we entered in with silence. Entering into the Most Holy Place was done with awe and reverence. In fact, they would tie a rope around the priest on Yom Kippur so if he would die in the Presence of God, they could pull him out because otherwise they would not be able to enter in to retrieve him. All that the priest would say at that time was God’s Most Holy Name. Scripture repeatedly says that we must enter in with a hush. Habakkuk 2:20 says, “But the Lord is in His Holy Temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” Zechariah 2:13 says, “Be silent all flesh before the Lord, for He is aroused from His Holy Habitation.” Zephaniah 1:7 says, “Be silent in the Presence of the Lord.” This is an element that we Christians miss. Scripture tells us that we may come into God’s presence with boldness and so we think that we can just barge in on a Holy God. Yes, we can come before God with a confidence because of the sacrifice of Yeshua; in other words, God will not strike us dead if we come before Him. But we must still enter in with a hush.

If we go through the process of entering in with thanksgiving and praise, and we stop at the altar in which Yeshua laid down His life and we too lay down ours by humbling ourselves, crucifying the flesh, and we confess our sins, then going to the Laver we are washed in the blood of Yeshua and receive forgiveness, we then can enter in and feast at the Table of the Lord and eat from the Bread of Life, letting the Word abide in us, placing the Word in our hearts so that we will not sin again which will cause us to walk in the light of the Menorah, Yeshua, and bring our prayers to the Altar of Incense and then come into the Presence of God, quietly, waiting for God to speak to us. All too often Christians do not wait on the Lord to speak to them. All too often our prayers are hindered because of sin and we never are allowed to enter in because of our sins. We forgot to stop and repent. Before we enter into Communion at church—which is fellowship with God—we must examine ourselves and repent of our sins, so why do we not do this every time we commune with God in prayer?

There is a path to worship and we must walk on the path that leads to God. As priests we must do our priestly duties as it is done in heaven. God spoke to Moses and told him to make the Tabernacle exactly like heaven, and the priests were to minister exactly like it is done in heaven. We can not say that the Tabernacle/Temple was just for the Jews. Ezekiel, Zechariah, and many of the prophets spoke of the end times and they refer to the Temple in the Messianic Days. In fact, it says that all the nations will come up for the Feast of Tabernacles and if they don’t, God will punish them. If we will be keeping God’s Appointed Feasts in the Messianic Era including the true Sabbath, shouldn’t we be keeping them now? So too we must follow all of God’s ways now, which includes coming into His Presence with holiness and a reverence. Just think, we wouldn’t come before royalty or even into a courtroom before a judge with outbursts, but with a quietness and respect. How much more so before God Almighty!

Now We Are Ready!

When Moses saw the burning bush and went toward it, God called out to him and told him to take his sandals off for the place where he was standing was holy. Moses hid his face and was afraid to look upon God. Then God told him that He was sending him back to Egypt. When Joshua met the Captain of the Lord’s Army, he fell on his face. Then the Angel of the Lord told him what he needed to do. Isaiah, when he came into the Presence of God, said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips.” The Angel of the Lord took a coal off the altar and touched his lips. After Isaiah comes into the Presence of God he hears God say, “Whom shall I send?” And he responds, “Send me.” Time and time again when we come into God’s Presence and we are still before Him, God will speak to us and give us the answers that we need or the direction we must go. As we come before the Messiah this Holiday Season, let us come with thanksgiving and praise, but then as we come to Him, let us come believing that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Let us pause in silence and listen for that small, still voice telling us the deep truths of His Word as He calls us into His service. As priests before God, let us be holy as He is holy, ministering to Him, bringing our gifts before Him just like the wise men who brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, all of which were used in the Tabernacle. Let us bring the best gift we have, our lives, and as a royal priesthood let us be used as vessels of honor in the hand of our King, Yeshua HaMashiach.

We began a series a few years ago about the end time churches and how God calls us to repent and all the opportunities He gives us to do that. Then last year, we looked at how Yeshua clears out the moneychangers and gives a strict warning, and a look at God’s people as a royal priesthood. This year we want to begin a series looking at the second coming of Yeshua. We will begin by looking at Matthew 24-25, with the same narrative in Mark 13 which is considered to be the Eschatological Discourse.

Chapter 24 of Matthew verses 1-3 is where Yeshua predicts the destruction of the Temple and His disciples ask, “When will these things begin, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” We always hear about the “End Times,” especially in Bible-believing churches. There are those who are Pre-Tribulation and those who are Post-Tribulation and then there are those who do not even know what that all means. Well, quite frankly, no one really knows what that all means because we can not totally understand the future until it happens. But this we do know: Yeshua was speaking Hebraicly. So we are going to try to sort it all out with a Hebraic understanding.

Yeshua goes on in verses 4-5; He warns that many will come and mislead people by saying that they are the Messiah. In fact, the best known one was Simon bar Kochba who led many astray, even the chief Rabbi Akiba, by claiming to be the Messiah. Bar Kochba formed an army (remember, Messiah would come and deliver Israel from their enemies) and led a revolt which brought on the Second Jewish Revolt in the years 132-135 AD in which many Jews died. Yeshua’s prediction of the Temple being destroyed was fulfilled in 70 AD during the First Jewish Revolt, and now this great deception takes place which causes many more to die.

In verses 6-8, Yeshua goes on to say that there will be wars and rumors of wars, but don’t be frightened because these things must happen, but the end is not yet. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes; but all this is just the beginning of birth pangs. We have seen over the last century alone that war, famine, and earthquakes have come on us like labor pains and have quickly intensified. We hear so often these days, “This has been the worst storm” or flooding or whatever the natural disaster is, and it is only getting worse. We don’t understand it, so we call it global warming, but it should be called global birth pains, chevlei shel moshiach, “the birth pains of Messiah.” This terminology is from an early medieval midrash called midrash Pesiqta Rabbati. It reads: “In the year in which King Messiah will be revealed, all the kings of the nations of the world will provoke each other… And pangs will take hold of them like unto the pangs of a woman in childbirth. And Israel will tremble and fear, and they will say: ‘Where shall we come and go, where shall we come and go?'” The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah all use this imagery of a woman in labor. But this is only the beginning.

Verses 9-11 continue, “Tribulations and persecutions will come and many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another and many false prophets will arise, and mislead many.” We see this happening during the time of the apostles. Yeshua tells His disciples that because the world hated Him, that they would be hated also because of Him. All but the disciple John were martyred for their faith. Paul writes, “And indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Messiah will be persecuted.” During the time of Nero, the believers were made human torches and burned at Nero’s gatherings. They were also thrown to the lions for his entertainment. As we see in Paul’s letters, many of the believers had gone back into the world and gave up their beliefs. Paul, Peter, and John all warn their readers about false prophets that were in their day misleading the people. The Torah speaks about false prophets and when it does, it always gives a warning. John, in 1 John 4:1, says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” All throughout Scripture it warns believers to beware of false teachers, prophets, and shepherds. Paul writes, “But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

In verses 12-14, Yeshua goes on to say, “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But to the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come.” John writes, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” We want to stop here for just a moment. What is lawlessness? When we stop to think about it, there is only one law: the Torah. Paul tells us in Galatians that Torah is a tutor, teaching us right from wrong. He says in Romans that, “I would not have come to know sin except through the Torah.” So when we go against God’s Torah, we sin.

The false messiah will be a man of lawlessness. In the Greek, the word is anomia which means “Torah-lessness.” He will be a man who is anti-Torah. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” So Paul was saying that already in his day, people were discrediting the Torah. We see that this happened as the Romans were persecuting the Jews in the First Revolt; they also included believers (anyone who kept Torah), so many believers (mostly Gentile believers) walked away from being Torah observant. Yeshua said that He did not come to abolish the Torah; James calls the Torah perfect, quoting Psalm 19, and he calls it liberty. Paul calls it holy, righteous, and good. We ought to think about God’s Word as a whole and not discredit any part. Paul tells us, “All Scripture is inspired of God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,” and he was talking about the Torah. How can a building be built without a foundation? How can a tree grow without roots? Let us not be Torahless people, but people of God’s whole counsel, living by it and obeying God’s commands.

Paul addresses Yeshua’s statement that sin will increase and people’s love will grow cold. Paul writes to Timothy, “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.” Again he writes to Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and in turn, turn aside to myths. But the one who endures by continuing to walk by the Word of God will remain in the Lord.”

Yeshua tells us in verse 14, “And this gospel will be preached in the whole world.” Even in the Talmud the Rabbis write that the Messiah will not come until all nations have been converted to the belief of the minim (heretics). By this time, believers were considered heretics because they did not keep Torah. So what is this gospel that will be preached? Today there are many gospels; many versions of salvation are taught today. Some say that all roads lead to heaven. But what is the true gospel, the one that John the Baptist, Yeshua, and the disciples preached before there was this denomination and that interpretation? Matthew writes in Matthew 3:1-2, “John came preaching in the wilderness saying, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.'” Matthew 4:17 tells of Yeshua preaching, saying, “Repent for the Kingdom is at hand.” In Mark 1:14-15 it is written, “Yeshua said, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'” On the day of Pentecost, Peter tells the crowd to “repent.” Paul tells King Agrippa that he declared to Damascus and Jerusalem and all Judea and even to the Gentiles that they should all repent and turn to God.

But is this the whole gospel? No, but it is the beginning. No one can receive the gospel unless his heart is right. Take the parable of the Sower. The seed that fell on the good soil produced a crop of 30, 60, and even 100 fold. Being “born again” is a matter of the heart. The Sermon on the Mount is all about the matter of the heart. For the heart to be right, you must first repent, make that 180 degree turn in your life. If you lie, you must stop lying; if you steal, you must stop stealing, and so forth. Repentance is the key that opens the door to the Kingdom of God. This is where the true gospel starts. Then we can have forgiveness and redemption through the blood of Yeshua. Then we must walk by the light of the Word of God.

In verses 15-20, Yeshua goes on to say, “When you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of in Daniel standing in the holy place, let the reader beware. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to get the things out that are in the house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak… But pray that your flight may not be in winter, or on the Sabbath.” This is a reference pertaining to the time of the Maccabbees, when the Assyrians came into the Temple and desolated it (1 Maccabees 1:54-56). Yeshua warns His listeners that when you see this happen, remember the Macccabees who fled to the mountains (1 Maccabees 2:28). And this is exactly what happened during the Second Jewish Revolt. During the reign of Hadrian, about 132 AD, a Roman temple to Zeus was built on the Temple Mount. The believers, who knew Yeshua’s warning, knew what to do and that is what they did, they fled to the mountains and were safe. But the remaining Jews, first of all, were following this false messiah who began the revolt and secondly, when the Romans attacked, they did not know to flee and were killed. This began the division between believing Jews and their brethren. They were regarded as heretics and many believers in Yeshua separated themselves not only from their Jewish brethren, but from Torah altogether to protect themselves from the persecution.

We want to stop and think about verse 20. Why would Yeshua tell His followers, “Pray it’s not on the Sabbath” if we are not supposed to be keeping the Sabbath? It is important when we read Scripture that we think about what it is saying and then determine if our lives are lining up with what it is saying. No man—whether he be Peter or Paul or a Pope or Scholar or Minister—can change God’s Word or His Appointed Times or His ways. God established the Sabbath, the seventh day, at the time of creation and there is no changing what God has called holy. If we are to be holy as God is holy, then we need to keep what He has called holy.

We have seen that up to this point, Yeshua’s prophetic words came true with the First and Second Jewish Revolts. The Temple is now gone, believing Jews and Gentiles no longer worship together with their non-Jewish brethren, and everyone has scattered, Jews and believers alike. Yeshua goes on in verses 21-22, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.” Yeshua quotes the prophet Joel, “A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people, there has never been anything like it, nor will there again after it.” Here the Prophet prophesies about a great, disciplined army that will come and who will be like a consuming fire, leaping over walls and not deviating from their course. They will rush the city and they will carry out the Word of the Lord. Now people take this as saying that the Day of the Lord is God’s judgment on Israel. But if you read Daniel, it reads, “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the Book, will be rescued.”

Now you have to ask yourself, “Can the Jews be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?” And if you say, “No, only if they are believers,” then you must ask yourself, why would they not be raptured with all the other believers? We will answer that question as we go along. The Great Tribulation, or Jacob’s Trouble, or the Day of the Lord, which are some of the names for this time, is going to be a time of great distress. The nations will come up against Jerusalem. It was interesting to see the peace conference in Annapolis when all the nations did come, but they sat around Israel. What a precursor of the end times! Yeshua says that the time will be so terrible that for life to be saved, the time had to be cut short. When you think of the wars from World War I until today, and how many people have died in the last one hundred years in these wars—nearly one hundred million people—and how that cannot compare with those who will die during the Great Tribulation by war and all it brings, can you imagine if God did not shorten the time?

In Revelation 6, the seals are opened and the first is one sitting on a white horse with a bow and a crown and he went out to conquer, a reference to the Antichrist who will come and conquer all nations with a false god and false religion. The next seal is a rider on a red horse, who rides to take peace from the earth with men slaying each other. The third seal is a rider on a black horse who rises to destroy crops and brings famines. The fourth seal is a rider on an ashen horse whose name is Death with Hades following behind, and he went about taking the lives of a fourth of the people on the earth by the sword, famine, pestilence, and by wild beasts. The fifth seal brought martyrdom to God’s people. The sixth seal brings about a great earthquake; the sun will become black and the moon will become like blood. We have seen many of these things begin to happen and increase in intensity especially in the last seven years.

Could this be the last millennium? Could this be the last century? Can we be coming to the culmination of all things? Yeshua tells His listeners, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too when you see these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.”

We began last month to look at the end times and what Yeshua had to say about it. We saw that the beginning of Matthew 24 had already occurred during the 1st and 2nd Jewish Revolts. We also saw that the end times began when Yeshua died on the cross and ascended back to heaven. So how far into the end times are we? Let’s continue to look at Yeshua’s “End Times” dialogue.

Yeshua tells us in verses 23-26, “If anyone says to you ‘Behold here is the Messiah,’ or, ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For many false Messiahs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold I have told you in advance. If therefore they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go forth, or ‘Behold he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.” Yeshua once again warns His listeners that false prophets would arise. As we have seen, there were many false prophets in His day. But He is referring to the future, because now He tells them that these false men will do great signs and wonders. When we read in Revelation 13, it tells us of one such deceiver: “I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercised all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.”

As believers in Yeshua, it is our responsibility to test the spirits because not everything that appears to be of God is. This is why Yeshua says, “My sheep know My voice and they listen to Me but they will flee from the voice of a stranger.” Yeshua warns twice that the elect will have to be very discerning so as not to be deceived. We must remember that the Devil is a deceiver and a counterfeit. He mimics God, even here with the healing of the beast who will be healed from a fatal wound. We also must be careful of wolves in sheep’s clothing, for the beast will look like a lamb but be a deadly dragon. Most likely the beast will be someone who is in control of a country, like a Prime Minister or a Dictator; but whoever he is, he will be a smooth talker and most likely from the Middle East. But because of his deception, everyone on earth will pledge their allegiance to him. And they will even wear his mark, for without it people will not be able to buy or to sell.

Yeshua goes on in Verse 28, “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” In Revelation 19, it speaks about the call of the birds to the great supper of God to eat the flesh of kings and commanders, mighty men and horses, the flesh of free men and slaves, small and great, this referring to the battle of Armageddon. Now Yeshua wraps up the end times dialogue with verses 29-31, telling us that immediately after the tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear and all mankind will see His coming on the clouds and mourn; and He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet shout and they will gather in the elect from the four winds, from one end to another. There are several places in Revelation where it mentions the sun and moon going dark. The fourth trumpet judgment speaks of a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars being smitten and the fifth bowl judgment speaks of darkness.

If you take the judgments and read them as if they go parallel to each other, you will see that many of them are bringing judgment to similar areas, for example, the sun and moon. You can only destroy something once, so it seems as though there are a series of events that will destroy the seas and the fish. So it’s not necessarily that first the trumpet judgments and then years later the bowl judgments. It’s the same way when you look at what is going on in heaven: if you take all those sections and read them together, you will see clearer what is happening. There is no time in heaven, so we should not break up the Scriptures to make it appear that what is going on is at different times.

The verses tell us that the powers of heaven will be shaken. Well, Yeshua began shaking the powers of the heavens at the cross when He gained the victory over them and He descended to Hell and took back the crown that Adam lost. Now, He will come riding on a white horse; not like His counterfeit who rode to conquer for destruction’s sake, but Yeshua will ride with all of His saints to finish the job by throwing that evil serpent, the Devil, into the abyss for one thousand years. “And I saw heaven opened; and behold a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.” Zechariah tells us, “They will see Him whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him.”

When Yeshua returns, there will be a great battle. The Scriptures tell us that Yeshua will have a sharp sword in His mouth. This simply means that from His mouth He shall speak the Word of God which is a two edged sword. If you remember, in the Bible it tells us that Yeshua was confronted by the Devil in the wilderness and He fought the Devil by speaking the Word of God to him. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Yeshua tells His followers, “What is it that man can do to you?” The battle is the Lord’s, and He will come and finish the battle and He will save Israel, for it says, “For all Israel will be saved.” The above Scripture then says that He will tread the wine press.

In Revelation, it talks about two ingatherings; one will be that the angel will gather in the elect, and the other will be the angel who will gather in the wicked. It is this gathering of the wicked that the vultures will come and feast on at a great supper that God has prepared for them, referring to the verse in Matthew 28. Paul tells the Thessalonians, “But we do not want you to be uniformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Yeshua. For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Messiah shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

Like the second angel that will gather the wicked, the first angel will gather up the elect with the blast of the trumpet. Now, here is where so many Christians are divided. There are those who say we will be raptured before the tribulation, and then there are those who say we will be raptured halfway in between, and then there are those who say that we will be raptured at the end. Well, Yeshua tells us Himself when He will come and gather His elect. He tells us in Matthew 24:29-31 that He will come after the tribulation.

Now, we need to understand this thing we called “The Rapture.” Scripture always refers to God traveling on a cloud. So it should not be unusual that He would gather us up in the same cloud that He is riding on. But where is Yeshua going when He comes? He is going to Jerusalem to sit on the throne of King David forever. And so we too will go with Him to Jerusalem along with those who shall rise first, for His kingdom will never end and where He is, we shall be with Him forever. Yeshua goes on in verses 32-35, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so, you too when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.” In Matthew 16, Yeshua tells the Pharisees and the Sadducees that they could not read the signs concerning His first coming and now He tells the people to read the signs of His second coming.

So what are these signs that we should be looking for? First we must go back to when Yeshua cursed the fig tree. What was the point of that? Well, the fig tree represents Israel. Zechariah tells us that in the Messianic Age everyone will sit under his own vine and fig tree. The vine creates shade and shelter from the heat and rain. Remember the story of Jonah when God allowed a vine to grow and shelter him from the sun? The grape vine provides wine, which represents joy and the fig tree represents food. So Zechariah was telling us that everyone will have everything they need. When Yeshua curses the fig tree, it is because there were no figs on the tree. In so doing, He was symbolically showing His disciples that it was not yet the time of the Messianic Age but that there is a time of judgment coming. We saw this in the dialogue of Matthew 24; judgment did come with the First and Second Jewish Revolts that led to the destruction of the Temple and great persecution for Jews and believers alike. So now Yeshua uses the fig tree again to point to His second coming. So He tells them when they see the branch of the fig tree put forth leaves, the time is near. If Israel is the fig tree, then that is a good place to start. The Bible foretold the gathering of exiles who would return one day to the Land of Israel, and Israel would once again flourish. But to go through all of the prophetic writings referring to this day would be a very long study, well beyond these pages. But the fulfillment of those writings can be stated very briefly as this, that Israel is once again a nation and that the house of Israel has been joined with the house of Judah. So we know that we have to be nearer to the time. In fact, Yeshua says, “Recognize that He is near, right at the door.”

Yeshua goes on to say that this generation will not pass away till these things happen. This passage has been debated for years. Who is this generation? Well, first of all, we must remember that Yeshua has been discussing the future with His disciples. So we must go all the way back to the beginning when they started the conversation in Matthew 24:1 with, “Tell us when will all these things be and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Yeshua started His dialogue telling His disciples of the destruction of Jerusalem. It was this He was referring to when He spoke of the generation who would see these things; so up to now, He has been telling them throughout these verses all that would happen and all that they need to watch for. He goes on now in verse 36, saying, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone,” which concludes their original question, “Tell us when all these things will happen.” In verses 37-41, He concludes with, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there shall be two men in the field; and one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.” Yeshua describes His coming with judgment as just like in the days of Noah; the illustration of the two who are taken and the two who stay has been the doctrine for the rapture, but if we look closely, we see that Yeshua was referring to the flood, in which case He was referring to those being taken in judgment, alluding to the verse talking about where the corpse is, there you will find the vulture (verse 28).

Yeshua warns that in the time before His coming, although the warnings will be sounded, most people will just carry on with life as usual. Noah preached repentance right up to the time of the flood, but no one heeded his warning. So too with us today, the church preaches grace and love and mercy; even though God is all these things, God still has to, and must, judge sin. His people are not excluded. We must repent of our sins and turn back as the Word suggests in its true meaning. We must be holy as He is holy. We can not water down the gospel or sugar-coat it with doctrine that will tickle our ears. No, we must walk the straight and narrow. We must not have any hint of the world in us. We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that we may proclaim the Excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Could we be the generation who sees Yeshua return? If we are, then judgment is coming and we should not let it come as a thief in the night. The church needs to wake up and get right with God! We will look at the six parables referring to His coming next.

The last couple of months we have been looking at the end times, specifically Yeshua’s dialogue in Matthew 24. We now want to look at six parables that follow in Matthew 25. Yeshua is not only telling His disciples that the time of His return would not be immediate, but these parables give us an important message.

The Thief in the Night

Yeshua tells a parable about a thief that breaks into a house in the night. He says that if the owner of the house knew that the thief was going to break in in the middle of the night that he would have been prepared for him. This illustration was told to His disciples to give them the message that first, no one knows the day or the hour that the Messiah will return, and second, we must be ready. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “While they are saying ‘Peace and Safety,’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman in child birth; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Yeshua.” One thing that we need to note is that Paul is telling us that if we walk as people of the day, then God’s wrath will not be a surprise to us, and being prepared for it will allow us to not be caught up in His wrath. The key here is not that we will not be here when it happens, but that if we are walking with Him, in His ways, seeking Him out, we will know when His judgments will come, for He does nothing without telling first His people, for His people know His voice and listen.

Forty days before Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the shofar (ram’s horn) is blown just for this purpose, to wake people up; and after it is blown, everyone says, “Awake you who are asleep and consider your deeds; remember your Creator and go to Him for forgiveness. Don’t be like those who miss reality in their hunt after shadows and waste your years seeking after vain things which can neither profit nor deliver. Look well to your souls and consider your deeds; let each one of you forsake his evil ways and thoughts, and return unto the Lord, so He may have mercy on you.” Paul and Yeshua certainly knew all about the importance of this fall feast. So we must walk in the light of God’s Word, being sober about God’s ways and being watchful that we keep His commands so we may remain attentive to His voice.

The Parable of the Unfaithful Servant

Yeshua goes on to tell this parable by asking a question, “Who then is the faithful and sensible servant whom the master puts in charge of his household to give them food at the proper time?” The master goes away for a long time. He goes on to show the difference between the faithful servant and the unfaithful servant who He calls wicked. The faithful servant is the one who does his master’s work even when he knows that he is away on a journey and will not be back for a long time. When the master returns, to everyone’s surprise he finds the faithful servant carrying on as though his master remained at home. But the wicked and unfaithful servant is the one who says, “My master has gone away and so now I can do as I please, for he will not know what I do while he is away.”

We want to look at the beginning of this parable. The master puts the faithful servant in charge to feed and care for his household. If we remember, Yeshua says to Peter, “Do you love Me? Then feed My sheep.” And He went on to ask Him this three times, showing the importance of his calling. Any time something is repeated in God’s Word, it was to show the importance or the magnitude of what was being said. So in the parable, the faithful servant was supposed to feed the members of the master’s household. Yeshua, when confronted with feeding the multitude, said to His disciples, “You give them something to eat.” Yeshua the great Shepherd was concerned about the welfare of His sheep and He knew that His sheep needed to eat not only physical food but spiritual food. So, “He called some servants to be apostles and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and some to be teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Messiah; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of stature which belongs to the fullness of Messiah. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Messiah, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16). There is only one body but many parts and we have all been given gifts and a responsibility to use those gifts for the building up of the body. So the question remains, are you a faithful servant or an unfaithful wicked servant? If you are not using your gifts for God by feeding His sheep, then this parable says that when the master of the house returns, he shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth.

The Ten Virgins

Yeshua goes on to tell a third parable of the ten virgins. Again He speaks about the kingdom and compares it to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, five of the virgins were foolish, and why were they foolish? Because they took no oil for their lamps. Five were wise because they took a flask of oil with them. While they were waiting, they all became tired and fell asleep, for the bridegroom was delayed in his coming. When midnight came there was a great shout, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” Then all the virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish now did not have enough oil because they did not anticipate the bridegroom coming so late. But the wise virgins were prepared with plenty of oil. When the foolish virgins asked the wise for oil, they replied, “No, otherwise there will not be enough for us, and you too; go instead and buy some for yourselves.” And so they went to purchase their oil but when they returned they found that all the guests had already gone into the wedding feast and the door was shut. To their surprise, they cried out “Lord, lord, open up for us!” But he answers, “I do not know you.”

What’s Your Fruit?

In Matthew 7 Yeshua tells His followers this: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few find it… Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves, you will know them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; and every bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruit. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (Torahlessness).’ Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock; but everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.” You see, the five wise virgins can also represent the five books of Moses, the Torah which is the foundation, and the Rock, which one should build his house on.

Conclusion

So we see from Yeshua Himself that not everyone will enter into the kingdom. This seems to be very contradictive to what we believe. Yeshua here is talking about believers who go about prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles, yet Yeshua says to them, “I know you not!” So how can this be? Well the answer first of all is in the fact that Yeshua knows them not. Why does He not know them? Well, He says because they practice lawlessness. In other words, they do not keep His commands. One of the most popular illustrations in the Apostolic Scriptures, I think, is the Vine and the Branches. These verses are about abiding in God and bearing fruit. How do we bear fruit? Well, in verse 10 of John 15 it says, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and I abide in His love.” We have also seen from Yeshua that a good tree will bear good fruit; likewise, a bad tree will bear bad fruit. We have seen from the Vine and the Branches that any branch that does not bear fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Verse 5 says, “But if we abide in Him, we will bear good fruit.” Here we see that we must bear good fruit and we can only do that by abiding in Him.

So how do we abide? Well, we start by complying to His commandments. John writes “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him; but whoever keeps His Word, in Him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him; the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” Yeshua was obedient to the Father even to the cross. If Yeshua is truly our Lord, then we too will be obedient to all that He stands for. To be His disciples, we must be as He is. He was a keeper of Torah. He kept all the teachings of the Father. He Himself said that the words He spoke were the Father’s and the works that He did were the works of the One who sent Him. So if we do not keep His commands, how can we possibly have our lives hidden in Him? If we abide in the Lord and He abides in us, then He not only knows us but we know Him.

Paul writes, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Messiah Yeshua my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Messiah, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Messiah, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Paul believed that we should not put any confidence in the flesh and that the flesh needed to be crucified. We can not have fellowship with the world and with God. John writes, “Do not love the world, nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world, and the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.” So we see that to abide with God we must put aside the world and its ways so that we can keep God’s commandments. By this we will know God and be known by Him.

When we know God, then we will hear His voice and when we hear His voice, we will hear and obey. The five foolish virgins did not have enough oil for their lamps. Oil is a reference to the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can not walk according to God’s will for us. He is the one who leads us in all truth. When we walk in the Spirit then we not only walk in truth but then there is no condemnation against us. The question we must ask ourselves is, “Are we walking in the Spirit?” Our lives must line up with the Word of God. So the five foolish virgins did not have the continual flow of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Remember, the Menorah in the Tabernacle had a constant flow from its source, which was the oil, which kept the light burning continually. This is what the five wise virgins had. Remember, we are the light of the world. When God is our source and we are following Him, then He leads us in all truth. And what is the truth of God? None other than the Word of God, and that truth will bear out fruit because we are walking in His ways. Scripture tells us that apart from God, we can do nothing. All the works in the world will not save you, only God can save you through Yeshua; but to have Yeshua means that we must live by His Word and by His ways, and to do that we must die to ourselves and put on the Lord Yeshua, the Anointed One, who anoints us for every good deed.

Next we will look at the last three parables.

Last month we looked at the first three parables that follow Yeshua’s end time dialogue in Matthew 24. We saw in Matthew 25 from the first three parables that we must be prepared, for we do not know the day or the hour that Yeshua will return. We saw that we have a responsibility to do the Master’s work and we need to do the good works that God has prepared for us to do. Now we want to look at the last three parables.

The Parable of the Talents

Yeshua continues His teaching on the kingdom with the parable of the talents. He tells the story about a man who goes on a journey and entrusts his slaves with his possessions. To the one he gives five talents and to the next he gave two talents and to the last he gave one talent, all according to their ability. Now when he returns from his trip after a long while, he finds that the slave that had the five talents had multiplied his talents to ten, the slave who received two multiplied his talents to four, but the slave who received one talent gave him back his one talent. Now the master of the house praises the two slaves that multiplied their talents. He tells them, “Well done good and faithful slaves; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” But to the slave who gave him back his one talent he says, “You wicked, lazy slave. Take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has shall be given more, and he shall have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that we are the Lord’s workmanship created for good works, which God prepared beforehand; we should walk in them. So you see that just because we are good people and do good works, we must also walk in the way that God has called us to walk. Good works and keeping God’s commandments go hand in hand. We saw in the illustration of the vine and the branches that every branch that does not bear fruit will be cut down and thrown into the furnace and even those branches that do bear fruit will be pruned to bear more fruit. Now tzedakah, which means righteousness, is our good deeds, the righteousness that comes by faith. “Show me your faith and I will show you my works,” James writes. But these works can not be just any old works, they must be God-ordained works. You see, the master gave the slave an amount of talents according to his ability. Paul writes to the Romans, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Messiah, and individually members one of another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” Again he tells the Corinthians, “Now there are a variety of gifts, but one Spirit. And there are a variety of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are a variety of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one He has given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effects of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues… For the body is not one member, but many.”

So God has given each one of us the ability to do something for His kingdom, and it is our responsibility to use those gifts and talents that He has given to us to further the kingdom and bear fruit; in fact, we are told to pursue and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts. We are to serve the Lord with diligence, fervent in spirit, serving Him with joy and gladness. Those that do not use their gifts and abilities for the advancement of His kingdom and to bear fruit are like the slave who buried his talent and was thrown into outer darkness.

The Sheep and the Goats

The next parable that Yeshua tells also is in the lines of service. Matthew does not record Yeshua’s parable, only the interpretation, even though Yeshua gives another strong example of judgment. Yeshua begins by saying, “When the Son of Man comes in all of His glory and sits on His throne, He will gather all the nations before Him. He will then separate the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'” Now I just want to stop here for a moment. Some commentaries call the sheep Israel and the goats the nations. I have even heard that the sheep are the people who treated the Jews kindly after the Church was raptured. But looking closely at this dialogue, we see that God is speaking to all the nations who are on the earth at the time of His coming. “For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.” Yeshua tells these people that they are blessed of the Father and that they would now inherit the kingdom which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world. That sure sounds like Paul who says in Ephesians 2, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Messiah Yeshua for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Then the righteous (the tzedakah) will say, “When did we do these things?” and the King will answer, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.”

The sheep are those who heard the voice of the shepherd. Yeshua said, “I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me and follow Me.” Yeshua once again says that His sheep know Him. In Revelation, Yeshua says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.” When we hear the voice of the Master, we listen and follow Him and in so doing we keep His commands and do His works which He has predestined us to do. But those who do not listen follow after their own desire; they go about doing their own thing. They show partiality. James writes, “If a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there comes also a man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, ‘Sit here in a good place,’ and you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down by my footstool,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves?” James also writes, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” John writes, “But whoever has the world’s goods and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in Him?”

The goats are the ones who see the need but never go out of their way to alleviate the problem. They would never think to visit a jail or volunteer their time at a nursing home or hospital. The Bible tells us to take care of the widow and the orphan, to love our neighbor as ourselves, to be hospitable and to be a cheerful giver. Think about the opportunities you have missed that you could have reached out to Yeshua but your attitude or prejudices, even your apathy or laziness stopped you. Yeshua says to the goats, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave Me no food, thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me.”

The Parable of the King Disguised and Unmasked

Now the parable of the disguised king and the parable of the sheep and the goats became one parable. Yeshua first starts to say, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory…” and then He begins to refer to a king who was not recognized by his subjects. We see this by the response of the sheep and the goats when they say, “When did we see You to feed You and clothe You, etc.?” As we go about our daily lives, we do not think about the things we say and do. The Bible tells us that everything we say and do we are to do to the glory of God. When we are confronted with a situation, we react not on the basis of thinking, “Ah, this is God to whom I am speaking to (or to whom I am showing partiality or loving kindness),” but instead as, “This is my friend (or enemy).” We generally react by what’s in our hearts, good or bad. There have been times in the Bible when people disguised their true identity, like Joseph with his brothers and Yeshua on the road to Emmaus. We see by these two stories as they unfold and when they discover the true identity of Joseph, the brothers were frightened, but the disciples were excited and glad. This is the same results of the sheep and the goats. Now, the original parable of the sheep and the goats has been lost. Matthew only records the explanation of the parable. Many of Yeshua’s parables were taken from stories of His day. But there is a legendary story that the parable of the disguised king could have been the basis for.

The Exile of King Solomon

The story goes like this: King Solomon was punished for his pride and arrogance by the demon prince Ashmedai. He is exiled from his kingdom while Ashhmedai takes on his appearance and assumes his throne. Solomon is forced to beg from house to house. He wanders through the earth, from city to city begging for food. Though he claims that he is the true king and that the man on his throne is an imposter, he was considered as one who was not in his right mind. After some time, the Sanhedrin (the official ruling court of Israel) became suspicious and began to investigate the matter. Realizing what had happened, they restored Solomon to his throne and banished Ashmedai. Once restored to his throne, Solomon was in a position to reward those who had shown him kindness and punish those who had mistreated him.

Conclusion

As we have looked at these six parables, we have seen that it is not enough for us to just call ourselves Christians. It is not enough for us just to sit in a pew every Sunday. We must have a relationship with our Father through Yeshua; we must be one that calls upon His Name and gives glory to His Name daily (Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God), one who seeks Him out and obeys His voice daily (Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted), one that yearns to feed on His Bread, the Word of God (Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied), one of true repentance, searching deep within our hearts (Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God), one that forgives debtors in love as He is love (Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy), one who does acts of kindness (Blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth), and one who lives in peace with his neighbor and his God (Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God).

We must walk as He walked, we must crucify the flesh and say “No” to the world’s ways and pick up our cross in obedience and follow Him, running the race to win the imperishable prize of Yeshua. Then we will know Him and be known by Him so that on that day, He will not come as a thief in the night, but as the One whom we are waiting for, our Bridegroom, for we have prepared ourselves for the marriage and the celebration of the wedding feast prepared for us on that day when the King will say, “Come you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

We want to look at a subject that is not talked enough about and that is holiness. Most people do not really know what holiness is. They do not understand the concept of it. Yet, as believers and God-fearers, we should all be walking in holiness. So what is the definition of holiness? According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary, holiness is sanctification. It signifies a separation to God. It is characteristically called godliness. In other words, we are to be like God. But you may say, “When we accept Yeshua into our lives, we are then sanctified.” This is true, but that is only our position in Messiah. Just as we know our position is that we are seated in the heavenly realm with Messiah, yet we all know that in the physical we are here on Earth, so too in our position of being sanctified, we must live out our daily lives being set apart from the world. Most Christians go through life making themselves believe that they could never walk in God’s ways or keep the commandments of God and so they don’t. Christians say, “Yeshua perfectly kept the commandments of God so that we wouldn’t have to.” But this is not so. We are told that we are to keep the commandments of God and live according to His ways. Yeshua said, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” By thinking that all we need is Yeshua, then we can live and act however we please; we begin to think that the sacrifice of Yeshua is some kind of season pass that allows us to jump in and out of the realm of God when we choose. This is a gross misuse of grace. Paul asks, “Should we go on sinning because of grace? Absolutely not!”

When you follow God’s ways, you will see that you can stay on the straight and narrow path and if you should stray, then God has made a way for us to return and it is called repentance, the turning back to God’s ways. The question is, do we have a willing heart to follow God’s ways? Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership has righteousness and Torahlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Messiah with Belial, or what have believers in common with unbelievers? Or what agreement has the Temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ says the Lord Almighty. Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” We see that with God we must be separate. So how do we attain to holiness? We are going to look at what separates us from everyone else.

You Shall Be Holy, for I Am Holy

When Peter wrote, “You shall be Holy for I am Holy,” in his first letter to the Messianic believers, he was quoting from the Book of Leviticus. In fact, three times God says these words to not just Moses or Aaron, but to the whole congregation. In other words, God does not want just the High Priest or the Prophet or the Man of God, the Pastor, or the Deacons to be holy, but God wants everyone to be holy. The whole community of believers, the congregation, corporately and individually must be holy. So we are going to take a closer look at holiness because we want to see just what holiness should look like in the life of a believer and in the life of the community according to God’s Word.

Now, it is important that our lives line up with the Word of God and not with the words of a teacher or preacher because the Holy Spirit needs to be our teacher. It is alright for a teacher or preacher to spur you on and challenge you to keep God’s Word, but it is God’s Word that must abide in us and it is God’s Word that we must obey. Peter, who was a Torah-keeper, knew these words about being holy. One of the yearly sections of Bible reading in Torah is called Kedoshim. Each week, a section of the Torah is read and each section is called a Parasha. The name of each Parasha gets its name from the beginning lines read in that Parasha. So Kedoshim starts in Leviticus 19:1-2, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”‘” So let’s start at verse 3 of Leviticus and see exactly what is considered holy to God.

Honor Your Father and Mother

“Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father.” Timothy says that in the last days (which refers to any time after Yeshua’s death), children will not honor their fathers or mothers. Yeshua Himself dealt with this when He told the Pharisees that their tradition of Corban, which was something set apart to be a gift to God, nullified the commandment to honor and obey one’s father and mother because people would say that they could not financially support their parents because a portion of their money was set apart, or Corban, to God. Yet in reality they never did give that money to God.

So how do we honor and obey our parents? We take care of them when they become sick or too old to care for themselves. Too often we are quick to throw our parents into a nursing home and let someone else take care of them. There are times when we have no choice in doing this; then we are to see to it that they are comfortable and we are to call and visit them regularly. There is nothing more disturbing than when you go to a nursing home and see these elderly people who have no one to come and visit them. We are to provide for our parents if they do not have the means to provide for themselves. The Bible tells us that a person who does not provide for his own family members when in need is worse than an unbeliever. We are to reverence our parents and not speak evil of them. This was the story of Noah when his son Ham saw Noah naked because Noah had been drinking and uncovered himself. Ham should have just covered up his father, but instead he told his two other brothers and they went into Noah’s tent and covered him. When Noah awoke, he cursed Ham because he was disrespectful to him by speaking to others about his nakedness, revealing his short-comings. To honor our parents is one of the Ten Commandments and the only one which has a promise. All too often we fall short of this command to reverence our parents. So when we honor our parents in these ways, we become separated from the world, for the world disregards their parents and speaks and does evil to them.

Keeping the Law

In the same verse 3 of Leviticus, God says, “You shall keep My Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.” God created time and space. As He created the world and the universe which houses it, He also was creating the day: “And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning the second day” (Genesis 1:8). To God, the day begins at sundown and goes till the next sundown. He has a lunar calendar; this alone sets apart the believer from the world which uses a calendar that is based on the worship of the sun. Pagans worshiped the sun god and so all the names of the days and months are pagan gods. God created the week, which ended with the keeping of the Sabbath on the seventh day. The Bible tells us that God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which He had created and made. From the beginning, from creation, God set apart certain days that were His special days and these days are called His Appointed Times. It is believed that Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of the world, and so on that day it is the New Year.

These Appointed Times of God are so special to Him because on these days He chooses to be with us in an especially close way. God says that we can come to Him anytime, so can God have times that He chooses for Himself that He wants to meet with us? God created the Sabbath just for us to have the time that we can take out of our busy week and spend time with Him. Yeshua kept the seventh day Sabbath; is He not our example? If He thought that we should not keep it, wouldn’t He have said so? He said many times using these words, “If it were not true I would tell you.” So too with the seventh day Sabbath or with any of God’s Appointed Times, He kept them all. If they were not for the keeping, He would have told us so! He is the Word of God, the very Word that we obey. Yeshua said, “I did not come to annul the Torah, but to uphold it.” When Paul wrote, “Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes,” he did not say that Messiah was the end of the Law, but only for righteousness. In other words, believers were still to obey God’s laws and commands, but their righteousness was now in Messiah. We want to look at the Sabbath and what it stands for and then we will have a better understanding of why God made it holy.

The Sabbath

First of all, the Sabbath is the seventh day. Seven is the number of completion.

1. God had completed His work.

1A. Yeshua Himself said, “It is finished (or complete),” on the cross and then He too rested on the Sabbath.

1B. When we become believers in Yeshua, we then are complete. We are set free from our dead works. We have crossed over from death to life, from darkness to light.

2. God rested on the seventh day because His work was completed.

2A. “For we who believe enter that rest… For the one who believes has entered His rest and has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.”

So let’s stop there for a moment. Yeshua is our rest. He says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Yeshua is the Lord of the Sabbath. Sabbath was made for man. When we follow in the footsteps of Yeshua, we crucify our flesh as He did and we die to ourselves. Now we take the yoke of the Kingdom, which is the Word of God, and we carry it on our shoulders. In so doing we find rest for our souls. God’s laws are not heavy, they are not a burden, but they are a joy to our soul, refreshing us. As Psalm 19 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than fine gold; sweeter than the honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” This is a picture of the Sabbath. This is a picture of holiness.

In the book of Hebrews, the writer states, “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you come short of it.” There were some who did not enter that rest because of disobedience, because of unbelief. When we keep the seventh day Sabbath, we are actually living out that promise of rest. We are living out that picture of the redeemed of the Lord resting in God forever. If the Kingdom of God is near as John the Baptist, Yeshua, Paul, and all the others preached that it is, then we must live out the Kingdom in our lives, and this is one way we can do that: by entering His rest on the seventh day. It is holiness, it is godliness, and it is what separates us from the world.

We will continue our look at holiness the next time.

In our last newsletter, we looked at the subject of holiness, and to get a true picture of what holiness is in God’s eyes, we began to study the text of Leviticus 19, where God says, “Speak to the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.'” To refresh our memories, we saw that the first command of God was to respect our parents. Paul writes, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in discipline and instruction of the Lord.” So here we see that the beginning of holiness starts in the family. Paul, earlier in the book of Ephesians, speaks to wives and husbands. Wives are to be subject to their husbands and husbands are to love their wives. The Scriptures are full of instructions on how to have a holy family life. We then saw that we are to keep the Sabbath. Yeshua said that He was the Lord of the Sabbath; if Yeshua is our Lord, then we too must keep the Sabbath of which He is the Lord of.

Idolatry

So we want to move on to Leviticus 19:4 where it says, “Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods: for I am the Lord your God.” At the time that God gave this command to Israel, the world was pagan. Only Israel was commanded to have only one God and He was known as the God of Israel. Abraham was told to leave his father’s house because of idolatry. So only having one God set Israel apart from the nations. In the greatest prayer that any Jew says, which is the Shema, it says, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord alone.” And so Israel only worshiped the one true God.

But man in his very nature rebelled against God. We see this after the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. The people were impatient with Moses and God, and they built for themselves a golden calf. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Messiah. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they craved. And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.’ Nor let us act immorally as some did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.” He goes on to say in verse 14, “Therefore my beloved, flee from idolatry.”

So what is idolatry? Do we today make images that we worship? This passage tells us that the people craved evil things, even when they were food and water. Paul gives us a look into this when he says, “Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along in humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity, in any circumstances I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” Remember, the people got impatient in waiting for Moses, so they made the golden calf. The people wanted food so they murmured and complained, so God gave them manna. They wanted meat, so God gave them quail. But in all these times, God punished the people, and why? Was it wrong to want meat? No, but what was wrong was that the people did not rest in the knowledge that God was not only able to do all things but that God knew that they needed these things. They were impatient with God and so they either took matters into their own hands becoming their own god or they complained to God, making God not compassionate toward their needs, thus disqualifying God not only as their Creator and Father but as the Supreme Deity which makes Him God.

This pretty much defines what idolatry is. So in any area of our lives where we take matters in our own hands, we are then nullifying God as God and the covenant that we have with Him. For in His covenant that we have entered into with Him when we accept Yeshua as our Lord and Savior, God states that He is a faithful God and that He will never leave us or forsake us and He will provide for all our needs. With that fact, we should then be content because if God feels that we should have or have not, He knows what is best for us and by complaining or grumbling, we are then saying to God, “I know better than You,” thus placing ourselves above God. Paul writes in Philippians 2:12-15, “So then my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling and disputing, that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.” Verse 11 says in 1 Corinthians 10, “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the end of the age has come.” So we must then learn from this example, that God hates rebellion and He hates complaining, for they are two forces that drive man from Him.

So John tells us that we are not to love the world, nor the things of the world, because if we do, the love of the Father is not in us, for the world represents the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life which does not come from the Father, but from the world. These things are idolatry and they are ungodly and we are to flee from them. Again, our Heavenly Father knows our need and He will provide that which we need. Is it wrong to pray for things? NO! God tells us to ask, but the answer may not always be Yes. And this is why it is important to pray, so we know the will of God because John continues and says, “And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.” We need to learn that holiness is putting God first in every area of our lives and walking in His commands.

Peace Offering

Now as we continue in Leviticus 19:5, we see that God begins to speak about the way to offer up a peace offering. Now this may seem like a strange switch in conversation, but it really is not; for you see, the peace offering was made in conjunction with the sin offering. Another name for the peace offering is the thanksgiving offering. Even though we may not have the sacrificial service in place today, we still must offer up our sacrifices unto God, but we must take a closer look at this verse. It says that we should offer up our sacrifice so that we may be accepted. Why was Abel’s sacrifice accepted and not Cain’s? It says in Genesis 3:3-5, “So it came about in the course of the time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. And Abel on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.”

So why was one accepted and not the other? Well, because first of all, Abel presented the first of his flock and the best, while Cain just made an offering. How we offer up our sacrifice has a lot to do with the attitude of the heart, which has everything to do with the thanksgiving offering. Do we give God our best or do we give Him whatever we have left? What we give God says a lot about our relationship with Him.

Paul says, “In everything give thanks.” We are always to give thanks to the Lord. Thanksgiving is having a grateful heart. We are to come into God’s presence with thanksgiving, enter His gates with thanksgiving, present our requests with thanksgiving. It is good to give thanks to the Lord because it is good to have a grateful heart. The thanksgiving offering was in conjunction with the sin offering because after we have come to God broken and contrite, repentive of our sin, then we are to be thankful; for if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us. So now that we have been forgiven, we now have peace with God.

In verses 6-8 it continues with how the offering may be eaten. Torah tells us that the meat should be eaten the same day or the next day, but what remains on the third day should be burned in the fire. And everyone who eats it on the third day will commit iniquity, for he has profaned the holy things of the Lord and will be cut off from his people. Now you have to remember that we are talking about holiness and what sets God’s people apart from the pagan world. This may seem to make no sense to get rid of good meat, but once again God’s laws were not to be questioned, but obeyed. But this is very interesting because if you remember, Yeshua was our sin offering and God’s holy sacrifices were not to see decay. Could this be why He rose on the third day? “For you will not abandon My soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay” (Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:27, 13:35).

Gleaning

Leviticus 19 goes on in verses 9-10, “Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit from your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.” God cares for the poor and needy and this is what sets us apart from the world. John writes, “Whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” Yet, you see the world doing so much for the poor and needy. Why is that? It is not because the love of God is in them, for many of Hollywood and others do not even believe in God; in fact, they hate God and all that He stands for. But it’s because it has become the social thing to do. It is called Humanism. It actually is the result of us not needing God. It is works done for man’s glory. Yeshua says, “When giving do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the assembly and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your giving may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” We do not give for our fame and glory, but for the glory of God. Yeshua tells us to let our light shine before men in such a way that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father who is in heaven. The difference here is that we are to do it in such a way that will give glory to God and not us.

Another way that we are separated from the world is that we are to give even to our enemies. This is what holiness looks like. So we may not have a field or a vineyard, yet we can still give to the poor and needy. James writes further, “If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” We are to love by giving and we are to have faith by doing, not sparingly, for God loves a cheerful giver and by the measure we give, it will be given back to us. This is a picture of holiness, one who walks contrary to the world’s ways, who dares to set himself apart for godliness, who says it is far better to keep God’s Laws then to have the riches of the world for a season. God says, “Be ye holy as I am holy.”

Are we ready? Are we willing? If so, then we must in faith walk as He walked and we must do as He did and we must live as He has shown us to live by keeping His commands. Peter writes about those who have found God and have chosen to live a life now of holiness: “You have already lived long enough like people who don’t know God. You were immoral and followed your evil desires. You went around drinking and partying and carrying on. In fact, you even worshiped disgusting idols. Now your former friends wonder why you have stopped running around with them, and they curse you for it.” Maybe this is what you have found to be true; if it is, then you know that you have been set apart. This passage goes on with how we are not to steal or lie or take vengeance, but we are to love our neighbor and do right by him. When we look into Torah, is there anything different about it than what we find in the Apostolic Scriptures? There is only one standard of holiness, One God, One Spirit and one way to be saved and that is through Yeshua, who is the Word made flesh.

December is probably the most joyful month of the year. Everyone is shopping and excited to gather with family and friends to celebrate the Holiday Season. Stores and homes are decorated with festivity. All the favorite shows are on television and churches are having their musical programs and people are singing all their favorite Holiday songs. We usually spend the whole month celebrating by eating those favorite cookies and desserts that everyone likes to make to show off their culinary expertise. But what is it that we are celebrating? Well, most people will say Christmas, others may say Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Even though they are all different, they all have one thing in common and that is that they are a celebration of light. So why is light so important to us? December 21st is the beginning of the winter solstice, where the days are at their shortest and the nights are at their longest. Scripture tells us all about the light and why it is so important to us. We are going to look at the True Light.

The Dawning of the Light

It says that in the beginning God created light and this light that was created was the light that came before He created the sun and moon. So what was this light? Well, it was a spiritual light. His own Spirit hovered over the universe and so with the dawn of history, God was present. He divided the light from the darkness and so created good and evil: His kingdom which was light and the kingdom of evil which was to be the kingdom of darkness. And so from the beginning there was this conflict that started in the heavens and continued on earth. We know that the serpent beguiled Eve in the garden and so God cursed the serpent and man, but He did not leave it there because, as always, God gives hope. God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise him on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” So God was saying that this conflict would go on between the kingdoms of good and evil but one day, One would come of the seed of the woman that would change the course of history and even though that One would suffer by the hands of those who were the seed of the evil one, He would have the ultimate victory by crushing his head.

The Sign of the Light to Come

The prophet Isaiah spoke twice about the sign of this Light. Once was to Ahaz in Isaiah 7:14 when Isaiah said, “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call Him Immanuel.” And in Isaiah 9:1-7, specifically verse 2: “The people who walk in darkness will see a great Light; those who live in a dark land, the Light will shine on them.” Verses 6-7 continue, “For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom.”

The Announcement of Light

There was a virgin whose name was Miriam. She resided in the town of Nazareth in the Galilee. She was engaged to be married to a man named Yosef. Now one day when Miriam was at home (her father’s home, for she was not yet married to Yosef), an angel called Gabriel came and stood before her and greeted her with these words: “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” To her amazement and confusion, the angel continued, “Do not be afraid, Miriam; for you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son and you will give Him the name Yeshua.” Now we want to stop and look closer at this message. What the angel says next is a reference to the Davidic Kingdom in 2 Samuel 7, where God is speaking to David and how this Son that was to be born was to be the fulfillment of the promise to David. This is important because this is a picture of the Messiah who would come from the line of David. The angel goes on to say, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (compare to 2 Samuel 7:9, 14). The angel said, “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David (compare to 1 Kings 2:12), and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end (compare to 2 Samuel 7:13).”

So we see that Yeshua was the one who would sit on the throne of King David forever. But Miriam was doubtful, she said, “How could this be?” Sometimes God speaks to us such great things that we not only do not understand, but we are frightened by the thought of it. Miriam’s first response was that she was not yet married to Yosef, and I’m sure that even though she was from the line of David, to think that her son would be next in line for the throne was too awesome to grasp. We must understand what ran through Miriam’s mind all in a matter of seconds. Miriam, being quite troubled, was reassured by the angel. Those comforting words that he spoke in the beginning, “Fear Not!” were like healing balm running though her spirit. So the angel continued with, “The Holy Sprit will come upon you.” This reference to the Holy Spirit is one of anointing. If you look at the reference to the anointing of Saul and David, you will see that the Spirit came upon them. So if the Spirit came upon the kings of Israel, then it is only natural that the Spirit or the anointing would have come upon Yeshua upon conception. It is the sign of the Messiah, The Anointed One.

The Foreshadowing of Light’s Redemption

Gabriel goes on and tells Miriam, “The power of the Most High will overshadow you.” The word here for “overshadow you” has the same equivalent in Greek as in Hebrew, tzalel or in Aramaic, tallel, which is often applied to the Shekinah or the Divine Presence descending on a person or object. This word in the noun form tzeil or in Aramaic, tallel, defined as “shadow,” literally and figuratively means shelter. This is the same word used for the booths made during the Feast of Tabernacles, or in Hebrew the Feast of Sukkot, when everyone makes a Sukkah. This represents the Cloud of Glory or the Divine Presence that overshadowed Israel in the wilderness. In the Talmud, this expression is taken as conversion to faith in God based upon Ruth 2:12, where Boaz describes Ruth, the Gentile, as having taken refuge under the wings of God. Ruth later says to Boaz, “Spread your wing over your handmaid” (Ruth 3:9).

There is a parallel between Ruth and Miriam. The sages make it quite clear that when Ruth tells Boaz, “Spread your wing over your handmaid,” it was of the purest of conduct between the two; it was Ruth’s request for redemption since Boaz was her kinsman-redeemer (The kinsman-redeemer was usually a brother or relative of a man who died and left no children. By Torah law they were to marry the widow so that the name of the dead man lived on. This, in effect, was redeeming the widow, for in most cases she would have had no way to support herself and would most likely have become a slave). This term of “coming under the wings of the Shekinah” has become a term in Judaism for conversion for one who comes under the wings of the Holy Spirit. According to the Rabbis, it is like “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Through her conversion and marriage to Boaz, Ruth now becomes one with the tribe of Judah. Ruth became the mother of Obed, who was the grandfather of King David. So too with Miriam, the miraculous overshadowing is like an act of redemption. Miriam was not a convert, nor was Yeshua; but the adoption/redemption imagery is significant. Gabriel tells her that because the power of the Most High will overshadow her (which is alluding to this act of redemption/adoption), Yeshua will be called the “Son of the Most High.”

Let’s put this another way. Because Miriam was not yet married, through the Holy Spirit she conceived and was with child and by this act of overshadowing it is as if God was her Kinsman-Redeemer (because she had no husband), and in so doing, God gave Yeshua His Name. Miriam became the mother of Yeshua, the Davidic offspring who sits on David’s throne forever. She answers Gabriel by saying, “I am the Lord’s handmaid,” alluding to this concept of the Kinsman-Redeemer’s redemption which would one day overshadow us all; for it says, “When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” And again it says, “Giving thanks to the Father, who qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” So Gabriel received his answer and he departs.

The Conception of Light

The conception of John the Baptist is based on 1 Chronicles 24 and Luke 1:5. According to Scripture, Zacharias was from the division of Abijah, which was the 8th division. Zacharias would have served in the Temple for Shavuot (Pentecost), which would have put the conception of John during the month of Sivan, which is in June, and his birth right before the time of Passover. John would be the one to proclaim that Yeshua was the Lamb of God, the One who would take away the sins of the world.

It is believed that Yeshua was conceived during the time of Hanukkah, the Season of Light, and born at the time of the Fall Feasts, beginning with Rosh Hashanah, the blowing of the trumpets. Remember the angels who announced the birth of Yeshua? It was quite customary to blow trumpets at the birth of a son and, of course, at the sound of the last trumpet Yeshua is coming back! Then there is Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, the Day of Atonement. Yeshua is our atonement. And finally, there is the Feast of Tabernacles: God who tabernacles (dwells) with men. This was Yeshua, who came in the flesh so He could dwell with man.

Let’s take a closer look at this. We know that the angel told Miriam that she would conceive and have a child, so we know that it was not at the moment that the angel spoke to her. It also says that Miriam arose and went with haste to see her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country, to a city of Judah. I think if she would have conceived at that moment, she would not be running to Elizabeth, but to Yosef. When Elizabeth heard Miriam’s greeting, the baby (John) leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she cried out with a loud voice, “Blessed among women are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” Here we see a move of the Holy Spirit overtaking Elizabeth and Miriam, and the result was the leaping in the womb of John the Baptist who would be the forerunner to Yeshua, the Light. During this season of light, Yeshua the Light of the world was conceived.

The Light is Born to the World

So the Light was born out of the love of the Father and He was the image of the invisible God. He was the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and He upholds all things by the word of His power. He was given a Name above all names so at the Name of Yeshua the Messiah, every knee must bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And by His Name we are saved. John writes, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Yeshua is the “Light of the World.” He is light and there is no darkness in Him. This was the true Light that came into the world to enlighten every man. So the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. We see in the book of Revelation the description of the New Jerusalem: “And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it.” So the One True Light of the World shall be the light for all eternity.

Conclusion

And so the Light has shown in the world as we have seen from the beginning with the separation of the Kingdom of Light from the Kingdom of Darkness, and we see that the King of Light will one day rule and reign in the City of Light, Jerusalem, the City of David and His kingdom will be for eternity. So this year as you celebrate the “Season of Light,” be sure that you bear witness to the One True Light, Yeshua the “Light of the World.” For Scripture tells us that we who were formerly darkness are now light, and so we ought to walk as children of light. For all who walk according to the Spirit of Light shall be called the Children of God. So whatever you celebrate, we want to wish you the very best. Have a great celebration of Yeshua’s birth. Happy Hanukkah and may the miracle of light shine in your hearts! Happy Kwanzaa, and may the first fruit of your harvest be blessed! As you celebrate, be sure to celebrate in the True Light!

We want to take a closer look at a subject that most Christians do not like to talk about, and that is persecution and martyrdom. Actually, persecution of the Truth goes all the way back to the prophets. Yeshua said that the world hated Him and that it would hate us too because we are His followers. He said that they would kill Him and likewise, kill us too. So we want to look at this subject because it plays such an important role in our lives as Christians. Christians in America have not yet been persecuted to the point of death, but we see that the rights of Christians have slowly been taken away; and as the tensions grow from year to year and the hatred mounts against Israel and America, one has to ask themselves, “Will the persecutions in this country ever get to that point? Will the words of our Messiah come true for us here in this country?” So we want to look at the history of persecution starting with the disciples to see if there is any correlation between them and the church today and how they responded to it.

The Martyrdom of the Disciples

A good book to read on this subject is Fox’s Book of the Martyrs. It’s here that we find the persecution and deaths of the twelve disciples. Now we know that Yeshua mandated to His disciples to go out and preach the Word. In Luke 24 it is written that the repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem; and so we see in the Book of Acts that the disciples did just that. On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and preached the message of repentance to the crowd and 3,000 people accepted the offer to repent and accept Yeshua as the Messiah. Can you imagine what a day that was for the disciples? These cowardly men who hid themselves behind closed doors receive the Holy Spirit and now they are empowered and boldly they begin to preach the truth of salvation and they see that their message is received and this great harvest of souls is gathered in that day. What were they to think except that maybe life was going to be good?

But that was short lived. One day when Peter and John went to the Temple for Morning Prayer, there was a lame man at the gate called Beautiful, and when he asked the men for money, they instead gave him something more precious than silver and gold: they healed the man in Yeshua’s name. When the people saw this, they all gathered around Peter and John, who began telling the story of salvation. 5,000 people repented that day and were brought into the fold. But this time it was at a cost. The priests and the captain of the Temple guard along with the Sadducees (who did not believe in the resurrection) arrested them and put them in jail.

The next day, Peter once again gave the message to those of the Sanhedrin; they could not dispute the miracle, so they told Peter and John to never again speak or teach in the Name of this Yeshua or else they would be punished. Peter replied, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge.” Now Peter said this because the Word of God tells us to obey our authority, and the Sanhedrin was equated to the seat of Moses. Yeshua tells the multitude and His disciples in Matthew 23:2-3, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on the chair of Moses; therefore whatever they tell you to obey, obey and do it, but do not do according to their works, for they say and do not.” Peter continued, “For we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.” This is what Yeshua meant when He said, “You shall be My witnesses (The word witness from the Greek is martus or martur, “one who bears witness by his death,” one who can, or does, claim what he has seen or heard or knows. This places a different light on what most Christians think of when they use this word).”

When they reported back to the believers, they responded with, “O Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the Sea, and all that is in them, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant said, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Messiah.'” And after they prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the Word of God with boldness. And so the believers grew in number daily and they continued in prayer and study of the Word and many signs and wonders were being done among the people; and they were esteemed highly, for many people who were sick were healed, some just by the passing of Peter’s shadow. Can you imagine the power of the Holy Spirit when believers walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh?

But persecution always finds its roots in the testing of our faith. The High Priest and the Sadducees, filled with jealousy, put the apostles in jail. But it was God to the rescue, for Scripture tells us, “God is an ever present help in the time of trouble.” An angel came that night and opened the gates of the prison and told them, “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of life.” And so the apostles continued in their mission of preaching and teaching the Word of Life.

Stephen

We know in the Book of Acts that Stephen was the first martyr. Scripture tells us that Stephen was preaching the gospel and his listeners were so outraged that they drove him out of the city and stoned him. What could Stephen have said that would have caused the people to be in such a rage that they would kill him? Well let’s take a closer look.

The Book of Acts records in chapter 6 that Stephen was full of faith, filled with the Holy Spirit, doing great wonders and signs among the people. There arose some men from the synagogue of the Freemen. Now, this is the same synagogue that Saul, who became the Apostle Paul, attended and they began disputing with Stephen but they could not resist the Holy Spirit’s wisdom for by which Stephen spoke. So what did he say that caused them to bring him before the council? Well, we get a clue from 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 why they reacted the way they did from one who was there: “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Messiah crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Messiah the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser then men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame things which are strong, and the base things of the world and despised, God has chosen the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God. By doing this you are in Messiah Yeshua, who became to us wisdom from God, and the righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.'” So we see that by the very nature of Stephen’s message he put these people to shame.

So they brought Stephen before the council and there it is said that they looked upon him and saw his face as the face of an angel. Stephen begins his defense by giving them a history lesson, and how their history led Israel to the condition they were in at the moment. You see, this is true of all people. We can accept where we have been, but we cannot accept where we are today. Stephen tells them that they are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in the heart. Their ears are not open to hear God and they resist the Holy Spirit. When they hear this, they were cut to the heart and became furious. Unfortunately, they were not cut to the heart so that they rended their hearts and repented, but instead they rended their garments and became furious to the point that they dragged him off and stoned him to death. So heaven opened up and received Stephen, but as he was dying he asked God to forgive them of their sins.

Now Paul, who stood by and held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen, I’m sure remembered all that happened that day when in Rome they began disputing with him. He quotes Isaiah, “Go to this people and say, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them.'”

The Apostles

Ten years after the death of Stephen, we encounter our next martyr. In the Book of Luke, we find James the son of Zebedee, the elder brother of John. Herod Agrippa, who had just become the governor of Judea, wanted to make a name for himself, so he decided that he would strike down the leadership of the Christians, this being James; but God used this tragedy for good. Clemens Alexandrinus writes that James’ accuser repented and fell down at his feet to request his pardon, professing himself as a Christian and that James should not receive the crown of martyrdom alone. So they both were beheaded at the same time. And so Yeshua’s prophetic remark to James and his mother Salome were fulfilled that He would drink of the same cup as Yeshua (Matthew 20:20-23).

Philip, the first one to be called a disciple, brought the message of repentance unto salvation in Asia. There he was martyred at Heliopolis, in Phrygia. He was scourged, thrown into prison, and then crucified in A.D. 54.

Matthew the tax collector, who wrote his gospel in Hebrew which afterward was translated into Greek by James the Less, went to Parthia and Ethiopia, was martyred in the city of Nadabah, being slain with a halberd in A. D. 60.

James the Less was elected to be the overseer of the Jerusalem Church and the author of the epistle that bears his name. At the age of 94, he was beaten and stoned and clubbed by the Jews.

Matthias, who was appointed to replace Judas as the twelfth apostle, was stoned and beheaded in Jerusalem.

Andrew, the brother of Peter, preached the gospel in Asia. He was crucified at Edessa. The two ends of his cross were fixed transversely in the ground (X) and this became known as the St. Andrew’s cross.

History records that Mark was a convert to Christianity. He wrote his message of salvation under the watchful eye of Peter, who supposedly was the one who led him to Yeshua. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria, at the great solemnity of Serpis their idol.

Jude was the brother of James and was called Thaddeus. He was crucified at Edessa in the year 72.

Bartholomew translated Matthew’s gospel into the Indian language. He was cruelly beaten and then crucified.

Thomas, called Didymus, preached the gospel in Parthia and India. After exciting the rage of the pagan priests, he was martyred by being thrust through with a spear.

Luke, the evangelist, wrote his message of truth that bears his name. He traveled with Paul in various countries. Tradition has it that he was hanged on an olive tree by idolatrous priests in Greece.

Barnabas was a Jew from Cyprus and tradition has it that he died in 73.

Simon preached the truth in Mauritania, Africa, and Britain in which he was also crucified in 74.

John the Beloved was the brother of James the Great. The churches of Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicia and Thyatira were all founded by him. He was sent to Rome from Ephesus where he was supposedly cast into a pot of boiling oil. He escaped miraculously without injury. He was then banished to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. He was later recalled back. He was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.

Peter was crucified head down in Rome, though many asked him to flee the city because Nero sought after him. When Peter began to flee the city, he got as far as the city gate when Yeshua appeared to him. Peter asked, “Lord where are you going?” and Yeshua said, “I have come again to be crucified.” Peter, understanding his suffering, returned to the city. He asked to be crucified upside down because he was not worthy to die like his Savior.

Paul also suffered death at the hand of Nero. Paul suffered great persecution at the hand of those who did not want to hear truth. But Paul said, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in our body the dying of Yeshua, that the life of Yeshua also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Yeshua’s sake, that the life of Yeshua also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed, therefore I spoke,’ we also believed, therefore we also speak; knowing that He who raised Yeshua will raise us also with Yeshua and present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” Paul was beheaded, but upon his death he knew that there awaited for him a crown of righteousness because he had ran the race and won!

We have been looking at persecution and martyrdom, and we will continue to see that this has been a big part of the history of Christianity. As Americans, we have come to believe that we Christians will not see this type of violence against us, but is this a false belief? We want to take a look at several persecutions that took place in the First and Second Century and see if there are any similarities in today’s world, and especially look at those who were persecuted and martyred. As Christians today, do we even come close to being the Christians that we need to be to even stand in the face of such persecution? We are going to take a closer look at all this and find out.

Nero

As we saw last month, Nero had many Christians put to death. Peter and Paul fell under Nero’s rage. In the year 67, Nero became the sixth Emperor of Rome. One day, he ordered that the city of Rome be set on fire. While Rome burned, Nero sat in the tower of Macaenas and played upon his harp and sang the song of the burning of Troy. Thousands of people perished in the fire. When he was sharply blamed for the fire, he simply blamed it on the Christians. Nero was so evil that he thought of many ways in which to inflict pain with such cruelty. He had some Christians sewed up in skins of wild beasts and left to the dogs. Others he had put in wax and had them burned as torches to illuminate his gardens.

And so this persecution spread throughout the Roman Empire. But none of this diminished the spirit of Christianity. In fact, the opposite, for Nero remarked just how well Christians die. Others who died under Nero were Erastus, Chamberlain of Corinth, Trophimus, an Ephesian converted by Paul and a fellow laborer with him, and Ananias, Bishop of Damascus.

Domitian

The Emperor Domitian, A.D. 81, was naturally inclined to cruelty; first he slew his brother, then he raised the second persecution against the Christians. In his rage, he put to death Roman senators, some from malice others because he wanted to take their estates. He commanded that all the lineage of David be put to death. Simeon the Bishop of Jerusalem was crucified and the apostle John, as we saw in part one, was boiled in oil and then sent to the Isle of Patmos. Dionysius the Bishop of Athens, Nicodemus (the one who secretly met with Yeshua and asked Him about being born again in John 3:4), and Timothy the disciple of Paul and Bishop of Ephesus all were martyred at this time. Christians were commanded to renounce their religion or suffer the consequences. Fabricated tales were told in order to blame the Christians. Any famines, pestilences, or earthquakes were all blamed on the Christians. Paid informers gave way to many innocent lives being put to death.

Trajan

In the third persecution under Trajan in 108, a man named Pliny, who was an educated and famous man, looked upon the slaughter of Christians and wrote to Trajan, “There are many Christians being put to death daily, of which none did anything contrary to the Roman laws worthy of such persecution and death. The whole account gave of their crimes amounted to this: that they were accustomed on a stated day to meet before daylight, and repeat together a set form of prayer to Messiah as a God, and to bind themselves by an obligation not indeed to commit wickedness; but on the contrary-never to commit theft, robbery, or adultery, never to falsify their word, never to defraud any man: after which it was their custom to separate, and reassemble to partake in common of a harmless meal.” The Psalmist writes, “The wicked plots against the righteous, and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him; for He sees his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow, to cast down the afflicted and needy, to slay those who are upright in conduct. Their sword will enter their own heart, and their bows will be broken.”

Ignatius, who was the Bishop of Antioch and the successor to Peter, was sent to Rome because he professed Messiah and was given to the wild beasts to be devoured. It is said that as he passed through Asia, under strict custody, he strengthened and confirmed the churches through all the cities as he went, both with his exhortations and preaching the Word of God. Accordingly, having come to Smyrna, he wrote to the churches at Rome, exhorting them not to use means for his deliverance from martyrdom, lest they should deprive him that which he most longed and hoped for. “Now I begin to be a disciple. I care for nothing, of visible or invisible things, so that I may but win Messiah. Let fire and the cross, let the companies of wild beasts, the breaking of bones and tearing of limbs, let the grinding of the whole body, and all the malice of devil, come upon me; be it so, only may I win Messiah Yeshua!” When he was sentenced to the wild beasts he said, “I heard the lions roaring, saying: ‘I am the wheat of Messiah: I am going to be ground with the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure bread.'”

The Inquisitions

These are only three of ten persecutions that went on throughout the first two centuries of Christianity. The persecutions and tortures only became more evil and severe and hundreds of thousands of Christians died martyrs in these two centuries. But Christians never shrank back, but courageously and willingly went to their deaths believing in the faithfulness of their Heavenly Father, and the believers only grew in number.

The persecutions continued, but now the persecution came from within. These were the days of the Inquisitions. The gospel light throughout Europe began to diffuse and so Pope Innocent III had great fears for the Roman Church. So he ordered a number of inquisitions, or persons who were to made inquiry after, to apprehend and punish heretics, as the reformed were called by the Pope. Courts of Inquisition were being set up in several countries; but the Spanish Inquisition became the most powerful and the most dreaded. Even the kings of Spain themselves, though arbitrary in all other respects, were taught to dread the power of the lords of the Inquisition; and the horrid cruelties they exercised compelled multitudes who differed in opinion from the Roman Catholics, careful to conceal their sentiments.

People found guilty of heresies were condemned to die by burning at the stake, as we saw with Joan of Arc. If they repented of their heresies, they received prison for life, such as Galileo. But the horrors of the torture and inflicted pain on innocent people just grew more horrific.

The Reformation

When you think of the Reformation you have to think of John Wickliffe. In 1230, there began a feud between Wickliffe and the friars at the University at Oxford. The friars believed that Yeshua was nothing more than a common beggar and so they began the practice of begging. Wickliffe began exposing them as being simply lazy and that they were not only a reproach to religion, but also to human society. Wickliffe continued to expose the luxurious living of the friars and bishops and even the Vatican. He exposed many things that were not true in their doctrine and eventually Wickliffe translated the Bible into English so every person could read for themselves the truths of God’s Word. For all this he was persecuted. But his ministry still lives on today with translators all around the world translating the Word of God into the language of the people.

Of course, the other name that you think of when you think of the Protestant Reformation was Martin Luther. In 1507, Martin Luther celebrated his first Mass at the monastery in Erfurt. Martin Luther was also a monk who exposed the double standard of the friars living in wealth and the poverty of the people. He too when asked to go to Rome saw the luxurious living when he himself believed that Christians should not be part of the world and that they should live a more simple life. In 1518, Luther went to the Monastery of St. Augustine at Heidelberg where there was a gathering of his fellow monks, and there he spoke to them about “Justification by faith.” This caused his adversaries to grow more and more active against him, and he was spoken of to Pope Leo X as a heretic. Luther wrote a letter to the Pope about indulgences, and he eventually posted his complaints on the door of the church. Martin Luther stayed with the truth despite all the persecution until his death in 1546.

Another man who remained faithful to the truth was William Tyndale. Tyndale was a very learned man from the University of Oxford. Tyndale, like Wickliffe, felt the Bible should be put into English so everyone could read and study God’s Word. And so Tyndale was imprisoned for a year and a half, but during his imprisonment he converted the jailer as well as his daughter and whole household. In 1536, Tyndale was tied to a stake and burned, but not before the people heard his prayer: “Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes.”

And so we see that all throughout history, courageous men and women were persecuted and stood strong, contending for the faith even unto death. This brings us to John Bunyan, who was born into a Puritan family. But as he became a young man, he became a Baptist and by the time he was thirty he was one of the leading Baptist ministers; and because of his preaching, he found himself in jail. Being separated from his wife and children, particularly his blind daughter, brought much grief to him. But he found solace in the two books that he had brought with him: the Bible and Fox’s Book of Martyrs. Bunyan wrote several books while in jail, but it was only three years later when he was thrown into prison again that he wrote his famous Pilgrim’s Progress, which was a story of his life. He was the man clothed in Rags, with his Face from his own home, a Book in his hand and a great Burdon upon his back. Bunyan died in 1688.

In June of 1703, John Wesley was born to Charles and Suzanne Wesley. His father was a preacher and his mother was a remarkable woman of wisdom and intelligence. She would dress up her children in their finest clothes on the days when they were to have the privilege of learning their alphabet as an introduction to reading the Holy Scriptures. Wesley was the founder of the Methodist church. He preached twice a day, often three or four times. He would travel 4500 miles a year on horseback through England. His brother Charles Wesley who traveled with him was known for his hymns, which introduced a new era in the hymnology of the English Church. But his days of preaching led to stoning and pelting, with attempts at wounding and slaying him and his brother. But they always faced all these dangers with amazing courage and astonishing calmness.

The Holocaust

Not only Christians were being persecuted and martyred during these years. Many Jewish people also died for their faith. The one event that stands out the most was the Holocaust. Even though they died because they were Jews, many thousands of Jews never gave up their love for God and His Word.

And that brings us to Corrie ten Boom. From her book Prison Letters, Corrie writes, “Can faith survive—indeed, thrive—in the brutal dehumanizing environment of a Nazi concentration camp? Can God be glorified and His people blessed, even as thousands of innocent souls are being herded to their doom? Yes, Jesus lives and He is Victor!” Corrie, her sister, and her father hid Jews in their home until one day they were caught. This cost them the life of their father and Corrie’s sister Betsie, but through all the sorrow and the suffering, these people never wavered from their Christian duty to love God and His people. As they were led into that prison camp they knew that God would never leave them or forsake them. Throughout this experience Corrie often wrote about how thankful she was and she always looked for the good. As lonely as she was, she always kept her mind on her Savior and then she would get a peace in her heart and strength to go on. There is so much that could be written; if you have never read the book I recommend it. But it must be noted that Corrie wrote a letter to the man who turned her family in to the Nazis and she forgave him and also told him that if he repented Jesus would forgive him also and proceeded to give him the Gospel message.

Corrie ten Boom is the embodiment of all those Christians who went to their death as martyrs before her. Though God spared her life, it was not without great pain and suffering, but as she says, God purified her so that she could be used by Him.

America

We here in America believe that we will never see such persecution because we have the Amendment to the Constitution which gives us the freedom of religion. But one such group in Americans did see it; they were the Quakers. The Quakers received much persecution in England. The reason for this persecution was because they called people to repentance. These people led a simple, quiet life. They were respectable people. But we want to look at their persecution here in America.

1n 1656 in a general court in Boston, the Quakers were declared a cursed sect of heretics and any ship that brings them to port would be fined and any person harboring them would be fined. It is always worth noting that when people start talking about repentance and living out the Good Book according to how it was written and not by interpretation, people always get uncomfortable with you. As many who would say that the Quakers were extreme, would say the same of any committed Born Again Christian. This land called America, where people came for religious freedom, only had that freedom for those they tolerated; those whom they did not, they jailed, tortured and/or put to death.

As we have briefly seen, persecutions and martyrdom is the common lifestyle of Christians as hundreds of thousands have experienced such trials in their walk with their Savior. As Peter writes to the believers during the persecution under Trajan, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Messiah, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Messiah, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and God rests upon you.”

As we lose more and more freedoms in this country, do you begin to see the winds of persecution blowing?

We have been looking at the persecution and martyrdom that has taken place throughout church history. Yeshua warned His disciples that persecution would come. The question that we have to ask ourselves is, how did these people endure not only the persecution, but the pain and suffering and torture that led to their deaths?

Testing of Your Faith

First we want to start where we left off with Peter writing to those being persecuted under Trajan. He writes, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” Here, Peter is telling the believers that this is the testing of their faith, and it is no strange thing. Scripture repeatedly tells us that God tests His people. In fact Paul says, “We also exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance, proven character and proven character, hope and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Peter tells the believer that the testing of their faith through these trials and tribulations are actually a good thing: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born to a living hope through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will never fade away, reserved for us in heaven who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah.” When we look at the Hall of Faith in the Book of Hebrews, we see that the people of the Bible knew all too well about the testing of their faith and yet they did such extraordinary, awesome things for God. But what we have to remember is that these people were just people like you and I, so if they could do it, so can we!

Time to Go to the Dump

As believers, we are to have no fellowship with the world. We are to set our minds on things above, not on things that are on the earth. Paul writes that we are to crucify the flesh and walk in the Spirit. We must walk the walk and talk the talk not as hypocrites, but in love and in sincerity of heart. We must keep God’s commands and serve Him out of joy, not compulsion. John writes, “Do not love the world, nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but from the world.”

Life is not in our possessions, but in God. Paul says that he considered all things rubbish. He writes, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Messiah. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Messiah Yeshua my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Messiah, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Messiah, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Messiah Yeshua.” Paul felt it was important to know Yeshua in His pain and suffering. Paul felt that it was in that pain and suffering that he himself could find Yeshua in a deeper and more spiritual way and through that pain and suffering he could draw his strength from God.

The Joy of the Lord is My Strength

Yeshua tells His disciples that they were not to fear men, but to fear the One who not only could kill but has the authority to cast into hell. So, we must remember the words of the Psalmist, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident.” Paul, who would have known these words, surely drew his strength from them, for he repeatedly said, “Rejoice in the Lord always and in all things give thanks.” He knew that his victory was in Yeshua and so he writes to the Corinthians, “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Yeshua, that the life of Yeshua also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Yeshua’s sake, that the life of Yeshua also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” Again he writes, “We are fools for Messiah’s sake, but you are prudent in Messiah; we are weak.” Paul writes, “But in all things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.” This was Paul’s victory cry.

The Laying Down of Our Lives

John writes, “We know love by this that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Paul felt that his sufferings were for the good of the kingdom to advance the message of truth and life so that people could be saved, and that made all the suffering well worth it. Paul writes Timothy, “Remember Yeshua the Messiah, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel for which I suffer hardship, even imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain salvation which is in Messiah Yeshua and with it eternal glory.”

Paul tells the Philippians, “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.” He says to the Thessalonians, “Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.” And so he writes to the Corinthians, “We are fools for Messiah’s sake, but you are prudent in Messiah; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. I do not write these things to shame you but to admonish you as beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Messiah, yet you would not have many fathers; for in Messiah Yeshua I became your father through the gospel.” He writes again, “So death works in us, but life in you. But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believe, therefore I spoke,’ we also believe, therefore also we speak; knowing that He who raised the Lord Yeshua will raise us also with Yeshua and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” He writes to the Philippians, “Therefore my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord.” He writes to the Thessalonians, “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exaltation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Yeshua at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”

You Must Expect Persecution

“All who desire to live godly lives in Yeshua will be persecuted,” Paul writes to Timothy. The question is what will you do? He tells Timothy, “In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; and avoid such men.”

So as we see darkness covering the earth, evil becomes more evil, as the Scripture says, “They will call good evil and evil good.” We are supposed to combat evil with good and not become overtaken with evil. We are to love our enemies despite what they may do to us. We are to be salt and light in the midst of darkness. In the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua calls those who are persecuted blessed: “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when men cast insults at you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Peter echoes the words of Yeshua when he writes, “Even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness you are blessed. Do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled.”

Paul tells Timothy that he needs to endure the hardships and continue doing the work he was called to do. He says, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us.” Yeshua said that because the world hated Him it would hate us too, but we are to love one another and do good. We are to pray for those who do evil to us and forgive them. Paul writes to the Ephesians, “So that Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love…”. Why rooted and grounded? Because Yeshua tells us in the Parable of the Sower that the seed sown on the rocky places, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with joy; but they have no firm root in themselves, they are only temporary; so when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately they fall away. We not only need to hear the Word but we must be doers of the Word because this is what produces faith and faith is what overcomes the world.

To the Winner Goes the Crown

We must lay aside every sin that entangles us and run the race set before us. Paul writes again to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith, in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” James writes, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” And Peter writes to those who shepherd the flock, saying, “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” The imperishable crown, as Paul calls it, is the hope of salvation to all who live by God’s Word and stand firm till the end. As John writes to the Church of Smyrna, “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

And so we must ask ourselves today, when persecution comes (and it will come), will we be included with those who overcame because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and did not love their lives even to death?

We have been taking a closer look at persecution and martyrdom the last several months, and as we saw last month, those who overcame and stayed faithful in the midst of trials and persecution would receive an imperishable crown. All throughout the history of God’s people, there has been a resounding voice which asks the question, “How long, O Lord, how long will the wicked prosper?” The Psalmist writes over and over again from a heart longing for God’s intervention and justice to prevail in the midst of a perverse and wicked world, “When will Thou execute judgment on those who persecute me?” In the Book of Revelation the souls that were martyred that rest beneath the altar cry out to the Lord, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

We have looked at the Apostles along with brave Christians who have suffered persecution, but when we think of the Hebrew Scriptures, we have to think of David. All throughout the Psalms we read about the brokenness of David who for many years was isolated and lonely because of the persecution of King Saul. So we want to look at his writings in the Psalms to see how David made it through all those years of persecution from Saul.

David the Suffering Servant

David was considered a man after God’s own heart. David points to Yeshua in his writings even though he is writing about himself so many times. David’s cry, “O God why has thou rejected us,” is Yeshua’s cry from the cross quoted from David’s Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken Me?” David ran from Saul for about twenty years. He also ran from others like Absolom, his own son who wanted to do him harm. David knew the hardships of persecution. He could relate to the agony and desperation that one goes through when God is testing your faith through trials and persecutions. But time after time, David would always come back to the truth that God really hadn’t forsaken him, that he was not forgotten but just the opposite, that God was for him and loved him and one day the wicked would come to an end, and that end would be an eternity without God while he would enjoy the rewards of the righteous forevermore. We want to take a closer look at David’s writings and see how he dealt with his persecution. Let’s see if we cannot learn from God’s Word the power to overcome.

Psalm 1

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the council of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.” Immediately in the book of Psalms, there is given the difference between the wicked and the righteous. Here David gives us the first hint to overcoming. The righteous delight in the Law and in His Law he meditates day and night. As believers, we need to be sure that we do not listen to the world but only to God’s Word. “My sheep know my voice and a stranger they will simply not follow, but flee from him because they do not know the voice of the stranger.” We need to take the Sword of the Spirit and fight the good fight and we need to take the belt of truth and put it around us so that we are firmly anchored and stable in the Word of God.

Psalm 2

“Why are the nations in an uproar and people devising a vain thing? The kings take their stand and the rulers take council together against the Lord and against His anointed: ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!'” The wicked hate God and His Messiah and they will do anything to break away from under the yoke of His authority. But God responds by laughing and scoffing at them, for God will break them and shatter them like earthenware. God is the Almighty who sits on the throne and nothing gets past his eyes. For the Psalmist writes, “And they have said, ‘The Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.’ Pay heed you senseless among the people; and when will you understand, stupid ones? He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see?” Our hope during our time of testing is in God, that He will one day remove the wicked like one removes the chaff.

Psalm 3

This psalm was written when David was fleeing from his son Absolom. “O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, ‘There is no deliverance for him in God.'” David knows all too well the division God’s Word can bring in families and how children can rebel against parents. Yeshua said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” These trials and persecutions can be the most difficult because we are torn between children we love and God in whom we not only love, but serve. David goes on to say, “But thou O Lord art a shield about me, my glory and the One who lifts my head.” Only God can protect us from the hurt. Only God can carry us and even lift our heads when we just want to hang our heads in sorrow. Yeshua said, “Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” This Morning Prayer of David gives us strength to go through the day to meet every challenge that the day holds because we know that nothing will come our way that God and I cannot meet together.

Psalm 4

Yeshua tells us that we are not to worry about tomorrow, for today has enough problems of its own. At the end of the day, we lay our heads down to rest and only God can give us the peace to close our eyes in sleep. Psalm four is called The Evening Prayer, and David writes, “Answer me when I call O God of my righteousness! Thou hast relieved me in my distress; be gracious to me and hear my prayer.” After all day of fighting the good fight, it is good to know that God does not slumber or sleep, that God is faithful even when we are not. But here in this psalm we see some key components to becoming an overcomer. Here we see in verse 2 God says, “O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach? How long will you love what is worthless and aim deception? But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him. Tremble and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the Lord.”

We see here that first of all, to overcome you have to be set apart. What does it mean to be set apart? Well, God gave specific commands to set his people apart from all the others. In fact, God tells Moses, “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My Covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy (set-apart) nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” Now we have to agree that if we Gentiles were not grafted in, that the Word of God would be meaningless to us because it would only pertain to the Jew. But Paul does tell us that we have been grafted into Israel and into the promises and into the covenants, so God’s word is relevant to us as well as to the Jew. So Paul says that the congregation of believers is to be a kingdom of priests and a holy (set-apart) nation, a peculiar people, God’s own special treasure. So what sets Israel apart must also set us apart. And what helped those of the Hall of Faith will also help us to overcome.

The Scriptures tell us that the redeemed of the Lord shall live by faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. Faith without works is dead. Even though I do not consider obeying God’s commands as works, some people do. I believe we keep God’s commands out of love for Him. Yeshua said, “If you love Me, then keep My commands.” The Psalmist writes, “The Lord has set-apart the godly man for Himself.” God gave Israel specific commands to keep them set-apart from the world. First of all, all His commands separate us from the world. But we only like to think of the Ten Commands; well, really we only like to think of nine of them. But it is keeping the Sabbath that separates us from the world. It also speaks to the world that we believe that God is the Creator of all things because after He created, He rested on the seventh day and made it holy. The seventh day was a day of rest and it shows the world that God is the one who provides for us and takes care of us. In the wilderness they were to collect manna for six days and on the sixth day they were to collect enough for the seventh day.

God’s appointed times, which the Sabbath is one of, is God’s calendar, not the world’s. It is distinguished by the moon, and every new moon starts a new month and a new time for us to begin anew with God. In the service of the New Moon, it speaks of the day when all abominations will come to an end and God will rule and reign with all of His saints. It definitely is a service that all believers should keep because it is what we are all waiting for: the return of our Messiah who will one day sit on the throne of King David and be King over all. So as the world keeps a calendar that is not lunar with all of its pagan names, the set-apart godly person should be keeping God’s lunar calendar because it again speaks of God who is the Creator. For it says in Scripture that it was evening then morning for each of the days of creation.

Passover is another Appointed Time. Yeshua died on Passover, not Good Friday. The scriptures clearly stated that it was Passover and that Yeshua was our Passover Lamb and that we should keep Passover by taking the leaven out of our lives. Of course, three nights and three days later, Yeshua rose from the dead triumphantly. And we are to keep the counting of the Omer which begins on the day after Unleavened Bread, or the sixteenth of Nisan, which is the feast of First Fruits because Yeshua is our First Fruits from the dead, which brings us to Pentecost on the fiftieth day. On this day, God married Israel and the marriage covenant was the giving of His commands on Mount Sinai; at the time of the disciples it was the giving of the Holy Spirit which is our down payment or the seal on that marriage.

There is Rosh Hashanah, which speaks of the Lord’s return with the sound of the trumpet and the High Holy days which lead to Yom Kippur, the holiest of all God’s Appointed Times because it is the time of repentance when we who have heard the sound of the shofar and have prepared ourselves have our names written in the Lamb’s Book of life. And there is the Feast of Tabernacles which is God dwelling with man. Sounds like the birth of Yeshua! Don’t we say that he became man to dwell with us? This is the time of our Savior’s birth, not Christmas, which is a pagan holiday. The Feast of Tabernacles is recorded in Zechariah 14 and it is stated that any family of the earth that does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King during this feast, there will be no rain on them and they will be punished. These Feasts not only separate us from the world, but it is during these Times that God says, “I want to meet with you, I want you to draw near.”

God gave us the Kosher diet to separate us from the world. Was it because it was healthier? NO! It was to separate us from the world. The Scriptures tell us that if we love the world, we cannot have any part of God because they are enemies of each other. We are not even to resemble the world. Our friends wonder why we do not run with them any longer (1 Peter 4:3-5). It is because we are now separated from the world and its ways. No longer do we lust after the flesh and the eyes, the pride of life (1 John 2:15-19). We are to be godly if we are ever going to be overcomers. The Bridegroom is coming back for a Bride without spot or wrinkle. We are to keep our garments white with good works and deeds and we are to shine in the darkness. This is what keeps faith.

Next, we are to be people of praise. We are to offer the sacrifices of righteousness. The sacrifice of praise is the fruit of our lips. “Rejoice in the Lord always,” this is what Paul tells us. We are to rejoice in our trials and tribulations because we trust in our God. It is the Song of Moses that the redeemed will sing, the song of triumph, the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are They works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are thy ways, Thou King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy Name? For Thou alone art holy; For all the nations will come and worship before thee, For thy righteous acts have been revealed.” The Psalmist writes, “May my prayer be counted as incense before Thee.”

When the angels fall before the Lamb they will have golden bowls full of the prayers of the saints and they will sing a new song saying, “Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break the seals; For Thou was slain, and didst purchase for God with thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth. And to him who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to prices. I am coming quickly; hold fast to what you have, in order that no one take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1).

We want to take a closer look at this verse and this chapter to understand what it is that Paul is telling the Ephesians about our calling in Yeshua. So to begin, we are going to take a look at a few key words in this verse. Paul tells us that we are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling which you have been called. The word “walk” in the Greek is “peripeiro” (per-ee-pat-eh) which literally means to tread all around, but figuratively it means to live, to deport oneself, follow (as a companion), be occupied with, and walk about.

The Greek word for “to call” is “kaleo” (kal- eh-o), the root word by which “calling” and “called” are from, and it has a very interesting meaning in reference to this verse and chapter. We are going to look at all of its meanings to get a broad idea of this word, “call,” which will help us get a clear picture of what Paul was saying in this verse and chapter.

Kaleo: To call to someone in order that he may come or go somewhere.

A. Particularly with the actual voice–as a shepherd calls his flock as in Luke 19:13, Mark 1:20

B. Generally to call in some way, send for, direct to come as in Matthew 2:7, 15, Hebrews 11:8

C. To call authoritatively, to call forth, summon, e.g. before a judge as in Acts 4:18. Figuratively: God calling forth and disposing of things that are not, even though they were, calling them into existence as in Romans 4:17.

D. In a sense of to invite, particularly to a banquet. Metaphorically, to call or to invite to anything, e.g. of Yeshua, to call to repentance as in Matthew 9:13, of God in Romans 9:24.

E. In the sense of to call to any position i.e. to appoint, choose.

So “calling” (klesis, klay–sis) is an invitation to a banquet, metaphorically: a call or invitation to the Kingdom of God and its privileges, i.e. divine call by which Christians are introduced into the privileges of the gospel as in Romans 11:29, 1 Corinthians 1:26, Ephesians 1:18.

So then, what we can safely say is that Paul was telling his readers that we are to walk out our lives in a manner being occupied with Yeshua and as proof of our ability (all that He has provided for us), following our Shepherd as we have been summoned to the banquet (the Marriage Supper of the Lamb) in the Kingdom of God. Paul goes on in verse 2, “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love.”

So here Paul tells us how we are to walk: in the manner worthy of our calling. He uses the word patience. Patience in the Greek is “makrothimia” (mak-roth-oo-mee-ah). This means longanimity, fortitude, to have endurance when others attack or make our lives difficult, showing forbearance (anechomai, an-ekh-om-ahee), to hold oneself up against; figuratively it means to put up with, bear with (have patience with regard to the errors or weakness of anyone as a permanent attitude), endure (as afflictions), and suffer, to hold up or back from falling, restrain. Love (agape, ag-ah-pay) is defined as affection or benevolence, charity, goodwill (especially goodwill toward others), the love of our neighbor, brotherly affection.

So we see that Paul is telling us that the manner worthy of this invitation to the banquet in the Kingdom of God is going to require us to live a life of having patience toward others even when they cause us to suffer and that we are actually holding one up from falling. Our calling requires us to serve even when it hurts. When we suffer, we must endure for the sake of our calling. We must serve with love, laying down our lives in the example of the One we serve.

Paul goes on in verses 3-6, “Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” God is in perfect harmony or peace with Himself and we also must live in this same harmony and peace with each other. Paul tells us that we must be diligent in preserving this peace. This passage of Scripture speaks of the same unity that Yeshua prayed for when He prayed: “Father make them one as We are one.” The discourse during the Feast of Hanukkah, recorded in John 10:22-30, is where Yeshua again says that He and the Father are one. We tend to focus our attention on denominations. Though we have different beliefs and ways of worship, we still must understand that there is just one God and Father.

Now I’m speaking, of course, to those religions that are Scripture based and believe in the one true God. But Yeshua does only have one body and there is only one Holy Spirit. We must also understand that Yeshua spoke of His body being one when He said, “I am the Good Shepherd and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd” (John 10:14-16). Now many preachers think that this other flock is the Jews, but they have it backwards because Yeshua was speaking to the Jews, and He was referring to the Gentiles who would one day come into the fold. So the belief that the church has become the new Israel or has replaced the Jews is just not true.

We must consider the fact that God would never renege on a covenant promise and so He tells us in Romans 11:26-36 that all of Israel shall be saved because this is His covenant with them. Romans 11:15-25 explains that God had to harden the Jewish hearts so that we could be grafted in. But He clearly says in this passage that we do not support the roots but the roots support us. So Paul tells us in our original verses that we also were called in one hope of our calling. In Romans 11:29 Paul says, referring to the Jews, that the call of God is irrevocable. That hope, being Jew or Gentile, is the hope of everlasting life, heaven. We must remember that the Jews do believe in a Messianic Era, just like we do. They may believe that the Messiah has not come yet, but they do believe that He is coming and when Yeshua comes again, they will believe in Him and be saved.

Paul continues in verse 7-10, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says when He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” This verse is taken from Psalm 68 which speaks of God coming down on Mount Sinai when He gave the Torah to His people. Verse 18 of this Psalm says, “Thou has ascended on high, Thou hast led captive Thy captives; Thou has received gifts among men, even among the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell there.” The Aramaic of the Targum says that this is referring to Moses, that when he came down from Mount Sinai he took captives captive and taught the words of the Torah and gave them as gifts to the children of men. Now, as we look to the following verses, we will see that this is exactly what these gifts are. We know that Yeshua is the Prophet who was to come that was like Moses and Yeshua is the Torah, the Word of God. Paul writes of these gifts in verses 11-16: “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors, and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Messiah; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Messiah. As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves, carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Messiah, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

We see that all these gifts have to do with the teaching and preaching of the Word of God. In some way, shape, or form we all have this calling. We are to be the light to the world. We are to be that lighthouse so that those who are tossed here or there by the waves can come and find a safe haven in the Word of God, which is truth; and that truth is the Word which will be their anchor.

So to go back to the beginning, we must walk out our calling which is to be, as Paul puts it, “Living Epistles,” being totally occupied with Yeshua, and our gifts are our proof of our ability to walk in such a manner as we go about bringing in those whom God has called to be with Him at His banqueting table. We are to be in unity with all those who God has called with us to do this work. Yeshua gives the parable of the master who sends out his servants to tell the people that the banquet is ready and that they should all come. We are those servants and we are to proclaim to the world that the banquet is ready and all are invited to come. We all have to serve in the unity of the faith which comes from hearing the Word of God and living it out following our Messiah who is the head of the body and who is the Word of God. So we must see to it that we grow up in Yeshua and that we grow in the gifts that God has given to us, so that we may be fitted together along with the rest of those who have been called, doing our part in the unity so that the body can grow.

So if there is only one body and one Spirit, one Lord and faith, one God and Father, then we must work alongside our brothers and sisters in unity as we work together in proclaiming the Kingdom of God. The Bible tells us not to judge our brother, not to judge our fellow workers in the kingdom, but together we are to pray for one another and, in love, work for the common good. Paul says some preach out of wrong motives but at least the gospel is being preached. We must look to Yeshua who is the head of the body and trust Him to bring His body together into unity of the faith.

It is my job and yours to just walk out our own calling and use the gifts that He has given us; being Jew or Gentile, Catholic or Protestant matters not as long as we are all walking in love and in the hope of our calling.

In this newsletter we want to take a closer look at Yeshua, our Passover Lamb. But to understand Yeshua as the Passover Lamb, we must understand a little bit about Passover.

Passover

Historically, Passover in Hebrew is Pesach. Passover is a festival of freedom. The first Passover took place on the fourteenth day of Nisan while the children of Israel were in Egypt. This usually takes place somewhere in our months of March/April. On the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month, the month of Nisan, the people sacrificed a one year old lamb without defect or blemish. They took the blood of the animal and smeared its blood on the sides and top of the doorframe of the house. Then they roasted the lamb and ate it with their sandals on and their staff in their hand. That night, the death angel went throughout the land of Egypt and where ever the blood was not on the doorpost, the angel struck down the first born of that house. Moses and all the children of Israel went out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea miraculously on dry ground as the water peeled back and all of Egypt’s army was drowned in the sea when God folded the water back upon them. Later when the children of Israel received the Torah on Mount Sinai, God made the Passover one of His Appointed Times to be celebrated every year to commemorate the deliverance of Israel from the hand of slavery. And so God’s Name is remembered forever for His mighty deliverance throughout the world each year, even to today. But the biggest tragedy is that we, believing Gentiles who have been grafted into Israel, do not remember as we have been commanded to, even by Yeshua.

The Last Supper/Seder

The Gospels record Yeshua’s last Passover Meal. We call it the Last Supper, but Yeshua was celebrating the Feast of Passover. We know this because Yeshua tells Peter and John to go and prepare the Passover for them to eat and as the story goes, they went. Upon entering the city, they saw a man carrying a pitcher of water whom they were to ask, “Where is the guestroom in which they were to eat the Passover?” Eating the Passover not only meant eating the lamb, but the whole meal of the Seder. Seder, which means order, is the historic recounting of the Exodus. Yeshua celebrating Passover, specifically the Seder Meal, is what we see happening in the gospels, which we call the Lord’s Supper or the Last Supper. Recounting the Scripture, we see Yeshua taking a piece of matzah (unleavened bread), breaking it, and giving thanks. Because of Anti-Semitism in the early church, the word for unleavened bread is misinterpreted to read “bread” when in fact, at the time of Passover Yeshua would have eaten unleavened according to the Torah. Yeshua then says, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Matzah

Now, this piece of matzah was not just any piece of matzah, but it was called the Afikomen. The Afikomen is one of three pieces of matzah used during the Seder. It is broken in two and one half is wrapped in a white napkin and hidden to be found later during the Seder while the other half is broken and passed around the table. There is much meaning here. First of all, leaven represents sin in our lives. Do not be confused when Yeshua relates heaven to leaven, for He was referring to the active ingredient of yeast. But Paul says, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed.” Yeshua was the perfect lamb without sin. Second, the three matzot are said to represent, according to the believers, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; but to the Jewish people, it represents the three letters that make up the word Tanakh, which is the Hebrew Scriptures: Torah, Nevi’im, and Kethuvim; the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Third, the first half of the matzah that is wrapped and then later found represents Yeshua buried in white linen that will later be found or resurrected. And so we see here that Yeshua was speaking of His death and burial and resurrection. Fourth, traditionally, the Rabbis had always taught that the last food to be tasted at the Passover Seder was to be the Passover lamb. Now at Yeshua’s Seder, there was no Passover lamb because He was going to be the Lamb. Isaiah 53:1 says, “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” This word “arm” is the word zeroah, which is the word used for shank bone. The Passover lamb could only be slaughtered in Jerusalem, so the shank bone was used as a substitute for the lamb at the Seder for all those who could not go up to Jerusalem. At Yeshua’s Seder, the last food to be eaten was the matzah. After the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, the rabbis also changed the symbol of the Passover lamb to be the matzah and the shank bone was used in remembrance of the lamb.

In no uncertain terms, Yeshua is the Passover Lamb!

The Cup

Next we see Yeshua taking the cup. “And in the same way, He took the cup after they had eaten saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.'” When the Scriptures say, “In the same way,” they are referring to the fact that Yeshua took the cup and blessed it with the traditional blessing. Now, the Seder is divided into four parts; each part coincided with a cup of wine and each cup has a different name based on the promises of God. The first cup is called the Cup of Blessing or the Cup of Sanctification or in Hebrew, the Kiddush Cup (Luke 22:17, 1 Corinthians 10:16). The second cup is called the Cup of Wrath (Luke 22:42-44). This cup is not drunk, but poured out as the plagues of Egypt are recited. As it is written, when Yeshua was in the Garden of Gethsemane He asks His Father to remove this cup, but Yeshua agrees to drink the cup of wrath for us by dying on the cross. The third cup is called the Cup of Salvation or Redemption (Psalm 116:13). This is the cup that is drunk after the supper and this is the cup that Yeshua refers to as His blood, the blood of the Passover lamb that was slaughtered and the blood that was put on the doorposts in Egypt that first Passover night. Yeshua once again predicts His death and compares His death to the Passover lamb. The smearing of the blood on the doorposts accomplished the redemption of the Israelites from their slavery to the Egyptians and Yeshua’s blood set us free from the slavery of sin which is also represented by the leavened bread and Egypt our taskmaster, the devil our adversary who has enslaved us. This is why when we celebrate Passover it is like our own personal exodus from Egypt. So, once again to quote Paul, “Do you not know that a little leaven (sin) leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” The fourth cup of the Seder is the Cup of the Kingdom (Luke 22:18, 20; Matthew 26:28-29). Yeshua said that He earnestly desired to eat the Passover with His disciples. He told them that He would not eat the Passover until it was fulfilled in the Kingdom and that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes.

And so Yeshua drinks the last cup and tells His disciples that one day they would all eat and drink again in the Kingdom. And that cup which He will drink when He comes back is the fifth cup or the Elijah Cup, which is not drunk at the Seder but is there in anticipation of the return of Elijah the Prophet who is symbolic of the Messiah and the Messianic Age. Malachi writes, “See, I will send the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.” An angel of the Lord spoke about John the Baptist, “And he will go before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah . . . to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Yeshua confirms that John was the Elijah who was to come and then when John saw Yeshua he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” confirming that Yeshua was the Passover Lamb.

Do This In Remembrance of Me

Yeshua tells us that we are to remember Him when we do these things. What things? Well, the Passover Seder of course. The church has once again changed an Appointed Time of God, Passover, specifically the Seder, and reduced it to what they call Communion. They changed Passover altogether and called it Good Friday, which most of the time does not even fall on the fourteenth day of Nisan. So how can we believers truly remember Yeshua as He has told us to, as the Passover Lamb, if we do not keep the Passover? How can we remember His redemptive death on our part if we do not partake of the matzah (the Afikomen) and the fourth cup (the Cup of Redemption) of the Seder? How can we do as Paul has said to do by keeping the feast without leaven if we do not keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread? And that leaves the Resurrection: how can we keep the correct day of the Resurrection if we do not keep the first two, for the first two lead to the third feast, the Feast of the First Fruits (Leviticus 23:9-14)? Paul tells us that Yeshua is the First Fruits from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). At some point before Yeshua returns, the body of believers is going to have to face the fact that we must walk in the truth so that we can truly be the Body of Yeshua.

This year, let us remember the Messiah as our Passover Lamb and let us celebrate the feast by taking the leaven out of not only our homes, but our lives.

Happy Passover and Resurrection!

In this newsletter we want to look at the law verses the Spirit. To begin, we have to understand what is meant by the term law. So we are going to take a closer look at what is meant by the law and how it has an impact on our lives.

The Law

The law, or the correct name “Torah,” in Hebrew means “teaching” or “instruction.” The Torah consists of the first five books of the Bible which were written by Moses. The Torah consists of 613 commands. There are 248 yes-do commands such as pray or honor your father and your mother and 365 do-not-do commands such as do not steal or kill. There are Levitical laws which are the laws concerning the priesthood and the Temple, and there are civil laws which are laws concerning the nation of Israel and many of which our laws are based on. There are laws concerning the people and their relationship to God and neighbor. For this newsletter, we want to look only at the keeping of the law that pertained to our relationship with God and neighbor.

God’s Word is who He is. It was by His Word that He created and His Word is His revelation to us of who He is and that is what He gave His people on Mount Sinai. But before the giving of the Torah at Sinai, God had given many of these commands even as far back as Adam because His Word is eternal. Over and over again God said to the people that they should be careful to keep all the words written in the Book of the Law (Torah). This is God’s command from the time it was given all throughout; we even see this in Yeshua’s ministry.

Yeshua and the Law

Matthew records that Yeshua, when speaking to the crowd on the mountain during what we call the Sermon on the Mount, tells the people right up front that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. If you put this in Hebrew, the words in bold which are in question, Yeshua was telling the people that He was not going to abolish the law by teaching it incorrectly but that He was going to fulfill it by correctly teaching it. Who better to teach torah than Yeshua, who is the embodiment of the Torah? We see time after time that Yeshua says, “It is written,” referring to the Scriptures, or, “It is said,” referring to the oral Torah (which is the verbal part of the Torah that God spoke to Moses and was not written down), “But I say,” and Yeshua will expound on a commandment, never nullifying it, but only teaching it correctly in its full meaning. So Yeshua loved the law.

Yeshua told the Parable of the Sower, He said that when the torah is received and understood that it would then bear fruit. Yeshua was more or less saying that when you receive Me, the living Torah, and you understand My ways and who I am, then you will bear fruit. When explaining the parable, He began by saying, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom . . . “. He then proceeded to tell other parables about the kingdom referring to it as seed, leaven, hidden treasure, a costly pearl, and a great dragnet cast into the sea gathering fish of every kind. Yeshua was talking about the Word of God, the Torah, God’s teaching and revelation of Himself. It is the seed to be planted in the garden of our hearts, it is the leaven that grows, it is the hidden treasure that’s worth selling everything for to get it, and it is the pearl of great value. Yeshua tells the people, “If you love Me you will keep My commands.” At the time of Yeshua, the only commands that were written were those in the Book of the Law, the Torah; and basically they are the same commands even today because Yeshua is the Word made flesh and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yeshua was all for the Torah because that is who He is, the living Torah.

Paul and the Law

The thinking in the church over the centuries has been that Paul was against the Law. But if you study the Scriptures, you will see just the opposite. Of course, this makes perfect sense being that Yeshua was not against the law; why should His followers be? Paul tells the Romans that the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. He says that without the law he would not have known sin. He tells the Galatians that the law is our tutor leading us to Messiah. Paul tells the Philippians that he was circumcised on the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee. As you can see, Paul did not say that he was a Pharisee but that he is a Pharisee. Paul tells the Corinthians to celebrate the Feast of Passover not with the leaven of malice and wickedness (this is because leaven represents sin), but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So Paul, even though he was a believer in Yeshua, still lived and practiced the law as a Pharisee.

Moses’ Pentecost

We recently celebrated the Feast of Pentecost. On the first Pentecost, God gave the people of Israel the Torah. The Scripture records it this way in Exodus 19:4-6: God calls Moses up the mountain of Sinai and says to him, “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the people, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you are to speak to the sons of Israel.” Exodus 19:7 records Moses going to the people and telling them all that God spoke to him and in verse 8 the people reply, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” So Moses goes up to the mountain and brings back the words of God, but when he gets back there are the people dancing around a golden calf worshiping it as their god. We see all through the Hebrew Scriptures that the people fall repeatedly into sin and God has to even exile them from the land. So the question is, why? Paul talks about the law being weak, and yet he concludes that the law is holy and righteous. So why could they not keep the law? Did they not love God?

Yeshua’s Pentecost

Before the death and resurrection of Yeshua, He tells His disciples that He was going back to the One who sent Him. He goes on to say that it was for their advantage that He goes and that He was going to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit. He tells them that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, would come and guide them in all truth. When He was about to ascend back to heaven He tells His disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promised Holy Spirit who would empower them to be witnesses in Jerusalem and around the world. Now, in ten days it would be the Feast of Shavuot, or as we call it, Pentecost, both meaning fifty. The disciples would have been counting the Omer up to Pentecost and according to the torah it would have been required of all the men to go up to Jerusalem for this particular feast. So they gather in the upper room, about 120 followers of Yeshua, and pray for the promise. Now on the day of Pentecost, they were gathered in one place (and that place would have been the temple), when suddenly, a noise like a violent rushing wind came and filled the whole house (temple) and fiery tongues appeared upon each one of them and they were filled with the Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.

Now, other than the filling of the Holy Spirit, this account was very close to the first Pentecost and the giving of the Law. But there were two different reactions. The first time, the people tell Moses to have God stop speaking to them lest they die, but this time, the apostles start speaking in tongues and Peter gets up and gives a long speech and thousands believe in the Messiah of God.

Death to the Law

Paul tells the Romans that we are to die to the Law through the body of Messiah, that we may be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God. He goes on to say, 1. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit to death; 2. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. So is Paul, who called the Law holy and righteous, contradicting himself by saying that we are no longer under the law? NO! Let’s take a closer look.

Paul speaks in Romans 5 about the sin of Adam. He says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. For until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” He goes on to say that through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many were made righteous. And the Law came in that transgressions might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Yeshua our Messiah and Lord.

He goes on in Romans 6, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” He goes on to say that we were baptized into Yeshua and into His death so that we may be raised from death to glory in the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. He says, “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin . . . Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Paul tells the Colossians, “Set your mind on things above not on things that are on the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Messiah in God . . . Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead . . . “. Paul tells us continually to crucify the flesh, to put to death the flesh, that through Yeshua’s death we too can now put to death sin in our flesh. Now remember, the Law was equated with the knowledge of sin. So Paul is not telling us to do away with the Torah, but to do away with the sin that the Torah has revealed to us, those deeds that lead to sin. Before the death of Yeshua, the people could not have this victory over sin, so sin ruled in their flesh and they had no strength in themselves to gain the victory.

The Spirit

Paul tells the Corinthians that their lives are like letters written in their hearts which were read by all men, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. He tells them that we are now servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. Now again, Paul is not saying that the Torah should no longer be kept because the letter kills, but the sin that the Torah exposes is what kills and brings death, for the wages of sin is death but the Spirit brings life and only if we walk by the Spirit will we not carry out the desire of the flesh. Paul goes on in Galatians, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for this opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.” Why? Because you are not letting your flesh commit the sin that the Torah exposes. Paul goes on to tell about the fruit of the flesh that leads to death and then tells of the fruit of the Spirit which leads to life. He says against such things there is no law because we have crucified our flesh with its passions and desires. So if we live by the Spirit, we ought to walk by the Spirit.

Conclusion

We see then that when we crucify the flesh and put to death our members to sin and begin to walk in the Spirit, then we are born again, born to newness of life and walking in the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34) which is now the Law written on our hearts and not on tablets of stone. The people before the crucifixion had no way of keeping the law even though many of them did keep it to the best of their ability; but after the death of Yeshua, we all can be set free from the slavery of sin to be slaves of righteousness; and what is righteous? Paul tells us that it is the Torah. Psalm 19 and Psalm 119 tell us that the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than fine gold; sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them thy servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” Paul writes, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

What’s the difference between Moses’ Pentecost and Yeshua’s, the Law of Moses and the New Covenant? Nothing is different but the Holy Spirit, the Helper, who gives us strength to crucify the flesh and live by His Spirit.

In this newsletter we want to look at the tabernacle and what it has to do with the prayer life of every believer. The Tabernacle of God, or the Mishkan in Hebrew, was the dwelling place of God, or you can say, God’s house, the place where He lived. Moses constructed the tabernacle in the wilderness, and Solomon built the first permanent temple. The temple and the tabernacle were set up the exact same way except that rooms along the side were added to the temple for the priesthood. For this newsletter we will be mainly referring to the tabernacle. Since the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, there has not been another temple built. The sacrifices, the priesthood, and basically everything that the temple stood for has come to an end . . . or has it? Let’s take a closer look!

Moses and the Tabernacle

The Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution and this is the contribution which you are to raise from them: gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, oil for lighting, spices for anointing oil and for fragrant incense, and onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastplate. And let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct.” And so we see then that all the congregation, the sons of Israel, departed from Moses and everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s contribution for the work of the tent of meetings and for all its service and for the holy garments. Our hearts must be moved to bring our financial offering to God for the maintaining of His house. All the skilled workers begin the work of the tabernacle and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the Lord commanded us to perform.” So Moses tells the people not to bring any more contributions for the sanctuary.

We find that repeatedly it is stated in the Scriptures that every detail in the construction of the tabernacle was constructed as it was shown to Moses on the mountain. God was definitely into the details. Why? Why did God want Moses to be so specific about even the smallest detail? The answer is that what Moses saw as a pattern for the earthly tabernacle was the heavenly tabernacle and so God wanted it constructed the exact same way to serve the exact same purpose and it is this tabernacle that existed from the beginning and is still in existence today. It is here that we begin our journey of prayer through the tabernacle. On the way to the temple (and I’m sure it was the same for the tabernacle) the people would sing praises to God. Out of this came the Psalms and what is called the Hallel, those particular Psalms which were sung when the people went on pilgrimage to the House of God. The Psalmist writes, “I enter Your gates with thanksgiving and Your courts with praise.” We must come before God with such an attitude in our hearts, bringing our sacrifice of praise.

As we now approach the tabernacle, we will see what Moses saw and the meaning behind each item and how it relates to our prayer life. To enter into the tabernacle, you went through the outer drape. Yeshua tells us that He is the door and that we must enter through Him. This is how we are to enter into prayer, in the name of Yeshua; and so we enter in.

Once we enter in the tabernacle, we see the Altar of Sacrifice and the Laver. The Altar of Sacrifice is where all the sacrifices were slaughtered and offered up to God. The sacrifice was the means by which the people could draw near to God. Yeshua is our sacrifice by which we draw near to God. The priests would sacrifice an animal for the sin offering and then they would gather the blood and sprinkle it upon the altar; and so we read, “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” The priest would offer up the burnt offering in the morning and in the evening and it was this offering which was to burn continually. The Jews also had their times of prayer in accordance with these morning and evening sacrifices. We see this in Acts 3, when Peter and John went up to the temple at the ninth hour and there they healed the lame man at the Gate Beautiful. They were going to the temple for morning prayer. The altar was the center of the tabernacle. Yeshua, who became the altar, is to be the center of our lives. So, Yeshua becomes the altar by which we are to lay down our lives as living sacrifices.

The Laver was made of copper. It was like a big kettle. It is believed that the first laver was made from the donations of the righteous women who gave their mirrors which were made from copper. The laver was the first vessel which the priest had contact with each day. God tells Moses in Exodus 30:20-21 that one is forbidden to begin any sacred temple service or even draw near to the altar until he sanctified his hands and feet. The blood of Yeshua cleanses us from the filth of our sins and purifies our hearts. Yeshua, the Word made flesh, now becomes the laver. James tells us this: “Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” Paul tells us that before we come to eat the bread and drink the cup we are to examine ourselves. So we see before we can even draw near to God that we must repent, purify ourselves and be washed in the blood of Yeshua.

From the outer court we now enter into the Holy Place. There is a drape that divides the two. Some people believe that it was this drape that was torn when Yeshua died, thus allowing those who were not of the priesthood to now enter into the Holy Place. Spiritually this would make sense because Scripture tells us that now we have access to the Father because of Yeshua.

As we enter into the Holy Place, we see the Table of Showbread on the right and the Menorah on the left and straight ahead we would have seen the Altar of Incense.

The menorah is a 7-branched candlestick that was made to look like the Tree of Life. The menorah was to be lit continually day and night. The purest of olive oil was used to light the lamps. The oil represents the Holy Spirit, as we see in Zechariah 4. The menorah was the only light in the tabernacle. Yeshua is the Light that shown from the tabernacle; He is the Light of the World.

To the right of the menorah was the Table of Showbread. The Hebrew Lehem Panim means “bread of the face” or “table of presence,” which it was also referred to as. Twelve loaves of fresh unleavened bread were placed on the table every Sabbath and the previous loaves were then eaten by the priests. Each loaf contained two tenths of an ephah of the finest flour. This was twice the daily ration of manna in the wilderness. Yeshua is the finest of wheat. He is the true manna from heaven. The Table of Presence is where we can come and feast at the table of the Lord, for He is our food and drink. When we come into His presence we gain our strength from the spiritual food of His table. Like the song sings, “In His presence that’s where I belong. In His presence, that’s where I belong. In His presence, that’s where I am strong. Seeking His face, touching His grace. In Your presence, Oh Lord.”

Down the middle of the Holy Place, in front of the drape that was in front of the Holy of Holies, stood the Altar of Incense. This bronze altar was like a smaller version of the Altar of Sacrifice. Fig branches were used for the firewood in the temple because they believe that it was at this spot that Adam sinned and sewed fig leaves. The priest would take some of the hot coals from the burnt offering which was offered up twice a day for the fire. Like the burnt offering, the fire would go straight up like a column of smoke. A special blend of spices was used for the incense. This altar represents the prayers of the saints. Revelations speaks of the golden bowl full of incense which are the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8).

Behind the Altar of Incense was a drape with Cherubim woven into it and behind this veil, you entered into the holiest place on earth, the Holy of Holies. In this room sat the Ark of the Covenant. On the top of the Ark sat the mercy seat with two large winged Cherubim. Inside sat the two tablets written by God, Aaron’s staff that budded, and a jar of manna, all a reminder of God’s power and provision and authority. It was here that only the High Priest could enter once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and only with the blood of the sin offering. He would burn the incense on the altar and then go in and sprinkle the mercy seat with the blood and pronounce God’s eternal name, Yahweh. Yeshua now has become our High Priest. He has entered into the Holy of Holies. He became our sin offering and He has sprinkled His own blood upon the mercy seat for the atonement of our sins.

Now that we have seen each article in the tabernacle, we are going to walk through the tabernacle in prayer. Once again I want to remind you that the tabernacle still exists today in heaven and we have become the priesthood with Yeshua as the High Priest over us.

Praying Through the Tabernacle

So many times we just start praying and telling God our troubles, but there is a correct way to enter into prayer. I want to say that this is only a model; you can add to it, but I believe that God has a set order of things for everything in life and that includes our prayer life and coming into His presence. As priests, we must follow the order of the tabernacle.

We start on pilgrimage to the House of the Lord. Here is where we sing and praise the Lord. We enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Yeshua is the door, we must come in the name of Yeshua. Then we must stop at the altar bringing the sacrifice by which we draw near, that is Yeshua. From there we go to the Laver and wash in the blood of the Lamb, repenting of our sins and asking for forgiveness. We then go and enter into the Holy Place. We stop at the table of the Lord, for Yeshua is our food and drink. We then go to the Menorah, for Yeshua is our Light and there we ask the Holy Spirit to anoint us. Then we bring our prayers and supplications before God at the Altar of Incense.

So to put this all together, I believe your prayer should sound something like this: After praise we would say, “Father, I come in the name of Yeshua and I draw near by His sacrifice. I thank You, Father, that You loved me so much that You sent Yeshua to die on my behalf so that I may have eternal life and I thank You, Yeshua, for that sacrifice. I thank You, Yeshua, for Your shed blood, for there is power in that blood to wash me clean. Wash me of all my known and unknown sins and all that I have committed with my thoughts, words, and deeds. Take off my filthy garments and robe me in Your righteousness, for You are my righteousness. Father, let me come and feast at Your table in the sight of Your Word, for Yeshua is the true manna from heaven. He is the finest of wheat. He is our food and drink, our portion, our cup overflows. He is our life, for Yeshua is the Bread of Life. He is the way, the truth, and the life; lead me in the path that leads to life and keep my foot from slipping, for Yeshua is the Light of the World. He is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Holy Spirit, anoint me in the oil of that light and impart to me Your wisdom, knowledge, understanding, discernment, your insight and Your foresight and Your truth. Let me not be deceived and pass on a deception, but give me truth. And Father, let my prayers and supplications and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You.”

Now you can start to petition God. You can begin to praise and worship again if you choose, but then it is here where you begin to be still and listen to what God has to say to you.

Yeshua Our Tabernacle

The tabernacle of God is Yeshua. Yeshua becomes the tabernacle as we read in Revelation 21, “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them and God Himself shall be among them.'” Again, “And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, the Lamb, are it’s temple.” Yeshua’s name Immanuel, “God dwelling with us,” is all about God dwelling with men. This is what the fall feasts are about, starting with Rosh Ha Shanah, the return of Yeshua at the sounding of the trumpet; and the books being opened during the High Holy Days and closing at Yom Kippur; and the redeemed of the Lord living for eternity with Yeshua as our temple and covering as God dwells among us forever represented in the Feast of Tabernacles. We pray that everyone this year sees the importance of celebrating these feasts as it says in God’s Word, one day we all will be celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles.

Have a marvelous celebration of Rosh Ha Shanah. Blow those trumpets, for the Lord our God is coming! Have a reflective Holy Week ending with Yom Kippur. Let’s make ourselves ready for His coming. Have a great celebration of the birth of Messiah and remember, as you spend time in your tent, Yeshua is our tabernacle, our covering for eternity.

This is the season when Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Messiah. People send cards with the popular scene of the Christ Child lying in the manger, but we know that the Messiah is no longer a child but that He grew up to do a very great work. In fact, the Angel Gabriel said just that: “You will bear a son, and you shall name Him Yeshua . He will be great, and He will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.” It is this, the greatness of Messiah, that we are going to take a closer look at.

The Great Light

Isaiah writes, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” It is because of the birth of Messiah that Matthew could write, “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, and to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a Light dawned.” It is this Great Light that John wrote about when he said, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” It is this Great Light that Yeshua speaks of when He said, “I am the light of the world, he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.” This Great Light is life. This Great Light is Yeshua. Yeshua said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” He is the light to our path and a lamp to our feet. His light guides us on the road that leads to life. He keeps our feet from stumbling. Yeshua tells us, “If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.” Paul tells us, “We are children of light and children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”

This Great Salvation

The Scriptures ask the question, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” When we speak of salvation, we must start with Yeshua’s name, which means salvation. Salvation means deliverance. So what is this great salvation? When Adam and Eve sinned we became alienated from the light of God. Because of sin, we were now in darkness. Only a perfect sacrifice, one without sin, could redeem us from the darkness we were now in. What makes Yeshua our great salvation? John answers that question when he tells the people, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Yeshua our salvation was that perfect sacrifice and He has delivered us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Our redemption was not purchased with the blood of goats and rams that could not save us, but with the blood of our Savior Yeshua, our great salvation. For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, all who believe in this great salvation, Yeshua.

The Great Love

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Messiah (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua” (Ephesians 2:4-6). Scripture tells us that God is Love. “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God’s love is so great that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. When we believe in Yeshua, we become God’s own children. “See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God, and such we are.” This love is so great that nothing can separate us from the love of God. God’s love is so great that He gave us His love and that love now resides in us. That great love is Yeshua and now we too can love with this great love, for God has sent us the Holy Spirit.

John writes, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit, And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” Yeshua is this great love; “We love, because He first loved us.”

Great Grace

Acts 4:33 tells us, “And with great strength and ability and power the apostles delivered their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua, and great grace – loving kindness and favor and goodwill – rested richly upon them all.” This great grace can only come to a heart which has received the salvation of the Lord. This great grace comes to a heart which is filled with light and it reflects ones salvation in the believer’s life. It is a gift from God and it causes one to rejoice. It causes the believer to submit to God and to resist the enemy of our souls. James tells us that God gives us a greater grace to draw near to Him and to purify our hearts and to come humbly before Him. This grace gives great strength and power to those who walk with God and serve Him. Paul says that he was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to him according to the working of His power. This great grace is Yeshua and with Paul we must say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Messiah, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Yeshua to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace.

The Great Shepherd

Paul, in Hebrews 13:20-21, tells his readers, “Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Yeshua our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Yeshua the Messiah to whom be the glory forever and ever, Amen.” Yeshua tells us that He is the Good Shepherd, the one who lays down His life for His sheep. Yeshua tells us that He knows His sheep and they know Him and His sheep will follow Him because they know His voice. The Psalmist declares, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” David writes in Psalm 34:9-10, “O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him, there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.” Why? Because, “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

What is the path of righteousness? Yeshua said to His disciples, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Our Great Shepherd, who laid down His life for us, leads His sheep now and we, the sheep of His flock, must lay down our lives for the sheep. We must carry our cross as He did and crucify our flesh and follow the Shepherd as He leads us and now we who follow in His footprints live to lead the sheep of His pasture and feed them. Paul writes, “Follow me as I follow Messiah.” Yeshua tells Peter, “If you love Me feed My sheep.”

Yeshua is the Great Shepherd, leading His sheep from the cross to glory. Peter writes, “And when the Chief Shepherd appears you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

Great Glory

One day this great Shepherd will come in all His glory, for Luke writes, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.” The Scriptures tell us that the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds and they were praising God saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” What was it that the angels boasted about? What is this great glory that shone around them and caused the angels to speak such accolades of God? It is Yeshua, the great light of the world. His star in the sky even shone brightly to guide those, for He is the bright morning star and one day we too will shine like the stars, for we will behold Him and we will be like Him in all His glory: Yeshua, the hope of glory.

Great Mystery

“For the husband is the head of the wife, as Messiah also is head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But the church is subject to Messiah, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands love your wives just as Messiah also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. So husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Messiah also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Messiah and the church” (Ephesians 5:23-32). Paul tells us that Messiah Himself is the mystery in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge: Yeshua, the great mystery. How God so loved His people that He sent Yeshua the Bridegroom to lay down His life for His Bride. One day we will celebrate at the marriage supper the two becoming one. Yeshua prayed, “That they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us.” What a great mystery!

The Great Prophet

“And fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us!’ and, ‘God has visited His people!” Moses proclaimed that God would raise up a prophet like him from among his people and in everything He speaks, we ought to listen to His words and take heed. Moses was a prophet, priest, and a king to the people, but just as he prophesied, one day one greater would arise. Only Yeshua can be the One, the Messiah, because He holds all three offices like Moses. He is the Anointed One, the Messiah (Messiah means anointed). The prophets, the priests, and kings were all anointed. Yeshua at the time of His baptism had the Holy Spirit descend upon Him and the Father spoke of Him as His Son. Yeshua was conceived by the Holy Spirit, so He had the Holy Spirit within Him. Yeshua prophesied many times during His life. He spoke of the future of Jerusalem and told the people to head for the hills. He spoke of the future of the temple, saying that not one stone would remain on another. He also spoke to Peter about his rejection of the Messiah. He also spoke of the future events that would occur before His coming. Yeshua is the Great Prophet.

The Great High Priest

“Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Yeshua the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.” The High Priest could only enter into the Holy of Holies once a year and only with the blood of the sin offering; but Yeshua, because He is the Great High Priest, entered in by His own blood once and for all. But what most people do not understand is that Yeshua is the High Priest, not us; we are only priests under Him and so He is the only one who entered into the Holy of Holies, not us. We can only enter into the Holy Place at this time because we are only priests. So we must go to Him who lives to make intercession on our part. He is the one who stands before God in the Holy of Holies in our place. We now can come as far as the altar of incense and bring our prayers and petitions before God, but Yeshua is our Great High Priest who knows our needs and can feel our pain and goes beyond the veil to stand before the Father on our behalf. “Cast your cares on Him, for He cares for you.” Yeshua: our Great High Priest.

The Great King

So if we go back to the beginning statement that Gabriel made to Mary, we see He told her, “You will have a son, and you shall name Him Yeshua. He will be great, and He will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.” The Psalmist writes, “For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth.” And Malachi writes, “For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and My name is feared among the nations.” Yeshua is the Great King, the Anointed One, who was born in a manger and grew up to do great things as we see in Revelation, “And they all sang the song of Moses the bondservant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy Name?'”

“For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” And so Yeshua the great King tells us in Revelation, “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” So let us conclude by saying, “Joy to the world! The Lord is come; let earth receive her King!” Yeshua, the Great King, may we praise Him for all eternity!

The 14th day of Adar is the Feast of Purim. It is not one of God’s Appointed Feasts, but one of Israel’s. Purim is a lesser-rated feast these days, but one that should never be forgotten. So we are going to take a closer look at Purim to see the true meaning that should not be forgotten.

The Story of Queen Esther

Hadassah was a young Jewish girl living during the reign of King Ahasuerus in Hebrew, Xerxes in Greek, and his Persian name was Khshayarsha. Xerxes was the king of Persia and his kingdom went from India to Ethiopia, which included Jerusalem. He ruled from 486-465 BC. We must remember that Persia conquered the Babylonians in the days of Daniel. Xerxes one day gave a party in which the queen, Queen Vashti, did not attend so Xerxes banished the queen. Xerxes began looking for another queen. So all the young girls were gathered together from around the kingdom and one of those girls was Hadassah. Hadassah, who became Esther, was most likely named after the Babylonian goddess named Ishtar, which we get the name Easter from. Esther found favor with Hegai, who was in charge of all the women gathered and she was placed with the choice, with the best, of the harem. For 12 months, she went through a beautification program and when she was done she was brought in before the king. The king loved Esther more than all the women and she was made the new queen.

Now Esther was in the care of her cousin Mordecai because her parents had died, and he instructed Esther not to tell anyone that she was Jewish. Mordecai, who lived in Susa, the capital of Persia, worked in the king’s palace. One day Mordecai heard of a plot to kill the king. So he told Esther all about it and she went to the king in Mordecai’s name and saved the king’s life. Now the king had it all recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in his presence.

So we see that so far Esther is becoming quite the “apple of the king’s eye.”

Now there was a man named Haman. He was a descendant of the Agagites. Agag was the king of the Amalekites as shown in 1 Samuel 15. Haman was promoted to the position of prime minister by the king. He was in authority over all the princes who were with him and all the servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down to him and paid him homage, for this is what the king had commanded. But Mordecai, who was a devout Jew and loved God, would not. So all those at the gate asked Mordecai why he would not bow down and pay homage to Haman and Mordecai told them that he was a Jew and only the one true God would he bow down and pay homage to. Now the servants at the king’s gate went to Haman about this and they told Haman that Mordecai was a Jew and that he was not going to bow down and pay him homage because Mordecai only paid homage to his God. When Haman went to Mordecai and he would not bow down to him and pay him homage, he was very angry and he sought to destroy Mordecai and all of his people.

Let’s stop here and take a closer look.

Haman the Enemy of God

All throughout history there has been one enemy of God and that enemy is the devil. He has shown himself in many different people. Paul tells us that we do not struggle against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. There have been those who, because they love darkness, have subjected themselves to the evil plots of the devil. Since Adam and Eve, the devil has lured people to follow his evil plans and they have tried to abolish what belongs to God. But I would like to think that the cup is half full rather than half empty. When the devil killed Yeshua, he gave the people of God their greatest victory. When the Nazis killed 6 million Jews, it caused those who survived to rise up and return back to the land of their forefathers and they formed the new state of Israel. Now Jews from all over the world are returning to the land that God had given them. When the devil used the Roman Empire to persecute the early church, the people scattered and the gospel was preached all across the known world and many people came to the saving knowledge of Yeshua.

So we see here that the wicked Haman was out to destroy once again the people of God.

Mordecai the Man of God

Mordecai was a devout Jew and he was not going to bow down to Haman or anyone or anything else. He, like so many others of his day, was righteous and faithful to the one true God, the God of Israel. We see this also with the three Hebrew children; they too refused to bow down to the idol in Nebuchadnezzar’s day and were thrown into the fiery furnace. But there was God, faithful and true, and the king said, “Did we not throw three into the furnace? But I see a fourth and he appears to be the Son of God.” And when the three came out of the furnace, not even their clothes smelled like smoke.

So we see here with Mordecai that as Haman was planning to rid of the kingdom of Mordecai’s family, the king suddenly remembers Mordecai and has Haman leading him on the king’s horse and parading him around town saying, “This is one whom the king favors.” You have got to love God’s sense of humor. Mordecai, when he learns about Haman’s plot, weeps and puts on sackcloth and ashes. Mordecai, when he hears of the trouble coming, simply repents before God and not just Mordecai, but all the Jews. How important is that? God will never turn away a humble and contrite heart but a proud heart He will turn from. If we want our prayers to be heard, we must humbly come before God. Even when Esther sent her maidens with clothes for Mordecai, he did not put them on because Mordecai was not ashamed of his behavior. Mordecai was a man of faith and he also knew that God’s hand was on Esther. Mordecai sent a message to Esther that she needed to appear before the king and tell him of Haman’s plot.

Esther the Servant of the Lord

So often we see that when we are asked of God to do something, our first response is one of doubt. When Esther replies to Mordecai’s request, it was simply impossible! For the penalty for anyone entering into the king’s presence without permission was automatic death. But Mordecai’s reply was, “You will not be able to escape what is coming.” I think so many times people think that if they just act like the world or maybe if they don’t talk like a Christian that they can escape persecution or verbal ridicule; but true Christians will not escape because the devil makes it his business to know who belongs to God. There is this thing called the spiritual realm and there the conflict between good and evil begins. Mordecai tells Esther that if she will not go to the king, that deliverance will come from another place but her and her family will perish.

How often people turn God down and they don’t obey Him and they close their ears and hearts to Him and go another way. I’m sure on judgement day we will see the blessings that we passed up because we did not listen to the voice of God and we will see clearly the results of that decision and how it played out in our lives. But we must remember that God has a purpose for our lives and we too must always recall those words of Mordecai in our lives, that we are where we are because of such a time as this. God is in control and He brings all this together for His purpose and if we are in the middle of something He is doing, then it is because we were brought to that point for such a time as this.

So, we see next the true heart of Esther. She requests that all the Jews who are in Susa fast and pray for three days: no eating, no drinking, and she and her maidens would do the same. Truly Esther was made for leadership. She was not going to have the people do something that she herself was not going to do. Esther knew the power of prayer. She also knew her God! Like the Hebrew children, she took a stand that she would go to the king and if she perished, she perished. So I’m sure in her prayer time, God revealed His plan and so she put on her royal robes and entered the king’s presence. She took the step of faith and the waters parted, the walls fell down, the earth shook, and God’s hand touched the king’s heart and he extended the golden scepter to her. The king asked her what was troubling her. Now, God always goes above and beyond when you humble yourself; He lifts you up, and so too here, the king not only invites her in, but asks her what is the matter and tells her she can have up to half of the kingdom.

Now if you ask me, I think Esther was amazed at the king’s reaction to her. She invited the king and Haman to a banquet and they have a very nice evening, eating and drinking and talking when the king says to Esther, “What is your petition, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” So with such favor from the king, why not continue being hospitable? So she requests that the king and Haman come back the next day to do it again. So as Haman was preparing the gallows, Esther was preparing her next banquet. Evening came and Esther knew that it was now time to tell the king. So the king repeats his offer of favor to Esther, and she now replies with an urgent plea for her life and her people’s lives. Esther, who was humble, not like Haman with all his pride, tells the king that they have been sold as slaves and if that was not enough, they were to be destroyed and annihilated. Well, you can imagine how this news affected the king that someone was out to kill his queen. The king asks, “Who is this that wants to do such a thing?” And Esther says, “A foe and an enemy,” as she points her finger to Haman and says, “It is this wicked Haman!” The king jumps up in anger and goes toward the palace and Haman begs for his life with the queen. The king’s eunuchs tell the king of the gallows that awaited Mordecai, but now they awaited Haman and his sons. Mordecai is now promoted to Haman’s position and the king decrees that all the Jews can defend themselves in every city where they live against anyone who may attack them.

God’s Faithfulness to His People

Once again we see in God’s Word the faithfulness of God toward His people, and who should know better than David as he fled from Saul and all those who pursued him. The Psalmist writes repeatedly about the wicked persecuting the righteous. Over and over again you read, “I cried out to the Lord and He heard my voice . . . He is a very present help in the time of trouble . . . God is our refuge and our strength,” and so many more. But David knew just like Esther and Mordecai that when you come before the Lord with your whole heart and seek His face that you can say, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear: though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident. One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock, and now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me; and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes I will sing praises to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. When Thou didst say, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to thee, ‘Thy face, 0 Lord, I shall seek'” (Psalm 27:1-8).

In these days of uncertainty, as trials and tribulations increase, we too must do as those who went before us as an example that we can look to God; we too must come before Him with our whole heart and strength, humbly, seeking His face with confidence that He is our refuge, our salvation, our hope and our champion in our fight against evil. We too can say like the Psalmist, “I will sing of the loving-kindness of the Lord forever. To all generations I will make known Thy faithfulness with my mouth.”

Purim

So, Mordecai recorded all these events and he sent out letters to all the Jews near and far obligating them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month of Adar annually. So the holiday of Purim began, a time of celebration and remembrance of the faithfulness of God.

In this newsletter we want to look at Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount. It is believed that this sermon was actually a series of sermons given by Yeshua. The Bible tells us that Yeshua had large crowds of people who would follow Him. The Galilee is surrounded by hills, so it made sense that Yeshua would sit upon one of these hills (for it was customary for a rabbi to sit when he taught) and speak. The people would also sit by the hillside and listen to His teachings. One hill in particular has been identified as the traditional spot, a hill above the Seven Springs of Tabgha. There was a beautiful view of the Galilee with all of its wild flowers in all of their splendor and color, surely a reference to Solomon in all of his glory (Matthew 6:29). The Sermon on the Mount was one of five sermons of Yeshua, each one corresponding to one of the books of Torah. And so it was here that Yeshua began teaching His disciples. And so it is here that we want to take a closer look.

The Beatitudes

The beatitudes begin with the word ashrei. Ashrei in Hebrew may be translated as “fortunate,” “joyful,” “blessed,” or even “O, the gladness of.” In the time of Roman oppression, Yeshua delivers a sermon of encouragement, speaking to the poor in spirit, the mourner, those whose souls are downcast, and the persecuted. He speaks to those who are hungry for the things of God, the merciful, the peacemaker. So let’s look at each one of these and see if we too can be encouraged and strengthened through Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount.

The Poor in Spirit

Yeshua starts with the poor and He says, “Blessed are the poor and poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Yeshua begins with the poor most likely because those He associated with were the poor, the lowly. It was the common people who came out to hear Him speak. These were the followers of Yeshua; and to those who were of fame and fortune and power He tells that they must be poor in spirit. Yeshua, when quoting Isaiah, begins by saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.” He also tells the disciples of John to go back and tell John that the “gospel was being preached to the poor.” Yeshua in no way neglected the poor; in fact, James writes, “Listen, my beloved brethren; did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” It was the poor whom God considered His disciples. Yeshua equated the poor with children. In Luke 18, when the disciples stopped the children from coming to Yeshua, He tells them, “Truly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Again He says, “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Yeshua not only tells us that those who are poor and lowly with childlike faith will inherit the kingdom, but also He says in Luke 12:32, “Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” So we see that it is these who have been chosen by the Father to receive the kingdom.

Yeshua tells His disciples that those who receive a child receive Him and the One who sent Him. Then He says, “The one who is least among you is the greatest.” Back in Yeshua’s day, children had little value; but we see the little ones, who are equal with the poor and lowly as far as status, are the ones who are the greatest in the kingdom. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. It is those who are at the bottom that are at the top in the kingdom. Yeshua Himself identifies with those who are poor and lowly, for He stripped Himself of all of His glory and was born in a stable. He ministered to the common folk living among them. He carried all of our burdens and griefs like a common servant, and so He is our example of being poor and poor in spirit. He tells us that when we help those in need, those who are poor, those who are hungry, those who thirst, and those who are downtrodden, then it is like we have helped Him (Matthew 25:31-45). Yeshua tells His disciples that those who are poor are blessed because God calls the poor to be rich in faith.

But what about those who have money? Will they not see the kingdom of heaven? Well, Yeshua tells His disciples that those who are poor in spirit will also receive the kingdom. One must be of a lowly attitude and not haughtily lording over those who have nothing, but humble and generous in giving. James tells us that we should not show partiality and pay special attention to one who comes into our assembly with gold rings and fine apparel or place them in a place of honor while the poor man who comes in is told to sit in the back. If we see one who is in need and we say, “God be with you,” and we do not meet their need, Yeshua says, “Woe to you rich for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you shall be hungry” (Luke 6:24-25). A disciple of Yeshua must be giving and loving and hospitable and caring, merciful and kind-hearted, a cheerful giver, reaching out to all who pass their way. These are the ones who will inherit the kingdom.

The Gentle

Some translations have the next blessing as, “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” Because the word for gentle (pentichros) in the Greek is taken from the same root word for poor (penes), many believe that verse 4 was a continuation of the above verses. If this is so, then this would reduce the number of the beatitudes to seven, which is the number for completeness. One who is meek or gentle is one who is poor in spirit, and so they shall have the earth for their inheritance. Some translations use the word “humble.”” The Greek word praus has the sense of one who is mild-mannered and gentle, but the Hebrew word anavim refers to one who is downtrodden, powerless, even victimized. James tells us that the rich man who is poor in spirit is one who has a humble attitude toward his wealth. Paul tells us that God resists the proud but extends grace to the humble. The psalmist writes that the humble will inherit the land. In the Hebrew, this word for land is eretz, and it specifically means the land of Israel. So how does one inherit the land of Israel while another inherits the kingdom of God?

The Kingdom

What does Yeshua mean when He speaks of “the kingdom of God” or “the kingdom of heaven?” The two are the same, and they are a reference to the Messianic Era which John the Baptist, Yeshua, and the disciples all proclaimed was at hand. The beginning of the Messianic Age was at hand, but the fulfillment will be when King Yeshua sits on the throne of King David and will rule for a thousand years and we His saints, those who have gone ahead and those who are alive, will be with Him here on earth for those thousand years. Truly, blessed are those who are poor and poor in spirit, for they will be among those who will be with King Yeshua during this time inheriting the kingdom of God. What greater reward is there than to have Yeshua as our great reward for eternity? To be where He is and to be like Him is what we live for. So we are to live lives free of the cares of this life, but we are to seek the kingdom first and to sell our possessions and give to charity and to store up treasure in heaven; for where our treasure is, there our hearts will be. And the blessing for all this is this: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

The Persecuted

We want to continue on our thought of those blessings that specifically refer to the reward of the kingdom. Yeshua says, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men cast insults at you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me.” Yeshua tells us that the world hated Him and it will hate us too. All throughout history God’s people had to endure the unjust treatment from the wicked. Yeshua and His disciples preached peace. James 3:18 tells us that one who sows peace will reap righteousness. The Torah tells us to love our neighbor and to do good and resist evil. We are not to take our own revenge, but to put on love as a badge, as a sign of our commitment to our Father. These are the true children of God. These are the ones whom the Father will gladly give His kingdom to.

Yeshua goes on to tell His followers that we are to be salt and light, the ones who are to preserve life and to guide it. So Yeshua, like Paul, tells us to rejoice at these times of persecution and suffering, for the prophets who have gone before us and even Yeshua Himself as our example was greatly rewarded for suffering for the kingdom.

Hungry and Thirsty for Righteousness

Yeshua tells His followers that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. Did you ever want something so badly that you could just taste it? Well, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will do just that. They will have their fill of it. How many times do you think to yourself, “I wish life could be different,” or “Why do the wicked proper?” or, “Things just are not fair”? Well, this is the heart of those who want to see the world change for the good. These are the ones who agonize over what they see going on in the world and they long for the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom. We must be sober in prayer and we must keep on striving for righteousness and as we see the darkness becoming more dark, we must let our light shine even brighter and our prayer must become even more sober, longing for the days when righteousness will prevail and the righteous will one day rule the kingdom; but for now the righteous shall live by faith!

The Merciful

“Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” Yeshua here makes a statement that is based on a kingdom principle; it is called “measure for measure . . . By your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” This theme of measure for measure is taught quite frequently by Yeshua to His disciples; for example, “Forgive and you will be forgiven,” “Do not judge and you will not be judged,” “Give and it will be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by the standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” So we see the importance of this principle; for whatever standard we use in life, that same standard will be used for us. It’s like that old saying, “What goes around comes around.” If we want to be blessed, then we must live by God’s Word and learn to live by Yeshua’s example that it is better to give than receive. Be a blessing and you will be blessed. We must give of ourselves in the lives of other people. Yeshua tells us that there is no greater love than to lay down our lives for another. The Greek word here for mercy, eleemon, comes from the Greek word eleeo, to have compassion; it implies not only a feeling for the misfortunes of others, involving sympathy or pity, but also an active desire to remove those misfortunes. God’s Word is all about action.

So Yeshua tells His followers that if they show compassion or mercy, they too will receive compassion or mercy in their time of need. God never forgets what we do in thought, word, or deed.

The Pure in Heart

“Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they will behold God.” Our last blessing should probably be the first; for everything we do in life starts with the heart. So what is the heart? The word “heart” in the Greek is kardia, the seat or center of circulation, and therefore the center of life. No surprise that we get our word “cardiac” from this Greek word. But this heart is not our physical heart, but the center of our desires, feelings, affections, passions, and impulses. It could be equated with our mind, but it is the deepest part of our being; it is who we really are. God tells us that He looks at the heart and not the outward appearance of a man. The Bible asks us, who can know it? It is in the heart that we determine who we will be and who we will serve. The Psalmist writes, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord.” When we seek God and choose to live by His Word and His ways, when we live out our lives with devotion to God and follow Him whole-heartedly, He cleanses us. Sanctification is a result of setting oneself apart and becoming holy. This is the result of having a pure heart. The blessing is that you will see God because the purer our hearts get, the closer we draw near to God and the closer we get, we begin to see God in all of His holiness and beauty. The followers of Yeshua are to be the people of the kingdom, so let’s follow the King according to His decrees and let us be blessed in this life and the life to come.

The Spring Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Shavuot (Pentecost) all represent the first coming of Yeshua and have all been fulfilled in Yeshua. The Fall Feasts of Rosh HaShanah (Feast of Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Feast of Atonement), and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) all represent the second coming of Yeshua. The months between the Spring feasts and the Fall feasts are the time we are in now, the time between the two comings. So we want to take a closer look at the Fall feasts and see what Scripture tells us about the second coming of our Messiah and see if we see the importance of celebrating these feasts and, in doing so, prepare for His second coming.

The Season of Repentance

There is a 40 day period or season known as Teshuvah, which in Hebrew means “to return or repent,” beginning on the first day of Elul, which is generally in August, and continuing for 40 days leading to Yom Kippur. Thirty days into this season of repentance is Rosh HaShanah. For 40 days you blow the shofar (the ram’s horn) and recite this prayer: “Awake, you that are sleepy, and ponder your deeds; remember your Creator and go to Him for forgiveness. Don’t be like those who miss reality in their hunt after shadows, and waste your years in seeking after vain things which can neither profit nor deliver. Look well to your souls and consider your deeds; let each one of you forsake his evil ways and thoughts, and return unto the Lord, so that He may have mercy on you.” Paul heard the shofar and knew this concept of awakening and turning from sin well. He writes to the Ephesians, “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Messiah will give you light.” To the Romans he writes, “And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” To the Corinthians he writes, “Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” At the end of the New Moon service, which is at the beginning of each new month (Jewish Calendar) and in itself is a mini Yom Kippur, you blow the shofar and then the congregation responds with this: “Happy is the people that know the sound of the shofar, in the light of Your countenance, O Lord, shall they walk.”

So this time leading up to Rosh HaShanah you are preparing your heart for the second coming of the Messiah.

Rosh HaShanah

Rosh Ha Shanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, is an interesting feast day because it’s all about sounding the shofar. The Bible makes several references about sounding the shofar. There are ten reasons for blowing the shofar and they are read, one each day, between Rosh HaShananh and Yom Kippur:

1. When a king is coming, Psalm 98:6, “With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.”

2. To bring in the New Year, because Rosh HaShanah is the civil New Year.

3. To remind us of Mt. Sinai for it says in Exodus 19:19, “The sound of the shofar grew louder and louder,” and that we should accept for ourselves the covenant that our ancestors accepted for themselves when they said, “We will do, and we will obey” (Remember, we have been grafted in, Rom. 11:17).

4. To remind us of the words of the prophets that were compared to the sound of the shofar, as it says in Ezekiel 33:4-5, “Then he who hears the sound of the shofar and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away . . . But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life.”

5. To remind us of the destruction of the Temple and the sound of the battle cries of the enemies, as it is said in Jeremiah 4:19, “Because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.”

6. To remind us of the binding of Isaac, for God provided the ram and so we too should offer up our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of worship.

7. When we hear the blowing of the shofar, we should be fearful and tremble and humble ourselves before our Creator, for it is written in Amos 3:6, “If a shofar is blown in a city, will not the people tremble?”

8. To recall the great judgment and to be fearful of it, as it is said in Zephaniah 1:14-16, “Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly . . . a day of trumpet and battle cry.”

9. To remind us of the ingathering of the scattered ones of Israel that we eagerly desire, as it says in Isaiah 27:13, “It will come about in that day that a great shofar will be blown; and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria . . . will come and worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.”

10. To remind us of the resurrection of the dead, for it says in 1 Corinthians 15:52, “In a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”

What a great reminder every year of why we blow the shofar! Have we awakened yet from our sleep? Have we heard the sound of the shofar awakening us to prepare for the coming of our King?

The High Holy Days

The High Holy Days is a time when believers in Messiah are called to examine their lives. It is a solemn time. Paul tells us that we should examine ourselves before partaking in Communion with God. But how true that is for us every day since we should be coming into His presence daily and communing with Him. The High Holy Days are 10 days long and they are completed with the Feast of Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur concludes the Season of Teshuvah. Yom Kippur is called by many different names, the most popular is The Day of Atonement. It has other names like Face to Face, The Fast, The Great Shofar, and Jubilee. Well you may say that Yeshua is our atonement. Yes, He is, thank God!

1. Yom Kippur is a picture of our atonement; at least, it was in the temple days with the scapegoat being released into the wilderness carrying our sins and the other goat that was sacrificed for the sins of the people. But there is a whole lot more to Yom Kippur that we Christians need to realize. Before the high priest ascended to the altar, he would say, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father.” These are the same words that our High Priest Yeshua spoke to Mary Magdalene at the tomb. On the day of Atonement, the high priest would wear special garments of linen. We see Yeshua wearing these same garments in Revelation 1:13-15 and in Daniel 10:5-6. The high priest would take the blood of the sacrifice and enter into the Holy of Holies, which he did only on this special day.

2. Face to Face: Paul writes to the Corinthians a reference to this when he wrote in chapter 13:9-12, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then we will see Him face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” As the high priest came face to face with God once a year, so too we will one day behold Him as He is.

3. The Fast: Yom Kippur is a day of fasting. God tells us in His Word that this day is to be the most solemn and holiest day of the year, a day of afflicting our souls. We Christians seem to take for granted our salvation. We need a day to reflect on our lives and the cost that was paid for our sins. We seem to think that Good Friday is the day to do this. Well, Good Friday is a man-made day. Yeshua died on the fourteenth day of Nisan, which was Passover, and He is our Passover Lamb. Yes, we should reflect on the cross and the price that Yeshua paid for our sins, but it should be on the day that we remember the first Passover when the blood of the lamb was smeared on the door and the death angel passed over. We too have been spared from the death angel because of the blood of Yeshua. But Yeshua tells us in the Passover Seder that when we do the Seder each year, the afikomen which is broken during the seder represents His body which was broken for us and when we take the cup of redemption, it represents Yeshua’s blood which was poured out for us and the binding of the New Covenant. I know that this is confusing, but the completion of our salvation will not take place until Yeshua comes again and we who are dead will rise first and those who are alive will be gathered to Him and together we will be with Him forever. This is what Yom Kippur is all about.

4. The Great Shofar: Yom Kippur represents the gates being opened at the sounding of the shofar at Rosh HaShanah, when the call will be heard that the Bridegroom is arriving and the Book of Life is opened. But we still have time to repent until the end of Yom Kippur when the last shofar is blown, and then the Book is closed and the gates are closed and if your name is not written in the Book of Life, then you will be on the outside where there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth for eternity as we see in the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) and the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), to name a couple. Be sure that before the last trumpet blows you have heard the shofar and repented of all your known and unknown sins and your name is written in the Book of Life.

5. Yom Kippur is the Day of Jubilee, the Day of Liberty. Yeshua came to preach liberty (Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:17-21). From Adam to Yeshua it had been almost 4,000 years and every fifty years was the year of Jubilee, the year when everything resorted back to its original state. Slaves were freed and land returned back to its original owners. The final fulfillment of this will be when Yeshua comes back; then the earth will be redeemed from the curse and everything will have come full circle. We will return back to the Garden of Eden, a time of rest, when the lion will once again lie down with the lamb and the earth will no longer cry out as it awaits its redemption. We will be free from the curse and all sin, sickness, and death will no longer be. As Rosh HaShanah is a picture of the herald blowing the shofar awakening the people of the coming king, Yom Kippur is a picture of the great Judge entering into the courtroom of eternity judging between those who are found guilty of sin and those who have been acquitted, those who are in darkness and those who have come into the light, those whose names are written in the Book of Life and those who are not (Revelation 19:1-2, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 21:27). The closing of the gates at the end of Yom Kippur ends this time of reflection and repentance and revelation. The time of Judgement has now passed. Now it’s time to celebrate!

Sukkot

The time of Teshuvah has passed. We see clearly that the feasts paint a picture for us to see; observing them teaches us that repentance, the feast of Rosh HaShanah, has to come before we can have redemption, the feast of Yom Kippur. Sukkot is also known as the Season of Our Joy, Feast of Tabernacles or Booths, and The Feast of the Ingathering.

1. The Season of our Joy is a great time of rejoicing. We have repented and our sins have been forgiven and our names are written in the Book of Life, and now God and His people will dwell together for eternity. During this time, you celebrate in your Sukkah God’s Salvation; in fact, the Torah commands that you are joyful. Every day in the temple, the priests held a water pouring ceremony. This became the focus of the joy of Sukkot. The Bible refers to this joy in Isaiah 12:3: “Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.” David cried out that God would not take away his joy in Psalm 51:12: “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always! The water ceremony was quite elaborate and colorful and joyful as the priests went to the house of the water drawing. It was on the last day of Sukkot, Hosannah Rabbah (The Great Salvation), during this water ceremony that Yeshua cries out, “If anyone is thirsty let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.”

2. The Feast of Tabernacles represents the time when God’s people lived in tents in the wilderness and God dwelt among them in the tabernacle. After Yom Kippur, you begin to build your sukkah or tent. God is our eternal home and the sukkah becomes holy as it represents this eternal dwelling. This is the time that Yeshua was born, for Immanuel means “God with us.” Remember the shofar of Rosh HaShanah? When a baby boy was born they would blow the shofar. Remember what the angels said: “Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings (gospel) of great joy (Sukkot, the season of joy) which shall be to all people (Sukkot is called the feast of the nations).

3. The Feast of the Ingathering: Yeshua came the first time during the feast of Sukkot and He will come the second time during these fall feasts. This is the time to gather in the harvest. Yeshua tells us that the harvest refers to the end of the age in Matthew 13:39, Revelation 14:15, and Joel 3:13. The Harvest, or the ingathering, will be for the righteous and the wicked. When the books are all opened, the wicked will go to their home of eternal damnation where there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth and the righteous will go to their eternal home in the eternal sukkah of God’s loving arms where there will be great rejoicing for all eternity.

Conclusion

So we have seen that the fall feasts point to Yeshua’s second coming. Yeshua writes in Luke 12:49-50, “I have come to send fire on the earth, and how I wish that it already was burning! I have to be baptized in a certain baptism, and how distressed I am until it is completed!” What is this fire and why does Yeshua wish it was already kindled? Well, Yeshua was talking about the coming judgment. Matthew tells us that, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn (reference to Sukkot), but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” We see here that those who have repented and have their names written in the Book of Life will receive the Holy Spirit, but those who have not repented and their names are not written in the Book of Life will receive fire. Yeshua was baptized into a baptism of fire that set off the coming fire for those who will not accept His sacrifice on their behalf.

So, while we have been waiting for 2,000 years, it is time now to awaken from our sleep for Yeshua tells us that when we hear of wars and rumors of wars and nation rising against nation and of famines and earthquakes, that these are all the beginnings of the birth pangs; and don’t forget about the fig tree. Since the turn of the twentieth century, we have seen all of this increase quickly and of course Israel, the fig tree, became a nation in 1948. We just have to turn on the TV or read the paper to realize that things are increasing faster than ever before. Peter writes, “But the present heavens and earth by His Word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and instruction of ungodly men.”

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its work will be burned up.” Paul writes, “For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night, nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.” “While they are saying peace and safety, destruction will come suddenly like birth pangs.” Awaken, you who are sleepy and consider your deeds! It’s time to wake up and hear the shofar, our King is coming!

In our last newsletter we looked at the Fall Feasts and how they correspond with the second coming of Yeshua. In this newsletter we want to look at what Yeshua said about His second coming and what we need to do to be prepared. We want to start by looking at four Scriptures where Yeshua tells a parable and then says, “When the Master comes back what will He find?” They are the beatitudes of His second coming. So let’s take a closer look and see what we find.

Be Ready

In Matthew 24 starting at verse 46, Yeshua, after talking about His second coming, says, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” He then tells this story: “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom the master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, that he will put him in charge of all his possessions” Yeshua tells His listeners that they must be alert, for we do not know when the thief may come. Paul uses the same analogy. He says in 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” So we see here in this parable that the faithful servant was one who was sober and alert.

Then Yeshua goes on to say that the faithful servant also was one who gave food to the other servants in the house at the proper time. What does Yeshua mean by this statement? Well, what did He tell Peter? “If you love Me feed My sheep.” Peter later tells us in his Epistle that we who are elders, those who are mature in the faith, ought to feed the flock of God which is among us, not under compulsion, but willingly and not for gain, but of a ready mind (1 Peter 5:2). He goes on to say a few verses later, “When the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” Peter learned from Yeshua’s words that those who are mature should be alert and ready and feed the flock of God. This is not only food for the body, but food for the soul. Yeshua tells us in His parable that, “Blessed is that servant whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”

So do we find ourselves as faithful servants feeding the flock? Are we taking advantage of every opportunity to speak the Word of God in season and out? Maybe we are like the servant in Yeshua’s parable that thinks that his master will not return for awhile and so he begins to live like the world and loses his readiness.

Be Awake

Mark 13 tells the same parable but with a little different twist. Here the master goes on a journey and before he leaves, assigns each one of his servants with a task. He also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Yeshua then gives this warning, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, at cockcrow, or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!'” Paul tells us that there are many members to the body of Yeshua and they all have a different job to do and we ought to be doing those jobs according to our gifts and abilities; but who is the doorkeeper that he should stay awake? The Psalmist writes, “For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold (doorkeeper) of the house of My God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” So why should the doorkeeper stay awake? Because Yeshua is the door that each one of us must go through to be saved, and so the doorkeeper is the one that opens the door; in other words, when we preach the gospel to an unsaved soul, we open the door that leads to Messiah. If we are asleep then we will not be able to recognize when an opportunity comes along where we need to open that door. The doorkeeper would greet those who would pass by. His welcome would be to those who wished to come in, but to those who would do harm he would sound the alert to warn of an intruder. Peter tells us, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

So, do we find ourselves asleep at the door of the house of God? People come and go and there is no one to welcome them in. Have our eyes become heavy and our hearts become complacent so that we no longer see the urgency of the hour? Do we find ourselves not as sharp as we used to be in giving a response to why we believe as we do? Has the devil entered in and no one was there to sound the alarm in our lives? Yeshua tells us, “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is. What will Yeshua find when He returns?

Be Waiting

Luke tells the same parable, but again he has a little different take on it. Luke 12 starting at verse 35 says, “Be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps alight and be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.” So what does it mean to be dressed in readiness? Let’s look at the Exodus narrative to find out the answer to this question. Exodus 12:11 tells us that the Israelites were to eat the Passover meal with their loins girded, their sandals on their feet, and their staffs in their hands and to eat in haste. This is a picture of someone who is ready. Today we would probably equate it to a fireman ready to rush to a fire. When we think of keeping our lamps burning, we think of the parable of the Ten Virgins. Here too they were waiting for the return of the bridegroom. Here too the bridegroom was delayed and they all became drowsy and began to sleep, but at midnight the shout came, “Behold, the Bridegroom!” Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps, but the foolish virgins were not prepared and did not have enough oil in their lamps; and when they left to get oil, the Bridegroom came and they all went in and the door was shut behind them. Yeshua tells us that we are the light of the world and that we need to set our light where everyone can see it.

Next we want to take a look at where it says that the servant that is ready and waiting is one who waits to hear the knock at the door. In the parable of the Fig Tree, Yeshua tells us that when we see the signs of His coming that He is near, right at the door. In Revelation Yeshua says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and I will dine with him and He with Me.” Are we hearing God’s voice today? Is He knocking, wanting to come in? Are we ready, waiting with our lamps burning? “Blessed are those servants that the master finds on the alert when he comes.”

Be Full of Faith

This parable is not like the other parables that we looked at. This time the master is not going on a long journey, but instead it is about a widow who persistently petitions a judge for legal protection from her opponent. Because she is so persistent coming before him, even though he was just as persistent in not helping her, he finally grants her request in fear that she would eventually wear him out. Yeshua ends the parable by saying, “I tell you the truth that He will bring about justice for His elect speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” This parable on prayer is interesting because it shows us that when we pray continually, earnestly, and faithfully that God hears us and grants us our request. They used to call it praying through. I don’t think people pray like that any more. We want our answers now. We want results instantly. It is a product of our society: fast foods, fast cash, fast living. There is no more travailing in prayer. We no longer mourn and weep before the altar of God. We are no longer a people who seek God’s face. We barge into the presence of God and make our demands. Faith has no root. It is unable to grow and exercise itself; consequently, we become weak and we lose heart and eventually walk away further and further from God. Yeshua says to His disciples in the garden, “Simon are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?” Paul tells the Corinthians, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” We are to grow in our faith and to do that we must learn to persevere and to quietly wait upon the Lord with patience. If Yeshua were to return today, would He find faith in the world? Would He find faith in me? Maybe if life was going my way, but what if tribulation came my way or persecution? Would my faith wane or would it increase because I have learned to exercise my faith and grow it so that when I need it, it will be there to carry me through no matter what the road ahead may bring?

What will the Lord find when He returns? Let’s take a closer look.

What Will be Found?

Paul writes to Timothy, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they deny its power; and avoid such men as these.” The world will be in such moral decay, but what about the church? Paul also writes to Timothy, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”

Yeshua makes it very clear that there will be believers who will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. In His parables, Yeshua says in Matthew 24, “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and shall begin to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know and shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth.” Again He says in Luke 12:45-47, “But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, at an hour he does not know, will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers and that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, shall receive many lashes.” In the parable of the 10 Virgins, those who went to buy oil for their lamps found themselves outside with the door closed to them and when they cried “Lord, Lord open the door to us,” He answered “Truly I say to you, I know you not.”

Conclusion

Yeshua tells the Pharisees regarding discerning the weather, “Do you not know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?” Are we looking to the sky for our salvation draweth neigh? Do we see Yeshua standing at the door knocking, waiting for us to open that door and let Him in? Do we hear the sound of the shofar as it is blown every Sabbath eve and every feast day and every New Moon to remind us of the coming of Yeshua and that we need to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand?

The Beatitudes of His Coming

Let’s begin to practice the Beatitudes of His coming. Let’s be ready. Let’s be awake, let’s be waiting, let’s be full of faith. And when the Lord comes, He will find His servants with their lamps trimmed and He will say, “Come into My Kingdom for you have been faithful, ready, waiting, and awake looking for My coming. Now I will gird Myself to serve and have you recline at the table, and I will come and wait on you.”

This past year we have been looking at the second coming of Yeshua and how it relates to the Fall Feasts. Today, we want to look at the ancient Jewish marriage customs to understand what we, the Bride, need to do to prepare for our Bridegroom Yeshua’s coming. In this newsletter we will look at the betrothal. The betrothal is represented by the Spring Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost. In the next newsletter we will look at the wedding.

We Must Have a Bride

In every marriage, we have to first have a bride. Let’s look at Scripture to see how a bride was chosen. It was the father who chose the bride for his son. We know that God chose Eve as a bride for Adam at creation (Genesis 2:20-25). We see that after Adam names all of the animals, that there was not a suitable companion for him. So God put him in a deep sleep and took one of Adam’s ribs and fashioned a woman and when Adam awoke from his sleep he said, “This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” Scripture tells us that the man is to cleave to his wife and the two become one flesh.

Next we see Abraham choosing a wife for his son Isaac (Genesis 24). Abraham, too old to travel now, tells his eldest and I’m sure his most beloved servant to go and get a wife for Isaac. But first he has him swear that he would not take a wife for his son Isaac from among the Canaanites, but only among his kindred. The servant vows to Abraham and sets out to find Isaac a wife; but we see here that Abraham had passed on his beliefs even to his servants. For before arriving to Abraham’s hometown, the servant prays for God to intervene and, in actuality, choose that wife for him.

In Exodus 19, we see that God the Father chose a wife: the people of Israel. In verse 3 it begins, “And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'” At Mt. Sinai, God chose His Bride. God the Father does not have one bride and Yeshua has another, but we see in 1 Peter 2:9 that He tells the believers, who also were Jewish, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” We see here that God has one bride and that bride is special to Him because it is God who has chosen us, not us who have chosen Him (John 15:16). We must remember that we have been grafted into Israel, not the other way around (Romans 11:17). We see here that the Father, too, has chosen the bride for His Son.

So now we have the bride; what’s the price?

Pay the Price

With every bride comes a price. She must be bought from the father of the bride. Women were sold and then became the property of their husbands. We see that Abraham went to Egypt and he told the king that Sarah was his sister and the king sent gifts to Abraham: sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys, and servants for the purchase of Sarah so he may marry her (Genesis 12:16). The servant of Abraham gave gifts to Bethuel of silver and gold and garments to Rebekah, and he gave gifts to her brother and mother. Jacob worked fourteen years for Leah and Rachel and we see others like Othniel who paid for Caleb’s daughter (Joshua 15:16-17); we see Boaz the kinsman redeemer who paid for Ruth, God who redeemed Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and on and on in the Bible we see the price paid for a bride, till we see Yeshua who redeemed His Bride by purchasing her with His own blood.

First I Must Say I Do

The woman was not totally without a say. We see in Genesis 24:8 that Abraham’s servant asked him, “What if she will not come with me?” And Abraham replied, “If the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be clear from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” Yeshua tells His disciples the same in Matthew 10:14: “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.” So too, they asked Rebekah: “And they called Rebekah, and said to her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ And she said, ‘I will go.'” The people of Israel said “Yes” to God. Exodus 24:3 says, “Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘All the words which the Lord has said we will do.'” And like Rebekah, who did not see Isaac before she gave her consent, we too say “Yes” to Yeshua before we have seen Him or knew Him. 1 Peter 1:8 says, “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

Have you said, “I do”?

The Ketubah

The Ketubah was a document used for the purpose of assuring that a bride would be provided for. It stated the grooms promises and the rights of the bride. Today we would call it a prenuptial agreement. It was signed and witnessed by two people and it was a binding contract. The Torah states that every matter needs to be established by two or more witnesses. We see this in Hebrews 6:13 when Paul speaks of God witnessing the covenant with Abraham. “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself.”

Once the Ketubah was signed, the couple were legally married, or betrothed, though they each remained living with their parents till the wedding ceremony. We see this with Mary and Joseph. We do not see this contract written up during the arrangement of Isaac and Rebekah, even though we see that gifts were given. It may have been omitted from the story, but this was an ancient Middle Eastern practice. The Torah is such a contract. We see in Deuteronomy 5:2, “The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.” In Exodus 19:5-7, God calls His people His Segulah, His special treasure, His own possession, very endearing; He is calling His Bride.

In verse 8, the people agree and accept His offer of betrothal. Starting in Exodus 20 through chapter 23, we see the stipulations. In chapter 24 God and Moses ratify the contract and burnt offerings are offered and the contract was read and both parties agreed; and Moses, the one officiating the ceremony, sprinkles the agreement with blood. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 9:18, “Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.”

We see extensively the framework of the Ketubah covenant in Deuteronomy. Chapter 1:1-5 is the preamble, the prologue in 1:6-4:49, the stipulations in 5:1-26:19, the blessings and the curses if the covenant is either kept or broken in chapters 27-30, and the witnessing in 30:19. Moses names His successor in the covenant agreement (Joshua 31:1-8) and the deposit and reading of the agreement (31:9-13). This gives us great insight not only regarding the covenant between God and His people, but also how the ancient world made agreements between nations and people by this framework. These covenants were legally binding so no one could change them except those specified to do so. Moses was the mediator in the first agreement, Yeshua was the mediator in the second.

Now the second did not nullify the first, it only made changes to it. Jeremiah writes in chapter 31:31-34, “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the Lord. ‘But this is the covenant which I make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord. ‘I will put My law within them, and on their hearts I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sins I will remember no more.'” This new covenant was ratified by Yeshua Himself with the shedding of His own blood. We see that the change made to the new covenant (the law) was that it would be written on the hearts of the people, not on tablets of stone and that it had better promises and Yeshua was now the new Mediator of this new contract with God’s people (Hebrews 8:6). We see Paul use the same analogy of this new covenant in 2 Corinthians 3:1-3 when he tells the people that they are Paul’s letters of commendation written on the hearts, read by all men, written not by ink but with the Spirit of God, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of human hearts.

So we see that God made His agreement with His Bride, but we have a lot to do yet before the wedding.

But First a Toast and a Meal

It was the custom to have a glass of wine and for the future groom to commune (fellowship, eat a meal) with the family and friends of whom he was marrying into. The Hebrew word for communion is dabar and it means to speak, promise, pronounce. In Exodus 25:22 God tells Moses that He will commune with him from above the mercy seat, and that he was to tell all that He says to the children of Israel. Back then, God would commune at the mercy seat in the temple. Today we are the temple, and God communes with each of us personally. We see David communing with Abigail (1 Samuel 25:39) and Michal (l Samuel 18:22) before he married them, and Hamor communing with Jacob in Genesis 34. But most of all, we see Yeshua lifting the cup of wine and telling His disciples that the cup represented His blood which was shed for us and that it was the blood to ratify the New Covenant for the remission of sins. Yeshua points to the future, the wedding, when He says in Matthew 26:29, “But I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in the Father’s Kingdom.” He speaks His communal promise to His Bride that He will wait for the day of their marriage to enjoy once again the fruit of the vine. The Seder Meal at Passover was the communion meal and Yeshua tells His Bride to remember Him every time the Seder is done in remembrance of Him. Paul asks us in 1 Corinthians 10:16 of the cup of blessing which we bless (the cup of redemption), is it not the communion of the blood of Messiah? This matzah that we break (the afikomen), is it not the communion of the body of Messiah?

I Will Provide for You

So now that we have a bride and she has said, “Yes,” to her future husband, and all have agreed to the bridal price, and the gifts have been received, then the two legally become betrothed. You can say without a doubt the two are married. Though it would take a certificate of divorce to separate the two, that is exactly what these two people will be until the formal wedding. He will go to his father’s house and she will remain in her father’s house. The wedding could be a year or two later depending upon how long it took the father of the groom to make all the preparations for the wedding and, of course, the couple must have a dwelling place. And if this agreement occurred when they were just children, then they would wait till the man could support his wife.

This is where we are at in time. Our Groom has gone back to live with His Father. The Father is preparing for the wedding. Every detail must be taken care of for the great marriage supper. A suitable dwelling must be prepared for the Bride and the Groom. Yeshua alludes to these in many of the Scriptures. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Mark 13:32). Yeshua told many parables about that day: Matthew 22:1-14, Luke 12:35-40, and Matthew 25:1-13 to mention a few. Between the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts (the time that we are in now), we are to be preparing for our wedding day. We are to be anxiously waiting for our one true love, our husband’s return, waiting for that day that He will come and snatch us away so that we can be together forever. We, too, have work to do while He is preparing for us we need to be preparing for Him.

We will be taking a closer look at this in our next newsletter. As for now, our Husband tells us that He knows our needs and He will provide for everything both now and when He comes again. He is our lawfully wedded Husband who takes good care of His Bride. Matthew 6:25-34 says, “For this reason (you can only serve one husband), I say to you, ‘Do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?'”

Happy Passover and Resurrection of our Groom Yeshua, who has bought us with His shed blood and who is coming again to receive us unto Himself but for now has given us the Holy Spirit as His pledge!

In our last newsletter, we looked at the ancient Hebrew marriage customs and how they relate to us as the Bride of Yeshua. We ended with the Bride and Groom betrothed and each going back to their parents to live till all was ready for the marriage ceremony. The time period of the betrothal is represented in the Spring Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost. This time of separation is where we are today as we wait for the return of our Bridegroom. We are going to take a closer look at this time that we are in, waiting for our Bridegroom’s return.

The Preparation

So while the bride waits for the coming of her groom, she takes this time to prepare for him. In the story of Esther, we see that she prepared one year before she met the king. Esther had to learn how to be a queen and she had to look like a queen. Esther 2:12-13 tells us, “The end of the twelve months under the regulations for the women for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and the cosmetics for women – the young lady would go in to the king in this way.” So how do we prepare for our coming King and Groom?

It’s Time for a Bath

Paul tells us that whoever has this hope will purify himself. It is the custom that a bride, before her wedding, will go into the Mikvah. A mikvah was a body of water designed like a pool, though it could even be a body of water such as a lake or river; either way it had to be natural, flowing water. The purpose of the mikvah was to purify oneself from ritual impurity. Since ritual impurity is used as a metaphor for sin, it’s natural then for the mikvah to be symbolic of repentance, even rebirth, leaving behind the old man and putting on the new man. This is where we get the concept of baptism from, one being submerged in water to show that they have repented and now will follow Yeshua. In Exodus 19, “Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, ‘Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.'” The people had to be cleansed, and so God gave them three days, a reference to the time between the betrothal and the marriage, the first coming and the second coming of Messiah, and even the time between the Spring and Fall Feasts. Titus writes, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” John tells us, “If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Have you been washed in the blood? To prepare for the second coming of Yeshua, we must start by repenting of our adulterous ways. We must turn our lives around and no longer be unfaithful to our husband. For the Bible tells us that we can only serve and obey one husband; we cannot be married to Him and serve the world. Paul tells us to lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us. The church today does not think that it needs to repent. We are taught that when we accept Yeshua as Lord and Savior that we have sealed the deal. But as we saw with Mary and Joseph and throughout the Jewish wedding customs, when one is unfaithful, the marriage can be annulled before the final ceremony. Yeshua is a loving husband and He has made the way for us to repent, to turn our lives around and come back to our faithful standing with Him. This is called righteousness, and that righteousness is provided by His grace because of His great mercy and His love for us. Peter tells us, “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Yeshua the Messiah and be sprinkled with His blood.” Paul tells us in Ephesians 5, “Husbands love your wives, just as Messiah also loved the assembly of believers and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present to Himself the assembly in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.” The Christian life is all about looking and acting like Yeshua, not the world. God has given us His Word and we must live by that Word and let the Holy Spirit wash us in that Word by the renewing of our minds and hearts.

Well, we have washed; now it’s time to get dressed.

Time to Iron Out the Wrinkles

Every Bride wants to look her best. She will shop until she finds that perfect dress. Well, this wedding is no different. We must look our best also. We read in Revelations 19:7-8, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.” So how do we get the wrinkles out? Paul tells us to love and not pay back evil for evil, to be generous in giving, and contributing to the needs of the saints; we are to bless and not curse and to be of the same mind. To the Colossians he says, “Be devoted to prayer, praying continually with thanksgiving,” and that we are to put on the new man and take off the old. Why? Because we are now married and washed, so we must have a pure heart, one that consists of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another and forgiving one another because love is the bond of peace and unity. Our speech must be seasoned with grace, as it were with salt, conducting ourselves with wisdom toward outsiders. We do this all by the gifts and talents that our Husband has given us and so in our doing good, we reflect who we are in Him and the world knows who we belong to by what we reflect. Paul tells us in Romans 12 that we are to present our bodies as holy living sacrifices acceptable to God. He tells us not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Peter tells us also that we are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. He says that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” The garments of the bride are reflected in the garments of the priesthood. The bride adorns herself for her husband, and so too the garments of the priesthood are garments of glory and holiness. We can not serve at the altar of the Lord without these garments. Yeshua tells a parable about a king who comes into the gathering and looks at his guests and he sees a man without wedding garments and he says to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without wedding garments?” and the man was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:11-14). The bride has been chosen and it is her responsibility to make herself ready, for she knows not when her groom will call for her.

So that day finally comes. All things have been made ready and the father now tells his son to go and fetch his bride like a thief in the night.

The Bridegroom Comes for His Bride

It’s time now for the celebration. The final wedding day, the day that all have been waiting anxiously for, the reuniting of the Bride and Groom. This time is represented by the Fall Feasts. Yeshua tells His listeners, “Be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps alight.” The groom is first escorted to the chuppah, or canopy, and is crowned like a king. Then he goes to get his bride. The parable of the Ten Virgins gives a good account of what takes place when the bridegroom comes for his bride. It was usually at midnight when the groom came. The procession began with the shout. One would go before the bridegroom and shout, “Blessed is he who comes!” This is what Yeshua meant when He said, “For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'” Then, the shofar (trumpet) is blown (l Thessalonians 4: 16-17). The shout will be like a military command and the trumpet will sound to give the orders to arise and those from the dead will arise from the grave, and those who are alive will rise together with them and meet Yeshua our Bridegroom under the canopy. In the parable, the shout is given that the bridegroom is coming and all the virgins were awakened and trimmed their lamps. The trimming of their lamps gave light for the groom to see his way to the brides’ home, and he takes his bride and returns to his home with her. He would carry his bride through the door over the threshold into their new house. Yeshua said that He was the door, and all must go through Him. John on Patmos went through the door (Revelation 4:1): “After these things I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking to me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.'”

But just as this door is opened to the righteous, it will be shut to those who did not prepare themselves, those who did not ready their wedding garments and make them white, removing all spots and wrinkles, and as we see in the parable, did not have enough oil in their lamps. To this I quote Yeshua: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near.” In other words, as we see Yeshua tells the churches in Revelations several things which need to be done before His coming. He tells the Church in Ephesus, “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have fallen . . . repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lamp stand out of its place unless you repent.” To the Church in Sardis He says, “Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you . . . He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before My angels.” The Church of Philadelphia: “I know your deeds. Behold I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My Word, and have not denied My name.” To the Church in Laodicea: “Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have no need of anything,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and I will dine with him and he with Me.”

And so this takes us to the marriage supper with the bride and the groom.

The Marriage Supper

The bride and the groom spend seven days in the wedding chamber; afterwards there is a great feast, a marriage supper to celebrate the happy occasion. The Bride of Yeshua will spend those seven days in the Bridal Chamber with Yeshua during those dreadful days known as the Great Tribulation and after those days we will celebrate at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. “Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him, for the Marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready . . . And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And He said to me, ‘Write, blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb,’ and He said to me, ‘These are true words of God.'”

When the Fall Feasts come, should we not celebrate them? Does it not behoove us to recall these things year after year to prepare us and make us ready for that day when Yeshua will come like a thief in the night without warning, when the trumpet will blow, and the shout will be heard that the bridegroom is coming? How happy we will be that we have enough oil in our lamps when we trim our wicks to welcome Him, for truly blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! May we be ready for Yeshua as the Bride who has readied herself for her Husband. “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come,’ and let the one who hears say, ‘Come,’ and let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost . . . Come Lord Yeshua come!”

In the past several newsletters we have been looking at the second coming of Yeshua, comparing it to the feast days and the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony. We even looked at the parables to see what they had to say about His return. Now we want to look at what some of the prophets of old had to say about Yeshua’s second coming, specifically the phrase “The Day of the Lord,” which is a reference to His return. We are going to look first at the book of Malachi. Malachi in Hebrew means “messenger,” and that is what he was. He brought God’s message at a time when the temple had been rebuilt after the exiles had returned from Babylon; but things weren’t going as they should. We could say these things today as we question what’s happening around us and we wonder why. The Book of Malachi is a series of dialogues between God and His people. We want to present God’s statements so we can answer them in regards to our own lives today. We also are going to compare Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, with Revelation, the last book in the New Testament to see if God’s message is the same to the church as it was to the temple-goer.

I Have Loved You

The Book of Malachi opens with God’s heartfelt statement, “I have loved you.” The Bible tells us that God is love and that nothing can separate us from that love. The people respond by saying, “But how have You loved us?” God answers by saying, “Jacob I have loved but Esau I have hated.” Why did God love Jacob and not Esau? Esau’s heart wasn’t devoted to God. Esau married pagan women and worshiped their pagan gods. Esau represents those who go the way of the world and through their idolatry oppose the one true God. Jacob tricked his brother for the birthright, maybe for all the wrong reasons, but he came to know the one true God. Though he waited twenty years, Jacob found the meaning of the covenant and walked with God. So Jacob represents believers who follow the one true God by keeping His Word, and Esau represents idolaters and those who follow the world. The Edomites, who were the descendants of Esau, came to destruction, whereas the descendants of Jacob, Israel, even in their hardships, were still blessed of God. Yet they questioned God’s love because they had to wait on God for prosperity while enduring famines and droughts.

What can happen when God’s people wait upon God? They can begin to doubt God, and this leads them into sin, compromise, and blindness, a hardened heart and even a falling away. For years we have heard that the coming of the Lord is just around the corner. And though this may be true, the church has fallen asleep; they have fallen into sin.

I Am a Father

God continues in Malachi 1:6, “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the Lord of Hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?'” God turns to the priesthood first and addresses their hearts which had turned away from God. God tells them that they are defiling His name, yet they ask, “How?” Their lack of respect for God and their pursuit for their own interests were causing them to sacrifice blemished animals. God tells them to offer their sacrifices to their governor and see if he would be pleased. The priests were doing their duties uncommittedly and without love for God. As we would say, they were just going through the motions.

How often do we just go through the motions? Hypocritically, we go to church and worship Him from an uncommitted heart. We may sing in the choir, we may even preach the Word. It doesn’t matter if we are the pastor, a deacon, or a lay person; if our hearts are not fully committed to God through a sincere heart of love, we are offering Him a blemished sacrifice, and in so doing we are not showing Him the respect and honor due His name. God tells the priests that if they will not listen to Him and take to heart what He was saying to them that He would curse their blessings. Remember that we are called to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and we all bring the sacrifice to the altar of God. Are we holding our pastors to the highest standards? God tells the priests that true instruction should be in their mouths because they are His messengers, but instead they have caused the people to stumble by their actions. Maybe we don’t line up with God’s standards because our hearts are not as committed as they should be.

I Hate Divorce

Next God continues on to the family in 2:13-14. He tells them that they are profaning the sanctuary because they are marrying daughters of foreign gods. God says, “And this is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, ‘For what reason?'” God answers them, “Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.” God tells them that He hates divorce.

Today in the church, divorce is rampant. There is no faithfulness toward God or marriage. We can not serve a covenant-keeping God when we ourselves can not keep our covenants. There is no integrity any longer. As Paul had warned, the love of many has grown cold, and people have become self-serving: Pornography is controlling many lives, and this alone leads to unfaithfulness. Lust is a disease in the world. But if our shepherds are falling, how can we expect the sheep not to stray? The church is in crisis, and we call out to God for help, but not help in overcoming our sin. But as the people in Malachi’s time, they cried out to God because they were not prospering. The Word tells us, “You have not, because you ask not; but you ask amiss to heap it upon yourself.” God is weary of this kind of prayer. The church has a heart problem: it is not for God. He no longer is the central focus of our lives. We have watered down the gospel message to massage our guilt. As it says, “In the last days they will reject sound doctrine to have their ears tickled.”

I Am Weary

God tells the people in 2:17, “You have wearied the Lord with your words,” and they once again ask, “How do we weary you?” God replies, “In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,’ or, ‘Where is the God of justice?'” The Psalmist asked the question, “Why do the wicked prosper?” The Bible tells us in the last days that they will call good evil and evil good, because they will have lost their ability to discern between the two. But God would never call good evil and evil good. For people to think that God would do this shows the level from which they had fallen. The Bible tells us that it rains on the good and the bad, but that is because of God’s mercy. While we were still sinners, God died for us. And so God shows His mercy because God is slow to anger so that we may come to repentance. God is a God of justice, and even though it may seem that the wicked are prospering, their day of judgment is coming. In chapter 4:1 and 3, God tells the people “The day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and in that day that is coming, I will set them ablaze . . . And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing.”

I Have Been Robbed

In chapter 3:8, God asked the people, “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?'” God answers the people, “In tithes and offerings.” God once again tells them that they are cursed with a curse for robbing Him. He tells them to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in His house. The people had sinned by bringing a blemished animal for their sacrifice, and now He tells them that they aren’t even bringing the whole tithe. Remember that the people had come out from exile and rebuilt the temple, and now they were experiencing bad times, and drought was ruining their crops. Many people today say that we are not under this law that requires us to pay tithe, that this was strictly Old Testament. Maybe so, but Abraham was not under the Mosaic Law, and he tithed to Melchizedek; neither was Jacob under the Law, yet He told God that if He would be with him and care for him and if he returned back home safely, that God would be his God and he would give Him a tenth and the pillar he set up would be God’s house. We even find Yeshua paying His requirement of the Temple tax. If His believers were no longer obliged to tithe, then why did He not tell us that? Yeshua is the Way, the Truth and the Life, so how can we find the true way to life unless He tells us the way which we should go?

God went on to tell the people, “Test Me if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” He tells them He would “Rebuke the devourer so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor the vine in the field.”

I Will Not Tolerate Arrogance

Chapter 3:13 says, “‘Your words have been arrogant against Me,’ says the Lord. Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against Thee?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we should have kept charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.'” Peter writes about false prophets: “These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error. Promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:17-19). So we see that as the Old Testament ends, the people have fallen into darkness.

Now let’s turn to the church.

Message to the Seven Churches

We see in the message to the first church, the church of Ephesus, that Yeshua calls the people out. In Revelation 2:4 He says, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the deeds you did at first: or else I will come to you, and remove your lampstand out of its place – unless you repent.” As we saw in Malachi, the first thing the people had done was that they had fallen into sin because they had left their first love. If God is not the center of our lives, if He does not have our affections, then we will become prey to the lies of the Devil and fall away from God.

Yeshua tells the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:2-3, “Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die: for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard: and keep it, and repent. If, therefore, you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.” Like the people in Malachi, they too had fallen asleep from the result of the sin in their lives and needed to wake up before it was too late.

Yeshua tells the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:19, “Those whom I love I reprove and discipline: be zealous, therefore, and repent.” If we are not experiencing prosperity or the blessings of God, He may be disciplining us to teach us to rely on Him. We must remember that God loves us and He showed that love for us when Yeshua died for us. We need to repent and come back to our first love.

Like the priests that caused the people to stumble because of their sin by allowing them to offer blemished sacrifices, Yeshua tells the church in Perganum in chapter 2:14-16, “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and commit acts of immorality. Thus you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolations. Repent therefore: or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.” As we see here, the sins of the people in Malachi’s day were still present in John’s day.

As we saw Malachi dealing with divorce, so the church also had a problem with immorality and unfaithfulness. Yeshua says to the church in Thyatira in 2:20, “But this I have against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bondservants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.” Yeshua warns the people, just like in Malachi’s day, that He does not call evil good and good evil, but He will judge the wicked in the day that He is preparing.

Yeshua tells the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:5, “Do the deeds you did at first.” We must repent and come back to our first love, and do the things we did at first before the coming of the Lord. In our next newsletter we are going to take a look at who these Nicolations really are.

This past year we have taken a look at the Lord’s return to see if we are ready for His coming. In our last newsletter, we compared Malachi’s day, the last book in the Old Testament, with the letters to the churches in Revelation, the last book in the New Testament. We saw that despite God’s faithfulness in the midst of their trials, the people in Malachi’s day complained against God and even turned from Him. We also saw in the message to the churches that nothing was new over the years: the people still sinned against God and followed idols and corruption filled their assemblies. So we want to continue looking at these two books and we want to examine our own lives to see if we too have fallen into any of these ways and maybe even into idolatry.

A Time of Judgment

“For behold the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze, says the Lord of Hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says the Lord of Hosts. Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel” (Malachi 4:1-4). We see that this time of judgement is yet to come and when it comes, it will come with fire, not like the day of Noah when God judged the earth with a flood. God promised Noah that He would never judge the earth again by flood.

In Revelation we see the judgment of “the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality” (Revelation 17:1-2). John saw Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, and the abomination of the earth. He saw the woman who was dressed in purple and scarlet and was adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and unclean things of her immorality, drunk with the blood of the saints and the witnesses of Yeshua, and whose name is not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world.

The Great Harlot

So who is this great harlot? The Bible tells us that at the end times, there will be a universal order of worship, a one world religion. This will not be some new religion, but one that has its roots going back to the Tower of Babel. This false religion has deep roots, and it has found its way into the Jewish religious system and even into our congregations today. The Devil appears as an angel of light, this is what the Bible tells us. He is crafty and cunning and deceitful and through all this, he has been able to turn the hearts of God’s people away from the truth, and has caused them to worship idols. We see this in the book of Malachi, how the priesthood became corrupted and allowed the people to offer up blemished sacrifices. The people began saying, “God blesses the wicked.” Immorality and divorce began to increase. The people no longer tithed and they even said, “It was in vain to serve God and there was no profit in it.” We see these same things happening in the time of Paul, and John’s words to the churches in Revelation speak of these same issues.

Three Symbols of Idolatry

In the message to the seven churches, Yeshua mentions three names that the people did or did not tolerate: 1. Balaam 2. Jezebel 3. Nicolaitans.

Balaam

Balaam was summoned by King Balak to come and curse Israel. Balaam was not a prophet of God, but a pagan seer, a magician with supernatural powers. His practices were clearly pagan but even at this, God warned Balaam not to curse Israel (Numbers 22). After being confronted by one of God’s angels and his own donkey speaking to him, Balaam foregoes the king’s reward and only blesses Israel to the anger of King Balak. But later Balaam returns and we find him among the Midianites, whom he advises on how to lure the Israelites into cult practices and immorality, worshiping the pagan idol Baal of Peor (Numbers 25). In Malachi, the people stumbled because of the sins of the priesthood. In Revelation, God was against the church of Pergamum for, like Balaam, they caused the people to stumble into pagan practices of eating things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.

The Book of Jude refers to these people. He says, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Yeshua.” Jude goes on to describe these people as going the way of Cain and, for pay, rushing headlong into the error of Balaam. In verses 12-13 he says, “These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds of autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

These people are in our churches today misleading believers and whole congregations. Not only have today’s Bibles omitted words like the blood but pastors have omitted teaching about sin and repentance and even the cross. The gospel message has been changed to social issues (not that social issues are not important, but without the gospel message we have not carried out God’s way). Pastors no longer teach on how one should live out being a disciple of Yeshua by picking up His cross and walking on the narrow road that leads to eternal life. Paul warns us to beware of those who come with a different gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). We need to stop and examine our walk with God and make sure that we are not being swept away by those who would have us be distracted by worldly ways and worldly thinking and compromise godliness even in the slightest manner.

Jezebel

Jezebel was married to King Ahab. She was the pagan daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre and Sidon. Her idolatrous religion consisted of polytheism and mythology centered on Baal, the sun god Sap, Reshep (an underworld deity), and her fertility cults honoring Ashtart, mixed with Semitic and Egyptian ideas. She had 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah. She wanted to have her gods placed on equal footing with the one true God of Israel, which created conflict with the prophet Elijah. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah wins the victory at Mt. Carmel over her pagan gods. In the letter to the churches, John writes to the church in Thyatira as recorded in Revelation 2:20-23, “But this I have against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bondservants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eating things sacrificed to idols, and I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent of her immorality, behold I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds and I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts and I will give to each one according to your deeds.”

In today’s churches divorce is rampant and we have tolerated way too much sin. We have pastors condoning divorce, immorality, and even lifestyles that we know are against God’s Word. Pastors themselves are being caught in adulterous life styles and children of pastors and deacons are also having children out of wedlock and having alternate lifestyles. We have accepted this kind of behavior and we are told to be tolerant of such things. We need to examine ourselves to see if we have become tolerant of sin and if we have, then we need to repent. The Scriptures tell us that we are to expose sin, not condone it or tolerate it (Ephesians 5:11-13).

Nicolaitans

In the message to the churches, John writes to the churches of Ephesus and Pergamos to praise the people for not tolerating the Nicolaitans; and the other church he rebukes and tells to repent for holding on to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. So who are these Nicolaitans? The Bible does not make clear who these people are. Because of the references in the text, we can surmise that they must have something to do with idolatry.

Well, let us look closely to the name. The name consists of two names: Nakao, “to conquer,” and Laos “for laity.” This seems to have something to do with a religious system, perhaps a division between priests and the laity. Is this what was happening in Malachi’s day, that the priesthood became corrupted and led the way for the people to fall into their sinful ways of offering blemished sacrifices and divorce and even their complaining about God Himself? Like anything that takes root, it only grows and produces fruit and this is what happened when the Nicolaitans infiltrated the Jewish congregations and then became part of the doctrine of the church.

The Nicolaitans were not some followers of just any one person, but an occult practice resulting from Greek mythology. The name comes from Nike and Laos. Nike is the Goddess of victory and Laos were her followers. In Greek mythology, Nike is the goddess of victory, whose function was to proselytize or evangelize for Zeus, to ascribe to him all the honor and glory of all the other gods, and thus displace them so that he (Zeus) might be worshipped in their place. You may say that, “This is all mythology,” but we must remember that mythology was the religion of the pagans. When persecution to believers did not stop the rise of Christianity, these pagan governments had to try something new and what they did was to infiltrate the churches with these people; this is what Jude was writing about when he said that certain people have crept in unnoticed. These Nicolaitans have been masquerading, worshiping in our churches and have made converts of us all. Because of this, we have today many pagan practices in our churches. For instance, the Nico-laos is the same as Nicolaos, the same St. Nicolaos who shows up every December 25th to celebrate the birth of Zeus, Jupiter, Mithra, Nimrod, Baal, Addon, Apollo, Tamuz, and Baccus; many of these same gods were worshiped by Jezebel (thanks to the emperor Constantine who Hellenized much of what we believe today). The image of the mother and child comes from a pagan cult; Easter a pagan goddess along with her fertility rabbits and sunrise worship. Halloween, May poles, New Year’s Eve watch nights, and even Sunday worship are all Babylonian feasts. Yeshua was never called Jesus, even by the Greeks of His day, for the name Jesus is taken from Zeus. We have been Hellenized and Babylonianized, and even when the Protestant church broke away, they still continued in the practices of the Nicolaitans. Let us go back to the Word of God and let us go back to our Jewish roots, for God has not changed, not His Word; it is us who have broken away for a one world religion.

The Book of Remembrance

We read in chapter 3 verse 16 of the book of Malachi that God did not give up on the people, but He chose to remember those who were faithful and feared Him, and a Book of Remembrance was written. God said that they would become His and that He would spare them. In Revelation we see the same thing, that God will remember His people who are faithful to Him. In the letter to the church in Sardis, Revelation 3:5 says, “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and I will not erase his name from the Book of Life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” We read in Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life, and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”

The Book of Remembrance was something that kings kept. In the Bible, the Book of Chronicles was a record of the lives of the kings of Israel. We see this in the time of Esther that the king kept records and chronicles of events. Esther 6:1 says, “During the night the king could not sleep, so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.” If it weren’t for these records, Mordecai would not have been rewarded. It is the same with our King: one day His books will be opened and all of our deeds that have been recorded will be read and we will be rewarded according to our righteous deeds.

People, no matter when they lived, either in the time of Malachi, or at the time of the Apostle John, or even today, still hope for the Messiah. In the day of the Apostles, they were waiting for the return of Messiah. But today, are we still waiting and preparing for His return or have we fallen asleep or even worse have we fallen into idolatry? Let us repent and examine to see if we truly have our light burning, waiting to hear the call, “The Bridegroom cometh!” Let us return to our first love, Yeshua, the one true Messiah of God. Next newsletter we are going to look at the coming of Elijah in the Book of Malachi.

We hope that the light of Hanukkah keeps burning in your hearts and as we celebrate the Messiah’s birth, let us celebrate it in the true light of God’s Word.

For many years I have heard preachers say that the church will be raptured before the wrath of God comes upon the earth because God has not destined us to wrath. What I never understood about that was why then have other Christians suffered throughout the history of the church? It seems to be a Westernized teaching, and especially an American teaching. But is this true, that God’s people should never suffer? Why does the Bible tell us something different? Even Yeshua tells His disciples that they would suffer. Now don’t get me wrong, God knows how to rescue His people. We see this with Noah and Lot, Daniel in the lions den, the three Hebrew children in the furnace. But God’s Word does tell us that judgement will come to the house of God first. God tells us that He must discipline those He loves, and surely He loved His chosen people Israel and yet He had to discipline them and punish them for their iniquity. We say that that was before Yeshua came. I must say that bad things happen to good people all the time and with that said, I must say that a lot of good people died in the Holocaust. We must let go of our mentality that we will escape all that is coming, because that is not all true.

Yeshua tells us to repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. When John the Baptist spoke the same message and when he saw many Sadducees and Pharisees coming to him to be baptized (which in its original meaning was a sign of spiritual cleansing), he tells them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:7-10).

We want to compare today’s world to what God tells the nations and Israel in the book of Amos because God is the same yesterday and today and forever. There is no partiality with God, He will judge the nations as well as Israel for their sins.

Amos Cries Out to the Nations

Amos was a shepherd when God called him to warn His flock; maybe he called Amos because God, who is the Good Shepherd, knows the heart of a shepherd for his sheep. At the time Amos prophesied, both Kingdoms of Israel were experiencing prosperity, but because of a life of luxury and idleness, oppression and idolatry became prevalent. We see in Amos 1:2 that God is likened to a lion attacking the sheep. God the Good Shepherd is attacking His own flock. We must learn the lessons well from the Hebrew Scriptures because it has been written to be an example to us (1 Corinthians 10:6-11). God will not let unrepentant sin go unpunished. As we look at the sins of the nations, first let us consider America and its sins and let us see if there is any similarity.

Judgement goes to Syria first. Verse 3 tells us that Syria dragged logs with spikes over the people of Gilead. In other words, they threshed the people. They beat the people like one would to separate the grain from the straw. A great injustice to humanity was occurring and God brings forth His judgement. Then God condemns Philistia for their crimes against humanity, for they dragged off people to sell them as slaves and judgement falls on them. Next, He judged the Phoenicians who also enslaved the people; Edom murdered with no mercy even their own relatives; Ammon murdered pregnant women. Moab had such hatred that they burned the bones of their enemies and made mortar for their brick with the ashes. Crimes to humanity take on many shapes. When we have no justice or mercy, at our gate judgement will fall.

Amos Cries Out to the Flock of Israel

Next, God brings judgment to Israel: Judah first, for they rejected God’s teachings and refused to obey Him and they led the people into idol worship. Israel was selling people for money, and the needy are sold for the price of sandals. They smeared the poor in the dirt and pushed aside those who were helpless. The people had morally decayed and they had no respect for God’s sanctuary or His Word. When a country, a people, rejects God’s Word, His counsel, God Himself, they fall into moral decay and rebellion and evil. Crimes to humanity and crimes of all sorts take over.They fall into darkness and chaos rules. The poor become poorer and the rich become richer and the people become enslaved. Amos cries out in chapter four, “Hear this word you cows of Bashan who are on the mountains of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husband ‘Bring now, that we may drink!’ The Lord God has sworn by His holiness, ‘Behold, the days are coming upon you when they will take you away with meat hooks and the last of you with fish hooks.'” God continues and tells the people, “All that has happened to you, and yet, you do not return to Me” (Amos 4:6).

If we just look at America, we have seen the weather like we have not seen it in a lifetime. We have suffered financial crisis, we have been victims of terrorists, high unemployment and the glory of America has faded in the world; our poor have become poorer and our rich have become richer. Our country is divided, and divided we will not stand, but fall. Yet we too have not returned to God. Our wise men have become foolish and no one can deliver us, no one but God. We must learn the lessons from those who went before us. We need revival in this country. We need to repent and return to God. We need to once again live by His Word and seek His counsel.

Amos continues His cry in Amos 5:1-2, “Hear this word which I take up for you as a dirge, O house of Israel. She has fallen, she will not rise again, the virgin Israel. She lies neglected on her land; there is none to raise her up.” Amos continues in verse 4, “Seek Me that you may live, but do not resort to Bethel, and do not come to Gilgal, nor cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal will certainly go into captivity, and Bethel will come to trouble. Seek the Lord that you may live, lest He break forth like a fire, O house of Joseph, and it consumes with none to quench it for Bethel, for those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness down to the earth . . . “. Verse 9 goes on, “It is He who flashes forth with destruction upon the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks with integrity. Therefore, because you impose heavy rent on the poor and exact a tribute of grain from them, though you have built houses of well-hewn stone, yet you will not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.”

God continues by telling them that He knows their transgressions and that they need to seek good and not evil so that they may live. In verse 15 God says, “Hate evil, love good and establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of Hosts may be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” Their society had become so corrupt with bribes and threshing the people, taking everything from them including their last penny, as you would say. In chapter six God continues to deal with the rich who are at ease. Now this is not just a rant against the rich, but also against the church, for we sit in our pews and we neglect our neighbor. We neglect the poor even in our churches because we close our eyes and we do not see those who are in need. We even preach prosperity and we look down on those who do not have and we say to ourselves that it is because of sin or lack of faith that people do not have the blessings of God. But remember that judgement is coming first to the house of God because of our insensitivity to our neighbor. Amos tells the people in chapter 8:11, “Behold, days are coming, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the Words of the Lord.” The prophet Joel speaks a similar thing when he tells the people that the grain offering would be cut off. He says in Joel 1:13, “Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, O priests; Wail, O, ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O, ministers of my God, for the grain offering and the libation are withheld from the house of your God.” Paul tells Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.”

We are the light of the world; if we do not shed light, then darkness prevails. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth resides in us; so if we do not speak truth or live in truth, than lies and corruption prevail. We who call ourselves believers of the One True Living God, if we do not walk uprightly, then we are to blame; for we not only have the ear of God, but we are His representatives here on this earth. Isaiah tells the people in chapter 9:14-16, “So the Lord cuts off head and tail from Israel, both palm branch and bulrush in a single day. The head is the elder and honorable man, and the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail. For those who guide this people are leading them astray; and those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.” God goes on to say that He will not take pity on them. In verse 17 of Isaiah 9, He says, “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away, and His hand is still stretched out.” God in His great mercy has brought about trials of all kind and tribulations, pain and suffering, sorrow and sadness, all for one reason: because He loves us and He wants us to turn back, to repent, and begin living by His Word and His way. We must seek the Lord and live. When judgement was about to fall in Jeremiah’s day, God tells him to proclaim to the people, “‘Return, faithless Israel, I will not look upon you in anger, for I am gracious’, declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God.'”

The Bible tells us that God doesn’t do anything unless He tells His people first. God has always raised up for Himself a prophet to cry out to the people of His coming judgements. God has done this, but we have closed our ears to those who have heard God crying out to His people to, “Repent and come back to Him,” come back to His Word, His ways, His truths. All throughout Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) message to the church in the book of Revelation, He would say, “He who has ears let Him hear what the Spirit is saying.” Are we listening, are we looking at the signs, do we hear the Spirit tell us to “Repent, come back”? If you say “Yes, I can see, I do hear and understand,” then are you blowing the trumpet in your church, your family, your neighborhood? God tells Ezekiel, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman and he sees the sword coming upon the land, and he blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and take him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in iniquity, but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand'” (Ezekiel 33).

People, we are the watchmen. We are the church of the Living God. We are the light now in the world. Can we escape if we, the church, close our eyes, fall asleep, or turn our heads from the living God and let judgement come upon us? If you do not feel the responsibility, then I say maybe you are not where you need to be with God. Your walk has maybe grown cold; Yeshua tells us that if we can interpret the weather we should be able to interpret the signs of His coming. Are we looking? Are we ourselves repenting and humbly coming before God, seeking Him out? Are we in His Word letting it change our lives, our hearts? Let us take the example of those who went before us and let us see that God is a holy God and He will not be mocked. God must punish sin, no matter if it is the sin of one who is not in His flock or one who is. God is Holy and we too must be holy.

Look up, for Yeshua’s salvation is coming!

Over the last year, we have been looking at the Book of Malachi and the Book of Revelation. We have compared the two and we saw in the time of Malachi that the people had begun to fall into idolatry and rebellion against God; so too with the churches in the day of the Apostle John as he wrote the messages to the 1st Century churches. We saw that the prophet Elijah was to come before the coming of Messiah, which Yeshua said was fulfilled in John the Baptist. We now want to look at the end times church, the church today, and we want to see what the message is to today’s church and who the messenger is to give this message. To find the message to today’s church, the assembly of believers, we need to look at the Scriptures that tell us about the end times. We know that we are in the end times because the prophecy is fulfilled about Israel once again becoming a nation and the people returning to their homeland. Isaiah 66:8 speaks about the new nation of Israel being formed in one day, which it was. Yeshua and His disciples had a lot to say about the end times. In fact, Yeshua even told several parables regarding this time. Many of Yeshua’s warnings and prophecies in Matthew 24 referred to the persecution and the destruction of the temple in the 1st Century. But of course, we must realize with prophecy that it can refer to a particular time but it can also refer to many different times. Such is the reference to the Abomination of Desolation which happened in the days of the Maccabees and will also take place at the end times with the coming of the lawless one. I guess it gives credence to the saying, “history repeats itself.” So let’s look at some of these end times Scriptures to understand what the message is to the church today.

Two Mysteries

Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come; For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather then lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, and from such people turn away!” Paul tells Timothy what the mystery of godliness is in 1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.” So we see that godliness is Yeshua and we are to follow Him and imitate Him, but in the last days people will only have a form of godliness and many of them will be Christians who will not live in the power of the resurrected Savior. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7-8, “But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” Paul goes on in 1 Timothy 4:1-3, “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know truth.” Now Paul was not talking about the Jewish people who abstain from unclean foods, for this abstinence was to take place in latter times.

So Scripture tells us that people will fall away from the teachings of God and Yeshua Himself and only have a form of Christianity. The Bible tells us another mystery, the mystery of lawlessness. 2 Thessalonians 2:7-10 tells us, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” Paul tells the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Two Kings/Two Kingdoms

Two mysteries now take us to two kings and kingdoms. Let’s compare the two.

The Mystery of Godliness

Yeshua is the:

True God: John 1:1, John 10:30

Truth: John 14:6, 2 Timothy 2:15

Torah: John 1:14

True Messiah: Matthew 16:16-17, Mark 14:61-62

Godly King: Matthew 2:6, Matthew 27:11, 1 Timothy 6:15

Yeshua’s subjects walk according to His Spirit: Romans 8:14, Galatians 5:16

Yeshua’s Kingdom:

Is in Heaven: John 18:36, Acts 1:11, 2 Timothy 4:18

Represents light: John 1:9, John 8:12, Ephesians 5:8, 1 John 1:5

Kingdom and King will rule forever: Revelation 19:11-16, Revelation 21

The Mystery of Lawlessness

Satan is:

False god: 2 Corinthians 4:4

Lies: John 8:44, Romans 1:25

Lawlessness: 1 John 3:4, 8

The false messiah: Matthew 24:24, 1 John 2:22

The lawless king: Revelation 13:4

Satan’s subjects walk according to the flesh: Romans 9:8

Satan’s kingdom:

Is of this world: John 12:31, John 14:30, 2 Corinthians 4:4

Represents darkness: Ephesians 5:11

Kingdom and king will be defeated: 1 John 2:17, Revelation 19:20

Two Churches

Now that we have seen the differences between the two kings and kingdoms, we want to look at two churches, for each king has his own worshipers. Let’s start with the false church and then we will look at the true church and then from there we will discuss the message to the true church today.

The Counterfeit Church

From the beginning of time, Satan has been a counterfeit and a liar. He began with his rebellion in heaven when he wanted to be God, so he began his own kingdom. Then he deceived Adam and Eve and told them that they could be like God, so Adam fell and Satan stole the crown and now he became king. Then he continued at the tower of Babel when he lied to the people and made them think that they could reach the heavens and that they too could be God; and so Satan had his followers and they began the counterfeit church. Revelation 17:3-6 tells us about this false church: “So the Spirit of God carried me away into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Of The Abominations Of The Earth. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Yeshua. And when I saw her I marveled with great amazement.”

Revelation 13:11-18 tells us that a beast will arise from the earth who will have two horns like a lamb but will speak like a dragon (Satan). He will have great authority and he will cause those who dwell on the earth to worship the lawless one (beast). He will perform great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men (clearly a reference to Elijah on Mt. Carmel, but truly a counterfeit). And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the lawless one, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name; the number is 666. For this newsletter we will not go into all the meaning behind the beast and the false prophet. We just want to compare the two churches at this time.

So we see here another mystery: the mystery Babylon, the counterfeit church that will arise and only have a form of godliness (Christianity) and it will cause a great apostasy and deception and cause many people to follow not only the false prophet, but the beast, the false messiah, who will appear to be a lamb but will be a dragon. 1 John 2:22-23 tells us, “Who is a liar but he who denies that Yeshua is the Messiah? He is the false messiah who denies the Father and the Son.” Yeshua tells us in Matthew 24:24, “For false messiahs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the desert!’ do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

The false church, who will be doing good deeds such as helping the poor and less fortunate, will be doing it in their names and the names of their gods, secular humanism, such as we see today with celebrities helping victims of storms and earthquakes for the sake of publicity. Even churches today have their outreach programs but their only purpose is to draw people into their church for the sake of numbers and, sadly, even for revenue. Philippians 3:18-21 says, “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Messiah; whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is their shame – who sets their minds on earthly things.” This is the appetite that people have for the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Today’s church doesn’t think twice about what they watch on TV or in the movies; in fact, I have heard pastors talk about these things in their sermons. There is no separation between church and the world, for one looks like the other today. Idolatry is in the church and it keeps people from praying and reading their Bibles. Romans 12:1-2 tells us, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (worship). And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

So we see that in the end times, people will be lovers of self rather than lovers of God. Paul tells us in falling away from God and being consumed by the world that the church will begin to deny truth itself.

The True Church

The true church in the latter days will have one big distinction and that is it will be holy, holy meaning set-apart, for God tells us that He is holy and we should also be holy. When God gave Israel His Torah (teachings), its purpose was for all to see that God’s people were set-apart from all other people (Exodus 19:5-6, Isaiah 62:12). When Yeshua came, He did not teach anything different. Peter tells us that we are a peculiar people in 1 Peter 2:9. We are not to be like the world because we are not like the world. Yeshua tells us that the world will hate us (John 15:18-19). The true church will not compromise, but it will stand for truth for they will love God and His Word more than their own lives (Revelation 12:11, 14:12). As we see, in the last days the love of many will grow cold, but you will know the true church by its love (John 13:34-35). They will be a light in the darkness, a banner for all to run to, a refuge from the storm. They will be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). The true church will be doing their deeds in the name of the Lord Yeshua (Colossians 3:17). They will be operating in the Holy Spirit by the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) and their lives will be a tree full of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26). The true church will be tested and true and they will live by faith (2 Peter 1:5-11, Romans 4:23-5:5, James 1:2-8).

Conclusion

So we have seen the difference between the one true church of God and we have seen the counterfeit church that will arise. For we know that Paul has told us that the spirit of lawlessness was already at work in his day and as we draw closer to the time of Yeshua’s return, we will see this spirit increase. Now that we have laid the groundwork, in the next newsletter we will look at the message to the church today and we will see if Elijah is coming back once more.

We would like to continue our study of the message to the end time church, but to find the message to the church we need to define “church.” We so often think of church as just the building: “We are going to church today.” But the “church” is actually not a building of brick and mortar, but it is a sanctuary of people built upon the Word of God (1 Corinthians 3:9-11, Ephesians 2:20) and Yeshua is its cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-6) and it is here that the Holy Spirit resides (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). When we ask people, “What is your faith?” we think of their denomination, which equates to beliefs created mostly by men. But faith is our conviction based on hearing the Word of God which results in our obedience to the Word (Romans 10:17) and the Word is who Yeshua is, the Word made flesh. For over 300 years, believers in Yeshua took the Word to mean Torah. Yeshua and all His disciples quoted the Hebraic Scriptures as the authoritative Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). I say all this so that we can add to the foundation of the last newsletter. Before we start, I want to make clear that I am not pointing to one denomination only, but to the church at large.

We established that there are two mysteries in operation: the mystery of godliness and the mystery of lawlessness; two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of darkness; two kings: Yeshua and Satan; and two churches: the true church and the false church. We see in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 that lawlessness, which actually means anti-law or anti-Torah, or plainly, anti-commandments, was in effect in the days of the disciples. Even Peter tells us that people had begun to twist Paul’s words and we should not be carried away by their errors (1 Peter 3:15-17).

The Message to the Seven Churches

With Rome’s iron fist, persecution came for the Jewish people and believers, Jews and Gentiles alike. Nero, who the early believers called the anti-messiah, the Beast, whose name added up to 666, alone murdered over 100,000 believers at his Circus Maximus on Vatican Hill. So we want to look at the message to the 1st Century church and the message that Yeshua had for them in the midst of this persecution. The Emperor Domitian made a decree against all Christians who practiced Judaism who were not Jews; they would be charged, imprisoned, and even suffer death. So the churches came under much persecution. So Yeshua addresses this in His messages to the church.

Yeshua tells the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7, “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you can not endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not, and you found them to be false.” Paul, Peter, John, Jude, and even Yeshua all warned against false teachers and false prophets (2 Corinthians 11:12-14, 2 Peter 2, 1 John 4:1, Philippians 3:18-19, Matthew 7:15, Matthew 24:11, 24). In our churches today, we do not question what is being said by our Pastors or even what is being done in our assemblies, even though the Scriptures tell us about these false teachers and brethren. Yeshua goes on to tell the Ephesus church that He has this against them: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or I am coming to you, and I will remove your lampstand out of its place – unless you repent.” Ephesus was the center for Christianity in Asia-Minor. When persecution came to Ephesus, we see that the believers persevered and endured for the name of Yeshua; but in the midst of this persecution, the believers began to lose their first love, their love for the work of the kingdom and their practice of Torah. And so God tells them to repent and continue doing those things they did at first. We see here that believers still need to repent; just because they are believers does not make them sinless. Repentance means to turn back to the Word of God. When we repent, God is faithful to forgive us and the blood of Yeshua washes us clean.

God tells them that He will remove their lampstand from its place if they do not repent. What does that mean? In Revelation chapter 1 verse 20, Yeshua tells us the meaning of the lampstands, that they represent the churches. The people, not the building, are the church; the people are to be the light of the world. To be the light of the world means that they are to preach the good news and, by their example, prove the Word of God to be truth. If Yeshua is going to come and remove their lampstand from its place, this means that they will no longer represent God. Their light will no longer shine in the darkness.

The church in Smyrna had a different problem. Now, remember that Domitian made the decree against believers practicing Judaism. Smyrna had Jewish people who practiced Judaism and were against the believers, so they informed the authorities that these people were not Jews. Their accusations brought about persecution for these believers. Yeshua called these people the “Synagogue of Satan,” for Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Yeshua tells the believers not to fear what they were about to suffer, for if they overcame they would receive the crown of life (Revelation 2:8-11).

On to the church of Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17). Pergamum, like the others, was a big pagan community, with their temples to their gods. Yeshua tells the believers to hold fast to His name even though Antipas, who was the bishop of Pergamum, was martyred. But God was not pleased by those believers who held the teaching of Balaam; Balaam taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel so that they would eat things sacrificed to idols and commit immorality. Pergamum believers, after time, also decided that they would look less and less like Torah keepers because of the persecution.

In the church of Sardis, Revelation 3:16, the people accused of being Christians saved their lives by denying Yeshua. Yeshua tells them, “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” Only a few in Sardis did not soil their garments. Persecution caused the believers to have to make a decision on remaining true to God and His Word or compromising their beliefs. Many chose to compromise even after Yeshua’s message to these churches to repent and be strong and overcome. Many fell away and the apostasy began, the great falling away. Many teachers of the faith like Marcion, Justin Martyr, Origen, Ignatius, Chrysostom, Tertullian, and even Martin Luther began anti-Jewish remarks and from there, it went to anti-Semitic remarks and the Gentile church began its split from Judaism, and that split became wider and wider. But not until the Emperor Constantine did Christianity change entirely, for lawlessness (anti-Torah) came full force into the church.

Constantine and the Counterfeit Church

Constantine was a pagan emperor who worshiped many false gods. Like the queen Jezebel, he worshiped Mithra the sun god. In the book of Daniel, we see ten horns which represent ten kings and from these horns, a little horn arises after the ten kings. The little horn, which represents a king, subdues three kings represented by three horns that are pulled out by the roots. The little horn becomes larger in appearance and stronger (Daniel 7:8, 24). The little horn is like Constantine who arose to power at the decline of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire had been divided into two divisions, the east and the west, with two senior emperors and two junior emperors ruling each division. Constantine eventually conquered his competition till he was the sole Emperor. Constantine united the empire once again. Constantine’s mother Helen was a Christian, so Constantine declared an edict in 313 AD giving Christians the right to worship.

Later in the 4th Century, Christianity had become the official religion of the empire and in so doing, Constantine introduced his paganism into Christianity by allowing his pagan gods and their traditions into the church service. And now for the first time, there were two powerful institutions within the empire: the State and the Church. Constantine began by changing the Jewish lunar calendar to the solar Julian calendar which the Roman Empire used for its pagan worship to its gods starting with Mithra the sun god who was worshiped on Sundays. In 325 AD, Constantine called the first church council in Nicaea which officially severed Christianity from Judaism. In Daniel 11:36 we see a king who does as he pleases and exalts himself above every god and speaks against the one true God; this was like Constantine, for he called himself god and he used the term Pontifix Maximus, the term used by every Roman Pope after him. Constantine changed God’s Appointed Times, starting with the Sabbath worship, which was no longer accepted. He changed Passover to Easter, which is named after the pagan fertility goddess with her symbols of bunnies and colored eggs, and he added Christmas, December 25, as the birth of the Son of God to go along with the birthday of his pagan god Mithra, the sun god.

Gnosticism, Humanism, and many other forms of ideologies grew over the years, and every pagan country added to the change. The Greek language already had become the language of literature and thought of the Roman Empire. So in the day of Yeshua, Rome was already Hellenized, but it was Constantine who Hellenized the church. From Egypt came the ideas of the trinity and the pagan obelisk, which was used for worship, like the one that still stands in the courts of the Vatican; from the followers of Isis came the adoration of the mother and child. From Phrygia came the worship of the great mother; from Syria came the resurrection drama of Adonis and Dionysus, the dying and saving god; the cult of Attis and Cybele celebrated a day of blood and fasting, followed by a day of Hilaria, a resurrection-feast day of joy. These are only a few examples of the paganism in the church, but they are enough to show us that they do exist.

Eventually the empire split again into two divisions, but this time it was the church. The East became the Eastern Orthodox church, which had its headquarters in Constantinople and the West became the Roman Catholic church, which had its headquarters in Rome on Vatican Hill, the very place where Nero slaughtered over a hundred thousand believers including Peter, his wife, and his mother-in-law and the apostle Paul). Jerusalem, which was the center of the original apostolic church, was no longer considered. The changes that Constantine put in place were continued on by his successors and have stayed with Christianity all these years and all the teachings that were handed down throughout the years from people like Marcion and the rest whom I have mentioned have all ended up in our commentaries and have been taught in our seminaries. The church was now been made into the image of the Beast in the Book of Revelation, the image of Rome, and the false church, Babylon would ride upon this beast. The church now had a pagan calendar, pagan feast days, pagan images, and a Messiah who was now Greco-Roman and no longer Jewish. The root to this tree is wide spreading and its fruit has been eaten by millions.

Yeshua, a Jewish carpenter, and His Jewish companions who brought the continued revelation of God, have had their words twisted and changed until their words no longer carry the same message. It was Paul who reminds us that God entrusted His teachings and His worship to the Jewish people (Romans 9:4). I say all this because deception will overtake this planet in the end times like never before. The Bible tells us that even the elect, the true church, will struggle with it (Mark 13:22). We see many Pastors who do not preach, let alone even believe in, the cross and the blood of Messiah. They do not preach, or even believe in, repentance and many do not even believe in hell. Many even deny the power of God and the Commandments of God have gone by the wayside. So then how do we separate the true church from the counterfeit? Let’s ask ourselves some questions.

Conclusion

First, the true church has to come to the truth of God’s Word. All Scripture is from God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God does not change, nor do His promises, or even His Word. We must realize that man has removed the Jewishness from God’s Word, not God. It is going to take strength on the part of the believer to return to the truth of God’s Word and live by it. Many, many people are seeing this truth and returning, not to just the Jewishness, but to God’s standard of godliness. We must pick up our cross and follow our Messiah (Matthew 16:24).

Second, the Bible tells us that we are to be holy, which means to be set-apart. Are we set–apart from the world, having no fellowship with it? Are we setting our minds on things above and not on the things of this earth (Colossians 3:2)? Are we transforming our thinking to God’s thinking or are we conforming to the likeness of this world (Romans 12:1-2)?

Third, are we crucifying the flesh with its lusts (1 John 2:15-17) and are we walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25)? Are we letting God work His will in us? For it is no longer I who lives, but Messiah in me. Are we forsaking all to know Yeshua in His sufferings and death so we may share in His resurrection (Philippians 3:7-13)?

Fourth, we must not let our love grow cold. Yeshua tells us that if we love Him then we will keep His Commandments (John 14:15). Do we love God with all our heart, life, and strength and do we love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:33)? Are we laying down our lives (John 15:13)? We must love the brethren (1 John 3:15) and the stranger and the orphan and the widows not like the world does; it has to let everyone know what they are doing, and they are doing it not in Yeshua’s name, but their own (Matthew 6:2-4, Colossians 3:17).

Fifth, do we believe that Yeshua is coming back to rule and reign for a thousand years, sitting on the throne of King David in Jerusalem, not Rome (Luke 1:32-33)? Do we believe that He is coming back for His Bride, the Bride who has prepared herself, the Bride without spot or wrinkle? If we believe, then we must purify ourselves and make ourselves ready (1 John 3:1-3). Then we must do as the Lord tells us: “He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.”

To be continued…

We want to continue our study on the one true church and its end time message. We want to begin in Revelation after the message to the 1st century church. John writes, “After these things, I saw a door standing open” (Revelation 4:1). All of these scenes that are in heaven are taking place in the heavenly Temple. This Temple is in operation today, something we never seem to think about, but we will not be discussing these Scriptures in this newsletter. As we continue, we see the book with the seven seals opened. We do not want to go into all of these seals, but I do want to mention that the 1st seal, the white horse and its rider, is the false messiah and back in the Apostles’ day, they thought Nero was this man; even his name added up to 666. They believed that he was the one who would recover from a head wound and return. I believe that we have seen the spirit of Nero, the devil himself, in people like Hitler and others throughout history. We see in the 5th seal the martyrs who are crying out under the altar; these are the souls that were persecuted, tortured, and martyred from the time of Stephen and through the time of the Roman Empire and which has continued throughout history. What we do want to look at is the true church and the false church and the message to both, and we will not be debating about things like the rapture.

In our March 2013 newsletter, we saw that there are two mysteries which include two kings and kingdoms: the mystery of godliness which is ruled by King Yeshua, the Kingdom of Light, and the mystery of lawlessness which is ruled by Satan and the Kingdom of Darkness, this world. Now we want to look at another mystery and two mothers.

Two Mothers

Revelation also talks about two mothers. The first in Revelation 12:1-25 tells us that John saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. This also is how Joseph described his dream in Genesis 37:9. This mother was in labor and gave birth to a male child who was to rule all nations with an iron rod and the child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and His throne. This woman is Israel, who gave birth to Yeshua, the King of the Jews and after He rose from the dead, Yeshua was taken back up to heaven. This woman can also refer to the nation of Israel who was born in one day in 1948 (Isaiah 66:7-10), and also to the New Jerusalem which will come down from heaven like a beautiful bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21). Galatians 4:26 tells us, “But Sarah, the free woman, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. And she is our mother.” The Bible tells us that we are being built up as a living temple (1 Peter 2:2-6, Ephesians 2:19-22). So this mother also represents the true Gentile believers who have been grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17), and she has prepared herself by making her garments white, without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:25-27). These are the ones that the dragon went off to make war with for keeping the commandments of God and the testimony of Yeshua (Revelation 12:17).

Persecution is coming and has already started to come to Christians. We must be prepared. Yeshua tells the 1st century congregation in Smyrna, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested . . . Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). Yeshua tells us, “He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). This is the sign of the true church, those who keep God’s commandments. Yeshua says that those who love Him will keep His commandments (John 14:15, 15:10) and those who will be willing to lose their lives for the sake of the Gospel.

The second mother represents the counterfeit church, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and the abomination of the earth. She was clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls (indicating power and wealth), having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and the unclean things of her immorality. In Revelation 3:14-22, we see that the church in Laodicea became lukewarm, they were neither hot nor cold, and Yeshua tells them that He was going to spit them out of His mouth. He went on to say, “Because you say, ‘I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” This describes a church that has become deceived, and as we see the description of the false church, we see her described as one who has riches by the way that she adorns herself with these colors and jewels. For we see that Babylon has many harlots, which are the many who will be taken in by her and will compromise their beliefs because they have been caught up with this world’s lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh and pride of life.

The False Prophet

We see in chapter 13:11-18 that a beast will come up from the earth. This is the false prophet who will arise and deceive many by his signs and wonders. He will be the head of the false One World Church. We have seen that this One World Church, which is called Babylon the Harlot, will consist of people who have loved the world more than the one true God. They will be people who have fallen away from truth and who love darkness more than the Light. They will be people who have worshiped creation instead of the Creator. These people have become blinded because of their unrepentive hearts. You will see those who were against Christianity now embracing this new form of religion. It will be an ecumenical endeavor and every denomination will come together in unity with each one compromising their beliefs and in so doing they will return to Babylon, the Mother Church. It really is not important who this man is; some have speculated that he will be the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, for she has claimed all throughout history that she was and is the “Mother Church”. What is important here is that we are able to recognize who this man is and what he stands for.

We need to recognize the difference between the true church of God and the counterfeit one because even today this One World Church is forming and people are starting to compromise on their beliefs. Today we need to be sure that we are not being deceived into this false church by these false shepherds who are leading their flocks to destruction. You may think that because you belong to a mainstream religion that you are safe, but I tell you that you are in just as much danger as if you belonged to a cult religion because the church has been lulled to sleep. Pastors, false shepherds, have crept in and brought their deception into the assembly of believers. Many do not even believe in the power of God, nor the cross of Yeshua. They preach nothing but grace and not repentance or judgment for sin. Peter tells us to be sober, be alert, for the adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. You must study God’s Word, know the truth, and listen carefully to what you hear. Are you being taught to draw closer to God, to live by His ways, to repent and be washed by the blood of Yeshua and keep His Commandments? How many times do the Scriptures tell us that those who have ears let them hear what the Spirit of God is saying? Paul writes, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Philippians 3:10). Are you crucifying the flesh? Are you suffering for doing righteousness, suffering for the sake of the Gospel? Are you drawing near to God like never before, keeping His commandments? There is a battle going on and true believers need to put on the armor of God so that they may stand in the hour of testing.

The Beast

So we see the false prophet who will come like a false Elijah; he will make the way for the coming false messiah and he will give his authority to him. Yeshua tells us that there will be false messiahs and we are not to run after them, for there is another beast who will arise. Revelation 13:1-10 tells us that a man will arise who will take control of this empire and he will sit in authority over the world. Who is this man? The Bible tells us he will be a great political leader and his name will equal his mark, 666. We do not know today who this man is but he will appear as soon as the false prophet makes the way for him. He will call himself the messiah and equal himself to God. He will be called the healer of the world and people all over the world will pledge their allegiance to him. He will be charismatic, but he will be a dragon, the devil himself.

You cannot study Revelation without studying the book of Daniel. We will not be going into all of Daniel’s dreams and visions, but we do want to look at Daniel 2:31-35. King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream of a statue made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay, and Daniel interprets the dream as 4 different kingdoms that will come about in the future. Revelation 12:3 tells us about a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his head, and many believe this represents the return of the Roman Empire. We are seeing the Roman Empire being put back together. This empire will probably not be called the Roman Empire, but it will be as cruel and harsh and even more powerful. The Beast will rule it and all the world will come under his rule. Look to Germany to form the 4th Reich. Today Germany has taken the lead role in the United Europe. Some people believe that the empire will be the Ottoman Empire that will return and the false religion is Islam and the beast will be the 12th Mahdi, who lines up exactly with Scripture in his description.

Recap

So we see a false religious system with a political leader who claims to be the messiah. We see that the church and the state which Emperor Constantine put in place will once again come together and their goal will be to have everyone worship the image of the beast by receiving the “Mark of the Beast,” which will allow them to function by buying and selling within this new political system. We find that there are those who will not receive the mark but remain true to the One True God and instead will be sealed with the seal of God. They will not compromise their beliefs and in so doing will suffer persecution and martyrdom from the Beast, for Revelation 17:6 tells us that the woman Babylon was drunk with the blood of the witnesses of Yeshua, and again in Revelation 12:17, “The dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Yeshua.”

The Two Witnesses and the 144 Thousand

In Revelation 11:1-12, we see two witnesses who will prophecy in Jerusalem for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. I believe that these two men will not be Moses and Elijah themselves, for the Bible tells us that it is appointed for man to die once, and we know that Moses did die and we do not believe in reincarnation. I believe the one witness will come in the authority of Moses, preaching Torah and the second witness will come in the power of Elijah, like John the Baptist who Yeshua said was the Elijah to come, and like John the Baptist, he will be calling people to repent and come back to the Torah, fulfilling the prophecy in Malachi. These two will prepare the way of the Lord’s coming. They will have great authority and power and will demonstrate it to anyone who will come against them. Some people believe that the two witnesses will be Enoch and Elijah because neither one died, but were taken up to heaven alive. Either way, the two witnesses will have great authority and power.

We see in Revelation 7:4-8 those who were sealed, 12,000 from every tribe and we find these same people standing on Mt. Zion with the Lord in Revelation 14:1. I believe that these are Messianic Jews who will also go about witnessing to the Jewish people, telling them to repent and to come back to the Torah.

Yeshua’s Second Coming

Yeshua will come back with His saints and He will war against the false prophet and the beast and He will conquer them. The wicked church Babylon will fall and the kingdom of the beast will be destroyed and Yeshua will set up His kingdom, and there shall be no end. For one thousand years Yeshua and His faithful shall rule His kingdom from Jerusalem, and after that time He will release the dragon, Satan, and will war with him, only to conquer and judge him to Hell forever. The books shall be opened and King Yeshua will become Judge Yeshua and everyone shall stand before Him and give an account.

So the question we must ask ourselves is this: what is written in the books about me? There will be no excuses given. Our deeds will tell all. Are we washed in the blood? Are our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Are we truly living for Messiah’s second coming?

The Message to the Church

So this leaves us with the final message to the church, those who all profess in the one true God who believe that they are in the assembly of the true church. Revelation 18:4 tells us this: “Come out of her (Babylon), My people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive her plagues.” Scripture tells us in Ephesians 2:20 that we, the believers, are built upon the message of the Prophets and the Apostles, and that message is the same message even today: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” The Beast is the man of lawlessness; that means that he is anti-LAW. He is against Torah, the very foundation of our faith. It is the Torah, God’s Word, His teachings, His revelation to us, His commandments. This is what he is against, and so he is the false church. Believers must do what repentance really means and that is to return to the LAW which equals Torah: God’s commands, His statutes, His judgments, His revelation, His instructions. The true church will come back to their first love like the prodigal son who returned to his father after he realized that he had sinned. We must remember, it was not God, not Yeshua, not the disciples, but man who has told us that the believers should worship on Sunday, for it was the Emperor Constantine who changed the day because he worshiped Mithra the sun god. Those who are the true believers will realize this and come out from under the false religion of Babylon, which is ruled by Satan himself because of the idolatry and anti-Torah teachings and they will wash their robes in the blood of Yeshua by letting go of this world and allowing the Spirit of God to lead them, for they are the children of God who are led by the Spirit of God.

I know that this is hard to believe but those who will not hear what the Spirit of God is telling the church will be judged along with the false church. We see this time after time in the parables of Yeshua. He plainly tells the people that they will be thrown out and there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 7:13-23 is speaking to believers who are doing what they think is right, but are not keeping God’s Commandments, His teachings, His Ways. Psalm 19:7-11 says, “For the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making the simple wise. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight to life . . . These are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to those who hear them; there is great reward for those who obey them.” Proverbs 3:18 also says, “Wisdom (God’s Word) is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.” And in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul writes, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.”

Judgment is coming upon this earth and even though we think that we may be right with God, we need to examine ourselves in the light of the Scriptures to see if we really belong to the one true congregation of the Lord. Do our lives add up with the Word of God or are we just living in the shadows, sitting on the fence, neither hot nor cold? Have we picked up our cross, the yoke of the kingdom, the commandments of the Lord, and are we following the full counsel of His Word, letting Yeshua be our example as we follow Him completely? Do not be deceived, come out of Babylon, while there is still time!

“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come,’ and let the one who hears say, ‘Come,’ and let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes to take the water of Life without cost come” (Revelation 22:17). Today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart!

We want to take a closer look at discipleship because we need to know in these end times what true discipleship is or else we will not be a true disciple of Yeshua. You see, we look at discipleship through Western eyes but Yeshua is Jewish and so discipleship takes on a whole different meaning through Hebraic eyes. We see that John the Baptist had disciples and so did every other Rabbi and even the Prophets. So it is important that we understand what a true disciple is. Before Yeshua returned to His Father, He tells His disciples to go out into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to observe all that He commanded them (Matthew 28:19-20). If you note, He did not tell them to make converts. So what did Yeshua mean? Let’s take that closer look at what it means to be a true disciple and what is the cost?

How to Become a Disciple of the Master

Yeshua’s disciples were all Jewish and so they knew Torah and how to observe it, so it was not as much teaching them the Word of God as much as it was how to observe it His way. We know that Yeshua was the Torah made flesh and so keeping Torah His way would have been the perfect way. A disciple would live with his teacher and travel with him wherever he went. He would learn from his master everything about him and how he went about living out the Word of God. We see here that Yeshua tells His disciples in Matthew 28 that they were to teach the people to observe all His commands. In other words, show them how I lived out Torah, so that they may do likewise.

You see in Deuteronomy 24:8 the words “diligently observe and do according to all that shall be taught you.” In Psalm 119:34 we see words like “that I may observe Thy law,” and “keep it with all my heart.” We see in all of these Scriptures that to be a disciple one must be diligent to observe all of God’s commandments with one’s whole heart. Moses tells the people in Deuteronomy 6:25, “So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and survival, as it is today, and it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us.” God tells the people in Deuteronomy 8:1, “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers.”

We see that the people were to be careful to observe the commandments of the Lord. So to be a true disciple one must be diligent and careful to observe all the commandments of the Lord and all that was taught him in keeping those commandments for righteousness so that you may live. How do we begin? Moses tells us, “to fear the Lord for our good always,” and Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Paul tells the Ephesians in chapter 5:15, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise.”

So we begin by fearing the Lord, then we must be diligent and careful to observe all of our Master’s teachings and ways. The disciples asked Yeshua one day, “Teach us to pray.” His disciples knew how to pray, for they were devout Jews and they followed Torah but they wanted to observe how He prayed: Did He sit or stand? Was He carefree or serious about His praying? They even wanted to hear the tone of His voice when He prayed. You may think that all of that is silly but not to a disciple, because he wants to be just like his teacher.

Yeshua was the Father’s disciple. In John 8:26-28 and in John 12:50, Yeshua said that He only did what He saw His Father doing and that His words were only His Father’s words. He was the exact representation of His Father (Hebrews 1:3), and so too we must be the exact representation of our Lord Yeshua. Yeshua asks His disciples, “Can a blind man lead a blind man?”

In Matthew 10:24, Yeshua tells us about the relationship between a disciple and his teacher. He says, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.” Luke adds, “But everyone, after he has been trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). So we see that to be a true disciple we must be trained to be like our teacher Messiah, not like our minister or pastor or priest but Yeshua, who is our Teacher. It is His example that we must follow in every way shape and form. We are going to continue looking into this and we will see just what Yeshua did that we must follow to be a true disciple of our Teacher, Yeshua.

Identifying with the Master

One way we know that we are a true disciple of Yeshua is that the world will hate us. Yeshua tells His disciples that because the world hated Him, that it will hate us also. He begins to tell them about the persecution that will come to the true disciple. He says, “Whatever I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the rooftop.” Like Yeshua who spoke what He heard His Father say, so too we must follow His example even if it means persecution from our own family. In Matthew, Yeshua speaks of a time when brother will betray brother and father will betray his son, and He tells them that they will be hated by everyone for His name’s sake. But to the one who endures, he will be saved (Matthew 10:21-22).

Yeshua was speaking about a time when His disciples would meet great persecution, which they did, in the first century and many followers were put to death because of just that. They were betrayed by family, friends, and informants. But Yeshua’s prophecy also reaches to the time when true believers will be persecuted for His name’s sake just before His second coming. The last generation before the coming of Yeshua will see great persecution because the world will hate true believers. It will be a time like no other. The true church of God will experience tribulation and martyrdom and this will be the true testing of our faith. Yeshua tells His disciples, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear the one who is able to destroy both the soul and the body in Gehenna” (Matthew 10:28).

Yeshua goes on to tell His disciples, “Are not two birds sold for a cent? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father. And as for you, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more precious than many birds” (Matthew 10:29-30). Yeshua reassures His disciples that even though they will encounter various trials and tribulations and even death, their Father knows and is aware of what is happening in their lives; just as He reassured them in chapter 6 that the birds of the air neither sow nor reap but the heavenly Father knows their needs and feeds them, so too our Father is aware of our needs and knows what is happening in our lives.

Yeshua warns His disciples that a time would come when they would be told that they could no longer speak in His name and if we choose not to acknowledge Him before men that He would not acknowledge us before His Father (Matthew 10:32-33). Yeshua goes on to say, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I did not come for peace but a sword. For I have come to separate a man from his father and a daughter from her mother and a bride from her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the people of his house. Whoever loves his father or his mother more than Me does not deserve Me, and whoever loves his son or his daughter more than Me does not deserve Me” (Matthew 10:34-37).

Yeshua will separate the sheep from the goats, the wicked from the righteous, the true from the false. The Apostles said to Yeshua, “We have left everything for You.” So too, we must leave behind everything and follow Him, no matter where it may lead, even if it leads us to our death.

Following the Master

To be a true disciple of Yeshua means that we must pick up our cross to follow Him. We must deny ourselves and lay down our lives to follow Him wherever He may lead us. Yeshua tells His disciples in Matthew 10:38 that whoever does not pick up his cross and follow after Him is not worthy of Him. What does this mean, “to pick up your cross”?

You hear people all the time say, “it is my cross to bear,” but is that a correct interpretation of this Scripture that one’s own suffering is his cross to bear? We see in Matthew 16:24 Yeshua adding two other words to that sentence and that is “deny himself.” Paul proclaims in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Messiah; and it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” This is a declaration of a true disciple, one who walks in the footsteps of his teacher.

Paul writes again in Galatians 5:24, “Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Again in chapter 6:14, “But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” 1 John 2:15-16 tells us, “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but from the world.” Paul writes to the Romans in chapter 6:5-6 and verse 11, “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God.”

So we see that picking up his cross and following after our Master is the disciple following in His footsteps, for He goes on to say in Matthew 10:39, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” So to be a true disciple we must not only be crucified to this world but we must deny our flesh which is all part of being put to death: “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, and greed which amounts to idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Recap

We have been looking at what Yeshua’s take is on being a true disciple of His. We have found that as followers of the Messiah we must walk in His footsteps. We must be exactly like Him. Years ago, they they had the saying, “What would Jesus do”; well, the Scriptures tell us just what He expects us to do. Paul writes, “Imitate me as I imitate the Master.” Paul was a student who became like his Master and so he had disciples following him. This is what Yeshua meant when He said, “Go and make disciples, teaching them everything I have commanded you.” Paul writes in Philippians 3:10-11, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Messiah Yeshua.”

This is the Great Commission; this is true discipleship.

Traditionally, the birthday of the Christian church has been the Feast of Pentecost. Before Yeshua (Jesus) ascended into heaven, He told His disciples to stay in Jerusalem and pray till the blessing of the Holy Spirit came upon them. The Bible tells us in Acts 1:12-15 that 120 people gathered to pray and they were in one accord. Starting from the day after the Feast of Passover till Pentecost, the Jewish people count the Omer which is simply counting the days: 50 to be exact, till the day of Pentecost, which means “fifty.” At the time of the Ascension, 40 days had already been counted. On the day of Pentecost, by Jewish law found in the Torah, the people would have gone to the temple to worship, for this was a holy feast day and it was there that the Holy Spirit came upon them with the sound of a mighty wind and it filled the place where they were (there are different opinions on where these people were because the word “house” could refer to God’s house) and tongues of fire came upon the 120 people who had been waiting for this blessing. Did they know that it was coming on the day of Pentecost? No! Because Pentecost was the day they celebrated the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. So, if Pentecost was the giving of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church, was the first Pentecost, which was the giving of the Torah, its conception? Let’s take a closer look.

The Giving of the Law

Exodus 19:1-2 tells us that it was the third month after the people had left Egypt that they came to Mt. Sinai. Exodus 19:3-8 continues to say that God asked the Jewish people to enter into a covenant with Him. God the King was also God the Bridegroom, who was about to marry Israel, for He had chosen her to be His special people, His Segulah, His Bride. The people said, “Yes,” so God, through the Torah, writes up a Ketubah, which is simply a marriage contract which was written according to the manner of an ancient covenant of its time. The Torah, like those ancient covenants, is an agreement between a king and His subjects. The king tells the people what he will do for them if they obey his covenant and what will happen if they disobey. If we look at the book of Deuteronomy, we see just how this agreement was set up. The Preamble of this contract begins in chapter 1:1-5. The History Prologue starts in chapter 1:6 and goes to 4:49. The Stipulations begin in chapter 5:1-26:19. The Blessings and Curses begin in chapters 27-30, the Witnesses in 30:19, the Succession in 31:1-8 and the Deposit/Reading of Contract in 31:9-13. This shows how an ancient contract was written in the time of Moses and the people were very familiar with it. God and the people had made an everlasting agreement that shall never be broken.

The Kingdom now had its chosen people and the King had His Bride. The people were now a nation, a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, a special people, and the people of God (Exodus 19:6, 1 Peter 2:9). But most importantly, the people received the Torah, which simply means teachings, God’s Word; for Moses had written down the first five books of the Bible and at that time God gave the people the Temple and the priesthood. He had Moses build a tabernacle exactly like the one in heaven and through the Torah, He showed Israel how He wanted to be worshiped by giving them laws and regulations regarding worship and, of course, His Appointed Times which included the Sabbath, Passover, and Pentecost to mention a few. Romans 9:4 tells us that Israel received the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises. The Bible says, “You were once not a people but now you are the people of God.”

The Giving of the Holy Spirit

So now we fast forward to the days of Yeshua and His disciples and we find that Yeshua tells the people, before He ascends to heaven, to remain in Jerusalem until the promised Holy Spirit comes upon them. Not knowing when the promise would come, the people wait and they pray and prepare their hearts to receive the promise. Counting the Omer every day till Pentecost, the day arrives and they go to the temple for worship. Pentecost was one of the three pilgrimage feasts where all the men were required to go to Jerusalem to worship on that day, so Jerusalem was very crowded, for people from all over the Diaspora had come for the feast, just like the day of Passover when Yeshua died; all were there to see. The book of Acts tells us in Acts 2:2-4, “Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them tongues of fire, distributing and resting on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues (unknown languages) as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

On the day of Pentecost on Mt. Sinai, the Sages believed that God spoke the Ten commandments, or what is called the Decalogue, in 70 different languages, which represented the main languages of the world; and on the day of Pentecost when the tongues of fire came upon them, they also believe that God spoke and these were the tongues that the disciples were speaking, for Acts 2:5-11 continues to tell us that the crowd came together at the sound and everyone became confused, for they heard the disciples speaking, every one in his own language.

Birthday Message

The crowd was amazed and wondered what the meaning of all this was, while others mocked them and said that they were all drunk. But Peter got up to address the crowd, for the Temple was filled with Jewish people from all over the Diaspora. So, what did Peter tell them? He did not say that Yeshua told them this would happen but Peter begins and says to the crowd, “We are not drunk as you would suppose, since it is only the third hour (9AM) of the day, but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:15-21).

Then he speaks of Yeshua of Nazareth and how they crucified Him; he quotes David in Psalm 16, and finally he calls for repentance and three thousand Jewish people came to believe that day (Acts 2:22-42). Don’t you find this an odd message for the birth of a new church, a new religion? There was nothing about the old being old and the new being new. There was nothing about putting aside your Jewish practices, for the law has been fulfilled—nothing about any of that—but instead, a quote from the Hebraic Scriptures talking about Yeshua’s second coming and the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter days; and he ends his message with repentance, the same message that Yeshua preached: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

Conclusion

The Bible tells us that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a down payment, a pledge of things to come and that First Century Pentecost was the first fruits (Romans 8:23, James 1:18) of that down payment. We now have been sealed (Ephesians 1:13-14) and those who live a life of walking in the Spirit are the true children of God. Romans 8:14 says that Yeshua was the Word made flesh. He came to lay down His life so that we may have life, and that life is only in Him (John 14:6, 1 John 5:20). When He ascended into heaven, He promised the coming of the Holy Spirit, His Spirit, for God is ONE: One Word, One Body, One Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12-13); and that promise was given at Mt. Sinai to a people, a nation; and now the mystery of all of this has come to pass that the dividing wall has been taken down through the death of Yeshua (Ephesians 2:11-22) so that we Gentiles may be grafted into this people (Romans 11:17), this nation, the people of God through the shed blood of Yeshua when we come to believe.

For the temple that was erected from the copy seen in heaven has now become us, for we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), living to make holy sacrifices as a royal priesthood, coming before God with our lives and our prayers and our worship which is our service (Romans 12:1, 1 Peter 8:5). This is what needs to be celebrated on Pentecost. For the Jewish people had already become the church, or as you would say, the Ekklesia, the congregation of God. Thank God that He loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life (John 3:16).

Talk about birthday gifts! We have passed over from death to life, from darkness to light. We have been washed in the blood of the Lamb and robed in His righteousness and the veil has been broken so we can now approach God through Yeshua’s sacrifice; and all of this was done at Passover, and now He has given us His Holy Spirit as a pledge to lead us in all truth by keeping His Word and to help us to walk with Him on that path that leads to life. Now, that is worth celebrating the Feast of Pentecost!

We want to continue our study on Yeshua’s second coming. We are going to now look at several of the Hebrew Scriptures to see what they say about the Messiah’s second coming and the Messianic Age to come. The Book of Revelation and the Apostolic Scriptures speak more about the Anti-messiah and the persecution coming to the true believers. They also speak about the false political and religious system, and the judgement of both. The Hebrew Scriptures speak of Israel and the nations who will come up to attack her. We have already looked at the Book of Malachi and saw that the Lord was coming as a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap. He describes a day burning like a furnace and all the wicked will become like chaff. The writer asks, “Who can endure His coming and who can stand when He appears?” Malachi also prophesied the coming of Elijah before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. We now want to start by looking at the Book of Joel. The Book of Joel is a harbinger to the coming Day of the Lord. So let’s take a closer look and let’s see if we can find any warnings that we need to be aware of today.

Prophecy Fulfilled

If the Hebrew Scriptures speak of the Day of the Lord when the nations will attack Israel, then the people of Israel had to become a nation once again. As terrible as the Holocaust was, it became the catapult that launched the Jewish people into becoming a nation; they truly rose up from the ashes. Such a miracle and blessing of God! This could be the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy of the dry bones coming to life again in chapter 37. In 1948 Israel became a nation. It was prophesied by Isaiah in chapter 66 that Israel would become a nation in one day and it did just that and it was prophesied that the exiles would come back, which they have begun to do. Isaiah speaks of a desolate land that would become renewed with fresh water and agriculture, and it would prosper. We see the fulfillment of all this today. So we know that as these prophecies have been fulfilled, we can only assume that we must go forward from this point in history.

The Book of Joel

Joel begins with this astonishing statement that I think we are saying over and over again today: “Has anything like this happened in your days or in your father’s days?” This is a admonishment that goes back to Moses when he tells the people to remember the days of old and to consider the years of all generations, to ask your father, and he will inform you and your elders and they will tell you. We hear this today because every time it rains today, it rains inches. Every time it floods today, it floods not just in flood zones but everywhere and you hear people saying, “In all my years, this is the worst.” Wind, rain, fire, and storms are increasing from year to year. Scientists can not explain it, because this is the hand of God. We see in Revelation that God’s judgement will affect the weather, even Yeshua Himself in Matthew 24 tells us that there will be famines and earthquakes and that if we can read the signs of the sky to determine the weather, we should be able to determine the signs of the time to determine His coming.

Joel goes on to speak of four different types of locust that would come upon the land, a plague so great that it is as if an army had invaded the land and left it desolate. This was a harbinger of greater things to come. The army of locusts would one day turn into an army that wouldn’t bring just drought and famine but wars and desolation. God will judge the nations and all the wicked. Joel chapter 3 tells us a great army will surround Jerusalem. They will gather together in a place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon. It is there that Yeshua will come to fight for His people Israel.

The Day of the Lord

This time of trouble is referred to as the Day of the Lord or Jacob’s trouble. It will be a time like no other time that will fall upon Israel, but in the end will leave Israel blessed and restored and the nations judged. Obadiah writes, “For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you.” This is a kingdom principle that applies to everyone no matter if you belong to God’s Kingdom or not. It is the Law of reaping what you have sown. Chapter 1:17-18 of Obadiah tells us, “But on Mount Zion there will be those who will escape, and it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions. Then the house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau will be a stubble, and they will set them on fire and consume them, so that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau.” Malachi writes in chapter 3:2, “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap.” Chapter 4:1 says, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze.” This Day of the Lord, which it is called, was even carried into the writings of the Apostles, for this day is a day for repentance.

A Day of Repentance

Joel 2:32 tells us, “And it will come about that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who will escape, as the Lord has said, ‘Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.'” So Joel calls out, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; there has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations” (Joel 2:1-2).

Joel warns the people about something that we do not hear about today; that is the trumpet call warning us. We are not able to have time to repent, for we no longer stop to look at the signs. We are not sober and alert. Our watchmen have fallen asleep on the wall and no one cries out to warn us. Joel warns us and we ought to heed his warning. Joel sees the locust and he knows that this is just the beginning of the birth pangs. He knows that this is a harbinger of things to come. How does he know? Because nothing like this has happened before. Joel calls a fast, a consecrated fast. He proclaims a solemn assembly. He gathers the elders and all the people of the land to the house of God and he tells them to cry out to the Lord because he knew that the day of the Lord was near and it will come with destruction. He tells the people to put on sackcloth and the priests and the ministers to wail at the altar. Joel 2:12-14 says, “‘Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments.’ Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him.”

Revelation 6:17 tells us, “For the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?” Joel saw something in his day that caused him to cry out like a watchman on the wall. He called a consecrated fast and called the people to repentance. Disaster did come and the land was invaded not only by a great army of locusts, but by a great military army. Joel predicts a mighty battle that would come one day.

The Great Battle

In Joel 3:9-14 he cries out, “Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men! Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up! Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am a mighty man.’ Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down, O Lord, Thy mighty ones. Let the nations be aroused and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” Joel goes on in verse 15, “The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness, and the Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble, but the Lord is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel.”

The Great Day of Restoration

Like the great day of wrath, God will save His people from their wicked enemies, and He will bless Israel and all those who have been grafted into them; for Joel speaks of this in Joel 2:28-29, “And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions. And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Peter quotes these verses on the day of Pentecost and he continues to say, quoting Joel in verse 30-32, “And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome Day of the Lord comes, and it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.”

Peter also recognized the Great Day of the Lord’s coming, for Yeshua told His disciples of His second coming and Peter knew the prophecy of Joel: that if the people would repent that they too would be filled with the Spirit of God and would be saved. He says in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Yeshua the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise (which was given to Joel) is for you and your children, and for all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.” Joel 2:32 goes on to say, “For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”

Joel 3:18 continues to speak of the blessings of God that will come after the Day of the Lord: “And it will come about in that day that the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and the brooks of Judah will flow with water; and a spring will go out from the house of the Lord, to water the Valley of Shittim.” Zechariah 14:9, 11 begin to speak of the Messianic Age when Yeshua will be King, sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem. “And the Lord will be King over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one . . . And the people will live in it and there will be no more curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.” Verse 16 continues, “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).” Paul tells us that all of Israel will be saved because they will repent and call upon the name of the Lord and God will restore Israel and bless her for all of eternity.

So today do we see signs of the day of the Lord’s coming? We ought to, for Yeshua and Paul tell us that we should not be caught off guard, for Yeshua will come like a thief in the night. Like a watchman, we must cry out to a lost world, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

In the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey is given a special gift to be able to see what life would have been like in Bedford Falls if he would not have been born. As he saw, a lot of good happened because he was born and lived the life that he lived. So with that in mind, I ask the question, “What if Moses had not been born?” The Book of Exodus tells the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt. In verses 6-10 of chapter 1 it states, “And Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation. But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them. Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said unto the people, ‘Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and in the event of war, they also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us, and depart from the land.’ So the king ordered taskmasters over the Israelites and put them to hard labor. But the more they were inflicted the more they increased. So the king ordered the midwives to put to death all Jewish baby boys that were born. But they could not because of their fear of God. So there was born a son to a Jewish couple, Amram and Jochebed and they saw that their child was beautiful. Jochebed hid the child for three months until she could no longer hide him. So she made a waterproof basket and set the child in it and put him along the reeds of the Nile” (Exodus 2:1-10). When Pharaoh’s daughter, believed to be Queen Hatshepsut, went down to the Nile to bathe, she found the child, raised him as her own, and called him Moses. So what if Moses had not been born, or should we say, had been put to death by the midwives? Let’s take a closer look at Moses’ life.

Moses: The First Forty Years

Moshe (Moses) in Hebrew means “drawn out,” but the equivalent in Egyptian, Ms’, means “child”. Moses was born about 1520 BC. According to the historian Josephus, he was born at Heliopolis, Egypt. Acts 7:22-25 tells us that “Moses grew and was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And when he saw one of them being mistreated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.” Moses most likely did not understand himself at this point in time. But when he discovered that his deed did not go unnoticed, he became afraid and fled. Hebrews 11:24-27 states it this way: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Messiah greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.” So you may say that up to forty years old, it would have not made a difference if Moses lived or not, but all things are built on a foundation. Let’s begin to build.

Moses: The Second Forty Years

Moses left Egypt, and I’m sure that he felt he was never returning. He was a man without a country, a man without a people, and a man without a home. Moses headed for Midian, where he found himself living with a man named Jethro, a Midian priest, and his daughters. Eventually Moses marries Jethro’s eldest daughter, Zapporah, and has two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. The loneliness lifts and life goes on. One day as Moses was attending Jethro’s flock on the west side of the wilderness, he came to the Mountain of Horeb, the Mountain of God, and there was a bush burning. But Moses saw that the bush was not being consumed; so he came closer to see why it was not being consumed. God will do many things to get our attention, to draw us closer, to take a second look. When Moses drew near, the Angel of the Lord called out to him, “Moses, Moses!” and Moses answered, “Here I am.”

We see this all throughout Scripture: God calling out to His people and their quick response to answer Him. Samuel, when just a child, heard God calling him and thought it was Eli, until Eli realized that it was God calling the child (1 Samuel 3:1-10). We see Isaiah in the presence of the Lord, asking “Who will I send?” And Isaiah says, “Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Yeshua’s (Jesus) disciples, when He called them, left their boat and their father to follow Him (Matthew 4:18-22).

So Moses is now in the presence of God, and God tells him to remove his shoes for the place that he is standing is holy ground. We see this similar dialogue with Joshua when he encounters the Angel of the Lord (Joshua 5:13-15). God proceeds to tell Moses that He has heard the cry of His people, and that He was sending Moses back to Egypt, the very place that I’m sure he did not want to go; for he remembered all too well how the Hebrews did not accept him, and how he had to flee from the Egyptians. Moses tells God that he can not go for he was slow to speech, even though we know that he was well educated in the Egyptian language and their ways. God will use our past to accomplish His will in the future. But after Moses struggled with the thought of all that God was asking of him, God tells him that his brother Aaron will go with him. God has a way of making us face our fears, but He is the Great Deliverer, and He tells Moses that He will be with him and He will bring him back to the place where he is now standing.

Now forty years have gone by, and the Pharaoh that Moses knew was now dead. Moses leaves his home with Jethro and takes his family and heads for Egypt. Along the way, God almost strikes Moses dead for not circumcising his son. Even if God calls us to be His greatest Prophet and servant like Moses, one must live according to God’s ways. God does not have double standards.

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh with one message: “Let My people go!” But Pharaoh tells them, “And who is the Lord that I should listen to Him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.” Well, Pharaoh was about to meet the God of Israel; and when God was done with Pharaoh, he knew who the God of Israel was and what He could do. Through Moses, God displayed His power and strength over the gods of Egypt not just for the benefit of the Egyptians, but to make a name in the world for all time, and especially to show the Israelites who the one true God was: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel. After all, they had been in Egypt for 430 years living under the shadow of their false gods and traditions. Ten plagues came, starting with blood in the Nile River and in all the drinking water, then frogs, lice, flies, a disease on the livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally the last: the death of the first born. This would be, as they say, “The straw that broke the camel’s back.” But before this last plague, God instructed Moses about the Passover.

The Passover

God begins to instruct Moses about the Passover. First, He separates Israel from Egypt by telling them that this would be the first of their months. He tells Moses on the tenth day of the month that they should separate for themselves by households a lamb without blemish, and on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, they were to slaughter the animal and put on the doorframe and lintels of their homes the blood from the lamb. They were to stay in that home and eat the roasted lamb with unleavened bread, and none was to remain till morning. They were to eat it with their loins girded and their sandals on their feet and their staff in their hand, for they would make haste. God tells them, “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and I will strike down all the firstborn of the land, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment, I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land” (Exodus 12:1-14).

Notice that it was God Himself who carried out this judgment. Hebrews 11:28 tells us, “It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.” God tells the people specifically what to do, for this was to be a memorial, a time to remember, for all generations; and this would be an ordinance, a feast forever. So with the tenth and last plague, the death of the first born, Pharaoh tells Moses and all Israel to get out of the land of Egypt.

Moses: The Third Forty Years

So far, we have seen that Moses’ life was certainly not dull. For it was Moses, a Hebrew child, whose life was spared and grew up as an Egyptian, educated in all their ways, and was now the one used to defeat the gods of Egypt, which caused Israel to be delivered from the hands of their oppressors. We find that the Israelites head for the Red Sea, and as they approach the sea, they realize that Pharaoh is pursuing them. So they cry out to Moses, and God tells Moses to stretch out his staff. God caused the waters to separate, and they crossed on dry ground. Pharaoh’s army and charioteers continued in their pursuit, and when all of Israel crossed over, the waters rushed back and swallowed up all of Pharaoh’s army and charioteers. Hebrews 11:29 tells us, “It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians followed, they were all drowned.”

So God delivered Israel, and all the people sang and danced (Exodus 14-15). God led Israel to Mt Sinai just as He had told Moses He would. There, God revealed Himself to the people once again; but this time God tells Israel that they are His special people from among all the nations. He tells them that they will be a kingdom of priests, His holy nation; and He enters into a covenant with Israel as one would enter into a covenant of marriage (Exodus 19). He then gives Israel all the terms of this covenant, which we call the Torah or the Law of Moses (law, meaning teachings in Hebrew). The people tell God that they will do all that He has asked, but they did not, and time and time again they fell. Then, the people did not trust God to bring them into the Promised Land, so God was angry with them and told them that they would stay in the wilderness for forty years till that generation all died in the wilderness.

But God was a husband to Israel, and He provided for all their needs. For forty years, not even their sandals wore out. God fed them with manna, and He protected them from the heat of the sun and from every predator. While in the wilderness, God shows Moses the heavenly tabernacle and tells him to duplicate it exactly in the same manner to which he saw. So Israel does exactly this, and Aaron and his sons become the first priests, and God shows Moses how he and the people are to worship Him. So God keeps separating His people from the Egyptians and all the pagan nations that surrounded them, making them unique among the nations.

The time came for the fulfillment of the forty years, and God calls Moses home before Joshua takes the people into the Promised Land. The Bible tells us many things about Moses, the great deliverer and prophet of God. The Book of Hebrews tells us that Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant. But what if Moses was never born or allowed to live (for this was Pharaoh’s intention to kill all the Hebrew baby boys)? How would this have changed history?

Conclusion

First, we must understand that Moses was spared because his parents saw something special in him, something that God opened their eyes to see. Nothing happens by chance or coincidence with God. This is no fate, no roll of the dice; all things happen because of God. It was no coincidence that Pharaoh’s daughter came along when she did that day, or that she would have even shown compassion to this Hebrew child, or for that matter, had his mother nurse him, because remember, Pharaoh wanted all the Hebrew baby boys put to death. No, this was all part of God’s plan. So if Moses hadn’t been born, it would have had to have been God’s will, which means Israel would not have had a deliverer, and they would have remained slaves in Egypt quite possibly till this day. There wouldn’t have been a need for the Passover to protect the Israelites from the last plague, death to the first born, which created for such a great deliverance; no crossing of the Red Sea, which separated them from the Egyptians and once again proved God’s power to deliver. God’s name would not have been manifested in the world with such power and might: no chosen people, no holy nation, no Torah, for Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. There would have been no tabernacle, no worship, no need for Messiah, no cross, no Passover Lamb, no salvation, no believers, no heaven. We would all still be dead in our sins, going to hell.

Romans 9:4 tells us, “According to the flesh, us who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption of sons and the glory and the covenants, and the giving of the law and the temple service and the promises whose are the father’s and whom is the Messiah according to the flesh who is over all. God be blessed forever. Amen.” Thank God that He had planned for Moses such a wonderful life, so that we may have a wonderful life also with our Lord and Savior, Yeshua, who was likened unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18-19, John 17:8, John 5:45-47, John 6:14, Acts 3:22). Isn’t that enough reason to celebrate the Passover, to remember the story of the first exodus, and our own personal exodus with our Passover Lamb, Yeshua, who died as the Lamb of God on Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7-8, John 1:29)?

Yeshua said, “Truly, truly I say to you, He who hears My words and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and doesn’t come unto judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” Yeshua held up the unleavened bread at His last Seder Meal and said, “This is My body which is for you. Do this in Remembrance of Me,” and He held up the fourth cup, the Cup of Redemption and said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.” Let’s celebrate this year by keeping the Seder Meal as Yeshua did, as Paul did, and as we should too; for let us not take our great salvation lightly.

Passover begins at sundown on the 14th day of Israel’s first month. The Seder Meal is done in remembrance of the first exodus and the day that Yeshua our Savior became our Passover Lamb. Three days later, Yeshua rose victoriously from the dead and we too have been transferred from the kingdom of death into the Kingdom of Life.

Happy Resurrection Day!

What a wonderful Life!

In today’s world, we live at such a fast pace and there are so many pressures placed upon us that we don’t really have time to think about what is going on around us. The days go by so fast that we have such little time, and we neglect our spiritual selves; so we walk in our darkness, we stumble and fall and many times we don’t pick ourselves up, but we stay in our fallen condition. We feel that God is not with us, or doesn’t even care because if He did, we would not have such pressure and problems to deal with. But God so loved us that He made a way for us in the darkness to walk in the light. Let’s take a closer look.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:1-3). This light was not the light of the sun or the moon or the stars, but this light was the light of His kingdom. God separated His kingdom from the kingdom of darkness for God tells us that He is light and there is no darkness in Him.

So after the fall of man, which put him in spiritual darkness, God, in His great love for us, sent His light to lead us to the path which leads to Him. God led Israel with the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night in the wilderness, and brought them to His mountain where He gave them His Word, the Torah, His teachings, His light. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”

Psalm 119:129-130: “Thy testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul observes them. The unfolding of thy words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”

Psalm 36:9: “For with Thee is the fountain of life; In Thy light we see light.”

Then God instructed Israel to build an exact replica of the tabernacle in heaven and in that tabernacle was the golden candlestick which represented the light of His word. It gave off its light continually and the flames were never to go out. This light of God, which was His Word, then became flesh; and He showed us what God looks like and how we too can live and be light: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him and apart from Him nothing came into being. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5).

When asked if he was the Messiah, John the Baptist replied, “He was not the light, but came to bear witness of the light. There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:8-12).

So the Word became flesh and dwelt among man, and His name was Yeshua (Jesus), which means Salvation. Yeshua Himself testified that He was the Light of the world; and everyone who follows Him will not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12). The darkness of this world and the pressures and cares of life keep us from drawing near to God’s light. In fact, we tend to run from the light to stay in our ways. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “This world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Messiah, who is the image of God.”

Again, Paul tells the Ephesians in chapter 5:8-11, “For this you know for certain; that no immoral or impure person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light, for the fruit of light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what pleases the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.”

Maybe we have stepped out of the light, or maybe we have never walked in the Light of life. John tells us in 1 John 1:5-9, “And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Draw near to the Light today, pick up a Bible and begin to read it and live it. And you will see light, and that light will bring you life, and that life is for eternity.

A term we do not hear much about any longer is Judeo-Christian. This term was used because our faith is based upon the Hebrew Scriptures. Christianity begins its faith at the time of creation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Our God is the God that created the heavens and the earth in six days. Our God is the God who rested on the seventh day and made it holy. “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:3). Our faith is based on Bible characters like Joshua, Moses, and David and the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel. The Hebrew Scriptures are the foundation of our faith. Our moral fiber is based on the Ten Commandments. Yeshua (Jesus) was Jewish in every sense of the word, and so were His disciples. Yeshua and His disciples kept the feast days, the sabbaths, and Yeshua quoted the Hebrew Scriptures. In fact, He was the fulfillment of those Scriptures.

The Apostolic Scriptures are all based on the Hebrew Scriptures. God’s Word is one, just as He is One; and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Our God does not change, so why have we changed His Word? Yeshua was the word made flesh and if He is the same, He being the word, then the word should be the same. But we have changed our faith from Hebraic to a Greco-Roman faith. Our forefathers no longer wanted to identify with their Jewish roots. They went from using God’s calendar to a Roman style calendar.

God’s calendar is a lunar calendar based on the cycle of the moon. God’s Word tells us that there was night and then there was day in the story of creation. In that same story of creation, God rested on the seventh day and made the day holy (set apart, sanctified). The seventh day, or the Sabbath, is the day we call Saturday. Even the Roman calendar did not change the seventh day, though they named it after their god Saturn (all the days are named after pagan gods).

God speaks of His Appointed Times, His times of gathering, which are listed in Leviticus 23. These days have special meaning to God, and as believers, they should have special meaning to us also. What is special to our Father should be special to us. The church has changed these times and hidden their meanings. Scripture tells us that Yeshua is our Passover Lamb and that we are to eat the Passover with unleavened bread (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). This has been changed to Good Friday and in many years the two are not even in the same week, so we lose the significance of this important time and the meanings behind these feast days. At the Seder Meal, we see the meaning of the cup that Yeshua lifts up, and the unleavened bread that He breaks. And then Communion takes on its true meaning, and the Passover becomes personal to us, for Yeshua was the true Messiah that was to come. He died for the sins of man. He has taken us out of darkness and into the light, and we who have come to believe have experienced our own exodus from the bondage of sin into the freedom of redemption. This is what we are to remember every time we eat the Passover Seder.

The church called Yeshua’s Resurrection “Easter” after a pagan fertility goddess. The church has totally done away with Rosh Ha-Shannah, Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Tabernacles even though the Bible tells us in Zechariah 14:16-21 that when Yeshua comes back, every nation will come up to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast or else God will cause it not to rain on their land. The only feast day that the church has kept was Pentecost. And why do we keep this feast out of them all? Because we say that it is the birthday of the church.

Now before you write this off, read this through and then determine whether you think it is right or wrong. I am here to tell you that God has only one flock. Paul tells the Ephesians in chapter 4, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all in all.”

The day of Pentecost was a pilgrimage feast for the Jewish people. This meant that they would travel to Jerusalem and offer their sacrifices in the Temple, just as they did for the Feast of Passover. The city was full of Jewish people from all over the Diaspora. Those 120 people who had been praying in the upper room upon which The Holy Spirit descended were now in the temple. So people from all over saw and heard this great phenomenon. What was born on the day of Pentecost was a glimpse of the Messianic Age which was prophesied of by the prophet Joel: “And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

Yeshua’s resurrection marked the beginning of the first fruits, for it was on the Feast of First-Fruits that He rose. Paul tells the Colossians in Colossians 1:18, “He (Yeshua) is also head of the body, the assembly (church); and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.” James writes, “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shadow of turning. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first-fruits among His creatures” (James 1:17-18).

At Pentecost, the Spirit of God was poured out on over 3,000 Jewish people (there were actually more because they only recorded the men) who were there that day when Peter got up to speak to the crowd. The Scriptures tell us that this number grew daily, and all these people were zealous for the Torah. We find the disciples and even Paul going to the synagogue and the Temple on a regular basis. But the Scriptures tell us that God hardened the hearts of the majority of the Jewish people so that the Gentiles could also come into the flock. Romans 11:17-18 tells us, “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you being a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and become partakers with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root; but the root supports you.”

There have always been Gentiles who believed in the one true God, the God of Israel. They were called God Fearers. They lived by the Torah, and many of them even worshiped with the Jewish people. Here are only a few references, for there are many.

Exodus 12:37-38 tells us, “Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children and a mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.”

Exodus 12:49 tells us, “The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.” This is a reference to Passover, but it applies to all of God’s Appointed Times. The God Fearers were to keep the same law regarding God’s feasts and Appointed Times. This meant keeping the Sabbath law of no work of any kind on these days. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) day, there was a centurion who came to Yeshua and asked if He would heal his servant. In the account of Luke he tells us, “And when they had come to Yeshua they earnestly entreated Him, saying, ‘He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue'” (Luke 7:4-5).

In Acts 10, we find Peter directed to go to the house of Cornelius: a centurion, a righteous man, and a God Fearer. This may be the same centurion that Yeshua encountered, or it may be another; for I’m sure even those at the cross must have come to believe. We see Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:25-40 reading the Hebrew Scriptures. So we see that God’s Word is not only for the Jewish people alone, but for all who believe in the one true God, for God is one, and His Word is one word.

Paul came along and he preached to many of these God Fearers (Acts 17:4, Acts 17:12, Acts 17:17, just to list a few) and his message was a simple one. But we have twisted his message over the years to say that the Torah is not for Gentiles, and the so-called “Old” Testament was only for the Jewish people. But Paul’s message was the same, even up to his death; and that message was only this: a Gentile did not have to become a Jew ceremonially first to become a believer, for it was by faith that we are saved and not by the works of ceremonially becoming a Jew. This meant the requirements which the law mandated for anyone becoming a legal Jewish member such as undergoing circumcision, the ceremonial washing called a mikvah, and offering up the appropriate sacrifices did not have to be met to become a believer. Paul’s message was nothing more and nothing less than that. Paul did not start a new religion, nor did he change God’s Word. He did not eliminate God’s teachings, but instead said that the Torah was good.

So we should live by all of God’s teachings which are found in the entire book of the Bible. For Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” We have been grafted into the covenants, the promises, and the blessings all given to Abraham and to Moses and to the Jewish people, and are part of all that it means to be God’s chosen people. For 1 Peter 2:10 tells us, “We once were not a people but now we are the people of God.” We need to live by God’s entire Word and keep His entire commandments; for God is one, and His message is one from cover to cover.

If we are Judeo-Christians, then our foundation is built upon Judeo principles. Shouldn’t we be living out those principles?

For many years I have heard preachers say that the church will be raptured before the wrath of God comes upon the earth because God has not destined us to wrath. What I never understood about that was why then have other Christians suffered throughout the history of the church? It seems to be a Westernized teaching, and especially an American teaching. But is this true, that God’s people should never suffer? Why does the Bible tell us something different? Even Yeshua tells His disciples that they would suffer. Now don’t get me wrong, God knows how to rescue His people. We see this with Noah and Lot, Daniel in the lions den, the three Hebrew children in the furnace. But God’s Word does tell us that judgement will come to the house of God first. God tells us that He must discipline those He loves, and surely He loved His chosen people Israel and yet He had to discipline them and punish them for their iniquity. We say that that was before Yeshua came. I must say that bad things happen to good people all the time and with that said, I must say that a lot of good people died in the Holocaust. We must let go of our mentality that we will escape all that is coming, because that is not all true.

Yeshua tells us to repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. When John the Baptist spoke the same message and when he saw many Sadducees and Pharisees coming to him to be baptized (which in its original meaning was a sign of spiritual cleansing), he tells them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:7-10).

We want to compare today’s world to what God tells the nations and Israel in the book of Amos because God is the same yesterday and today and forever. There is no partiality with God, He will judge the nations as well as Israel for their sins.

Amos Cries Out to the Nations

Amos was a shepherd when God called him to warn His flock; maybe he called Amos because God, who is the Good Shepherd, knows the heart of a shepherd for his sheep. At the time Amos prophesied, both Kingdoms of Israel were experiencing prosperity, but because of a life of luxury and idleness, oppression and idolatry became prevalent. We see in Amos 1:2 that God is likened to a lion attacking the sheep. God the Good Shepherd is attacking His own flock. We must learn the lessons well from the Hebrew Scriptures because it has been written to be an example to us (1 Corinthians 10:6-11). God will not let unrepentant sin go unpunished. As we look at the sins of the nations, first let us consider America and its sins and let us see if there is any similarity.

Judgement goes to Syria first. Verse 3 tells us that Syria dragged logs with spikes over the people of Gilead. In other words, they threshed the people. They beat the people like one would to separate the grain from the straw. A great injustice to humanity was occurring and God brings forth His judgement. Then God condemns Philistia for their crimes against humanity, for they dragged off people to sell them as slaves and judgement falls on them. Next, He judged the Phoenicians who also enslaved the people; Edom murdered with no mercy even their own relatives; Ammon murdered pregnant women. Moab had such hatred that they burned the bones of their enemies and made mortar for their brick with the ashes. Crimes to humanity take on many shapes. When we have no justice or mercy, at our gate judgement will fall.

Amos Cries Out to the Flock of Israel

Next, God brings judgment to Israel: Judah first, for they rejected God’s teachings and refused to obey Him and they led the people into idol worship. Israel was selling people for money, and the needy are sold for the price of sandals. They smeared the poor in the dirt and pushed aside those who were helpless. The people had morally decayed and they had no respect for God’s sanctuary or His Word. When a country, a people, rejects God’s Word, His counsel, God Himself, they fall into moral decay and rebellion and evil. Crimes to humanity and crimes of all sorts take over.They fall into darkness and chaos rules. The poor become poorer and the rich become richer and the people become enslaved. Amos cries out in chapter four, “Hear this word you cows of Bashan who are on the mountains of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husband ‘Bring now, that we may drink!’ The Lord God has sworn by His holiness, ‘Behold, the days are coming upon you when they will take you away with meat hooks and the last of you with fish hooks.'” God continues and tells the people, “All that has happened to you, and yet, you do not return to Me” (Amos 4:6).

If we just look at America, we have seen the weather like we have not seen it in a lifetime. We have suffered financial crisis, we have been victims of terrorists, high unemployment and the glory of America has faded in the world; our poor have become poorer and our rich have become richer. Our country is divided, and divided we will not stand, but fall. Yet we too have not returned to God. Our wise men have become foolish and no one can deliver us, no one but God. We must learn the lessons from those who went before us. We need revival in this country. We need to repent and return to God. We need to once again live by His Word and seek His counsel.

Amos continues His cry in Amos 5:1-2, “Hear this word which I take up for you as a dirge, O house of Israel. She has fallen, she will not rise again, the virgin Israel. She lies neglected on her land; there is none to raise her up.” Amos continues in verse 4, “Seek Me that you may live, but do not resort to Bethel, and do not come to Gilgal, nor cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal will certainly go into captivity, and Bethel will come to trouble. Seek the Lord that you may live, lest He break forth like a fire, O house of Joseph, and it consumes with none to quench it for Bethel, for those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness down to the earth . . . “. Verse 9 goes on, “It is He who flashes forth with destruction upon the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks with integrity. Therefore, because you impose heavy rent on the poor and exact a tribute of grain from them, though you have built houses of well-hewn stone, yet you will not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.”

God continues by telling them that He knows their transgressions and that they need to seek good and not evil so that they may live. In verse 15 God says, “Hate evil, love good and establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of Hosts may be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” Their society had become so corrupt with bribes and threshing the people, taking everything from them including their last penny, as you would say. In chapter six God continues to deal with the rich who are at ease. Now this is not just a rant against the rich, but also against the church, for we sit in our pews and we neglect our neighbor. We neglect the poor even in our churches because we close our eyes and we do not see those who are in need. We even preach prosperity and we look down on those who do not have and we say to ourselves that it is because of sin or lack of faith that people do not have the blessings of God. But remember that judgement is coming first to the house of God because of our insensitivity to our neighbor. Amos tells the people in chapter 8:11, “Behold, days are coming, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the Words of the Lord.” The prophet Joel speaks a similar thing when he tells the people that the grain offering would be cut off. He says in Joel 1:13, “Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, O priests; Wail, O, ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O, ministers of my God, for the grain offering and the libation are withheld from the house of your God.” Paul tells Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.”

We are the light of the world; if we do not shed light, then darkness prevails. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth resides in us; so if we do not speak truth or live in truth, than lies and corruption prevail. We who call ourselves believers of the One True Living God, if we do not walk uprightly, then we are to blame; for we not only have the ear of God, but we are His representatives here on this earth. Isaiah tells the people in chapter 9:14-16, “So the Lord cuts off head and tail from Israel, both palm branch and bulrush in a single day. The head is the elder and honorable man, and the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail. For those who guide this people are leading them astray; and those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.” God goes on to say that He will not take pity on them. In verse 17 of Isaiah 9, He says, “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away, and His hand is still stretched out.” God in His great mercy has brought about trials of all kind and tribulations, pain and suffering, sorrow and sadness, all for one reason: because He loves us and He wants us to turn back, to repent, and begin living by His Word and His way. We must seek the Lord and live. When judgement was about to fall in Jeremiah’s day, God tells him to proclaim to the people, “‘Return, faithless Israel, I will not look upon you in anger, for I am gracious’, declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God.'”

The Bible tells us that God doesn’t do anything unless He tells His people first. God has always raised up for Himself a prophet to cry out to the people of His coming judgements. God has done this, but we have closed our ears to those who have heard God crying out to His people to, “Repent and come back to Him,” come back to His Word, His ways, His truths. All throughout Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) message to the church in the book of Revelation, He would say, “He who has ears let Him hear what the Spirit is saying.” Are we listening, are we looking at the signs, do we hear the Spirit tell us to “Repent, come back”? If you say “Yes, I can see, I do hear and understand,” then are you blowing the trumpet in your church, your family, your neighborhood? God tells Ezekiel, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman and he sees the sword coming upon the land, and he blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and take him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in iniquity, but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand'” (Ezekiel 33).

People, we are the watchmen. We are the church of the Living God. We are the light now in the world. Can we escape if we, the church, close our eyes, fall asleep, or turn our heads from the living God and let judgement come upon us? If you do not feel the responsibility, then I say maybe you are not where you need to be with God. Your walk has maybe grown cold; Yeshua tells us that if we can interpret the weather we should be able to interpret the signs of His coming. Are we looking? Are we ourselves repenting and humbly coming before God, seeking Him out? Are we in His Word letting it change our lives, our hearts? Let us take the example of those who went before us and let us see that God is a holy God and He will not be mocked. God must punish sin, no matter if it is the sin of one who is not in His flock or one who is. God is Holy and we too must be holy.

Look up, for Yeshua’s salvation is coming!

We want to take a closer look into the good news and we want to start with the announcement of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) birth. And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased'” (Luke 2:10-14).

The birth announcement of Yeshua (Jesus) was quite the fanfare with angels filling the sky singing praises to God. What these lowly shepherds experienced was a little glimpse of the heavenly temple. So what was this good news that was to bring joy to these shepherds? It was the long awaited Savior, the Messiah, whom Israel had been waiting for; this surely was good news for all of Israel. Luke tells us what the angel told Mary when he reveals God’s plan to her in verses 32-33 of chapter 1: “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.” Let’s continue to read about this new King to be.

Isaiah prophesied about this child in chapter 9:1-7: “But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. Thou shall multiply the nation. Thou shalt increase their gladness; they will be glad in Thy presence as with the gladness of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For Thou shalt break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, and cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest upon His shoulders,and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of host will accomplish this.”

What we have seen from Isaiah and the angel is that this child that was to come will be a mighty warrior and He will defeat His enemies and He will rule and reign on the throne of David, which is in the city of David, which is Jerusalem. When we read this we do not see anything about Messiah dying for our sins and rising again on the third day.

So can this be the good news? When we see the words “good news,” we must understand where we get that translation from. It comes from the old English word “godspell” which we interpret today as “gospel.” The gospel message is the good news, and it was this good news or gospel message that the people of Israel were waiting for. You must realize that only the Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah because the Gentiles, other than a few God fearers, were pagans who worshiped other gods. We all know this scripture of Isaiah 52:7 because we always quote it from Romans 10 when we are talking about the gospel: “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'”

And of course we all know this Scripture from Isaiah 61:1-4 because Yeshua quotes it in Luke 4:18-19,21 and tells His listeners that today this Scripture has been fulfilled by Him: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable Year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations, and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.”

When John the Baptist sent his disciples to Yeshua to ask Him if He was the expected one to come, Yeshua replies in Matthew 11:5-6: “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news (gospel) preached to them, And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.” Again we see that the good news has to do with the restoration and healing of Israel but we also see that it was Yeshua the Messiah who would bring this all about. So as we celebrate the birth of this “Child” let us remember that we are celebrating the future restoration of Israel and the future King who will sit on the throne of David, or should I just say we are celebrating the coming of the Messianic Age.

The angel tells Mary at the Annunciation of the birth of Messiah, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall call Him Yeshua (Jesus)” (Luke 1:31). Yeshua is the Messiah’s given name. Jesus is a translation from the Greek. “Yeshua” means “Salvation.” The angel goes on to say that He will bring salvation to the people and save them from their sins. So we see that the Messiah’s name comes directly from God the Father and the meaning of His name is His calling in life. Let’s take a closer look at Yeshua’s name and its meaning that was prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures.

In Genesis 49:18, Jacob blesses his sons before he dies. When he is done blessing his son Dan, he ends by saying, “For Thy salvation (Yeshua) I wait, O Lord.” The Psalmist writes in Psalm 14:7, “Oh that the salvation (Yeshua) of Israel would come out of Zion!” Isaiah writes in chapter 49:6, “He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation (Yeshua) may reach to the end of the earth.'” Again in 52:7 and 52:10 it is said, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news (gospel), who announces peace and brings good news (gospel) of happiness, who announces salvation (Yeshua), and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'”

We see that Yeshua is the salvation that was to come. In Luke 1:68-71 we read, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation (Yeshua) for us in the house of David His servant, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, salvation (Yeshua) from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us.” In more proper English, Yeshua saved us from our enemies and from all who hated us. This is surely good news (gospel).

Zechariah writes in chapter 9:9, “Rejoice, greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you: He is just and endowed with salvation (Yeshua), Humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” This was fulfilled when Yeshua rode into Jerusalem on a donkey right before Passover and His crucifixion. The people knowing this verse began to cut palm branches and waving them as He rode by. We have seen that Yeshua is the agent of Salvation to Israel, which is the good news or gospel message. Let’s now see how Yeshua went about bringing this good news (gospel) to the people.

Let’s start by looking at John the Baptist. Isaiah tells us, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” John was the forerunner of Messiah. He was to bear witness of His coming and he was to prepare the way of the Lord. We see in Luke 1:76-77 that Zechariah, speaking about his son John, says, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give to His people the knowledge of salvation (Yeshua) by the forgiveness of their sins.” Remember, Yeshua called John the greatest prophet of His day.

So how did John do this? We see in Matthew 3:2 that he cries out, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” He tells the people to repent of their sins. To repent means to turn oneself around and go in the opposite direction, simply to stop sinning and follow the Word of God. We see that Yeshua (Jesus), when He began to preach in Matthew 4:17, cried out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” When Yeshua sent out His disciples, He told them in Matthew 10:7, “As you go, preach, saying, ‘Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.'” All throughout the book of Acts we see the disciples telling the people to repent (Acts 2:38, 3:19, 8:22, 17:30, 26:20).

Now if John the Baptist was going to teach the people the way of salvation, we see that the message of salvation, which is the gospel message (or the good news), starts with repentance. Yeshua’s name means Salvation, so we know that He was going to teach the people the way of salvation, and He preached the same message. Yeshua even tells the churches in Revelation to “repent.” So this is not just a Jewish matter, but a Gentile or Christian issue and that issue is that the way of salvation comes through repentance, a coming back to the Word of God as a way of living. We see today that even the Ten Commandments are a thing of the past, let alone the whole counsel of God’s Word.

We must remember that Yeshua is the Word made flesh, and if we do not follow God’s Word, how then can we follow Yeshua, the Messiah? But repentance is only the first part of the message. The second half is “for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” So what did John and Yeshua and the Apostles all mean by this phrase, “the Kingdom of God (or sometimes of heaven) is at hand”?

The people of Yeshua’s day knew exactly what this phrase meant. You see, the people had been waiting for their Messiah to come and deliver them. They had been waiting for their King. All of this was promised through the prophets. So now they hear the words, “It is here, the kingdom is here, it is at hand!” As we saw last month, the good news was all about this. So now they realized that Yeshua was the fulfillment of all of this.

. . . Or did they? We see the Apostles ask Yeshua, “When will you set up Your kingdom?” John sends his disciples to ask Yeshua, “Are you the One we have been expecting?” Yeshua asks His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Yeshua tells the people to believe in Him or at least believe in the works that He did. You see, if we do not truly believe in Yeshua as the Messiah and as the coming King who will sit one day on the throne of David in Jerusalem, we will not believe that His Kingdom is here, right here, next to us. We will not take hold of it and become part of it, right now, today. We will not operate in Kingdom principles, nor will we live in the victory of our King and the work He did on the cross for us.

The Mysteries of the Kingdom

Yeshua tells the people several parables regarding the kingdom. He begins in Matthew 13, telling the story of the sower who sowed his seed and how some fell beside the road and the birds ate up the seed; and other seed fell upon the rocky places and the seed sprang up immediately but because of lack of soil the sun scorched it away; yet other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns choked out what grew; but other seed fell on good soil and it yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, others only sixty or thirty. He who has ears let them hear. How important it is for the seed to fall on good soil: one who is ready to listen to the truth, one who is ready to take on the yoke of the kingdom.

Then He tells another parable about how a man sowed seeds in his field, but when he was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat. So when the wheat grew and bore fruit the tares also grew. The man could only leave them both to grow till harvest when he would then gather the wheat and burn the tares. How important it is to realize that the enemy of the kingdom has planted his lies among the truth, and both have grown to bear fruit. But one day, God will come and separate those that are truly His from those who are not.

Next, Yeshua tells the people that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed, and how this, the littlest of all seeds, grew larger than all the other plants in the garden: so large that it became a tree and the birds made their nests in its branches. Yeshua compared the kingdom to the growing agent of leaven, and the hidden treasure that one finds in a field and he sells all that he has to buy the field, or the merchant seeking fine pearls, and finds one of great value so he sells everything to buy it. How important it is for us to have faith like a mustard seed and for us to search for that hidden treasure of God’s Word, that pearl of wisdom and cherish it above all, even our own lives. For one day, God will separate the wheat from the tares, the good from the bad, the truth from the lies.

So then, why did Yeshua say that the kingdom was now when He also says that it is still coming? It’s all in the meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Kingdom of God, which are both the same thing. For the kingdom is not just a place, but also a time: the Messianic Age. We think of the Kingdom of Heaven to be in heaven, but the Jewish people would use the word “heaven” as a reference to God instead of invoking His name. So the Kingdom of God is the coming kingdom that the Jews were waiting for, which is the Kingdom of Messiah. We must understand that the Bible was written by Jewish people to Jewish people, and Yeshua was Jewish along with His disciples, including Paul, who said that he was a Jew, and a Pharisee at that!

So to read and interpret the Bible, we must understand that things we consider to be Christian sayings are actually Jewish sayings. That is why we are considered Judeo-Christians. The kingdom which Yeshua did not establish in His first coming but will in His second is the Messianic Kingdom where He will gather the exiles of Israel and defeat their enemies and He will sit on the throne of King David in the city of David, which is Jerusalem. The Hebrew Scriptures are full of Messianic imagery: Leviticus 26:5, Jeremiah 31:34, 33:8, Ezekiel 34:29, Joel 2:24-26, and Isaiah 11:6-10, to mention a few. We even see Yeshua teaching His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We are to be praying for this coming kingdom, and not only praying, but waiting with a readiness and an alertness to its coming.

Okay, so if the kingdom is the Messianic Age, then why does He say one time “it’s here” and then the next time “it’s coming”? Luke 17:20-21 says, “Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the Kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, ‘The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or, “There it is!” For behold the Kingdom of God is in your midst.'” In Yeshua’s first coming, He gave us a down payment, a pledge, so that if we take hold of this kingdom and live by its principles, we can operate now in the kingdom.

As we have read, we must first repent and return to the Word of God, the whole counsel of God. We can not have two foundations. God’s Word, like God, is one. So we must ask ourselves, if all of this is the gospel message, the good news, then where do we fit in and what was the crucifixion all about? We want to take a closer look, but first, let’s lay some groundwork.

To get a complete understanding, we must go back to the beginning with a brief history lesson. We see in Genesis 22 that God tests Abraham and asks him to offer up his only son, Isaac, on Mt. Moriah. So Abraham and Isaac go on a 3 day journey. As they go, Isaac asks his father, “Where is the offering?” Abraham says to his son in verse 8, “God will provide for Himself the burnt offering.” When Abraham binds Isaac and puts the knife to him, God calls to him and tells him not to harm the boy, for He now knows that Abraham was truly faithful to Him. God did provide a ram for the offering, and Abraham called the place “The Lord will provide,” or “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.” Yeshua tells the people, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” God opened Abraham’s eyes and allowed him to see that this mount, Mount Moriah, would one day become the temple mount, and God would provide the burnt offering, which was His only Son, who died on the cross to redeem us. But for now, that’s all I’ll say.

God tells Abraham that He was going to give him the land and bless him, and that their covenant would be an everlasting covenant. But He also tells Abraham that his people would be in exile for 430 years, but after that time, He would bring them back to the land. Joseph, one of Jacob’s 12 sons, was sold into slavery by his brothers. Through the course of time, Joseph becomes second in command of Egypt when a severe famine comes on the land. Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to get food, and there they discover their brother Joseph, who has his family move to Egypt. Through the course of time, the Egyptians make slaves of the Jewish people, and so God has to send a deliverer. He raises up Moses, who had been brought up as an Egyptian. God reveals Himself to Moses in a burning bush that was not consumed, and spoke to Moses, telling him that He would be the deliverer of His people, which he was. The plagues come upon Egypt, and finally, Pharaoh lets the people go. They cross the Red Sea, and all of Pharaoh’s army was drowned in the sea. Exactly 430 years later, Israel is redeemed from their enemies.

I know that this was a very brief history lesson, and a lot of history is missing in between, but I want to jump ahead and take a closer look at how Christians became part of this Jewish message.

The Mystery of the Gospel

Christians believe that the gospel message is only about Yeshua’s death and resurrection. It is, but only in part. We typically only see through the lenses of Christian theologians, but we must understand that Yeshua was Jewish, and the message is a Jewish message. He was the Jewish Messiah, and He came to His people, the Jewish people. Us Gentiles were afar off; in other words, we were pagans. Yes, today we may be believers, but back 2000 years ago, the Jewish people along with a few God-fearers were the only people to believe in the one true living God. He is the covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and because of Yeshua’s sacrifice, we who once were far off can now draw near. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:19, “Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”

What is the mystery of the gospel, or more correctly, “good news,” and why is it a mystery? In Ephesians 3:3-6, Paul writes, “That by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Messiah, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, the gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Messiah Yeshua through the gospel.”

Romans 11:16-18 tells us, “If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you being a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and became partakers with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you.” The Jewish message is now our message, and later we will see how the exodus from Egypt became our exodus, and the redemption of Israel became our redemption.

Christians ask, “Are you saved?” An unbeliever must think, “Saved from what?” This is a good question, even for us Christians. We speak of redemption, but redemption from what? There is no better place to answer those questions than to look at the Passover Seder. We ask, “Isn’t the Passover just for the Jews?” No! It is for each one of us. We know that God delivered the Jewish people from Egypt with great signs and wonders. God told them to put the blood of an unblemished lamb on the doorpost of their homes and to eat the lamb with their loins girded and their staff in their hand, for it was the Lord’s Passover; and that night, the death angel struck down the firstborn of man and animal, but He passed over the homes where the blood appeared. That night, Pharaoh told the people to leave his land; and with that, they gathered their belongings in the morning and fled the land. They did not even wait for their dough to rise in their kneading bowls. So let’s take a closer look as to why this has to do with each one of us; and at the same time, we will see the gospel message begin to develop.

The Jewish people were in exile in the land of Egypt for 430 years. They had been under the yoke of bondage, slaves, and had no way to escape from their plight until God sent Moses to deliver them. We too, were in bondage, slaves in Egypt, per se, until Yeshua came and delivered us. Egypt is symbolic of the kingdom of darkness, the world and all that the world stands for, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. The Seder Meal, or the Passover meal, has come to represent the story of the exodus. The Seder plate is full of symbolism of this redemption; and what is redemption but the purchasing or redeeming of one who is in slavery.

Yeshua begins the Passover knowing that He would be the Passover Lamb bringing redemption: “And when the hour had come, He reclined, and the twelve apostles with Him. He said to them, ‘I have greatly longed to eat this Passover offering with you before My suffering. For I say to you that I will not eat it any more until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God'” (Luke 22:14-16).

The plate starts with the bitter herbs (maror, usually horseradish), which reminds us of the bondage, the slavery in Egypt. Paul tells us in Romans 6:16, “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”

Parsley (karpas) alludes to the crushing labor, and it is dipped in salt water to remind us of the tears of the Israelites as they cried out to God. In Matthew 26:20, Yeshua says, “I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples begin to question, “Is it I?” Yeshua answers them, “The man that dipped his hand in the bowl (salt water) with me is the one who will betray Me.”

Unleavened bread (matzah) is the bread of affliction. Leaven or yeast represents sin, so unleavened means free from sin. Paul says, “Don’t you know that a little leaven works through the whole dough? Get rid of the old leaven that you may be a new batch without leaven as you really are.” The matzah is a flat, unleavened piece of bread. In the matzah, we see a picture of Messiah, for the matzah is striped and pierced: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and by His stripes we are healed.” Paul, in Romans 6:6-7, tells us, “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” The matzah piece that is called the Afikomen is broken in half, and one of the halves is placed in a white napkin and hidden until it is revealed again later in the meal. This represents the death and burial of the Messiah and His later resurrection. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:24, “And when He had given thanks, He broke it (the Afikomen) and said, “This is My body which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

The Apple mixture (charoset) represents the mortar used between the bricks. Lettuce (chazeret) reminds us of life and how we can go from joy to sadness when sin enters our lives and enslaves us. James writes, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

Roasted egg (beitzah) is a symbol of mourning that the temple does not stand any longer; but we know that one day, Yeshua will rule and reign in Jerusalem. The shankbone (zeroah) represents the Passover Lamb. Since the destruction of the temple in 70 CE, no lamb is eaten on Passover because there is no temple to slaughter them. We know that Yeshua was the Lamb, for Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, “Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover lamb also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Four cups of wine are also drunk at the Seder Meal; each cup represents the four promises of God regarding redemption and salvation. The first cup is called the Cup of Sanctification: “I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.” The second cup is called the Cup of Deliverance: “I will free you from being slaves.” The third cup is called the Cup of Redemption or the Cup of Blessing: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” It was here that Paul tells us, “In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me,’ for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Messiah? Is not the bread which we break, a sharing in the body of Messiah? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” The fourth cup is called the Cup of Praise: “I will take you as My own people and I will be your God.”

We have seen in the story of the Exodus that:

Egypt = the kingdom of darkness (this world), Pharaoh = Satan, leaven = sin, Yeshua = Passover Lamb.

Because of the blood of the Passover Lamb, the death angel passed over those homes that had the blood on the doorpost. Why blood on the doorpost? Hebrews 9:22 tells us, “According to the Torah, all things are cleansed with blood; and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Paul tells the Colossians, “Because of what He has done; He has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of His Son that He loves, and in Him we gain freedom (redemption), the forgiveness of our sins,” (JB). The redemption from Egypt was our redemption also. This is the Salvation message, which is part of the gospel message. Paul tells the Romans, “I am not ashamed of the gospel (good news) of Messiah, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Gentile.”

We have been looking at the Biblical gospel message, also known as the “Good News.” We have seen that this message was a Jewish message before it became a Christian message. Christians believe that the gospel message is that you can be saved by the blood of Jesus, and this is true. But we don’t realize the meaning behind all of this. Saved from what? Words like salvation and redemption are Jewish terms which then became Christian terms. We have learned that Yeshua (Jesus) was Jewish and that He is the Jewish Messiah who was prophesied of by the prophets of old and spoken of by the angel to the shepherds; He was the promised Child, the good news of the one who would come. The angel revealed to Mary that He would sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem and there would be no end to His kingdom. He will be a mighty warrior and defeat His enemies, and He will gather the exiles of Israel and they shall live in peace from all their enemies in the promised land of Israel.

None of this sounds like the Christian message as we know it. Yeshua, John the Baptist, and the disciples all preached the good news: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The first step of the gospel message is just this: Repent for the kingdom is at hand. We learned that the kingdom is the kingdom that the angel spoke of to Mary that would never come to an end, for Yeshua would sit on the throne of King David forever. This Kingdom is the Messianic age, which most Christians have heard about.

So, what about the Christians? Do they have their own message? Well, yes and no. Yes, because for now, many Jewish people have not come to the knowledge of Yeshua as Messiah. No, because their message is still our message. You see, the Scriptures tell us that we were alienated, hopelessly lost without the One true God (Ephesians 2:12). But God, in His great mercy, made the way for us. You see, Yeshua came as the Jewish Messiah. He is the King of the Jews; but because of God’s great mercy, we who were afar off have been brought near by the blood of Yeshua (Ephesians 2:13). Now, you must understand that Yeshua never stopped being the Jewish Messiah, nor did the message that was prophesied of Him ever change. The message is still a Jewish message, and Yeshua is still Jewish, and He is still going to rule and reign forever in Jerusalem. But God made the way for the nations who believe in Yeshua and accept His sacrifice of redemption to now become part of Israel.

No, we do not become Jewish, but now we have been grafted into Israel (Romans 11:16-18) and we now can become part of the covenants and draw near to God by the blood of Yeshua. Their message now becomes our message, their Messiah becomes our Messiah, their worship becomes our worship, and their Scriptures become our Scriptures. That is why we are called Judeo-Christians, a term that has been done away with over the last several decades. We must not get the Salvation message mixed up with the Gospel message, because the salvation message is only a part of the whole message.

We have seen that the first step of this message is to repent. Next, we must accept Yeshua’s work of redemption which He accomplished for us on the cross, which took us from being slaves in the kingdom of darkness to now being children serving God our King in His Kingdom of Light. So let’s now look at the second step of the gospel message.

The second step of the gospel message is found in Matthew 6:31-33: “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ For all these things the Pagans eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” We see here that the kingdom must become our priority. We are to seek the kingdom first before any other thing. Remember, Yeshua tells the people to repent, for the kingdom was at hand. It was right there for them to grab hold of, if they would just begin to seek it out and live by it’s righteousness.

Now, we must understand that the kingdom that is referenced here is the Messianic Age, when Yeshua will set up His kingdom right here on earth in Jerusalem and rule and reign forever. We do not need to go to Jerusalem to seek the kingdom, but we need to begin to live out kingdom principles right here, right now in our own lives. He tells us how to do this in Matthew 6:19-21. He tells us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasure upon earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven (the Messianic Age) where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

We are the Bride anxiously awaiting the return of our Bridegroom. We are to prepare ourselves for His coming, longing for the day when He will deliver His people from their enemies and bring us all home to the land of promise, Israel, so we may be where He is forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Let us repent; let us accept Yeshua’s sacrifice on our behalf and let us draw near to God our Father with the blood of the Lamb sprinkled on our hearts (Hebrews 10:22). Let us grab hold of the kingdom as we serve our King (John 12:26), longing and waiting for His return (Hebrews 9:25-28) as we live out our deeds of righteousness (Ephesians 2:10).

Now, this is the Biblical Gospel Message, and it is truly the Good News!

The Feast of Pentecost is the time when the Holy Spirit came as tongues of fire upon the 120 who tarried in prayer waiting in Jerusalem for His coming. Yeshua (Jesus) tells His disciples that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit and to wait for His coming; for when He comes, they would receive power to be His witnesses in Jerusalem and throughout the world. The tradition is that this was the beginning of the church. We see Peter addresses the crowd (Acts 2:17-21, 41) and begins to tell the people that this was the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy that the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon all people in the last days: “And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” So then, those who had received his words were baptized and that day, there were added about three thousand souls. So what is the baptism in the Holy Spirit? Let’s take a closer look.

The Holy Spirit

To understand the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we must understand the role and work of the Spirit. John 14 and John 16 tell us about the role of the Holy Spirit. Yeshua tells us that the Spirit is our Helper and He is the Spirit of truth that the world cannot receive because it does not know Him. The Spirit will abide with us and will be in us and He will teach us all things and He will bring truth to our memories so we will be able to walk in all truth. He will convict us of sin and lead us in righteousness and speak of judgement to those who sin from unbelief. So we see that the Holy Spirit helps us in our walk with God, leading us and guiding us, “Not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). According to the Word of God, He is our Companion.

Galatians 5:16-18 speaks to us about our walk in the Spirit. We are to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh, for the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for they are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now, this is not saying that we are not under the commandments of God, but simply that we do not obey or serve God for our salvation, but out of love. The Spirit plants His seeds in our hearts and when we walk by the Spirit and not the flesh, then these seeds grow in our lives. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So, how do we start to live by the Spirit? Well, first you must be born of the Spirit.

Born Again

Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, came to Yeshua (Jesus) at night to inquire of Him and the Kingdom. Yeshua tells Him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” In John 3:3, Yeshua tells him, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Nicodemus was taken aback by Yeshua’s response, for he could not understand how one could be physically born again. You see, Nicodemus did not understand spiritual things, so Yeshua tells him, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Yeshua tells Nicodemus how to be born again. Yeshua tells Him, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). John 1:12-13 tells us, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of God.”

Now this is not about just saying a little prayer, but it is repenting of our sins and making a complete turn around to God. When we make a heartfelt, conscious response and effort to live by God’s Spirit accepting Yeshua and living according to God’s Word, then we become born again, born of the Spirit. Now, the Bible tells us that we are new creatures; the old has passed away and now all things have been made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We must now become living sacrifices pleasing to God by no longer being conformed to this world’s way of thinking but now we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2).

When we accept Yeshua, He gives us gifts so we may take on the yoke of the kingdom and do His work. Romans 12:6-8 speaks of those gifts: prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and showing mercy. Ephesians 4:11 continues the list with apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers all for the equipping of the saints for the work of the Lord. Without being born again, one can not use these gifts properly and to their full potential, and that leads us to the next step in the believer’s life.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Before Yeshua ascends back to the Father, He tells His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit was going to baptize them in fire and the power of God was going to come upon them. It is this power that gives the believer His full potential, because now he has been endowed with the power of God. He now has the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The prophet Joel prophesied this would happen in His day, and the fulfillment came on the day of Pentecost. Many people and many denominations believe that this was just for in the days of the apostles, and when they died, this gift of God died with them. But this is not what Joel prophesied. This is not what the Bible tells us. The work of the Lord goes on, and His people still need to have the power of God. And the only way to receive this power is to be baptized in the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Now, I will agree that the manner in which the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost has never been the same, even to the three thousand that received Peter’s message; but His coming upon the people of God who ask in faith, believing, is still happening today. It is as real as it was on the day of Pentecost. So you may ask, “How do I get this outpouring in my life?” If you are a believer, a born again believer, you may receive the outpouring by asking God in faith for it, for it is a free gift of God (Acts 2:38). You may want to pray with other believers to join you in your prayer and laying their hands on you (Acts 8:15-17, Acts 9:17). Peter was just speaking the gospel to Cornelius and his family when the Holy Spirit fell upon them because of their faith and hunger for it (Acts 10:44-47). We see the same thing in Ephesus in Acts 19:1-6 that when Paul laid his hands on them and prayed, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they began speaking in tongues. Now, the speaking in tongues is the sign of the Holy Spirit. Many people say that they have this gift, but do not speak in tongues. We can only go by the Scripture, and the Scripture tells us clearly that this is the sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4, 10:46, 19:6).

Tongues

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is all about the spiritual realm; it is not like fortune tellers or mediums: these are done through Spirits of darkness. God tells us to see through our spiritual eyes and hear with our spiritual ears what the Spirit is saying. So too with tongues, which is a heavenly language. It is nothing to be afraid of, nor is it something to take lightly. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you may feel like you want to speak gibberish or sounds or words that are not familiar to you. You may think it sounds foolish. We must all become a little foolish to shame the wisdom of man. Don’t be afraid to speak out what you feel the Holy Spirit is prompting you to say. Give in to your tongue and speak it out. You may ask, “How do I know that this is from God and not me?” If you have asked in faith, with a sincere heart, God will be faithful. After you have spoken out, then trust the Spirit of truth to lead you in all truth.

Now, some people do not get this immediately; but I tell you, when the Spirit is poured out upon you, you will have no doubt. Keep praying and keep repeating what God has given you, praising His name. You will grow as you walk in the Spirit and let Him lead you. Stay in the Word and prayer, praising His name and speaking in your heavenly language. Yeshua (Jesus) tells us that “An hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). When you receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, God also gives you gifts of the Holy Spirit like prophecy for edification, exhortation, and consolation, apostles, teachers, miracles, healings, helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues. Some of these I have mentioned earlier, but they are all from the Spirit, for the church, and all done in love (1 Corinthians 12-14). We will go through each of these gifts at another time.

Paul exhorts the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit. Do you need a little power in your walk with God, or maybe in your ministry? Do you need a little help in your witness to others, or maybe to fight that spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:18)? Then I say like Paul did to the Ephesians, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit?” If not, then why not today?

For it’s not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord of Hosts.

Last month, we looked at the baptism in the Holy Spirit; this month, we want to look at the gifts of the Spirit. We want to look at the meaning of each gift, their characteristics, and people’s misgivings about them, as well as take a look at a Biblical person with that gift. So, I want to begin by saying that no matter what gift you may have, it is not about you, but the receiver of your gift; for all must be done in love, the greatest gift of all (1 Corinthians 13).

Prophecy

The gift of prophecy is not as much about foretelling the future as it is about insight about people and situations. Prophecy is to encourage, exhort, and comfort people (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). When we think of prophets, we think of the prophets of old, like Isaiah or Jeremiah. We also think that it was for that time only; but God still has a message for His people, His congregation, and the prophet is the messenger to deliver God’s message, (Acts 2:14-20, 11:27-28, 21:9, 1 Corinthians 4:13).

The prophet brings about an awareness of God’s presence. He has a need to verbally express his message (1 Peter 4:10, 11). He reveals the inner heart and motives; he has the ability to discern character and to identify evil. He is very frank and direct. He is eager to have a person see their blindness. He brings people to accountability, to repentance, and humility. But because of his direct way of bringing about truth, he is considered by others as being harsh. He is judged as being intolerant of others. Because of such a strong desire to convey truth, he may be viewed as one who doesn’t listen to others and their point of view.

John the Baptist is a model of a prophet (Luke 3:3-20). Aware of his unworthiness, he wanted to point out others’ blindness. He knew he was the voice of God and he depended on scripture to validate his authority. He was direct and frank in his speaking and he looked for repentance.

Exhortation

The gift of exhortation is the ability to minister words and deeds of comfort, encouragement, and counsel to others in such a way that they feel strengthened and helped. They love people and they want God’s word to be experienced in others’ lives. They have a desire to visualize specific achievements and give steps of action. They have the ability to see how trials can produce new levels of maturing. They enjoy when people take steps of action to meet needs. They have insight into human experience that can be applied to the Bible. They take delight in personal gatherings that bring about new insight.

People view their steps of action as over-simplifying the problem, and their urgency in giving steps of action may appear as having more faith in the steps than in God. Their use of Scripture for practical application may be taken out of context. People even sometimes feel that they do not even have awareness of others’ feelings.

Here are six examples of Exhortation: how one ought to live and how to please God (1 Thessalonians 4:1), how to live a life worthy of God (1 Thessalonians 2:11), how to progress in love and how to live so there is respect among people (1 Thessalonians 4:10-12), and how to face trials (Acts 14:22).

Barnabas had the gift of exhortation. His message appealed to the wise. He was concerned with how people lived. His message was personal and practical, and he did not give up on John Mark, but exhorted him (Hebrews 12:5, Acts 11:23, 14:22, Acts 9).

Teaching

The gift of teaching is the special ability to acquire and communicate spiritual truths relevant to the needs of the body in such a way that others will be motivated to learn and to respond. One has not taught unless one has learned and so teachers believe that their gift is foundational to all other gifts. They place an accuracy on words. They delight in research in order to validate truth; in fact, they delight more in the research than presenting the lesson.

But because they place such emphasis on Scriptural interpretation, they tend to appear to neglect the practical application. People tend to think that they rely on their research more than the Holy Spirit. With all that detail they research with, their listeners sometime find it all unnecessary.

Paul was a good example of a teacher; he felt it was most important (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). He brought the Hebrew Scriptures and the Apostolic teachings together. He studied and researched the scriptures for three years in Arabia and while he was in prison. He has a burden for truth.

Serving

The gift of serving is all about meeting needs and showing demonstrations of love. A server is one who sees what needs to be done and does it. They have the ability to remember the likes and dislikes of people. They are aware and can detect and meet the needs of people, and they meet them as quickly as possible. They begin a job and they finish it. They just don’t seem like they tire because of the joy that they get in helping people. They consider the here and now versus long range planning, for it is the here and now that needs the help.

Because they have this need to help people, they tend to appear as being pesty; and because of their eagerness to help, it sometimes appears that it is all from their own self interest. Many times they suffer from lack of appreciation, and they tend to get upset with others who do not have the same motivation.

Martha was a good example of a server (Luke 10:38-42, John 12:2). Martha did the work herself, even though she tried to make Mary do the same as her. She had too many things to do because she couldn’t say “NO.” She concentrated more on the task than on the person she was serving. She saw the short range goal of cooking a meal for Jesus rather than on the long-range goal of discipleship.

Giving

The gift of giving is the desire and the need to share with others one’s life and even resources. They have the ability to make wise purchases and investments. They have the desire to quietly give to ministries and projects. They see needs that others may not see. He finds enjoyment when he hears that his gift was an answer to prayer.

Their dealings with money may appear as though they focus only on the temporal. Their giving to a ministry may appear that they want to control the work of that ministry.

Here are five examples: sharing material things (Luke 3:11), sharing spiritual gifts (Romans 1:11), sharing finances from one’s own wages (Ephesians 4:8), sharing oneself, and sharing the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

Abraham was a good example of one who gave. Abraham generously gave to others (Genesis 13:9-10), he had no trouble tithing (Genesis 14:20), and he wanted God to receive all the glory for his giving. He would sacrifice all if he knew God required it of him, for he was called a friend of God (James 2:23). He was also concerned about the price of things and knew their value (Genesis 2:3).

Organization

The gift of organization can be considered a leadership position. They are people who stand before others; they give aid and facilitate. They have the ability to clarify long-range goals. They see the bigger picture and desire to complete the task as quickly as possible. They are aware of resources. They delegate what they know and who they know will get the job done.

They assume the responsibility and endure reaction from others in order to get the job done, and because of this many people see them as callous. Because they delegate the work, many see them as lazy. Sometimes people think they are being used because they tend not to explain why something is being done a certain way.

Nehemiah was an organizer. He had a special zeal for the cause (Nehemiah 1:4). He saw the overall picture and knew what needed to be done (Nehemiah 1:12-15). He delegated the work (Nehemiah 2:16-18, 7:1-2). He organized the resources (Nehemiah 3) and he worked under opposition (Nehemiah 5:1-13, 7:3-4, 13:11, chapter 4, chapter 6). He helped to make things go easy for others (Nehemiah 5:14-19).

Mercy

The gift of mercy is the compassion and heart of God. It is the outward manifestation of pity. The one who shows mercy helps those in their time of trouble. They have an understanding of people in their distress and they understand what they are going through and help to relieve the pain and hurt. They are sensitive to words and actions and they discern true motives of people.

People view them many times as being weak because of how they speak, because they generally are not firm in their speech. They appear to only respond and act on their emotions and not by reason.

The Good Samaritan was an example of one who showed mercy. He had compassion on the injured man and he wanted to do something to help the injured man. He even spent his own resources to help. Who he was or what he was did not make any difference to him. We are to put on a heart of mercy, but these people automatically have this heart naturally.

Some examples of mercy in the Bible are Acts 9:27, 9:36, 16:33-34, and Romans 12:8.

Other Gifts

The Bible speaks of other gifts in its list of gifts from 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:11, and Romans 12:6-8. There are other gifts like:

Wisdom: Acts 6:1-6, 15:13-22; 1 Corinthians 12:8; James 1:5-6

Word of Faith (revelation which the receiver must act upon in faith): John 4:51-53, 21:6; Luke 17:12-15

Words of knowledge: Acts 5:1-11, 9:11-18; 1 Corinthians 2:14, 12:8; 2 Corinthians 11:6; Colossians 2:2-3

Hospitality: Acts 16:15, 21:4, 7, 8, 21; Romans 12:13, 16:23; 1 Timothy 3:2; Hebrews 13:1, 2; 1 Peter 4:9

Miracles: Acts 5:1-11, 9:36-42, 19:11-20, 20:7-12; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28

Healings: Acts 3:1-10, 5:15, 20:9-12; 1 Corinthians 12:9, 28; James 5:14; 1 Peter 2:24

Tongues: Acts 2:1-13, 10:44-46, 19:1-7; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28; 1 Corinthians 14:13-19

Interpretations: 1 Corinthians 12:10, 30; 1 Corinthians 14:13, 26-28

Distinguishing of spirits: 1 Corinthians 12:10

Evangelists: Acts 5:42, 8:4-8, 26-38, 14:21, 21:8; Ephesians 4:11; 2 Timothy 4:5

Pastors: John 10:11-14; Acts 20:28-32; Ephesians 4:11-15; Colossians 3:16; 1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 2:3-5; James 3:1

Apostles: Acts 6:1-6, 13:1-4; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:11; Galatians 2:7-10

“For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Messiah and individually members of one another and since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them accordingly” (Romans 12:4-6).

I hope you see the need to seek the Holy Spirit and ask for the gifts, for God has so much for His people and He wants us to serve Him not only in power and might, but by the Holy Spirit.

The Gospels tell us about the second coming of Yeshua. They record Yeshua’s own words, “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:11). Earthquakes are almost a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence. Famines and droughts and plagues are increasing, and now even here in America we are seeing that our meat supply is at levels as low as they were in 1951 with today’s population in 2014. A plague has hit our swine and thousands of pigs had to be put down. A wasting disease has hit our deer population. The weather the last several years has caused our citrus fruit to decrease and the drought in California has affected our fruits and vegetables. Luke goes on, “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves. Men fainting from fear and expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26).

I think most of us have heard about the blood moon that took place in April on the first day of Passover, and now the second one will take place in September, on the first day of The Feast of Tabernacles. Many people say that there is no correlation between the blood moons and things that happen upon the earth, but this is not what Yeshua tells us. He says that there will be signs in the heavens, and the fact that four lunar eclipses just happen to fall on four Biblical feast days two years in a row can’t just be a coincidence, especially when this coincidence has only happened a few times in history; and every time it has happened, there has been a historical change for God’s chosen people. Since the year 2000, there have been about 26 asteroids that have exploded in our atmosphere or have actually fallen to earth with more power than the bomb that fell on Hiroshima, Japan. Revelation 8:7-12 says that the first four trumpet judgements speak of an asteroid/meteorite falling out of the sky upon the earth. We see the sun, moon, and stars all affected also. According to John Hagee in his book Four Blood Moons, we see that in the middle of these four moons, a total solar eclipse will take place on March 20th, 2015. This represents the judgment on the nations. Yeshua tells us that nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom. According to Jonathan Cahn’s book, The Harbinger, he is predicting that America will come under God’s judgment in September/October 2015 to fulfill a seven year cycle that began with the Twin Towers, and seven years after that with the financial meltdown, and now seven years later in 2015, this too will all coincide with the Jewish Feasts. Whether or not anything actually takes place at these times, they are surely signs of the times that must be paid attention to.

The World Hates You

The Bible tells us that in the last days there will be scoffers; so should we listen to these people and ignore the obvious or should we listen to the words of Yeshua who tells us that all these things will come because He is coming? If you say that we must listen to Yeshua, then we must believe that what He tells us about being persecuted is also true. Luke 21:12 tells us that persecution and even imprisonment will come and it will give us an opportunity to give our testimony. We have seen all around the world that this is happening to believers in almost every country, even here in America where we have freedom of religion. Yeshua tells us that we will be delivered up by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, that we will be hated and even put to death (Luke 21:16-17). We have seen throughout history that believers and Jews alike have been persecuted for worshiping the One True God, and this is going to repeat itself once again.

Revelation 12:17 tells us, “The dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” The woman is Israel and her offspring are the true believers in Yeshua. Why do I say true? Because those who keep the commandments of the Lord are the true congregation of believers. Revelation 13:10 says, “If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

Luke 21:14-15 tells us that we are not to prepare beforehand to defend ourselves; for Yeshua will give us the words and wisdom which none of our opponents will be able to resist or refute. So even though Yeshua tells us not to prepare what we will say, He does tell us that we are to do certain things so that we are prepared. It is these things that we are going to take a closer look at.

So What Can We Do?

Luke 21:34 tells us, “Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day comes on you suddenly like a trap.” Yeshua tells us about becoming entangled in this world. The pride of life, the lust of the flesh and the eyes will ultimately trap us, and it will cause us to take our eyes off of the prize, our salvation, our eternal life. We will then become unprepared and weak and when persecution comes, we will not have that close walk with God that we will need to have to stand on that day (1 Peter 2:11-12). Verse 36 of Luke 21 goes on to say, “But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and stand before the Son of Man.” The Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels translates it this way from the Hebrew: “Therefore, be alert at all times and pray in order to store up strength to escape from all these things that will ultimately come, and you will stand before the Son of Man.” Matthew tells us that the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah, “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark” (Matthew 24:37-38). There is nothing wrong with going on with life, as long as your life does not take your eyes off of Yeshua.

The Jewish people in the time of Yeshua knew persecution. Some following Yeshua reported to Him that Pilot had some Galileans put to death (Luke 13). Yeshua tells them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Yeshua was not saying that these things would not happen to a man who repents, but if these things should come to someone, what is more important is that they do not perish into eternal damnation.

First

We must start by repenting. This was Yeshua’s message to His followers, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and His disciples message to their followers. Should it not be our message, also? This is the good news (the gospel according to Yeshua, Matthew 4:17). Christians believe that they do not have to repent because Yeshua died for their sins. Repentance is a turning back to God’s ways, His word, His commandments, His holy way of living. Christians today believe that they do not have to follow Yeshua as a disciple because now we have grace and we are saved by grace alone. This is true that we are saved by grace through faith in Yeshua, but we can not take one scripture and build a whole doctrine from it. We are saved by the shed blood of Yeshua, the perfect lamb of God. The book of Hebrews tells us, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it; for if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience will receive a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” Hebrews 10:26-29 tells us, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Torah of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

The faith-only doctrine can be very misleading because we think that all we have to do is believe in Yeshua and His grace takes care of the rest. Yeshua never said that all we need to do is believe in Him and we would have forgiveness of our sins. His teaching told us how to receive eternal life, and that message started with repentance. We must take Scripture as a whole, not pick it apart.

Second

Hebrews 6:1 tells us, “Repent from dead works.” Dead works are, and can only be, sin; for the wages of sin is death. Never is dead works the keeping of God’s laws. We are to take off the old self and put on the new. We are to set our minds on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. We are to crucify the flesh, for you have died and your life is hidden with Messiah in God. God said, “I am holy and you are to be holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16). The word “holy” in the Hebrew means to be set apart. Only God’s full counsel can set you apart from the world that is perishing, the world that is going to be judged, and we must come out from under her way of thinking and living and become set apart in God’s Kingdom where God has destined us so that His wrath of judgement will not reach us; not that we will not be persecuted or even martyred, but we will not be touched by His wrath that leads to a permanent death, damnation to an eternal darkness.

Third

We must be preparing ourselves to receive Yeshua our Bridegroom. Ephesians 5:25-27 tells us, “Messiah loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.” 2 Corinthians says, “Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Revelation 19:8 tells us, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” The deeds of righteousness are the keeping of God’s commandments, His laws, His statutes, good deeds of charity, and mercy to widows and orphans.

Fourth

We are to live in faith; for the redeemed of the Lord shall walk in faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We are saved by faith, and by faith we can move mountains. Colossians 2 tells us, “As you therefore have received Messiah Yeshua the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, overflowing gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Messiah.”

Fifth

We are to live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit; for those who do are the children of the Lord. We, through the Spirit by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. We are to crucify the deeds of the flesh and allow the seeds of righteousness to grow through us by the Holy Spirit, by which the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control grows in us. The Holy Spirit gives us power to witness, to serve, and to stand in faith, allowing us to be ready for the coming day of the Lord.

He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit has to say. The Holy Spirit is telling us this day to be prepared, ready, alert, and on our guard; for the signs are in the sky and the Messiah is at the door. Do you hear Him calling you?

We have looked at the Holy Spirit, His Baptism, and His gifts, and now we want to look at His fruit. Galatians 5 gives us the list of the Holy Spirit’s fruit. It is His orchard of righteous living. Like in any garden, a gardener knows that he must dig up the fallow ground. He must remove the obstacles that will hinder any growth. He must plant the seed, and with water and fertilizer and much care, the seed will grow and eventually bear fruit. So too in our lives, we must do exactly the same things.

Yeshua (Jesus) tells the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. He says, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. And others fell upon rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil, But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away, and others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty and some thirty.” Yeshua tells His disciples that this was a mystery of His kingdom.

So why is it that we do not see a move of the Spirit today like we saw in the days of Yeshua and His disciples? He quotes Isaiah and tells His disciples that the people’s hearts have become dull and their ears scarcely hear and that they have closed their eyes. He says, “If they would understand with their hearts and return (repent), then He would heal them.” Well, let’s unravel the mystery.

Yeshua explains, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in the heart.” When a man hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no firm root in himself, but only a temporary one, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. There is the man who hears the word and the worries of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Then there is the man in whom the seed was sown on good soil; this man hears the word and understands it and indeed bears fruit, and brings forth a harvest.

Yeshua tells His disciples that he is the vine and we are the branches and apart from him we can do nothing (John 15). So how do we begin to grow the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Let’s take a closer look.

The Spirit vs the Flesh

Galatians 5:24 tells us, “Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Verse 17 goes on, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” Verse 16: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Verse 19 tells us, “The deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Paul tells the Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” How do we renew our minds? The Psalmist writes in Psalm 19, “The Torah of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much gold; sweeter also than the honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”

Is this not what hindered the seed from growing in Yeshua’s parable, the riches and cares of the world, along with the fact that you must be abiding in the word? So let us now look at the fruit of the Spirit.

The Fruit of Life

We find in the fruit of the Spirit the character of God. The first fruit mentioned in Galatians 5 is love. God is love, and we are to love like God. “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Paul tells the Corinthians that love was the greatest of all; it is what the rest is built upon. The Law of God can be summed up like this: love God with all your heart and life and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. You can not even go on unless the seed of love has been planted in your heart.

Next is joy: “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Love is our foundation and joy is our strength. We are to serve the Lord with gladness and joy. Paul tells the Philippians to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

Then comes peace; peace is what guards our hearts. Paul tells the Philippians, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua.”

From here we go to patience, for patience gives us character. Patience is what we need when trials and tribulations come our way. Paul tells the Romans, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about patience (perseverance); and patience, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” James writes, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (endurance). And let patience (endurance) have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” The writer of the book of Hebrews writes, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Next on the fruit tree are kindness and goodness, and gentleness which comes from the Greek word “chrestotes,” which means serviceable, good, pleasant, kindness of heart, goodness in action, upright, to bear gently, and to be gracious. Paul tells the Colossians, “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity, and let the peace of Messiah rule your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.”

Faithfulness (keeping faith) is our next fruit, and without faithfulness your fruit will never mature because you will not have stayed the course till your fruit matures. The word “faithful” is rendered as “trustworthy” or “loyal.” We find examples in the Bible of God’s people being faithful, remaining true to God in their service, and loyal to those they work with in the service of the kingdom (Colossians 1:2, 4:7). And Revelation 17:14 tells us, “These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen faithful.”

Last is self-control. We must have control over ourselves in every area of life. We must deny our flesh, and actually put to death our old self. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Yeshua the author and perfecter of faith.” Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Just accepting Yeshua as our Lord and Savior is only the beginning; we must be full of His Spirit, using His gifts for the kingdom in service to one another, and growing His seeds in our lives.

Happy gardening, and have a bountiful harvest!