Psalm 138:1 begins “I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing Your praises before the gods.” Let’s stop right here, for there is so much we can say about this verse.  Let’s start by asking this question, “Do you thank God with all your heart”? In Matthew 22:36-38 one who was a scholar in the law asked Yeshua this question. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?  And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and foremost commandment.”’ If every part of us is to love the Lord, then every part of us must also thank Him. But we fall short because we have so many of the world’s goods that we depend on God less and less.  This is the second part of that verse. If we are singing praises of our God, the Creator of heaven and earth, then we can not sing the praises of all the worldly gods that are before us. You see, God’s people have become divided. We give God a little time here and there, but we spend most of our time in the world, looking like the world and speaking like the world and it has taken hold of our hearts. 1 John 2:15-17 says,  “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.  The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.” James 4:1-4 says, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.  You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  1 John 3:16-18 says this,  “By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?  Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” Again in James 2:14-17 it says,  “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Also Matthew 25:31-40,  “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me,  I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You?  And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to me.’” 

Let’s continue with verse 2, “I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your truth, for You have made Your Word great according to all Your name.” Today in most congregations our music and worship seems to resemble a rock band playing for its fans. The sanctuary is dark and the music is loud and we think that this is pleasing to God, but it is not! Because it looks  and sounds like the world. God is a holy God and we must also be holy.  We should be bowing down before our God. You see, our sanctuary must resemble the sanctuary in heaven, where all the angels cry, “Holy, holy holy!” God told Moses to make the sanctuary exactly how he was shown on the mountain because it was to resemble the sanctuary in heaven and plus, it had to also be a holy place. God is merciful, but He also is holy and we can not assume or take advantage of His mercy, but we must walk in truth. 

Only when we walk in truth then as verse 3 tells us,  “On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.” 

So now we can be a witness to the world as verse 4-8 says, “All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord, when they have heard the words of Your mouth, and they will sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For the Lord is exalted, yet He looks after the lowly, but He knows the haughty from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The Lord  will accomplish what concerns me; Your faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting; do not abandon the works of Your hands.”  We have so much we could be thankful for that it’s hard not to do it from the heart.

Welcome

You hear people say that Christmas should be all year long. Well, that is true of Thanksgiving. Unfortunately Thanksgiving has lost its meaning. Yes, we may still have our family and friends and turkey and gravy, but today so little has to do with being thankful. The early pilgrims had suffered a bad winter were many people died. Sounds like when we had the pandemic. But these people had a good harvest and they wanted to gather everyone around them, even many Indians  and share a meal with them, because they were so thankful. Well there is easily over 100 times in the Bible that speaks of giving thanks. There are three things that we should never stop doing in any circumstance as 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us ,  “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Messiah Yeshua for you.” Paul also adds another time as in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, 2:13 and that is for the brethren and Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Him (Yeshua) then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”

One time a year just is not enough to give thanks or to even recognize God for all that He has done for us. Romans 1:21 tells us what happens to us when we do not give thanks to God. “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened.” Hezekiah was not a thankful man as 2 Chronicles 32:25-26 tells us, “But Hezekiah’s heart was proud, so he did not give God thanks for his kindness. This is why God was angry with Hezekiah and with the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  But Hezekiah and the people living in Jerusalem changed their hearts and lives. They became humble and stopped being proud. So the Lord’s anger didn’t come on them while Hezekiah was alive.” If God loves a cheerful giver, then He loves a thankful receiver. God loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us so we could have eternal salvation. Do we love God as much, that we feel compelled to thank Him every day for that salvation. Thanksgiving is for every day, every moment, always.

The Hidden Meanings Behind the Miracles of Yeshua : Part 5

Last month we looked at Yeshua healing on the Sabbath. 

Let’s look at  Matthew 8:23-27.  We find Yeshua and His disciples one evening crossing over to the other side of  the lake to Gerasenes. Before they knew it a storm came upon them. The wind was blowing and the boat was rocking and then the waves began to come into the boat and they feared for their lives that the boat would sink. I suppose a storm like this would be bad enough during the daytime, but at night, I’m sure it made it not only hard to see, but made them a little disorientated. Being that it was night, Yeshua was asleep. Finally, His disciples woke Him up.  They said “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” I find this so amusing because how would He know that they were drowning if He was sleeping? But it shows how the storm made them so fearful. Yeshua got up and rebuked the wind and the waves by simply telling them to “Be quiet!” Now isn’t that what you would say if you were sleeping and you were woken up? Instantly the wind and the waves were still. Yeshua asks them why they were so afraid? I guess they hadn’t learned that they had nothing to fear because God was with them. But all of this made them even more fearful because they thought, “Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey Him?”

This is a great lesson to learn that if God is with you, who can be against you? When God calls you, then He walks with you, and if nothing is going to stop God, then nothing is going to stop you, because He is with you. Matthew 9:18 continues, Yeshua stayed a short time in Gerasenes and then He crossed back over to Capernaum . When He did, He found a large crowd of people waiting for Him. One of the synagogue rulers asked Yeshua to come and heal his daughter. He immediately left to go to her and the crowd followed all around Him. Now there was a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years and suffered under the care of many physicians, leaving her poor and distressed. She made her way until she was behind Yeshua. She thought, “if only I could touch the hem of His garment I would be healed.” Now why would she have thought this? Let first get some back story here. This woman would have been considered unclean for the last twelve years. This would have excluded her from many things in life. She would not have been able to enter the Temple, even the mother of Yeshua had to wait for the time of her purification to be over which was about thirty- three days, to enter the Temple and at that, she had to bring a sacrifice. If she was married, she would have been isolated from her husband all those years and she would have been forbidden to eat the Passover lamb. This woman suffered great hardships and I’m sure that when Yeshua quickly left to go heal the man’s daughter her heart must have sank, for she would have thought that she had lost her chance of being healed. But her trials made her even more determined that she pushed her way through the crowd. But why did she want to touch the hem of His garment? I could see touching His arm or His back, but to stoop down in the midst of such a crowd could have caused her to be trampled upon. She had a very good reason. Yeshua, being Jewish would have had on the customary garb for a Jewish man, mainly tzitzit or tallit on the four corners of His garment.

Numbers 15: 37-40 says,  “The Lord said to Moses,  ‘Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.  And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to go after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.”’ 

So when the woman touched the corner of His garment, what she had grabbed hold of was His tallit.  So what was so special about taking hold of this blue strand of cord? Let’s look at it this way. Today Jewish men wear their Tallit on their prayer shawls or they wear an undershirt that has them sown on the four corners that they wear under their outer shirt. Let’s go back to Numbers 15. God said when you see the tallit it will remind you of My commandments and  you will be holy unto the Lord. It was a matter of holiness and godliness and a closeness to God. She knew this, and she knew that if this man was a holy man, that taking hold of His tallit, the very thing that made Him holy would be sufficient for healing her. Luke 8:45- 48 continues the story this way.  “And Yeshua said, ‘Who is the one who touched Me?’ And while they were all denying it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.’  But Yeshua said, ‘Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had left Me.’  Now when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and admitted in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed.  And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.””

Yeshua recognizes this woman’s faith in taking hold of His tallit and He tells her that that  was the very reason she was healed, just as she believed.  

In  Matthew 8:13  “Yeshua said to the centurion, ‘Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.’ And the servant was healed at that very moment.”

In the meanwhile there is the little girl who was twelve years old who was at home waiting for her miracle to come. The story continues in Luke 8:49-56 telling us the rest of this story. “While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, ‘Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.’  But when Yeshua heard this, He responded to him, ‘Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.’  When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him except Peter, John, and James, and the girl’s father and mother.  Now they were all weeping and mourning for her; but He said, ‘Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.’  And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.  He, however, took her by the hand and spoke forcefully, saying, ‘Child, arise!’  And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He ordered that something be given her to eat.  Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.”

Now, back then, they quickly would have had this little girl laid out for all to see,  much like we have a wake today.  Once again we find Yeshua telling the man to only believe. Well, he just saw what happened when the woman believed, and she was healed, so why wouldn’t he do the same for his daughter? But hearing that his daughter had died made it a little harder to believe. It was like the man in 

Mark 9:17-24, “And one person from the crowd answered Him, ‘Teacher, I brought You my son, because he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak;  and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes stiff. And I told Your disciples so that they would cast it out, but they could not do it.’  And He answered them and said, ‘O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!’  And they brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, the spirit immediately threw him into convulsions, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.  And He asked his father, ‘How long has this been happening to him? And he said, ‘From childhood.  It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!  But Yeshua said to him, ‘If You can? All things are possible for the one who believes.’ Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief!”’

Isn’t that where most people are, they want to believe but they need help? Not everyone has great faith. Yeshua knew this and He did help the man in his unbelief. But all we need is only a little faith to move the mountain that’s in our lives. Matthew 17:14-20 records it like this, “And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him,  said, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.  And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.’  And Yeshua answered, ‘O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to Me.’  And Yeshua rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Yeshua privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.’

How about you? Do you believe that God is able or do you need a little help?

Hebrew Corner:          Martyrs   Simon the Zealot

We find in Luke 6: 12-16 a list of Yeshua’s disciples, “And it was during these days that Yeshua went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent all night in prayer to God.  When day came, He called His disciples, choosing from among them twelve whom He also named emissaries—  Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and Jacob and John; and Philip and Bartholomew;  and Matthew and Thomas; Jacob the son of Alphaeus; Simon who was called the Zealot;  Judah the son of Jacob; and Judah from Kriot, who became a traitor.”

Simon was called Zealot, because of his political party that was called Zealot or  The Zealous. They were Jewish loyalists who were strongly opposed to the Romans. They were willing to kill or be killed for their cause. But Simon found a better cause and that was the message of the Messiah.  Yes, Simon was truly a new creation after Pentecost. Now he was ready to die for the Master and for truth. Now, he was ready to love his enemies instead of killing them. Yeshua sure had a diverse group of disciples from fishermen to tax collectors to Zealots. 

In the gospels Simon the Zealot is not identified with Simon the brother of Yeshua mentioned in Mark 6:3: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.” Though The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests that Simon the Zealot may be the same person as Simeon of Jerusalem or Simon the brother of Yeshua or both. He would then be the cousin of Yeshua or a son of Joseph from a previous marriage. Another tradition holds that this is the Simeon of Jerusalem who became the second bishop of Jerusalem. There is not too much known about Simon the Zealot. He supposedly preached the Gospel in Egypt and then joined the apostle St. Judas (Thaddaeus) in Persia. 

Simon is believed to have preached the gospel in Egypt, North Africa and even Britain.

There are so many traditions that claim one thing or another about Simon and Judas’ death that it is hard to know what really took place and where. According to the apocryphal Acts of Simon and Judas, they were martyred by being cut in half with a saw, but Christian Etheopians believe they were crucified. Maybe that is why he is pictured with a cross and a saw.

The life of Simon the Zealot may not have many facts to go by, but one thing it tells us that if Simon who could have easily been a thief and a murderer, who hung around with revolutionaries, could come to know the saving truth of the Messiah, and become a new person living by God’s ways, than anyone can be changed by God’s Word. Nothing is impossible for God.

We have been taught that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be in heaven, but is this true? Maybe not, maybe it will be here on earth.  Let’s take a closer look.

 Revelation 19:6-9 says,  “Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself. 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. Then he said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.”’ 

This is all we know about this great feast because the Scriptures continue on to say this.  Revelation 19:11-16, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.  His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.  He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.  And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.  From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Verses 17-18 continue to say this, “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in midheaven, ‘Come, assemble for the great feast of God,  so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, both free and slaves, and small and great.”’ So it goes on to speak of a great feast but this great feast is a reference to a great war with the kings of this world. So what are we to make of all of this?   Why does the Scriptures not speak of this great event?

Revelation 3:20  tells us this, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” The Scriptures once again speak about this event or does it?

When we open the door of our hearts to let Yeshua in, yes, we can come and sit at His table and dine with Him, but this meal is the Word, this meal is His fellowship, this meal is done by feasting on the Bread of Life, even the Tree of Life, and drinking deep from the well of Salvation. 

John 6:35 says, “Yeshua said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.”

Proverbs 3:13-18 says this, “Blessed is a person who finds wisdom, and one who obtains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver, and her produce better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are those who hold on to her.”

Isaiah 12:1-3 says, “You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
    for though You were angry with me, Your anger turned away,  that You might comfort me. ‘Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.’ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

Even Isaiah 55:1-3 speaks of this fellowship as eating and drinking. “You there! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live.”

Don’t you find it strange that there is nothing here about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? Let’s continue to search the Scriptures.

Luke 12: 37 tells us this,  “Happy are those slaves whose master finds them alert when he comes. Amen, I tell you, he will prepare himself and have them recline at table, and will come and serve them.”

Is Yeshua really going to serve us, and what will we eat? The Scripture doesn’t give us any information about this great meal, nor does it tell us when it will take place or where it will take place. But reclining at the table makes me think of another time and that was  at a meal we call “The Last Supper.” It is interesting what Yeshua says to His disciples. Yeshua say this to His disciples at the Passover Meal which is called the Passover Seder, which is a meal of certain foods which depict the Exodus from Egypt. We will pick it up here at Luke 22:17-18  “And when He had taken the cup (the Cup of Redemption) and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;  for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”

So we do know that we will be drinking wine or is all of this referring to something else?  The Revelation goes on to speak about the New Heaven and New Earth, the New Jerusalem and the River and Tree of Life. Let’s continue to look at all of this to see if there may be a reference to this Great Feast.

Revelation 22:1-2 says this,  “And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. 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.” 

Isaiah 2:1-3 says,  “And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, ‘Come and let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, so that He may teach us about His ways, and that we may walk in His paths. For the law will go out from Zion and the word of the Lord  from Jerusalem.”

Isaiah 25:6-9 tells us this, “Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all peoples, the veil which is stretched over all nations.  He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth; for the Lord  has spoken. And it will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord  for whom we have waited; let’s rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Isaiah 35: 10 says, “A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it.”

Isaiah 51:11 also says, “And the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” 

Also Isaiah 61:10-11, “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord my soul will be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a groom puts on a turban, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth produces its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God  will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” 

Isaiah 62:3-5 says,  “You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal headband in the hand of your God. It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,” nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”; but you will be called, ‘My delight is in her,’ and your land, ‘Married’; for the Lord  delights in you, and to Him your land will be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you; and as the groom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you.”

Yes, it seems that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is going to be in Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:1-7 says, “Then 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.  And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’  And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’ Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost.  The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” 

Also, is not Jerusalem where Yeshua had His last Passover Meal, and where He said that He would once again drink of the fruit of the vine? And isn’t Yeshua going to sit on the throne of King David for one thousand years in Jerusalem as 

Isaiah 9:6-7 tells us? “For to us a child is born,  to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness  from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

The highway of the redeemed shall lead to Jerusalem, and there we will come with joyful shouting and rejoicing as we feast at the table of the Lord for all eternity.

Kneeling before a person is a sign of humility and respect. It is also a sign of submission, obedience, and loyalty. People have bowed their knees to all sorts of things, like kings and queens and even idols. It was quite popular to take a knee during the National Anthem as a sign of protest, but maybe they were giving the wrong message.  Here in America, we do not bow or bend the knee to presidents or even religious leaders. But in other countries they still do. In fact one day one will rise up and he will be called the Man of Lawlessness, the Antichrist who will rule the whole world and he will expect everyone to bend the knee or be put to death. We have seen many such antichrists over the centuries who expected everyone to bend the knee.  Yeshua tells us not to be fooled  in  Matthew 24:23-26, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him.  For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.  Behold, I have told you in advance.  So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.”

The Bible speaks of two beasts that will come, one will promote the other.  

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 says this, “Let no one deceive you in any way! For it (the coming of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”  Revelation 13:14-17 also says, “This second beast fooled the people living on earth by using the miracles that he had been given the power to do for the first beast. He ordered people to make an idol to honor the first beast, the one that was wounded by the sword but did not die.  The second beast was given power to give life to the idol of the first beast. Then the idol could speak and order all those who did not worship it to be killed.  The second beast also forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark put on their right hand or on their forehead.

 No one could buy or sell without this mark. (This mark is the name of the beast or the number of its name.)” Yes, many will be deceived, many will bend their knee and worship this false god by taking the mark upon themselves.  Those who never bend the knee to the One True God, but only mocked Him and cursed Him, will find themselves bending their knee and worshiping Him as Philippians 2:9-11 says, “For this reason also God highly exalted Him (Yeshua), and bestowed on Him (Yeshua) the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Messiah Yeshua is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Romans 14: 10-12 also says, “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you too, why do you look down on your brother? For we all will stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.’ So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.”’ Even  Isaiah 45:20-23 says,  “You people who escaped from other nations, gather together before Me. (These people carry statues of false gods. They pray to useless gods, but they don’t know what they are doing.  Tell them to come to Me. Let them present their case and discuss these things.) Who told you about this before it happened? Who told you this so long ago? I, the Lord , am the one who said these things. I am the only God, the one who does what is right. I am the one who saves, and there is no other! So all you people in faraway places, turn to Me and be saved, because I am God, and there is no other. When I make a promise, that promise is true. It will happen. And I swear by My own power that everyone will bow before Me and will take an oath to obey Me.” So why will we bend the knee before Yeshua? Because He will be the King over all the earth. Revelation 15:3-4 says this “And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!’ Who will not fear You, Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; for all the nations will come and worship You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”’ Revelation 17:14 says, “These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are the called and and chosen and faithful.” Yes, people will think the Antichrist is the Savior of the world and they will bend the knee, because they really never knew the real Savior, and yes, even many Christians will fall, because they too, have been deceived by false teachers. But when Yeshua comes back, He will come in all His glory with all of His angels as Revelation 19:11-16 tells us, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.  He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.  From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Zachariah 14:9 says, “And the Lord will be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.”

Welcome

Welcome to the Season of Light. We finally made it to the end of the year. The journey is always long and hard for many of us. We have lost loved ones on the way and we even had new ones born. Life has its ups and downs. It’s good and it’s bad. But when we come to the end of a year we celebrate that we have made it thus far. What better way to celebrate than with light. So much darkness comes our way in a year’s time so when we come to the end of a year  we celebrate the victories and what better ways to remember a victory than with lights.  Isn’t this how we celebrate the 4th of July with lights? This too, is what the celebration of Hanukkah is all about. The people won a great victory, a few over the many. Then there was a great miracle. The Menorah had to be lit but there was only one day’s worth of oil but that little bit of oil lasted 8 days. Now it’s time to celebrate those victories with light and celebration and gatherings and gifts. Yes, everyone likes a good miracle to celebrate.  Everyone likes a great victory to celebrate, and those who did not make it through to the end of the year, we must remember them in celebration. We can not think of them in darkness, but in light. For God is Light and in Him there is no darkness. During this Season of Light, let us be light in the darkness. 

Isaiah 9:2 says,  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” 

Matthew 4:16 says,  “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

 John 1:4-5 says, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome.”

How about you, are you still sitting in that darkness?

 Today come into the light and receive the victory, for the Word has become flesh and is dwelling amongst us, and He has given us His light, so we too, can shine in the darkness. Enjoy the Season of Light Everyone.

The Hidden Meaning Behind the Miracles of Yeshua Part 6

Last month we saw that Yeshua’s healings were all based on believing.

This month we want to continue looking at His miracles.  Yeshua again finds Himself with a large crowd waiting for Him as we read in Matthew 14:15-20,  “Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, ‘This place is secluded and the hour is already past to eat; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’  But Yeshua said to them, ‘They do not need to go; you give them something to eat!’  They said to Him, ‘We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish.’  And He said, ‘Bring them here to Me.’  And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full baskets.  There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.”

We see here, in the breaking of the bread, the Seder Meal in which Yeshua took the Afikomen which represented His body and broke it and gave it to His disciples. God is the God of abundance and He will always give to those who ask, even if He has to multiply the little that we have. It’s like this story in 

2 Kings 4:1-7, “The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.’ Elisha replied to her, ‘How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?’ ‘Your servant has nothing there at all,’ she said, ‘except a small jar of olive oil.’ Elisha said, ‘Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.  Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.’  She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring.  When all the jars were full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another one.’ But he replied, ‘There is not a jar left.’ Then the oil stopped flowing.  She went and told the man of God, and he said, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

We continue to read in Matthew 14:22-33 this story, “Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.  After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.  But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.  And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.  When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear.

 But immediately Yeshua spoke to them, saying, ‘Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter responded and said to Him, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’  And He said, ‘Come!’ And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Yeshua.  But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’  Immediately Yeshua reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’  When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.  And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, You are truly God’s Son!”’

The disciples sure had their experiences with waves and wind and storm. But Yeshua used all of this to grow their faith. He knew that once He was not with them any longer they were going to have to have great faith. But for Peter it was a case of I believe, but help my unbelief. Matthew 14:34-36 continues,  “When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.  And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding region and brought to Him all who were sick;  and they pleaded with Him that they might just touch the border of His cloak; and all who touched it were cured.” 

There were no phones or internet or even newspapers, yet the word traveled about Yeshua and people came looking for a miracle. The Bible tells us that Yeshua went about doing good. Is this what people will say about you when you have passed on?  John 6:24-40 continues this story and He also reveals the meaning behind the loaves and fish. “So when the crowd saw that Yeshua was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum, looking for Yeshua.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, ‘Rabbi, when did You get here?’ Yeshua answered them and said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled.  Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.’ Therefore they said to Him, ‘What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?’ Yeshua answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ So they said to Him, ‘What then are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing?  Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’ Yeshua then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.  For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.’  Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, always give us this bread.’  Yeshua said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe.

 Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day.  For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”’ Remember the Afikomen that Yeshua broke and said ‘This is My body’ during the Passover Seder. Yeshua, (God’s Salvation) is once again playing this all out in His miracles. This is what was on His mind every second of the day. He was the “Sent One” who would come and bring salvation to mankind. John 3:16-21 speaks about this, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.  The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed by God.” Yes, Yeshua is the Bread of Life and we must eat of this Bread. This Bread, this true manna from heaven is none other than the Word of God. Yeshua is the Word of God made flesh. To believe in Yeshua is to have Him (the Word) written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10) and to have Him written on our hearts means we must eat His flesh, and drink His blood 

( John 6:53-58) which means that we must walk in His Word and live by His Word. It’s just not enough to say , “I believe.” Anyone can say that, but when we start to live the Word and act the Word, we now begin to look and sound like our Master Yeshua and people take notice. So when Yeshua saw that many people could not accept this, He said to His disciples this in  John 6:60:64  “So then many in the crowd, when they heard this, said, ‘This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?’  But Yeshua, aware that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, Is this offensive to you?  What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe. For Yeshua knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.  And He was saying, For this reason I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”’ “To believe”, is to take action. We must show our faith by our deeds (James 2:14-26). If we are children of God then we must also look like our Father and our Father looks like Yeshua (John 14:8-9).

Safetyzoneforteens.com    

Are You A Hypocrite?

Have you ever met anyone or maybe even you, that has problems expressing themselves?  They just can’t find the words to say, words to express their feelings. You may say that they are anti-social. You may say that they think they are better than anyone else because they do not socialize. You may find that these people are the class clown or even trouble maker. They may be bullied or laughed at because of it. But did you ever think that they may have a problem with words? It’s not that they wouldn’t  love to be part of the in crowd or even have a friend or even someone to talk to. So they get lost in themselves. They take their troubles and keep them inside of themselves. We are supposed to love one another, even though we think they are unlovable. We talk about justice, we talk about equity, we talk the talk but we do not do anything about what we talk about. No one should be bullied. No one should be laughed at. No one should be excluded. Yet, we do exclude and laugh and talk about people who we think are weird or strange or different. We are the hypocrites.  We protest and we stand for injustice and we are the ones who are guilty because we bully and gossip and laugh and ignore others because they do not think like us or look like us or act like us.  Many people have problems expressing themselves. Many people have social disorders, many people have hurts so deep down inside them that they can not even tell other people about it. A little kindness goes a long way. But I know if you help one of these kind of people then you will be excluded. You will be laughed at. You will be bullied. So what! If you believe in something then practice it, but if you only talk the talk and not walk the talk, then you really don’t believe in what you say or what you stand for. You need to look into the mirror and see the truth about yourself. Justice only comes when we do the right thing. Equality only comes when we make all people equal. Equity only comes when we give a hand up to another. Don’t just follow a crowd, but be an example. Talk is cheap action is worth its weight in gold. But first we must understand that everyone is different. Everyone has some kind of issue that they are dealing with. There was an old saying that said, “To understand me, walk a mile in my shoes.” You know that person that you think is stuck up or anti-social or even strange, well I say, get into their shoes and find out what lies underneath the surface. Be a friend not an enemy, love and do not hate. Be kind instead of being mean and you may find a wealth of gold and a new friend. Some day you will be glad that you reached out a hand to someone who never thought that anyone would ever do such a thing. You will be a better person for it and so will your new friend. Take it slow, my friend, because those who have been alone for so long may not know how to react to someone who actually cares.

Hebrew Corner:                  The Martyrs, Matthias

While the 120 gathered in Jerusalem waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit the apostles found it necessary to replace Judas Iscariot with another who had been with them from the beginning. 

Acts 1:21-26 tells us this, “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Yeshua went in and out among us,  beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.  So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. And they prayed and said, ‘You, Lord, who knows the hearts of all people, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’  And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”

So, Matthias would have been with the other Apostles on the day of Pentecost. There is no other information recorded in the Bible about him. As most of the disciples, there are many different traditions and stories about them, but many are believed not to be true. There was a gospel written by Matthias, but the early church fathers attributed it to a pseudo writer in the 2nd Century.  Even his name has been questioned and even where he did his ministry. Some believed he was crucified. Some believe he was killed by barbarians. Others believe that he was beheaded and others believe he died of old age. History is not always exact. But we do know that even though Yeshua did not pick Matthias originally to be one of the twelve Apostles, he was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. It  could most likely  be because Yeshua knew Judas would betray Him. Either way Matthias was chosen and he became one of the twelve Apostles who was willing to die for the gospel. It is believed that He was stoned in Jerusalem and then beheaded in 80CE.

So, it does not matter if we ministered in Ethiopia, or Damascus or any other place. What matters is that we, no matter where we are, that we are a witness for the sake of the gospel.

New beginnings are always good. It gives us a chance to start over, to reset and go forward with fresh new dreams and hopes. We are going to look at end time events and end with the New Jerusalem. We hope you will read from the beginning to the end of this series. Today all we hear is about a New World Order. Out with the old and in with the new. In Revelation13, we read about the beast that will come up from the sea and about the beast that will rise up from the earth. Yes, this is this New World Order. One man will rule the world and everyone will be marked with his marking. This one man will do great miracles and signs and wonders and the people will bow down and worship him as a god. Those who do not will be eliminated. Yes, there will be no rebellion in the New World Order. Many over the centuries have tried to rule the world, even in modern times, we see this in the thoughts of Adolph Hitler. There too, everyone was given a number. But this New One World Order will come to an end, but like every other kingdom that arose just to find out that there was someone else who was stronger and could topple the kingdom for anew, that One will be the Messiah Yeshua, Himself, for this One New World Order will be the world of darkness and the devil himself who will be the beast who sets himself up as king. This was the devil’s wish from the beginning of his rebellion, to have his own kingdom and people bowing down to him. But Yeshua will have His victory and the promise of His kingdom will come. 

Revelation 19:11-16 tells us this,  “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.  His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.  He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.  And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.  From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”’ The Book of Revelation does not go on to tell us about the 1,000 year reign of Messiah. So let’s quickly work into this, God made a promise to David that someone would sit on his throne forever.  2 Samuel 7:16 says this “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever.’” And again in Hosea 3:4-5, “For the sons of Israel will live for many days without a king or leader, without sacrifice or memorial stone, and without ephod or household idols. Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David (Messiah) their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.”

Isaiah 9: 6-7 foretold His coming. “For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.” And as Luke 1: 29-33 says, “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him Yeshua. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,  and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.”’

When looking at end times one must consider the return of Yeshua as King. As we saw in Revelation 19, Yeshua will have ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’, written on His thigh. Isaiah 11:1-5 tells us this,  “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make decisions by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the needy, and decide with fairness for the humble of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the belt around His waist.” Psalm 2 says, “Why are the nations restless and the peoples plotting in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together
against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let’s tear their shackles apart
and throw their ropes away from us!’ He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.’ I will announce the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have fathered You. Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ Now then, you kings, use insight; let yourselves be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord  with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, that He not be angry and you perish on the way, for His wrath may be kindled quickly. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” We will continue looking at the end times till we reach the New Jerusalem.

Welcome

We welcome the New Year and we accept the challenge to all of our New Year’s resolutions. But I wonder if our New Year’s resolutions have anything  do with becoming a better person, or better yet, drawing closer to God. Do we examine ourselves as God’s Word asks us to? 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Messiah Yeshua is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” And 1 Peter 1:1-11 says this, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.  For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Messiah Yeshua. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.  Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.  For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua.” If we only want to improve our body or mind that leaves a big gap, for our souls are really the heart of the matter. As we begin this New Year let us make it a point  to make every effort to grow our faith and our virtues so that our light will shine even brighter for the Lord this next year. Just think of the fruit that we will grow by next year at this time. As Yeshua tells us in John 15:8, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.”

Yeshua our Example of a Life in the Spirit, Part 1

We read in Galatians 5:22-23 this, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. So what does this mean that against such things there is no law?”

  Well, when you practice these things then there is no need for a law.  The Bible tells us to love, and to have joy, and live in peace, and so on. Galatians 5: 24-25 goes on to say, “Moreover, those who belong to the Messiah Yeshua have put their old nature to death on the stake, along with its passions and desires. Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day.”

Yeshua is our example and we are going to look at the fruit of the Spirit in His life.  So let’s start with love. The definition of love is an intense feeling of deep affection. Some people say love is an emotion, a feeling, and others say no it is not an emotion. If it is an emotion then we should be able to control it. If it is just a feeling then that feeling can go away. No, I would say love is a lifestyle.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8a says this, “Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not gloat over other people’s sins but takes its delight in the truth. Love always bears up, always trusts, always hopes, always endures. Love never ends.”

Love never ends, that means it is eternal, like God. 1 John 4:8 tells us this,  “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”  So if God is love, then His only begotten Son should also be love. If love is a lifestyle then let us look at the life of Yeshua. Let’s start with Mark 10:17, when a rich young ruler came to Yeshua and asked Him this question.  “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?”  Yeshua knowing this man’s heart answers him this way. Mark 10:18-19 goes on to say,  “Yeshua said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.  You know the commandments: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.”’ 

It’s interesting that Yeshua does not start with the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before Me” being that the man was rich, but we will see why. Mark 10:20-22 continues to record this conversation, “And he said to Him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth.’ Looking at him, Yeshua showed love to him and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But he was deeply dismayed by these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”’

This man’s god was his riches, and Yeshua knew it, but He wanted him to have the chance to do the right thing. So Yeshua told him the truth, but the man could not give up his possessions, and so he sadly walked away. Yeshua showed His love in every miracle and even with the little children, He would lay His hands on them and bless them as  Matthew 19:13-14 tells us. 

He  also showed His love when Lazarus died as John 11:33-36 says, “Therefore when Yeshua saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’  Yeshua wept.  So the Jews were saying, ‘See how He loved him!”’

When Yeshua saw the crowd, He had pity on them. He loved them and fed them, like in Matthew 15:32-37, “Now Yeshua called His disciples to Him and said, ‘I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.’  The disciples said to Him, ‘Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?’  And Yeshua said to them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ And they said, ‘Seven, and a few small fish.’  And He directed the people to sit down on the ground;  and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.”’

The Apostle James would have been there and he writes this in James 2:14-17.  “What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,  and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”’

The Apostle John also was there and he writes in 1 John 3:17-18, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” Even when they came to arrest Yeshua He still loved by healing the man’s ear.

Luke 22:47-51 says this,  “While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading the way for them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him.  But Yeshua said to him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’  When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, ‘Lord, shall we strike with the sword?’  And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  But Yeshua responded and said, ‘Stop! No more of this.’ And He touched his ear and healed him.”’

Yeshua practiced what He preached by loving His enemies.

In Matthew 5: 43-48  Yeshua tells us this, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same?  Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Yeshua even cried over Jerusalem because of His great love. He knew what the future held for this city, but He also knew that one day He would come and sit on the throne of King David for 1000 years. Matthew 23:37-39 says this,

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.  Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Yeshua’s greatest act of love was done in the Garden of Gethsemane as Matthew 26:42 tells us,  “He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done.”’

Luke 23:34 tells us that He showed His love once again and forgave His enemies while dying on the cross. “Yeshua said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”’

We too, are to lay our lives down as an act of love for one another. John 15:13 says,  “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.” And we must end with Yeshua’s act of love forgiving Peter for denying Him and commissioning him to tend the flock.

John 21:15-17 says, “Now when they had finished breakfast, Yeshua said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My lambs.’  He said to him again, a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Shepherd My sheep.’  He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter was hurt because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Yeshua said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’”

Safetyzoneforteens.com   For Old Times Sake

Here we are once again bringing in a New Year. When you look back, time seems to have gone by so fast. When you think about the year it can be hard to believe that you did so many things, little things, big things but a lot happened over the span of a year. The question is, did you do good things? Did you do things that made a difference? Or did you have a year that well, it’s over and done with and who cares? Our lives are so short as it is. When you look ahead at time it seems like it goes so slow, but when you look back at time you realize just how fast time is going. When you are young, life and time seem so meaningless, but as those years go by you realize just how important every day is. Maybe we had harsh words with someone this past year. Maybe we haven’t talked to someone for quite a while or even seen them. You see, life is like building a building. Every year is like a new floor being added. But when you build a building or just build a life, you have to have a good strong foundation, if not, one day it will all come crashing down. There’s a song that is played every year at New Years celebrations, it’s called,  “Ol Lang Syne.” It means, old long since, or since long ago, or in plain English, for old time sake. It was written by a poet named Robert Burns back in 1788. Here is the English version: “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne? And there’s a hand my trusty friend! And give me a hand o’ thine! And we’ll take a right good-will draught, for auld lang syne.” (Chorus) For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”  Yes, it sounds like a great drinking song between friends. But this song has become tradition over the years because it reminds us that we need to start the New Year in friendship and not with holding grudges toward one another. How about you? Maybe there is someone you need to forgive and let bygones be bygones. How about this song by Gilbert O Sullivan from his album Driven: “Why not let bygones be bygones, what do you say? Why let a difference of opinion get in our way? We both seem to think that it’s the other who’s to blame and unless we can agree, some form of closure, how can we as friends remain. Why not let bygones be bygones, look at us now, having a minor spat between us go way beyond a row. Friends think we’re crazy, letting this go on. It’s insane and if a line can not be drawn under it, surely the only way to ease the pain. Let bygones be bygones. What do you say?” The Bible tells us this,  “Never be bitter, angry, or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Messiah.” Do you have loose ends that need to be tied up before the New Year, for old times sake?

Hebrew Corner:      The Second Persecution Under Domitian

Domitian was Emperor of Rome from 81-96, the son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. He was known to be ruthless. He grew up seeing how others ruled before him and he took that knowledge and decided that he was going to outdo those who went before him. He was the longest to rule in the Flavian dynasty. Domitian firmly believed in the traditional Roman religion, and personally saw to it that ancient customs and morals were observed throughout his reign. In order to justify the divine nature of the Flavian rule, Domitian emphasized connections with the chief deity Jupiter, perhaps most significantly through the impressive restoration of the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. One way Domitian controlled his potential opponents was to have them exiled as Revelation 1:9 tells us, “I, John, your brother and fellow participant in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Yeshua, was on the island called Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Yeshua.”  Historian Eusebius writes, The teaching of our faith glowed so brightly at that time that even writers alien to our belief cited the persecutions and martyrdoms in their histories.’ 

 It was during this time of intense persecution under Domitian that many people believe the Book of Revelation was written. Iranaeus, a prominent leader in the early church, writing around 180 AD, states that the vision in Revelation was: “… announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. For it was not seen for  a very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian’s reign.”  Revelation 2:12-13, “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold firmly to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”  It was during this time of intense persecution under Domitian that many people believe Revelation 6:9 is a reference to all those he martyred. “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;  and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?”   It is believed that Nicodemus was martyred under Domitian and also Timothy. Over the last several decades we have seen an increase of persecution to Jews and Christians alike. Pray for those who are being persecuted around the world for the sake of God’s Word. Revelation 12:17 says, “So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua.”

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Welcome

February is the month of love.  Valentine’s Day is a great time for those who want to express their love for one another in a financial way by gifts, cards, and candy.  It’s light, it’s fun, but love is a very serious thing. Today, so many people do not feel that they are loved, too many broken homes, broken marriages, broken lives.

John 13:34 tells us this, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” 

We are supposed to love others like Yeshua loved us. So how did Yeshua love us?

John 15:12-17 says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.  This I command you, that you love one another.”

The first fruit of the Spirit is Love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us this, “But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

1 John 3:16-18 says, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him?  Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

This year for Valentine’s Day why not give food to a food pantry or to a homeless shelter or even to a women’s shelter, maybe even to someone in your neighborhood, church, or to someone at work who may be going through difficult times, or those who are lonely who are shut-ins, or those who sit in a nursing home  day after day with no one to visit them.  Let’s love one another with true love by laying aside our lives for another.

Yeshua Our Example of a Life in the Spirit, Part 2

As we continue to look at Yeshua’s life in the Spirit, we want to first look at Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” So we saw Yeshua’s love, now we are going to look at joy.  The definition of joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope. It is something or someone that provides a source of happiness. So let’s start with  Psalm 45:7, “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, our God, has anointed you with the oil of joy above your companions.”

We see here that the anointing, which was upon the kings and prophets and priests, was the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It was the oil of the Spirit, this same oil that the Psalmist calls “The oil of joy.” It is this same joy that the Psalmist writes of in Psalm 51:7-13, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;   wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness;  let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God,  and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation  and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.”

Joy is something that you give. Yes, you may have joy yourself, but that joy is meant to be shared. Yeshua brought joy even before He was born as we see in Luke 1:41-44, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!’ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”’

The wisemen also felt this joy in Matthew 2:10-11, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.  And after they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary; and they fell down and worshiped Him.”

Yeshua told many parables about the kingdom and the joy that we will receive as good and faithful servants because the kingdom is joy.  John 15:10-11 speaks of Yeshua’s joy which He gives us when we keep His commandments. “If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” 

Again He mentions giving His joy in John 17:13, “But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.” Joy is the result of the Holy Spirit. No matter what we encounter in life we are to receive it with all joy. James 1:2-4 says,  “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

2 Corinthians 8:1-4 says this, “And now, brothers and sisters, we want to tell you what God’s grace has done in the churches in Macedonia.  These believers have been tested by great troubles, and they are very poor. But their great joy caused them to be very generous in their giving.  I can tell you that they gave as much as they were able and even more than they could afford. No one told them to do this. It was their idea.  But they asked us again and again—they begged us to let them share in this service for God’s people.”

1 Thessalonians 1:4-6 says, “Brothers and sisters, God loves you. And we know that He has chosen you to be His people.  When we brought the Good News to you, we came with more than words. We brought that Good News with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with the sure knowledge that it was true. Also you know how we lived when we were with you. We lived that way to help you.  And you became like us and like the Lord. You suffered much, but still you accepted the teaching with joy. The Holy Spirit gave you that joy.”

But Yeshua is our example, so let’s see what He did under His trials. Isaiah 53:1-7 says this, “Will anyone believe the news that we have to tell people? Will anyone understand  how the Lord has used His great power? God’s servant grew up in front of Him, like a young, green plant, with its roots in dry ground. He was not handsome. He did not seem like a great king.  We did not see Him as a special person. There was nothing to see that would make us want to be with Him.

 People did not respect Him. They refused to accept Him. He was a man who received much pain.  He knew what it felt like to be weak and ill. People did not even want to look at Him. They did not respect Him. We decided that He was worth nothing.  But He took away all our weakness! He carried our pain for us.

We thought that He was receiving punishment for His own sins. We thought that God was causing Him to suffer. But it was our sins that caused His wounds.The bad things that we had done crushed Him. The punishment that He received has brought peace to us. The wounds that He received have made us well. We have all turned away, like sheep that take the wrong path. Each of us has turned to follow our own way. But the Lord  has taken all our sins and put the punishment on Him. People were cruel to Him, and He received much pain. But He did not say anything to complain. He was like a lamb that people were leading away to kill.

He was like a sheep when they are cutting off its wool, but it makes no noise.

In the same way, He did not say anything.”

After all of this Yeshua brought joy to the hearts of those who heard His voice.

Isaiah tells us that the punishment that He received has brought peace to us. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit. Yeshua brought peace. Mark 4:35-39 tells this story.

“On that day, when evening had come, He said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’  And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea,’ Peace! Be still!”’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

Yeshua gives His disciples His peace in John 14:25-27, “These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.  Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you.”

Like love and joy, peace is also given to others. Ephesians 2:14-18 says this, 

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

Yeshua was our peace offering, which was an offering done with joy. Peace is also a blessing. Matthew 10:13, “If the house is worthy, see that your blessing of peace comes upon it. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.”

Yeshua would welcome people using the blessing of “Peace be with you” as we see in John 20 19-22, “Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were together due to fear of the Jews, Yeshua came and stood in their midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be to you.’  And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced (joy) when they saw the Lord. So Yeshua said to them again, ‘Peace be to you; just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.”’ 

We have seen that love, joy, and peace were for giving as it was with the Holy Spirit. Act 2:1-4, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.”

Safetyzoneforteens.com    Getting Nowhere Fast

Do you feel like you are going around in circles, or as they used to say, “chasing your tail”? Irving Berlin wrote this song for a movie called “Blue Skies” in 1946 and it speaks to just that. “A greyhound who had lots of speed was surely bound to fail for morning, noon and evening, he’d be chasing his own tail. A squirrel in a treadmill cage, around and ’round he’d go you’d think that he’d be in a rage, but seems he didn’t know he was running around in circles. The man who runs a carousel is often heavy-hearted he rides all day, but sad to say, he winds up where he started. So, concentrate and clear your mind of schemes that never last or you’ll wake up someday and find your chances all have passed. You’ve been running around in circles. Running around in circles getting nowhere. Getting nowhere very fast.”

This is a great song and it should speak to us about those things that we think are so important, but are not. They are things we do in life that will never give us the result that we want. They never will satisfy us or improve us in any way, and yet, we think that what we are doing is so great.  We spend all our time or even our money, just to find out in the end that we are no better off today than we were yesterday.  This is how it is when we follow the crowd or we think the world’s ways are the answer. But we quickly find out one day that we too, have been chasing our tails, just running around in circles getting nowhere. You see the things of the world are temporary, no matter who you are or when you may have lived. We all pass away,  and those things that we think were so  great also will pass away, and in the end you are left holding an empty bag. Only the things of God will remain in the end, because God is eternal, and God is the Creator of all things. It’s easy not to believe in a Creator. It is easy to deny, but in the end we all will find out that denying was easy, but reality is hard. Things just don’t come about on their own. We only know that things must have a beginning and one day everything will have an end. Why? Because everything was created by the Creator, a Supreme Being, who had no beginning nor will have no end. Everything in life has an explanation, if we know the answer or not. Things don’t just happen. Today, if you are one of those people who just don’t seem like you’re going anywhere, then stop the merry-go- round and get off. You will find your answers in God, your Creator and Father, who is waiting to reach out to you and put you on the path of life that will give you purpose and value. He will stop you from chasing after the wind. Today, purpose in your heart and pray, yes, just speak to your Father and He will hear you and grab hold of you, and help you to stop following the crowd, and stop doing what you know has not been working in your life. Seek Him, seek help and begin walking in a new direction, walking toward the God who loves you. Get on the path that leads to Him, because it does not go in circles.

Hebrew Corner:           The Evangelist Luke

It is believed that Luke was born and lived in Antioch. Luke is one of the four evangelists or as we would say, a writer of the gospel. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. The New Testament mentions Luke briefly a few times, and the Epistle to the Colossians  refers to him as a physician, (Colossians 4:14), thus he is thought to have been both a physician and a disciple of Paul.

(Philemon 23, 2 Timothy 4:11). 

Luke was one of the most highly educated of the authors of the New Testament. Luke also is credited as being a historian. Based on his accurate description of towns, cities and islands, as well as correctly naming various official titles, make his statements as trustworthy facts. Some people call Luke an apostle because he was one of the seventy sent to seek and pray. Luke 10:21-2 says, “Now after this the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.  And He was saying to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’

Luke joined Paul at Troas in the year 51, accompanying him from Macedonia to Philippi. It is very possible that Luke provided medical assistance to Paul when he had been beaten, stoned or nearly drowned while evangelizing to the Western Roman Empire. Before Paul was martyred,  he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:11  “Only Luke is with me.”  2 Timothy 4:7 says , “I  have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” Luke was with Paul to the end.

Luke’s Christian ministry can be followed in the Book of Acts. Up until the sixteenth chapter the story of Acts is written in the third person, much like an historian recording facts. The voice of the narrator then changes to first person and scholars believe this is done at the time Luke first joined Paul at Troas in the year 51. The Book of Acts switches back to third person and scholars believe that this reflects a period in time when Luke was not present during the events that are recorded. In the third Gospel, Luke emphasizes Messiah’s compassion for sinners and for those who suffer. The Gospel of Luke focuses on the poor and oppressed, encouraging tenderness and compassion for the less fortunate. The story of Lazarus and the Rich Man who ignored him is told in Luke’s gospel, as is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke proclaimed Messiah in Greece and Rome, later even journeying to Egypt. As to Luke the evangelist’s death, the tradition gives a clue as to how the apostle might have died. He was crucified on the branches of an olive tree by pagans. He died in Boeotia in the year 84. There was a circular structure in Ephesus considered to be his grave because of the carving of a bull on the door.

In part one we looked at the fall of the New World Order and the coming of King Yeshua. In part 2 we want to look at the Messianic Age, the 1,000 year rule of King Yeshua as He sits on the throne of King David in Jerusalem. When we look at the Messianic Age we seem to mix it up with eternity. Let’s take a closer look.

Let’s start with the pre-tribulation rapture. John Nelson Darby first solidified and popularized the pre-tribulation rapture in 1827, despite vague notions of this view existing in a few Puritan theologians prior to Darby. No matter if you are pre- trib or mid-trib or full- term, we have this idea that we are going to rise in this new heavenly body. No!  If we are going to be part of the Messianic Era, we are going to be in our same body. Everyone will experience complete physical and spiritual restoration. We read Isaiah 65:1 that God will create a new Heaven and Earth, this line along with the rest of this passage does not go together, because in Eternity there will be no death, but the rest of the passage talks about the Messianic Age. We get Eternity and the Messianic Age mixed up and we will see why. But Isaiah 65:18-25 is correct for we will return to a Garden of Eden setting. “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness. I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying. No longer will there be in it an infant who lives only a few days, or an old person who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of a hundred, and the one who does not reach the age of a hundred will be thought accursed. They will build houses and inhabit them; they will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit, they will not plant and another eat; for as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, or give birth to children for disaster; for they are the descendants of those blessed by the Lord, and their descendants with them. It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will listen.  The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm on all My holy mountain,’ says the Lord.”

Satan will be bound for 1,000 years and then released as Revelation 20:1-6 tells us,  “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;  and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Yeshua and because of the Word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Messiah, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

But when Satan is released after 1,000 years this is what Revelation 20:7-10 continues to say. “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,  and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

So you see there can not be a New Heaven and Earth yet. So the earth will be the same. Yeshua will heal us and restore us and we will be living in the New Garden of Eden in Jerusalem.  From the book Sabbath to Sabbath by First Fruits of Zion tells us this,  “Yeshua felt compelled to heal, cast out demons, and restore broken bodies on the Sabbath because it was a way to show the fruits of the Messianic Era on the very day that reflects the coming kingdom: each miracle Yeshua performed was a part of portraying the coming kingdom, and in a way, He was bringing the weekly Sabbath that much closer to the ultimate Sabbath rest of the Messianic Era.” 

Yes, God created the heavens and the earth and then rested. You see the first six days represented man, as does the number six, but the seventh day belonged to God, as so the number seven represents God. God sanctified the seventh day. It was to be holy. The Messianic Age is a time without the influence of the devil, like in Creation and the beginning of the Garden of Eden, when life was peaceful and abundant. God rested, not that He needed to rest, but it was a picture of the Sabbath, a day of rest, a time of peace, a day when Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the evening. God made the Sabbath holy. This was not just for the Jewish people. This began at the time of Creation. This was to be eternal. Everything God did had a purpose, and it was a picture of things to come, as was the binding of Isaac, and the first Passover, and everyone of God’s Appointed Times. But then came the eighth day as we say, and Satan fell from heaven and Adam and Eve fell with him. This is what we see happen after the thousand years, when the devil will be released and once again we will have war and destruction. But Yeshua, this time, will cast him down for eternity. We shall see other great things like Isaiah 2:1-4 tells us, “Now it will come about that

in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.  And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; so that He may teach us about His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go out from Zion and the word of the Lord  from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, and will mediate for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.”

Yeshua will gather the people and He will teach them like He did when He was on the earth the first time. There is so much Scripture speaking about the last days, but Zechariah 14:9-11 tells us this, “And the Lord  will be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. All the land will change into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will live in security.”

Then Zechariah 14:16-21 continues to say this, “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of armies, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Sukkot).  And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of armies, there will be no rain on them.  And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.  This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar.  Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord on that day.”

We see that the Temple will be built and the sacrifices will resume, and everyone will come to celebrate the Appointed Time of God, Sukkot, which is a picture of us dwelling with God for eternity. Maybe we need to rethink about those Appointed Times, and realize that they are for everyone, they are Biblical, that’s what makes us Judeo- Christians.

Click to access Come-With-Me.pdf

Click to access In-My-Dark-Hour.pdf

Click to access Lord-You-Are-with-Me.pdf

Click to access What-is-Paradise-Like.pdf

Click to access I-Have-Called-You-By-Name-1.pdf

Click to access Come-Hither.pdf

Do angels wear armor?  There are many known pictures of angels wearing armor, mainly the Archangel Michael. 

Exodus 23:20-23 says this, “Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Give heed to him and hearken to his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for My name is in him. But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. When my angel goes before you, and I blot them out.” 

Psalm 91:4-6,11-12 tells us this, “God’s faithfulness is a protecting shield. You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that roams in darkness, nor the plague that ravages at noon. For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”

So is our guardian angel not only the one who guards us but also the one who  fights our spiritual battles? Let’s take a closer look.

The name “angel” comes from the Latin, from the Greek word angelos or the Hebrew word malakh, both meaning “messenger”. But not all angels are messengers. Angels are God’s agents. They do God’s work in many different capacities. 

Psalm 104:4 says this about God’s angels.“ He makes the winds His messengers, flaming fire His ministers.”

Hebrews 1:14 says this, “Are they (angels) not all ministering spirits, sent out to provide service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

There are guardian angels who are called Cherubim who guarded the Tree of Life who had flaming swords. And of course, angels like Archangel Michael who are warring angels. There are Seraphim who worship God continually in His temple. We know that angels have rank for we are told that Michael is a Chief Prince.

We read about Michael in Daniel 10: 13, 21; 
Daniel 12:1;
 Jude 1:9;
 Revelation 12:7 and Gabriel in Daniel 8:16, Daniel 9:21, Luke 1:19, Luke 1:26 and Raphael – Tobit 5 – 13.

Some religions pray to angels, even though Yeshua tells us to only pray to the Father in His name. Here is one for Michael. “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.”

So let’s look at times when angels met with man. Genesis 18:1-8 speaks of heavenly visitors to Abraham. “Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.  When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground,  and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by.  Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree;  and I will bring a piece of bread, so that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.” And they said, “So do as you have said.”  So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.”  Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it.  He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.”

Hebrews 13:2 tells us this,  “Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

Genesis 18:20-21 continues as the three men left, “And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.  I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”

We see here that the Lord appeared to Abraham before the three men came and then again after they left. So we can gather that God works with His angels or was He one of the strangers as Genesis 19:1-2 only mentions two arriving at Sodom? “Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.  And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.” 

Genesis 19:9-11 goes on to tell us about the people attacking Lot. “But they said, ‘Get out of the way!’ They also said, ‘This one came in as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!’ So they pressed hard against Lot and moved forward to break the door.  But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.  Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.”

Let’s continue to look at other times angels met with mankind.

Jacob had several encounters with angels but let’s look at this time.

Jacob had returned home and was told that his brother Esau was coming to meet him. Anticipating his revenge he quickly separated his family hoping to maybe save some of them. Genesis 32: 24-31 continues, “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.  Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’ But he said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’  So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’  Then he said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed.’  And Jacob asked him and said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there.  So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.’  Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his hip.”  

The beginning of Ephesians 6:10-12 which speaks about the armor of God says this,  “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Yes, Jacob may have wrestled with the angel of God, but God’s Word wants us to know that we are only to wrestle with the evil forces (fallen angels) in the heavenlies, not each other.

We see from this Scripture that the evil forces of this world also have ranking. There have been so many times angels have appeared to people, but now let’s look at how the angels of God fight the angels of darkness.

Daniel was a righteous, godly man and he had several encounters with angels. Let’s look at Daniels 10:1-9. “In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks.  I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris,  I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man dressed in linen, whose waist had a belt of pure gold of Uphaz.  His body also was like topaz, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great fear fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my complexion turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.” 

Just the appearance of the angel caused Daniel to lose his strength. 

Daniel 10:10-14 continues. “Then behold, a hand touched me and shook me on my hands and knees.  And he said to me, “Daniel, you who are treasured, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand at your place, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.  Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in my way for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.  Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, because the vision pertains to the future.”

We are not told the name of the angel, but we see that he had quite the battle with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. Like Michael, he too was a prince. There is a spiritual war that continues to this day. There are heavenly forces who are fighting principalities and powers and rulers of darkness. We think that it is people, but they are only pawns of evil that we fight. Yes, the spiritual battle comes down to us, but we are not to fight people but the darkness that lurks in high places. It is for this reason that we are to put on the armor of God as Ephesians 6:13-18a tells us, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God:  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

This is what Daniel was doing as he waited for his answer. Daniel 10:20-21 goes on to say, ‘Then he said, ‘Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am leaving, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.  However, I will tell you what is recorded in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.”’

Revelation 12:7-9 tells us this, “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.  And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

So how do angels fight when they are spiritual beings? The Bible really does not tell us. Pictures that we see are only the artist’s rendering of what they think and at that, as a human.  We have seen what we need to do to do our part in the fight. We must live out the armor of God. We know that the angel with Daniel had to ask for help, even while Daniel was praying. So we know that the battle can be fierce and we should never put down our weapons of warfare.

But maybe we can see what Yeshua did when He confronted the devil. 

Matthew 4:1-11 says, “Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.  And the tempter came and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God’  Then the devil took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,  and he said to Him, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will give His angels order concerning You; and on their hands they will lift you up, so that you do not strike your hand against a stone.’ Yeshua said to him, On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Again, the devil took Him along to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;  and he said to Him, All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me. Then Yeshua said to him, Go away, Satan! For it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to serve Him.”’

I believe man and angel both must fight the devil and his evil forces with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and stand in faith, believing in the power of God’s spoken Word. Jude 9, says,  “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him an abusive judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

James 4:7 says, “So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and he will run away from you.” 

We must persevere under trials and tribulations and keep living out our armor in our lives, standing firm as we join God’s warring angels in the fight. Then we will have the victory.  

Part 2 ended with the return of Yeshua and the Messianic Age. Now we want to look at what follows. The book of Hebrews starts by telling us that God spoke through His prophets but now He speaks through His Son. Hebrews 1:10-12 says this “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” After the Messianic Age, after Satan will be thrown down for eternity, it will be at this time, the world as we know it, will come to an end and all will stand before the judgment seat of God.  

Romans 14:10-12 says this, “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

Revelation 20:11-15 goes on to say this, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.  Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 21:7-8 says this to the reader as a warning, “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son.  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Revelation 2:11 says this when speaking to the church of Smyrna. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”

  Revelation 21:1-6 tells us, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.’” 

God’s original creation has vanished. The original order of things is now gone. We now have passed onto a world that will be called eternity.

Isaiah 65:17 says this,  “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”

Yes, the former things will not be remembered. We won’t remember our loved ones, because God will take away the pain of the past, and those loved ones that may not have made it to be with God.

Now let’s look closely at Revelation 21:9-21, “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,  having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.  It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—  on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.  And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

We see here that the holy city, the New Jerusalem, is the Bride of the Lamb, but did we not think that it was the church who was the Bride?

1 Peter 2:4-5 says this, “As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,  you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua.”

Ephesians 2:19-22 also says, “So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,  having been built on 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.”

God’s Word never contradicts itself. We must understand that God entrusted His Word to the Jewish people of Israel. It was the Jewish people who were waiting for the Jewish Messiah. It was the Jews who on the day of Pentecost (Shavuot), that 3,000 people came to know the Messiah and who were baptized into the Holy Spirit, and shortly after 5,000 were included. We Gentiles did not know the God of Creation until later. Yes, there were those few who were called “God Fearers” but only a few.

Romans 11:13-21, “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. In as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry  in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?  If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.”

Now I say all of that to say this, Jerusalem is the city of God. We see Melchizedek who was the priest of Jerusalem, which is the city of peace.  King David sat on the throne in Jerusalem and Yeshua sat on His throne for 1,000 years, but remember His kingdom will not end. So Jerusalem is the place that will live on forever. We  have been built up as a spiritual house, the temple of God, while we were on the earth, but now we will reside in this holy city, which is the physical Bride of Messiah and we will rejoice at the table for we were found worthy because of our righteous deeds. We have made our garment white so that we may dwell with Yeshua our Savior and God our Creator.

Revelation 19:6-9 says this, “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult    and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come,    and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.”’

In Part 4 we will look at life in eternity.

Welcome

The month of March reminds me that one day we will all be marching as this great song “Marching to Zion” says,  “Come, we that love the Lord and let our joys be known; join in a song with sweet accord, and thus surround the throne. We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion; we’re marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.” It will be like when God led His people through the wilderness. Psalm 68, in a very literal sense, is about God marching to Zion. The psalm celebrates the march of the Ark of the Covenant to the temple (tabernacle) in Jerusalem. Symbolically, it speaks of the militant march of God and His people.  God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched through the desert the earth quaked; the heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.”

Psalm 68:24-26 continues, “Your procession is seen, O God,     the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary— the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines: ‘Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”’

Yes, one day God’s people will return as Revelation  19: 11-14 tells us, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.  He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.” 

Today we are marching as one who goes off  to war to fight the battle between good and evil and as we go and as we fight we will conquer the promised land and we will go up to Zion, that beautiful eternal city of God.

Yeshua our Example of a Life in the Spirit, Part 3

We have been looking at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” 

Today we want to look at patience and self control. The greatest may be love, but patience, as they say, is a virtue. Patient endurance is an absolute must when going through trials. We hear the saying  peace thru strength and this is true because there is strength when we endure and persevere, because that is the result of  patience, and that patience gives us hope and hope never fails and so we have the strength to go on because we have peace in our hearts.

Romans 5:1-5 says, “We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Messiah Yeshua.  Through our faith, Messiah has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory.  And we are also happy with the troubles we have. Why are we happy with troubles? Because we know that these troubles make us more patient.  And this patience is proof that we are strong. And this proof gives us hope.  And this hope will never disappoint us. We know this because God has poured out His love to fill our hearts through the Holy Spirit He gave us.”

 James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

1 Peter 2:19-20 says, “For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person endures grief when suffering unjustly.  For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God”.

As we go through life we will encounter persecution and trials and even disappointments, but when we have patience, endurance and perseverance it creates hope, and hope never fails us. 

 Yes, we must be like the farmer who patiently waits as  James 5:7-11 tells us,“Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 

Romans 8:19-25 tells us this, “For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.  And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body.  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

Hebrews 6: 10-12 tells us this, “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.  We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.  We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

1 Timothy 1:16 tells us this about Yeshua,  “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Messiah Yeshua might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”

Romans 9: 22-24 says,  “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction?  And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,  namely us, whom He also called, not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles”

2 Peter 3:9 says this about God’s patience. “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”

We see this in the day of Noah as 1 Peter 3:20 says this about Yeshua who went and preached salvation to the lost souls. “And by the Spirit He went and preached to the spirits in prison. Those were the spirits who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah. God was waiting patiently for people while Noah was building the big boat. And only a few—eight in all—were saved in the boat through the floodwater.” 

2 Peter 3:14-15 also tells us, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you.”

Paul speaks to us also about patience and persecution in 2 Timothy 3:10-12, “Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me!  Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.” 

To have patience one must have self control. So what exactly is self-control?

Self-control is the ability to control oneself, not only with our emotions, but also  with our actions. Yeshua showed self-control in many situations, for instance, when tempted in the wilderness. He resisted the devil’s lures, even though He was hungry and his offer of power, because He knew that one day He would rule and reign, (Matthew 4).  When being arrested, He did not resist because He told the Father,  “Your will be done, not Mine,”(Matthew 26). Yeshua showed great patience and self-control with His apostles and with those who denied that He was sent by God. So self- control has a lot to do with knowing who you are, and who you serve. It works hand in hand with patience.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 says this, “I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Messiah Yeshua , who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke,  and exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.  But as for you, use self-restraint (self-control)  in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5 speaks about the end times when people will not have any self-control. “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, 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 people as these.”

And finally 2 Peter 1:4-8 says this  “Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Messiah Yeshua.” 

Safetyzoneforteens.com    You could be in Danger

Today there is so much stress in our lives that it is causing so many families to be torn apart. More and more violence is occurring in our homes and in our schools. Please read this and we hope that the information will help you to be aware. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, domestic violence is up and  today the statistics prove it out. Intimate partner violence affects more than 12 million people every year. Almost half of all women and men in America alone have experienced psychological  aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Women ages 18-34 generally experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence. 30-60 % of intimate partner violence perpetrators also abused children in the household. 22 % of children have witnessed violence toward  a parent’s intimate partner.  40% of child abuse  victims also report experiencing domestic abuse. According to the US Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, domestic violence may be the single major precursors to fatalities from child abuse and neglect in America. Almost 10% of high school students reported being hit, slapped, or physically hurt, intentionally by their partner in the last 12 months. 1 in 10 high school students has experienced physical violence from a dating partner in the past year.  43% of dating college women report experiencing violent and abusive dating behavior including physical, sexual, digital, verbal, or other controlling abuse. 29% of college women say they’ve been in an abusive dating relationship.  57% say that their abuse took place while in college.  38% say that they do not know what to do to get help for themselves if they experience dating abuse, and 58% don’t know what to do to help someone else who is a victim of dating abuse. Over half of college students say it is difficult to identify dating abuse. 16 % of women and 5% of men in America have been a victim of stalking at some point during their lifetime in which they felt fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed. Most common stalking tactics experienced by both women and men victims of stalking were repeated unwanted phone calls, voice or text messages. Survivors are 2 times more likely to develop symptoms of depression and 3 times more likely to develop a major depressive order. Survivors are 3 times more likely to engage in self- harming behaviors, 3 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and 4 times more likely to attempt suicide, 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorder and 6 times more likely to have a substance use disorder. The presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women 500%.  More than half of women are killed by gun violence by a family member or intimate partner.

Hebrew Corner:             The Apostle John

The beloved disciple of Yeshua was the brother of James the Great. He was the youngest of the twelve apostles. He was also the son of Zebedee. They were fishermen as Matthew 4:18-22 and many other Scriptures tell us.  He is also referred to as John the Evangelist. He is the writer of the Gospel account of John and the books 1,2 and 3 of John and also the writer of Revelation. 

 John 1:35-40 speaks of the two disciples of John the Baptist who found Yeshua the Messiah. “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,  and he looked at Yeshua as He walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’  The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Yeshua.  Yeshua turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And they said to Him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’  He said to them, ‘Come and you will see.’ So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Yeshua was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. John is one of the four that was in the inner circle with Yeshua.

 John 13:23-25 records when Yeshua tells them that He was going to be betrayed. “One of His disciples, whom Yeshua loved, was reclining at the table at Yeshua’s side,  so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Yeshua of whom He was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Yeshua, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”  

That disciple was John. 

John 18:15-16 also speaks of John. “Simon Peter followed Yeshua, and so did another disciple (John). Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Yeshua into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in.” Again we read about John’s love for the Messiah in

 John 19: 26-27,  “When Yeshua  saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’  Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” John was a faithful servant and friend to Messiah, and of course, we see with such a great revelation that was entrusted to him in the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation begins with this statement. “The revelation of Messiah Yeshua, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,  who bore witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Messiah Yeshua, even to all that He saw.” 

 John was thrown into a pot of boiling oil but he miraculously escaped. So Domitian banished him to the Isle of Patmos where he received such a great revelation.

In part 3 we ended by looking at the Bride of Yeshua. Now let us look at this New Jerusalem where we will live for eternity. We always hear people say that they want to go to heaven and yet we read that the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven, (Revelation 21:10). We read that God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth, so we should be saying that we want to live forever in the New Jerusalem where the streets will be made of gold. 

Let’s continue to look at Revelation 21:15-21, “And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.  The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length, width and height are equal.  He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement.  The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.  The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,  the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”

Wow, what a place! Yeshua told His disciples this in John 14:1-2, “Let not your heart be troubled:  believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

Many mansions, gates of pearls, walls of jewels, streets of gold, who can imagine what God has for those who love Him?. He is the rewarder of faith and those who put their trust in Him, but for now, well, Romans 8:23-25 says it all, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Revelation 21:22-27 continues,  “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.  By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.  They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.  But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

We must remember that God had His writers write not only for the future, but to also speak to us about the present, all at the same time. So He is reminding us that nothing unclean or detestable or false will enter it. He wants people to realize that they must now, when they are reading His Word,  repent and change their ways. We see several things in Revelation 21.  We see that the city will be square. We also see that there will be no sun or moon, no night, I’m sure no stars. This says to me that there will also be no seasons, because the earth will not be rotating around the sun. There will be no night, only day, which means there will be no calendar, no weeks, no months, because there is no time with God. God only created time and seasons for us when we were human beings, but now we will be eternal beings like God. This is when we will receive our new bodies, for the old will have passed away. No time, no aging, no pain, no need for sleep. We will be like God, and the new earth will be flat, for it will have no need to be round, for it will not be rotating, as it does now.  There will be no other planets or sky, or even any kind of atmosphere. We will no longer need to breathe, no longer will we need a heart or lungs or blood, or anything that will decay or die. We will be like God. 

1 John 3:1-2 says,  “ Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”

Revelation 22:1-5 tells us this, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb  through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

Again we must remember that Yeshua’s kingdom will not only be in the Messianic Age, but forever, and the renewed Garden of Eden will also be forever in the New Jerusalem. And the new Heaven, the Throne room of God, will cover the new earth like a canopy. In Jewish weddings there is a canopy called a Huppah, which covers the Bride and the Groom. It also is four sided like the New Jerusalem. Under this canopy we will reside with our God forever.  The whole theme of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is dwelling with God. The symbol of the booth is that canopy over us, as God dwells with us, and we dwell with God. This is why in the Messianic Age it will be required of all to celebrate this feast. Shouldn’t we start now? Yes, We will see God and He will see us, and we’ll be together for eternity. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.”

Now is the time to be sure, not if you are going to heaven, for only the righteous Judge knows, but are you walking in obedience and faithfulness, in holiness and godliness, free from this world, walking with God right into the New Jerusalem.

Welcome

Spring  is here and we must think about how God so loves us that He gives us so many new beginnings, every day, every month, every season, every year. There is no reason that we need to stay in our sins or in our darkness. The days are getting longer and the light is shining earlier and longer. God gives us hope, the hope of better days, the hope of a future, a hope of salvation. God has given us a way to seek Him and ask of Him. We can come before a holy God, because He has made Himself approachable through the shed blood of Messiah. Our sin separates us from Him and with this the access to Him, but repentance from the heart that humbles oneself  can be washed and reconciled to Him once again. Romans 6: 4-8, 12-14, “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.  We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we have died with Messiah, we believe that we will also live with Him.”  “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”  Titus 3:3-6 says, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.  But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,  He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,  whom He poured out on us richly through Messiah Yeshua our Savior,  so that being justified by His mercy we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

As we remember Yeshua’s death and resurrection let us also die with Him so that we will be raised with Him, new beginnings in newness of life.

Yeshua our Example of  a Life in the Spirit, Part 4

Let’s continue our series in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  

As we have seen God is the embodiment of the fruit of the Spirit. God wants us to be like Him. We were created in His image. On this earth we are to be His witnesses, like the light in the darkness, we are to show the world God. We want to look at kindness. The definition of kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. So once again we see that kindness, like love, joy and peace, is to be given to others and not kept to ourselves. Similar words used interchangeably with kindness are grace, gentleness, patience, goodness, graciousness, hospitality, to name a few.

Proverbs 3:1-4 tells us this, “My son, do not forget My teaching, but have your heart comply with My commandments; for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and a good reputation in the sight of God and man.”

And again in Proverbs 19:22a, “What is desirable in a person is his kindness.”

In Romans 2:4, Paul speaks about the one who judges others,  “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint (self-control) and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance.”

 Ephesians 2: 4-7 says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Messiah, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Messiah Yeshua.”

Titus 3: 3-6a says this, “For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He richly poured out upon us through Messiah Yeshua our Savior.”

We must do works of kindness. We must extend a hand to others and show them kindness. It is like the hand of God, who in His great love, showed us kindness and till this day is still extending His hand to others through us. Yeshua went about doing good through His acts of kindness, even upon the cross, He extended His kindness to the man next to Him on the cross, and invited him to be in Paradise with Him. But kindness and goodness go together, so we now want to look at the fruit of goodness. Goodness is the act of kindness. If you have a kind heart, then goodness will be your hands carrying out what’s in your heart.

Exodus 33:18-19 tells us this, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.’ Then Moses said, ‘Please, show me Your glory!’  And He said, ‘I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.”’

Paul writes in Romans 15:13-14 this, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And concerning you, my brothers and sisters, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.”

It seems as though goodness is not only about giving to one in need, but also with knowledge and understanding, one may need to be counseled or even admonished.

2 Thessalonians 1:9-12 says, “ These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,  when He comes to be glorified among His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—because our testimony to you was believed. To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will consider you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,  so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, in accordance with the grace of our God and the Lord Messiah Yeshua.”

Paul knew that in doing right, one must do it out of his own love, and not be forced to do goodness or else it simply is not an act of goodness.

Philemon 1:12-14, “I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart,  whom I wanted to keep with me, so that in your behalf he might be at my service in my imprisonment for the gospel;  but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will.”

God told Moses that He would make all His goodness pass before him. When we have God in our hearts and we are living out His Word, His Commandments, we then begin to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We begin the process of holiness by the washing  of regeneration and the renewing that only the Holy Spirit can bring. When we begin to see the fruit of the Spirit grow within us, then we know that we are beginning to live in the Spirit. Remember what Proverbs 3 told us, to bind kindness and truth around our neck and put them in our hearts.

God wrote His Commandments upon two tablets of stone and He will now write upon our hearts, as Ezekiel 11:19-20 says, “And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,  so 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.” 

Again in Ezekiel 36:26-27, “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances.” This is the new covenant that we now have and should walk in. 

Let’s look at gentleness. Psalm 18:35 says this, “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great.”

 To be gentle is the quality of being kind, tender, or mild-mannered. As you have just read, gentleness does not make you weak but great. Remember Yeshua was the Lamb of God. He went to cross in a gentle manner, not like a lion roaring and look at what He did. He gained us our victory, through His gentleness. God’s gentleness makes us great!

Galatians 6:1-3 says, “Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.  Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Messiah.  For if anyone thinks that he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

2 Tim 2:22-26 says, “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.  The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, skillful in teaching, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,  and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

James 3:13-18, “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.  This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy.  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

Doing God’s work means you have to have gentleness, goodness, and kindness.

Hebrew Corner:                      Timothy

Last month we read that Timothy was martyred during the end of reign of Domitian in 97. Timothy was a Greek on his father’s side, but his mother was Jewish.  The Apostle Paul met him during his second missionary journey and he became Paul’s companion and missionary partner along with Silas. Timothy’s name appears as the co-author on 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 

1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon. Young Timothy was mentored or correctly discipled by Paul. The Book of 1 Timothy begins, “To Timothy, my true son in the faith.”  1 Timothy 4:12-14 says,  “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.  Until I come, give your attention to the public reading, to exhortation, and teaching.  Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was granted to you through words of prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.” 

Paul would often write Timothy and encourage him in the faith as 1 Timothy 1:18-19 tells us, “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.”

Paul wrote to the Philippians about Timothy, “I have no one like him.” When Paul was in prison and awaiting martyrdom, he summoned his faithful friend Timothy for a last farewell. Much of  the book of 1 Timothy has to do with framing a congregation and its leadership.  2 Timothy is more about being strong  in difficult times. 2 Timothy 1:3-6 says, “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,  longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.  For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelled in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.  For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

Paul was without doubt, persecuted for his faith and in 2 Timothy 3:10-12,  Paul encourages Timothy to endure  persecution. “Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,  persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me!  Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.” 

This is a message that we all need to take to heart.

“Salvation” Part One

Salvation is our most precious gift. We all have things that we cherish, and because of it we guard them so they do not get damaged or lost. But so often we take our salvation for granted. We do not hold it close in our hearts. It is more head knowledge than heartfelt. Those cherished items we take out and hold and remember how we obtained them, but our salvation is not like that. This study is about our salvation and we want to take the time to look at it and hold it and cherish it. So Salvation is only in Yeshua. Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

This is exactly what Yeshua’s name means, God’s Salvation. Do not think that the name Jesus means the same. First of all the letter j was not even in the alphabet till the 1500’s. Yeshua was changed to Jesus because the Word of God was put into the Greek, and since then we have had a Greek Messiah. Emperor Constantine changed the days and the dates back in the 4th Century. 

Daniel 7: 25 speaks about one who will come and do just that. “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”

1 John 4: 2-3 says,  “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Messiah Yeshua has come in the flesh is from God,  and every spirit that does  not confess Yeshua is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

Yes, there have been many false teachings over the years and you will see as we go on. Let’s look at one of these. We want to look at one, the Trinity. Why is this important? Because to understand our salvation we must understand it with truth. We have been taught to believe in the Trinity, three persons in one, but is this true? We could say, “Well maybe this could be.”

But the truth is, God is one and He is not a person. Maybe this belief of God being three persons started with Yeshua, because He was a person, or maybe it didn’t? We really do not know how God could have sent His Son in the form of a man except that God can do all things. First, There is only one God and so He is only one. Two, God is a spirit, He is not a man, He is not even human, and Three, how does God have a Son when God is only one?  We want to take a closer look into this and see if we can come up with the right conclusion. 

Let’s begin with God is one. 

Yeshua says in John 10:30, “The Father and I are one.”

John 1:1-5 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”.

Yeshua and the Father are one and so is the Holy Spirit and Yeshua one.

Philippians 1:19 says, “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Messiah Yeshua.”

Acts 16:7 says, “and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Yeshua did not allow them.”

Galatians 4:6 says “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!”  

And you can’t forget the Armor of God. 

Ephesians 6:17 says this about part of our armor,  “And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God.”

 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 says this, “Such is the confidence we have toward God through the Messiah.  Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

So we see that the Spirit gives life and Yeshua is life.  John 11:25 tells us, “Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will have life even if he dies.” 

and the Father gives us life through Yeshua as Romans 6:23 tells us, “But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Yeshua, our Master.

So we see that even Yeshua and the Holy Spirit are one with God.  This belief of God being one is not only in Judaism, but Islam, and Christianity (that is, before Tertullian came along with the idea of the Trinity and it was made law at the Council of Nicea and ratified at other councils.) If you want to know more about how man changed God’s Word, see our series on our website: judeochristianclarion.com  The Sins of our Forefathers.

So the question is, “How can God be a man and also the Supreme Being?”   

Colossians 2:9-10  tells us this,   “For all the fullness of Deity lives bodily in Him,  and in Him you have been filled to fullness. He is the head over every ruler and authority.”

But is this not true about you?  Does not God by His Holy Spirit live in you and yet, you are not God? Let’s take a closer look and we will start with the birth of Yeshua.

Luke records this in Luke 1:31b-35, “You will give birth to a son, and you will name Him Yeshua.  He will be great, and people will call Him the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of King David, His ancestor.  He will rule over the people of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end.’  Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this happen? I am a virgin!’  The angel said to Mary, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. The baby will be holy. He will be called the Son of God.”’

So was Yeshua God or man? 

  Philippians 2:5-11 tells us this,  “Have this attitude in yourselves, which also was in Messiah Yeshua, who, though existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be grasped. But He emptied Himself—taking on the form of a slave, becoming the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself—becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue profess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord— to the glory of God the Father.”

Hebrews 10:6-7 says this, “So when Messiah came into the world, He said: ‘You do not want sacrifices and offerings. But you have prepared a body for Me. You do not ask for burnt offerings  and offerings to take away sins.’ Then I said, ‘Look, I have come.  It is written about Me in the book.    My God, I have come to do what you want.’” 

We see here that Yeshua emptied Himself of His deity and came in the form of a man.  God prepared a body for His Son Yeshua. Remember, God is a spirit. Well, that explains how God went from a spirit to a man. The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and the Word became flesh. Yes, God spoke His Word into existence. Did He not say, “Let there be Light” and there was?  The part of God, His Word, is just like you and your word are one. 

We read in Luke 3: 23-38 the genealogy of Mary. If Mary was not a part of all of this then Yeshua would not have been human, but she was, and so we can say without a doubt that Yeshua was flesh and blood. 

Yet Yeshua is much like Melchizedek as Hebrews 7:2-3 says, “The name Melchizedek, king of Salem, has two meanings. First, Melchizedek means ‘king of justice.’ And ‘king of Salem’ (shalom) means ‘king of peace.’  No one knows who his father or mother was or where he came from. And no one knows when he was born or when he died. Melchizedek is like the Son of God in that he will always be a priest.”’

Isaiah 7:2-3 says “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

 Maybe Yeshua and Melchizidek have more in common than we think, for one day Yeshua, the Prince of Peace, will also sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem and be the King of Salem.                                                                                                Hebrews 1:1-6, says “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets. He spoke to them many times and in many different ways.  And now in these last days God has spoken to us through His Son. God has chosen His Son to own all things. And He made the world through the Son.  The Son reflects the glory of God. He is an exact copy of God’s nature. He holds everything together with His powerful Word. The Son made people clean from their sins. Then He sat down at the right side of God, the Great One in heaven.  The Son became much greater than the angels. And God gave Him a name that is much greater than theirs. This is because God never said to any of the angels, ‘You are my Son today I have become Your Father.’ Nor did God say of any angel, ‘I will be His Father, and He will be My Son.’ And when God brings His firstborn Son into the world, He says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship Him.’”

1 Timothy 3:16 says,  “Beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness (Yeshua): He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

Yeshua is a mystery. How can God be man and man be God? When God created heaven and the earth with all the galaxies, space itself, God had to pull back on part of Himself to do this. Yes, God is everywhere, but for man to have a free will God had to remove part of Himself. So too, with Yeshua. God took a part of Himself and emptied Himself to become man. This did not mean that God was not in Him, for just like us, we too, have God in us, but that does not make us God. No, Yeshua had to be like one of us, human, but Yeshua did not sin, because He was not born of the flesh as we are born of the flesh. He was born of God, spoken by His Word, and God was His Father. Yes, a mystery in so many ways and yet, not a mystery at all. Yeshua did all that He did, the signs and wonders and miracles just like you and I can if we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 

Hebrews 2:5-18 says this,  “And the future world we are talking about will not be controlled by angels.  No, for in the book of Psalms David says to God, ‘What is mere man that you are so concerned about him? And who is this Son of Man you honor so highly?  For though you made Him lower than the angels for a little while, now you have crowned Him with glory and honor.  And you have put Him in complete charge of everything there is. Nothing is left out.’ We have not yet seen all of this take place,  but we do see Yeshua—who for a while was a little lower than the angels—crowned now by God with glory and honor because He suffered death for us. Yes, because of God’s great kindness, Yeshua tasted death for everyone in all the world. And it was right and proper that God, who made everything for His own glory, should allow Yeshua to suffer, for in doing this He was bringing vast multitudes of God’s people to heaven; for His suffering made Yeshua a perfect Leader, one fit to bring them into their salvation.  We who have been made holy by Yeshua, now have the same Father He has. That is why Yeshua is not ashamed to call us His brothers.  For He says in the book of Psalms, ‘I will talk to My brothers about God My Father, and together we will sing His praises.’  At another time He said, ‘I will put My trust in God along with My brothers.’ And at still another time, ‘See, here am I and the children God gave Me.’  Since we, God’s children, are human beings—made of flesh and blood—He became flesh and blood too by being born in human form; for only as a human being could He die and in dying break the power of the devil who had the power of death.  Only in that way could He deliver those who through fear of death have been living all their lives as slaves to constant dread. We all know He did not come as an angel but as a human being—yes, a Jew.  And it was necessary for Yeshua to be like us, His brothers, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God, a Priest who would be both merciful to us and faithful to God in dealing with the sins of the people.  For since He Himself has now been through suffering and temptation, He knows what it is like when we suffer and are tempted, and He is wonderfully able to help us.”

We want to now look at these days of suffering, and the redemption, for those who believe.  Let’s look at Yeshua’s last days on earth and see if He was God or man. We will be using the Biblical Lunar Calendar which begins at sundown to sundown, the first month, the month of Nisan, the month of the Passover. 

Let’s begin on the tenth day.

The Tenth Day: “Entering Jerusalem” Part 2

While everyone in Jerusalem were picking out their sacrificial lambs (which was done on the 10th day of Nison)  Yeshua entered Jerusalem.  It was on this day that the people chose Yeshua, the perfect Lamb of God, by giving their approval to Yeshua. 

  Matthew 21: 1-10 records this, “When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Yeshua then sent two disciples,  saying to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them’, and he will send them on immediately.’  Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: ‘Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’  The disciples went and did just as Yeshua had instructed them,  and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on the cloaks. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’  When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, ‘Who is this?’  And the crowds were saying, ‘This is Yeshua the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”’

From there Yeshua went into the temple and cleared out those who were buying and selling in the temple by overthrowing the tables saying “My house will be a house of prayer.” 

Yeshua knew His calling. He knew that He was the Son of the Most High.

 He knew what was before Him and yet as a man, He knew that God’s will must be done.

The Eleventh Day: “Oh, Jerusalem” Part 3

Yeshua looked over Jerusalem and as Matthew 23:37-39 says,  “He cried,   ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate.  For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Yeshua cried over Jerusalem because they did not receive Him and He knew what the future held for them.  

Matthew 24:1-2 says, “Yeshua left the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.  But He responded and said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”’

In Matthew 25: 31-41 Yeshua said this, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me,  I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You?  And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.’ Then He will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For you did none of this.””

Yeshua knew His time was short and in so doing He taught the people everywhere He went.  He spoke in parables and then later taught His disciples who would continue His work. He had them experience things like the storm and the boat taking in water while He was asleep to teach them that He was with them and that He was who He said He was, the One that even the wind and waves obeyed.  He showed them how to love one another and to do good even on the Sabbath. And soon He would show them the greatest love, to lay down your life for another.

The Twelfth Day: “The Anointing” Part 4

Matthew 26:1-2 says this on day twelve of the first month. “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

Matthew 26: 6-10,12  goes on to record this story,  “Yeshua while in Bethany  went to the house of Simon, who had a harmful skin disease.  While Yeshua was there, a woman came to Him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. She poured this perfume on Yeshua’s head while He was eating. His followers saw the woman do this and were upset. They asked, ‘Why waste that perfume?  It could be sold for a great deal of money, and the money could be given to the poor.’ But Yeshua knew what happened. He said, ‘Why are you troubling this woman? She did a very beautiful thing for Me. For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.”

This woman by anointing Yeshua prophetically declared Yeshua the King, the Prophet and the High Priest, because only these three were anointed and Yeshua was all three. 

For even Hebrews 7:14-17,26-27 says this,  “It is clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah. And Moses said nothing about priests belonging to that tribe. And this becomes even more clear. We see that another priest comes, who is like Melchizedek. He was not made a priest by human rules and laws. He became a priest through the power of His life, which continues forever.  In the Scriptures, this is said about Him: ‘You are a priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek.’ For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens;  who has no daily need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because He did this once for all time when He offered up Himself.”’

Yes, all three of these, king, prophet, and high priest, were all anointed men, and Yeshua fulfilled all three.

The Thirteenth Day : “Preparing For The Seder” Part 5

Yeshua would have risen from sleep at least fifty to ninety minutes before sunrise. Sunrise would have been close to 6:15A.M. at this time of year. He would then say morning prayers which would have taken at least an hour.  Then Yeshua would have had His time with the Father in prayer and study. He would have then eaten breakfast and continued on with His day.

Matthew 26: 14-16 tells us what was going on behind the scenes. “Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests  and said, ‘What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?’ And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.  And from then on he looked for a good opportunity to betray Yeshua.”’

Yeshua would have been out teaching the people and healing them and warning them about things that would come. When afternoon came, Yeshua would have said the afternoon prayers which are called Mincha in the Temple. The Feast of Passover was nearing and much needed to be done for the Seder Meal. 

Matthew 26:17-19 continues with the disciples asking Yeshua , “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?’  And He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, ‘My time is near; I am keeping the Passover at your house with My disciples.’  The disciples did as Yeshua had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.”’

Now when evening came,  Yeshua and His disciples would have said evening prayers. Yeshua spoke to them about many different things, knowing that His time with them was short.  

John 17:6-12  tells us that Yeshua prayed for His disciples. “I have revealed Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have followed Your Word.  Now they have come to know that everything which You have given Me is from You;  for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.  I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on the behalf of those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours;  and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.  I am no longer going to be in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are.  While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”

The Fourteenth Day:  “The Passover Lamb” Part 6

At sundown the next day would have begun as Luke tells us this in Luke 22: 14-23, “When the hour came (this would have been after sundown), He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.  And He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;  for I say to you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’”

And as Yeshua was reclining at the table with the twelve He got up from the meal, took off  His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist.                            

John 13: 15-17 continues. “After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Yeshua replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’  ‘No,’ said Peter, ‘you shall never wash my feet.’ Yeshua answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.’  ‘Then, Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’ Yeshua answered, ‘Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.’  For He knew who was going to betray Him, and that was why He said not everyone was clean. When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ He asked them.  ‘You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.    I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”’

Yeshua returns to the table as Matthew 26:20-25 says,   “And as they were eating, He said, ‘Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.’  Being deeply grieved, they began saying to Him, each one: ‘Surely it is not I, Lord?’  And He answered, ‘He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me.  The Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, ‘Surely it is not I, Rabbi?’ Yeshua said to him, ‘You have said it yourself.”’

Yeshua practiced what He preached, “ love your enemy.” Yeshua prayed for Judas, washed his feet, and even gave him a chance to repent and change his mind.

Matthew 5:43-44 says, “You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. ‘But I say unto you, ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”’

John 13: 27-30 continues, “Then, dipping the piece of bread, He gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Yeshua told him, ‘What you are about to do, do quickly.’ But no one at the meal understood why Yeshua said this to him.  Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Yeshua was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.”

Mark 14:22-25 says, “While they were eating, Yeshua took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, ‘Take it; this is My body.’  Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ‘This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,’ He said to them.  ‘Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”’

This was not some supernatural thing that Yeshua was doing. This was a part of the Seder. The bread He broke, He broke because that is what you do at this time of the Seder. You take the matzah called the “Afikomen” and you break it in half. Yeshua was using this to symbolize His broken body. The cup He took at this time was called the “Cup of Redemption.” He took this cup and used it as symbolism because He was about to redeem all those who believe. The apostles were very familiar with the Seder and Yeshua was bringing it to life in a new way. Now the Seder was not just about Moses and the Israelites,  so He said, (making a reference: when you get to this point in the Seder), “When you do this,” remember Me. Now it was about Yeshua and His death and not just about Moses and the Israelites.  Now it was not just about the salvation of the Israelites but the salvation for all mankind. They ended the Seder with Yeshua telling them “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it with you, new, in My Father’s kingdom.” 

Afterwards they sang a hymn, and they went out to the Mount of Olives. Unless we believers keep the Passover beginning with the Seder, how are we to know this? It was all changed back in the 4th Century. The names were changed and the dates were changed. 

Matthew 26: 31-35 says, “Then Yeshua said to them, ‘You will all fall away because of Me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’  But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.  Peter answered him, ‘Though they all fall away because of You, I will never fall away.’  Yeshua said to Him, ‘Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’  Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You!’ And all the disciples said the same.”

Yeshua, in His own way, was trying to warn His disciples. This was a very stressful time for Yeshua and He wanted His disciples to pray.                                       

Matthew 26: 36-39 continues. “Then Yeshua went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’  And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then He said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with Me.’  And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”’                                                               

Now how could Yeshua have been God at this point? First off, God could not be troubled. Yeshua was so sorrowful, He says even to death. He even asks God to remove the cup before Him that He was about to drink. Yeshua is struggling but knows that God’s will must be done.

Matthew 26: 40-41  continues,  “And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And He said to Peter, ‘So, could you not watch with Me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”’                                                                                         

 At this point Yeshua is wrestling with the idea, much like Jacob who wrestled with the angel all night. Now people may think why should Yeshua be struggling? Wouldn’t you? He was a man and He was about to carry a load like none of us will ever carry.                                                                                        

Matthew 26:42-43 goes on,  “Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

Yeshua wants to do God’s will. He is not backing down, but as humans we all struggle. This does not show weakness, this only shows that He was human, but through it all Yeshua tells the Father, His will must be done. We must be eternally grateful that Yeshua said “Your will be done.” He is our example. When we struggle over doing what is right we too, must say to God, “Your will be done!”

 Matthew 26: 44-45 continues,   “And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.  So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.  Then He came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going; see, My betrayer is at hand.”

 In Luke 22: 39-46, He tells the story this way.  “And He came out and went, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him.  And when He came to the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’  And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,  saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.’  And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him.  And being in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,  and He said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”’

Luke’s version tells us that angels came and strengthened Him and that He was even sweating blood.  We must remember this, Yeshua was human, but Yeshua also knew the Father because He was the Word made flesh. Yeshua knew what was about to happen. He knew that by taking on the world’s sins, He would become sin, and sin separates us from God. Only Yeshua knew the agony of what it would be like to be separated from God, and it caused Him to sweat blood. It has to make us think about anyone dying in their sin and the agony of being eternally separated from God. It is believed that Yeshua had what is called the Broken Heart Syndrome, a heart condition brought about by stress situations and extreme emotions.

Judas came with all the soldiers to take Yeshua and all the disciples fled. They took Yeshua to  the High Priest Caiaphas.

Matthew 26:57-68 continues. “Then those who had seized Yeshua led Him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.  And Peter was following Him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end.  Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Yeshua that they might put Him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward  and said, ‘This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’  And the high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?’  But Yeshua remained silent. And the high priest said to Him, ‘I will assure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’  Yeshua said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his robes and said, ‘He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard His blasphemy.  What is your judgment?’ They answered, ‘He deserves death.’  Then they spit in His face and struck Him. And some slapped Him,  saying, ‘Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who is it that struck you?”

While this was going on  Peter was outside denying Yeshua, just as He said he would. Remember this is now the next day and Yeshua has had no sleep.

Matthew 27: 3-10, “Then when Judas, His betrayer, saw that Yeshua was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,  saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ They said, ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself.’  And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.  But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.’ So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers.  Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.  Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ‘And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.’”

Luke 23:1-5 continues,  “Then the whole company of them arose and brought Him before Pilate.  And they began to accuse Him, saying, ‘We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Messiah, a king.’  And Pilate asked Him, ‘Are You the King of the Jews?’ And He answered him, ‘You have said so.’  Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ‘I find no guilt in this man.’ But they were urgent, saying, ‘He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.’’’

Luke 23: 6-12 continues, “When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.  And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Yeshua, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see Him, because he had heard about Him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by Him.  So he questioned Him at some length, but He made no answer.  The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing Him.  And Herod with his soldiers treated Him with contempt and mocked Him. Then, arraying Him in splendid clothing, he sent Him back to Pilate.  And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.”

As you can see this back and forth and without sleep Yeshua did not even speak. But Pilate, who once thought Yeshua to be not guilty, caves into the pressure of the people. 

Luke 23: 13-25 goes on. “Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, ‘You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining Him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against Him. Neither did Herod, for he sent Him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. I will therefore punish and release him.’  But they all cried out together, ‘Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas’—  a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.  Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Yeshua,  but they kept shouting, ‘Crucify, crucify Him!’  A third time he said to them, ‘Why? What evil has He done? I have found in Him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.’  But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that He should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.  He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Yeshua over to their will.”

Now let’s be clear, the chief priests and rulers were afraid of Yeshua because the people loved Him so. They had their reputations and their power that they had to protect. The crowd of people were people brought in by the chief priests, like paid protesters. They got what they wanted. Yeshua was declared guilty and the punishment was death on a cross. 

Yeshua the perfect Lamb of God as Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was oppressed and 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.”

Matthew 27: 27-31 continues. “Then the soldiers of the governor took Yeshua into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him,  and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and put a reed in His right hand. And kneeling before Him, they mocked Him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’  And they spit on Him and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe and put His own clothes on Him and led Him away to crucify Him.”

Even though it was a mockery, Yeshua was hailed as the King of the Jews. By now Yeshua was beyond strength. If Yeshua was doing all of this as God, He would not have weakened.

Luke 23:26,  “And as they led Him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Yeshua.”

Yeshua was in a weakened condition due to a lack of sleep and food and water. From the crown of thorns to the whipping, He lost a lot of blood. So Simon from Cyrene was a God sent. We typically think of Yeshua dying on a cross, but in reality Simon was carrying a crossbeam that would be nailed to a tree. Adam and Eve sinned by eating off of the Tree of Knowledge and Yeshua died on a tree to bring redemption.

Luke 23:27-31 continues,  “A large crowd of people was following Yeshua. Some of the women were sad and crying. But Yeshua turned and said to them, ‘Women of Jerusalem, don’t cry for Me. Cry for yourselves and for your children too!  The time is coming when people will say, ‘Happy are the women who cannot have children! Happy are the women who have no babies to nurse.’  Then people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ And they will say to the hills, ‘Cover us!’  If they act like this now when life is good, what will happen when bad times come?”’

What follows is our redemption. Yeshua’s name means God’s Salvation and He was just that!

Isaiah 53 tells us about the crucifixion. “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the  Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a young plant,  and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men,  a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of My people? And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt,  He shall see his offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of the Lord  shall prosper in His hand. Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the Righteous One, My servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

Matthew 27:33-37 continues. “When they came to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull,  they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He tasted it, He would not drink it.  When they crucified Him, they divided His garments by casting lots to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, ‘They divided My garments among themselves and for My clothing they cast lots.’ And sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  They put His accusation over His head, which read: THIS IS YESHUA THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 

Yes, God used Pilate by placing this above Yeshua’s head. It was the Father who wanted it recorded for all the world to see that Yeshua is King and will be King forever. This is what the people chose when He came riding on a donkey on the tenth day.  At this same time that Yeshua hung on the cross the sacrificial lambs were being slaughtered. He hung on the cross outside of the camp but He could see those lambs being slaughtered.

 Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians 5:7  “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let’s celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Remember when Yeshua said to His disciples at the Seder, “When you do this, do this in memory of Me.”  Paul knew, and so did our Forefathers know, that we are to keep Passover in remembrance of Yeshua. If you are interested you can find the Seder on our website: judeochristianclarion.com. 

As the people went by they mocked Yeshua (again these were not the people who sat on the hills to hear Yeshua speak). But one man saw the truth as He was dying and repented.   

Luke 23: 39-43 records this, “One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’  But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, ‘Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’  And he was saying, ‘Yeshua, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!’  And He said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”’

Matthew 27:50-56 continues, “And Yeshua, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, released His spirit.  At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from the top to the bottom. And the ground shook, and the rocks split apart.  The graves also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had died were raised,  and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the Holy City and appeared to many. When the centurion and those with him, keeping watch over Yeshua, saw the earthquake and what took place, they feared greatly and said, ‘Truly He was the Son of God!’ Many women who were there watching from afar followed Yeshua from Galilee, serving Him,  among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.”

Yeshua hung on the cross for three hours. These three hours most likely represent the three day journey that Abraham took with his son Isaac to sacrifice him on the same mount on which Yeshua the Son of God died. Yeshua died a man because God can not be sin. He is holy and set apart, and because of that, even when we sin we are separated from God. But thank God for the shed blood of Yeshua. He bore our sins. He emptied Himself and became a man and He suffered like you and me would suffer if we went through what He went through except for one thing. We only carry our sin…He carried everyone’s sin who ever lived or will live. We ought not take it lightly. We must be like the man on the cross who said that we are deserving of this, but He (Yeshua) is innocent. What a precious gift Yeshua gave us. 

John 15: 13-17 says,  “Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.  This I command you, that you love one another.”

Loving one another can be taken so out of context. We must die to ourselves and pick up our cross (like the Cyrene, named Simon) and deny ourselves, and we must die to the world and its ways. This is what God’s Word tells us. Then and only then, can we follow in Yeshua’s footsteps, and if we do not follow in His footsteps, then we are not following Yeshua. We are enemies to this world, for our home is not here but with God. This means that while we live, our hearts must be with God. Loving one another is the fulfilment of the commandments. Do unto to others as you would have them do unto you. This does not mean write out a check or stand for those in need. No, this means that you give of yourselves, you die to your wants, you die to this world, so others may live. Go out and do good, even sell your possessions and follow Yeshua. This is what the Bible tells us. We can not live for ourselves. Maybe that vacation you wanted to take, instead, give the money to someone in need. This is a hard thing to do because we have not died to ourselves and yet, Yeshua is our example. We too, may wrestle with this idea, but we must be like Yeshua who said, “ Not My will be done, but Yours.”

So did the people experience an earthquake that day or was it just the power of God? It is strongly believed that forty years after Yeshua’s death the Temple was destroyed. That would put the year of Yeshua’s death at 30 Common Era and yet, there was an earthquake in Israel in the year 33 Common Era at the time of Passover. We know that the earth shook at Mt Sinai and on the day of Pentecost. 

Luke 23: 50- 56 goes on to say,  “And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man  (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God—  this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Yeshua.  And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.  It was a preparation day, and a Sabbath was about to begin.  Now the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was laid.  And then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes after the Sabbath.”

The Sabbath that was about to begin was not only the regular Sabbath but also the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We must remember the Exodus story. The death of the first born, the last plague, brought about Pharaoh letting the Jews go. Yeshua was the first born of Mary and the Only Son of God. Yeshua was the sacrificial Lamb of God. The blood on the doorposts was the blood of the lamb and Yeshua’s blood, who was also the Lamb, is now upon our hearts.  

Exodus 12: 33-34 says this, “The Egyptians urged the people to send them out of the land in a hurry, for they said, ‘We will all be dead.’ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.”

We must keep remembering that the day is over at sundown on the Biblical calendar and now the Sabbath has begun. We must always remember that the Passover does not fall on the same day every year, but it does fall on the same date.  If we read through the crucifixion story without feeling or pause, then we take our salvation for granted. If we ourselves do not agonize over what took place, then we just take our salvation as a matter of fact. Yeshua willingly said to the Father, “Not My will be done but Yours.” If we do not say this to our Father also, then we are not following in the footsteps of Yeshua. Yeshua was obedient unto death. 

Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

When we pray, we must begin by coming in the name of Yeshua. He is the one who sends us to the Father.

John 16: 23 says, “In that day you will ask nothing of Me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He will give it to you.”                                                           

The Precious Blood  

  Next we must come eternally grateful for the shed blood of Yeshua that covers us. Yes, we must repent before a Holy God, for sin separates us from Him. Remember in the Garden, God slaughtered an animal in Genesis 3:21 to cover them? This is true with the shed blood of the Messiah, His blood is our covering, and also on the day of Passover  the shed blood of the lamb covered the doorpost so the death angel would pass them by.            Exodus 12:21-24.

 You see the shed blood of  Messiah covers us like a robe, it is His righteousness so that when God sees us, He sees the shed blood and then there is peace between you and Him as  2 Corinthians 5:18-21 says, “This is from God. Through Messiah, God made peace between us and Himself. And God gave us the work of bringing everyone into peace with Him. I mean that God was in Messiah, making peace between the world and Himself. In Messiah, God did not hold the world guilty of its sins. And He gave us this message of peace. So we have been sent to speak for Messiah. It is as if God is calling to you through us. We speak for Messiah when we beg you to be at peace with God. The Messiah had no sin. But God made Him become sin. God did this for us so that in Messiah we could become right with God.”

Ephesians 2: 13-17 says, “But now in Messiah Yeshua you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (between Jew and Gentile) by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances (referring to conversion), that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

The blood of the Messiah is so precious that Hebrews 10:26-31 says, “If we decide to continue sinning after we have learned the truth, then there is no other sacrifice that will take away sins.  If we continue sinning, all that is left for us is a fearful time of waiting for the judgment and the angry fire that will destroy those who live against God. Whoever refused to obey the Law of Moses was found guilty from the testimony given by two or three witnesses. Such people were not forgiven. They were killed.  So think how much more punishment people deserve who show their hate for the Son of God—people who show they have no respect for the blood sacrifice that began the new agreement and once made them holy or who insult the Spirit of God’s grace. We know that God said, ‘I will punish people for the wrongs they do; I will repay them.’ And He also said, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a terrible thing to face punishment from the living God.”’

Now every time we enter into prayer we must first come in the name of Yeshua, for He is the One who sends us to the Father, and then we must draw near by Yeshua’s blood. This means that we must examine ourselves and repent of our sins.

The Fifteenth Day: “Unleavened Bread” Part 7

Exodus 14: 1-9 says, “Now the Lord  spoke to Moses, saying,  ‘Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.  For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’  And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.’ And they did so. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, ‘What is this that we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?’  So he had horses harnessed to his chariot and took his people with him;  and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.  So the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly.  Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.”

The Sabbath of Unleavened Bread is represented here when the people camped by the sea. All they had to eat was their unleavened dough that they brought with them. Because Yeshua died for our sins we should now be unleavened or free from sin as leaven represents sin. As Paul tells us that we must now be unleavened. 

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 says, “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?  Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.  Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

I guess the thing to remember here is that we must repent with sincerity of heart and truth. 

 It was at this time after the Sabbath that Yeshua rose from the dead. So when the daylight of morning came, so did the women to embalm Yeshua.

The Sixteenth Day:  “The Resurrection” Part 8

Matthew 28: 1-10 says, “At the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And then there was a great earthquake. For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his garments white as snow.  The soldiers shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid. For I know that you are looking for Yeshua who was crucified.  He is not here. For He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and indeed, He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him. Listen, I have told you.’ So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. As they went to tell His disciples, suddenly Yeshua met them, saying, ‘Greetings!’ They came and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him.  Then Yeshua said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go tell My brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.’”

Yeshua was a man and yet He did not see decay.  Yeshua was in the grave only from the fourteenth day right before evening to the fifteenth day right after the sunset, which is considered the sixteenth day on the Lunar Calendar.  It does not matter what day this was, because what does matter is that we must remember Yeshua died for us on the day of Passover.

We see another earthquake that took place. Because this was only two days from tha last  earthquake this could have been aftershocks or it just could have been the power of the resurrection. Remember at Mt Sinai how the Earth shook and at Pentecost. God is a mighty God and when the power of God is upon you even the houses shake as Acts 4:31 tells us this,  “As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

Let’s go back to see what was happening at the time of Moses.

The people who camped by the sea saw Pharaoh and his army coming for them as  Exodus 14:13-14 tells us. “But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever.  The Lord will fight for you, while you keep silent.”’

Israel was about to see the salvation of the Lord.  Exodus 14:21-25 tells us this,  “Then Moses reached out with his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.  So the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left.  Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea.  But at the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion.  He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians each said, ‘Let me flee from Israel, for the Lord  is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”’

Exodus 14: 26-31 continues, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Reach out with your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.’  Moses reached out with his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.  The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained.  But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left. So the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.  When Israel saw the great power which the Lord  had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord , and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.

Like in the day of Moses, Yeshua disarmed the Devil and his cohorts.

Colossians 4:14-15 says, “He wiped out the handwritten record of debts with the decrees against us, which was hostile to us. He took it away by nailing it to the cross.  After disarming the principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.”

Israel was now truly free from Egypt and the Pharaoh. They were no longer slaves but free. Israel going through the water has a connotation of baptism. While the Jewish people submerge in a mikvah for their ceremonial washings, Christians have baptism.

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea;  and they all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;  and they all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the Rock was Messiah.”

Romans 6:1-7 also says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Messiah Yeshua have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,  knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for the one who has died is freed from sin.”

1 Peter 1: 19-20,  “You were bought with the precious blood of the death of Messiah, who was like a pure and perfect lamb.  Messiah  was chosen before the world was made. But He was shown to the world in these last times for you.”

Romans 6:8-11 says, “Now if we have died with Messiah, we believe that we shall also live with Him,  knowing that Messiah, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  So you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Messiah Yeshua.”

If we get anything from the Scriptures, we need to get this, that Yeshua emptied Himself and became a man and as a man He suffered, taking upon Himself our sin, shedding His blood and being separated totally from God when He died, He went to hell. This may seem so simple but the blood of Yeshua is not to be taken lightly.  It is the righteousness of Yeshua and He is our righteousness and our lives are complete in Him.

Hebrews 10:26-27 says,  “If we decide to go on sinning after we have learned the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins.  There is nothing but fear in waiting for the judgment and the angry fire that will destroy all those who live against God.”

We must know this, the blood of Yeshua is priceless and we must be eternally grateful, not with our head but with our heart. Yeshua’s name and His blood  must be upon us for eternity because His blood is our covering.  When God sees us He sees the blood, and when He sees the blood, then  there is peace between us and God. 

Philippians 3: 7-11 tells us this,  “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Messiah.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Messiah Yeshua my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Messiah and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Messiah, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

The Resurrection is not about eggs and rabbits and the holy week is not about not eating meat. It’s about us dying to ourselves and picking up our cross and crucifying our flesh by following in the footsteps of our Messiah. We must let go of the world and all of its trappings and we must be like our Savior who emptied Himself for us. He is our example. We must know Him in His sufferings and in His crucifixion so that we too, may rise one day victorious from the dead to eternal life. 

Let’s look at Philippians 2: 5-11 once again, “Adopt the attitude that was in Messiah Yeshua:  Though He was in the form of God, He did not consider being equal with God something to exploit. But He emptied Himself  by taking the form of a slave  and by becoming like human beings. When He found Himself in the form of a human, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God highly honored Him and gave Him a name above all names,  so that at the name of Yeshua everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow  and every tongue confess that Messiah Yeshua is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

So was Yeshua a man or God?  Yeshua was the Word at the time of Creation. He then became the Word made flesh and as a man He died for us and gave us the victory over the grave. He now sits at the right hand of the Father.

Revelation 3:20-21 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.  To the one who overcomes I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I myself overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

Yeshua, the mystery, the One who sits on His throne with His Father. Remember God is one and yet, Yeshua came as a man, but now He rules and reigns with His Father as God and King for eternity. Yeshua the Word, Yeshua the Savior, Yeshua the King, the part of God that became man. We too, are a part of God when we accept the sacrifice of Yeshua and we too, die to ourselves and this world and live for God. This has to be in your heart, the only part of you that can actually feel God. Every day we must contemplate the shed blood of Yeshua, and we must be thankful for our salvation. If we hold these things to be precious and dear to us, we will keep them before us and if it is in our hearts then we will die each day to ourselves and we will pick up our cross and follow God. And everyday we will rise in the morning and say “May I do Your will not mine.”

At this time of Passover and the resurrection let us make that commitment to live in Truth and Light and to do that we must follow Yeshua who is the Truth, the Light and the Way. If we live for Him, we will live like Him, and if we live like Him then we too will suffer, and if so, we will also rise like Him and be with Him forever.

 1 Peter 2: 21-25 says, “For you have been called for this purpose, because Messiah also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you would follow in His steps, He who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;  and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

We are so blessed that God sent His Son as a man to die for us, and we will be eternally grateful if we live like Him, and show such love like Him.

1 John 3:1-3 tells us this,  “See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Because of God’s great love for us He sent His only begotten Son to die for us, and because His Son said, “Your will be done, not mine” He shed His blood for our sins, and because of this, His shed blood brings us salvation.

Yeshua, (God’s Salvation), what a treasured gift from the Father.

This year you can celebrate the Seder at home.  Below you will find a link to a list of all the supplies you will need along with the Seder service.  May the Lord Bless you as you celebrate Passover  this year.

https://judeochristianclarion.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/How-to-prepare-for-your-Seder.pdf

Part of the Appointed Times which God has commanded includes what is called the “Counting of the Omer.” After giving instructions about the celebration of the festival of Unleavened Bread, God gives the following commandments: “You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:15-16). Here we see that the people of Israel were commanded to count fifty days from the day after the first day of Passover, which was a special sabbath, until Pentecost (Shavuot). In fact, the reason we call this day Pentecost in the Church is because it is translated from the Greek word for “fiftieth.” This period of counting serves to connect the times of Passover, which symbolizes redemption from slavery, and Shavuot, which symbolizes taking on the yoke of the Kingdom of God.

The day of Pentecost holds great significance for believers in Yeshua (Jesus) because of the events which are recorded in Acts 2. You may be aware that Pentecost and the Biblical Appointed Time of Shavuot are one and the same, and yet the Church celebrates Pentecost on a different day than Judaism does. Why is this? It is because the Church began using the Roman calendar instead of the religious calendar which was used in Judaism. The months of the Biblical calendar are determined by the lunar cycle (Numbers 10:10), and the various civil calendars which arose out of Rome did not align with this method.

The phrase “counting of the omer” is not found in the Bible, but the phrase has been used to more easily refer to this period of counting which we introduced in the first paragraph. So what is an omer, and what does it have to do with this time of counting? Reading through the Old Testament, you will see many references to the omer. It was a unit of measurement used for measuring various dry goods, particularly grain. In the days of the temple, an omer of grain would be offered on this first day of the omer, and thus the name was derived.

So why should believers in Yeshua count along with this schedule? First of all, it connects the times of Passover (when Yeshua was crucified), First Fruits (when Yeshua was resurrected), and Shavuot (when the Holy Spirit was given). While the Church celebrates these things on its own, their greatest value is recognized when observed through the Jewish lens which it was originally lived out in. God commanded this countdown to be observed, and so it must have some meaning. We see that this time connects Passover and Shavuot on the physical level, which should make us contemplate their spiritual connection. Yeshua’s last days on earth took place during this time, and we can glean great value from remembering these times during the actual times when they took place over two-thousand years ago, relying on the religious calendar which was in use at that time and continues to be used today in Judaism.

So how can you observe this time? While there is no explanation contained in the Bible about how this counting is to be done, there are a few traditional observances which prove to be spiritually beneficial and suitable for the believer in Yeshua to practice. The button above will take you to a calendar which we have put together to guide you in counting the omer. Each day, say, “Today is the _ day of the Omer.” Then, read the Scripture which accompanies the day. Notable days have also been highlighted on the calendar.

If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

1. The Hebrew word for Pentecost is Shavuot, meaning “weeks.”

2. The Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai fifty days after crossing the Red Sea.

3. The Torah was given on Shavuot.

4. Pentecost ends the Passover season.

5. Dairy is always eaten on Pentecost because the Torah is referred to as the milk of the Word.

• 1 Corinthians 3:1-3: “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?”
• 1 Peter 2:2 tells us, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
• Hebrews 5:12, “Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!”

6. Greeneries and flowers are used to decorate because it is believed that the wilderness around Mt Sinai bloomed with flowers and grass at the giving of the Torah.

7. Also when God spoke the Ten Commandments there was a fragrance in the air.

8. Shavuot (Pentecost) is the Day of the First Fruits (Numbers 28:26) or the Harvesting Festival (Deuteronomy 16:9-10), and so because of this flowers and greeneries are used to decorate.

9. On this Day of the First Fruits (Pentecost) the Holy Spirit was given (Acts 2:1-4), and we know that the Holy Spirit has fruit also, as Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

10. While Pentecost is the Day of the First Fruits, there is an earlier Festival of First Fruits which takes place at the time of Passover (Leviticus 23:4-11). That was the day when Yeshua (Jesus) rose, for He was the first fruits from the dead, as 1 Corinthians 15:20 tells us, “But Messiah has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” From this earlier Festival of First Fruits, we begin counting the days to Pentecost, which is the second Day of First Fruits (Leviticus 23:15-16).