September begins the Biblical Fall Feasts. As Christians, we have not been taught the meaning of God’s Appointed Times, so we don’t understand the significance of these days. If we understood them, we would see that as believers in Yeshua (Jesus), we of all people should be celebrating these feast days. Let’s take a closer look at their meaning. Let’s start by looking in Leviticus 23 where we will find these feast days called God’s Appointed Times, His Moedim.

The Appointed Times of God

The Appointed Times of God are shadows of the Messiah. Their purpose is to reveal Messiah and God’s plan of deliverance and redemption, His Good News. Leviticus 23 starts with the Spring Feasts. These feasts are feasts of remembrance because we have seen the fulfillment in Yeshua our Messiah. The first feast mentioned is the feast of Passover: the story of the Exodus and how God, by His grace, delivered the Israelites from Egypt. This story is for all of us because God has delivered every one of us from Egypt, for Egypt is symbolic of the world. The Passover lamb whose blood was shed and placed over the doorframes of their homes protected them from the death angel who came to strike down every firstborn. Yeshua our Messiah, our Passover Lamb, shed His blood so that we may be freed from the sin of death. This is why Yeshua said to His disciples, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” at His last Seder meal.

The next day begins the feast of Unleavened Bread. The Israelites fled Egypt so quickly that their bread had no time to rise. When God spoke to them later (in Leviticus 23 where He gave them instructions about this feast), He said, “No leaven is to be found in your home for seven days,” because leaven represents sin. If we are disciples of the Messiah, then we must follow in His footsteps, and the feast of Unleavened bread reminds us, as believers, that we need to daily crucify the flesh and rid ourselves of the bondage that sin puts us under.

The first day after the beginning of Unleavened Bread, we celebrate the feast of First Fruits. Even though this is a minor feast day (not one of God’s Appointed Times that requires a holy convocation), this is the day that we celebrate the Resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus), who is the first fruits from the dead. This is the day of the barley harvest. An omer of barley, the first fruits, would be brought into the temple as a wave offering.

We also start counting the Omer for fifty days, which will lead us right up to the feast of Pentecost. This feast is the conclusion of the Passover Season. It was fifty days after the Israelites left Egypt that they arrived at Mount Sinai. It was here that God gave them His Torah and made them His chosen people. It was on this feast that God sent the Apostles and about 120 other people the Holy Spirit. What’s the connection? The Holy Spirit was given as a pledge of the new covenant, when God will write His Torah on our hearts (Jeremiah 37). The Holy Spirit gives us the power to walk according to God’s Word so that we can crucify the flesh, and as we live by the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, we will have the relationship with God that every disciple of Yeshua must have. The Spring Feasts are the beginning of the feasts because they tell the beginning story of redemption. It is the beginning of our walk with God. If we are to be the light to the nations, shouldn’t we be telling the story through the feast days, which God, not man, has asked us to keep? Paul said, “Imitate me as I imitate Messiah.” Yeshua kept these feast days; surely if they were not for His disciples, He would have told them so.

Next we will look at the Fall Feasts. The time between the spring and fall feasts represents the time that we are in right now, the time between Yeshua’s first coming and His second coming, the time for the Bride of Yeshua to prepare herself for the coming of her bridegroom. The Fall Feasts are not feasts of remembrance because they have not had their fulfillment yet; they all relate to Yeshua’s second coming. We celebrate these feasts as one would practice for a fire. We have fire drills so that when a fire comes, we have prepared ourselves to know what we need to do. The Fall feasts teach us how to prepare for His coming so that we will be ready. The Fall feasts are a reminder to us that Yeshua is coming, and His coming should not be like a thief in the dark. The feasts keep us alert and sober, always looking and waiting for His coming.

The first feast of the fall is the Feast of Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets is preceded by 30 days of blowing the shofar and reciting a short declaration: “Awake, you who are sleepy and ponder your deeds. Look well into 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.” As believers, we always need to examine ourselves. If we do not judge ourselves, then the righteous judge will. The shofar was blown at the coronation of a king and the arrival of the bridegroom; both are represented by the Feast of Trumpets. There are three blasts of the trumpet before the culmination of time. The first was at Mount Sinai, when God betrothed His people Israel. This became the feast of Shavuot or Pentecost (Exodus 19:19). The second will be the last blast of Rosh Hashanah, the feast of Trumpets, just before the second coming of Yeshua which will herald the return of the Messiah, our eternal King and Bridegroom. The last great blast will be on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur (Matthew 24:31), which is our next feast day.

The ten days after Trumpets are called the Days of Awe, which takes us to the Day of Atonement. The ten days of Awe are the final ten days of repentance. It is the time to make things right with each other and with God. These are solemn days because it is during these days that, symbolically, the gates of heaven are open for the righteous to come in. The Day of Atonement is the holiest day on the calendar; it is on this day that the books are open. Every word and every deed that we said and did in the flesh has been recorded, and we will give an account for it all (Matthew 25:31-46). Even though now it is only symbolically, one day soon it will be the judgement day for real, and the question that will be asked is, “Is your name written in the Book of Life?” At the end of this day, there is one last, great blast of the shofar, and then the gates of heaven are closed. Now this is happening only symbolically, but one day it will be for real. Knowing this, shouldn’t we take this day as a reminder that we should examine ourselves and make things right?

Five days after the Day of Atonement begins the seven day Feast of Tabernacles. The feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, is a time of great celebration, “the season of our joy”. We have made things right with God and man and our name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. For seven days, we live in booths, “sukkahs,” to represent our eternal home and our dependence on our God who is faithful to care for us and protect us; our deliverer, provider, and protector. We build these little huts and decorate them and they become our sanctuary. We eat in our sukkahs and read Scripture and praise the Lord in our sukkahs. Some people actually sleep in their huts. We invite people to celebrate with us. It’s a time of feasting, represented by the marriage supper of the Lamb. It was on the feast of Tabernacles that the disciples saw Yeshua transfigure (Luke 9:28-45), and they said to Him, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles; one for You and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The seventh day of the feast, the last day, is called Hoshana Rabbah, “The Great Salvation”. It was on this day that Yeshua stood up and asked, “If anyone thirsts, let him come unto Me” (John 7:37-38).

It is believed that Yeshua was born during the Feast of Tabernacles. God does all His great work during His Appointed Times, and Yeshua is the fulfillment of these times; so it only makes sense that He would be born on one of these days. What did the angel say to the shepherds? “I bring you great joy.” On the eighth day, it is the time called Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. The eighth day is believed to be the day that God requested man to remain in this great joy, because we are His joy for eternity. It is a day for a holy convocation, when the assembly gathers to praise the Lord and worship Him. It is also to celebrate the joy of the Torah, God’s Word, which was made flesh and dwelt among men. It would have been the eighth day that Yeshua would have been circumcised. The eighth day represents the time after the millennium, the hereafter when we will live with God for eternity in great joy. Now I ask you, shouldn’t we celebrate these feast days as believers in Yeshua our Messiah? It’s all about our great salvation, and our future in Messiah.

The Biblical Sabbath

There is one last Appointed Time of God and that is the Biblical Sabbath. We want to see whether believers in Yeshua should be keeping the Biblical Sabbath or Sunday as their day of worship. To start, we must ask ourselves, “If God is one, then why is His word divided, and why is there one way for Jewish people and one way for Believers in Yeshua (Jesus)?” Even the Ten Commandments seem to be separated: ten for Jewish people and nine for Believers in Yeshua. Well, you may answer those questions this way: “The Old Testament has been done away with unless you’re Jewish, with the exception of its historical content, because Yeshua fulfilled all that is in those books. The New Testament is for Believers because it pertains to Yeshua, which the Jewish people do not have. The nine commandments are for believers because the Biblical Sabbath is only for Jewish people; we believers in Yeshua celebrate Sunday because that’s when Yeshua rose from the dead.” Let’s take a closer look at this line of thinking.

First, the Prophets of the Old Testament spoke many prophecies concerning Yeshua the Messiah that have not yet been fulfilled, so these books are still relevant. Second, we are Judeo-Christians, which means that we base our faith in the God and Scriptures of the Hebrews. Their history is our history, their God is our God. Our country, the United States, has based their constitution and many of their laws on the laws of God in the Hebrew Scriptures. Yeshua and His disciples and the Prophets and the people of the Bible were all Jews, God’s chosen people. These are the same people that we read about and learn from and whose examples we follow in our lives if we are truly believers in Yeshua. Yeshua, the disciples, and the early congregation all kept the Biblical Sabbath; even Paul did.

Now let’s look at the truth of the matter. Let’s start in the beginning. Genesis 2:1-3 tells us, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their host. And by the seventh day 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 God had created and made.” Now we must ask ourselves, if God the Creator set apart (sanctified) the seventh day and blessed it, shouldn’t we be following our God’s example? Is it not Him who we follow and not man? If He set apart the seventh day, shouldn’t we do the same?

The book of Hebrews tells us in chapter 4 about the future rest for believers. What is this rest? Well, this is the Sabbath. Granted, not the Sabbath we celebrate every week, but one like the feast days. When we keep the Biblical Sabbath, we tell the world that first, we believe that God is the Creator of all things and second, the Sabbath represents the future when God’s redeemed (Jew and Gentile believers) will rest from their works with the Creator for eternity, represented by the seventh day. It is hard to believe that there are Christians who do not believe in the actual seven days of Creation. They do not believe that we are living out 6,000 years of history to testify what Scripture tells us: a day equals a thousand years, and the seventh day is the day of rest or the time known as eternity, the afterlife, and the Messianic Era. So, if for no other reason, believers should be keeping the Biblical Sabbath because God gave it to the world, not to just one group of people.

Second, Yeshua tells us that He is the Lord of the Biblical Sabbath. He did not say, “I am the Lord of the first day.” He said that the Sabbath was made for Man, not man for the Sabbath. He did not say it be made for the Jews only, but for man. Shouldn’t we follow Yeshua’s example, who kept the Biblical Sabbath? He never said, “I want my followers to keep the first day,” nor did any of His disciples or Paul; for the Sunday Sabbath was started by the Emperor Constantine, who was a sun worshiper. He declared the Sabbath to be Sunday, which honors the sun god Mithra. In fact, he was the one who changed all the Biblical Feast days: not God, Yeshua, or the disciples, not even Paul. Not one of these ever started a new religion, nor did away with the Torah. It was Constantine who set the groundwork for what we call Christianity today.

We are to be the light of the World. How can we be that light if we are not following our Master Yeshua, the Word made flesh, our Messiah? Is there any salvation in following a man who created much of what we call Christianity today? We need to come to the truth, to the true light. We must swim upstream if necessary, but we must break away from man-made traditions and follow the one true God who does not change. We can trust Him to lead us in all truth if we seek Him and Him alone for that truth; for the years of commentary have been influenced by those who, along with Constantine, have taken out the Jewishness of the Bible and its truths that it carried.

Let’s begin to celebrate God’s Appointed times that are in Leviticus 23. God’s Word is for everyone because He sent His only begotten Son to die for all of our sins. His Appointed Times are His times that He has designated for us to come close to Him, remember the death and resurrection of Yeshua and the giving of His Spirit in the Spring feasts, and to prepare for His second coming in the Fall feasts; and the Biblical Sabbath is a time for us to experience our eternal rest with him

We want to look at “giving thanks” in the holiday of Thanksgiving. To know the meaning of “giving thanks,” we need to have a clearer understanding of the Temple sacrifices. At that you probably are saying, “You’re kidding,” but it’s true. We must understand that the earthly temple and its worship was a shadow of the heavenly temple in heaven. The sole purpose of the sacrifices was to bring the people before God, and the priest was to be the one to assist the one offering the sacrifice. Today there is no temple, so how do we draw near to God? By the sacrifice of Yeshua. He is our sacrifice and our High Priest who assists us when we draw near to God.

So What is Thanksgiving?

We know that Thanksgiving is more than a national holiday. It is not about football or even turkey, but about being thankful. As believers in the one true living God, disciples of Yeshua (Jesus), we must be thankful for all that God has given us through His Son Yeshua. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Messiah Yeshua.” So what exactly is thanksgiving? Let’s take a closer look; for if this is what the will of God is for us, then we must totally understand it’s meaning.

Webster’s dictionary tells us “to give thanks” is an expression of gratitude. The noun to be thankful or thanks is from the Greek word charis which means grace, favor, kindness, goodwill, or graciousness. This is why when we pray before our meals we call it “saying grace.” The Greek word eucharistia is where we get the English word Eucharist, which denotes gratitude and thankfulness. The Eucharist is a sacrament of the catholic church, and is known as Communion in other Christian churches. So now let’s look closer at all of this and see what it all means for believers.

The Peace Offering

The thanksgiving offering, freewill offerings, and the Passover lamb were all peace offerings. We want to start with the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb and giving thanks and continue this subject over the next several months. The Passover lamb was a peace offering, “Shelamim” in Hebrew. You may have heard the word “Shalom” which means peace. Ephesians 2:14 tells us, “For He (Yeshua) Himself is our peace.” As believers, we know that Yeshua is our atonement. He is our sin offering (Hebrews 10:8-10), but He is our Passover Lamb also (1 Corinthians 5:7).

These are two different kinds of offerings, and yet I suppose in some respects they are the same because the sin offering reconciles us to God which brings us peace. The peace offering was a voluntary offering and was never offered for sin or for forgiveness, but it was made in thanksgiving or in gratitude in response to God’s favor. Leviticus 3:1 tells us, “Now if his offering is a sacrifice of peace, and if he is going to offer out of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before the Lord.”

So first we must understand that this offering was just as important as any offering to God, and that meant that the animal had to be without any blemishes or defect. We can not give God our leftovers or rejections, but what is precious or important to us; in other words, it must have value. Yeshua was our Passover Lamb, our peace offering, and the Bible tells us that He was without sin (Hebrews 9:13-14): He was spotless, without blemish, the perfect Lamb of God. Unlike the sin offering, the peace offering was not totally burnt up; only the choice fat was burnt on the altar. The meat of the sacrifice was divided between the person who brought the peace offering and the priest who offered it on the altar.

So the peace offering, thanksgiving offering, and the freewill offering were an opportunity to share in the table of the Lord. It was a shared meal between the offerer and his family, even his friends, the priesthood, and God Himself. It was a time of fellowship between God and man. Peace offerings were made in conjunction with the festivals. Family would come to Jerusalem and offer their offerings, including their peace offering, and enjoy God’s Appointed Times with their family and friends. Maybe this is where the tradition of the festival meals came from.

Messiah our Sacrifice

So we have seen that Yeshua is our Passover Lamb, which is one of the peace offerings. We also learned that the peace offering was a voluntary offering. Yeshua said that He gave up His life; no one took it from Him (John 10:11, 15, 17-18). We also learned that the peace offering was a shared meal. Yeshua, when celebrating the Passover Seder (which is a meal commemorating the redemption of Israel out of Egypt, the meal that He was partaking in when He said to His disciples, “When you do this, remember Me”), in His crucifixion (Luke 21:19-20), said that He was the Passover lamb, the peace offering and we are to eat of Him and drink of His blood, symbolically representing the shared meal at the table of the Lord, the Passover Seder (John 6:48-58).

So if a peace offering was in response to God’s favor, then what did that have to do with the passover lamb and Yeshua, who is our Passover lamb? During the first Passover, the people were to place the blood of the Passover lamb on the lintels of the doorframe for protection, so that the death angel would pass over them during the last plague of Egypt, the plague of the death of the first born, thus reconciling them to God, redeeming them from Pharaoh; and so too with Yeshua: He has reconciled us to God, redeeming us by His shed blood, covering us (Colossians 1:18-20), thus taking us out of the kingdom of darkness and bringing us into His kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13).

We are no longer slaves to our sins (leaven) and we are no longer in bondage to Satan (Pharaoh). Scripture tells us that while we were still sinners, Yeshua died for us (Romans 5:8). Thus God’s favor was towards us, and thus the peace offering was offered, and for this we are to be thankful!

So Give Thanks

Do you know the song? “I will enter your gates with thanksgiving in my heart. I will enter your courts with praise. I will say this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!” Giving thanks was a central part of Judaism. The prayer life of Jewish people is filled with thanksgiving. The Psalmist continually tells us to give thanks. In fact, Psalm 118 is what the people would sing as they went up to the house of the Lord. “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” It was the Father’s great love that sent Yeshua to die for us. We see in the life of Messiah that He always gave thanks (Matthew 15:36, Matthew 26:27) and all throughout the Apostolic Scriptures we are told to continually give thanks (1 Corinthians 15:57; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; 1 Timothy 2:1, to mention a few) and Hebrews 13:15 tells us, “Through Him (Yeshua our High priest) then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”

We too are to bring our peace sacrifice, for Yeshua has reconciled us to God. We even see a scene in the heavenly temple: the four living creatures giving thanks with the twenty four elders (Revelation 4:9-10, 11:17).

Conclusion

As we began this study, we saw in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 that it is the will of God for us to give thanks in everything. But Romans 1:21 tells us, “For even though they knew God they did not honor Him as God, nor gave thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” We do not want to neglect this commandment to give thanks in all things, for there will be consequences for those who do not appreciate God’s loving gift of salvation to us. So not only on this Thanksgiving Day, but every day we must give thanks; when we rise in the morning and lay our heads down at night, we must give thanks; and at the table of the Lord, no matter if it is the kitchen table eating our meals, the Communion table, or the altar that we come to for prayer, we must give thanks with a grateful heart for all that our Father has given us through our Messiah Yeshua. Let’s make it our habit to give thanks this Thanksgiving.

As the world celebrates the first coming of Yeshua (Jesus), the Anointed one, the Messiah, the Deliverer, Redeemer, the living Torah made flesh, the Savior of the world, we want to continue looking to the second coming of Yeshua. We see in the book of Revelation chapter 15:2-4 that right before the seven last judgements of God take place, we see a scene from heaven: those who were victorious over the beast, holding harps, began to sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. It is interesting that the redeemed will sing two songs: first, the song of Moses who was the first Deliverer of Israel at the first Passover, the first anointed one, priest, prophet and even king, the receiver of the Torah, and the one who erected the tabernacle in the wilderness; and the second song, the Song of the Lamb, the Passover Lamb, the Anointed One, Priest, Prophet, and King, the living Torah, our Tabernacle. We also see other songs sung in heaven. In Revelation 5:9, we see that the elders, having harps, sing a new song. Revelation 14:3 tells us that the one hundred and forty?four thousand sang a new song before the throne. Throughout the Bible there are many songs. The Psalms, the writings of David, were David’s songs to the Lord, especially Psalm 18. Also recorded in 2 Samuel 22, it was David’s victory song over his enemies and also over King Saul. Deborah had her victory song. There is the song of Solomon known as the Song of Songs. Music was, and still is, a very important part of worship. We want to take a closer look at the song of Moses to see why the redeemed in Revelation would sing this particular song. But which song of Moses did they sing, for Scripture records two different songs? Let’s look at both of them.

God’s Redemption

Before we can look at the first song of Moses, we must get some background information. Now, you may say that we know the story of the Exodus, but let’s go through the story to see why the redeemed would sing this song. God had just brought about 10 plagues on Egypt. One by one, He showed His power over their idol gods. His final act was the death of the firstborn. The people of Israel were told to slaughter a lamb without blemish and place the blood on their doorposts. They were told to roast the lamb and eat it with their loins girded. This was the Lord’s passover, for that very night the death angel went throughout Egypt killing every firstborn, from the beasts to Pharaoh’s own son, but not harming any of the Israelites who had the blood on their doorposts. At this, Pharaoh tells Moses to take the people and to get out of Egypt. So the people gathered their belongings and fled the land. When Pharaoh comes to his senses, he calls for his charioteers and army to pursue the Israelites. As Pharaoh drew near and the people saw him pursuing them, they became frightened. Moses says to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today, for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, forever . . . The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” So that night, God placed an angel between Israel and Pharaoh and his army. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord swept back the sea by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land. In the morning, the people quickly crossed on dry ground and Pharaoh’s chariots and army followed. When the people reached the other side, Moses again stretched out his hand and the sea returned to normal and Pharaoh’s army and chariots all drowned. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians. This was a great military victory. This was a great act of salvation. God saved Israel that day from their enemies.

Let’s now look at what has just taken place that would cause those who have come out of the great tribulation to sing this song. Israel, who had been slaves in Egypt for over 400 years, had been redeemed by the mighty hand of God. This was an act of grace on God’s part for Israel had not done anything to merit His redemption. Remember, to redeem means that one takes ownership after paying a price. God redeemed Israel from the Egyptians by defeating them, and now they belonged to Him. They were no longer slaves in the kingdom of darkness, but now slaves in the kingdom of Light (for Egypt is symbolic of darkness). This is what we celebrate as believers on Passover. Yeshua, our Passover Lamb, shed His blood for us and He conquered the devil (Pharaoh) and took us out of the kingdom of darkness into His kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:13, 1 Peter 2:9). He redeemed us, He paid the price so that we are no longer slaves to our sin (leaven), but now slaves to our King Yeshua. We too did nothing to merit His redemption, for while we were still sinners, Yeshua died for us (Romans 5:8).

Exodus 15:1-4 tells us that Moses and the congregation of Israel all sang, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and the rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will extol Him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; and the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.” Exodus 15:17-20 continues, “Thou will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance; the place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thy dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established . . . The Lord shall reign forever and ever . . . For the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea.” And with that Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women sang and danced. A mighty victory required a song of jubilation and praise that I am sure they sang over and over again.

We are to remember the Passover and in so doing, we remember our Passover Lamb (Yeshua). We too can say, “The Lord is a mighty warrior and the horse and the rider have been thrown into the sea.” Is this the white horse on which the false Messiah rides when the first seal is opened (Revelation 6:2)? Is this the song that the redeemed will sing who victoriously overcome the beast? Or maybe there is another song?

A History Lesson To Be Learned

Before Moses’s death, God tells Him to write another song for the people to learn. In Deuteronomy 31 starting in verse 16, God tells Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with strange gods of the land into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they shall be consumed, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them.” So God tells Moses to write a song for the people to learn to be a witness for God against them when they fall away.

Deuteronomy 32 is the second song of Moses. It begins, “Give ear, O heaven, and let me speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as the droplets on the fresh grass and as the showers on the herb. For I proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.” The first four verses are just that, a witness of God’s faithfulness, everything that caused them to sing the first song. But verse five begins the sad reality of what was to come: “They are a perverse and crooked generation . . . Foolish and unwise people.” God tells the people to, “Ask their fathers, their elders, and they will tell you, when the Most High gave the nations their inheritance . . . Like an eagle that stirs up its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. The Lord alone guided them, and there was no foreign god with them. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the produce of the field; and he made him suck honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock, curds of cows, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs, and rams, the breed of Bashan and goats, with the finest of the wheat and of the blood of grapes you drank wine.” Again, a powerful witness of God’s faithfulness.

Unfortunately, the people did not heed Moses’s words and they went astray. How true is this today! We see in the land of Israel many people do not even believe in God; and how true this is today in our churches, where many pastors don’t even believe in what they preach. They have no need for repentance or even the blood to wash them clean, and many do not feel the Ten Commandments and the Scriptures are relevant for today. But God has always preserved for Himself a remnant. He states in verses 28-31, “For they are a nation lacking in counsel, and there is no understanding in them. Would that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would discern their future! How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had given them up? Indeed their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies themselves judge this.” Verse 36 goes on to say, “For the Lord will vindicate His people, and will have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free.”

Now God gives witness to Himself and He says in verse 39, “See now that I, I am He, and there is no other god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded, and it is I who heals; and there is no one who can deliver from My hand. Indeed I lift up My hand to heaven and say, as I live forever. If I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand takes hold on justice, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, and I will repay those who hate Me.” Verse 43: “Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance on His adversaries, and will atone for His land and His people.” God will always be faithful to Israel. He will always be faithful to those who have attached themselves to Israel. Moses’s song was indeed a great warning that needed to be heard and heeded, but God will redeem those who stay faithful and true to Him.

So is this the song that those who are victorious over the beast, his image, and the number of his name will sing? After all, the song is about falling to false gods. One would naturally want to sing about how God, their Rock, was faithful in delivering them. But is this the song that the redeemed will sing? In our next newsletter, we will look at yet another song of Moses to see whether or not this is the song.

Last month we began looking at the temple sacrifices to get a better understanding of how they relate to Yeshua (Jesus) and to His people. When we understand the sacrificial service of the temple, we can begin to realize that we, as Christians, are very much a part of what this service means or should mean to us. Last month we began with the peace offerings. This month we want to look at the grain offering.

The Grain Offering

The grain offering was also called the meal offering or the cereal offering because it was made from fine flour. The grain offering was a gift given to God much like the peace offering was given as a gift of thanks. The Hebrew word used was mincha ?or? korban. ?In Genesis 43 we see Jacob telling his sons to take a mincha/gift to the governor of Egypt, which was Joseph, his long lost son. So the grain offering should be called the gift offering. We also see this tribute given when Yeshua the King was born and the three wise men each brought Him a mincha of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The ingredients of a grain offering were grain (usually wheat flour), frankincense, and olive oil. The offering was unleavened like the Passover matzah. It was baked or deep fried or even left uncooked. The grain offering was brought by those who were poor and could not bring other sacrifices. The grain offering was brought in conjunction with the burnt offering and peace offerings. It was like the bread that went along with the meal of the peace offering, and the mincha was a voluntary gift like the peace offering. To understand the meaning behind these offerings, we must first take a closer look at what they consisted of first.

Different Types

The three types of public grain offerings were the twelve loaves of showbread that went on the table of showbread in the holy place of the temple, the omer of wheat that was waved on the second day of Passover which begins the fifty day counting of the omer to Pentecost, and the two loaves that are waved at Pentecost. All of these are offered by the priests. There are four types of private grain offerings recommended by the Torah: (1) the daily grain offering of the high priest according to Leviticus 6:14, (2) at the consecration of priests according to Leviticus 6:20, (3) those offered by the poor in substitution for a sin offering (Leviticus 5:11-12), and (4) that of jealousy (Numbers 5:15).

The Ritual of it All

In all baked grain offerings, an omer of the flour was made into ten loaves, except when the high priest offered his offering when it was made into twelve loaves which represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The priest would bring the offering on a gold or silver dish in which it was prepared and then place it upon a holy vessel (a consecrated vessel of the temple) and put oil and frankincense on it. He would stand at the southeastern corner of the altar and he would take a handful of the offering that was to be burned and place it on another vessel and place some of the frankincense on it. Then he would walk up the stairs to the top of the altar and salt it and then place it on the fire. The rest of the offering belonged to the priests except with the grain offering of the high priest and at the consecration of a priest when the offering was totally burned.

So why the salt? The salt was symbolic of the covenant. Every covenant was made with salt because salt was a preservative and represented the longevity of the covenant. Every grain offering was accompanied by a drink offering of wine.

So What Does it All Mean?

Everything in the temple represents Messiah, even the sacrifices and the offerings. The grain offering was made without leaven because leaven represents sin. Yeshua was a sinless sacrifice and the grain offering represented that fact (1 Peter 2:21-24, Hebrews 4:15). The portion that was thrown into the fire represents Yeshua and His testings, and even believers who are tested by fire (1 Peter 1:7, 4:12). The frankincense symbolizes the beauty of the Lord and the prayers of the saints; Revelation 5:8 speaks of the incense which was made from frankincense (Exodus 30:34). The oil represents the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit and Yeshua’s conception (Matthew 1:18, 3:13-17, John 1:32). We too as believers are to live by the Spirit. And we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5, Galatians 5:25, Romans 12:1) without spot or blemish.

It starts with repentance, filled with the Holy Spirit offering up our sacrifices of praise. But what about those who do not bring their freewill offering to God? They do not come and bow down and bring their gifts to Him.

It’s Tradition!

In Matthew 15:5-9 it says, “But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ he is not to honor his father with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'”

God does not want us to serve Him by just going through the motions. He does not want us just to keep a set of rules for the sake of keeping rules, but God wants our love. God loves a cheerful giver and He wants us to joyfully serve Him. During this traditional season of Yeshua’s birth, He wants us to give joyfully because He came into this world joyfully to give of Himself. He is our example and we must follow in His footsteps.

Let us bring our gifts to Him like the wise men who traveled a long distance to humbly give their gifts to the King. We too must bring our greatest gift to Him and that is our lives; bring the sacrifice of praise which is the fruit of our lips, praise our redeemer joyfully, and willingly lay down our lives by crucifying our flesh so we may be resurrected as our Lord was.

The grain offering, our Messiah, was unleavened, fragranced, and salted and so too we must be.

We have been looking at the Temple sacrifices over the last few months and we have seen that these sacrifices not only foreshadow Messiah, but that they are still relevant today, even in the life of a believer. This month we want to look at the guilt offering and again we will see how relevant these sacrifices are in the life of a believer. It may not be quite the same as in the days of the temple and the Levitical sacrifices, but in their own way today, we as believers still need to keep the intent of the sacrifice alive in our lives.

The Guilt Offering

The guilt offering in Hebrew is called ?asham ?and it means “reparation.” There were several types of guilt offerings for several different crimes.

The first is called the ?variable?; these were usually things done that were not known at first and then became known: 1) If a person did not offer testimony in a court of law and held back information, 2) ritual impurity, and 3) a forgotten oath which was not kept. All of these required the person to confess the sin and repent and seek God for forgiveness and offer the sacrifice. Why was this so important if in most cases the person did not know or remember? Because right and wrong is still sin no matter if we know it or not. If we are caught speeding, even if we did not know it when the officer stops us, we are still guilty. And so that person, even not knowing, entered into the sanctuary and defiled it. God’s sanctuary is holy and must be kept holy.

The next is called the ?fixed guilt? offering. This was for anyone who either misused the holy things of the Lord or took His name in vain by 1) committing sacrilege unintentionally by misusing the holy things, 2) committing sacrilege by attempting to use God’s name to conceal a financial misdealing, 3) committing sacrilege by having relations with a married person. This person was guilty and was required to repent, repay the value of damages plus a fifth of the value, and then offer the sacrifice. The law of paying 120 percent applied to both Jews and God-fearing Gentile believers in the land of Israel when the temple and Levitical system were in operation but many believe that it still applies today no matter if you are in Israel or not.

The next guilt offering is called the ?uncertainty?. This is when a person is uncertain whether he has sinned and to be on the safe side, he offers a guilt offering of uncertainty, ?asham talui. They would call this sacrifice the “hanging guilt offering” because the offence that might have been done would have required that person to be cut off from Israel. So instead of leaving the person hanging, it was better to offer the sacrifice. Yeshua tells the parable of the sheep and the goats and when asked, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or naked or imprisoned or sick?” And He replies, “When you do to one of these little ones you did to me” (Matthew 25:31-46). So when we cheat or steal or unintentionally neglect or harm someone, we are also doing this to God.

It was known among the Jewish people that Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth was called the Talui or ha Tului, “the Hanged One,” meaning “the Crucified One.” Anti-Christian writings would use this description to imply “uncertainty” regarding Yeshua being the Messiah. Isaiah 53:10 says, “When His soul makes an offering for guilt (asham) . . . .” Yeshua the crucified one (talui) hung on the cross as an asham. This is where we get the term a “Hung Jury,” because the jury is uncertain if the person is guilty or not.

Conclusion

The guilt offering did not take away a person’s sins, it only averted the consequences of his sacrilege; he still needed to make restitution where it was needed to be made. A thief still was obligated to restore the stolen article. Again this applied to both Jews and Gentiles, and it applies even today. We see this in the story of Zacchaeus. Yeshua was passing through Jericho when a chief tax collector named Zacchaeus climbed up a sycamore tree to get a glimpse of the Master, because Zacchaeus was small in stature. When Yeshua looked up and saw him, He called to him and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Zacchaeus stopped and said to Yeshua, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back to him four times as much.” And Yeshua said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a Son of Abraham.”

Zacchaeus went above and beyond the required law, but when we love God by keeping His commandments, His Laws are not troubling to us; for we serve Him out of a thankful heart.

We have been looking at the different Levitical sacrifices these past months, and we have seen that though there is no temple today, these sacrifices are still being offered, or should be offered, in the lives of believers. We have looked at the peace offering, the grain offering, the guilt offering, and this month we are going to look at the burnt offering. You could say that this is the love offering. We celebrate Valentine’s Day and we give valentines as tokens of our love for each other. Well, the burnt offering is just like that Valentine. Let’s take a closer look.

The Burnt Offering

The burnt offering was called the korban olah, which means “the sacrifice that rises.” As we know, a sacrifice was for the purpose of drawing near to God, and the burnt offering was for the sole purpose of just that. Like every sacrifice, the animal was to be without defect or blemish. It had to be the best of the flock. This is why it was an outward sign of one’s love and devotion to God because when a person offered a burnt offering, he offered it as an act of surrender to God. Unlike the other offerings, this offering was totally burnt up and there was nothing for the offerer like there was with the peace offering or grain offering, which allowed the offerer to partake of the offering. So because of this, the smoke from the sacrifice went straight up, as to heaven, as a sweet sacrifice to the Lord. We give gifts to those we love and we don’t mind what we spend for those gifts because we love them and we give to them with great joy, and we wait to see their faces when they receive them. So too the Jewish people came with songs of praise unto the house of the Lord. It was a time of communion, a time of worship, a time for one to not only give thanks but to act out his faith and trust in God that not only will his sacrifice be accepted, but that God would meet his needs; after all, he was giving God the best of his herd for no other reason than the fact that he loved God.

This Can’t Be for Me

It was known that God-fearing Gentiles also offered such offerings to the God of Israel. So that leads us to today and to believers in the One true living God of Israel. How much do we love God? How do we show it? Well, Romans 12:1-2, for one, tells us, “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your service of worship and do not be conformed to this world, but 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.” 1 Peter 2:5 tells us, “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).” Hebrews 13:16 tells us, “And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Yeshua tells us, “If you love me, then keep My commandments” (John 14:15, 21, 23, 1 John 5:3).

These are just a few; so now ask yourself, “How much do I love God?” Is it enough to forsake all and follow him? Valentines will become old and someday thrown away, but how about your love? Is it still fresh and new? Is it still binding and true? Maybe you need to bring the Lord a new burnt offering, renewing your commitment, love, and devotion. Maybe you need to get back on the altar and continue being that living sacrifice for the one you truly love.

The Bible tells us that Moses wrote the 90th Psalm; and the rule of thumb is that if the next Psalm does not tell us who wrote it, then chances are it was the person who wrote the previous one. This is the case with Psalm 91. Let’s see if this Psalm could have been written by Moses.

Is This Another Song of Moses?

Psalm 91 starts with, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Who but Moses would have known about this? God told Moses and the Israelites to slaughter the Lamb and put its blood upon the doorposts; and the death angel would pass over their homes and they would be protected (Exodus 12:1-13). Moses asked to see God’s glory: “And it came about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:20-23). And of course, the people had the Tent of Meeting, God’s presence, the Ark of the Covenant with them.

Psalm 91:2-10 continues, “I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust!’ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes, and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, even the Most High your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plagues come near your tent.” Who trusted God more than Moses in his lifetime? The imagery of an eagle was used by God referring to the Exodus (Exodus 19:4), how He bore Israel on eagles wings, and brought them to Himself at Mt. Sinai. Moses knew about the craftiness of the evil one and how it caused the people to rebel and caused the plagues and pestilence that came upon the people in the wilderness. He also knew about how God delivered the righteous from these plagues. When a plague of serpents came and bit the people because of their sin, God told Moses to craft a bronze serpent and to lift it up so all who repented and looked at it would be saved. “And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived” (Numbers 21:6-9).

Israel encountered many people who they had to do battles with (Numbers 21:21-35, 31:1-24). One famous battle occurred with Amalek in Exodus 17:8-16. Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill to see the battle. When Moses lifted up his hands toward God to pray, Joshua and his men were winning the battle; when he put down his arms, Amalek and his men were winning the battle. So Aaron and Hur held up the arms of Moses so that Joshua would win the battle. The imagery of arrows flying and thousands falling at your side could be something that Moses would write about. And of course, with the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in Numbers 16:1-35, God told Moses to tell the people to “Get back from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” God in His anger opened up the ground and swallowed up their families and their tents and all of their belongings. Moses saw firsthand how God can protect the tents of the righteous and recompense the wicked.

Verse 11 of Psalm 91 continues with, “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.” The Israelites had the cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to not only lead them, but protect them. “And the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night” (Exodus 14:19-20). Pharaoh is a reference to the adversary. The imagery of a snake, a cobra, and a lion reference the devil, who rages like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8) and is the serpent going back to the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1). God’s people will have the victory over the adversary, the devil. Matthew 4 tells us that at the temptation of Yeshua, the devil quotes Psalm 91 when He wants Yeshua to jump from the pinnacle of the temple, stating that the angels would lift Him up so He would not strike His foot against a stone. The devil knew that the angels were given charge over God’s righteous.

Let’s go back to the beginning of this newsletter. Revelation 15:2-3 tells us that John saw those who came out of the tribulation victorious over the beast, the Anti-Christ, the devil, and over his image and the number of his name, with harps singing the Song of Moses. The ending of Psalm 91 tells us that, “Because He has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; and set him securely on high because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and he will behold My salvation.” We must remember that Moses was also a prophet and in his last song to Israel he prophesied how the people would rebel against God, but that they would come back to Him. So In Psalm 91, the writer sees that the redeemed will have the victory over the devil and that God will deliver them. When they call upon His name, He will be with them in their trouble and He will honor them and they will see His salvation.

The Songs of Moses in the Feast Days

The first song of Moses in Exodus 15 represents the Feast of Passover, the Messiah’s first coming, for we know that the first Passover took place. We also know how Israel had the victory over Pharaoh, Egypt, and their slavery; and Yeshua who is our Passover lamb has given us the victory over the devil, the world, and our sin. The second song in Deuteronomy 31 speaks of how the people wandered back into slavery because of idolatry. This represents the time that we, the disciples of Yeshua, are in now. We have forgotten that we, the Bride, are to prepare ourselves for Yeshua’s second coming and we have worshiped other gods, the world, which have taken the place of Yeshua in our lives. Like the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13, we have fallen asleep, we are not alert, not ready, not watching, not waiting, and not longing for our Bridegroom to appear (Matthew 24:44). We must be making our garments white, as these are the righteous acts of the redeemed. We must be going about our father’s business, building up our holy faith so that we can be victorious and overcome the beast (the devil) when he appears (Jude 20, 1 John 5:4).

The last song of Moses, Psalm 91, represents the Fall Feasts: the Feast of Trumpets (at the sound of the last trumpet, Yeshua will return), Yom Kippur (is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?), and the ingathering when God will be our tabernacle, our eternal home. This is when it will happen, during the Fall Feasts. The Fall Feasts still have to be fulfilled in the coming of Yeshua. At this time, the redeemed of the Lord will come out of the tribulation victoriously, for they have made their garments white (Revelation 6:11, 7:9, 14-17) and they have overcome the world and the beast (Revelation 12:11-12a). They will sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb (Revelation 15:2-4). So let us now look at Psalm 91 through the eyes of the redeemed.

The Song of the Redeemed

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God in whom I trust!’ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper, and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.” Psalm 61:4 says, “Let me dwell in Thy tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Thy wings.” This imagery of the shelter of God’s wings was used by the Psalmist over and over again. The Lord Himself used this imagery of eagles’ wings in Exodus 19:4. Isaiah, looking toward the future kingdom in chapter 4, sees the redeemed being washed clean and in verse 6, it speaks of a canopy, a tent, a tabernacle: the Lord Himself. “And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and a refuge (shelter) and protection from the storm and rain.” In Exodus 19:9 we see this idea of a canopy in the imagery of a cloud. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I shall come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you.'”

We must understand what was taking place here in Exodus 19. God was taking Israel as His own special treasure, His Segulahas it is in Hebrew. He was actually betrothing her and the thick cloud was the canopy, or Chuppah, which is used in Jewish weddings as a covering over the Bride and Groom. We don’t have time to go into it now, but the Ten Commandments, or the Torah as a whole, was the Ketubah, which is a Jewish wedding agreement. All of this represents God as our shelter, our protector, our refuge. In the Song of Solomon chapter 2 verses 3-4, we see this same imagery: “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love” (KJV). So we see when the redeemed of the Lord abides in Him, God places us under His shadow, His protection.

Starting in Psalm 91:5 he continues, “You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes, and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, even the Most High your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent.” Many people believe in a rapture before the tribulation, but is this correct? Today we see Christians all over the world being persecuted, tortured, and even martyred. If this was true, then it would have to be true going all the way back to the first Century, when thousands were martyred by Nero and the Roman Emperors at that time. No, God does not want us to suffer His wrath, but His wrath is damnation. Our protection under God, if we abide in Him, is Eternal Life, for He is our eternal dwelling place. So we need not fear when God judges the wicked, for it is not God’s wrath that we suffer, but that from the hand of the wicked.

Verse 11 continues, “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” You see, when we abide in God, that means we walk in His ways, putting Him in the center of our lives. He not only surrounds us with His angels to keep us, but we are in His word, which is a lamp unto our feet. It keeps us from falling and stumbling and even stubbing our toe. “Keeping” is a covenantal word which implies that when we are in covenant with God, we are His special possession, His Bride; and God protects us unto salvation.

Verse 13: “You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down. Because he loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.” Yeshua (Jesus) said over and over again, “He who overcomes . . . “. This is exactly what we see in Revelation 15:1-3 when the redeemed come out of the tribulation as overcomers, victorious over the beast, the serpent, the devil himself. Notice that the Psalmist uses the past tense, “because he loved me . . . because he knew My name.” Again, the word “knew” implies a covenant, as in the way a wife and husband know each other. The redeemed will sing the song of Moses because they knew God, because they loved God, because they abided in God, walking in His ways and in His word. They will overcome the beast and all the wickedness that will surround them, and they will be victorious because God will cover them in that shadow of His wing.

The Psalm ends in verse 15: “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. With long life (eternal life) I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Yeshua will come for His Bride and the marriage supper will take place. He will give honor to her and robe her in His glory. Moses, the great prophet, will be telling the story through his songs of God and His people. As believers, shouldn’t we be celebrating Passover and all of God’s Appointed Times? For they are the telling of the story of God and His people, and we as believers are bearing witness to this truth. If we want to abide in the shadow, then we must walk in God’s ways; and God Himself has appointed these times as a witness to the truth.

In several weeks, we will be honoring the crucifixion of Yeshua (Jesus). On the Christian calendar this is done on Good Friday, but more accurately it should be on the Jewish calendar on the 14th day of the first month, also known as the month of Nisan, which begins the Passover season at sundown. It is also the night of the Seder Meal. The Seder Meal is when Yeshua took the piece of matzah called the afikomen and broke it and said, “This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” One half of the afikomen is wrapped in a white napkin and is hidden until later in the Seder. Then He took the cup which is called the Cup of Redemption and said, “This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My blood.”

Paul tells us that Yeshua is our Passover Lamb and that we are to keep the feast with unleavened bread, for we are now unleavened. Leaven represents sin. The day after the crucifixion begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is why we Christians should be celebrating these feast days. Why? Because Yeshua died for our sins and now we should be unleavened (without sin). Romans 6 tells us that we should now be dead to sin because our old self has been crucified with Him.

Over the next several weeks, we want to take a closer look at all of this because Lent is not about giving up cake and cookies, but about giving up the sins that keep us from walking in newness of life.

As we prepare during this time of Lent, we must understand what we are preparing for, and it’s not the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs. What we are actually preparing for is the second coming of Yeshua (Jesus).

You see, Yeshua told us to remember Him at the Seder Meal. So we must ask ourselves, “Why?” Why remember the crucifixion? Why remember Yeshua at this time, this time of Passover? We must understand what Passover is all about. It is about the Exodus of God’s people from slavery. It is about the transfer of ownership.

You see, Pharaoh was the owner of the Jewish people; that is what slavery is all about. God redeemed them; in other words, He paid for their freedom and they became His. That night, the blood of the Passover lamb covered them as the death angel passed over them, and so too the blood of our Passover Lamb, Yeshua, covers us and His redemption paid for us to now belong to God; we are no longer slaves to sin and death, all symbolic in the Exodus: Pharaoh (the devil), Egypt (the kingdom of darkness), leaven (sin), and as for the passing through the Red Sea, well, I will let Paul tell you in Romans 6:3-6: “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 have newness of life. 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.”

It’s hard for you to understand this if you are Catholic because Catholics baptize infants, though that was not always the case; but those who are baptized as adults are submersed into the water, for this is the Jewish way, which is the true meaning of the word baptismo, which then makes the illustration of Paul make more sense. When Israel went into the Red Sea, it was like being submersed (symbolic of death) and buried, and when they came out of the sea, it was like being resurrected.

So the Passover story is for everyone, for Yeshua came as our Passover Lamb and redeemed us from the Kingdom of darkness and brought us into His own Kingdom of Light. We have experienced our own exodus, and we too have experienced a death—a death to sin—and we are no longer slaves to sin because we have died to it. Now we are alive in newness of life.

The question is, are you living in that newness of life or are you still a slave to darkness? We will continue to take a closer look at this question of what we are preparing for throughout this Lenten Season.

As we saw in part two of our Lenten devotional, it is not about giving up cake or cookies for Lent that prepares us, but the giving up of sin. It’s about death to self, the flesh, and life in the Spirit. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:7-8, “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 (Jesus) my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Messiah.” Paul tells us that our lives are not about fame or fortune or status or even our denomination in life (Philippians 3:5), but it is about knowing Messiah.

Yeshua tells us in Luke 12:15, “And He said to them, ‘Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.'” Paul goes on to tell us how we may know Yeshua: not just a knowledge of Him, but actually knowing Him. The word “knowing” in the Hebrew is a covenantal word; in other words, it is like a couple that is in a covenant married relationship. This is how we are to know our Messiah. Philippians 3:10-11 goes on to say, “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.” Should not a time that remembers death be about death? We must walk in the footsteps of our Messiah.

Yeshua tells us in Luke 9:23, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow after Me.” Yeshua goes on and says, “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it” (Luke 9:24). Paul himself recognized that he had not totally achieved knowing Messiah, but he tells us, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Messiah Yeshua” (Philippians 3:14). You may think this to be extreme, but Paul continues to say in verse 18, “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Messiah, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.” John tells us in 1 John 2:15-17, “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. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”

We must have an ever-growing love for the Father and to do that, we must crucify our flesh daily so that we may walk with Yeshua, who is the Word made flesh, the Light of the World, leading those who will hear and obey His voice through the Word of God.

We have been looking at what we need to do to prepare for the time that the Bible calls the Passover and that the church calls Good Friday. We have seen that it is not about giving up cookies or cake but about giving up sin and giving up our lives, crucifying the flesh, picking up our cross, and walking in the footsteps of our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). Today we want to look at a question: how do we crucify the flesh?

The Bible tells us in Galatians 5:17 that our flesh is at war with our spirit. Romans 7:14-25 tells us, “For we know that the Torah is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 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.” We find ourselves in this constant battle between doing right and doing wrong. But Paul told us in Romans 6:7, “For he who has died is freed from sin.” So how can this be if I am still doing the things I hate? Romans 8:1 tells us, “Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).”

Does this mean that it is okay for me to sin because I am in Messiah? Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” Paul makes clear our struggle with sin, and he also makes it clear that we are not to continue in it. Let’s look at some Scriptures that might help direct us in winning this battle that rages in us.

First we see in Romans 8:5-8, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law (word) of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” We see here that if we continue in following after the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life (1 John 2:15-17) as we saw in our last devotional, then we have not even begun crucifying the flesh, and consequently, we are enemies with God. Does this mean that we are to go live in a cave and not participate in life? No, but what it does mean is that the things of God have to become more important to us than the things of this world. We now live by God’s Word and by God’s will for us rather than for the things of the world. Romans 12:1-2 tells us, “I urge you therefore, 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. And do not be conformed to this world, but 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.”

It is our responsibility to find the will of God for us and then live it out; and the best place to start for this is in the Word of God. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:19 of these deeds of the flesh as being evident: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry (anything that keeps you from God), sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, and carousing. Ephesians 5:1-5 goes on to say, “Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Messiah also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving thanks, for you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Messiah and God.” So Paul tells us in Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.”

As we prepare for the season of the crucifixion, let us consider what it’s all about: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Over these last few weeks, we have seen what we need to do to prepare for the day of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) crucifixion, the day that He told us to “remember Him” by at His last supper (the Passover Seder). We have seen what is required of us, and it is not to give up cake or cookies, but to give up sin in our lives and to actually give up our lives for Him who has not only given us life, but eternal life. We learned that we are to crucify our flesh and walk in the footsteps of our Savior.

This all may seem like very harsh words from our Messiah, and in His day the people responded the same way and it caused them to stumble. The book of John records the story in chapter six beginning at verse 26. This is the “I Am the Bread of Life,” dialogue. We will begin at verse 53: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, for My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

Verse 60-61 goes on, “Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this said, ‘This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?’ But Yeshua, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, ‘Does this make you stumble?'” Verse 63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Verses 66-69 go on, “As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. Yeshua said therefore to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.'”

Walking the life of a believer is difficult, but only if we walk without the Spirit of God; for the Spirit gives us life and the power to live a victorious life in Messiah. You see, the Jewish people knew that Yeshua was not speaking of actually eating His body or drinking His blood which He refers to in the above Scriptures and also at the Seder Meal when He said, “this is My body given for you: do this in remembrance of Me,” and did the same with the cup. He was not saying that the Matzah that He lifted up or the cup was actually His body and blood, but that it represented what He was about to do: the giving of Himself for us so that we may have life. For the believer too must die to himself to obtain life.

To do this, it requires us to walk daily in His Spirit and not by our flesh. This requires us not to eat the flesh of Messiah, but to actually take the Word of God and make it a part of us in our speech, our actions, and our thoughts. It’s what the Bible calls the “renewing of our mind.” Remember, Yeshua is the Word made flesh; in other words, we must eat, as it were, the Word of God. We must allow the Word of God to change us and transform us into His likeness. We now say “NO” to the world’s way and “YES” to God’s way. We crucify our flesh, as Paul tells us in Galatians 5:24-25, “Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Today as we prepare to remember Yeshua’s crucifixion and celebrate His resurrection, let us begin by embracing who He is, the Word made flesh, and let us start by making that commitment to each day not only read the Word of God, but put it to practice. To quote the writer of Proverbs referring to the Word, “She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast.”

We have looked at the different types of sacrificial offerings over the last several months, and we have seen that the thanksgiving, freewill, and Passover lamb were all peace offerings. The peace offering was never offered for sin, yet Scripture tells us that Yeshua (Jesus) is our Passover Lamb. So as we are approaching Passover, we must ask ourselves, “If Yeshua is our Passover Lamb, how is He our sin offering?” Let’s first look at sin to see exactly what it is.

Sin

“Sin” is a word that comes from the Greek which means to miss the mark, as in archery. Sin is a transgression of the Torah. Sin is Lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Whether committed knowingly or unknowingly, sin keeps us from having a proper relationship with God. Sacrifices were God’s way of bringing a person close or drawing him near. The sacrifice was for the sole purpose of worship. So when we become defiled by known or unknown sin, we too must offer up an offering to become right again with God. But you may say, “That is the Old Testament,” or, “That was done away with; we now have Yeshua (Jesus).” Well, let’s take a close look and gain some insight into all of this.

The Sin Offering

A person who brought the sin offering was not offering up his offering voluntarily as with the peace, grain, and burnt offerings. A sin offering was required when a person inadvertently committed a sin that would require him being “cut off” from the community. There was a sin offering for the nation and for the individual. The priest would offer a sin offering for the sins of the nation for different reasons. For example, if the priesthood declared that something was according to the Torah but then later realized that no, it was not, this would require a sin offering. Even though it may have been the sin of the priesthood, it was still carried out by the whole community. Then there was the sin of the individual. Maybe a person unintentionally broke a commandment of Torah; he would bring a sin offering when he realized his sin. Other types of sin offerings are a woman who has given birth to a child, a leper after being cleansed, a nazarite who came into contact with a corpse, and a nazarite who has completed the term of his vow.

These people are all required to offer up a ?Chattat?, or in English, a sin offering. Why are these people required to give a sin offering when there is no sin committed? It is for the sole purpose of purification. You see, a sin offering was made to purify the Sanctuary from certain types of Levitical impurity and from the spiritual stain of sin. A person’s sins spiritually contaminated the Sanctuary, even if a sinful or unclean person entered into a holy place unknowingly. It would have to be purified, and the sin offering removed the stain. The sin offering was never made for atonement. A person did not bring an offering to clear his conscience or to acquire forgiveness. Hebrews 10:4 tells us, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Now if this sacrifice did not pertain to us, then why was Yeshua our sin offering?

You see, there is the cleansing of the flesh and there is the cleansing of the spirit, the soul of man that lives on. Hebrews 9:13-14 addresses this issue, telling us that the blood of bulls and goats may cleanse the flesh, but only the blood of Yeshua can cleanse our conscience from dead works so that we may serve the living God. Yeshua’s offering was done in the spiritual realm. How?

Yeshua our Sin Offering

No man can come to the Father except through Yeshua. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “God made Him who knew no sin to be a sin offering on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness (or in right standing) with God in Him.” Yeshua’s shed blood purified the altar in Heaven, and so it was done to cleanse us spiritually (Hebrews 9:22-26). When we come to God in prayer, we come in the name of Yeshua (Jesus) and we draw near by His sacrifice, washed in His blood to cleanse us of our sins. This is why it is important for us as believers to understand the temple service and the duty of the priesthood; for we too are a royal priesthood serving at the altar of God. We must understand that God and purity go hand-in-hand. His sanctuary is holy, and we are to be holy before God, for we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. No offering, be it the sin offering, guilt offering, or the offering made on the Day of Atonement, can bring cleansing without repentance from one’s sin and, of course, all we do must be done in faith in Yeshua’s sacrifice for us.

“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” (Hebrews 10:22). “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:19).

As we approach Passover, let us remember that Yeshua is our Passover lamb, our peace offering, and as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, “Do you not know that a little leaven (sin) leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven (sin), that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened (without sin); 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.” Yes, believers can celebrate Passover because Yeshua is our Passover lamb (peace offering) and He is our guilt offering, our burnt offering, and our grain offering. He is our sacrifice by which we draw near to God.

Today we want to consider Yeshua (Jesus). Many believers today do not totally understand that the prophets prophesied about the sufferings of Yeshua (Jesus). Many believe that the Jews crucified our Messiah, and so they have had ill feelings toward them, calling them Christ-killers, when in fact it was not them, but it was God’s plan from the beginning. Isaiah writes in chapter 53:10, “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; to render Himself as a guilt offering.” John tells us in chapter 10 starting at verse 14, “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.” Verses 17-18: “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have the authority to lay it down, and the authority to take it up again. This commandment I receive from My Father.”

So let’s look at what the prophets spoke of our suffering servant Yeshua. Despite how Hollywood portrays Yeshua, He was Jewish and He dressed like His kinsmen and he kept Torah and Sabbath and His words were the words of His heritage. Paul tells us in Hebrews 2:17, “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Isaiah writes of Him in chapter 53:2-3, “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form of majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” The Father did not want Yeshua to attract people because of His looks, but for His words. Isaiah continues in verses 3-4, “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our grief He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.”

Our Messiah took upon Himself our sorrows, our loneliness, our troubles; He knows, He feels, and because of that, He is our mediator between us and God and He lives to make intercession for us (1 Timothy 2:5-6, Hebrews 7:25-26). Hebrews 2:18 tells us, “For since He Himself was tempted in that He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” Again in Hebrews 4:15: “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.” Verse 7: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.”

The Bible tells us to do all things without complaining and grumbling. Believers are to follow in the footsteps of their Messiah. We are to bless and not curse, we are to love our enemies and pray for them. This is so far from our culture today. We want revenge, we want to be outraged, we want to be heard; but our Messiah who had no fault was treated with contempt and injustice and yet He did not cry out, nor did he speak a word. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” Isaiah 52:14: “His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.”

Our sins from each one of us—every sin—was laid upon Him. The weight, the guilt, the shame, all that we feel, our hurts, and our brokenness all became His brokenness; it all came upon Him: the world’s sins, iniquities, and transgressions all were laid upon Him. No one murdered him except our sins. He was our sacrifice, the precious Lamb of God. How can we not crucify our flesh? How can we not walk in His footsteps? How can we be friends with the world and make Him our enemy? Paul tells us in Hebrews 10:26, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” The Bible tells us not to neglect such a great salvation.

Let us remember; let us follow in His footsteps, “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” (Philippians 3:10-11).

We want to begin our new devotional series called Countdown to Pentecost. We want to look at the Scriptures that follow the resurrection up to the day of Pentecost to get a better understanding of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) relationship with His disciples, His teachings, and all that He commanded at this time. Because the drama of the crucifixion and the resurrection is over, we think that nothing else is important for us to know regarding the Scriptures, but Yeshua had a lot to say to His disciples before He left them, and we are going to take a closer look.

Today we want to look at the road to Emmaus. In Luke 24 beginning at verse 13, we find two of the disciples on the road to Emmaus discussing with each other about all that had taken place over the last couple of days. You can imagine how they felt after seeing all their hopes shattered before them, when a man caught up with them and began to talk with them. He asked, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” They stopped walking, for they were surprised to find someone who did not know all the events that had taken place over the Passover. In verse 18, Cleopas, I’m sure, spoke with a surprised tone in his voice when he asked the man, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” The man asked, “What things?” So they began to tell him how Yeshua the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word, was crucified. The man, intently listening to their story, continued walking with them.

In verse 21, they began to feel more comfortable with him and then they began to tell him their hope and dream: “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.” I’m sure the man felt their pain and their extreme disappointment, for you see, the redemption of Israel is what the prophets spoke of when they spoke about the Messiah, that he would come and redeem them and deliver them from all their enemies. Without the redemption, how could this man truly have been the Messiah sent from God? He had to have been a false prophet!

In verses 22-24, they continued speaking, with yet a little ray of hope: “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” I’m sure the man who walked with them that day must have seen the true hearts of these men, men who wanted to believe but just did not understand. Do you ever find yourself in this position when you want to trust and believe God, but your own understanding steps in the way and causes you to doubt, and that doubt brings on fear and anxiety? It is a downward slope that leads to hopelessness and causes some people to even stop walking with God.

Verses 25-32 continue on and we find that the man walking with these two disciples of Yeshua could not let this doubt continue; and he says to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” He continued to explain the Scriptures to them. By this time, they had reached the village and the two pleaded with the man to stay on with them and eat with them. So he did; and at the table, he took some of his bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave them some to eat, and their eyes were opened and Yeshua, the one who walked with them that day, was gone. Simply amazed and astonished the two said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” When we find ourselves puzzled and confused, worrying and full of distress, even doubtful and hopeless, we must continue to keep walking with God. We must start by telling Him what is truly on our hearts and then we must turn to the Scriptures and see what they have to say about our situation. I tell you, you will find your answers there no matter what the circumstances are and then trust God, no matter if we understand or not. For He is in control, and He will never leave us or abandon us. No matter what, stay in the word and stay in prayer and stay believing, for truly God is walking with you and He will open your eyes to see truth.

Here are just a few Scriptures that may help in your time of need:

Anxiety and Worry

Psalm 16:11; Proverbs 16:7; Isaiah 41:10; Matthew 6:31-34; Philippians 4:6-9,19; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 5:7

Comfort

Psalm 23; Lamentations 3:21-26; Matthew 5:4, 11:28-30; John 14:16-18; Romans 15:4; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Confidence

Psalm 27:3; Proverbs 3:26, 14:26; Isaiah 30:15; Galatians 6:9; Ephesians 3:11-12; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 10:35; 1 Peter 2:9

Difficulties

Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 5:8, 12:7, 11; Revelation 3:19

Disappointment

Psalm 43:5, 55:22, 126:6; John 14:27; 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

Discouragement

Joshua 1:9; Psalm 27:14, 43:5; John 14:1-3, 27, 16:33, 19:25-27; Colossians 1:5; Hebrews 4:16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; 1 John 5:14; Revelation 22:1-4

External Pressures

Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Peter 5:7; 1 John 5:4-5

Faith

Romans 4:3; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 11:1, 6, 12:2; James 1:3-6; 1 Peter 1:7

Fear

Psalm 27:1, 56:11, 91:1-2, 121:1-8; Proverbs 3:25; Romans 8:28-29, 31, 35-39; Philippians 4:19; 2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:18; Jude 24-25

Forgiving Others

Proverbs 18:19; Matthew 5:44-47, 6:12,14, 18:15-35; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 17:3-4; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13

Guilt

Psalm 32:1-2; Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 2:9-17

Loneliness

Psalm 27:10, 91:11; Isaiah 41:10; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5-6

Suffering

Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 1:5; Philippians 1:29, 3:10; 2 Timothy 2:12; 1 Peter 1:6-7, 2:19, 4:12-13, 16, 5:10

John 20:19-29 records one of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) appearances to His disciples. It begins, “When evening came on the first day of the week and when the doors were closed and the disciples were fearful of their fellow Jews, Yeshua came and stood in their midst. He said ‘Peace be with you.'” We find throughout the three years that Yeshua spent with His disciples that there were many times when they were fearful. John records in chapter 6:15-20 about when the disciples went to cross over the sea of Galilee to Capernaum and a storm arose. Yeshua was not with them, and then suddenly they saw Him walking on the water toward them and they became frightened, and He said to them, “It is I, do not be afraid.” Mark records the time when Yeshua was in the boat sleeping and a storm arose and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was filling up, ready to sink, and they cried out to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are going to perish?” And He arose and told the wind, “Be still.” How often we find ourselves fearful and frightened, even thinking that we may even perish? But Yeshua sees and He knows what goes on in our everyday living, and when we are facing a storm in our lives or when we are locked up inside ourselves, He is there to bring us peace or to calm the storm.

Yeshua asks His disciples after He calmed the storm, “Why are you so afraid? Have you no faith?” That day when He appeared to His frightened disciples, He bid them peace and showed them His hands and His side. This brought them great joy and they rejoiced to see Him. Yeshua tells them again, “Peace be with you,” and He commissioned them and filled them with His Holy Spirit. But Thomas was not there at the time, and when he returned, all of the other disciples were excitedly telling him that the Master had come. But Thomas would not believe until he saw the nail scars of Yeshua and placed his finger in them. Thomas doubted even his own brethren. How often do we go through life doubting God? We don’t believe that He loves us or cares about us. Many people believe that if God created the world, that He did it and then abandoned the project and left us to ourselves. Well, eight days later—for Yeshua gave Thomas enough time to think about the last three years and all he saw during those years—Yeshua came to His disciples and once again said to them, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.” We see here that Yeshua showed His disciples the first time his hands and side, and then again to Thomas. Why was this so important for Him to do this? There is only one reason: because it was the sign of His love. It was the sign that took away their fear the first time and it was the sign that caused Thomas to no longer doubt but believe. It is also the sign to us that God so loves us that he sent Yeshua, His only begotten Son, to die for us so that whomever believes in Him shall have eternal life.

God already proved His love for us. It is His guarantee, as Paul writes in Romans 8:26-39 speaking about our victory in Messiah Yeshua: “And in the same way the spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Those times when we are so beyond ourselves that we can’t even pray, the Holy Spirit will cry out for us. Verse 28: “For we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” You see, God will work things out for our good. This does not necessarily mean what we see as good, but what He knows to be good for us. Verses 31-32: “What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give all things?” If the Father gave us Yeshua as a ransom for our sins, will He not show us love or understanding in our time of need? We must see that God the Father already proved to us that he loves us and that He is for us. Verse 35 says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Verse 37-39: “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things 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.”

The next time you are frightened or doubtful that God does not see or care, remember the nail-scarred hands and feet of Yeshua, and have faith! Let it strengthen you and give you peace knowing that our Messiah paid the price for you. He already showed His love and because of that, you CAN be victorious in your situation, for you have a Father who hears your prayers. He is concerned about you and He will not let you perish. Trust Him with all your heart and soul. Paul tell us in Philippians 4:6-7, “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.”

As we countdown to Pentecost, we want to look once again at one of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) appearances after His resurrection. John records this appearance, which took place at the Sea of Galilee, in chapter 21 starting at verse 1. One evening Peter said that he was going fishing and a few of the other disciples went along. At daybreak they saw a man on the shore and the man shouted out to them, “Do you have any fish?” and they replied, “NO!” The man on the shore shouted back to them, “Cast your nets on the right side of the boat and you will find a catch.” Well, after fishing all night and catching nothing, what did they have to lose? So they did, and when they did, what a catch they had! They were not able to haul it in because of the number of fish they caught. Immediately John cried out, “It is the Lord!” and with that, Peter put on his outer garment and swam to shore. The others brought the boat in with the catch of fish.

How excited they all were to see and hear from the Messiah. Can you say the same thing about yourself? Would you stop what you are doing and run to the Master? If you heard His voice and He asked you, would you know His voice and would you do what He is asking you to do?

When they came to Yeshua, they saw the fire and the fish cooking and Yeshua asked them to bring some of the fish they had just caught. He said to them, “Come and eat.” There is nothing like sitting around the table with loved ones and eating a meal. Isn’t that how the tradition of coming together for Thanksgiving came about? Thanksgiving’s meal is about eating with those whom we are thankful for. Many transactions have taken place during a meal. Covenants were sealed with a meal. Isn’t this why we have a meal at a wedding? In fact, one of the Temple sacrifices was called just that, a “meal offering.”

Well, this was important also to Yeshua. He said that He was looking forward to eat the Seder Meal with His disciples before His crucifixion, and He looks forward to the day when He will eat with His believers at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). Yeshua is the Word made flesh. He told us that we need to eat of Him (John 6:53-56).

Isaiah writes in chapter 55, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters (the well of Salvation, the water of life): and you who have no money come, buy and eat (the gift of life is free to all who come, rich and poor alike). Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost (Paul and Peter both refer to the Word as milk, for the new believer and meat for the mature believer, 1 Corinthians 3:2, 1 Peter 2:2). Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and wages for what does not satisfy (the Bible speaks of the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life; this is not from God. But what is from God is His true Manna from heaven, the bread of life, His Word, John 6:48-51)? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance (Yeshua has come to give us life and that life abundantly. It is not about our possessions, for our life is not in our possessions, or else many would not, or even could not, achieve His gift of life. The Psalmist speaks of the Word as honey, Psalm 19 Verse 10: “They (law, testimony, precepts, commandments, judgements) are more desirable than gold, yes much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.” His word should not be bitter to us, but sweet). Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live.”

Only God’s Word can bring us life, but only if we come and eat of Him. We must not only embrace the Word of God but we must consume it. We must live it out each and every day. Let us come to the table of the Lord and let us eat that which is good, for the Lord our God has set before us a table worth feasting at. Let us delight in what is good for our soul, that which will bring healing, that which will bring life. The book of Revelation ends with, “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.” Yeshua asked His disciples to come and eat.

Will you?

This week we want to continue our story from last week. The disciples and Yeshua (Jesus) are having breakfast by the seashore. We want to start now at John 21:15 where Yeshua turns to Peter to confront him about his loyalty as a disciple. We must remember that Peter denied Yeshua three times outside the court of the high priest, Caiaphas. So now Yeshua asks Peter, “Do you love Me more than these?” pointing to His other disciples. Peter answers, “Yes, Lord; You know I love You.” Consider how Peter must have felt at that moment. He felt remorseful already that he had denied the Master and now he is being asked about his love. Being confronted about our love of our Master is not a bad thing. We must all be confronted about this issue because we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. We all choose the way of the world (which makes us an enemy of God) instead of the way of God. We all need to be restored.

Yeshua asks him again, “Do you love Me?” Again, Peter answers, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” Being asked once was bad enough, but now Yeshua was asking Him again. Did He not believe Peter? Was Yeshua insensitive to his feelings? And if that was not enough, Yeshua asked him a third time, “Do You love Me?” The Scriptures say that Peter was now grieved because Yeshua asked him the third time. Peter answered, “Lord, You know all things: You know that I love You.” Some theologians say that because Peter denied Yeshua three times that Yeshua had to ask him three times; others look at where the Torah says, “Let a thing be established by two or three witnesses,” and so that is why he asked three times; but I think it goes deeper than that. I think if we take a closer look at this, we see the significance behind asking him three times.

We see the number three is very significant in the Bible. Abraham took a three day journey to Mt. Morah to sacrifice Isaac, Moses said that Pharaoh needed to let the people go on a three day journey to sacrifice to their God, and Yeshua was raised after three days, to mention a few. So we see here that Yeshua asks Peter three times. He began by saying, “Simon, son of John….” Why did He not just call him Peter? And then, at that, why three times? In the days of the Master, this is how people knew who you were. They did not have last names. People in your home town knew you by your parents. They said of Yeshua, “Is this not the Carpenter’s son?”

God knows who we are, but do we really know ourselves? He knows our hearts. The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9-10, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind.” So I think that Yeshua was saying to Peter, “I know you and I know your heart.” I’m sure this is why Peter said, “Lord, you know all things.” We need to know and understand that the Creator of our soul knows us by name and He knows who we are. He knows our hearts better than we do. We can lie to ourselves and make ourselves believe anything by just reasoning away and rationalizing everything. Yeshua was getting to the heart of the matter: “Simon son of John, I am speaking to just you.” There could not be any question in his mind.

Then He asked Him, “Do you love Me?” Yeshua had Peter’s full attention. Three times He made Peter think about this question, just in case he answered the first time without thinking. It made him have to think once again. This is why God had Abraham take a three day journey, just to think about if he really was willing to offer up his son. So too with Peter, because what He told Peter next, Yeshua needed to know the answer and so did Peter. Yeshua said the first time, “Tend to My lambs.” The next time He said, “Shepherd My sheep,” and the third time He said, “Tend My sheep.” Yeshua knew that Peter loved Him. He knew who Peter was and that he was capable of the task that was being asked of him, but Peter needed to know for sure. He had to have the confidence to say, “Yes, Lord, I do love you.” It was because he had failed the Master so many times that it was for Peter’s sake that Yeshua kept asking the question.

What about you and I? God calls each of His people to Himself. Do we respond to His call? Do we say, “Yes, Lord, I love you,” and mean it, or is our heart just lying to us? God will never stop asking us that same question, “Do you love Me?” Yeshua said, “If you love Me then keep My commandments.” You see, following the Lord is not something to be taken lightly. He requires of us our lives. When He told Peter to tend to His sheep, this was a very important task because he was to care for what belonged to God. Are we not our brother’s keeper? Are we not to hear the cry of the poor? 1 John 3:17 says, “If you have this world’s possessions and you behold your brother in need and you close your heart against him, how does the love of God abide in you?”

We are all to tend to God’s lambs. We are all responsible for feeding God’s sheep. God knows your name and He knows you are able to do what He is asking of you. It may not be physical food they need, but maybe what your brother needs is spiritual food, the Word of God, or a word of encouragement, compassion, or even mercy. You must say to yourself, “_________, son/daughter of _________, do I love God? Then I must tend to His sheep,” and it may take three times before it really sinks in that this is what God requires of you.

What is all of this about being Judeo-Christian? How can someone be a Jew and a Christian at the same time? And why would a Christian be a Jew? These are all good questions, and they each have a good answer.

What’s in a Name?

If you are a Christian, your faith is based upon the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the Scriptures surrounding them. Your Savior is the King of the Jews, Yeshua (Jesus) HaMashiach (the Messiah, Christ in the Greek). This is our foundation. This is what we are built upon.

The body of Messiah began with all Jewish believers. The disciples were all Jewish, and the first congregation of believers was Jewish, three thousand alone coming to belief in Yeshua on the day of Pentecost. The first believers did not follow a pope, but James the brother of Yeshua; and they were not located in Rome, but in Jerusalem. Believers in Yeshua were a sect of Judaism and they went to the synagogue and they remained practicing Jews, believing in their Messiah Yeshua, and this was all after the Resurrection. So you see, a Jewish person can be a believer, and throughout the centuries there have been many Jewish people who were also believers in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua.

What Happened to the Jewish Messiah Yeshua?

Well, other than it being a long story (centuries long), church history is far from hidden. But today, many believers do not know how we got here. As Roman persecution came throughout the years, many Gentile believers did not want to be associated with their Jewish brothers, so they distanced themselves from Judaism and the Jewishness of the Bible. Many of the church fathers began to teach this separation first by anti-Judaism rhetoric, which then turned to anti-Jewish rhetoric. Then they taught replacement theory, which is that the church (the Gentile place of worship) and the Gentile believers replaced the Jews and the synagogue.

But a lot has to do with anti-Semitism. Quite frankly, we just did not want to be associated with the Jewish people. In fact, we wanted to be better than the Jews, because we accused them of killing Jesus. We now had all the blessings of God, and the Jewish people, the chosen people of God, were no longer His people. We changed His name, Yeshua, to Jesus to conform with the Greco-Roman world. Many believers today do not even realize that Jesus (Yeshua) was a practicing Orthodox Jew. He kept the 7th day (Saturday) Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3, Luke 4:14-21, 6:5-6, 13:10) and all of the rest of God’s Appointed Times (Leviticus 23): Passover, Unleavened Bread (Luke 22), Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles (John 7:1-2, 37). He even kept Hanukkah (John 10:22-23). He wore a prayer shawl and went to the synagogue and paid the Temple tax. We stripped Him of His roots and we toppled our foundation. We called the Hebrew Scriptures old and obsolete, and we called the Apostolic Scriptures new and only for believers. We became anti-Torah, or as Paul used the term, Lawless.

We lost our identity, our foundation, our whole purpose for why we exist, and we also changed the Biblical Gospel message (which has to do with the true work of the Messiah in regards to Israel) into a Salvation only message (see our teaching on the good news). In doing all of this, we have recreated a Messiah that looks more Western than Middle Eastern. The Church replaced the Synagogue and Rome replaced Jerusalem. But Paul makes it quite clear that we have been grafted into Israel and they support us, not the other way around (Romans 11:17-19).

People believe that Paul was one of these church fathers that condemned Judaism, but in fact, He boldly said, “I AM a Pharisee,” a Hebrew of Hebrews (Philippians 3:5)! He said the Law (Torah) is holy (Romans 7:12). In fact, Yeshua Himself said in Matthew 5:17-19, “I did not come to do away with the Torah but to fulfill it.” Now, what we do not understand (because we have not been taught to understand) is that Yeshua was Jewish and that He kept the Torah because He was the living Torah, the Word made flesh. So what is the Torah? Let’s take a closer look.

The Torah

The Torah is the first five books of the Bible. It was written down by Moses as God gave him the revelation on the mountain at the same time He gave him the Ten Commandments. We believers accept the book of Genesis, but for the most part we do not interest ourselves with the rest. The book of Exodus speaks of the deliverance of Israel from slavery and bondage from the Egyptians, the building of the tabernacle, and the giving of God’s commands. Leviticus speaks of the sacrifices and God’s Appointed Times. Numbers speaks of the wanderings of Israel for forty years, but it also shows us the difference between those who believed God and those who rebelled. The last book, the book of Deuteronomy, speaks of the Torah as a whole, like a recap. But here we see that the Torah is written out like an ancient covenant or treaty of its day between God the King and Israel His people. It is also done like a Ketubah, which is a Jewish wedding contract.

So that is a short summary of the Torah. In time, we will take a closer look at these books.

Should Christians Become Jewish?

So if Yeshua was Jewish, and the early believers were all Jewish, does that mean that we need to become Jewish? Do you have to be Jewish to be a Judeo-Christian? NO! Judeo-Christians believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We also believe in Yeshua (Jesus), who is the Messiah of Israel. Yes, Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel, and He will fulfill all the Scriptures that have been prophesied about Him concerning Israel. As Judeo-Christians, we also have our beliefs in the Scriptures of Israel, the Creation, all of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, the Ten Commandments, the Psalms, and the Prophets. We are the only people who believe this way.

Paul’s message to the Gentiles was very clear: Gentiles did not need to become Jewish. Now, what Paul meant was that Gentiles did not need to become ceremonially Jewish, that is, the works (circumcision, sacrifice, and Mikvah) required of them to actually become a proselyte Jew. Paul did not mean that a Gentile could not keep Sabbath or God’s Appointed Times, for we see that even at the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai there were those non-Jews who went out of Egypt with Israel, and they were called God-fearers. God-fearers were those who believed in the one true living God, the God of Israel (Leviticus 24:22, Numbers 9:14, 15:14-16). We see in the Gospels (Luke 7:1-5) when the Centurion asked Yeshua (Jesus) to heal his slave, the people tell Yeshua that this man loves the nation of Israel and helped build their Synagogue. We also see Peter with Cornelius in Acts 10:1-4, just to mention a few. Keeping God’s Word does not make you Jewish; what it does make you is a child of God. God’s word is one just as He is one, and we must not call God’s word old or obsolete. What we do need to call it is holy, and we need to embrace it because Yeshua is the Word of God made flesh, that same word that created the world into being, that same Word that died for our sins. A Judeo-Christian is one who believes in the whole counsel of God and lives by it; for Yeshua tells us if we love Him, we will keep God’s Commands.

So That’s Why We Do That!

As Judeo-Christians, we may think that how we worship is unique to us, but we are going to look at how the church, mainly the Catholic church, took their cue from the Jewish synagogue. So let’s take a closer look at what is similar between the two.

We see Jewish men wear prayer shawls, and most of them have a stitched collar around it like a stole; the priest wears his vestments with a stole.

A Jewish man will wear a head covering called a kippa; many priestly orders, monsignors, and even the pope wear a skull cap.

The Jewish people call their teacher Rabbi; we call ours Pastor. Jewish people use a prayer book called a Siddur in which they recite their prayers; believers also use a prayer book to recite their prayers. The Jewish worship service reads a portion each week from the Torah scroll. Before Yeshua’s day, the reading cycle went from a three year cycle to a one year cycle. In the Catholic church, they read from the lectern, and they still use a three year cycle. They both read from a podium, and they both bless the readers who have come up to read. In Yeshua’s day, we read of the sanhedrin, a group of men who made decisions based upon their beliefs. The Catholic church has the Council of the Cardinals who gather in Rome. The Jewish worship includes songs and times of fasting. The Catholic church also sings songs and has times of fasting. The Jews say a prayer called the Amidah, and we say the same prayer in a shortened version called the Lord’s prayer. The Jewish people say prayers three times a day, and the church would ring their steeple bells in accordance to those three times, for they also would say prayers. The Jewish people have the Ten Commandments as their moral code, and so do we. They have baptism, Communion, feast days, and they believe in the Messiah, all things we have in common. So let’s now take a closer look at what is different between the two.

First, I want to look at two Scriptures. Romans 3:1-2 says, “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.” Romans 9:4 tells us, “…who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Torah and the temple service and the promises.” Now I point this out first because we have not been taught according to God’s Word, but according to the flesh of men; our baptism came from the Jewish practice of immersing oneself in water. This is what the Greek word “baptizo” means, “to immerse.” The Jewish custom of the Mikvah is a ritual cleansing where one submerges in water for religious purification and holiness. One might immerse before Sabbath or a feast day or even before marriage; Yeshua (Jesus) did not begin this practice. John baptised for repentance, not for salvation or to belong to any given faith.

Our communion is taken right from the Passover Seder. The Matza which Yeshua broke is called the afikoman. It is broken in half, and half is wrapped in a white cloth and hidden till later in the meal. This is what Yeshua lifted up and said it represented His body, and the cup that He lifted up was called the cup of Redemption, one of four cups in the Seder meal. Yeshua tells us that when we do this, the Seder, in its context, we need to remember Him. Yeshua did not start a new practice. We celebrate feast days, or holy days, but they are not Biblical days. These man-made feast days and holy days are not what God has told us to keep. Leviticus 23 speaks of these days, and as you read through it, you will see that these feast days include the sojourner who is in the midst of the Jews. These sojourners were called God-Fearers, for they were Gentiles who believed in the one true God of Israel and left Egypt along with Israel at the exodus, and they are mentioned all throughout Scriptures and even in the Gospels.

God’s Biblical calendar is a lunar calendar. In the creation story, we see that there was night and then day. We also see that God creates the Sabbath, the seventh day, for He rested and made it holy. The Scripture tells us that the Sabbath was created for man and not the other way around (Mark 2:27). It was given to man at creation. Yeshua tells us that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8); this is the seventh day and not the first. He never says to keep the first day because He resurrected on that day. This too was man-made. We believe in the Messiah and so do the Jewish people; the difference is that we have made our Messiah Christian, and we have lost His Jewish identity.

The Jewish people are waiting for a Jewish Messiah, the one who has been prophesied for thousands of years through the prophets. They can not believe in our Messiah Jesus because he does not keep the Sabbath, nor Torah, nor does he gather the exiles of Israel or gain the victory over Israel’s enemies or rebuild the Temple; that is what Yeshua will do when He returns because this is what has been prophesied of Him. Even in the gospels we see the angel giving the good news (Gospel) that the Messiah has been born in the city of David (Jerusalem) and His kingdom will be forever. Where will His kingdom be? In Jerusalem, not Rome, for He will sit on the throne of King David forever.

Conclusion

So you see, we have many things in common, but we have turned from and do not understand our Jewish roots, the roots that supported us from the beginning, and we have gone our own way, the way of man, and turned from truth, God’s Word. We think that the tabernacle, or temple, has been destroyed because Yeshua came. But what we do not understand is that the temple in Heaven still exists, and we are to be a royal priesthood, yet we do not know what that all means. We must come back to Biblical living and follow the One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Paul, Luke, John, and yes, the God of Yeshua our Messiah. We must remember what Paul tells us: that we have been grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17-18) and that the root supports us, not the other way around.

So, become part of our regular viewers and participate in our discussions. Learn what we have been grafted into so that we can bear much fruit for the Messiah.

We have looked at the various times at which Yeshua (Jesus) revealed Himself to His apostles, but today as we continue our countdown to Pentecost, we want to look at what the church calls the Great Commission or our Great Commission.

After Yeshua had risen, the angel told the women that He would go ahead and meet them in Galilee. Matthew records in chapter 28:16-20, “And Yeshua came up and spoke to them saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit, teach them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'” Matthew and Mark both end their Gospel with this story. We are going to look at this last major command given by Yeshua.

If you are not a pastor or priest or evangelist or missionary, you may wonder why this command should be of any interest to you, but it does have a lot to do with you. We all are disciples of Yeshua, and a disciple makes more disciples. Matthew records Yeshua’s words in chapter 5:13-20, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again?” Salt is used to preserve and to give taste. Our Messiah called us salt. His people are salt, not just His pastors or priests or evangelists or missionaries, but every one of us who belongs to Him is to be salt. We are to preserve life and we are to do just what salt does: make you thirsty. Paul tells us in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.” Matthew continues, “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 good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Yeshua tells us that we are light, for Yeshua, the Word made flesh, was the Light to the world, but now He has passed on that light to us. Psalm 119:105 tells us that it is the Word of God that is the light: “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path.” When we become believers, we now become that light. We are commanded by the Master Himself to “go out” and be salt and light to our family, friends, neighbors, and all that we meet. We are to cause people to want truth, to want the kingdom of our King Yeshua, if not by the preaching of the word, then by the example of our living it out. Paul tells us also in Colossians 4:5, “Conduct yourselves with wisdom (according to God’s word) toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity.”

Yeshua tells us that if we love Him that we will keep His commands. The Church today tells us that all we need is to be baptized, which is only part of the commission to us. They tell us that this alone will be enough for salvation, but this is not correct. We are all light, we are all salt, and we all have been commissioned.

1 Peter 2:5 tells us, “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua the Messiah.” Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:19-22, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

We are counting down to the day where we celebrate the outpouring of the Spirit upon man, and so the question today is are you part of the spiritual house of the Messiah, and if so, then are you that salt and light that you have been commanded to be? If not, then begin today by you yourself becoming a disciple, being built upon the whole Word of God; for Yeshua tells us in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

Let us not be built upon anything other than the whole word of God. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 that no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah; for Yeshua is the Rock (Matthew 7:24-27) and anyone who builds his house upon Him will withstand any storm in their lives. We have been commissioned, and when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you shall have the power to do the work you have been called to do.

We have been counting down to Pentecost from Resurrection day and now we have reached the 40th day, the day of the Ascension. Last week we saw how Yeshua (Jesus) commissioned His disciples to go out and make more disciples. This is where the gospel ends. Luke refers to the ascension and then he recounts it in the book of Acts. This is what we are going to look at today.

Very little is said about this day, maybe because Yeshua had accomplished all that He was going to and all that was left was His leaving. But we find that the disciples had one very important question to ask Him. Luke records in Acts 1:6-8, “And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?'”

Yeshua is about to depart from His disciples and all they care about is Him restoring the kingdom? Did they not care that they would not see Him? Is this a question you would ask a loved one before they departed? Why was this so important? Did they still not understand? Yeshua answered them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” With that, Yeshua was taken upward into the clouds and as they gazed upward, two men dressed in white stood beside them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Yeshua, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.”

So what does all this mean? Firstly, it means that one day Yeshua is coming back to restore His kingdom. Second, it means that Yeshua once again told them of their mission and thirdly, that the Holy Spirit would be with them to accomplish all that needs to be accomplished before His coming again. Well, that was then and today is now; what does this all have to do with us? Let’s recall what Yeshua’s message was while He was here. He preached, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). What did the disciples preach? “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 10:7). This is the message that they were to go to the remotest parts of the earth with.

Why? Because from the beginning, since Adam and Eve, it was all about the kingdom. Adam sinned and by doing so lost the crown, the keys, and the kingdom which Yeshua came to regain by dying for sin (Colossians 2:15). This is what the Bible is about—God’s kingdom, His King, and how we can be a part of His kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Revelation 21-22). Sin has caused the evil one to rule over this earth. He was the King and his kingdom is what Yeshua came to deliver us from (Colossians 1:13). Because of all of this, God’s chosen people, the Jewish people, have suffered because the evil one knows just how precious they are to God. They are the apple of His eye. Yeshua reclaimed the crown, but His kingdom has not yet been restored until He comes and defeats all of the Jewish people’s enemies.

We who are Judeo-Christians have become part of the attack on the evil one because we align ourselves with the Jewish people and the true Word of God and His Messiah; their enemies have become our enemies and their fight has become our fight. But as the Scriptures have all told us, the Messiah will come back to defeat Israel’s enemies (Revelation 19-20) and regather His people to the land promised to them and Yeshua will sit on the throne of King David (Luke 1:32-33) and rule and reign forever. We who have been grafted into Israel because of the work of Messiah will share in the blessings of that kingdom.

This is the true gospel message, not to be confused with the salvation message. Until the time when Yeshua comes back, we are to make disciples, not converts—there is a difference between the two. A disciple of Yeshua is one who walks in His very footsteps. Today the church knows nothing about the word of God. We preach a watered down version of the salvation message and we have done away with the foundation of God’s word, the Hebrew Scriptures, which we call “old” and “obsolete.”

The commission from Yeshua is still the same as it was until He comes back and we are responsible for making disciples who look and act just as He did. God has not removed His Holy Spirit that empowers us to do this job, but we no longer walk in the Spirit by crucifying our flesh and picking up our cross and going out in the power and gifts and fruit of the Spirit. We must be like the one in the wilderness crying out, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” And as people see us walking in the footsteps of the Messiah, they will see the Messiah Himself and they too will follow in His footsteps. This is our calling, this is our task: to be light and salt to the world until Yeshua returns the same way that He left.

Over the last seven weeks, we have been looking at the days of Yeshua (Jesus) post-Resurrection and everything that He said to His apostles. We have been counting the days to Pentecost, which the Bible calls the counting of the Omer. Ten days ago, or the 40th day of the Omer, was the Ascension, the day Yeshua went back to heaven. Today, we want to look at the 50th day, the day of Pentecost.

From two days after the crucifixion (Passover, which is the day of the resurrection) till now (the 50th day, Pentecost), we have been counting the Omer. Because of the counting of the Omer, these two feast days (Passover and Pentecost) are linked together. The Passover season is now ended. We began with the death and resurrection of Yeshua our Passover Lamb and we end with the giving of the Holy Spirit. So what is the connection between the two feast days? We want to look at this in two ways: first, according to the first Passover in Egypt and Pentecost at Mt. Sinai and second, Yeshua’s Passover, His death, and Pentecost that followed in order to see the connection between the two times and between Passover and Pentecost, all very briefly.

The first Passover was when Moses told the people on the 10th day of the first month to take an unblemished lamb and set it aside for slaughter. Then, on the 14th day in the afternoon, they slaughtered the lambs and each family took the blood and put it on the doorpost of their homes; and they roasted the lamb and ate it with none remaining and with their loins girded, they prepared to leave Egypt (Exodus 12:1-13). That night, the death angel came and every firstborn in the house died, both man and beast alike, except where the blood of the lamb was on the doorpost. With this, the last plague against Egypt, Pharaoh let the people of God go free (Exodus 12:23-32). It was the Lord’s Passover, the time God ransomed His people, the time He took them from the kingdom of Pharaoh and brought them into His own kingdom. In other words, they were no longer slaves that belonged to Pharaoh but now they were free and they belonged to God. When they arrived fifty days later at Mt. Sinai, God made them His own special people, His Bride, and made a covenant with them, which is called the Torah (Exodus 19). It was like a marriage agreement and also like an ancient agreement that a king would make with a nation to protect them and provide for them if they obeyed Him and followed his laws. All the people said that they would agree and so on the day of Pentecost (or in Hebrew, Shavuot), God came down with fire and the sound of the trumpets, and the voice of God could be heard as He spoke out His law, or what we call the Ten Words or commandments, which the sages believe God spoke in seventy different languages because it was for all the nations (Exodus 20). So we see that the freedom God gave them by the Exodus resulted in their betrothal to God all because of the blood of the lamb which covered them from death.

So now we come to the days of Yeshua and we find that He was our Lamb of God that was slain at the time of Passover (John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7) and His blood is now covering our souls so that we are set free from the kingdom of darkness and we are brought into God’s kingdom of light. We are no longer slaves of the sin that kept us bound to its wages of death (Romans 6), but we are free to serve our King Yeshua who set us free by His blood and we too are now His people who have been ransomed. We do not replace one story with the other, but we are added to the first story and now each one of us are a part of the Exodus.

On the 50th day of the Omer, we come to the giving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). This day, too, came with fire and the Apostles all spoke in different languages so that all the people from the diaspora could understand them. The Holy Spirit was given to us so we could walk in power, so that we would be able to keep all of God’s ways. This is where the first fell short, but now we have the Spirit of Messiah Himself as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:17. By living and walking in the Spirit, we are able to crucify the flesh and walk in newness of life (Romans 7:8).

God’s Covenant has not been disqualified but rather added to by the giving of the Holy Spirit. He is now our counselor who walks with us to enable us so we can have the victory over our sins. We are no longer slaves, but now we can remain free to serve our King. The question today is are you walking by the Holy Spirit? Have you even received the Holy Spirit into your lives? Have you listened to His voice counseling you to walk in the ways of God’s law, so that you may be faithful Brides waiting for the return of your Bridegroom Yeshua? We think that the Bible has no value, but I tell you, God’s Word is worth more than silver or gold. It is the pathway to life, for Yeshua said in John 14:6, “I am the way the truth and the life.” He did not say your Priest or Pastor or your church is the way, but He said that He and He alone was the way and the truth and the life and He and only He is the whole Word of God made flesh. Yeshua came so that we may have life—eternal life. He came to show us the way. He came so that the truth would set us free. He came to ransom us from the kingdom of the enemy of our soul (Acts 26:18). He came so that we could receive His Spirit, the Spirit of life who, if we walk with Him arm-in-arm, will lead us to the Father.

But still, the question is have you not only received the Holy Spirit but have you submitted to His leading? If not, then this Pentecost ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit and begin following Him as He leads you in all truth. Begin to eat the bread of life (the body of Yeshua) and drink from the well of salvation (His blood) which are the Word of God.

There is a lot to do to prepare for a wedding: dresses and tuxedos, flowers and cake, invitations and menus, and of course, there is the honeymoon and the house where the couple will live. There is so much to do to prepare for a wedding that now we hire wedding planners to keep it all straight. Every bride wants her wedding to be perfect for her and her new husband and every parent wants the best for their children. We know that the Bible speaks about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We want to take a closer look at all of this because we have been taught that the church is the Bride of Messiah, but are we? First we need to lay some groundwork so we can build upon it.

My Own Special Possession

We see in Exodus 19:4-6 that God proposes to his people: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s 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.” The word here for “possession” in Hebrew is “Segulah,” which is a word of endearment. God is saying to Israel that they will be someone who will be cherished by God. When we look at the book of Deuteronomy we clearly see two things: (1) it is written like an ancient treaty (this is something that God’s people would have understood) and (2) it is written like a wedding contract, a “Ketubah” in Hebrew, which the people would have also understood at the time, for both were very commonplace in their day. So God actually betrothed the people of Israel to Himself at Mt. Sinai.

God tells His people that they will be to Him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. We see that the Levitical priesthood did come about, but you had to be from the tribe of Levi to be a priest; yet in Exodus 19, God was referring to all of His people as being priests. We find the Apostle Peter brings this forward in time in 1 Peter 2:4-10 when he, too, makes this reference. He says, “And coming to Him as a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah.” Then He goes on, “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; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God.” Now I know that the church thinks that this refers to them, but the church is not a chosen race and the covenants (yes, even the New Covenant) were made with the people of Israel (Romans 9:4). But we will see how all of this ties in as we go along.

2 Corinthians 11:1-3 tells us, “I only wish you were able to tolerate a little foolishness from me. But of course; you tolerate me. You see, the jealousy that I feel for you is God’s own jealousy; I arranged for you to marry Messiah so that I might give you away as a chaste virgin to this one husband.” Paul likens himself to a matchmaker who arranged for a marriage and now the bride has become unfaithful. Paul was referring to Hosea 2:19-20, “And I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, then you will know the Lord.” Paul was talking about being devoted to Messiah and without a doubt, we who follow in His footsteps have to be devoted to Him without question.

So, we really don’t see anywhere in the Bible where it tells us specifically who the bride is except for at Mt.Sinai, for we know that God betrothed Himself to Israel. People will point to Ephesians 5:22-33, but taking a closer look, you will see that he is referring to the body, as in verse 23: “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Messiah also is the head of the congregation of believers, He Himself being the Savior of the body.” Verses 28-29: “So husbands ought also to love their own 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 congregation of believers, because we are members of His body.” We will be looking at the rest of this passage next month to help answer the question of the bride. This passage does not come out and tell us that the believers are the bride, but that our relationship to Messiah is like a relationship with a husband and wife in regards to love and authority. One thing that is clear is that Yeshua (Jesus) and others refer to Him as a Bridegroom.

Yeshua the Bridegroom

Yeshua, in Matthew 9:14-15, answers the disciples of John the Immerser about why His disciples don’t fast. He tells them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” John the Immerser himself makes reference to Yeshua as the bridegroom in John 3:29 when he says, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.” We do have a reference to the bride in the parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:11-13: “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.”

It’s interesting that the bride is compared to the kingdom. In Revelation 21:2, it also speaks of the bride: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.” So now the bride has been compared to the kingdom, which we know will consist of a holy priesthood, and the new city of Jerusalem with its twelve gates and twelve foundation stones made of precious stones. But we also see in Revelation 19:7-9 the Marriage of the Lamb.

Yes, we come to the end of the Word of God to find that there is actually a bride. “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the 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 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.'”

We want to take a closer look at this next month: how does the bride get herself ready, and what are those righteous acts of the saints, and who are those who will be invited?

A very popular dogma of the church is that we are now under a new covenant. Because of Jesus (Yeshua) we no longer need to keep the old covenant; it is obsolete and does not apply to Christians. We want to take a closer look at this and see if it is really true. Let’s start by looking at the first reference to the new covenant.

The New Covenant Proclaimed by the Prophets

Jeremiah 31:31-32 says, “‘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 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.'” So what is going on here? It seems that God is saying that He is going to make a new covenant with Israel only. Let’s continue to look at what else Jeremiah had to say about the New Covenant. Jeremiah 32:37-41 tells us, “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. And I will rejoice over them to do good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.” He went on to say that God was going to restore all their fortunes.

So let’s continue to see what Jeremiah has to say about this new covenant. Jeremiah 33:14-15: “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.'” He went on to say that David shall not lack a man to sit on his throne and the Levitical priesthood would always offer up the offerings before Him. Jeremiah 33 goes on to say in verses 20-21, “Thus says the Lord, If you can break My covenant for the day, and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed times, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.” God backed up His promise, for we all know that the day and the night have come all these thousands of years and so this promise still stands.

Ezekiel also speaks of this covenant in Ezekiel 11:19-20: “And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.” He continues with this thought in Ezekiel 18:31: “Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel?”

So we have seen so far that the new covenant has to do with God returning His people to the Land of Israel and that one would reign on the throne of David forever, which we know to be the Messiah Yeshua because the angel told this to Mary (Luke 1:32-33). There are many places in the Hebrew Scriptures which make reference to the New Covenant, and we have seen in all of them that it is about Israel and the Messianic Era. We have not been taught these things because we have been taught that the church has replaced Israel and now all the blessings are for the Christians and no longer for the Jewish people; but as we have seen, God can not and will not break His word to his people and the evidence is in each new day. We also have seen that the New Covenant will be on a Spiritual level. God will be doing heart surgery on His people.

The New Covenant in the Apostolic Scriptures

Hebrews 8:8-12 gives us a very clear idea of what the New Covenant is all about: “‘Behold, days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in My covenant, and I did not care for them,’ says the Lord. ‘For this is the covenant that I make with the house of Israel after those days,’ says the Lord; ‘I will put My Laws into their minds and I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.'” Paul starts off by quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Paul is making reference to this again in Hebrews 10:16: “‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,’ says the Lord; ‘I will put My Laws upon their hearts, and upon their mind I will write them.'” But what is required is a closer look at the second half of this statement. We see here that God is going to put His laws into the minds of His people and write them on their hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 says, “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Messiah, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.”

So far we have seen that the New Covenant will be made with Israel and the fulfillment will be in the Messianic Age when Yeshua will sit on the throne of King David forever. We also have seen that this New Covenant is about God putting His Laws in the minds and writing His Torah on the hearts of His people and giving them a new spirit and heart. So far the Scriptures that we call obsolete agree with the Scriptures we say are not.

Yeshua and the New Covenant

Let’s look at what Yeshua tells us. We know that Yeshua is the Word made flesh, but why do we think that He is only the Word of the New Testament made flesh? John 1:1-3 tells us, “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.” Yeshua was and is and is to come, the living Torah which was from before the foundation of the world. When God spoke things into existence, He did it by the speaking of the Torah, for that was all that was from the beginning. We find that when the prophets spoke of the New Covenant, it was all based on the Torah.

John records a conversation with Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and one who sat on the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) of Israel. John 3:3: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (The Messianic Era).” Nicodemus questions how can one be born again? Yeshua answers in verses 5-6, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (The Messianic Era). That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Yeshua tells His disciples in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Yeshua tells Nicodemus that if a person wishes to be in the Messianic Era, he must be born of the Spirit.

Yeshua preached, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God (The Messianic Era) is at hand.” Could this be true? We find Yeshua eating the Passover meal with His disciples before His death and at the appropriate time in the Seder, He takes the cup called the Cup of Redemption and says, “This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My blood: do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:20). When we drink the Cup of Redemption, we are to remember Yeshua our Messiah, that He redeemed us from the house of slavery and brought us into His Kingdom and because of this we have been grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17). Here we have a reference to the kingdom along with the reference to the New Covenant. All covenants were ratified by the shedding of blood, and Yeshua shedding His blood made Him the new mediator of this New Covenant. But if you think that you are now in the New Covenant and the Old has passed away, I say think again because nothing has been done away with; Yeshua said, “I did not come to abolish the Torah, but to fulfill it.” So this did not end the covenant made with Moses, for God’s promises and His Laws are forever (Galatians 3:15-17). We have seen that they were from the foundation of the world. But what was lacking in the first covenant, which caused the people not to be able to keep God’s Laws, was now going to be changed so that they now could keep it, and that element was the Holy Spirit which was given at Pentecost, the same feast on which in Moses’ day the Law was given at Mt. Sinai. Yeshua now had redeemed us and we were no longer slaves to sin. He sent His Spirit to lead us and guide us in all truth.

Now I want to say, we do not keep the Torah unto salvation, for Yeshua ransomed us. He paid the price and we are no longer slaves of the kingdom of darkness, but we are children in the kingdom of God. We do keep His commandments because we love Him (John 14:15, 21, 23, 15:10; 1 John 5:3; 2 John 6). Yeshua told us that we are to eat His flesh and drink His blood and we are to abide in Him; this is all having to do with living by His word and keeping His commandments. Paul writes to the Galatians in chapter 5:16-17, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. 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.” Verses 24-25: “Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Peter quotes the prophecy from Joel 2:28-32 on the day of Pentecost after receiving the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:16-21: “‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even upon My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth My Spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will grant wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'” We see that the Spirit will be poured out before the second coming of the Lord.

So I ask again, when Yeshua preached, “Repent for the Kingdom of God (Messianic Era) is at hand,” was this true? Paul tells us in Romans 8:23 that the giving of the Holy Spirit was given to us, the first fruits, as a pledge of what is to come. So yes, the foreshadowing, the first-fruits of the kingdom is here and now, and we who belong to the kingdom must walk by its ways, and its ways all begin with living by the Holy Spirit and keeping the covenant which is done by the keeping of His commandments, which now we are able to do because Yeshua set us free from the bondage of slavery. In other words, Yeshua came to teach us how to live by His Torah and it all begins by having a change of heart, being born again, being lead by the Spirit and crucifying the flesh, following in His footsteps, abiding by the whole counsel of His Word, and keeping His commandments.

Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to write the Torah on your heart and mind? If not, why not? Come, be part of God’s covenant-keeping kingdom today.

There is a lot to do to prepare for a wedding: dresses and tuxedos, flowers and cake, invitations and menus, and of course, there is the honeymoon and the house where the couple will live. There is so much to do to prepare for a wedding that now we hire wedding planners to keep it all straight. Every bride wants her wedding to be perfect for her and her new husband and every parent wants the best for their children. We know that the Bible speaks about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We want to take a closer look at all of this because we have been taught that the church is the Bride of Messiah, but are we? First we need to lay some groundwork so we can build upon it.

My Own Special Possession

We see in Exodus 19:4-6 that God proposes to his people: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s 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.” The word here for “possession” in Hebrew is “Segulah,” which is a word of endearment. God is saying to Israel that they will be someone who will be cherished by God. When we look at the book of Deuteronomy we clearly see two things: (1) it is written like an ancient treaty (this is something that God’s people would have understood) and (2) it is written like a wedding contract, a “Ketubah” in Hebrew, which the people would have also understood at the time, for both were very commonplace in their day. So God actually betrothed the people of Israel to Himself at Mt. Sinai.

God tells His people that they will be to Him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. We see that the Levitical priesthood did come about, but you had to be from the tribe of Levi to be a priest; yet in Exodus 19, God was referring to all of His people as being priests. We find the Apostle Peter brings this forward in time in 1 Peter 2:4-10 when he, too, makes this reference. He says, “And coming to Him as a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah.” Then He goes on, “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; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God.” Now I know that the church thinks that this refers to them, but the church is not a chosen race and the covenants (yes, even the New Covenant) were made with the people of Israel (Romans 9:4). But we will see how all of this ties in as we go along.

2 Corinthians 11:1-3 tells us, “I only wish you were able to tolerate a little foolishness from me. But of course; you tolerate me. You see, the jealousy that I feel for you is God’s own jealousy; I arranged for you to marry Messiah so that I might give you away as a chaste virgin to this one husband.” Paul likens himself to a matchmaker who arranged for a marriage and now the bride has become unfaithful. Paul was referring to Hosea 2:19-20, “And I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, then you will know the Lord.” Paul was talking about being devoted to Messiah and without a doubt, we who follow in His footsteps have to be devoted to Him without question.

So, we really don’t see anywhere in the Bible where it tells us specifically who the bride is except for at Mt.Sinai, for we know that God betrothed Himself to Israel. People will point to Ephesians 5:22-33, but taking a closer look, you will see that he is referring to the body, as in verse 23: “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Messiah also is the head of the congregation of believers, He Himself being the Savior of the body.” Verses 28-29: “So husbands ought also to love their own 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 congregation of believers, because we are members of His body.” We will be looking at the rest of this passage next month to help answer the question of the bride. This passage does not come out and tell us that the believers are the bride, but that our relationship to Messiah is like a relationship with a husband and wife in regards to love and authority. One thing that is clear is that Yeshua (Jesus) and others refer to Him as a Bridegroom.

Yeshua the Bridegroom

Yeshua, in Matthew 9:14-15, answers the disciples of John the Immerser about why His disciples don’t fast. He tells them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” John the Immerser himself makes reference to Yeshua as the bridegroom in John 3:29 when he says, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.” We do have a reference to the bride in the parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:11-13: “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.”

It’s interesting that the bride is compared to the kingdom. In Revelation 21:2, it also speaks of the bride: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.” So now the bride has been compared to the kingdom, which we know will consist of a holy priesthood, and the new city of Jerusalem with its twelve gates and twelve foundation stones made of precious stones. But we also see in Revelation 19:7-9 the Marriage of the Lamb.

Yes, we come to the end of the Word of God to find that there is actually a bride. “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the 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 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.'”

We want to take a closer look at this next month: how does the bride get herself ready, and what are those righteous acts of the saints, and who are those who will be invited?

We want to continue with the wedding preparations. Every bride and groom has to set a date for their wedding and then they send out the invitations, so this is what we are going to look at this month.

You are Cordially Invited…

Every invitation says something like, “You are cordially invited to attend the marriage of…”. So let’s see what the invitation to the marriage of the Lamb looks like:

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready… 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.’ 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” (Revelation 19:7-9, 22:17).

The Place: Jerusalem

Luke 1:32-33: “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.”

Isaiah 24:23: “For the Lord of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders.”

Isaiah 2:2-4: “In the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains… and many peoples will come and say, ‘Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob’… For the Torah will go forth from Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

The Date: Not Known

Acts 1:7: “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.”

Matthew 24:42: “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”

1 Thessalonians 5:2: “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.”

Menu: The Abundance of the Earth

Isaiah 25:6: “The Lord of Hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined aged wine.”

Isaiah 55:1-2: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat… 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 yourselves in abundance.”

Revelation 22:2: “On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

Dress Attire: Repentance

Matthew 4:17: “Yeshua (Jesus) began to preach, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'”

Isaiah 55:6-7: “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 61:10: “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

The Invitation List

The Scripture tells us, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper.” Who are these that are invited? We must determine those who are the bride from those who are the guests. We know that according to Jewish tradition, the man and woman would become betrothed and then he would go and prepare for their future and in a year or two he would return for the wedding ceremony. So we know that the bride has to be a group of people who are still alive when Yeshua returns. With that in mind, let us look at the Scripture to determine who will be the guest at the marriage supper.

Revelation 2:7 tells us, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Congregation. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” Revelation 20:4-5 tells us, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Yeshua and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Messiah for one thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.” Revelation 19:14 tells us, “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him (Yeshua) on white horses.”

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, “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.” Matthew records Yeshua’s sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:3-12 and we see that the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, the righteous, the merciful, the pure in heart, peacemakers, and those who have been persecuted, insulted, and had false witness against them for the sake of the gospel will be among those mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. We also see Old Testament figures like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be there (Matthew 8:11) and I’m sure all the prophets and the righteous ones of old will be there. So we see all of these are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Yeshua tells several parables using the wedding analogy, so we will take a closer look at them next month; but for now, the invitation is out there and the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” How about you? Are you going to be there?

Fall is a great time for apple picking. By September the apples are ripe and ready for picking. Fall is the time when we celebrate the birth of the earth on the feast day of Rosh HaShanah, also called the Feast of Trumpets. God created all things in the first six days. On the third day He created the vegetation and fruit trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. On the fourth day God created the luminaries to give light, but also the Scriptures tell us that they were created for signs and for seasons, and for days and years; and God saw that it was good.

If you look at the creation account you will see that it says that it was evening then it was morning. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, God’s calendar from creation. By this God set up His Appointed Times like the Spring feasts and the Fall feasts and everything that God does He does during these Appointed times. God also created the Sabbath, another Appointed Time, and on the seventh day He rested and made it holy (Genesis 1).

Fall could have been the time when Adam and Eve picked a nice ripe apple off the wrong tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and sinned. The result: they were cast out of the garden (Genesis 3). It was at this time that the first atonement took place; though it was just temporary, God sacrificed animals on their behalf and made garments from the hide to clothe them (Genesis 3:21). But God made a promise that one day He would send a redeemer and He did—He sent His only begotten Son, Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, the Anointed One of God who came as our Passover Lamb and our sin offering. Yeshua’s atoning work on the cross and the giving of His Holy Spirit is all remembered during the Spring Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost; but today we want to look at reflections of His second coming.

At His second coming, He will come as king and begin His kingdom here on earth and He will restore the earth again. When Yeshua (Jesus) comes back and begins His 1000 year reign in Jerusalem (Revelation 20:4-6), He will restore the earth back to the days of the garden of Eden. The Bible tells us that the lion will lay down with the lamb and the earth that has been groaning because of the sin of Adam and Eve will be restored. Man will till his garden and not get weeds. How great is that! The animals will not prey on other animals, but they will all eat the grass of the field. Man’s relationship with God will be like that of the days when Adam walked with God in the cool of the evening. The knowledge of God will increase so that all will know God and see Him face to face (Isaiah 11:6-9, Jeremiah 31:12, Revelation 2:7, 22:1-3).

But the Messianic Age will not be for everyone—only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of Life. The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, follows Rosh HaShanah. It is a day that we are to take very seriously because we are to examine ourselves and fast and pray because it is the day that, when fulfilled, will determine whose name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. No church or denomination will get your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27). Only your relationship with God will determine this.

Yeshua said, “If you love Me then keep my commandments.” Are we walking in those Commandments? Does our life bring glory to God? Are we walking as though we are a citizen of this world or a citizen of His kingdom? Are we washed in the blood of the Lamb or are we still knowingly sinning? What does our speech say about who we are? Do we curse God on one side of our mouth and bless Him on the other side?

Yom Kippur is the holiest time of the year because it causes us to reflect and repent. In fact, the forty days leading up to the day of Atonement are a time of reflection and repentance. Every day we say, “Awake, you who 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 He may have mercy on you.” We blow the shofar (ram’s horn) because its blast is for the awakening of our soul; also the shofar was blown to announce the coming king and King Yeshua is coming back with the blast of the trumpet (Matthew 24:31, 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Rosh HaShanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, is for the awakening of the soul. Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts like they did in the wilderness and provoked God and sinned and were not allowed to enter into the promised land (paraphrased from Hebrews 3:15).

Do you hear the sound of the trumpet? It’s blowing to awaken your soul!

We saw last month that Yeshua is coming back and He will rule and reign for 1,000 years. This time will be called the Messianic Age, the time of the kingdom. You may ask yourself, “Why have I not heard of this before?” Many denominations do not teach the full counsel of God’s Word. It is sad but true. My advice is to pick up a Bible and begin to read it for yourself. It is not hard to understand and it is not hard to live by. Let’s go through Scripture and see all that Yeshua (Jesus) has to say about His kingdom to get a better understanding of what it is and what we need to do to enter into it.

The Kingdom is at Hand

Let’s start at the beginning of Yeshua’s ministry in Matthew 4:17: “From that time Yeshua began to preach and say, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'” These were Yeshua’s first words, but they were not His last about the kingdom. Yeshua tells us from the beginning that His kingdom is here for those who repent. Verse 23 goes on to say, “And Yeshua was going about in all of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.”

In chapter 5 of Matthew, the “Sermon on the Mount,” Yeshua begins by saying, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Again, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In fact, every one of the Beatitudes has to do with the kingdom. Yeshua goes on in verses 17-20, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets (this is what we call the Old Testament). I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Torah, until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” So in other words, Yeshua is telling us that we must still follow His commandments to enter into His kingdom. God’s word is one as He is one and nothing about God is obsolete. Yeshua finishes out chapter five expounding on the commandments.

In chapter 6 of Matthew, Yeshua talks about prayer. He began to teach His disciples by saying, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom is so important to Yeshua’s mission and purpose that after addressing His Father with praise, He speaks of the coming kingdom. Again, the whole rest of the prayer has to do with the kingdom and what we need to do to enter into it: “And forgive us our debts (sins, transgressions, and iniquities) as we also forgive our debtors.” Forgiveness is very important for entering the kingdom: “For if you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Forgiveness is essential to entering into the kingdom.

In chapter 8, we see that faith has a lot to do with the kingdom. A centurion comes to Yeshua and asks Him to heal his servant who is at home ill. He tells Yeshua, “Just speak the word and my servant will be healed.” Yeshua, amazed at His faith, tells the people in verse 10, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith in all of Israel. And I say to you that many shall come from the east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” We see with all of Yeshua’s miracles that faith is the key that unlocks the door; faith is even necessary for salvation.

We want to look at John 3:3, 5-6: “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ . . . Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.'” Being born of the Spirit and walking in the Spirit are a must to enter the Kingdom. Revelation 20:12, 15 say, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and 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 . . . And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Will your name be written in the Lamb’s book of Life?

We have seen a few of the key points to the kingdom of God: Repentance, forgiveness, keeping God’s commandments, being born of the Holy Spirit of God, and having your name written in the Lamb’s book of Life. Next time we want to look at what Yeshua tells us about the kingdom in His parables.

We want to continue looking at this subject of the marriage supper of the Lamb and who will be invited. We want to see if we can draw anything from Yeshua’s (Jesus’) parables.

The Parable of the Marriage Feast

Matthew 22:1-14 compares the kingdom to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He sends out his servants to call those who had been invited but they are unwilling to come. The king, I’m sure, was a little surprised at the response, so he once again sends out his servants to tell those who have been invited that all the preparations have been made and the dinner was now ready. But once again they paid him no attention, for they were too busy with their own personal lives. Some even mistreated his servants and some even killed them. The king was now enraged and he sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their cities. The king sent out his servant once again. He said, “The wedding feast is ready. Go therefore to the highways and invite as many as you see to come to the feast.” So they did, and both good and evil people came and filled the wedding hall. But the king looked at his guests and those not dressed for the wedding and he told them, “Because you did not come dressed in wedding clothes you should be bound and thrown out into the darkness, into a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth,” and he turned to the crowd and said, “For many are called but few are chosen.”

We see here that the Lord Yeshua spoke to the crowd about His kingdom and what His kingdom expected of its subjects. God calls everyone to the wedding feast; everyone has an invitation but we must respond to that invitation. We must say “Yes” to our King. We must prepare ourselves for this spectacular day. How many times do we see the Scriptures say, “and they made their garments white.”

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Matthew 25:1-13 speaks also of the kingdom which is compared to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. This was an old Jewish custom in which the people would line the path with their torches for the bridegroom as he went to get his bride. Yeshua goes on to tell us that five of them were foolish and five were prudent. The foolish took their lamps but they did not take any extra oil. On the other hand, the prudent took extra oil with them. The bridegroom was delayed in coming and it was midnight when the shout came, “Behold the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” All the virgins quickly rose to their feet and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, “Give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out.” The prudent responded, “No, for we shall not have enough for ourselves. Go and buy oil for yourselves.” And while they were gone the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast and the door was shut. When the foolish virgins returned and saw the door had been shut they cried out, “Lord, Lord, open up for us!” But he answered, “I know you not!”

This once again shows the seriousness of being ready and alert for the coming of the bridegroom, Yeshua our King. The Scriptures tell us that we need to be ready; Yeshua Himself tells us that we are to be ready. The shepherds over us should be telling us that we need to be ready, and to be ready we must make our garments white. Revelation 7:13-14 tells us, “And one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘These who are clothed in white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?’ And I said to him, ‘My lord, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'”

We have, these last several months, been looking at the bride and those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. September begins the Fall feasts, God’s appointed times according to Leviticus 23. These feasts all represent the second coming of our Messiah, and yet the body of believers do not celebrate these feast days because we are taught that they are of no importance to us. I ask you, do you think that not being ready for the bridegroom is of no importance? Do you think that if He came today that you can be certain that you have made your garments white? Can you say for certain that you have enough oil in your lamp? The foolish virgins thought so. Those who came to the wedding without proper attire thought so. Can you say that you are totally ready to meet Yeshua today and know for certain that you have lived up to his expectations of you as a believer?

I know, “Grace, we are saved by grace and not works!” But I ask you, do not the Scriptures make it clear that everyone that was excluded from the wedding feast had a responsibility that went beyond grace? If we did not have a part in being ready, why would Yeshua tell us to be ready and alert, if we were saved only by grace? Revelation 19 tells us that the bride clothed herself in fine, clean linen which is the righteous acts of the saints. Part of those acts are what we need to do to be ready, to be without spot or wrinkle, and this requires repentance from the heart, a complete turn around.

Are we crucifying the flesh? Are we walking in the Spirit? Have we let go of the world? Have we become living sacrifices unto the Lord? I could go on and on. Each one of us must read God’s word and live by it and keep God’s commandments. This is what the fall feasts do: they remind us that the Bridegroom is coming and that we need to prepare for His return.

The Ten Commandments, Part 1: The First Four

Today it is more important to be politically correct than to be morally correct. In Acts 4, Peter and John were preaching and proclaiming in Yeshua’s (Jesus) name the resurrection from the dead. Many people received their message, about five thousand as a matter of fact. The religious rulers of that day became concerned when Peter and John healed a lame man in this Yeshua’s name, so they came together to discuss what they might do to stop this from going on. So they arrested Peter and John and told them that they could no longer preach or do anything in this Yeshua’s name, but Peter and John answered them and said, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge, for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.” It took great courage for Peter and John to stand for their convictions. What has happened to the church of the living God, the body of Messiah? Have we lost our courage or have we lost our convictions? Maybe we have lost our faith!

Today believers all over this world are being persecuted and martyred for their beliefs. They have been imprisoned and beaten and they suffer great sorrows, but they do not complain or give in. They are a true witness for God. Paul writes in Philippians 3:10-11, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, and being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” The church, here in America especially, has been taught that we will not have to suffer for the name of Yeshua. This is a lie! Yeshua himself told us that we would suffer persecution, because if the world hated Him, they would hate us also. He said that we would be blessed if we suffer persecution for His name’s sake.

Today Christians are being persecuted right here in America. We have lost our religious freedoms; like a glass of water they are being poured out a little at a time. I say we have lost our moral compass and that compass is the Ten Commandments. Believers today do not even believe that the commandments have any significance for us in the 21st Century. My Bible tells me that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change and we ought to be glad that He is not like shifting sand, that He is a Rock that we can build our house on. For the storms will blow in this country also, and we will not escape what other believers are experiencing today. Yeshua said, “If you love Me, then keep My commandments.” Yeshua is the Word of God made flesh. He was before the foundation of this world. In fact, Scripture tells us that God spoke His Word and the world came into existence; that Word is the Word that was made flesh and that Word is His Torah. The Ten Commandments are part of the Torah and His word is for all who shall believe in Him (John 3:16).

Today society tells us that we need to be tolerant of everyone and everything, yet these same people who tell us this are not tolerant of us. So we want to look at the Ten Commandments and see exactly what they mean and why we should be keeping them today. People say that God has too many rules: it’s all about “thou shalt nots,” do’s and don’ts; but this is not true. When God gave His people His Law it was for the sole purpose of making them holy, set apart from the world. A person who keeps God’s commands is like what light is to darkness; it stands apart, it is clearly noticeable and completely opposite from someone who does not know God. Also when He gave His law, it was a covenant and agreement like a marriage vow, even like an ancient treaty between a king and his people (I will protect you and provide for you if you keep my commands). God’s Laws were given out of love, like between a husband and wife, not for the purpose of servitude. Every great nation has laws that need to be kept so that utter chaos will not prevail, so shouldn’t God have laws for His kingdom? If we are to be part of His kingdom then we to need to keep His commands. We will look at the first four of the Ten Commandments which pertain to our relationship with God.

The Ten Commandments

(1) Exodus 20:1-3: “Then God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.'”

We like to say that God gave these commandments to Israel and not to us, but every one of us has been delivered from the house of slavery. Let’s look at what the Apostolic Scriptures tell us about this first commandment. John 8:34-36 tells us, “Truly I (Yeshua) say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” Romans 8:15: “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba Father!'” Galatians 5:1: “It was for freedom that Messiah set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Colossians 1:13 says, “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”

I could go on but I think you see that we, too, have been delivered from the house of slavery. The Passover story can be our own personal story as well. Yeshua (Jesus) tells His disciples in Matthew 6:19-24 not to lay up treasure for themselves upon this earth but to lay up treasure in heaven where thieves cannot steal it, for where our treasure is there our hearts will be. And He goes on to say that the eye is the lamp of the body and if the eye is clear then the whole body has light, but if the eye is bad then the whole body is in darkness. Then He said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches.”

(2) Exodus 20:4-5: “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, or likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

Today we have many idols that keep us from serving God. Christians today pray less, read their Bibles less, and go to church less than at any other time in history. So because of this, we are vulnerable to all the schemes of the adversary. The apostle John writes in 1 John 5:21, “Little children guard yourselves from idols.” Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” Paul mentions idolatry as one of the deeds of the flesh versus walking in the Spirit of God in Galatians 5:20 and Peter says it also in 1 Peter 4:3. Revelation 21:8 speaks about the new heaven and earth and those who will not enter it: “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” This covers many of the commandments.

(3) Exodus 20:7: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

Today everyone uses language that only a few years back people thought to be offensive, but because people have filled their minds and hearts with everything but the Word of God, people have turned to the futility of their minds. But what does God’s Word say about what we say? Yeshua (Jesus) tells us in Matthew 12:36-37, “And I say to you that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgement. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” Instead of using God’s name in vain, Paul tells us in Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” We are to use God’s name to bless and not curse, to uplift and not tear down. Yeshua even tells us in Matthew 5:34-37, “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King, nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; and anything beyond these is of evil.”

God’s name is holy and we are to be holy. Our lives are to be for the glory of God and so, “our speech always should be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person” (Colossians 4:6).

(4) Exodus 20:8-11: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant nor your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”

People believe, because they have been taught, that this commandment is only a commandment for the Jewish people, but when looking at this commandment more closely, we see that this commandment has to do with the creation of the world when God created the Sabbath day and called it holy (set apart). This day is for everyone! In fact, Yeshua tells us that He is the Lord of the Sabbath in Matthew 12:8. Yeshua also tells us in Mark 2:27, “The Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath.” When we do not keep the seventh day Sabbath, we bear witness with the world that God is not the creator and Yeshua is not the Lord of the Sabbath which testifies to the Jewish people that he is not the Messiah. From the days of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt to the days of Yeshua to even today, there have always been Gentiles who have believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel) and God tells these people who sojourn with Israel that they, too, must keep the Sabbath day as holy. This day is to be so holy that even our cattle are to take a day of rest from their labor, for this day is a day set apart for man and His Creator to come together. It is God’s appointed time for man to come into His presence.

The Scriptures tell us in Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” The Seventh day Sabbath is that day. The Christian church changed the seventh day Sabbath to the first day of the week because they did not want to be associated with the tree which they had been grafted into (Romans 11:17-18). God gave us ten commandments which are so important that He wrote them with His own finger upon two tablets of stone. He did not give us nine, but ten and we ought to keep all ten, for these ten will be His guide on judgement day.

We will continue to look at the rest of the Ten Commandments next time, but for now let us put to practice these first four, for these first four relate to our relationship with God. The Scriptures tell us in Luke 10:27, “You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.” And if we can not do that, then we can not do the second half of the commandment which is summed up this way: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We have One God, not two. He is the Creator of all of us. He does not love one more than the other. His Word is neither Old nor New, but His Word is One as He is One, and we need to follow His Word and only His Word, for His Word is truth and life.

Yeshua (Jesus) spoke a lot about the Kingdom of God. Many of His teachings were done in the style of parables. These parables about the kingdom are what we are going to look at today.

Tares Among the Wheat

One of Yeshua’s parables is called the Tares Among the Wheat in Matthew 13:24-30. It talks about the kingdom being compared to a man who sows his seed in his field but while he was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. When the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident. When the workers of the field saw this, they told their boss, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?” The boss told His workers, “An enemy has done this!” The workers asked the boss, “Should we pull up the tares?” But the boss said, “No, lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with it. Allow both to grow together until harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.'”

The Psalmist writes in Psalm 73 about the prosperity and ease of the wicked and like Job 21:7 asks the question “Why do the wicked still live, continue on, also becoming very powerful?” The Psalmist continues in verse 17, “Until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.” When Yeshua comes back, as Messiah’s calling, He will destroy the enemies of Israel along with the enemy of our soul, Satan himself.

In verses 36-43 of Matthew 13, Yeshua explains His parable. He tells His disciples that the one who sows the good seed is Himself and the field is the world; the good seed is the sons of the kingdom and the tares are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sows the tares is the devil. Yeshua tells the disciples, “The son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, but the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom.”

We see here that judgement for the wicked will come at the end. We may think that our lifestyle pleases God because the proverbial lightning has not struck us, but that is just another lie of the devil. The day of judgement will come and every word we speak and every deed we have done will be accounted for.

Hidden Treasure/A Costly Pearl

Yeshua continues telling the crowd another two parables about the kingdom. This one is called the Hidden Treasure in Matthew 13:44: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.” Verse 45 goes on, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” These two short little anecdotes speak volumes about Yeshua’s message.

The gospels record a conversation between Yeshua and a rich young ruler. Mark 10:17-31 records the story like this: a man confronts Yeshua with the question, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Yeshua tells him, “Keep the commandments.” His response was, “I have kept them from my youth.” Yeshua looked at him with love and compassion (because Yeshua knew his heart) and tells him, “One thing you lack; go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.” The face of the man fell, and he went away grieved for he was one who owned much property. Yeshua said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.”

In the Beatitude discourse, which goes from chapters 5-7 in Matthew, gives us great insight into how one must live his life for the kingdom. In Matthew 6:24 Yeshua tells us, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2, “I urge you, 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. And do not be conformed to this world, but 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 in John 12:23-26, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”

There are so many stories and sayings of Yeshua, but it is all clear that His message was all about the Kingdom and His second coming. Are we seeking that great pearl of value, Yeshua Himself? Are we forsaking all for the kingdom? Paul writes in Philippians 3:7-8, “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.”

As we consider Yeshua’s second coming and as the day of judgment approaches, I ask, If Yeshua came tonight, would you know for certain that you would stand blameless before Him on the day of Judgment so that He would say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” or would He find you in contempt and say to you, “I know you not!” This is why we celebrate the Fall Feasts, so that we can remember that Yeshua is coming and we need to consider our deeds and “Repent!” Next time, we are going to look at the Scriptures to see what they say about the time that will surround His second coming and what the signs will be.

The Bible tells us a lot about Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) second coming, not only by the prophets but also by Yeshua (Jesus) Himself and His apostles. We want to look at a few of these Scriptures.

There Will Be Signs

When asked by the Pharisees and Sadducees for a sign, Yeshua tells us in Matthew 16:2-3, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It shall be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the sign of the times?”

God has given us His Word as a road map to life, and if we do not read it then we will end up lost! Yeshua goes on to tell us in the whole chapter of Matthew 24 all the signs that we need to be looking for. Yeshua calls these the birth pangs of His coming; they are only the beginning, what is called the tribulation. Here are a few of the signs: false Messiahs will come, nations will rise up against nations, famines and earthquakes. He goes on to tell believers that they will be persecuted and martyred and many will fall from the faith. False prophets will mislead many people and the love of many will grow cold. Then will come the great tribulation, when the Abomination of Desolation which was spoken of in Daniel 9:27 will occur in the holy place and the Jewish people will flee to the mountains. The false Messiah and the false prophet will arise and they will do great signs and wonders to deceive many. Yeshua tells us not to follow them. He goes on in verses 29-31 to say that in that day, “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 in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” Yeshua once again tells us in verses 32-33, “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.” In verses 37-39 He goes on to say, “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.” Yeshua concludes by telling us to be alert and be ready, for we do not know which day He is coming. “But to the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).

Now, we want to look at what Yeshua’s disciples tell us about His second coming. Paul tells the Thessalonians, “While they are saying ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.” Paul tells 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 have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.”

Peter tells us, “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’ But the day will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God….” These are just a few Scriptures on the topic of Yeshua’s second coming. Most of the Bible from beginning to end all has to do with Yeshua’s second coming, telling those who have an ear and a will to listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say on how we are to live so that we may inherit the kingdom. Do you see the signs? You should! The weather is getting more extreme not because of global change but because a change is about to happen. The book of Revelation is all about Yeshua’s second coming. It corresponds with the book of Daniel and Zechariah and many of the prophets. It’s worth your reading and don’t forget to check out all of our teachings and newsletters regarding this subject.

“Behold, I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done” (Revelation 22:12). Our eternal home is with the Father; this is what the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, is all about—God with us.

Are you sure that you are ready for His second coming?

We want to look at what we need to do to prepare for this most important day of our lives. The days between the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feast days are the days that we are in now, the days of preparation. Yeshua (Jesus) died and rose and ascended and sent His Holy Spirit during the Spring Feasts; the Fall Feasts of Rosh Hashanah (trumpets), Yom Kippur (atonement), and Sukkot (the ingathering) are all about His second coming. There is a 30 day period before the Fall Feasts begin. This is the time to prepare our hearts. We are going to look, at this time, on how to prepare for not only these symbolic feasts, but for when Yeshua comes back to fulfill the days of His second coming.

Preparation Day

For the thirty days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, we blow the shofar (the ram’s horn) and recite, “Awake, you who are sleepy and consider your deeds.” Paul tells us in Romans 13:11, “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 first believed.” And again Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:14, “For this reason it says, ‘Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Messiah will shine on you.'”

So we must first wake up. This is a spiritual awakening of one’s soul. Yeshua tells the parable of the Prodigal Son which Luke records in chapter 15. In verse 17 we read, “But when he came to his senses…”. This is the same as waking up! What happened next in the parable is that after he woke up, He said, “I will go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.'”

When Yeshua began His ministry, the first teaching was to repent! Why? Because the kingdom was at hand. We find this same message taught by the apostles in Acts 3:19: “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” So we must repent. Repentance is exactly as the scripture tells us: a turning around. We have been going away from God and now we must return like the prodigal son back to the Father.

So after we awaken our soul and repent, then what? Luke 10:27 records a story about a lawyer who asks Yeshua, “What must I do to have eternal life?” Yeshua asks him, “What do the Scriptures tell you? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Yeshua tells the people as recorded in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” As we go down our list we find that we must love God, not from our head but from our hearts deep within us. This message about love is very important because God is love and we His people must love as He loves. The apostles are recorded as praying and telling the people to love (Ephesians 4:15, Philippians 1:9, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 2 Peter 3:18).

We read in Revelation 19:8 about the bride who 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.” Every bride wants to look beautiful on her wedding day and, of course, her dress helps her to look her best. We see here from the scriptures that the Bride of Messiah will be dressed in fine linen. Why fine linen? This is the same dress of the priesthood. They were dressed in fine linen and the High Priest was adorned with jewels on the ephod with gold medallions. Peter tells us that we are a royal priesthood. Paul tells us that we are to lay down our lives on the altar as living sacrifices as our spiritual worship, all of this a reference to the work of the priesthood who, by the sacrifices, took part in helping the offerer to draw near to God.

So what are these righteous acts? Yeshua tells His disciples in John 15 how to go about doing those righteous acts. He tells them that they need to abide in Him because without Him we can not do anything. He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me will bear much fruit.”

What if we don’t? “If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dried up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire.” Yeshua goes on, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” He goes on, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” Paul tells us in Galatians 6:9, “Do not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.” So we see that we are well dressed when we do good and abide in God, keep His commandments, and love one another as He has loved us.

And how do we do that? Yeshua told His disciples that He would ask the Father to send the Holy spirit, who would help us to walk in truth. Paul tells us in Galatians 5, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no need for the law. Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” So let us live by the Spirit.

We have been looking at preparing for the wedding day. I hope you have considered it and you are preparing for that day. Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Have you made your garments white? Not sure? Then hear the sound of the trumpet and, “Awaken from your sleep 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 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.”

Awake, return, love God and neighbor (commandments), do good, and walk in the Holy Spirit: these will help you to prepare.

Giving thanks is an essential part of our walk with God. We have things to be thankful for every single day. One day every year, however, we have a day specifically set apart to express our gratitude. During Thanksgiving, we reflect on the past year and are thankful for all the ways God has provided for us. We all know the story of the pilgrims and how they were thankful just to be alive in their new land. Today, however, we seem to have lost the true meaning amidst all the materialism that surrounds the holiday. For weeks, we are forcefully reminded of the sales and chaos that will commence as soon as the dinner table has been cleared. Football games give us some measure of distraction from our overstuffed bellies. How should we give thanks in a way that honors God?

Showing our gratitude is one of the ways we grow closer to God. “Let us come before him with thanksgiving, and extol Him with music and song, for the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods,” Psalm 95:2-3. The Psalms are full of praise, thanksgiving, and worship to God. David surely had much to boast about by human standards. He was the king of Israel and was a mighty military leader. Yet He knew that it was God who allowed him to be a successful ruler and that it was not by his own hand that he was victorious. We may look at our possessions or the life we have and be proud of what we have accomplished, but it is important to remember that God is the one who blesses us with these things. When we offer God our gratitude, we are recognizing Him as being the Creator and Ruler of our lives.

It can be easy to be thankful when everything is going the way we want it to go. However, life rarely follows the neat framework we plan out in our heads. Trials, tribulations, struggles, and setbacks are all a part of life we must go through. “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus,” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. God wants us to know that even when we feel we are being punished or are being met with difficulties, He is still there and He still loves us. Even if we lose everything we have in this life, as long as we remain faithful we can be thankful for the sacrifice of Yeshua (Jesus) and for His unconditional love: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever,” 1 Chronicles 16:34.

When we aren’t grateful, we begin to stumble in our walk with God. Ungratefulness is essentially telling God that we don’t want or need Him. When we give someone a gift or help them in some way and they don’t thank us, we may become offended. How much more so do we offend God when we take for granted the many gifts He has given us. We may be proud of our earthly accomplishments and material possessions, but we must remember that it is God who allowed us to have those things, and we are to use them for His glory and not our own. As God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8:17-18, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.” Romans 1:21-22 tells us, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor (glorify) Him as God or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became foolish.”

The most obvious way we show our gratitude toward God as well as toward our fellow man is with our words. From an early age we are taught that when someone does something for us we should tell them we are thankful. The same is true with God. He has given us the ultimate gift of salvation through Yeshua (Jesus). He has given us breath and supplies us with our earthly needs of food, water, and shelter. “Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name,” 1 Chronicles 29:13. Many scriptures mention ‘thanks’ and ‘praise’ in the same breath. When we thank God, we are praising Him and glorifying His name with the sacrifice of our lips, and we should continue to do this daily.

Lip service is not enough, however. When we give thanks, it must come from a pure heart that is truly grateful lest we become like those spoken of in Matthew 15:8, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” God knows our hearts and our motives, and He wants us to thank and serve Him not out of obligation but out of love. If we aren’t at that point in our walk with Him, then we should ask God to put that gratefulness and that love in our hearts so that we may serve him in fullness of truth. Then He will “remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh,” Ezekiel 36:26. This is His will for all mankind.

The third way we can give thanks is with our actions. We may not think of this one quite as often, but it is just as important as any other method. 2 Corinthians 9:11-12 says, “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” By our generosity, we are not only expressing thanks ourselves, but we are opening a door for others to give glory and thanks to God through our deeds.

Thanksgiving is a perfect time for us to take a look in the mirror of God’s word and see if we have truly been thankful. As the holiday season grows ever closer, it is easy to get caught up in the rush and forget what we are truly celebrating. But as followers of Yeshua (Jesus), we ought to be thankful not just once per year, but every day of our lives. Make a practice out of regularly showing gratitude towards God in all circumstances, both good and bad. Don’t let pride and thanklessness puff up, but recognize God’s authority over your life. Be a living sacrifice of thanksgiving as it is written, “offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

This is the season of Advent. So what really is advent and what is it all about? Advent started out as a time of fasting. It was like another time of Lent, except people’s thoughts were directed to the second coming of Messiah. But in modern times, the season of Advent is just the time leading up to Christmas, Yeshua’s first coming. But wait! Yeshua already came. Yet we still celebrate and wait for His coming leading up to Christmas. It’s always nice to remember one’s birthday, but the early church did not celebrate Yeshua’s birthday, nor does the Bible tell us when He was born. Actually, it was the Emperor Constantine who began the Christmas tradition of celebrating Yeshua’s birth on December 25 to coincide with the birth of the pagan sun god, Mithra. Because Constantine made Christianity the religion of the empire, this tradition has been kept for almost 1800 years. In reality, Yeshua was most likely born at the beginning of the Feast of Booths (Sukkot), a feast which celebrates “God with us,” and on the eighth day, which is a celebration of rejoicing in the Word, he would have been circumcised. So why do we prepare for Yeshua’s coming during this season of Advent if Yeshua has already come? What is it that we are waiting for? We want to take a closer look at these questions and try to answer them in a way that pertains to each one of us. We know that this time is not for us to do our holiday shopping or for decorating our homes or trees—these have nothing to do with Yeshua’s birthday or His first advent. Let’s start by looking at the traditional song which is sung when the Advent candles are lit each week.

“O come, O come Immanuel (God with us) and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile until the son of God appears.” What we see here is that Israel is waiting for her Messiah to come and save her from exile. This is one of the main jobs of the Messiah (Isaiah 10:21, Jeremiah 33:7, Zechariah 10:6-10). Even though Israel is back in her land with the state of Israel, Messiah will gather all His people and bring them back from exile.

“O come Thou Lord of Might who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s Height, In ancient times didst give the law in cloud, and majesty, and awe.” Another job of the Messiah is to teach the world Torah. “And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For the Law (Torah) will go forth from Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem'” (Isaiah 2:1-5, Micah 4:2).

“O come the Rod of Jesse (Messiah), free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny; from depths of hell thy people save and give them victory o’er the grave.” Micah chapter 5 not only tells us that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, but He will be a Ruler who will shepherd His people Israel and He will have victory over all the enemies of Israel. Micah 5:9: “Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries, and all of your enemies will be cut off.” And of course, the last enemy to be conquered is death (1 Corinthians 15:26).

“O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here; disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight.” In Luke 1:68-79, Zechariah’s blessing, which he spoke after naming his son John, says this: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; to show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. 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 by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise (Dayspring) from on high shall visit us (His advent), to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

It’s great to remember and celebrate the birth of Israel’s Messiah, but that’s not what we are waiting for; that is not what we are preparing for. We, along with the Jewish people, are waiting for the Messiah of Israel: not His first coming, but His second. When Messiah comes back, He will restore the kingdom and it is this that we need to prepare for. We will be taking a closer look at this in parts 3 and 4, so join us as we wait and prepare not for the birth of Messiah, but for His second coming, when He will come in all His glory and might. “O come, Thou Key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery.” “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the Living God.” And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the Sons of Israel be as the sands of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved.”

“Rejoice, Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to Thee, O Israel.”

With the start of the winter solstice, we find ourselves at the darkest point of the seasons. The days are short and the nights are long. In our homes, the lights are on and, of course, it’s the time of the Savior’s birth. Well, not really, because it was the Emperor Constantine who set December 25th as Messiah’s birth to coincide with his pagan sun god. Most likely, Yeshua (Jesus) was born on the first day of the feast of Sukkot (booths) and circumcised on the 8th day of the feast, which is Shemini Atzeret and also Simchat Torah, which is rejoicing in the Torah. What better day to celebrate in the Word then on Simchat Torah? Today we are going to look at Yeshua, the Light to the World.

The book of Genesis records in the first chapter, the creation chapter, that, “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, and God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness, and called the light day and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” What we see here is the separation of two kingdoms: the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light, the kingdoms of evil and good, the kingdoms of night and day. Now you may say, “It’s December! What kind of Christmas message is this?” But you will see that it is a great Christmas message.

We know that there was a rebellion among the angels and that Satan was cast down, and this could be why God had to separate even His creation. He created a garden and put Adam in the garden. He also breathed into Adam His spirit, whereas in the first counting of man, He did not. We also see that at the time of Noah, the angels of darkness were marrying women, the daughters of men, and having children (Genesis 6:2-4). We also know that Satan was the angel of light till he fell: “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to earth. You have weakened the nations” (Isaiah 14:12). Yeshua says this about that day in Luke 10:18: “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.”

We know that the battle that took place in heaven resulted in a third of the angels falling from grace. These became the rulers and principalities of darkness in the heavenly places mentioned in Ephesians 3:10 and 6:12. Revelation 9:1 says, “And the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key to the bottomless pit was given to him.” We know that Satan is the ruler of this world. In Matthew 4:8-9, while Yeshua was in the wilderness, Satan came to Him and took Him to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms. Then he tells Yeshua, “All these thing will I give You, if You fall down and worship me.” So Satan owned the world because Adam lost his ownership when he worshipped Satan by disobeying God’s command to not eat the forbidden fruit. We find this to be true in other Scriptures like John 12:31, 2 Corinthians 14:30, and John 16:11. In John 14:30, Yeshua says, “I will not speak much more with you because the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” And where was Satan in all of this? Remember, the Scriptures tell us that he entered into Judas during the Seder meal with Yeshua and His disciples (John 13:21-27).

So after laying all of this groundwork, here is the message. We know that Yeshua went to the cross and died for our sins and in so doing regained the crown that was lost by Adam. Colossians 2:14-15 says, “Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” Yeshua gained the victory over Satan and now he has no authority over us (Luke 10:19-20) and neither death (Hebrews 2:14-18, 1 Corinthians 15:50-55) nor the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13-18) has authority over us. This brings us to Colossians 2:16 which tells us that, “Yeshua is the creator of all things both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities . . . He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Verse 19 goes on, “It was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.”

As we celebrate Yeshua’s birth, let us remember that Yeshua is the Light of the World from creation. He is the Victor, the King, and His Kingdom of Light will reign forever because He won the victory over the kingdom of darkness. He who sits on the throne took on the flesh of man to regain man’s position in this world by dying on the cross and taking back the authority which was lost by Adam.

What had begun from the beginning will be finished when Yeshua returns. Revelation 1:8 speaks of His return: “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come.'”

Revelation 19:11-16: “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.”

Revelation 20:14: “Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 21:1: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away.”

Revelation 21:23: “And the city (New Jerusalem) has no need of the sun or the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

When we light the holiday lights, we can light them knowing that the true Light of the World, the Word made flesh, Immanuel, God With Us, is mighty in our midst.

“O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant . . . Come, let us adore Him: Messiah the Lord.”

In our last newsletter, we took a closer look at the first four commandments. People today seem to think that these commands are outdated and irrelevant for our modern generation, a thing of the past; and yet these commandments have governed a people, a nation, for thousands of years. We ourselves have based our laws on these commandments. The commandments have been summed up like this: “You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.” From this we get what we call the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The first four commandments are a reflection of our relationship with God. These next six have to do with our relationship with our fellow man. So we want to look at the remaining six commandments to see if they are needed for today’s society.

(5) Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”

We start off our relationship of loving our neighbor with our parents. Our relationship with God begins with the family unit because our parents represent God, in an earthly manner. They are to teach us and love us and set an example for us and many times they fail, but still we are to honor them and respect them because they are over us in authority, which God has given them. We find this also to be true of all people who are in authority positions: “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (Romans 13:1).

Today people do not want to respect authority. They rebel and fight against such things. But God has, what you might say, a chain of command in the family and Ephesians 6:1-9 tells us what a godly family should look like. “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and your mother.” This part is important to understand: “in the Lord,” for one can not honor or obey when we are asked to go against God’s laws. This is the first commandment with a promise: “That it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” Could this be one of the reasons why there is so much teen suicide? Ephesians 5:22 tells us, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord, as Messiah also is the head of the church. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Messiah also is the head of the church.” This does not mean that men can lord it over their wives and children, for the Scriptures go on to say, “Husbands love your wives, just as Messiah also loved the church and gave himself up for her . . . Fathers do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” We even see in scriptures that a man’s prayers may be hindered if he does not treat his wife with love.

So the family life is important to God and to society and that may be why the devil hates this structure and he has waged war on the family unit going back to Adam and Eve. Once we learn from our parents how to love God and one another, we can then love each other.

(6) Exodus 20:13: “You shall not murder.”

It is natural that this should follow next, for the opposite of love is hate, and that is what murder is. This subject was very important to Yeshua (Jesus). In Matthew 5:21, Yeshua expounds on this commandment. He tells us that if we are even angry with our brother or even call someone a fool, we will be liable. Yeshua tells us that we must go make things right with that person before he will even accept our sacrifice at His altar. We see this with a man’s prayers if he is not right with his wife, and now we see it with our neighbor. 1 John 2:10-11 says, “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 darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

Today, murder is on the rise. What is going on in our cities today is like a battlefield. There is so much hate because of the absence of love. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, “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.” Sounds like today. Yeshua tells us, “If you love Me, then keep My commandments.” We have stopped loving God and keeping His commandments, which has taken us from honoring our parents and loving them or others because we have become lovers of self and haters of what is good.

(7) Exodus 20:14: “You shall not commit adultery.”

Adultery is the result of a lack of faithfulness. It is also a problem with lust. Today, we have both problems. We do not understand what the marriage vows mean and this is largely because we do not understand what it means to enter into a covenant. A covenant is a binding agreement. God is a covenant-keeping God. Covenants were made with a king and his subjects. Today, we just call them agreements and they have become very shallow in nature. But not with God. This is why when God made a covenant with Israel, it was a covenant that stands forever. A covenant between a king and his people basically said that if you keep this agreement then I will do all of this for you. Deuteronomy 28:1-45 lists all the blessings and the curses which still apply to all of us today, for God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Deuteronomy 11:26-27 tells us, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse; the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; and a curse if you turn aside from the way I am commanding you today.” Deuteronomy 28:30 speaks about having a wife and another man will have her. How clear God’s word is about keeping His commandments.

The second part of adultery is lust. Yeshua said this about adultery in Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say, everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Yeshua went on to say in Matthew 5:31-32, “And it was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce;’ but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

Today many people marry out of lust. Why do I say this? Because, we have become lovers of self and love is just the opposite. 1 Corinthians 13 is quoted so often in church weddings. It begins, “Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant… it does not seek its own… bears all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” Adultery is an act of hate because it is the opposite of love. There are no grey areas with God. Galatians 5:19-20 says that immorality, impurity, and sensuality are deeds of the flesh and that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Verses 22-23 tell us that love, faithfulness, and self-control are fruit of the Spirit and only the things done by the Spirit will be blessed.

Today we think that God winks at sin and that He is loving and that He will not judge. How wrong is that thinking! God keeps His word, for He is not a man that He should lie, and He has already spoken His blessings and His curses.

(8) Exodus 20:15: “You shall not steal.”

God has much to say about all of His commandments throughout His word. Luke 19 tells us a story about a tax collector who came face to face with the God of truth and righteousness. One day, Yeshua met a man named Zacchaeus who climbed a sycamore tree just to get a glimpse of Yeshua. Yeshua tells Zacchaeus to come on down because He was stopping at his house. While dining, Zaccheus told Yeshua, “Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” Yeshua responded by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.” Why did Yeshua tell Zacchaeus this? Because according to God’s Law, Exodus 22:1-4, anyone who steals must make restitution. Proverbs 6:31 says, “When a thief is caught, he must repay sevenfold; He must give all the substance of his house.” Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:28, “Let him who steals steal no more; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has a need.” Paul saw that a person should be responsible for his own needs and work, but if he cannot because of illness or infirmity, then those who do work should share with him who is in need. Paul did not endorse handouts, as you see in 1 Timothy 5, even for widows; nor did he see a need for a person to steal to live, but rather he promoted working to provide for his needs.

(9) Exodus 20:16: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

It only seems right for the next two commandments to follow stealing, because we can steal a person’s reputation and even his life by lying against him falsely. In Revelation 21:8 we see that all liars will be part of those thrown into the lake of fire. Lying is a serious matter, and how much more so when we lie and someone’s life is ruined because of it. We have seen many people who were falsely accused and put into jail and even given the death penalty because someone lied. We have seen people lose their jobs because someone falsely gave testimony against them. God will have nothing to do with a person who falsely accuses his neighbor. Is this not what gossip is? We tell hearsay about another and cause people to have an attitude toward them. We ruin people’s reputations and even friendships and at times break up families. Like the thief, the person who lies must make restitution by telling the truth and restoring that person back to good standing with his family or boss or even the law. He needs to be responsible for helping his neighbor get back on his feet by helping with lost wages, so he will not have to resort to stealing. You see, everything has consequences and every bad consequence has to be undone.

(10) Exodus 20:17: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant nor his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

This last commandment tells all. If we truly love one another like we are to love God and even ourself, then we will not have feelings of hatred and anger and lust and jealousy and greed. These are all of the flesh, and God is all about the Spirit. Today, we are a people who want to “keep up with the Joneses” as they used to say. If our neighbor has it, we want it also. The Bible tells us to be content, but we are a restless people because our flesh dictates to us and the flesh is a beast that will always hunger for more.

We are able to live by God’s Word. We are able to walk in the spirit and crucify the flesh. We are able because of Yeshua; we are now dead to sin (Romans 6). Today we have taken off the yoke of God’s kingdom and we have fallen for the lies of the devil and we walk in darkness because of it and so we stumble. But today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart, but quickly go back to the Father who loves you. Repent and He will forgive you. Return to His commandments and choose life. For like Zacchaeus, Yeshua will say, “Today, Salvation has come to your house.”

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them” (Isaiah 9:2).

You may say to yourself, “I have never heard of the Christian celebration of Hanukkah.” Well, let me give you the background first. Yeshua (Jesus) celebrated Hanukkah. We see this in John 10:22-24, “At that time the Feast of Dedication (this is Hanukkah) took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews therefore gathered around Him, and were saying, ‘How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Messiah tell us plainly.'”

Why is this significant? Because first, Yeshua kept Hanukah and we are His followers and what He does we need to follow in His footsteps. But also it is important what took place at this time. Let’s continue on with this discourse. In verses 25-26 Yeshua says, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not My sheep.” What does the word believe mean? Vines tells it this way: “Pisteuo means to be persuaded of, reliance upon.” This is where we get the word “believer.”

In other words, if what Yeshua was saying is true and as believers we accept it as truth, then we must also believe that He is the Messiah that Israel was waiting for. Verses 27-28 continue the dialogue: “My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.” Let’s continue laying the groundwork.

John 8:12 says, “Again therefore Yeshua spoke to them saying, ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall have the light of life.'” John 14:15: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” We see that if we truly believe in Messiah Yeshua then we are believers and as believers we must hear His voice and follow in His footsteps and this means to keep His commandments because John 5:19 says, “Yeshua therefore answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, these things the son also does in like manner.'”

We too must do what Yeshua does, for He is following His Father and we must follow Him. We see that we are to keep His commandments; and what is His commandment pertaining to Hanukkah? Let’s take a closer look.

The Story of Hanukkah

We find the story of Hanukkah in the book of Maccabees. The story in a nutshell is about the Jewish people who were ruled by the king of Syria, King Antiochus. Antiochus wanted all the Jews to stop practicing the Torah and follow his pagan ways. But the Jewish people refused, so he destroyed their homes and he stormed the temple and defiled it and replaced the Ark of the covenant with a pagan god.

Many Jews ran and hid, but not old Mattathias and his five sons. When Mattathias could no longer fight, he appointed his son Judah to be their leader. He told them, “Be strong and brave.” Judah was called Maccabee, “the hammer,” and many people followed him and fought against the Syrians until they reached Jerusalem. They first went into the temple, which by now was all filled with weeds in the outer courtyard, and they took down the pagan idol and they restored the temple and its courtyards and rebuilt the altar. They rebuilt the menorah and exactly three years to the date, they relit the menorah and rededicated the temple. For eight days they celebrated joyfully before the Lord, for He had given them a great victory.

The Light Must Stay Lit

In Matthew 5:14, Yeshua tells His followers, “You are the light of the world. A city that sits on the mountain will not be hidden, nor do people kindle a lamp just to put it under the bushel measure, but on the menorah, to illuminate all who are in the house. So also, shine your light before sons of men, so that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father who is in heaven” (The Delitzsch Hebrew/English Translation). Yes, Yeshua was telling us that we need to be menorahs in this world.

In the verses before this, Yeshua was speaking about being persecuted. Today we have seen the Christian faith come under attack all over the world: people being martyred for their faith, people being persecuted for following God’s commandments. But our Messiah, our Savior, our Light tells us in Matthew 5:10-12, “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.”

We, like the Maccabees of old, must stand tall and contend for the faith. We must shine our light in the midst of darkness, for we too will have the victory. We are people of the light and of the day. Our Messiah is the Light of the World and we follow in His footsteps as light in the dark world. We can not shrink in the midst of persecution, but we must be like that city that sits on a mountain top. We are lighthouses in the midst of the storm. Yeshua is the menorah that was in the temple and only pure oil was used to keep it burning day and night. Pure oil only comes from being crushed and pressed; so too with us, when we are persecuted, we are crushed and pressed but our oil will be pure and our light will shine all the brighter.

We are menorahs, and our light will never go out, so shouldn’t we also light a candle for the eight days of Hanukkah as a witness and a testimony to the world that we will not shrink back at persecution? But like the Maccabees, we will contend for the faith because we follow in our Messiah’s footsteps and we keep His commandments; and His commandment for us is to be the light to the nations, and we are going to shine in the midst of the darkness.

“For a child will be born to us, a son 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, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Revelation 22:7 tells us, “And behold, I am coming quickly, Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.” Revelation 22:12 tells us, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2 tells us, “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” Advent is all about the birth pangs of the coming child, but this child is not a child, but the Messiah of Israel, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16).

Yeshua (Jesus) rebukes the Pharisees and Sadducees for not recognizing the signs of the time. Matthew records it in Matthew 16:2-3, “But He answered and said to them, ‘When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,” and in the morning, “There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.” Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?'” This is why it is important to know what the Bible says and what Yeshua tells us we should be looking for. Let’s take a closer look.

The Signs of the Times

In Matthew 24, Yeshua gives us those warning signs. He tells us that many will come saying that they are the Messiah and they will lead many astray. There will be wars and rumors of wars. Nations will rise against nations. There will be famines and earthquakes, but all of this is just the beginning of birth pangs. He goes on to say that they will persecute and kill those who believe and because of this, many will fall away. Many false prophets will lead many away, but to the one who overcomes, he shall be saved.

In verse 15 he goes on to say, “Therefore when you see the Abomination of Desolation which was spoken of in the book of Daniel (which took place at the time of the Maccabees in the story of Hanukkah and the destruction of Jerusalem), then there will be a great tribulation.” Revelation 6 speaks of these things also in the Seal judgements, the first being a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering and to conquer.  The red horse was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men should slay one another. The black horse brought famine and high inflation. With the ashen horse, death and hades, a fourth of the earth was killed by the sword and famine and pestilence and by wild beasts.

Underneath the altar in heaven, the souls of those who had been martyred cry out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Today Christians are being martyred and persecuted. All over the world we have seen an increase of persecution against not only Christians, but also an increase of anti-Semitism against the people of God (Israel).

The Epistles are full of warnings against false prophets and teachers. Today we have Pastors teaching congregations when they themselves do not even believe in the Word of God. Beware, churchgoers, make sure you yourselves know what the Word of God says, because Yeshua warns us that these false shepherds will lead many astray.

Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-4, “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.”

One last sign: the One World order and the Antichrist who will rule over it (Revelation 12-13, 16-20). Today we have a global economy, which includes a global bank and stock market, and we have a global army and police force and food bank. Of course, most of all of this is run through the United Nations which has brought about this one world order.

So like never before, what we are seeing could be, in fact, the birth pangs of the Messiah and His coming could be soon. The question is: are you prepared? Next we will look at what we need to do to prepare for His advent.

“Wake up! For our salvation is nearer now than we first believed” (Romans 13:11).

We have seen that Advent began as a time of fasting and preparation not for Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) first coming, but for His second coming. So how do we prepare? Matthew 24:42-43 tells us, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” If we do not know when He is coming then how do we know when to be ready? Matthew goes on to say that if the head of the house knew what night the thief would have come, he would have been on the alert. So you should be ready too. Matthew 25 gives us a clue in the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The five wise virgins had enough oil to light their lamps while the five foolish did not; and when the time came at midnight, the shout came, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet Him!” When the five foolish ones returned from buying oil, it was too late; the door was shut. So be on the alert, for you do not know the day or the hour. Luke 12:35-36 tells us this way: “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.” This imagery of the wedding runs throughout many of Yeshua’s parables. For example, in Matthew 22 Yeshua gives this parable of the wedding feast: The king gave a wedding feast. He sent out his slaves to tell the people that all the preparations have been made and it’s time to come to the feast. But they paid no attention to the invitation. In fact, they mistreated and even killed the king’s servants. The king said, “The wedding is ready, go out to the highways and byways and bring people in so that my table may be filled.” But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there was a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. The king was outraged and said, “How did you come in here without wedding clothes?”

Oil and lights and wedding clothes: what does this all mean?

Oil

Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was given to us as a pledge or a down payment on our salvation. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:17, “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.” Verses 24-25 say, “Now those who belong to Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Yeshua sent the Holy Spirit to be a helper, a counselor to us so that we can walk according to the Word of God.

The Menorah lamp in the temple, which represents the Messiah, used olive oil. To get this oil, the olives had to be pressed and crushed, and so we too must be pressed and crushed so we may be presented to the Father as holy. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:8-14 that he considered all that he had obtained in life to be rubbish just to know Messiah in the power of His resurrection, to fellowship in His sufferings, and in being conformed to His death; but he says that he has not yet obtained or become perfect, but pressed on to lay hold of it. We cannot obtain this in our own righteousness, but only through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Light

God is light and His kingdom is the kingdom of Light, so we too must be light. Yeshua is the Light of the World and He tells us that we too must be that light in the world (Matthew 5:14). Yeshua is the Word of God made flesh and so too the Word of God is light. We must be light and we must live by the word of God in keeping His commandments; to do this, we must be led by the Holy Spirit of God and to be led by the Spirit of God, we must be born again.

Wedding Clothes

Revelation 19:7-10 speaks of the Marriage supper of the Lamb. It begins, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the 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.” Hebrews 6:1 tells us, “Therefore, leaving the elementary teachings about Messiah, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works . . . .” First we must start with repentance; then we must read and live by God’s word with prayer and by the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will begin to understand God’s will for us in our lives and by this we will begin to obey and do what God is calling each one of us to do for Him and His kingdom. Then we will be prepared and we will be ready for Him if He chooses to come as a thief in the night. Our lamps will be lit and shining bright to welcome Him.

O come, O come Immanuel!

As we begin a new year, we want to look at new beginnings, for that is what a new year is all about. We want to look at all of those new beginnings in God’s Word.

Let’s start with the New Testament. Why do we call the New Testament new? Are we saying that the Old Testament has been done away with? Can one do away with its foundation? We need to call it the Hebrew Scriptures, for that is what they are. The gospels and epistles may be better known as the 1st Century Scriptures, for they were written in the 1st Century; or perhaps the early church writings may even be a better name, but surely we can not call one old and one new. We never read that God said, “Behold, I make new Scriptures, for the old has passed away.” But He did say, “Therefore, if any man is in Messiah, he is a new Creature, the old things passed away, behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The scriptures also speak of a new way of living in Hebrews 10:19-22, “Since, therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Yeshua (Jesus), by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is His flesh, and since we have a great High Priest over the house of God, 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.”

So what is this new way and new man that God has made? Well, this new man begins in John 3:3. Yeshua, speaking to Nicodemus—one of the leaders of the Jewish people—tells him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” What is this new birth? He goes on and tells him in verse 5, “Truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” We see that one must be born of the Spirit, not just of the flesh. Romans 6:4 tells us, “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.” Galatians 5:24 says, “Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

To be born again and experience the new life found in Messiah, we must then crucify the flesh. We must stop the deeds of the flesh 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. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:19-21). “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” (Galatians 5:17). “But I say, walk in the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

So what else is new? Isaiah 65:17 tells us, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” John writes in Revelation 21:1, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” Revelation 21:10 also tells us, “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the (new) holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.”

We have seen many things that God has and will make new, but we have one more “new,” and that is the New Covenant. We first see that a new covenant was to be made in Jeremiah 31:31-33, “‘Behold days are coming’, declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a 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 new covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.'” Yeshua tells His disciples at His last Seder Meal recorded in Matthew 26:28, “For this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Paul tells the corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:25, “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.'”

Even though Yeshua is the ratifier of this covenant through His shed blood (for all of God’s covenants were made with blood), the old covenant was not abolished, for Yeshua said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

So what’s so new about the new covenant? Well, God’s Law, His Torah, will now be written on our hearts, not on stone like as the first time. And why? Because the people could not keep it without the help of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, “Now He who establishes us with you in Messiah and anointed us in God, who also sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge (or down payment) . . . .” So the Holy Spirit was given to us as a down payment or a pledge of things yet to come, for the New Covenant will have its fulfillment in the Messianic Age, which is the 1000 year rule of Messiah in Jerusalem (Revelation 20:4). We are just the first fruits, as it says in Romans 8:23, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

“Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

February is the month of love—at least, that is what they tell us. February fourteenth is Valentine’s Day, the day of love. Everyone gives the one they love a valentine, a card expressing their love; gifts are given, and couples go out to celebrate. It’s a festive tribute to love. But is this love? February 10 begins the season of Lent. Lent is the church’s traditional time leading up to the death of our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). It is a time to give up something we love: candy, TV, something to afflict the soul. But is this love?

1 John 4:7 tells us, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” Paul tells us in Romans 13:9 that the Torah is summed up by this statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Yeshua expands this commandment to love one another in John 13:34 at Yeshua’s last Seder meal with His disciples: “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Now, this new commandment wasn’t really a new commandment, but to love as Yeshua loved us was.

Matthew records in Matthew 5:43-44, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself and hate your enemy,’ but I tell you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” We see that Yeshua expanded this commandment to the point that we must love at all times. This is what separates us from the kingdom of darkness; this is what separates us from the world. John 13:35: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So what is love and what does it mean to love like Yeshua?

God always leads the way. He is our example. John 3:16 tells us, “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.” Paul tells the Philippians in chapter 2:5-8, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Messiah Yeshua, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.”

We see that God has shown us love, and to love is to be a servant. Philippians 2:3-4 tells us, “Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely lookout for your own interests, but also for the interests of others.” We are to serve one another and submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21).

Paul tells us of the excellence of love in 1 Corinthians 13. He says, “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” This is something to attain, no doubt, but it is attainable.

But if we are truly going to follow our Master’s example, then He tells us in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” We too must lay down our lives by humbling ourselves and submitting to one another. What we need to give up is not candy or cookies but our lives for one another. We need to be servants of the Lord by loving one another without hypocrisy, and not just in word but in deed. As 1 John 3:16-17 puts it, “We know love by this, that he laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother (neighbor) in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in Him?”

February fourteenth is just one day; Lent is just one season; let us love for a lifetime.

The story of Ruth, from the book of Ruth, is a story of not only survival, but of the power of God’s light in the darkness. The story opens with a famine in the land of Israel. As we have seen before with the Patriarchs, Elimelech and Naomi and their two sons leave to go to the land of Moab. Moab was on the east side of the Dead Sea. The Moabites were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, from his incestuous relationship with his eldest daughter (Genesis 19:37). The two sons end up marrying Moabite women. Moab did not worship the God of Israel, but pagan gods. The Bible tells us not to be bound together with unbelievers because what fellowship has light with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14). One of these wives was Ruth.

We find that Elimelech died, and his two sons also, in the land of Moab. Even though these were physical deaths, the implication could also mean that they died a spiritual death in the pagan land of Moab as we saw with the sons and their pagan wives. We saw this same thing happen to King Solomon and all of his pagan wives and how they influenced him (1 Kings 11:1-8). Yeshua (Jesus) tells us in Matthew 5:14-16, “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 the 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 good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Naomi, after losing her husband and sons, was very saddened. Naomi sets out alone to return to the land of Judah. Even though she had her two daughters-in-law, they were pagan girls, and to Naomi there was no future in that. So she tells the two girls to return to their homes and she blesses them: “‘May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt kindly with the dead and with me. May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.’ Then she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept” (Ruth 1:8-9). What great lessons we can learn from this short window that scripture gives us, to perceive what had taken place over these years in the lives of this family! Even though these two girls were pagan girls, Naomi lived out her Biblical values. She was that light in the darkness. I’m sure that Naomi was a prayerful person by the fact that she blesses these two girls and sends them back. But they both tell her “NO,” that they would return with her to her people. Naomi tells them to return because she has no sons to be their husbands, and she is old and has no future. So once again these women cry with sorrow over their tribulation.

Now you may think that Naomi could not have been strong in her faith for her to feel so low, but faith does not mean you do not cry. Strength does not mean one never grows tired. Naomi was a woman of great faith; she knew that she had to go back to her land and to her people. It would have been simpler to stay in Moab where maybe her daughters-in law would have looked after her. But she knew this was not the land of her God. And think about the courage she had; for a woman to travel alone in those days was unheard of, but she trusted God to bring her back safely. Her one daughter-in- law took her advice and kissed her and returned to home; but Ruth begged Naomi not to send her back. Ruth tells her, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me” (Ruth 1:16-17).

Wow! Naomi must have been such a godly example before her daughters-in-law that the seed planted in the soul of Ruth’s heart caused her to make such a statement. This shows the power of light in the darkness. Ruth spoke of a total conversion from her pagan gods to the God of Naomi. She was willing to lose all in her father’s house so as not to lose Naomi. What love that one should lay down his life for a friend (John 15:13). Naomi’s faith was so contagious that Ruth had to have what Naomi had.

So the two left and returned to Bethlehem (the house of bread), for the famine was over. Ruth went out to glean in the field of Boaz, a kinsman of her husband Elimelech. Boaz was kind to Ruth and had his servant leave behind much for her to glean, and they gave her water and shelter from the heat. God had not forsaken these two women, but was about to do something great, because I am sure that Naomi prayed all day while Ruth worked from day to night in the fields providing for them because Naomi advises Ruth and tells her just what to do, and Ruth knew enough to listen to her mother-in -law. She tells Ruth to wash and anoint herself and put on her best clothes and to go down to the threshing floor where she knew Boaz would be. She tells her to lay down at his feet when he goes to sleep and cover herself, and she should do what he says. It was a custom that a man’s relative would marry the dead man’s widow to not only provide for her, but to keep the dead man’s name alive. Boaz did just that: he became the kinsman redeemer and married Ruth and took care of her and Naomi.

Ruth was the great-grandmother of King David. What light can do in the darkness! We are to be light in this dark world. We can see by this story the power to change lives through our light that we shine. The light of God can change hearts and lives. “Those who were not My people are now the people of God.”

What a great story! What a great testimony! What a great example for us to live godly lives in a world that so needs the God of Light!

The book of Malachi ends with these words: “Behold I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.” This promise makes him a harbinger of the Messiah. This also ends the Hebrew Scriptures in Christian Bibles. We want to see if we are in the days of Elijah or if they are yet to come; but first let’s look at the prophet Elijah to see who is this Elijah that is coming back.

Elijah the Prophet

The Prophet Elijah spans the globe of religious denominations including Christianity, Judaism, and Muslim religions. He is not only mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, but also the Talmud, the Mishnah, and the Qur’an. In Hebrew Elijah (Eliyahu) means, “My God is Yahweh.” This is significant because this was his life mission–to defend the worship of Yahweh against the worship of the false god Baal.

We see in the book of Kings that Elijah calls for a drought, and for three and a half years it does not rain. We see in James 5:17-18 that James calls Elijah “A man with a nature like ours, and he earnestly prayed, and it did not rain; and he prayed again, and it rained and the earth produced fruit.” So the Bible tells us that even though Elijah was a great prophet, he was just like anyone else who would earnestly seek the Lord. But by calling for this drought, Elijah was putting the god Baal to shame, for he was the god of rain, lightning and thunder, and dew.

This led to the final battle on Mt. Carmel when 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah gathered along with Elijah to prove to the people whose god was the greatest. Elijah tells the people, “If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The priests of Baal built an altar and danced wildly, calling on their god and even cutting themselves hoping their god would send fire down upon the altar. From morning to night their god was silent, and Elijah, mocking their god, asks that four large jars of water be poured out on his sacrifice–not once, but three times until the water flowed all around the altar; and then Elijah prayed, and God heard him and sent fire down on the altar to consume the sacrifice along with all the water. Elijah then called for the death of all of the prophets of Baal.

A great and mighty miracle of God! But Queen Jezebel was enraged and out to kill Elijah. Elijah runs for his life and travels forty days and nights to Mount Horeb, where Moses had received the Ten Commandments. He seeks shelter in a cave, and God speaks to Him. “Elijah, why are you here?” asks God. Elijah tells God that everyone has left truth, and only he is left, and even at that, his own life was in danger. Elijah stands outside the cave and a mighty wind passes, but God was not in the wind. A great earthquake shook the mountain, but God was not in the earthquake. Then a fire breaks out, but God was not in the fire. All of these things took place at the giving of the Torah, and God was present in it all, but not this time. Then with a silent voice (versus the blaring sound at the time of Moses) God once again asks Elijah, “Why are you here, Elijah?” Elijah, still taken back by all of this, still complains to God. God sends him to Damascus to anoint Hazael king of Syria and Jehu king of Israel and Elisha to replace him as prophet. Now people may say that God punished Elijah for fearing for his life and running from his position, but this was not the case, for God had other plans for Elijah; those plans would take place later in history.

Elijah is full of legends and stories from Christianity to Judaism to even Islam. There is something about Elijah that is mystical and mysterious. He was taken up in a chariot of fire into the clouds. How mysterious is that? And he is coming back; who has ever done that, except Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah? Elijah, the man who stood for true worship, who fought against false gods and is the reconciler, will come before the awesome day of the Lord. We want to look at Elijah in the Apostolic Scriptures as we continue to find the answer to our question: Are these the days of Elijah? We know that Elijah is to return before the coming of Messiah. Yeshua (Jesus) tells His disciples that if they accept it, John the Baptist was the Elijah who was to come (Matthew 11:14). So what did John do that caused Yeshua to say that He was Elijah?

John the Baptist

The angel prophesied about John to his mother Elizabeth and said in Luke 1:16-17, “And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and it is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the Fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

When John was born, his father prophesied and in Luke 1:76-79, he says this: “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 by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Elijah brought the people back to the true worship of God. He battled the false gods and won and brought reconciliation. Let’s look to see if we see this spirit of Elijah in John.

Matthew records in Matthew 3:1-2 that John came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”: the sign of reconciliation with God. Matthew bears witness in chapter 3:3-4 that John was the voice in the wilderness, and that he made ready a people for the Lord’s coming. He also tells us that John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt, the same image of Elijah. He dealt with true worship and took on the Pharisees and Sadducees: “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” (verses 8-10).

John preached with authority like Elijah, and John had Yeshua to back up what he said; for Yeshua tells us in John 15:6, “One who does not remain in Me will be cast outside like a branch and wither. People will gather them and cast them into the midst of the fire, and it will be consumed.”

So the question is, if John was the Elijah to come, then should we not expect Elijah to come again? Let’s take another look at Malachi 4:5, “Behold I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.”

The Terrible Day of the Lord

Malachi 3:1 tells us about a messenger who would come and clear the way before the Lord. Matthew and Luke both use this verse to apply to John the Baptist; but have we seen the terrible day of the Lord? Zephaniah 1:14-15 says, “Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly; listen, the day of the Lord! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.” The prophet goes on to describe this terrible time that will come upon the world. The Apostles spoke of this time, and as there are so many reference to this time, we can only look at these two.

Paul tells the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, “While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they will not escape.” Now, you may say that this describes many times in history, but let’s look at what the book of Revelation tells us. It starts off with judgements that will come and a false religion and a false Messiah who will rule a one world order. It speaks of famines and wars and destruction: like no other time in history. It speaks of martyrs and persecution and terror. It speaks of a great battle against Israel: “All the kings of the world gathered together for the war of the great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 19:11).

So is this time coming soon, and should we be looking for the return of Elijah? Yeshua tells His disciples in Matthew 24 what to look for in the days leading up to His return, many of which we just mentioned in the book of Revelation; but then He tells a parable starting in verse 32-33, “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.” Yeshua had used the fig tree to symbolize the Nation of Israel in Luke 13:3-9, Mark 11:11-21 and Jeremiah 24:10. Simply what Yeshua was saying was that when you see the nation of Israel green and bearing fruit again, you will know that He is at the door. Israel became a nation once again on May 14, 1948. The fig tree and its branch has become tender and puts forth leaves and once again bears fruit. This was the sign, and we have seen it. We also have seen that the one world has become, and we now have a global everything, from a world banking system to a global army, and we just wait for the one world leader to come forth.

Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 speaks about the coming of Yeshua and the coming of the man of Lawlessness, the antichrist who will come to rule this one world. He says, “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” We have seen over the years a falling away of the faithful from God. Church attendance is down, and people have fallen from keeping the commandments of God; families are broken and prayer has been banned from the public square. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But realize this, that in the last days (which is now, because of the new state of Israel), 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; avoid such men as these.” Paul is describing today.

Yes, these are days that the spirit of Elijah is needed. We need restoration, we need a revival, we need God to bring us back to truth and light. We need the words of John the Baptist, “REPENT!” For just like Yeshua who cursed the fig tree because it did not bear fruit, which symbolized the coming destruction of the temple, so too we must heed Messiah’s warnings that when you see these things, know that He is coming. But before He comes, the book of Revelation will play out; and we are already into that book with the return of the nation of Israel and with the age of the globalization of the world. God will, and God has already, raised up people like an army of Elijahs to go forth and prepare the way of the Lord by preaching the message of the kingdom, to “Repent!”

Are you ready? Yeshua tells us in Matthew 24:42, 44, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming For this reason you be ready too, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” Yeshua tells His sceptics in Matthew 16:2-3, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red, and in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?”

Have the spirit of Elijah and repent; rid yourself of false gods and return to the truth of God’s Word.

John the Baptist calls out to the crowd when he sees Yeshua (Jesus) coming toward him, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Why did he call Him the Lamb of God? The requirement of a sin offering for a High Priest or for a community was a bull, not a lamb; maybe an individual offering for sin might be a lamb, but Yeshua was dying for the world at most and His community at least, so a lamb would not have been the required animal for this kind of sacrifice. So why did John call Him the Lamb of God?

I would say that John had visions of Passover. Leviticus 23:5: “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.” At the first Passover, the lamb was slaughtered, and its blood was smeared upon the doorpost, and the death angel passed over that house on the night of the Lord’s Passover. It was here that God redeemed His people. After 400 years of slavery, God set His people free, and they departed from Egypt as free people. Every year after that at Passover, a lamb was slaughtered, and the people were required to eat the lamb at the seder meal. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Clean out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also was sacrificed.”

This was not a sin offering, but in actuality it was a peace offering, a shelamim in Hebrew. The word shalom means peace. Ephesians 2:14 tells us, “For He (Yeshua) Himself is our peace.” The peace offering was a voluntary offering. Yeshua tells us in John 10:17-18, “No one has taken it away from Me (My life), but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again.” Even though the Passover Lamb was never offered for sin or for forgiveness, it was made in thanksgiving or in gratitude in response to God’s favor. So in some respects, the sin offering reconciles us to God which brings us peace. Yeshua, who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf to reconcile us to God and bring us peace and eternal life (Romans 5:10, 1 Corinthians 5:18). Yeshua freely laid down His life for us, an innocent lamb without blemish; and His shed blood redeemed us (1 Peter 1:19, Revelation 12:11) and delivered us from the kingdom of darkness (Egypt, Colossians 1:13).

Because Yeshua is our Passover Lamb and was crucified at the time the Passover lambs were slaughtered, should we not keep the Passover as a thanksgiving offering also, especially the Seder? It was during the Seder (what we call the last supper) that Yeshua said, “This is My body which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me. And this cup is the renewed 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 this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:24-26).

We want to look at a few Scriptures about our Mighty Lamb of God and what He has obtained for us because of His freewill offering on our part.

Redemption: “Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).

Deliverance: “Who gave Himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:4).

Eternal life: “And this is the promise which He Himself made to us; eternal life” (1 John 2:25, John 3:16).

Access into God’s presence: “Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Yeshua…” (Hebrews 10:19, Ephesians 2:18).

Newness of life: “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” (Romans 6:4, 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Freedom: “It was for freedom that Messiah set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

The Holy Spirit: “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7, John 14:26).

We can now know love: “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

Let us remember and celebrate the Lord’s Passover.

Husbands, does your wife see Yeshua (Jesus) in you? We want to look at the family as we celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day these next two months. We want to take a closer look at the role of the father and mother in the family, because today the devil is out to destroy families. He has succeeded over the years in destroying this divine unity, so we need to take our families back, and the Bible tells us how to do that.

The writer of Proverbs 31 speaks of the virtues of a worthy woman. We know that Mother’s Day is a special time of year because mothers are special. Even though fathers are so important in the family (for they are the building blocks of the family), mothers are the glue that holds the family together. So we are going to look at mothers as wives, and fathers as they make the family work as a unit.

The writer of Proverbs describes the woman of the house. He begins in verse 10 by telling us that her worth is far above jewels. In today’s world, we only think materialistic thoughts. Worth is measured in dollars and cents, and value is only what kind of return you can get; but God’s ways go beyond such things.

Verse 25 says, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.”

Verse 30 goes on, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be blessed.” Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:3-4, “And let not your adornment be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” Peter was not telling women to not look nice, but that their worth goes way beyond just a pretty face.

Proverbs 31:11 says, “The heart of her husband trusts her, and he will have no lack of gain.” Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:28, “So husbands ought also to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.” When the husband loves his wife and honors her, then her children will see, and follow his lead, because he is the head of the house, the shepherd who leads his flock.

Proverbs 31:12: “She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” When the husband leads and loves his flock, the wife and children will follow him. Yeshua (Jesus) tells His followers that He is the Good Shepherd, and He lays down his life for His sheep. The husband, the father, is the shepherd who leads his flock and when he lays down his life for his family, there is peace and life and goodness, and the family prospers. Paul again tells the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands love your wives just as Messiah also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”

Proverbs 31:23 says, “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.” The virtues of a worthy woman is that, “She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teachings of kindness is on her tongue” (Verse 26). Ephesians 5:26 tells us that the husband, like Messiah, sanctifies his wife like “Messiah sanctifies the church and cleanses 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.”

In the case of an unbelieving husband or wife, Paul tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 7:14, “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through the believing wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified be her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean. But now they are holy.”

This takes us to our beginning: the children. Paul tells the Ephesians in chapter 6:1-4, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 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 the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Children are to respect and honor their parents, but children have to be taught. Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” We see Proverbs 4-9 begins the instructions of a father to his son:

“Hear, O son, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding, for I give you sound teaching, do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, then he taught me and said to me, ‘Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments and live.”

We see a father who teaches his son the things that his father taught him. God called Abraham because He knew that Abraham would teach his children in the way to go. The importance of a father’s teaching: it is the building blocks of the family from generation to generation—not that a mother never teaches. She does, and the children learn love for one another, and forgiveness, and how to give of themselves and to others.

Proverbs 31:20 tells us, “She extends her hand to the poor; and she stretches out her hands to the needy.” Paul tells Timothy, “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.” Paul does not mention Timothy’s father; maybe he had died, or maybe his father was an unbeliever. There are many single parent homes for one reason or another, but still, in spite of it all, the believing parent who has to be father and mother can still raise up a child to honor and respect them, and even their grandparents. They must pick up the torch and lead the way to truth and light, which God our Father lead us in. God fills in where we may fall short. He is a father who loves His children and provides for them and protects them, and we can be the mirror that reflects God’s love.

Paul tells Titus in chapter 2:1-8, “Speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young woman to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored. Likewise urge young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity of doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”

Men, let your wives and children see Yeshua in you; and wives and mothers, be worthy women so your children will rise up and call you blessed and you will give respect and dignity to your husbands.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers, and happy Father’s day to all you fathers, and may God bless you and your family.

In this newsletter we want to take a closer look at 1 Corinthians 3. Paul addresses several important issues in the congregation at that time, and I think that they are still important issues today. Verses 1-3 starts off like this: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as babes in Messiah. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?” We find Peter saying basically the same thing in 1 Peter 2:1-3: “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”

The writer of Hebrews writes in chapter 6:1-2, “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 of faith toward God, of instruction about washings, and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement.”

As believers, are we not growing into maturity? We may be able to quote verse after verse in the Bible, but are we still fleshly, only able to drink the milk, not able to receive the meat of the Word? We want to lay a foundation, and so it is herein that we are going to start, in Hebrews 6:1-2. So let’s look at this and begin to see how it pertains to us today.

Spiritual Man Vs Fleshly Man

Paul tells the Corinthians that he could not speak to them because they were still fleshly. In John 3:3-6, Yeshua (Jesus) tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus was puzzled by this, so Yeshua continued to say to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

So first we see that we need to be born of the Spirit. How is one born of the Spirit? Yeshua goes on to tell Nicodemus in verse 16, “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.” Now you may say, “Well I believe in Yeshua (Jesus), so I must be born again!” Well, you must ask yourself a few questions. “Have I repented of my sins?” In other words, do your sins still have dominion over you? Yeshua had one message, and He sent out His disciples with the same message. It is the message of the kingdom, it is the basis of the gospel message and the salvation message: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). This is what the writer of Hebrews meant when he said “not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works.” What are those dead works? Paul tells us in Galatians 5:19-21, “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, of which I forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Paul tells the same to the Ephesians in chapter 5:3-10, but he also includes greed and silly talk and course jestering. Repentance does not mean just confessing our sins but actually dying to self and putting to death the sin of our old self, or as they say, the old man, and we are to become new. As Romans 6:5-7 says, “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; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

Just Have Faith!

We are to leave the elementary teachings about Messiah and come to maturity, and so we start with repentance and then move on to faith in God. Yeshua tells Nicodemus that whoever believes in the Son of God will not perish. So what does that mean? As believers, don’t we believe that Yeshua is the Son of God? I mean, isn’t that what makes us believers? We believe in God and that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us and that the Father and the Son are one. James 2:19 writes, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder!” Believing in God is not enough; we must have faith in God. Our beginning Hebrews 6:1-2 reading tells us that “faith in God” is an elementary principle. But in the Greek it reads pisteos epi Theon, which is translated “faith on God.” In other words, we put our faith on God, not just in Him.

Now believing takes on a different meaning: “Faith now is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). How do we have the assurance that what we hope for we will one day see? Well, one thing we hope for is our salvation, our blessed hope. 1 Peter 1:4-5: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again 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 not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Here Peter tells us that we have been born again by God’s great mercy to a living hope because of Yeshua’s death, burial, and resurrection. Because of the sacrifice of Yeshua on our behalf, we now can have faith on that selfless act of mercy. In other words, God showed His love toward us that while we were still sinners, Messiah died for us (Romans 5:8), and everything else that we may ask or wait upon God for pales in comparison to that act of love. We now can have the assurance that God hears our prayers and that He can be trusted to answer us (1 John 5:14-15). Our faith rests now on God—not just that He merely exists, but that He loved us first and we can trust Him because He so loved us. He made the way for us and we don’t need to make a way for ourselves. In other words, God has not abandoned us or left us orphans. But what we must understand is that we still must have a fear of God (a devout reverence for who God is), because God does punish sin. He is a rewarder of those who have faith and obedience in doing His will, but He also punishes and disciplines those who disobey and rebel against Him. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and that wisdom consists of who God is and that we can have faith not only in God, but on God.

So we have looked at repentance from dead works and faith on God.

Time To Wash

Hebrews 6:1 continues to mention instructions about washings. According to the writer of Hebrews, the instructions about washings should be a basic teaching, like the milk of the word. So we too must understand what this means. Let’s start by saying that washing has to do with water. Other than ceremonial hand washings, I would say this must have to do with baptism. The writer of Hebrews has been addressing our walk with God, and so baptism seems like the most probable washing; even Yeshua was baptized by John. You see, Romans 6:3-4 tells us, “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.” Before we go any further, you must ask yourself, have I been water baptized—not as a baby, but as one who has the full knowledge of the salvation message? This is what the writer of Hebrews meant when he said “the instruction about washings.” We as believers receive water baptism and we don’t think twice about it, but there are instructions that go with water baptism. Baptism was a Jewish practice, which makes sense, being that John was baptising and Yeshua was baptized. Baptism is an immersion. Jewish immersion is done in a living body of water which is called a mikvah. A mikvah was a naturally-fed body of water such as a river, spring, or cistern. It was done not just once, but could be done many times. It is for the purpose of purity or spirituality. The priests immersed every day. People immerse before the sabbath or before they get married or prior to a feast day, but for what reason? It was meant to draw the person closer to God. What we must understand is that this practice is Jewish and not Christian. It has not changed its spots. We must follow in Yeshua’s footsteps and only His footsteps. Yeshua was not making this a sacrament or a ritual that one follows without any knowledge. That is why there are instructions about it. According to the Apostolic Didache, which was written in the 1st century CE, the instructions to the believers who were to be immersed were that they should be immersed in a mikvah (living water), and if one was not available then they should be immersed in other types of water, and if that was not available then they should have water poured on their heads three times in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. They should fast one or two days beforehand and others should join him. But prior to immersion, he should have a knowledge of the basic teachings of Yeshua.

Now let us go back and look at what Paul wrote to the believers in Rome. He says that we have been baptized into Messiah; in other words, we have now become part of Him. Yeshua tells His disciples in John 15, “Abide in Me and I in you.” There is a Messianic Jewish prayer called Hareini Mekasher which means, “I join myself.” It begins, “I hereby join myself to the Master, Yeshua the Messiah, the Righteous One, who is the Bread of Life and the true Light, the source of eternal salvation for all those who hear Him.” Paul tells us in Romans 6:3-4 that this means that we are to die as He died. What, I must now be crucified? Yes, we are to crucify our flesh. Galatians 5:24 tells us, “Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” We are to die to sin, as Romans 6:5-6 tells us, “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.” We are to die to this world. James 4:4 says, “You adultresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” We are to die daily, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:31b, “I die daily.” Yeshua tells us in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone wishes to come to me, let him deny (crucify) himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

So we have now seen that the instructions about washing has more to do with a life style following our Master in all that we do and say than just immersing in water.

We will continue looking at the rest of the elementary principles of our faith next newsletter, but we want to end with what Paul tells the Philippians in chapter 3:7-12: “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, and 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.”

The term “Messianic” is one you may be familiar with. Perhaps you have heard someone talking about “Hebrew Roots” or “Judeo-Christianity.” It’s just as likely that these terms are mostly unfamiliar to you. What does this all mean? Is this about some type of dangerous fringe-group or subversive cult? Let’s take a closer look at some of the basic information surrounding the movement.

In the Beginning

Although there are quite a few divergent groups under the umbrella of the Messianic movement, the fundamental motivation of the group as a whole is a return to the religious practice of the early followers of Jesus, whose name in Hebrew is Yeshua (meaning “Salvation”). Yeshua and His earliest followers were entirely Jewish and understood His words from a cultural perspective that is alien to our own. This position is affirmed by the Assemblies of God based Center For Holy Land Studies: “…the Center seeks to transform the way Christians study and understand the Bible, encouraging people ‘to study the Law of the Lord and to do it’ (Ezra 7:10)” . By placing the words of Yeshua in their original cultural context, we are able to better understand Him and our relationship with Him as His disciples.

The Movement Today

In between the early first century and today, much has taken place in the church to cause a separation between the Jewish people and Yeshua. Persecution, forced conversion, and teachings such as that the Torah is no longer valid and that the church has replaced Israel as the true chosen people of God have driven the wedge further still. The present-day depiction of Jesus no longer looks like a Jew or acts like a Jew, so how can He be the Jewish Messiah? In recent years, however, an alternative to this theology has arisen. Fueled by attempts at reuniting Jewish people with Yeshua, various Messianic/Hebrew Christian organizations emerged throughout the 1900s. They asserted that just as the early disciples retained their Jewish identity while still following Yeshua, so can Jewish believers today. A perhaps unforeseen consequence arose from these attempts: Christians began to see the value and depth of Biblical truths which were previously misunderstood or relegated to the position of archaic and obsolete. The effect of this knowledge can be seen today in that the overwhelming majority (over ninety percent) of Messianic congregations are charismatic in nature, and about one-third have even been birthed from the Assemblies of God, revealing that a large percentage of those living Messianic lifestyles are not themselves ethnically Jewish.

While the manifestation of the Spirit is most often associated with Pentecostal/Evangelical Christianity, we can see the Spirit moving in the lives of the Israelites from the beginning. The Mt. Sinai account, in its original translation, says that the people “saw the voices and the torches” (Exodus 20:18) as God spoke to them. According to tradition, each word spoken by God went out in seventy languages. This day is also strongly associated with miraculous healing, since the verse above says that “ALL the people” saw the voices, meaning any who were blind must have been healed. The strong parallels between this and the day of Pentecost are evident, and rightfully so: Pentecost occurred on Shavuot, which is the day the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai. The Spirit dwelt in Moses, and in turn was placed on the seventy elders who assisted in judging the people (Numbers 11:17). Joshua is chosen to succeed Moses, and in him the Spirit dwelt also (Numbers 27:18). The Spirit rested on each of the judges, giving them wisdom in leadership and judgement. The outpouring of the Spirit is symbolized when oil is used to anoint kings and priests. Prophecies, healings, wisdom, miracles, tongues, and all of the other gifts of the Spirit are recorded in the Scriptures in the lives of God’s chosen people, our spiritual foundation.

This long heritage of spirituality extends even to today. While traditional Judaism is often viewed from the outside as sterile and rigid, within it is found a world full of life known as Hasidism. The main aims of Hasidic Judaism are revival from spiritual poverty, increase in piety, spiritual and emotional growth and maturity, and increased understanding and application of mystical beliefs to the established rabbinic practices. These beliefs are outwardly expressed in worship, which shows itself in emotional dancing and fervent prayer. One belief of theirs that is particularly interesting is that people can cleave to a righteous man in order to have that man’s righteousness counted in their own favor and to draw closer to God. For us, this man is Yeshua. To take an in-depth look at the parallels between Hasidism and Christianity would be beyond the scope of this brochure.

We have looked briefly at the Messianic/Hebrew roots movement. While the beliefs within the movement varies, we have looked at its foundations in regard to charismatic Christianity. We also briefly touched on the spiritual movement within Biblical times as well as modern-day Jewish practice, showing that we all have much more in common than is generally recognized.

Quick Facts

– “Over ninety percent of the Messianic congregations in the United States are “charismatic” in their theological orientation (believing in the gifts [charisms] of the Holy Spirit: tongues, healing, etc.), with one-third having been created by the charismatic Assemblies of God denomination.”

– “The vast majority of Messianic Jews are in the ‘evangelic’ wing of Messianic Judaism [and] hold theological beliefs which are essentially identical to those of evangelical Christianity.”

– “Congregations sprang up throughout the United States with a distinctively Jewish twist on Evangelical Christianity, catering to Jews and non-Jews alike.”

– Many congregations have a membership of at least 40-60% Gentiles.

Do you believe in the God of the Bible? Do you believe in Jesus the Messiah? Do you believe in the Ten Commandments? If yes, then you are a Judeo-Christian. Does this mean that you are Jewish? NO! A Judeo-Christian is a Christian who lives by the Holy Scriptures of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God of Moses and the Ten Commandments; the God who so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life; the God who sent us the Holy Spirit to empower us to live a Christian life. We are believers who believe in the one true living God, the Messiah, Jesus the King of the Jews and Israel, the Land given to God’s chosen people, the Jews. But though we live by and believe, we ourselves may not be Jewish.

Was Jesus a Judeo-Christian?

Jesus was Jewish. His Hebrew name is Yeshua; it means “Salvation.” Yeshua kept the Torah (the first five books of the Bible, otherwise known as the Law of Moses), the Sabbaths, and all of God’s Appointed Times (Leviticus 23). He dressed like His brethren and spoke their language, and the people who followed Him were all Jewish. Many people believe that Yeshua had no choice but to keep the Laws of Moses. We must remember that He is the Word made flesh. He is the living Torah. He encompasses the whole Hebrew Scriptures; for there was only the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings which we have come to call the Old Testament when Yeshua was born. The Apostolic Scriptures (the Scriptures that we call the gospels) were written about Yeshua, and the Scriptures we call the epistles were written about church history and how a believer should live out his faith. So would Yeshua approve of Judeo-Christianity? The answer would have to be yes! He was not only the Word of God, but He also kept the Word of God, and we who follow in His footsteps should also keep the whole Word of God.

We call ourselves Christians, so we ought to follow our Master. He, and only He, is our example; otherwise we should be called by another name. He never taught us to do anything other than what He himself did.

Church History

It was only centuries later that an Emperor named Constantine actually formed the religion we today call Christianity. He changed the names of the festivals, for example, from Passover to Easter (a pagan fertility goddess) and started the tradition of Christmas being on December 25th, which was the celebration of the birth of the sun god. He himself wanted to be called God, and so he used the term Holy Father. He began the practices of what we see today in our worship. Constantine was a pagan who made the whole Roman Empire worship Jesus (Yeshua’s Greek name) because his mother became a Christian, but with that, all kinds of practices entered into our beliefs and worship. We need to come back to the truth of the Word of God and follow Yeshua.

So What is the Judeo-Christian Message?

The Bible tells us in Romans 11:17 that branches were broken off, speaking of the Jewish people, so that we could be grafted into them; but verse 18 tells us that we should not be arrogant because we do not support the root, but the root supports us. In other words, the Christians have not replaced Israel or the Jewish people. You see, Romans 9:4 tells us that it is the Jewish people to whom belongs the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law (Word), the worship service, and the promises. The Hebrew Scriptures that we call “old” are actually the foundation of our faith. “Yeshua, the Word of God, was God and He was with God from the beginning, and all things came into being by Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:1-3). Because Yeshua was the spoken word of creation, then you see, the Torah, the Word of God, was from the beginning. It is our foundation, and we can not build upon another except that which is the true foundation: Yeshua our Messiah (1 Corinthians 3:11). Today if you are a believing Christian you must ask yourself, “Do I wish to follow the master, my Savior, or do I wish to continue in a man-made religion?” It is easier to walk in the traditions of men than to break away and do what is right, but what would Yeshua have you do? I say that He would tell you, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Let’s start with the message the angels proclaimed to the shepherds the night Jesus was born: “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 Messiah the Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in cloth, and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace among men with whom He is pleased'” (Luke 2:10-14). 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. For Israel, this was surely good news. Let’s now look at what the angel told Mary: “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” (Luke 1:32-33). Isaiah 9:1-7 speaks about the Messiah and His victory over His enemies.

We want to pick it up in verse 6: “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 hosts will accomplish this.”

The Good News

So far we have seen that the good news that was told to the shepherds about the Messiah, the Savior, was that He will have victory over His enemies, that He will sit on the throne of David, and His kingdom will never come to an end. The kingdom that is referred to is the Messianic Age. Revelation 20:6 tells us that we will reign with Messiah for one thousand years. But what about the gospel message?

We find that the words “good news” were translated into the Old English as “godspell.” The gospel message is the good news. “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!'” (Isaiah 52:7, Romans 10:15).

If Israel was waiting for their Messiah, then let’s look at what Jesus Himself has to say about the good news: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He 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” (Isaiah 61:1-4, Luke 4:18-19, 21). When John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to find out if He was truly the Messiah, Jesus quoted part of this verse to them and He added, “Blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.” We will continue to look at the Messiah’s message, but first let’s see what John preached, for he was the one crying out in the wilderness to prepare for the Messiah.

We see in Matthew 3:2 that John says, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus Himself called John the greatest prophet of His day, and this was his message. Matthew 4:17 tells us that Jesus’ message was also, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” When Jesus sent out His disciples in Matthew 10:17, He told them to go out and preach saying, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.” So if this was the message of the angels and of John, Jesus, and His disciples, then could this have been only for the Jewish people?

No, for we see in Acts 17:30 and 26:20 that Paul’s message was for those who had not yet believed. This message has to be important because it is about Yeshua and His fulfillment of His job as the Messiah. Of course repentance has to be the first and foremost important issue. John writes in 1 John 1:5-10, “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” To enter into the kingdom one must repent. That word, “repent,” means to make a complete turn around. It means to come back to the truth of God’s word.

So if the angels and John, Yeshua, and His disciples preached the main message of the kingdom, what happened to the message of the cross? We tend to confuse the Gospel message (Good News), which tells us about the fulfillment of the Messiah, with the Salvation message. To receive the work of Messiah on the cross, we must come to the cross and be washed by the blood, but first we must come in repentance of our sins, for God tells us that He will never turn away one who is contrite and humble, but He will resist the proud. Today we can live in newness of life. We can begin to live in the Kingdom and to taste and see that God is good.