tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86748664104320046152024-03-18T18:15:07.987-05:00My Scripture StudiesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-61445494078661808962020-12-06T12:09:00.438-06:002024-03-03T10:06:32.947-06:00Red Letter Words - Are They New?<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mvjOh7o_ysU/X80K8ihLqtI/AAAAAAAACuE/3dxuoEBIukQgk1fWxfPUPEhOiil2kU0qgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1545/Bloch-SermonOnTheMount.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Sermon on the Mount by Carl Bloch (1877)" border="0" data-original-height="1545" data-original-width="1377" height="184" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mvjOh7o_ysU/X80K8ihLqtI/AAAAAAAACuE/3dxuoEBIukQgk1fWxfPUPEhOiil2kU0qgCLcBGAsYHQ/w164-h184/Bloch-SermonOnTheMount.jpg" title="Sermon on the Mount by Carl Bloch (1877)" width="164" /></a></div><br />If we take a step back, look and listen carefully to the four accounts now called the gospels and Luke's second report known as the book of Acts, we'll find that those manuscripts only mention about 50 days of Jesus' life.<p></p><p>They include brief snippets of information with the exception of just a few. One of those exceptional days is a big crowd teaching on a mountainside. </p><p>It's filled with wisdom and is recorded in Matthew 5-7 and much of it is echoed in Luke's account of the mountain message. </p><p>The goal of this commentary is not to pretend to be a Bible "answer man" but to see Jesus in light of the ancient Hebrew mindset and worldview of those on the hillside with a proper historical setting of the place and the people.</p><p>The words written and spoken over the past 1,900 years about what Jesus had to say are impossible to count. According to John, many deeds of Jesus aka Yeshua were never recorded by the young Jewish men that learned from their Master Rabbi: </p><p></p><blockquote>"Jesus <u>did many other things</u> as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." John 21:25</blockquote><p></p><p>The Sermon on the Mount is the exception. </p><p>It's likely the first public teaching outside the synagogue and many people believe that sermon lays out the basics of a new religion, but does it? </p><p>I writing about that because many who have read it were like me and <u>don't recognize the foundation</u> of Yeshua's historic teaching despite all the words written about it. </p><p>The story and the backstory about the historic problem is that the heart of that sermon is hidden if we think that the Bible has a dividing line with a publisher's blank page that divides with the labels Old and New Testament.</p><p>Before we dig in, let's fast forward for a moment to Matthew 11:28-30: </p><p></p><blockquote>"<span style="color: #cc0000;">Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and <u>I will give you rest</u>.</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for <u>I am gentle and lowly in heart</u>, and <u>you will find rest</u> for your souls.</span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.</u></span>"</blockquote><p></p><p>That yoke isn't new, but some think that Jesus' light burden is a teaching that keeping the Torah teaching and instruction of God is abolished. Some say God's voice on the Mountain at Sinai is old and amounts to a “heavy burden” of legalism. </p><p>I once did, thinking that the Torah voice of God written by Moses was wiped away at the cross and replaced by grace. </p><p>Yet, if you keep reading you may see that the written Torah documenting what He has said is the foundation stone of Yeshua's teaching, and if you stay with me, you will see that in the sermon. </p><p>Yeshua was not teaching about erasing or rewriting Torah. He was actually repeating a Moses' message about it. </p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yeshua's message was and is... "<u>you can do it.</u>" </span></p><p>Did you know Moses was the first to say "you can do it" in his last sermon? </p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>That sermon explains a <span>mitzvah principle of the Torah that </span></span></span>Micah zeroes in on: </p><p></p><blockquote>He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8</blockquote><p></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Moses' "you can do it" perspective matches the definition of "gelimut ḥasidim" from the Encyclopedia Judaica which says: </span></div><p>"Gelimut ḥasidim" is literally translated as "<b>the bestowal of lovingkindness.</b>" It's "the most comprehensive and fundamental of all Jewish social virtues, which encompasses the whole range of the duties of sympathetic consideration toward one's fellow man." </p><p>Now flashback 3,500 years to the land of Moab just outside Israel. </p><p>The area is redrawn on modern maps and it's now called Jordan. There on the plain before everyone crossed over the Jordan River with the Ark of The Covenant, you'll find Moses preaching his last you can do it sermon. </p><p>That Moab sermon was the first revival if you will and Yeshua repeated several major themes from it in the <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter</span> words of the sermon on the mount. </p><p>Moses' preaching was a repeat too, from the terms of the covenant The LORD gave to everyone at Horeb (Mount Sinai) whether they were native born or sojourner present to hear him then or in the future. </p><p>Check it out, turn to Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and you'll find Moses declares:</p><p></p><blockquote>"For this commandment [mitzvah] that I command you today <u><b>is not too hard for you</b>,</u> neither is it far off. </blockquote><blockquote>It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, <u><b>that we may hear it and do it</b></u>?' </blockquote><blockquote>Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, <u><b>that we may hear it and do it</b></u>?' </blockquote><blockquote>But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that <u><b>you can do it</b></u>."</blockquote><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Now, let's fast forward back to Yeshua's sermon. </p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">It's in a mountain location and that gives us a big hint. Any Bible message given on a mountain is important including this one from Moses' psalm:</p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"></p><blockquote><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. </p></blockquote><blockquote><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Before the mountains were born</p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,</p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Psalm 90:1-2</p></blockquote><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Mountains point us back to the book of Genesis where we first learn they are a big deal in the Bible. It starts with the Torah's account about <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noah and his family and humanity's salvation from death and destruction. Noah was the last man standing that loved The LORD and because of that love, Noah followed The Father's instruction. </span></span></span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the flood waters subsided</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Noah climbed down out of the massive wooden ark and set foot on a mountain still known as Ararat. The story is </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">a disaster with triumph that's still evidenced by </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">fossils at mountaintops across the planet and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">a rainbow above.</span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Years later, Noah's great </span></span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">grandson</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Abraham heard Almighty God's voice. Where was he? On a mountain called Moriah, and the voice tested Abraham's faith and saved his son Isaac. </span></span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, fast forward to Moses. He first saw Almighty God's shechinah glory presence in a burning bush at the mountain of Horeb where he listened to God's voice. Later, along with everyone that walked out of Egypt, both sojourner and native born heard Almighty God declare the Ten Commandment covenant on that very mountain. </span></span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">To top it off, Moses' last climb with Almighty God ended on a mountain, </span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Mount</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nebo. </span></span></span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">About 70 years after Moses died, king David was born in Bethlehem. A few years later, David purchased the same mountain where in uncompromising faith, Abraham brought up his son Isaac as the <u>ultimate price</u> of obedience to God's voice. </span></span></span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today, that mountain is still known as </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mount Moriah and it's </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">the Temple Mount in the center of Jerusalem. </span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was there that David told Araunah the Jubusite: “No, <b>I insist on paying you for it</b>. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings <u><b>that cost me nothing</b></u>. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid <b>fifty shekels of silver </b>for them."</span></span></span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time passed and some 200 years later Elijah the prophet heard God's whisper at Mount Horeb and when he arrived at Mount Carmel, </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elijah called on Almighty God </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">in a face off with the fake priests of Baal because they worshipped a fake god. </span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enough said, the mountain pattern is clear and present throughout the Bible. </span></p><p>The Sermon on the Mount was delivered after Yeshua left His childhood home of Nazareth and moved up to to Capernaum in the Galilee's heritage territory that included land grants for the nations of Zebulun and Naphtali. </p><p><b>It was the same area</b> where the Assyrians had arrived 700 years earlier. </p><p>The Assyrians weren't on a vacation tour. They came to take out the ten northern tribes of Israel. They took most of them like slaves into captivity and ripped them away from the land they had polluted with idols thanks to a man by the name of Jeroboam. The reason was God's exile from the Promised Land that Moses had warned everyone about. Without repentance, judgement followed the double golden calf sins that led them all astray, divided the Kingdom and Assyria moved in and scattered them. </p><p>With great compassion, Almighty God sent prophets over a 100 year period of decline into chaos to warn the ten northern tribes of Israel preaching one thing: <b>repentance! </b></p><p>Those prophets include Elijah, Elisha, Amos and Hosea. </p><p>Yet few listened.<b> </b></p><p>The vast majority of people in northern Israel rejected their messages. </p><p>The problem started with Jeroboam. He set up a new religion incorporating ancient pagan practices. Not only that, Jeroboam replaced God's ordained appointment days with his own brand of new religious holidays.</p><p>Believe it or not, they worshipped not one but two golden calf idols. Jeroboam had cult shrines built at the cities of Dan and Bethel. During his short exodus to Egypt he learned Egypt's old ways of idolatry and created his own form of replacement theology as man's ways superseded God's ways.</p><p>Now that you know that, is it any wonder that the book of Matthew makes note of the blindness, sickness and crippling disease among the crowds in the north around Galilee and in Syria? </p><p>After all, Moses had warned of that as well as judgement from a fierce nation (aka Assyria) in his Moab sermon years earlier. You can read the warnings in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 as Moses summed up Leviticus 26:14-46. </p><p>And take note... at Moab, <b>Moses began his last sermon with blessings.</b></p><p>In the same way, <b>Jesus (Yeshua) began his first sermon with blessings. </b>He picked up where Moses left off. </p><p>Before we dig into the <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter </span>foundation stones of Yeshua's first sermon given on that mountain in the Galilee of the nations, let's take a detour with a step toward Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to further set the stage. </p><p>The teaching on that Jerusalem mountain is noted in Matthew 22. </p><p>This time, the Master's teaching returned to a very special mountain known as Mount Moriah. The lessons started with a series of short story parables shared with the chief priests as well as a few elders of the Pharisees of the middle and lower class of the society of the day. Just like the Sermon on the Mount, it included Yeshua's laser focus on the restoration of The Kingdom of God. </p><p>The parables continued until the Sadducees arrived. They were the upper class and they didn't show up to join in on the discussion, the Sadducees came to stir up the old arguments they had with the Pharisees' belief in resurrection. </p><p>Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees not only control the Temple priesthood they denied Almighty God's life giving power and glory could be revealed in resurrection to eternal life at the end of days.</p><p>The Sadducees rejected born again redemption because they dismissed the restoration of The Kingdom as the good news gospel of God for the planet.</p><p>It seems the Sadducees had a religion that didn't believe the order of God's words to Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 32:39:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>See now that I, I am He,</p><p>And there is no god besides Me;</p><p>It is I who put to death and give life.</p></blockquote><p></p><p> They ignored Job's belief:</p><p></p><blockquote>For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that <b>he shall stand at the fatter day upon the earth</b>; And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, Whom I shall see for myself, <b>and mine eyes shall behold,</b> and not another; though my heart be consumed within me. Job 19:25-27</blockquote><p></p><p>They didn't believe Samuel:</p><p></p><blockquote>The LORD kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. 1Samuel 2:6</blockquote><p></p><p>They didn't believe in salvation promised to Isaiah:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Isaiah 25:8-9</p><p>Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. Isaiah 26:19</p></blockquote><p></p><p>They thought Ezekiel's dry bones only amounted to a metaphor:</p><p></p><blockquote>The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 37:1-6</blockquote><p></p><p>They ignored Daniel too. After all, he proclaimed the good news of being born again... there will be life after death:</p><p></p><blockquote>At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. </blockquote><blockquote>There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people--everyone whose name is found written in the book will be delivered. </blockquote><blockquote><b>Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake:</b> some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. </blockquote><blockquote>Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. Daniel 12:1-3 NIV</blockquote><p></p><p>They didn't believe God's plan that the first and last enemy will be tossed out of the garden of life is death. The death we bring on ourselves.</p><p>Their twisted view of the Bible held a religiously blind conviction that you are born and then you die. </p><p>The Sadducees didn't understand the Torah's big picture.</p><p>They forgot The LORD's unfailing love and forgiveness. They reduced it to a religion of rejection, a mistaken belief that took away from the Torah's purpose and redemption by God's Spirit and lovingkindness declared at the mountain top to Moses after the first golden calf sin. </p><p>The Sadducees believed a lie... there's one life, live it and leave it. They took away from the gospel of God, no Kingdom of Heaven to come on earth, no life after death, no restitution of all things or in Hebrew, no עוֹלָם הַבָּא HaOlam HaBa "the world to come." </p><p>They forgot about the promise Abraham gave Issac, The LORD will provide... They forgot about the Tree of Life.</p><p>Before we go back to the sermon let's take a side step to some parables. </p><p>In Matthew 13:13 Yeshua explained why He spoke in parables to religious people with hearts trapped in traditions that don't Shema (hear and do) or understand the "sod" or mystery of the gospel of God promises seemingly hidden in the innermost meaning of the written Torah of God:</p><p></p><blockquote>"This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."</blockquote><p></p><p>The Sadducees had taken away and destroyed the gospel of God, the forever life in the Kingdom promise to come that was revealed to Abraham and Isaac and to David by Nathan the prophet (<i>more on that later)</i>.</p><p>Bottomline, back then there were many religious opinions and arguments with Yeshua just as there are today. Yeshua disagreed with man-made religion that added to or took away from God's word. </p><p>The Pharisees believed in resurrection, yet the added to the written Torah with their own religious rules. Not only that, the Pharisees weren't always in agreement with each other on those add-ins. They built extra “hedges” up around their own interpretations of the Torah thinking they could protect it.</p><p>Disagreement and a sense of legalistic superiority... it's really much the same today. If you ask me that's one key reason that explains why there are so many thousands of church denominations governed by differing membership confirmations, sacraments, rites, rituals and creeds. </p><p>Today, many of those denominations are being hit with waves of dispute and departure that's being driven by far left disagreement over God's voice because they think its old. </p><p>The most contentious debate today is that some denominations want to adopt the city code of Sodom. </p><p>It's as if no one is in agreement. The main issue is the first deception... did God really say? </p><p>So it's time to ask, what did God say? </p><p>Many are and they are also asking if there is more to their faith?</p><p>Ever since Eden, people have wanted to add, take away or put their own twist on The LORD's word of authority in one religious way or another. That delusion is like the pipe dream that started in the garden from the life shattering deception... "<a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/niv/gen/3/1/p1/s_3001" target="_blank"><b>did God really say...</b></a>" </p><p>The good news is the dark seed of doubt planted in Eve's psyche can actually point us to the truth. </p><p>Believers hear and in faith get to do what Almighty God says. It a way of living life that brings us into relationship with our Heavenly Father after covenant redemption so that we can be a friend of God act like one in His image and understand how He loves all of us despite our flaws.</p><p>Jesus said... "follow me" for good reason. The truth is we can't separate Yeshua from The Father's word because He lived it out without a hitch. That was the message preached by the talmidim disciples and it's why the disciple we call John wrote this:</p><p></p><blockquote>The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NIV </blockquote><p></p><p>It's also why Jesus said:</p><p></p><blockquote>If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. John 5:46 NIV</blockquote><p></p><p>Jesus - Yeshua declared the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (see Mark 1:14-15). It is a dynamic call to life, not a one time confession in return for a trip to heaven vs. hell before we die. The Kingdom Gospel is calling us toward repentance and walking toward God's image in our lives as He made us to do. </p><p>Ezekiel was given the call by Almighty God. The call is repent and be saved:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>"When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. </p></blockquote><blockquote><p>Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. </p><p>But the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right? </p><p>Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct," declares the LORD God. </p><p>"Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. </p><p>"Therefore, repent and live." Ezekiel 18:26-32 NASB95</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Repent and live is the backstory of the gospel writings and the sermon on the mount.</p><p>Back in Jesus' day, the meeting at the Temple Mount looked a bit like Judaism and Christianity do today. We are divided in debate about Moses and Yeshua. We trip over many things including Exodus 12:49, Number 15:16, Leviticus 7:7, Deuteronomy 18:15-19, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 and Proverbs 30:4-6. </p><p>Did you know the background of the disagreements between the Pharisees and the Sadducees were connected to the schools of Hillel and Shammai in Jerusalem? At the time, each "school of thought" argued and debated over interpretations of the Bible and manmade religious regulation and conflicting oral law traditions. </p><p>Yeshua's parables on the Temple Mount dealt with their main arguments. He cleared the mountain air if you will as the coaching continued...</p><p>Then, a crowd started to arrive with some of the disciples from the Galilee. </p><p>The admonitions Yeshua gave that day with parables synced to Moses' words against <b>adding to or taking from</b> the heart of the Torah and the Prophets. </p><p>Deuteronomy 12:32 is the mile marker where God's scribe Moses warns of the big problem with... <b>did God really say</b>?</p><p></p><blockquote>See that you do all I command you; <b>do not add to it or take away</b> from it. Deuteronomy 12:32 NIV</blockquote><p></p><p>Yeshua was teaching the same message earlier at the Sermon on the Mount. The Torah is the expression of God’s will for our lives, not just a rulebook.</p><p>At the Temple Mount, He called out some religious rules, a modus operandi if you will, riddled with adds and deletes vs. what is written when it opposes God's loving goal for mankind in a Kingdom relationship walk with Him in faith just as Abraham chose to do. </p><p>The disfunction of adds and deletes morphed into the opposite of "you can do it." That's why Yeshua called manmade religious rules: "<a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/mat/23/1/s_952001" target="_blank"><b>heavy burdens... hard to bear</b>.</a>" </p><p>The essence of the Sermon on the Mount is you can do it and <u>halakha must rely on Scripture</u>, aka God's voice not man's addition or omission of jots and tittles. </p><p>We have to realize Almighty God descends to mankind and we can't do a thing to ascend to Him. </p><p>God's word is not religion. God's voice is real, it spoke creation into existence. God said it and it happened.</p><p>Is the universe a religion, or is it fact? Yet, we understand so little about it, but this we can know:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handywork. Psalm 19:1 </p><p>The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. Psalm 97:6</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Back at the Temple Mount, Yeshua was warning that many believe in God until it gets Biblical and because of that some burdens of manmade takkanot had arisen from some elders that can impede the heart's door to the Kingdom of God. </p><p>Yeshua knew some of the Pharisees had laid heavy burdens on people with religious regulation and opinion and in doing so, they unwittingly uprooted the <b>you can do it</b> Torah with membership rules not based on God's Spirit of grace, lovingkindness and mercy. </p><p>Yeshua was teaching that if religious rule superseded God's voice and character of grace... it was missing the mark and the spirit of the teaching and instruction in God's voice. Yeshua's Kingdom of God lesson leaned in on God's love that the prophet Hosea wrote about: </p><p></p><blockquote>"<b>For I desire covenantal mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of Elohim God rather than burnt offerings.</b>" Hosea 6:6 </blockquote><p></p><p>The reason Almighty God said that to Hosea is a Bible basic: <b>we have to sin against God's voice for a sin sacrifice to be needed. </b>Almighty God created us to live like Him in His image, that's why our Creator hates hates sin, it brings death to our door, not life.</p><p>Yet, Jesus never said "all" rabbinic decisions (takkanot) or traditions were a problem. Rather, He was pointing out that religious authority that seeks to supersede God's voice with man's opinion is the problem. </p><p>The reason: if religious membership rules neglect the weightier matters of God's Torah teaching about justice, mercies and faithfulness, then the heavy burdens of takkanot can cause us to stumble in a "get to" Torah walk of gratitude from the spirit of God's grace and forgiveness. </p><p>The big midrash moment at the Temple Mount is found in Matthew 23 with Yeshua's clarity and focus on the Torah's expression of God's character, His gifts of forgiveness and the mercies of eternal life to all who repent and return to The Father.</p><p>Now, let's go back to that mountain in the Galilee where many <b>beautiful words</b> were given to the crowd.</p><p>Grab a map, the location is in the land grant assignment for Jacob's sons Zebulun and Naphtali, and <u>it's important because some of us have missed the heart behind that message</u>. Nazareth was Yeshua's home town for most of His life and it's located in the heart of Zebulun's land grant. </p><p>There we find two disciple students we know as James and John, they are the sons of Zebedee from Zebulun. </p><p>The location requires we side step back to the time Jacob gave a blessing to his son Naphtali in Genesis 49:21 and said: “Naphtali is a deer let loose; <b>He uses beautiful words</b>.”</p><p>The “beautiful words” prophecy from Jacob points to the <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter blessings of the sermon </span>spoken there near the Sea of Galilee about the good way journey though a blessed life. They present a beautiful picture of what someone who is living in Kingdom feels, acts and looks like.</p><p>Moses repeated the blessing concerning Naphtali, he said:</p><p></p><blockquote>“Naphtali is abounding with favor, full of the blessing of the LORD; he shall take possession of the sea and the south.” Deuteronomy 33:23</blockquote><p></p><p>Concerning Zebulun he said:</p><p></p><blockquote>“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your journeys..." Deuteronomy 33:18</blockquote><p></p><p>You may have not noticed it, but to reset the scene of the Sermon on the Mount location, <u>we need to remember</u> that it was in <b><u>the same area</u> </b>that the ten northern tribes turned their backs on God's voice. </p><p>It's the place many chose to follow a false teacher and fake religion concocted by a man known as <u>Jeroboam from the house of Ephraim.</u> He was a bad shepherd that created a new religion and he led lost sheep and those with them astray. </p><p>Jeroboam is the man behind the reason that the ten Israelite tribes became known in the Bible as a group called "Ephraim" or at times "Joseph" after they turned their backs on Jerusalem, the Torah and rejected brother Judah.</p><p><b>Jeroboam of the tribe of Ephraim was perhaps the first anti-semite with his own new brand of replacement theology.</b></p><p>The adoption of a new religion infused with pagan idolatry was in in violation of the Ten Commandments. The people living in and around the Galilee were led astray by the original deception... "<b>did God say"</b> as Jeroboam substituted God's ways with his replacement theology for Israel. </p><p>If you ask me, that's one reason why Isaiah called the area "the land in the shadow of death."</p><p>How did Jeroboam get to be in charge? </p><p>Despite his blessing, Solomon was not always wise, he made a big mistake. He'd noticed that Jeroboam was industrious, a hard worker, so he put him in charge over the "forced labor" of the house aka family of descendants of Joseph. </p><p><b>Yup, you read that right </b>- forced labor aka slavery, just like Egypt and just like the days after Joshua when Israel forgot The LORD's instruction and put the Canaanites into forced labor.</p><p></p><blockquote>When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely. And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor. Judges 1:28-30 </blockquote><p></p><p>Jeroboam was the son of Nebat, a member of the tribe of Ephraim of Zereda. He was a taskmaster like the old Pharaoh that did not know Joseph. Jeroboam did not mislead a bunch of rag tag drifters, instead he led the descendants of Joseph and his brothers living in the land portion of Manasseh in northern Israel around the Sea of Galilee into deception. Believe it or not, the great Sinai sin of golden calf idol-gods repeated just as The LORD told Moses it would happen, so the northern tribes called Israel were eventually swept away by the Assyrians:</p><p></p><blockquote>And the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. </blockquote><blockquote>Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, 'Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?' And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. </blockquote><blockquote>"Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. </blockquote><blockquote>And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give." Deuteronomy 31:16-21</blockquote><p></p><p>It was a rerun like the exodus out of Egypt, but instead of Jeroboam's decadent religion of idolatry and harlotry, in Egypt there was a Pharaoh that worshipped the Egyptian nature idols destroyed by the plagues. Pharaoh ignored Moses and certainly didn't know The LORD. Neither did Jeroboam or his successors that continued to lead Israel astray.</p><p><b>What on earth was Solomon thinking?</b></p><p>Just like the bad Pharaoh that worshipped the false gods of Egypt and thought of himself as a god, Jeroboam must have thought of himself in much the same way, inventing his own brand of replacement theology based on a new religion theory that the Torah of God and the covenant <b>was old and done away with.</b> </p><p>Does it sounds like a re-run? Jeroboam led Joseph aka Ephraim astray in misguided new religion.</p><p>Jeroboam started by building two pagan-inspired <b>double sin shrines</b> one in the north and one in the south. He placed golden idol-calves in them in a flash back to the golden calf scene at the Mount Sinai.</p><p>The blessing of Sinai after the miraculous exodus from Egypt when God showed His right hand and hatred for the fake-gods and idolatry of Egypt because a golden calf nightmare. </p><p>Jeroboam even established his own version of a replacement month for a holiday in the Galilee on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, which is actually the full moon day of the month known as Cheshvan precisely a month after Sukkot-Tabernacles begins in God's appointed seventh month of Tishre. </p><p>Cheshvan falls around late October or early November each year. In 1938, it just so happens to be the day Hitler's Nazi evil kick-started their vicious Gestapo atrocities against the precious defenseless Jews of Germany.</p><p>Thanks to Hitler, Jeroboam's so-called holiday date was known in 1938 as the Night of Broken Glass aka <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Kristallnacht" target="_blank">Kristallnacht</a>.</p><p>The ten northern tribes followed Jeroboam along were willing lost sheep led astray by a misguided shepherd that turned his back against the Bible and Jerusalem. He divided the Promised Land with his own version of a two state solution and it was a disaster. </p><p>You can read the headline story in 1 Kings 12:25–33.</p><p>When you look at the facts on the ground around the Galilee, you might see that the ten northern tribes assumed Almighty God's holy days and the Feasts The LORD <u>were just for Jewish people</u>.</p><p>They were wrong.</p><p>The families of Ephraim-Joseph forgot the Bible says they are The LORD's days. </p><p>Under Jeroboam they forgot that those days are f<u>or everyone who seeks to walk in God's image.</u> The new holidays were Torah-less counterfeits rooted in a overlay of pagan customs and secular practice. </p><p><b>Stop here for a minute. </b></p><p>Does any of this ring a bell or two for you? </p><p>If not, you should read about some 4th century church teachings on "replacement theology" from men like Melito of Sardis that relabeled the Bible Jesus read and taught every Sabbath as "Old." </p><p>While you're at it check the background story on Easter.</p><p>The descendants known as Ephraim-Joseph shape shifted into an anti-repentant idolatrous group that forgot the Feasts of The LORD and the High Holy Sabbath Days thinking of them as old and done away.</p><p>Despite the fact they were declared by Almighty God as His own appointments that had been honored by Jews in and around Jerusalem for centuries they turned their backs. </p><p>They believed a lie because they forgot the lesson of the first deception: <b>did God really say?</b></p><p>You can read about that in 1 Kings 12:25-33. The Biblical record tells us how Jeroboam turned everyone with itching ears that would listen against David's royal family of Judah, the priesthood of The LORD as well as The LORD's appointed days while he set up a new religion in Samaria around the Galilee.</p><p>Jeroboam should send a shutter down your spine if you know a thing or two about the history of church replacement theology. If not, its time do your own research.</p><p>Fast forward past Jeroboam a thousand years...</p><p>The good news declared in the land of of Zebulun and land of Naphtali was and remains <b>repent for the Kingdom has come near:</b></p><p></p><blockquote>"Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- <b>the people living in darkness have seen a great light</b>; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." </blockquote><blockquote><b>From that time on Jesus began to preach</b>, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." Matthew 4:15-17 NIV</blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Yeshua was at the crime scene to set matters straight.</span></b></p><p>The <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter foundational truths</span> given on that Galilee mountain are in plain sight if we just look. We can see them if we take off our Greco-Roman sunshades with an open heart to the bright light messages of the Bible that Yeshua taught from the Torah and the Prophets that day. </p><p>The epicenter of the sermon is repentance. It's about teshuvah based on this fact Yeshua declared to anyone that will hear and do them: </p><p></p><blockquote>“<span style="color: #cc0000;">Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law [Torah] or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.</span>" Matthew 5:17</blockquote><p></p><p>Being unfamiliar with the foundation fact of Yeshua's teaching from the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) can set us on the wrong path where we can trip and fall into Jeroboam's and Constantine's deceptions... did God really say? </p><p>Instead, we need to repent and return. We need to see Yeshua zeroed in on the heart of our Creator God's voice. His big sermon message that is ignored by many remains true, none of The Father's words are done away with. </p><p>Thank God, heaven and earth are the witness:</p><p></p><blockquote>"<span style="color: #cc0000;">For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law [Torah] until all is accomplished</span>." Matthew 5:18</blockquote><p></p><p>The Torah is eternal, it's no an Old Testament. This heaven and earth reference proves it and connects to Deuteronomy 10:18-21.</p><p>The <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter reality</span> is that the Master Rabbi's sermon is rooted in an unwavering commitment to the written words of righteousness:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="color: #cc0000;">Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.</span> Matthew 5:19</blockquote><p></p><p>Yeshua came to fill up the commands with meaning for those that follow Him and asks, do you want to be called great in the kingdom? </p><p>If so, do not turn away from the voice of our Elohim God, recorded by Moses and the Prophets. Instead do what Jesus would do, be great in the Kingdom, fulfill them, do them correctly as intended, don't just think about them, don't shift the meaning. Let's get real, to fulfill doesn't mean to finish them off. </p><p>You can find other sermon's foundation facts about that in Isaiah 55 as well in Psalm 37. Not only there but throughout the same Bible, the Tanach aka the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings that Yeshua read and taught in synagogues as was His custom every single Sabbath (see Luke 4:16). </p><p>If you are brave enough to climb the mountain with Yeshua to listen and learn from His voice, the hidden treasure in the prophetic sermon is that <b>Yeshua never said a thing</b> about starting a new religion or knocking the Torah off the bema!</p><p>We can know that -- because <u>He said so in the Sermon on the Mount</u>.</p><p>To get a handle on that, we have to reset and set aside some old church traditions. We need to repent, retune and open our eyes with our hearts in faith to realize what this means: "<span style="color: #cc0000;">Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.</span>"</p><p>Yeshua goes on to expound on teachings about the heart of the Ten Commandments. For example, take a look at this:</p><p></p><blockquote>“<span style="color: #cc0000;">You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.</span>" Matthew 5:27-28</blockquote><p></p><p>Some say this is a new teaching that delivers a new rule about the do not commandment, but the truth is Yeshua is explaining that a common traditional teaching of the day was not based on the Torah because some taught that the covenant commandment of Exodus 20:17 only prohibited physical adultery. </p><p>If Yeshua's sermon was preached today no doubt it would include an explicit warning that pornography is a morphed form of adultery.</p><p>Yeshua's explained there's nothing new, after all the commandment against adultery instructs all of us against lust, aka what's in the heart and mind. We can know that because of the original Hebrew word תחמד "tachmod" in the commandment which means to desire, covet and to lust. </p><p>The commandment is no "tachmod." That's the command of The LORD whether it's your neighbor's wife or another's property.</p><p style="text-align: center;">לא <span style="color: #cc0000;">תחמד</span> בית רעך לא־<span style="color: #cc0000;">תחמד</span> אשת רעך</p><p>Yeshua is teaching adultery is not just what you do, never has been. The Torah is a matter of the heart <u><b>just as it is written,</b></u>" "no tachmod."</p><p></p><p>If you pause to hear the sermon for what it actually says, you'll realize it's true, not a jot or tittle of the Torah or the Prophets was ever done away by Yeshua's teachings. Yeshua (Jesus) said that in His first sermon because of the two unchanging witnesses of God's Torah. They are heaven and earth declared by God's voice in Genesis 1:1–2:3 , and thank God both remain! </p><p>When Yeshua spoke about the heaven and earth witness at the Sermon on the Mount that wasn't new either. He was repeating what Moses had written. You can find the foundation in Deuteronomy 4:24-26 and Deuteronomy 30:19-20. </p><p>The big thing Yeshua taught on that mountain is that a Torah walk includes not just what we hear but what we do about it based on our inward motives aka a renewed covenant circumcision of the mind and heart promised in Jeremiah 31:31-37. That is the heart and soul of teshuvah which means returning in repentance. It's what you do after your remorse and the God gift of forgiveness.</p><p>The heart and soul has been a Torah baseline since the beginning, yet many like me have missed the mark in plain sight in the foundation of <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter words</span> of that sermon. The problem then and now is that the heart of the Torah expressed in covenant keeping reality is ignored or misunderstood. Because of that, people get get confused and worse yet, deceived and led astray about what... <b>did God really say</b>? </p><p>If you ask me, that's why Yeshua chose to explain the heart of Torah on that mountain. </p><p>After all, people are afraid to listen to Almighty God voice. Because of that, God made a promise about the prophet to come and Moses wrote it all down. </p><p>Whether you believe it or not, Yeshua was like Moses in many ways. He taught and explained Torah on the side of a mountain as the prophet like Moses. Yeshua is the promised intercessor explaining God's words that people asked for when they had feared for their lives:</p><blockquote class="tr_bq">"All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw [it,] they trembled and stood at a distance. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die." <br /><br />“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">This is according to <u>all that you asked</u> of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ The LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well.<br /><br />I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and <u>I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him</u>. </blockquote><p></p><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">It shall come about that whoever <u>will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name</u>, I Myself will require it of him. Deuteronomy 18:15-19 NASB </blockquote><div>Yeshua taught people how the written Torah of God should cut like a sword into our bad attitudes of the heart, not just our actions. When God's voice cuts the heart, we realize we "get to" walk in forgiveness in the image of God like a member of the Royal Priesthood should walk in keeping with the written goal of Exodus 19:5-6.</div><p>If we are to set the record straight on the church theory of a New Testament religion, we need to know Jesus the Jew wasn't Roman Catholic, Anglican or a Protestant and He wasn't a Baptist or Methodist either. </p><p><b>The Master Rabbi of Nazareth held yeshiva time on that mountain and <u>never </u>taught a word about replacement theology or a new religion.</b> </p><p>The students and people He met along the way <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=rabbi&t=ESV#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank"><b>called Him Rabbi</b></a>. He was Torah observant. He honored all the Sabbaths and even wore tzitzis as prescribed in Numbers 15 and Deuteronomy 22. If you doubt that, you need to understand the backstory behind the bleeding woman that was healed by faith as she touched the hem [tzitzis] of the garment [tallit]. </p><p>You can find that account in Matthew 9. </p><p>Yeshua instructed the yeshiva talmidim (disciples) to follow the teaching and instruction found in Leviticus 23:15-17. The proof of that Torah portion is embedded in the words of Acts 1-2. Yeshua also celebrated wonderful Jewish traditions including the Sukkot water pouring ceremony in John 7 where He filled it up with meaning. He also showed up for Hanukkah at the Temple Mount, that fact is found in John 10. </p><p>The reason, all traditions aren't bad. You may have never considered it, but Yeshua followed the traditional Jewish Passover blessings over bread and wine and it wasn't the last supper or the institution of a Maundy Thursday Eucharist. </p><p>Check out the original bread and wine account in Genesis. It's a big part of the Passover backstory when Abraham met up with Melchizedek the "king of righteousness." Today, we still have the longstanding Jewish tradition of both the bread HaMotzi blessing and the Kiddish wine blessing. The blessings are a thankful blessing to Almighty God for His provisions, not a blessing of the bread or the wine He provides. </p><p>The blessings go like this including the phonetic Hebrew transliteration:</p><p></p><blockquote><b>Baruch atah Adonai eloheinu melech ha-alom ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz.</b><p>Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. </p><b>Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech ha’olam, borei p’ri hagafen.</b><p>Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine. </p></blockquote><p></p><p>Over time, the Melchizedek moment with Abraham worked its way into the ancient Jewish prayers for not only the weekly Sabbath blessings but the Passover seder. Those ancient blessings are no doubt the bread and wine blessings that Yeshua repeated with the disciples as He explained their ultimate Passover meaning to everyone reclining around that seder table in Jerusalem. </p><p>By the way, the one who says the blessing over the bread is referred to as the one who "breaks bread" so check this out:</p><p></p><blockquote>Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and <b>after a blessing, He broke it</b> and gave it to the disciples... And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “<span style="color: #cc0000;">Drink from it, all of you...</span> Matthew 26:26-27</blockquote><p></p><p>Yet, since the days of Constantine, some have relabeled that bread and wine blessing as a last supper communion. It seems thanks to the Emperor and a few others we quickly forgot all about the origin of the seder and its prayer blessings. </p><p>Yeshua's famous Passover seder wasn't the first, it wasn't new <u>and it wasn't the last</u>.</p><p>How do we know it's not the last supper?<b> Jesus said so...</b></p><p>During that Passover seder gathering in the upper room, Yeshua told His disciples he'd come back and do it again, but that they should continue on with the seder and remember Him at every Passover.</p><p>The first supper was with Abraham and Melchizedek, but don't forget Mount Sinai. You can read about that supper in Exodus 24:1-18. Bottom-line, Yeshua never stopped living out His faith, He never turned against the Word of God in tradition. He never taught others to turn away just as Matthew 4:4, Matthew 5:18, Matthew 19:17 and Luke 16:17 declare!!</p><p>Hold on to your pew. The <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter words </span>of the Sermon on the Mount have been misunderstood for nearly 2,000 years with many sermons about legalism contrasted with a new view with a gospel focus on a short prayer followed by teachings that the word of God instructions were done away with and hung on a cross with a new religion.</p><p>Yet, the "kingdom of heaven is at hand," is not the gospel as many understand it today, but the announcement of the fulfillment of prophecy.</p><p>In my Scriptures studies, I've learned that the followers called Yeshua <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=rabbi&t=ESV#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">Rabbi</a> for good reason. He taught with authority to the crowds in Galilee that gathered to hear and they were amazed for good reason:</p><p></p><blockquote>"And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority." Luke 4:31-32 NASB </blockquote><p></p><p>What were they thinking, and <b>what authority</b> were they so amazed about?</p><p>Yeshua's authority is tied to the foundation rock of the Torah and The Prophets. What authority do you speak with?</p><p>The words He lived out and taught are infused with the light and authority of Almighty God found in the Hebrew Scriptures (aka the Tanach). It's the written record of God's voice not man's traditions that can add to or take away from God's voice and the big picture of the Bible. </p><p>How do we know? <u><b>Rabbi Yeshua said so</b></u>:</p><p></p><blockquote>“<span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>My teaching is not my own</u>,” Jesus replied. “<u>It comes from Him who sent Me</u>. If anyone desires <u>to do His will</u>, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own.</span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: #cc0000;">He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but <u>He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth;</u> in Him there is no falsehood.</span>" John 7:16-19</blockquote><p></p><p>When the authority of the Torah was rewired with religious opinion or tradition that added to or took away from the Torah and The Prophets, <u>that's when Yeshua voiced criticism</u>. </p><p>At times, an oral tradition of the elders conflicted with the written Torah and that's when Yeshua spoke up. He did that in the first sermon when Yeshua addressed a few traditions that did not align with the heart of Torah like the big one on adultery. </p><p>What else did Jesus say at the Sermon on the Mount?</p><p>He said: "<span style="color: #cc0000;">you have heard, <b>but I say</b> to you…</span>" </p><p>Those words are important and it's helpful that some Bible publisher's point out Yeshua's words with <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letters.</span> They season like salt and shine a bright light, so it's time to uncover more <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter</span> truths, the foundation stones embedded in that sermon. </p><p>Yeshua filled ancient Scripture teachings with light by everything He said and did. That includes fulfilling God’s promise to Isaac described in Genesis 22:8 while focusing on the life giving importance of upholding <b>the truth and spirit</b> of The Father's instruction manual for life in the Kingdom of God. </p><p>Yeshua's sermon was teaching: "<span style="color: #cc0000;">the <b>weightier matters</b> of the law [Torah]: <b>justice and mercy and faithfulness</b>." </span></p><p>That isn't a message for one sermon. </p><p>It's why Yeshua gave anyone, including the Pharisees and the Sadducees that added to or took away from <span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0); color: #cc0000;">justice, mercy and faithfulness </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">with traditions that did not faithfully reflect God's </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0); color: #cc0000;">justice, mercy and faithfulness</span>. </p><p>It's well worth repeating that Yeshua presented challenges about off the path religious traditions that can add to or take away from the "<u>you can do it</u>"<span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0); color: #cc0000;"> </span>teaching found in Moses' final sermon at Moab. </p><p>Don't forget, in the wilderness outside Egypt after the mikveh (baptism) through the sea, those in the crowd, both native born and sojourner had been saved by justice, mercy and faithfulness. Yet, because of their fear of the earth shaking sound of God's voice at Mount Sinai, they did not want to hear what the God of Israel had to say. </p><p><b>Do you want to hear Him? </b></p><p>The multitude in that exodus used an excuse, they were afraid they would die, so Almighty God showed mercy and called on Moses as their intercessor. </p><p>After all, the earth was shaking, the mountain was on fire and breaking apart when The LORD spoke. The mountain and the air around it physically reacted to its Creator's presence and voice. Lightning bolts were flashing, thunder was booming. </p><p>The mountain was on fire, smoke was everywhere and to top it off a mysterious shofar trumpet was blowing. </p><p>If you ask me, when Moses was told: "Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it." it wasn't to keep people away from the mountain because God would zap them. </p><p>It was a merciful love warning because The Almighty knew what would happen when He arrived. The Father of life did not want those He saved to be crushed or electrocuted by a bolt of lightning. It's the same for any father that tells his children in love to stay out of a busy street, the cars zipping by can hit you!</p><p>Everyone but Moses was overwhelmed by fear. </p><p>They were shaking in their sandals, frightened to the bone because they could see, hear and feel the sound of Almighty God's voice and its impact at that mountain was very real. <b>Both native born and sojourner encountered holiness and the shekinah glory cloud on earth at that mountain. </b></p><p>Some Jewish sages even say they could see the sound waves.</p><p>Bottomline, fear, awe and respect are important. That's how it should be when Almighty God speaks.</p><p>We should all listen in fear and awe. Almighty God respected their request at Mount Sinai, so He spoke to Moses as His scribe after our Creator proclaimed His covenant with Ten Commandments. </p><p>If you'll read on, I think you'll find that Yeshua's not so new words will also shake or rattle some traditional "new religion" thinking. </p><p>It's time to wake up - don't be afraid of the truth, but respect it. That requires that we not only circumcise our hearts, but that we look up, listen and do something about it. </p><p>According to the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/jas/2/14-26/p1/s_1148014" target="_blank">disciple James</a> and the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/1jo/5/4/p1/s_1164004" target="_blank">disciple John</a>, we need to understand that faith without action is not true faith. The reason, faith requires response with action. If you disagree, the argument is against the witness of James and John, not me.</p><p>Most everyone I grew up with in one way or another has held fast to a religious tradition that the <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter words</span> are new. For years, I agreed and went along with the crowd like a lost sheep, but then I realized I actually had an argument with the shepherd, Rabbi Yeshua. I realized in the end, those that argue with Yeshua are not only debating with Moses but the voice of Almighty God. </p><p>Why did I re-examine my religious doctrine and theology?</p><p>I realized there had to be more and I could not look in the mirror and see the repentance required to open up the Kingdom of Heaven in my own life. That's been a realization for others too, so I am sharing what I've learned so far. </p><p>If we believe Yeshua's mission was to start a new religion, it's time to do something and re-examine the traditions of some new doctrines that Yeshua never taught. My road to Emmaus journey started about 20 years ago when I had to ask myself a question. Did I have the same problem with Yeshua that some of the Sadducees and Pharisees had, but didn't know it? </p><p>That question was critical because at the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua declared to everyone that He did not come to do away <u>with one jot or tittle of God's righteous voice</u> recorded by Moses or the Prophets. It remains because there's more to be done to redeem the world and it includes the Fall Feasts and I thank God they are not done away with. </p><p>The disciple Peter emphasized the good news gospel message: </p><p></p><blockquote><p>Having purified your souls <u>by your obedience to the truth</u> for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, <u>through <b>the living and abiding</b> word of God</u>; for</p><div style="text-align: left;">All flesh is like grass<br />and all its glory like the flower of grass.<br />The grass withers,<br />and the flower falls,<br /><u>but the word of the Lord remains forever</u>. </div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">And this word is <u>the good news</u> that was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:22-25</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"></div><p>My good news journey started in the beginning of the living and abiding word of God. There I discovered the truth in unchanging faith is front and center in all of Yeshua's <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter</span> teachings. </p><div>The seemingly hidden foundation of the <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> words</span> in the Sermon on the Mount is the voice we must hear in repentance and action. That's the faith action that God The Father asks of all of His children if we seek to return to a proper relationship walking in heaven's Kingdom faith in God's image.</div><div><br /></div><div>Return to the Bible is what teshuva repentance is about, it's about getting back in the game, not starting a new one. </div><div><br /></div><div>That sermon was NOT new. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's an echo from the voice of the Mighty One of Jacob, the Shepherd Stone of Israel, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah that was promised in the blessings that Jacob gave to to his sons. </div><div><br /></div><div>Judah's blessing was great because in the end he chose put his life before Benjamin's to save him. That account unfolds in Genesis 44:18-34. Yeshua, a descendant in the family line of Judah, would do the same not long after the Sermon on the Mount:</div><div><br /></div><div>"<span style="color: #cc0000;">Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends</span>" John 15:13. </div><div><br /></div><div>Judah, a son of Leah offered to trade his life for Rachel's second son. She bore Joseph then died in Benjamin's birth. That broke Jacob's heart. Judah would not allow his father to live through another crushing grief of separation from another child of his beloved wife Rachel, so Judah declared to Joseph that he would trade his life for Benjamin's. That was a royal act of faith.</div><div><br /></div><div>The name Hebrew name Judah (Yehuda) means “praise” and years after Judah's offer of his own life as a ransom, Judah received the first and greatest blessing of all of Jacob's sons. Jacob’s words were directed by the Holy Spirit of God as he declared the plain prophecy of Messiah, the Lion of the royal tribe of Judah:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? </div><div><br /></div><div>The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk." Genesis 49:8-12 </div></blockquote><div></div><div>Yeshua delivered the ruler's staff of life message that day in Galilee. The scepter message was like the others that Yeshua gave to the crowds that followed Him, and believe it or not, Yeshua's words to the multitudes that heard Him that day focused on the ways of the Kingdom of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>His voice was a pure , a choice vine call for humble action that starts with repentance to prepare for the Kingdom of God. </div><p>I pray you keep reading on to see and hear the sermon's foundation, they are not there to just read, you have to make a choice and do something. That's why Yeshua healed people, He always did something when He saw faith in action.</p><p>Everything Yeshua did upholds the intent of the written Word of God, so that's our responsibility too, to hear, do and tell others about the Kingdom gospel.</p><p>During Yeshua's first ministry across the Promised Land, Biblical lessons and examples of everyday parables constantly called everyone to do something. </p><p>The first call He always gave everyone was to repent, aka turn back to God's ways. No matter what road you're on now, as long as you're alive, you too can turn back toward the Kingdom ways of the God of Israel. </p><p>That message is woven in the first sermon and the 50 days that describe the accounts of His action in righteousness during His truth tour across Israel that started in the Galilee. </p><p>One of the greatest challenges Yeshua teaches in the Sermon on the Mount is to be humble, help others, be generous, in other words live out the Torah that Almighty God created us to live so that we might fulfill righteousness.</p><p>Like Moses at the Red Sea, Yeshua entered His ministry of teaching and instruction others with a mikveh. When Yeshua was at the Jordan River, before the immersion of baptism, despite His Levite cousin John's objection, Yeshua told John (Yochanan) the Levite son of Zechariah something very important:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Allow it now, for this is the fitting way <u>for us</u> to fulfill all righteousness."</span></p><p>Those words "<u>for us</u>" connect that mikveh immersion in the Jordan River to the requirement for two witnesses found in God's Word to fulfill righteousness.</p><p>Matthew 5 connects us all to Genesis. </p><p>When we open the Bible, the righteous Word of God begins with the Genesis creation account and there we catch a brief glimpse of life in the Kingdom as our Creator intended, without sin. </p><p>In the beginning, Adam and Eve lived in the image of God without sin. Yet, when we barely unroll the Torah scroll, we see the deceiver arrives on the scene like a snake with evil spewing from his mouth. It was poison, a lie... </p><p>That lie was that God does not mean exactly what He says, that He holds back on the truth. </p><p>That lie remains if we don't believe and follow what God says is righteous truth. If you think the front of the book was done away with and do not hear the words of truth how that it remains, how will you ever do them? You won't, you'll will believe a lie and do your own thing, because you believe words of deception and ignore the voice of your Creator Almighty God Elohim.</p><p>The startling truth is that among the first <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter</span> words ever recorded before that sermon, Yeshua says <u>just the opposite</u> as He quotes Moses directly from Deuteronomy 8:3. Yeshua addressed the deceiver's wilderness lies that started in Eden with Moses' words quoted directly from the Torah:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'"</span></p><p>Next, Yeshua points toward another Tanach account that zeroes in on king Ahaz during Isaiah's day and the Immanuel prophecy given to Ahaz that's found in the Prophets, look at Isaiah 7:10-16: <span style="color: #cc0000;">"Again, it is written, 'You shall not test the Lord, your God.'"</span></p><p>Here's the thing about king Ahaz, he tried to bribe the king of Assyria by giving away the Temple treasures. </p><p>That's what sought haSatan to accomplish, you can see it in Matthew 4:5-6.</p><p>Ahaz even built an altar to honor himself as he replaced the Temple's altar with his own. He even relocated the bronze laver that Solomon had made. Ahaz also removed the Sabbath pavilion which was built in the House of the Lord. Ahaz did all that to suit himself.</p><p>Do you own thing - your way was Ahaz' mantra. Ignore God's voice, worship your way. Sound familiar?</p><p>Yeshua taught nothing new among the red letters. The reason, the words are all firmly rooted in the Hebrew Bible. </p><p>Believe it or not, the deceiver responded with one temptation lie after another! Yeshua's response to three of the tests was the Genesis choice Adam failed to deliver in Eden: <span style="color: #cc0000;">"Get behind me, haSatan! </span></p><p>Then Yeshua went straight to Moses' constant sermon admonition of the first commandment written in Deuteronomy to both native born and sojourner: <span style="color: #cc0000;">For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’</span></p><p>No matter the audience, Yeshua's teaching focuses on that big instruction in Moses' sermon: <span style="color: #cc0000;">"</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0); color: #cc0000;">You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” </span>The gospel accounts repeat Yeshua's Torah guidance in the first step toward that responsibility:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”</span></p><p>Repent is the Hebrew word "shuwb" שׁוּב and it means return, turn around and go back. Repentance is all about re-storing the relationship mankind once had with our Creator in the Garden. This is the call which has stirred in everyone since Eden, a mand to return to the relationship we once enjoyed.</p><p>Almighty God gave that same message to Ezekiel some 600 years before Yeshua pointed everyone He met back to Abba Father's plea through Ezekiel across the mountains, plains and valleys of Israel:</p><p></p><blockquote>"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. </blockquote><blockquote>"Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. </blockquote><blockquote>For why should you die, O house of Israel? "For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!" Ezekiel 18:30-32 </blockquote><p></p><p>We need to see that the Covenants given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob symbolize the trunk of the olive tree restored by Yeshua. The invitation is to join the assembly of those who hear His voice to repent. </p><p>The branches of the olive tree of O house of Israel represent God's children, people united and coming together. Some branches have withered and broken off due to disobedience and wandered off, but it's never too late to be grafted back in through repentance and restored to Yeshua’s promise for the lost sheep of all Israel whether they be native born or sojourners.</p><p></p><blockquote><span style="color: #cc0000;">"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? </span>Matthew 18:12 NIV</blockquote><p>Yeshua taught that opening the door to the Kingdom of righteousness begins with teshuva repentance, aka <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=repent&t=ESV&csr=9#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">repent and return</a> to do the Lord's ways and be blessed in life because repentance is the door key to the Kingdom of God. </p><p>Yeshua is still standing at the Kingdom door, get up and open it. Do you hear the knock? </p><p>Yeshua taught with life examples called <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=parable&t=ESV&csr=9#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">parables</a>, but that was nothing new either. </p><p>In fact, if you'll take the time to study the Lord God's voice recorded in Ezekiel 18, you'll find that chapter is all about Ezekiel writing of Abba Father God's personal refute to a misguided parable.</p><p>When we open the so-called New Testament account of Yeshua's yeshiva time with His disciples, it is critically important to see that the first page starts with nothing new. Matthew begins his account with a flash-back to the books of Chronicles and the family tree that starts with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. </p><p>When we turn the first page in Matthew, we are given the 1 Samuel connection to Bethlehem, the shepherd king David's hometown in the land allotted to Judah, and we see another survival trip to Egypt like Joseph's in Genesis 37. </p><p>Matthew describes Yeshua's escape from Herod's death trap with a trip to Egypt as an infant boy. That event mirrors young Moses who also escaped Pharaoh's death sentence when he ordered all Hebrew infant boys to be drowned in the Nile. No wonder Jeremiah reported that Rachel weeped for her children (Jeremiah 31:15).</p><p>Not only that, if we pay attention, we can't miss the connection to Exodus 24:18 with Moses' ascent at Mount Sinai and the Sermon on The Mount climb described in Matthew 5:1 above the crowds.</p><p>These background stories are critical to the framework foundation of truth of The Sermon on the Mount and if we look, we can also see that Yeshua's keystone sermon lays out the prophetic fulfillment of the words written by Moses that are promised in Deuteronomy 18:15-19:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’</p><p>And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. </p></blockquote><blockquote><p>And it shall be that whoever <u>will not hear</u> My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him."</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Almighty God's own voice tells us whether native born or sojourner, the words to be spoken by "the prophet" will be The Father's words to Jew and Gentile, a mixed multitude. Everyone must hear and do them. </p><p>That's what prophets do, but we must not just hear them, the Hebrew word God uses is יִשְׁמַע shema, it means <u>hear and do</u>.</p><p>This shema fact is critically important to understand when we return to the <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter </span>sermon with repentance in mind and a humble heart to hear and do. The Torah is the reason Yeshua gave the <span style="color: #cc0000;">red letter sermon</span> on the mount in the first place. Again, its why Jesus said this about Deuteronomy 18:15-19: </p><p></p><blockquote>"<span style="color: #990000;">If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me</span>." John 5:46</blockquote><p></p><p>That is Phillip's testimony:</p><blockquote>"Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him <u>of whom Moses in the Torah and also the prophets wrote</u>, Yeshua of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” John 1:45</blockquote><p></p><p>Phillip (actually Pinchas) was telling Nathanael: we have found the promised Moshiach, the promised anointed one Nathan spoke of to David. Phillip each of the disciples knew Yeshua never intended to start a new religion. Had they fallen for that deception, Yeshua would be a false prophet.</p><p>Do you make Him out to be a false prophet with a new replacement theology? </p><p>Yeshua's was turned down in Nazareth, don't let that be your hometown, because He might move on and knock the dust off His feet. When rejected there, Yeshua moved to the upper Galilee in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. </p><p>Did you know the Galilee district was known as the “Galilee of the nations”? Check it out, Isaiah 9:1 promises:</p><p></p><blockquote>"...but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan.” </blockquote><p></p><p>Did you know 1 Chronicles mentions the same area, as does the book of Joshua? </p><p>The Galilee of the Nations is where Yeshua started His Yeshiva time as the prophet, it just so happens to be where Joshua ended up. </p><p>Chabad.com tells us: "Joshua aka Yehoshua in Hebrew, the formal name of Yeshua, was Moses ' successor who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. The Bible describes Joshua as a devoted student, a saintly man, and a brilliant military commander. Joshua led his people on all fronts, exhorting them to serve G‑d and uphold the Torah, while at the same time leading them in military conquest."</p><p>1 Kings describes the Galilee as the land gifted from Solomon to Tyre's King Hiram . Isaiah's prophecy fulfillment is noted in Matthew 4:13-16: “when Jesus ministered in Capernaum near the major highway from Egypt to Damascus, called ‘the Way of the Sea.”</p><p>Keeping repentance and the Kingdom of God in mind, we must also take note of this fact: the Galilee district was a big part of the former Northern Kingdom of the ten lost tribes of Israel that had been missing since the Assyrian conquest some seven centuries earlier. The lost tribes are a big deal in the gospel of God declared to the Prophets Ezekiel, Hosea, Jeremiah and others. </p><p>To understand, we have to consider what Yeshua said in the ancient backyard of Manasseh: </p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="color: #cc0000;">“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” </span><span>Matthew 15:24</span></blockquote><span></span><p></p><p>Phillip's description to Nathanael noted in John 1:45 has a mystery connection to Matthew 15:24 and Joseph in Egypt. He was thought to be lost by Jacob, but he was redeemed with his brothers. Not only that, Joseph's sons mother was an Egyptian princess. Her father was a pagan priest so the grandchildren were adopted as his sons by Jacob at the end of his life and their descendants became collectively known as Ephraim. </p><p>Before that Genesis account, we see Jacob's seventeen year-old son Joseph telling his family about his dreams. Later, a man found Joseph wandering in the fields near Shechem, and asked him, “What are you seeking?” Joseph's reply: “I am seeking my brothers...” and the man told him, “They have gone away."</p><p>That encounter was prophetic and part of the lost sheep story that's woven throughout the Bible with a promise of God that is still unfinished because it requires a second trip to fulfill the lost sheep restoration of brothers in the Kingdom promise of the Scriptures. </p><p>Joseph was not missing in Almighty God's eyes and the disciples knew it.</p><p>There's proof. In their last question, the disciples asked Yeshua about Kingdom restoration in Acts 1:6-8:</p><p></p><blockquote>"Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. </blockquote><blockquote>But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”</blockquote><p></p><p>This is important, long before Herod Antipas ever ruled a big part of the Northeast Galilee district, it was deeded to Manasseh. </p><p>That's just a part of the Joseph-gospel ministry connection. </p><p>The center point of commerce in that district was the Sea of Galilee and there were many trade fishermen in the area. Yeshua called on a few of them to join His Master Rabbi yeshiva journey across Israel with the others that He had called along the way:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men."</span></blockquote><p></p><p>They left their boats and nets and followed their Master Torah teacher born in Bethlehem. They became known as His talmidim (disciples). There were several other students called out at the very spot of the Sermon on the Mount. They likely included Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus and even Simon the Canaanite. </p><p>These talmidim followed the man they called Rabbi to a mountain in the Galilee where Yeshua ascended up so the large crowd could hear the words He laid out His<span style="color: #cc0000;"> first red letter</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> teaching of righteousness</span> we now call the Sermon on the Mount.</p><p>What you may have not realized is that the foundation of that sermon in Galilee echos back to Mount Sinai. But, if you stay for awhile on the Galilee mountain, you'll see that what was taught was <u>nothing new</u>. </p><p>For good reason, Matthew's account goes into detail about that particular day and with careful precision, the gospel writer replays the sermon. Matthew, the tax collector may not have been there, because he was called to join the yeshiva after that, so the backstory could be that the other disciples may have filled Him in on everything they heard that day. Perhaps he was there, and that's why when asked to follow Yeshua, he left the tax booth behind.</p><p>Perhaps, they wrote the words down and shared them with Matthew. There are no short snippets found in the three chapters about the big sermon in Matthew 5-7. </p><p>Are you ready to go to the mountain? Are you ready to shema, aka hear and do?</p><p>If so, it's time for a bit of a baptism in the living water of God's eternal, unchanging written Word taught on that mountain. There are no short snippets found in the three chapters about the big sermon in Matthew 5-7 and to borrow Yeshua's words at His Jordan River mikveh: "for this is the fitting way <u>for us</u> to fulfill all righteousness."</p><p>Before that mountain top sermon, Matthew 4:23 tell us: "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people."</p><p>That sickness healing was not unexpected, it fulfilled the promise of Isaiah 35:5-6: </p><blockquote><p>"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,</p><p>And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.</p><p>Then the lame shall leap like a deer,</p><p>And the tongue of the dumb sing." </p></blockquote><p>On the mountain that day somewhere in the Galilee, Yeshua explained that the blessings of Heaven are promised in the Torah. </p><p>As already noted, we can see that the message delivered connects with Joseph's blessing given by his father Jacob that was tied up in the bounties of the everlasting hills noted in Genesis 59. </p><p>Jacob's blessing declares: </p><p></p><blockquote>"May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers."</blockquote><p></p><p>There are nine (9) Sermon on the Mount blessings recorded by Matthew and that number is no accident, every detail is important. In Biblical Hebraic thinking, nine (9) symbolizes divine fulfillment. </p><p>Immediately after the nine blessings, Yeshua told everyone <u>don't think I came to do away with the Torah</u> (instruction and teaching of God), but rather to <u>fill it up with meaning</u>. His sermon sequence points directly to Psalm 1:1-3:</p><p></p><blockquote>Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law [Torah] of the LORD, and on His law [Torah] he meditates day and night. </blockquote><blockquote>He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.</blockquote><p></p><p>You may have missed it before now, but years later, Paul the Jew from Tarsus wrote nothing new either when he summarized nine (9) blessings, noting that <u>they represent the fruits </u>of Almighty God's Holy Spirit. Paul outlined them as 1) Faithfulness, 2) Gentleness, 3) Goodness, 4) Joy, 5) Kindness, 6) Long suffering, 7) Love, 8) Peace and 9) Self-control. </p><p>You should read that teaching, check it out in Galatians 5:22-23.</p><div>Paul declared he was a Jew and a Pharisee and that never forsake the Torah of God. After the Jerusalem Council meeting when he returned from Macedonia and Greece and met with Peter that was his message. Read Paul's reaction to a false claim circulating about him that he had claimed the law was done away with at the cross.</div><div><br /></div><div>When they met, Peter told him some people were saying he taught Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses:</div><div><blockquote>When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. </blockquote><blockquote>And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law [Torah], and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. </blockquote><blockquote>...Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them. Acts 21:17-21, Acts 21:26</blockquote></div><div>Back to the big sermon... not only does the outline follow Psalm 1, it opens with words that zero in on Isaiah 61:2. Those very words were read a short time later on a Sabbath by Yeshua in the Nazareth synagogue He attended (Luke 4:16-20). </div><div><br /></div><div>Many sermons for the past 1,800 years have said that the words declared on that mountain were new and revolutionary truths for those who heard them. They claim the words declared the foundation for a new message, but the reality is it's time to picture the real Jesus the Jew back in that synagogue. </div><p>Most that identify Jesus believe that a key doctrine of Christianity is the notion that most Biblical instruction labeled as old is now null and void - rebranded as “Mosaic law” and that the Hebrew Bible is an Old Testament, a nice story book but much of what God outlined in the wilderness is done and dusted. </p><p>Yet, Yeshua of Nazareth taught the opposite on that mountain.</p><p>Unfortunately, people don't want to believe what they can read. Like Jeroboam they want a new religion without God’s Kingdom constitution. <span style="color: #cc0000;">The red letter words</span> prove that Yeshua never came to do away with The Father's teaching and instruction written by Moses. They prove, He came to explain, to live and fill them up with meaning.</p><p>Far from new religion theories born out of the weeds of replacement theology, Matthew records the flip side of denominational theories plain as day in three chapters. </p><p>So, its time to re-read <span style="color: #cc0000;">the red letters</span> woven in Matthew 5-7. </p><p>Before, we start let's fast forward to chapter 7 to give you a taste of what you can find. There we see an ancient warning echoing Moses in Deuteronomy 13:1-5 that ties to the thorns in Genesis 3:17-19.</p><p></p><blockquote>"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn [bushes] nor figs from thistles, are they? Matthew 7:15-16 NASB95</blockquote><p></p><p>Who was the false prophet in Genesis, the one that asked, did God really say? </p><p>You can see it if you'll open your eyes, ears and heart to understand the Torah message from the Hebrew Bible that Master Rabbi Yeshua taught on that mountain:</p><p>"And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blessed are the poor in spirit, for <b>theirs is the kingdom</b> of heaven.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blessed are <b>those who mourn</b>, for they shall be comforted.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blessed are the meek, for they shall <b>inherit the earth</b>.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blessed are those who <b>hunger and thirst for righteousness</b>, for they shall be satisfied.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blessed are the <b>merciful</b>, for they shall receive mercy.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blessed are the <b>pure in heart</b>, for they shall see God.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blessed are the <b>peacemakers</b>, for they shall be called sons of God.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blessed are those who are <b>persecuted for righteousness’ sake,</b> for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blessed are you when <b>others revile you and persecute you</b> and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Rejoice and be glad, for <b>your reward is great </b>in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."</span></p><p>Yeshua's blessings start with the words "poor in spirit" aka "humble kindness" and connect the crowd's ears with echos from Psalm 1, Psalm 47 and Psalm 145. But it's not about being poor. The reference is humility.</p><p>The poor in spirit connection in the sermon is to Isaiah 66:2. In the Kings James version it reads:</p><p></p><blockquote>For all those [things] hath mine hand made, and all those [things] have been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look, [even] to [him that is] poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.</blockquote><p></p><p>The ESV version in more accurate. It translate "ani" עני as humble:</p><p></p><blockquote>All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.</blockquote><p></p><p>The sermon's blessings <u>are not new.</u> The words prophetically describe Yeshua's reality. It's a self portrait. </p><p>The Kingdom of Heaven is humbly following and relying on The LORD God our Creator. That's what being made in His image is all about.</p><p>Re-read them, I pray you'll see His life bio in the red ink that points back to call any disciple including you. It's time whether past, present or future... "<span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=follow+me&t=NIV&csr=9#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">follow me</a></span>."</p><p>The blessings also zero in on Isaiah 61:7 and Psalm 37:11: "But the humble shall inherit the land, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of shalom." They echo the ancient words of Psalm 22:25-31 and king David's Psalm 24.</p><p>Most people of Galilee were Jewish, and likely everyone at the mountain side was familiar with the blessing and curses of the two-edged sword of Torah described in Psalm 149. They knew the scroll of the royal Psalm started with this blessing:</p><p></p><blockquote>Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law [Torah] of the LORD, and on his [Torah] law he meditates day and night. </blockquote><blockquote>He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:1-3 </blockquote><p></p><p>They also knew David's songs all point to the way of righteous instruction and delight in the blessings of the Torah instruction of The Lord of Israel. </p><p>There on that mountain in the Galilee, Yeshua was fulfilling the Luke 4:14-19 synagogue reading of Isaiah 61:1 and He reminded everyone of the menorah's purpose which is a picture of the goal of God's Word to give light to a dark world. </p><p>The sermon likely reminded most in the crowd at of the story of a winter miracle they were all familiar with. </p><p>It's is still known as Hanukkah (from the Hebrew word for dedication). </p><p>They knew about the Modi’in Valley northwest of Jerusalem where the Maccabees lived when they struck out against the pagan Greek Seleucids in the 2nd century. There, the family known as the Maccabee (hammer) struck out against the anti-Torah tyranny of the Greek invader Antiochus. After their victory, the Temple was rededicated some 195 years before that sermon. </p><p>The menorah played the key big role in the Hanukkah story. The light of the menorah gave birth to the celebration day when we find Yeshua in Jerusalem answering the BIG question that remains today: do the works that you do in the Father’s name bear witness about Yeshua? </p><p></p><blockquote>“The Festival of Dedication then took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple in Solomon’s portico.” </blockquote><blockquote>“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Yeshua answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me... John 10:22-25.</blockquote><p></p><p>The big picture of the menorah is to give light. Light in darkness. </p><p>The menorah burns oil beaten from olive fruit and it sheds its light by the instruction of The Father for His humble Tabernacle on earth. The menorah is also seen in the imagery described in Revelation 1. </p><p>Many miss it because the most translators call the branches of the menorah candle sticks. They are not candles.</p><p>The Revelation truth points us to the light (truth) of God's Word that shines from a people whose heart is to glorify The Father through what they do in faith. That's is Yeshua's good works message on the mountain to the Jewish people:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your <u>good works</u> and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."</span></p><p>Yeshua also set the record straight that many Christians struggle with... "there has to be more." I know, I'm an expert, I once thought my "belief" with a short prayer gave all the glory I needed to give back to Almighty God, but Bible Scripture teaches what we do out of love for God and others gives glory to The Father.</p><p>The Master Rabbi of the disciples and the multitudes that heard Him realized He came to fill the mitzvot of the Torah up with meaning, to live it out. Part of that includes the blessings for Joseph and the lost, but many have forgotten a big part of that sermon thinking Yeshua started a new religion and hung the Torah of Almighty God The Father on a cross. Because of that many focus most of their attention on The Prophets thinking the rest is done away with.</p><p>Here's what Jesus had to say about that deception:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not a jot or tittle will pass from the Torah until all is accomplished."</span></p><p>Does Yeshua's voice shake you awake to seek the unchanging truth? </p><p>It should! After all, He reiterated the same message that many faithful rabbi's and scribes had insisted on for thousands of years, that not one stroke of the Torah could ever be altered. In Hebrew thought, to full fill the Torah is to interpret it correctly. No adds and no deletes.</p><p>The whole Bible remains the light to be declared and we can thank the faithfulness of the Jewish people for that giving us the Bible. </p><p>The apostle Paul agrees, read it for yourself:</p><p></p><blockquote>For as many as have sinned without law [Torah] will also perish without law [Torah], and as many as have sinned in the law [Torah] will be judged by the law [Torah] (for not the hearers of the law [Torah] are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law [Torah] will be justified..." Romans 2:12-13 </blockquote><blockquote>What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. Romans 3:1-2 NIV </blockquote><p></p><p>Yeshua of Nazareth declares another admonition with His focus on God's Kingdom constitution Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy 5:1 which says: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb." </p><p>Yeshua goes on and sets the record straight on the commandments for the Kingdom of God:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. </span></p><p><span>Most New Testament readers don't read this verse (Matthew 5:19) for what it means. </span></p><p><span>The greatest teacher in the Kingdom is King Messiah. The King of the Kingdom did them and teaches them greater than any other!! </span></p><p><span>Many also pass over the next statement in the sermon, but we shouldn't speed read. </span></p><p><span>The desire of our Heavenly Father is Yeshua's goal, that is to "keep" the covenant words by deeds out of love. As Moses said: "</span>listen to the voice of the LORD your God" and do the mitzvot of righteous good deeds written, not do our own thing to add to or take away from them but to do them the best that we can in so that your lives will bring glory to The Father.</p><p>Yeshua explains it like this:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."</span></p><p>Master Rabbi Yeshua's sermon shows that He is the prophet like Moses as He takes the crowd straight to the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17. Yeshua fills the covenant of God with the conscious heart and soul of their meaning by explaining the circumcised heart declared in Deuteronomy 10:16, Deuteronomy 30:6 and Jeremiah 4:4:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire."</span></p><p>He points to the Kingdom importance of making things right with each other. The Kingdom of God is a humble community, an assembly that seeks to walk in God's ways. Yeshua was teaching that the offering described in Deuteronomy 26 is not acceptable if you cannot say that you will walk in the Father's ways and keep His statutes, commandments and judgments, and that you must obey His voice if you have a problem to resolve with others as a holy people set apart to remember the LORD your God:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny."</span></p><p>Yeshua quotes Moses verbatim from Deuteronomy 5:18 as He explains the heart and spirit of the big Torah message of Exodus 20:14:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."</span></p><p>Next, Yeshua zeros in on the what Almighty God considers as adultery noting Exodus 20:14 and Deuteronomy 5:18 while explaining the "indecency" of sexualy immorality Moses noted in Deuteronomy 24:1:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."</span></p><p>He then simplifies the truth summarizing an old Jewish saying that later made it in one form or another into the Talmud. Yeshua is teaching nothing new about making false promises declared in the Ten Commandments from Numbers 30:3, Leviticus 5, Deuteronomy 5:20 and Psalms 48:3. The footstool of 1 Chronicles 28:2 is noted as well from from the words of David:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil."</span></p><p>Yeshua teaches against the sin of retaliation from Exodus 21 while explaining Leviticus 24:19-20 and Deuteronomy 19:21. </p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."</span></p><p>He expounds noting the reason for His teaching against retaliation is lovingkindness. </p><p>The crowd no doubt is familiar with the "chesed" lovingkindness Almighty God declared to Moses after the sin of the golden calf. The Father did not wipe everyone although they broke covenant in their sin of adultery and idolatry. Instead, God kept His promise and wrote the Ten Commandments again for Moses to carry down the mountain a second time. The Tanach (Old Testament) never teaches us to hate. Yeshua starts by summarizing a saying that must have been prevalent in His day, He upholds and does not abolish the Torah when he tells us:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“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 be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?"</span></p><p>This teaching is about reconciliation. The love you neighbor advice which includes praying for those that persecute comes straight out of the mountaintop love your neighbor instruction in Leviticus 19:17-18 </p><p></p><blockquote>“You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”</blockquote><p></p><p>Next, Yeshua does away with the theory for those that say I am a saved Gentile sinner, but continue to sin thinking all sin is washed away in grace. Yeshua give the sermon few hear as He admonishes us all to walk in God's righteousness. The teaching is from the front of the Torah portion known as Kedoshim that includes these words" "You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy." It's Leviticus 19:2:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."</span></p><p>The sermon explains the problem of self-righteous bragging from Proverbs 16:19 which says: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."</span></p><p>Yeshua zeroes in on caring relationships. </p><p>He also teaches about freewill giving without taking credit. That's from Proverbs 19:17 and Proverbs 21:26 showing that giving to help the needy is a big part of a proper relationship with The Father:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."</span></p><p>Yeshua expounds on the importance of a prayerful personal relationship with Almighty God right out of Isaiah 26:20:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."</span></p><p>For those that say God's Kingdom will only be seen in a rapture ride to Heaven think again! </p><p>In Yeshua's demonstration on how to pray, He declares the opposite.</p><p>He links His prayer coaching to the manna of Exodus 16 as He starts what we now know as "the Lord's Prayer" with the importance of Father God's Holy name. Yeshua's teaching straight from Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 19:12, Deuteronomy 5:11, Proverbs 18:10, Micah 4:5 and Isaiah 26:13, the so-called Old Testament Scriptures:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Pray then like this:</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."</span></p><p>Next, Yeshua points to the Kingdom gospel promise in Zechariah 14:9-17 and Isaiah 65:17:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Your kingdom come, your will be done,</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">on earth as it is in heaven."</span></p><p>Yeshua unveils Deuteronomy 8:2-3 with a connection to Numbers 14:19, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Daniel 9:19, Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and Proverbs 30:8. Those words are not old, the all point us back to hallowing and revering God's name. After all, asking our Father in Heaven to forgive us hallows and sanctifies His name. Yeshua the points to God provision and deliverance noted in Psalm 32:6, Psalm 60:11 and Psalm 72:4:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Give us this day our daily bread,</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">and forgive us our debts, </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">as we also have forgiven our debtors.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">And lead us not into temptation, </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">but deliver us from evil."</span></p><div>The prayer also point us to the year of Jubilee when indentured servants were set free, debts were forgiven and land was returned to its deeded owners. There's a backstory of a hidden Jubilee connection in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:5-15, it is to rely on God and live in His image as it was meant from the very beginning...</div><div><div></div><blockquote><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">Give us this day our daily bread,</span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">and forgive us our debts,</span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">as we also have forgiven our debtors.</span></div></blockquote><div></div></div><p>Yeshua's explanation in Matthew 6:14-15 emphasizes forgiveness of others precisely as described in Joseph's story found in Genesis 50:15-21: </p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."</span></p><p>Yeshua also teaches that fasting is good and part of the blessing of a personal relationship with The Father, Fasting is something we do that shows the heart of joyful humility:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."</span></p><p>Yeshua teaches everyone to lay up treasures in Heaven, aka God's abode from the heart with His reference to Isaiah 51:8. He talking about taking God eternal righteous instruction to heart. Despite what others may say, it must be your treasure:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."</span></p><p>He then presses in on the importance of Psalm 119:105-112 and the riches found in the precepts, testimonies and statutes of Almighty God's Word:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."</span></p><p>Yeshua teaches from the beginning and the conclusion of Psalm 80 which ties to the scene on the Sinai mountain where God's glory was seen by all:</p><p>"Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!"</p><p>"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth, stir up your might and come to save us! </p><p>Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!"</p><p>His <span style="color: #990000;">red letter </span>message continues, don't worry for worry's sake, but trust and rely on God as written in Psalm 47:7:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."</span></p><p>In Matthew 6:33 we are told: <span style="color: #cc0000;">But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. </span></p><p>That's not new, we learn how to seek the Kingdom of God when we choose to seek the righteousness God. We find that righteousness in the Hebrew Bible Yeshua taught.</p><p>Next, Yeshua brings Leviticus 19:15, Psalm 50:4, 1 Chronicles 28:9 and Psalm 145:8-9 front and center into the sermon regarding the problem with judging others:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“Judge not, that you be not judged. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye."</span></p><p>Again, nothing new, Yeshua points everyone back to Psalm 68:23 and Isaiah 56:11 saying:</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you."</span></p><p>Before we wrap up just some of the <span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0); color: #cc0000;">red letter</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0); color: #cc0000;"> </span>details of the sermon, let's pause for a moment to reflect back on the murder of the children in Matthew's account. It's found in Matthew 2.</p><p>Herod and Pilate's crimes tie them to Cain's story in Genesis 2.</p><p>In summary, when Eve heard about Abel's death at the hands of his brother Abel, there's not doubt she shed tears many for her son and for every child in Abel’s generations that were lost that day. </p><p>Fast forward to Rachel. Her weeping in Ramah was described by Jeremiah hundreds of years after her death. The thing is killing one is killing many. Rachel knew that. The murders connect to the death mandate by Pharaoh for the children in Moses' day which prophetically point to those precious Jewish baby boys destroyed by Herod's command in the massacre of the innocents of Bethlehem. </p><p>Rachel's tears are important! </p><p>Much more so than the massive building projects form Herod's ego mandates that included expanding and renovating the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, building the port at Caesarea or the fortress at Masada still seen on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert. </p><p>His building projects all lie in ruins today except the massive stone building that remains above the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.</p><p>There has to be a reason, its where Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca as well as Jacob and Leah were buried. It's a family faith burial plot and its also thought that Adam and Eve were entombed there.</p><p>King Herod is known in most history books as "Herod the Great." That folks is fake news. Other than the building projects that left his mark on Israel, he wasn't so great at all. He was a monster. </p><p>Matthew's account as well as the record from historian Flavius Josephus and the Talmud all describe Herod as a ruthless barbaric king. </p><p>The reason is that not only did he order mass murder, by the end of his reign, Herod had morphed into a despotic, unstable megalomanic. He single handedly plunged the Roman rule of Judea, Gaza, Samaria, the Galilee and the Golan into a terrorist cesspool by dictatorial repression and violence.</p><p>Herod's influenced the direction of history as we know it today and violence against the Jewish people continues in Israel.</p><p>Years after Mark Anthony ordered Herod to go and capture Jerusalem, Herod started his construction business. He expanded Solomon’s Temple, but he did that for his own narcissistic benefit just like Ahaz had done. In doing so, he facilitated his own version of a religious ruling class in Jerusalem that was loyal only to Herod and his prototype Mafia-like dynasty. </p><p>The reality is this: Herod's life imitated the evil king Ahaz from days gone by. </p><p>Who was Ahaz?</p><p>For the big picture, let’s go back to the beginning. </p><p>Adam and Eve lived in the image of God without sin. Yet, when we barely unroll the Genesis Torah scroll, we see a crime scene. A liar, the deceiver shows up in paradise like a snake from Tyre with evil deception spewing from his mouth. The words were poison, a lie... did God really say. </p><p>The seed of doubt lie was planted that God does not mean what He says, that truth is not forever, it's old and done away with. </p><p>That deceptive lie remains a dark lie.</p><p>Many fall for the deception, they believe God shifted gears about what God says is His light righteous truth for life in the Kingdom of God. </p><p>If you think the front of the book was done away with and don't believe the words of truth remain, how will you ever live life in God's image? You won't, you'll believe a lie and do your own thing. You'll add to or take away from God's words, because you fell for original deception and ignored the voice of your Creator Almighty God Elohim.</p><p>The startling truth is that before the first words ever recorded before the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua says just the opposite.</p><p>He quotes Moses directly from Deuteronomy 8:3. That happened when Yeshua addressed the deceiver's wilderness lies that started in Eden. Yeshua used Moses' words directly from the Torah:</p><p>"<span style="color: #cc0000;">It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God</span>.'"</p><p>Next, Yeshua points toward another Tanach account. It zeroes in on old king Ahaz during Isaiah's day and the Immanuel prophecy that was given to Ahaz. It's found again in the book of the prophet. Check out Isaiah 7:10-16: "<span style="color: #cc0000;">Again, it is written, 'You shall not test the Lord, your God</span>.'"</p><p>Here's the thing about king Ahaz, he tried to bribe the king of Assyria by giving away the Temple treasures. </p><p>That's exactly what haSatan sought to accomplish, you can see it in Matthew 4:5-6.</p><p>Ahaz even built an altar to honor himself as he replaced the Temple altar with his own. He relocated the bronze laver that Solomon had made. Ahaz also removed the Sabbath pavilion which was built in the House of the Lord. </p><p>Ahaz did all that to suit himself. Herod did the same.</p><p>Do you own thing - your way is the Ahaz' mantra. Ignore God's voice, worship your way, do your own thing. It started with Adam and Eve.</p><p>Yeshua taught the opposite. His words are all firmly rooted in the Hebrew Bible as it is written. </p><p>In Matthew’s account, the deceiver responded in the wilderness with one temptation lie after another! Yeshua's response to three of the tests was the Genesis choice Adam failed to deliver in Eden: "Get behind me, haSatan! </p><p>Not only that, Yeshua went straight to Moses' constant sermon admonition of the first commandment written in Deuteronomy to both native born and sojourner: For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’</p><p>No matter the audience, Yeshua's teaching focuses on that big instruction in Moses' sermon: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” The gospel accounts repeat Yeshua's Torah guidance in the first step toward that responsibility:</p><p>“<span style="color: #cc0000;">Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand</span>.”</p><p>Now consider Herod. He was an archetype of haSatan. The self-exalted ruler built his Masada ego fortress as a palace for himself. It would later become not only his memorial as his gravesite, but the Roman death trap for many thousands of Jews stranded as hostages at Masada. Their grave end marked the desperation of Jewish exile from Israel with a 1,800+ year-long diaspora from their homeland. </p><p>The mass death camp of Masada was a horrific last stand by the Dead Sea that ended in suicide some 30 years after the destruction of Jerusalem when Rome's Titus attacked the city with the Legions. </p><p>It's absolutely mind bending to consider, but another unimaginable massacre followed in the steps of Titus during the Holocaust as Hitler tied in another vain attempt to destroy the Jewish people that had escaped Rome's assault on them. As Jerusalem was ransacked, many refugees arrived in Europe's backyard, but in Almighty God's inconceivable providence, the German death camps would incredibly lead back to the eternal promise given to Abraham. </p><p>The return of Jewish people to Israel is the largest global prophetic signpost on the planet. It was planted in the soil in 1948, and the rightful return of Jerusalem in 1967 is the second signpost witness. </p><p>Jerusalem's destruction is now in restoration mode as the family of Judah arose from the ashes of World War II and its horrors that I cannot fathom. </p><p>Only the promise from the voice of Almighty God Elohim could bring about the resurrection of Israel that began just 20 days after Passover during the Omer count in 1948. </p><p>God's promise to keep His eyes on Jerusalem came to global focus in 1967. At the end of the Six Day War, Jerusalem was restored to Judah's heritage with a shofar blast from Rabbi Goren, but Jerusalem has much more glory in store. It's time to walk up if you are reading this because you are living in Biblical times, the Bible is not old or done away with.</p><p>The book of Revelation reveals the promise Almighty God gave to David through Nathan that will be fulfilled in Jerusalem by Israel's Messiah King.</p><p>Jerusalem points us to the fact that it's high time to hit the new religion disorder delete button. </p><p>It's time to pray, fast and repent of any attitude we may have from anysermon about a replacement doctrine that seeks to abrogate the promises of Almighty God.</p><p>The prophetic big picture of the Bible is real and history proves it. </p><p>Prophecy is a reality, so we must all dig deep into the red-letter words of the Sermon on the Mount and at the same time rewind history to the corrupt political and religious scene in Israel nearly 2,000 years ago. </p><p>When we look back, we see king Herod. The historic record reveals that he was an Edomite, an Idumean born around 74BC. The term Idumean is simply the Greek Hellenized name for Edomite. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, not Jacob. They are described in the Bible, and they reveal the Herod problem. </p><p>We can't forget history, the Edomites were ancient enemies of the Jewish people, and they still are, whoever they might be today. </p><p>The facts on the ground are that the Edomites were also among the recruits that helped destroy Jerusalem and the second Temple. </p><p>Back in the days of time of Nebuchadnezzar, the Edomites helped plunder Jerusalem and slaughter the Jews in 586 BC. Psalms 137 and Obadiah 1 give us the record.</p><p>Believe it or not, 600 years after Babylon's invasion, the Edomites were recruited again to serve Titus as recruits among the Roman Legions with the same result: destruction and desolation. These events will come with a dire price, the vision of Obadiah declares the final judgment in the Day of the Lord for the Edomites.</p><p>The Roman's documented their Edomite Legion history and the fact remains that the "Legions" of Titus were a remnant of the ancient enemies of Israel. You can find the details for yourself with an Internet search or two because the Romans kept written records. </p><p>What you will learn is the Roman Legions weren't all Romans, they included local recruits of warrior tribesmen surrounding Israel. Those recruits were the descendants of Ishmael and Esau as well as some Philistines. With a promise of Roman citizenship, they were drafted by Titus' commanders from the areas that surrounded Judea and Samaria before 70 AD. </p><p>They were descendants of many of the same people groups that Joshua was told to drive out of the Promised Land. </p><p>Their descendants still oppose Israel and the Jewish people today. </p><p>The so-called West Bank conflict is the focal point of the Edomite problem that remains. It’s also seen in the condemnations of the high places of the United Nations that you can read about most any day in the headlines. We have to ask... united against who?</p><p>Long ago, Titus promised his recruits citizenship and he used them to attack Jerusalem just like Nebuchadnezzar. They took it upon themselves to destroy Herod's temple and slaughter a million innocent Jewish men, women and children. After that holocaust, Titus became Emperor of Rome and took the title Titus Caesar Vespasianus. </p><p>Adolph Hitler continued the holocaust and when Jewish survivors officially returned in 1948 to their homeland granted by Almighty God, Edom attacked again, this time they called themselves Arabs and they lost the battle. </p><p>Edom rose up and fought once more in 1967, and they lost again in the Six Day War. Another attempt occurred in 1973 with the Yom Kippur War that should point us all to the fact that in one way or another, in the big picture mankind has been at war with God for 6,000 years, but the good news gospel is the rebellion battle of sin will end in Jerusalem. </p><p>God’s Kingdom will be restored.</p><p>Messiah is coming to Jerusalem as the King. The reason, Almighty God keeps His promises, and His eyes are still on Jerusalem as the House of Prayer for all nations. </p><p>Back to Herod the Edomite, did you know he also has a dark connection to Haman? His agenda matches that of today's Ayatollahs in Iran that declare they will wipe Israel off the map and rule the land.</p><p>Herod is critical to the big picture described in Matthew because his son Herod Antipas was the 1st-century Roman tetrarch of the districts of Galilee and Perea, where just to the north today Iran has arrived in the midst of Syria's self-destruction with an old strategic goal formed in the pit of hell. </p><p>Back in the day, Galilee and Perea were client states invaded by the Roman Empire and Herod Antipas played a key role in his father's standing 30 year-old child massacre order in Bethlehem. We see the facts unfold in Luke 13:31.</p><p>During Yeshua's day, Herod Antipas had two brothers and they ruled other districts. Archelaus ruled Judea, Idumea (Edom) and Samaria. Antipas' brother Philip ruled the largest area and today it is known as the Golan Heights. Phillip also ruled southern Syria and a big part of today's Jordan. </p><p>Herod Antipas had a stepdaughter named after her grandmother. Salome ruled three cities along the Mediterranean coastline, perhaps where Gaza sits today flaring rockets at innocents in southern Israel and yielding knives and bullets on unsuspecting Jewish men women and children. </p><p>Keep in mind, Salome is the woman behind the beheading of John the Baptist. Salome took the plate with John’s head and gave it to her mother as a reward for adultery. </p><p>Today, the Palestinian Authority dishes mostly stipends each month in terrorism reward payments to Palestinian terrorists and their families under the PA's pay-for-slay policy that should be known as Salome’s blood money.</p><p>You need to know Herod Antipas the Idumaean-Edomite that ruled the Galilee. He is the man that had Yochanan the Levite (aka John the Baptist) beheaded at Salome's request to use a knife to keep his word to her. Not only that, Herod Antipas is the same man in the Roman trial that sent Yeshua back to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea for Roman sedition sentencing. </p><p>The Galilee was governed by Antipas, the Roman sovereign and Judaea and Jerusalem were governed by Pilate. </p><p>Pilate was the first Roman in charge to hear the false accusations of blasphemy, but he handed Yeshua over to Antipas who happened to be in Jerusalem at the time. Connections are important, so connect the dots to this: Antipas sent Yeshua of Nazareth back to Pilate's Jerusalem court much like his father, Herod the so-called Great sent his foot soldiers in to murder the innocents some 30 years earlier in Bethlehem. </p><p>Pilate used Caiaphas as a religious pawn put in place by Valerius Gratus, the 4th Roman Prefect of the Iudaea province. Gratus changed the Jewish leadership under Rome and shifted the God-ordained priesthood to the Sadducee-controlled Sanhedrin under the Roman thumb of oppression.</p><p>Fast forward to Pilate and you might see behind the scene: Pilate used Caiaphas to ultimately carry out Herod's long standing Roman order for the execution of the baby boys born in Bethlehem. Pilate carried out Herod's contempt connected to Micah's prophecy that the Magi had unwittingly revealed to Herod the not so great and it’s revealed in the sign he ordered above the crucifixion cross. </p><p>This seemingly hidden plot is revealed as Pilate ordered a sign to be nailed above Yeshua's head at the Roman crucifixion stake. It is described in Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38 and John 19:19–20 and read: "King of the Jews." </p><p>That was the title they gave to the Jewish Messiah; the eternal King of Israel from God's gospel promise to David that is outlined in 2 Samuel 7:18-29 and 1Chronicles 17:16–27. </p><p>Josephus records that Caiaphas sympathized with the Sadducees when he was made high priest by Gratus. </p><p>It's important to know Gratus preceded Pontius Pilate as Roman procurator in Jerusalem. Before Caiaphas arrived on the scene, his father-in-law Annas had been high-priest, but Rome's curator Gratus was corrupt and acted against the Temple and the Jews by removing Annas as high priest putting his own man in charge under Roman rule. Accepting the appointment from a Roman leader, Caiaphas destroyed the Torah.</p><p>There was no Scriptural guidance in Caiaphas' appointment as High Priest just politics. The long tenure of Caiaphas reported by Josephus points to the fact he worked hand in hand with the Romans and perhaps the untold story is that Caiaphas saw to it that Herod's death trap for Bethlehem was carried out to extinguish the life of "The King of The Jews" and in doing so Caiaphas was just like Korah.</p><p>Caiaphas thought Pilate put an end to Almighty God's plan for Messiah King of Israel, but like any Sadducee, he did not believe in the power of resurrection. That's a part of the hidden back story behind that Roman sign written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.</p><p>Rome's death sentencing did not end on the Roman crucifixion cross for Herod Antipas. </p><p>Some 15 years later circa 45 AD, Antipas "killed James the brother of John with the sword" (Acts 12:2) and he put Peter in prison but it could not hold him. The day after that crime, Antipas' life ended "immediately [when] the angel of the Lord that released Peter killed him... (Acts 12:23) as Antipas gave a speech that those around him blasphemed as they shouted: "It is the voice of a god, and not of a man" (Acts 12:18-24).</p><p>In my view, Pilate acted as a mafia underboss for Herod the Great who was perhaps the original Mafia boss. </p><p>The reason, the Romans never performed execution over violations of legislative rulings of Jewish law. They did not recognize Jewish Halakha, they crucified people for insurrection against Rome which was a part of Herod's original fear factor. So, if you ask me, Caiaphas' charge of blasphemy never really mattered much to Pilate. He was concerned about Herod's 30 year-old Roman execution order and he cleverly disguised it, even washing his hands. </p><p>That's why the first question he asked Yeshua the Nazarene as He stood before Pilate was this...</p><p>“Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “<span style="color: #cc0000;">You have said so.</span>” Matthew 27:11</p><p>Pilate's goal was to finish Herod's crime wave that started in Bethlehem three decades earlier with Micah’s prophecy. That's revealed with this first question. </p><p>Herod's Mafia crimes eventually led to the ultimate death of every Mafioso underboss in his family. Herod murdered potential rivals to his power syndicate and to top it off, that included two of his own sons. Their names were Alexander and Aristobolus. They were the brothers of Antipas. Herod killed the two boys in his hate and obsessive power lust because he believed that they were plotting to take his Mafia-like throne as their own. </p><p>It’s as if Caiaphas was in position with the underboss and he sympathized with the Sadducees. Caiaphas was the Consigliere and he acted like an adviser to his underboss Pilate like any Consigliere was supposed to do to facilitate decisions for the good of the Mafia. </p><p>When Pontius Pilate pretended to side with Yeshua, perhaps it was just a charade.</p><p>He had no conscience other than his wife's dream that he ignored that day. </p><p>Pilate followed in the footsteps of the egotistical self-centered Herod the so-called great. Herod was a Mafia monster like Babylon's Nebuchadnezzar. Yet instead of destroying Jerusalem, he tried to destroy its King. </p><p>It started with Herod.</p><p>Now you can see why Herod the megalomaniac like Pharaoh declared the death sentence for the innocents in Bethlehem as he sought to protect his throne with premeditated murder just like Cain. Herod heard about Micah 5:2 from the "wise men" that told Herod they were looking for the "King of the Jews." </p><p>Did you notice? There’s that sign that ended up above the cross.</p><p>The Magi men of the east unwittingly revealed Micah's prophecy to a murderer. That prophecy says this:</p><p>“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”</p><p>Herod sought to stop that prophecy from going forth from everlasting truth.</p><p>Pilate, like a Sadducee he did not believe in the power of God in resurrection or understand Yeshua did not seek an earthly throne on the first trip as humble Messiah ben Joseph. The Roman likely never knew that God told Nathan to tell David, I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a son, yet in his distress he will be rejected and stricken by men.</p><p>The history backstory to Herod the Great is that he had been appointed so-called "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate, yet Herod knew he was not a descendant of Judah or from Bethlehem, so he took matters into his own hands to be "King of the Jews." That's why I think he undertook his own remodel of the Temple Mount and built his own monument at Hebron over the burial place of the Patriarchs! </p><p>Josephus writes about Herod in his book, "The Wars of the Jews." Mark Antony "then resolved to get him made king of the Jews…told them that it was for their advantage in the Parthian war that Herod should be king; so they all gave their votes for it. And when the senate was separated, Antony and Caesar went out, with Herod between them; while the consul and the rest of the magistrates went before them, in order to offer sacrifices [to the Roman gods], and to lay the decree in the Capitol. Antony also made a feast for Herod on the first day of his reign."</p><p>After Herod the Great's death somewhere around 4 BC, the story revealed in the book of Matthew describes Yeshua's return from Egypt after Joseph and Mary fled Bethlehem. They returned to the promised land of Israel and settled in Nazareth fulfilling Hosea 11:1.</p><p>When Yeshua was rejected in Nazareth He move over to Capernaum and began His teaching ministry in the Galilee around age 30 in keeping with Numbers 4:3.</p><p>John's gospel give us something critical to think about as it notes Philip's tie to the promised "prophet" like Moses promised by Almighty God. The “prophet” like Moses has no message of his own; he speaks only from the instruction of God. Many people forget that today, thinking Jesus started a new replacement religion and turned His back on the Torah. He did not.</p><p>To be continued... for more background on who gave the sermon, check out <a href="https://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/who-is-jesus.html" target="_blank">Who is the One Called Jesus?</a></p><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><p>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</p><p>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </p><p>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</p><p>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </p><p>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </p><p>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones. Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</p><p>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom.</p><p>Shalom.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-52336416821533885112020-10-18T12:05:00.177-05:002024-03-02T09:19:40.257-06:00What's the Fuss in Acts Chapter 15 ?<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lQf56mko6Lg/XwstJp7vGoI/AAAAAAAACq8/KNgvaVBuVYwbivWXz-gVL78skKv71K1UgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/wc_44act.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1000" height="244" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lQf56mko6Lg/XwstJp7vGoI/AAAAAAAACq8/KNgvaVBuVYwbivWXz-gVL78skKv71K1UgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/wc_44act.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div><br /></div>If you want to stop traditional Bible verse skimming and dig deep into the context of the background story in Acts 15, you may be at the right place. <div><br /></div><div>There's been a lot written about Paul and much written about Acts 15 that attempts to do away with the front of the Bible, but here we'll explore some some Bible basics. </div><div><br /></div><div>We'll also look into a Greco-Roman pagan problem to unwind Acts 15 from some verse snippet disinformation you may have heard.</div><div><br /></div><div>We'll use Bible context from the Torah's written instruction that can be stymied by religion. </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason is that some say God's voice the mountain Torah is old and amounts to a “heavy burden” of legalism in Acts 15. I know I once did thinking that the Torah voice of God written by Moses was wiped away, hung on the cross and replaced by grace. </div><p>Yet, if you keep reading you may see that the written Torah documenting what was said at the top of the mountain is a Bible basic foundation stone of the Jerusalem decision.</p><p>First things first. </p><p>Who was Paul and why was he out and about in Jerusalem?</p><p>He was there because he met Yeshua on the road to Damascus and three days later was given an assignment to engage the covenant made with Abraham regarding the promise that all nations would be blessed. </p><p>Yeshua used a man named Ananias in Damascus to give Paul, the Israelite of the tribe of Benjamite his blessed assignment to declare Yeshua as the promised Messiah before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. </p><p>As I written before, Paul, aka Saul of Tarsus had been yeshiva trained in Jerusalem by Gamaliel, a prominent and respected teacher of the Torah and rest of the Hebrew Scriptures now known as the Tanach. Gamaliel was well qualified, after all he was a grandson of the famous Rabbi Hillel of the School of Hillel. </p><p>In God’s sovereign gospel plan, Paul was raised studying and memorizing the Hebrew Scriptures.</p><p>Like Paul's life coach, his teacher Gamaliel was also a Pharisee and a Jewish rabbi. Back in the day, he preserved the witness of Paul to the Gentiles when the Sadducees sought to take him out before he could finish spreading the word about the promised Messiah found in the Hebrew Scriptures across synagogues around the Mediterranean and beyond.</p><p>One thing that Paul had come to understand is that the written Torah has no instruction for becoming a proselyte or a requirement for conversion to hear God's voice and follow along. Not only that, he knew there's no ceremonial knife ritual in the Torah for securing eternal life salvation and we'll delve into that as well.</p><div>Secondly, to set the scene like the golden calf incident at Sinai, a pagan problem remained alive and well in Pauls' day. The pagan problem was infused in the Greco-Roman culture. It geared up society as a hedonistic anything goes, do as you want attitude that remains in so-called modern society. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, it has morphed like a virus, yet the conflict with God's voice is the same today as it was in Babylon, Egypt and Persia. Only the names had changed in the Greco-Roman pagan world outside Jerusalem. Its twisted DNA was embedded in Eden with an ongoing conflict with God's instruction.</div><div><br /></div><div>At Sinai, the words of Almighty God were penned by Moses as the constitution manual for life in the Kingdom of God whether native born or sojourner. </div><div><br /></div><div>Back in the days of Paul of Tarsus, the ancient pagan problem was infused in virtually every city whether Roman or Greek. The world remained in spiritual oppressive war with God and the first of the Ten Commandments recorded at Mount Sinai was front and center: </div><div><blockquote>“You shall have no other gods before Me." </blockquote></div><div>Society in that day had man gods. That spiritual virus is gaining a lot of momentum once again. If you hang around long enough to look at the context of the Acts chapter 15 big picture, you will find a hidden treasure or two that can help you do something about it. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>Before we dig in, I don't want to be irreverent in any way with a golf analogy, but if you ask me, the game of golf can provide a pretty descent parable-like picture perspective on Acts 15 you may never considered. <div><br /></div><div>Many people enjoy the game of a lifetime, I know I do, so think about this even if you're not a golfer: </div><div><br /></div><div>It would be unfair to ask any rank beginner with no instruction, no teaching or coaching to start playing from the championship tees the first day out, much less in front of the big crowds at a one of golf's four "Major" championships.</div><div><br /></div><div>For any beginner without a golf lesson, it would be extremely disheartening if not excruciating to ask them to step up and start on the first tee in front of tens of thousands in the gallery and millions watching on TV.</div><div><br />Whether at the back tee or the first tee at Augusta National, any raw, untrained beginner would not make it through the first round of a major. They'd likely quit in frustration and embarrassment long before reaching the 18th hole. They'd like quit in embarrassment and humiliation on the first hole or two.</div><div><br /></div><div>One huge problem for the first time golfer would include the standard of play that applies to everyone.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's known as the Rules of Golf. </div><div><br /></div><div>Without an understanding of the basic rules of play, a beginner would be demoralized and penalized several times and likely would get disqualified, tossed out by the rules of the game before the first round was completed or the scorecard signed but despite that...</div><div><br /></div><div>Belief it or not, the rules of golf aren't really designed to punish a golfer. </div><div><br /></div><div>Their purpose is to do the right thing, to guide and help every golfer play the game as it is meant to be and allow everyone to play by the same rules. </div><div><br /></div><div>No golfer, beginner or champion pro is ever above the rules, it's really simple: they apply to everyone and you can't make you own rules up as you go. </div><div><br /></div><div>The rules of golf are pretty basic, but at times they can seem complex to decipher. </div><div><br /></div><div>For that reason, every tournament has a rules committee. The purpose of the committee is to assist with the right decision on how to apply them in unusual competitive situations. </div><div><br /></div><div>For that reason, to help the rules committee do the right thing, both the Royal and Ancient (R&A) and the United States Golf Association (USGA) have compiled their rulings to clarify ambiguities that can arise without a proper understanding and application of the rules of the game.</div><div><br /></div><div>The committee meetings are important and the ultimate purpose is simply to allow every player to play by the rules.</div><div><br />Beginners don't know the basics of a good swing or the rules for playing the game, much less the big book committee decisions. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, every competitor should know the rule book basics and play by them. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet every amateur golfer or elite tour pro knows that in golf, a proper round not only starts with rulebook basics, but with sound advice and lessons on a few swing basics. No matter how your swing looks or feels, coaching every beginner starts with just <u>four basics</u>: </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Grip, stance, posture and alignment.</b></div><div><br />In the beginning, beyond that the really important thing about golf is to fall in love with the game, but that hard to do without learning the four basics. Otherwise, golf can and will become frustrating and seemingly impossible. That's why after one or two rounds, some beginners feel defeated and quit trying. </div><div><br /></div><div>Golf is called the game of a lifetime, but for many it can have a very short fuse. </div><div><br /></div><div>For those that persevere after the four swing basics are learned, those fundamentals become good habits with practice and improvement. Soon, what seems very awkward at first feels natural. Ignore the basics though and every golfer on the planet will eventually find themselves consistently off the fairway in rough, the woods, in hazards or with penalties from boundaries with white out-of-bounds markers.</div><div><br /></div><div>After learning the four basics, the next improvement step is to move on to some advanced training to learn how the game should be played so that your performance is at its best. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet no matter how hard you try or how good you become, everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. Bogies, double bogies or worse show up on the scorecard. </div><div><br /></div><div>Just look at any scoreboard, they are full of good times and bad.</div><div><br /></div><div>The joy in the improvement process can take many years for most people and when you toss in serious competitive tournament golf into the equation, pressure intensifies when the mind races unless the true heart of a golfer comes into play. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's as if the game changes, but it doesn't, just the circumstances.<br /><br />Take a look at Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Bobby Jones. They all learned to play one step at a time.<br /><br />Not only that, throughout their amazing competitive careers, they all had teachers, mentors and friends they could trust and rely on for guidance and to top it off they all excelled early on because of their determination to be the best they could be. </div><div><br /></div><div>Under competitive pressure, their incredible tournament successes were due in large part to those lessons but the key to success was an intangible belief and a determined heart to be their best. <div><br /></div><div>Unlike these men, Ben Hogan did not take the usual path with a swing coach, so success was elusive. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hogan's swing was dug out of the dirt. He was self-taught and because of that, unlike others it took him many years of trial and error and a lot of frustration before he finally became a "Major" champion, but he always had the intangible determination and belief in his heart. </div><div><br /></div><div>In 1929, after a difficult upbringing in which he witnessed his father's suicide, Mr. Hogan turned pro at the tender age of 17, but it wasn't until 1940, at age 28 that he started to win on the pro tour. </div><div><br /></div><div>He persevered and overcame personal and professional adversity when he finally broke through to the winner's circle. His first individual title came at the 1940 North & South Open after eleven years. </div><div><br /></div><div>It took six more years for his first victory in golf's big four "Major" championships. Hogan was 34 and he'd played professionally for 17 years when that first major came at the PGA Championship in 1946.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then he won the US Open in 1948 and the PGA again. He won ten times that year and he led the season long money title and the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average on tour for the 5th time. To date, he had won over 30 trophies since his military service during World War II.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then at age 36, at the peak of his career, tragedy struck in 1949. He had won two tournaments by February, but while driving back home to Texas in the fog, a bus swerved into his lane, smashed into his car and crushed his ankle, cracked a few ribs and snapped a collarbone. During recovery, blood clots threatened his life, so life saving surgery followed. </div><div><br /></div><div>During his two month stay in the hospital, his doctor told him he was lucky to be alive, but that he may never walk. Hogan may have thought he would never play competitive golf again, but if he did, that concern did not last long.</div><div><br /></div><div>The doctor knew his medical condition, but he did not know Ben Hogan's heart. </div><div><br /></div><div>Incredibly, a year later he returned to the tour as a part time professional golfer due to chronic leg problems. He limped his way to win a playoff at the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in 1950 and 1951. </div><div>He followed that with Masters wins in 1951 and 1953 including another US victory at Oakmont. He finally decided to play the British Open in 1953 and Hogan topped off golf's grand slam and his major career at Carnoustie in Scotland. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hogan won all four major championships after 24 years with the never quit heart of a champion.</div><div><br />Like I said, this analogy is not supposed to be irreverent, but hopefully it will give you a parable-like perspective on the context of the coaching basics in Acts chapter 15. </div><div><br /></div><div>In my Scripture studies, believe it or not, I found that one way for me to understand the Jerusalem decision is a bit like those golf basics. After all, walking in God's way, in His image as we were made to do from the beginning takes devotion, daily practice and a heart. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>The transformation back to the image of God is what Paul wrote about when he penned this referencing the veil Moses wore only after he stood in the presence of The LORD. In the tent of meeting, in freedom from sin he never wore the veil:</div><div><blockquote>But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18</blockquote></div></div><div>Except by a miracle, living life God's way is a process, whether body, mind or soul.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Almighty God's instruction at Mount Sinai </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">started with Ten Basics</span></div><div><br /></div><div>The Ten Commandments give everyone the outline for covenant relationship with our Creator and each other as it should be in the Kingdom of God. They describe how we can begin to build and mold our character and action into The Father's image. </div><div><br /></div><div>The order of the Ten Commandments point us back to Genesis 1:26-28. </div><div><br /></div><div>There we see mankind was made to be a reflection of God's image. Our Creator declared order: people were put over birds, fish and animals. Our Creator God never intended us to lower ourselves to worship them as image-idols. </div><div><br /></div><div>What is often labeled as the 4th commandment as the forever Sabbath zeros in on Genesis as well. Check out Genesis 2:2-4.</div><div><br /></div><div>By what authority did the Greco-Roman church change that?</div><div><br /></div><div>There's more in the Roman Empire context of the life and times of Acts 15 culture that’s credited with shaping the modern wild west. Few seem to know that Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus aka Nero was in charge at the time of Acts 15. Nero's reign was from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nero had a few wives, both women and men. Today, that is seen in the headlines.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that, the ancient Romans had a goddess or a god for just about anything and Bible believers that made it to Rome were considered atheists since they didn't pay tribute to their pagan gods. </div><div><br /></div><div>Are you beginning to see a glimpse or two of the old pagan problem?</div><div><br /></div><div>We are all born and gifted by our Creator with temperaments and personalities and Genesis reveals that our in His image character was sidelined a decision to not shema (hear and do) but to go our own way. </div><div>God's way is an "I will do" covenant commitment if we seek to walk as a Godly person, it's been the Kingdom of God image way since the beginning.</div><div><b><br /></b><b>When we turn the pages in the book of Acts to chapter 15, we see</b> <b>the decision made draws from Genesis 34. </b></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you have not read Genesis 34, you should.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>There you'll find that circumcision did not save Hamor nor Hamor's son Shechem. It did not save the Canaanites or the Perizzites either.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Acts 15, we see conflict in the process of Godly character building mixed with religious tradition from a few men's rules on the proselyte requirements of the Pharisees. I think Ezekiel wrote this about that: </div><div><blockquote>"Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them."</blockquote></div><div>It's noted in <u>the very first verse</u> that the Jerusalem rules committee gathered to deal with it...</div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “<u>Unless you are circumcised</u> according to the custom of Moses, <u>you cannot be saved</u>.” </blockquote><p>No need to read further, right there we see the issue at hand, it was a religious rule from shepherds that feed themselves and not the flock like those noted in the Ezekiel 34 prophecy. You should read it and... </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ask yourself about salvation... </span></p><p>Who defines it, who judges, who redeems one from death's snare, Almighty God or man?</p><p>King David wrote a song about the answer, it's Psalm 68. One stanza from that royal song reveals who bears our burden, who is our salvation, who delivers in His ways of escape from death:</p><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote>Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,<br />Yehovah who is our salvation ישועתנו. Selah<br />God is to us a God of deliverance;<br />And to GOD the Lord belong ways of escape from death. Psalm 68:19-20</blockquote></div><p></p><p>Those men described in Acts 15:1 were saying salvation is based on a theology of ethnic status, on what we do aka proselyte conversion to become a saved Jew by physical circumcision, <u>not faith to be saved</u>. </p><p>Paul and Barnabas had a heated debate with those men and it led them to the trip to Jerusalem.</p><p>The men saying unless you are circumcised you cannot be saved forgot about David's Psalm. They forgot Hamor, they forgot about the Canaanites and the Perizzites too. They even forgot about God's friend Abraham and the 40 year exodus and the end of the Exodus journey. They forgot that salvation is not what you do in ritual, but what Almighty God does in His majesty and mystery way of providing One to bear our death sin burden in mercy and lovingkindness. </p><p>They forgot all about Numbers 15:16: The LORD spoke to Moses, saying... "One law [Torah] and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you."</p><p>By reading this anyone can see God's Torah does not require religious conversion. <u>Torah is for everyone</u> after redemption. In God's Word, order is important. First there was the Passover, then the Exodus followed by the instruction of Torah at Sinai.</p><p>The manmade religious context of Acts chapter 15 is that the rabbinic rulings (takkanot) were instituted as religious rules not based on the order in Almighty God's authority and one Torah written for all.</p><p>Instead, they were infused with pious priority from adds and deletes of God's written Word.</p><p>Read on to just the fifth verse in Acts chapter 15, there you'll find the religious argument, and take note those Pharisees believed Yeshua as the Messiah... </p><blockquote class="tr_bq">"But <u>some of the sect </u>of the Pharisees <u>who had believed</u> stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”</blockquote>First things first, we don't want to take this text out of context!</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Some</u> of the Pharisees, <u>not all</u> had doctrines, ordinances or religious rules that were not focused on God's character of grace despite their belief in Messiah. </div><div><br /></div><div>First things first includes the first circumcision that The Father seeks, it's the heart circumcision of repentance that Yeshua preached. His priority was that The Father first seeks a heart circumcision which starts with repentance.</div><div><br /></div><div>That was part of the conflict religious people had with Yeshua about the Sabbath when He healed people in need. After all, in the end, the Sabbath is about all about healing, redemption and the bigger picture of the resurrection of the dead leads to the Olam HaBa, "the World to Come." </div><div><br /></div><div>The LORD's instruction on Shabbat it is you shall rest תשבת it's time to breathe, a time of refreshing וינפש (Exodus 23:12). Rest heals our bodies, any good doctor will tell you that rest allows your body to activate its God given inner healing cascade. Rest is a healing gift from God, it's been that way since creation. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Acts 15 debate points to a Galatian question. Paul raised the question about a takkanah rule he was very familiar with. <u>After all he was a Pharisee.</u></div><div><br /></div><div>The Galatian's letter mirrors Acts 15. In that letter, Paul wrote that the Pharisees were directing people to observe the law of Moses "<u>only after</u>" circumcision. That's not the order of Torah.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we open the letters to Timothy, we find Paul instructed his understudy to observe the law of Moses. You can read about that in Paul's letter when he wrote these words:</div><div><blockquote><u>All Scripture</u> is breathed out by God and <u>profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness</u>, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2Timothy 3:16-17 </blockquote></div><div>Today, some have taken the Paul's admonition to Timothy down to a lower level. Some preach a sermon that goes like this: no need to observe the Law written by Moses from God's voice, after all it's done away with. That's a new church elder rule with a tradition that conflicts with Paul's witness to the Jews in Caesarea. </div><div><br /></div><div>We can find that in Acts 24:14: “so worship I the God of my fathers, <u>believing all things which are written </u>in the law [Torah] and in the Prophets.” But, I don't want to take the text out of context. the bigger is that Paul rejects the accusation that he turned against the Torah. </div><div><br /></div><div>His faith is in plain sight in Acts 24 when he spoke before Governor Felix at Caesarea. Most that read Act 15 forget it or they don't read on to chapter 24:</div><div><blockquote>Paul replied... But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Torah and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. </blockquote><blockquote>So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings. While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult.</blockquote></div><div>In addition to seminary teachings that argue with Paul's confession, there's a rabbinic takkanah rule today called Ben Noah. Basically, it says that non-Jews only need to observe the “Noahide Laws.” </div><div><br /></div><div>That somewhat new takkanah opinion basically says if non-Jews want to honor Torah they only need to observe seven Noahide laws and can ignore God's other Torah instructions that some say are for Jews only, despite the fact Moses wrote that Almighty God said this:</div><div><blockquote>There shall be one law [Torah] <b>for the native and for the stranger </b>who sojourns among you. Exodus 12:49 </blockquote><blockquote>For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you." Numbers 15:15-16 </blockquote></div><div><u>The same applies for offerings and vows</u>: </div><div><blockquote>And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, When <b>any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel </b>presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the LORD... Leviticus 22:17-18 </blockquote></div><div><u><b>Moses never wrote</b></u>: there shall be one law for the native and a Noahide law for the stranger who sojourns among you. <b>The so-called Noahide laws for non-Jews are not from Scripture</b>, but they come from a Talmud oral law tradition including Sanhedrin 56a; cf. Tosefta Avodah Zarah 8:4 and Genesis Rabbah 34:8. The Noahide concept of a non-Jew forgets Almighty God's instruction and if you ask me its a big problem and mirrors the issue at hand in Acts 15 that deals with a religious Pharisee mandate inserted as a requirement for God's salvation. </div><div><br />To understand what was really happening in Jerusalem, we just can't start with a verse snippet or two, and we can certainly can't unravel Acts 15 with that chapter standing alone as so many sermons insist on doing. </div><div><br /></div><div>In other words, <b>we can't take the text out of its context.</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Come to think of it, there were no chapters when Acts 15 was written by Luke, so we need to step back and pay attention to the bigger picture.</div><div><br /></div><div>Five years ago, a good friend pointed out the Acts 15 storyline began in Antioch. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can find that city in the prologue to the story that unfolds in Acts 14. My friend wisely noted the context of Antioch's culture and society was deeply steeped in mythology and idol worship. He wrote this:</div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><div>"<i>In order to understand this, you have to understand who and what the people of Antioch were and what activities they engaged in. This area in Northern Syria, was under the control of the Seleucids. </i></div></div></div><div><div><div><i><br /></i></div></div></div><div><div><div><i>Seleucus was one of the four generals under Alexander the Great, who obtained this property after Alexander died. He worshipped the sun god Zeus and dedicated the capital city of Antioch to Zeus. These folks sacrificed to idols and engaged in all forms of sexual immorality and the elders of the early church knew this all too well. They were simply saying, hey guys, these practices that you engaged in under the name of Zeus are not good for you, it would be best for you to stop it." </i></div></div></div><div><div><div><i><br /></i></div></div></div><div><div><div><i>So what is this yoke and burden that Peter and James are talking about? Isn't that the law? I don't think so. Jesus clearly states in Matthew 11:30 that his yoke is easy and his burden is light and previously in Matthew 5:17-20, that he did not come to do away with the law, so this "law" that Jesus did not come to do away with could not be the burden and yoke that Peter or James don't want to lay on the shoulders of those at Antioch - or they would be in direct contradiction of their Lord Yeshua!</i>"</div></div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div><div>His key point is a Bible basic. <u>Don't take text out of context or out of order.</u></div><div><br /></div><div>To understand Acts 15, we can't pluck out a verse or two and skip past the background of Antioch or the Greco Roman culture of the day that was interwoven with hedonistic paganism if we want to get a clear picture of the midrash moment in Jerusalem. </div><div><br /></div><div>Midrash is an old Jewish way of seeking the answers to questions by discussing the context and meaning behind the words of The LORD God and stories woven in the Bible. Simply put, it's about understanding what's in the Bible and what to do about it.</div><div><br /></div><div>My friend's point is clear: if we are to understand what happened in Jerusalem, <u>we have to start in Antioch.</u> </div><div><br /></div><div>We can't ignore the facts on the ground as the men in Jerusalem were dealing with an immoral, brain washed idol infested, mythic multi-god culture. That was the context of <i>the Antioch issues</i> embedded in the Acts 15 decision. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we start in Antioch, we shouldn't get side-tracked. The Antioch issue will help us understand the common sense of the real world situation and the decision's Torah foundation. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, it's time to take a look at the <u>four fundamentals</u> from the midrash in Jerusalem that never tossed Moses aside with a blank page or divided God's instruction manual with the labels old and new.</div><div><br /></div><div>On one hand, <u>we need to know</u> that the sect of the Pharisees debated their own traditions. Not all, but some of them included doctrines not based on the heart of the written Word of God, but on opinions that added-in man made religious obligations. </div><div><br /></div><div>At the same time, <u>we have to know</u> believers in Antioch had made the choice to come out of an everyday pagan Greco-Roman lifestyle that included not only idol worship but lust-laden, sexual immorality in the name of Zeus.</div><div><br /></div><div>The group of Pharisees that had showed up in Antioch were preaching takkanot. Their legislative rulings of tradition held that unless you were circumcised, you cannot become "a people for God's name." It seems they'd forgotten some big time details about Abraham receiving the covenant as an uncircumcised man. Then there's the Exodus, only at the end of the 40-year journey with God after they crossed over the Jordan River were they circumcised at Gilgal (see Joshua 5). Yet the religious men thought they were doing the right thing, but they had missed the order of Torah. </div><div><br /></div><div>Read Acts 15:13-18 and as you do, don't forget about the real life details of Abraham, the friend of God and the recognized patriarch of Biblical faith. After all, Abraham is the first man in the Bible to be called God's friend, yet <u>he was God's friend long before</u> he met up with Hagar who birthed Ishmael and was then told to take out a sharp blade 13 years later. </div><div><br /></div><div>Abraham's blessing was not tied to a sharp flint, <u>i</u>t was about his heart decision and action to follow and love Almighty God. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Check the story, it's Genesis 12-25. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>We also need to remember the big Exodus crowd that left Egypt was a mixed multitude of people. There were strangers along with with Jacob's descendants, they all left the pagan ways of Egypt and together they followed Almighty God as He tabernacled among everyone. It's important to realize that the multitudes encamped around Almighty God's shechinah glory presence for 40 years <u>prior to ever holding a knife of circumcision</u> after they passed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land.</div><div><br /></div><div>Think about that, forty years is half a lifetime or more for most people. During the entire time, Almighty God tabernacled among the uncircumcised! </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Check the story, it's in Joshua 1-5.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Now, fast forward through the centuries to James' voice in Acts 15:16-17. He was the leader in Jerusalem and if we read the account, we find he pointed everyone back to the prophetic words found in Amos.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Check the prophet's words in Amos 9:11-15. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Don't be shocked, but James didn't own a New Testament, no one did at the time. Not only that, his real name wasn't James of King James Bible fame, his name was Jacob (Yacob). James aka Jacob relied on Amos the prophet as Amos shared just as it is written words from another prophet... Nathan. </div><div><br /></div><div>We all need to know about Nathan. </div><div><br /></div><div>He's the man king David sought counsel from about 250 years before Amos ever picked up his scroll and pen. By the way, you'll never find a book in the Bible named after Nathan, but you can find the reason for his fame embedded in 2 Samuel 7 and 2 Samuel 12. Also 1 Kings 1:8-45, 1 Chronicles 17:1, 1 Chronicles 29:29, 2 Chronicles 9:29, 2 Chronicles 29:25 as well as Psalm 51:1. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nathan the prophet does not have a book named after him in the Bible we have today. His writings have been lost to antiquity, but Nathan is a big time prophet in the books we have. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fact is a “book of Nathan the prophet” is mentioned in both 1 Chronicles 29:29 and 2 Chronicles 9:20 and Nathan left wisdom he undoubtedly heard from The LORD that has been lost. We know because King Hezekiah followed those instructions for The Temple music from Nathan's writings for the Levites as well as Gad and David. You can read about that in 2 Chronicles 29:25-27:</div><div><blockquote>He then stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David and of Gad, the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the LORD through His prophets. The Levites stood with the musical instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.</blockquote></div><div>One reason we need to know all about Nathan is due to the fact he is the prophet that was chosen to reveal Almighty God's redemption plan to David to restore the blood covenant broken at Mount Sinai. </div><div>That redemption is the gospel good news about the Messiah of God's Kingdom to come. That is a prophetic fact we can rely on as it is written for us whether born Jew of Gentile, native born or sojourner aka all that repent and follow The LORD.</div><div><br /></div><div>Check out the backstory on Nathan.</div><div><br /></div><div>After God corrected Nathan when he told David to go for it and build a Temple for God, the prophet to David was shown his advice to the king was wrong. Corrected, Nathan was given the big picture on God's promise given to Abraham. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nathan shared it with David, the prototype shepherd king of Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nathan did not come up with the House of God gospel promise on his own, true prophets never preach their own ideas, traditions or decisions, <u>they declare God's voice as it is written</u>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Like Moses faithfully did, the scribes we call prophets wrote down Almighty God's messages as they heard them. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing added, nothing deleted.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nathan was granted a great gift as Elohim God gave him a gospel picture of the future. That vision showed Nathan that a descendant of David would build a household, not just a house but the living family of God which tracks to the blessing given to Abraham. The citizens and family members in God's house would belong to an everlasting blood covenant kingdom under King Messiah.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Son of God promise began to unfold a thousand years after David was long gone and in the grave. </div><div><br /></div><div>That is the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=gospel+of+the+kingdom&t=ESV#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">gospel of the Kingdom</a> promise woven into 1Chronicles 17:9-15 and its tied to the sermons that Jesus, aka Yeshua of Nazareth proclaimed over and again as He said: repent for the Kingdom is near. </div><div><br /></div><div>The books of the Chronicles are skipped over by some despite the fact that Matthew 1 takes off where the Chronicles end. That's a gospel mistake, and the words about the house Nathan declared are not about Solomon in the end:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall waste them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. </div></blockquote><blockquote><div>And I will subdue all your enemies. </div></blockquote><blockquote><div>Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build you a house. When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, <u>I will raise up your offspring after you</u>, one of your own sons, and <u>I will establish his kingdom.</u> </div><div><br /></div><div>He shall build a house for me, and <u>I will establish his throne forever.</u> I will be to him a father, <u>and he shall be to me a son</u>. </div></blockquote><blockquote><div>I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, but <u>I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever,</u> and his throne shall be established forever.'" </div></blockquote><blockquote><div>In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David." 2 Samuel 7:10-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">The disciple James understood Nathan's vision promise was from Almighty God. He also understood it was nothing new because it was declared at Mount Sinai. The proof is found in scroll written in the top of the mountain that ends with the prophetic promise found in Exodus 23:20-33.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">James knew the Torah and he had heard Yeshua's sermons and saw what He did as he walked with his Master Rabbi and witnessed that what was said was what was done. James believed God's commitment to do everything that was filled up with meaning by Yeshua's words and faith in action. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">That's why James paraphrased the prophetic message from Amos. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">James whose real name was Jacob knew the Scriptures were true and unchanging. </span><span style="background-color: white;">James the Jew had grown up reading and studying the Hebrew Bible and he knew Yeshua would keep the promise to restore the fallen tabernacle of David declared in Amos 9:11.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">With that restoration promise, James tied </span><span style="background-color: white;">Amos' vision directly to </span>Nathan's prophetic words in 2 Samuel 7:8-17. The laser focus is this:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. </div></blockquote><blockquote><div>He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 2Samuel 7:12-13 </div><div></div></blockquote><div>Nathan's prophecy repeats God's voice and it is supported by the witness of other promises found in Jeremiah 3:17-23,<span style="background-color: white;"> Isaiah 25:3 and Psalm 106:47. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><div>No doubt, Noah Webster of dictionary fame was familiar with Nathan. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Mr. Webster's 1828 Dictionary the scholar even sheds some light on Gentiles: </div><div><br /></div><div>"GEN'TILE, noun [Latin gentilis; from Latin gens, nation, race; applied to pagans.] In the scriptures, a pagan; a worshipper of false gods; any person not a Jew or a christian; a heathen."</div><div><br /></div><div>Mr. Webster points to the old issue of idol worship as being a Gentile. This is a link to the heathens, the image-worshippers according to the 1880 McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia:</div><div><br /></div><div>"As to the religion of heathenism, it is "a wild growth on the soil of fallen human nature, a darkening of the original consciousness of God's deification of the rational and irrational creature, and a corresponding corruption of the moral sense, giving the sanction of religion to natural and unnatural vices. Even the religion of Greece, which, as an artistic product of the imagination. has been justly styled the religion of beauty, is deformed by this moral distortion."</div><div><br /></div>James' voice in Jerusalem reverberated with the gospel of God good news given to Abraham and to Nathan to pass on to David. It inspired song for king David for those that would turn to the Kingdom constitution and away from idol worship just like the Egyptian and other sojourners that had left town with Jacob's descendants during the exodus:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Sing to the LORD, all the earth; <b>proclaim the good news of His salvation</b> from day to day. Declare His glory among <b>the Gentiles</b>, His wonders among <b>all peoples</b>. 1Chronicles 16:1:23-24</blockquote>Holy Bible, <u>believe it or not</u>, just when you thought salvation for Gentiles was new, the Kingdom gospel assignment that Jesus gave to His disciples to proclaim the good news to<b> "all nations" </b>comes right out of the book of Chronicles!! </div><div><blockquote>"And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations." Mark 13:10 </blockquote>Thank The LORD, the foundation assignment to declare this kingdom good news to all nations was not old or done away with and the faith of the disciples or Paul was nothing new. It was and is firmly rooted the so-called Old Testament, and if you'll prayerfully study it, you'll see for yourself it's not old at all. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's God's life giving voice on how to follow Him in faith in His image so that He may tabernacle with you.<br /><br /><b>With that background, let's get back to the Jerusalem debate and the knife.</b></div><div><br />The doctrine of religious conversion was a manmade religious doctrine, a tradition of one sect of the Pharisees, not the Jewish disciples nor Paul who was a Pharisee. It was a tradition not found in the Hebrew Bible that never states... "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."</div><div><br />Do you see that requirement in 1Chronicles 17:9-15?</div><div><br /></div><div>Was getting circumcised a requirement for Abraham to become a friend of God or for Israel and the sojourners with them to walk with God for 40 years in the wilderness journey?</div><div><br /></div><div>Nope it's not there. </div><div><br /></div><div>The religion problem was <u>the party circumcision forgot something</u> that's BIG in the Torah. Paul explains that in Romans 4:1-12 like this:</div><div><br /></div><div>"Our works or deeds never provide righteousness to earn redemption and salvation."</div><div><br /></div><div>No doctrine from manmade conversion tradition ever saved anyone, only Almighty God's heart of mercy can save. Our Father's redemptive response to repentance is forgiveness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bottomline, salvation starts with a faith heart of repentance, not a knife. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jesus <u>never said</u>, get circumcised for the Kingdom of God is near. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>He said "repent" for the Kingdom of God is near. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Repentant faith in Almighty God leads to God's righteousness. The Father responds to true repentance with forgiveness, that's the righteous blessing that counts in the end.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul proved he never forsake the Torah when he arrived in Jerusalem. Paul did not confuse works and obedience to The Lord's teaching and instruction with redemption and salvation, and Acts 21 shows Paul kept the Torah of circumcision. </div><div><br /></div><div>That fact had nothing to do with salvation. </div><div><br /></div><div>You might think of it this way: not eating unclean foods like bacon wrapped shrimp, crab and clams never redeemed a soul, but following God's instruction to not eat meat that God says is unclean (harmful) will keep you blessed and help keep you protected from nasty diseases caused by viruses, bacterium and toxins that infest those creatures that serve their God given creation purpose to clean up the environment.</div><div><br /></div><div>When Paul returned from Macedonia and Greece he met with James and the elders in Jerusalem. You should read Paul's reaction when he heard that rumors were spreading fake news saying he taught Torah keeping Jews living among Gentiles to forget all about Moses:</div><div><blockquote>When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. </blockquote><blockquote>After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. </blockquote><blockquote>And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law [Torah], and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. </blockquote><blockquote>What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow... </blockquote><blockquote>Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. </blockquote><blockquote>As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.</blockquote><blockquote><u>Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the Temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.</u> Acts 21:17-26</blockquote></div><div>Luke does not give us the details of the vow, but it's easy to see those men were under a Nazirite vow as precisely outlined in Numbers 6 and they needed to fulfill God's instruction and Paul helped them do so. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, what Luke does do is repeat the big four from Acts 15 that ties directly to Leviticus: 1) abstain from food sacrificed to idols, 2) from blood, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from sexual immorality.</div><div><br /></div><div>The good news of the Torah is that God's response in mercy and grace starts with what we choose to do in repentance to walk in His image. That's the sermon Jesus preached everywhere. He <u>never said</u> forsake the Torah teaching of The Father, in the Sermon on the Mount He made it clear, like heaven and earth it remains so do not think to do away with it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua compared the Torah walk to salt and light. Paul knew what this meant: </div><div><blockquote>"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. </blockquote><blockquote> "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. </blockquote><blockquote>In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." </blockquote><blockquote>"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. </blockquote><blockquote>For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:13-18 </blockquote></div><div>Do you believe what was said? </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua boldly refutes a replacement theology deception that the Torah can ever be done away with and replaced by grace as long as planet earth spins on its axis and orbits the sun.</div><div><br /></div><div>The accomplishment He is referencing is the goal of Torah... final redemption!</div><div><br /></div><div>What Yeshua of Nazareth describes is an ancient Jewish teaching that redemption is the process of restoring man from the bondage of sin described in the Torah to walk in the image of God out of love and response for what The Father has done. </div><div><br /></div><div>The final redemption, Geulah in Hebrew, comes in stages and involves Almighty God's blessing and man's response whether Jew or non-Jew as the children of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul understood earning salvation and eternal life in the Geulah is not found in God's plan nor His voice of instruction! The focal point particularly for the "Goyim" is in Ezekiel 37:28: </div><div><br /></div><div>"And the Goyim shall know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary is in their midst forever."</div><div><br /></div><div>With some help from the historic context of the infestation of paganism in Antioch, we can begin to understand the reason that Paul, argued against the Pharisee's ordinance that was not drawn from the written word of God's Torah. The issue at hand was a false claim that "earning" salvation by what we do aka circumcision was possible. </div><div><br /></div><div>God's mercy, forgiveness and grace are what the Pharisees forgot yet it's the heart of the Bible.<br /><br />The background to this book of Acts 15 Midrash story is that Paul wanted to go to Jerusalem with Barnabas because he came to know the true Kingdom gospel. Paul and Barnabas <u>were two witnesses</u> to Torah treasures that are explained in Jeremiah 3:17-23,<span style="background-color: white;"> Isaiah 25:3 and Psalm 106:47. They declare God's great lovingkindness for everyone</span>. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, the two men went to meet with the disciples of Yeshua in Jerusalem regarding the issue of whether circumcision was required for a non-Jews of the nations to become a member of God's household, aka citizens of the Kingdom of God.<br /><br />In Jerusalems, they discussed the Pharisee's tradition with an eye on the written Scriptures, so take some notes about what the Acts 15 Midrash never mentioned...</div><div><br /><center><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: left;">Do not blaspheme God's name, </span></center><center><span style="font-size: large;">do not murder or make</span></center><center><span style="font-size: large;">idols to worship them, or don't</span></center><center><span style="font-size: large;">honor the Sabbath, don't steal or lie,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></center><center><span style="font-size: large;">honor parents, </span><span style="font-size: large;">or covet </span></center><center><span style="font-size: large;">covet another's wife and property.</span></center><center><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></center><center></center>As far as we know, none of the other Commandments was discussed that day in Jerusalem. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Why not? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>The reason is a common sense Bible basic, but something has been lost in translation in a million sermons that call the Torah old, done away with and hung on the cross. </div><div><br /></div><div><u>Take note too</u>, a careful reading of Acts 15 reveals that <u>they did not agree</u> that a person coming into the faith without circumcision <u>"should not" be circumcised</u>. </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason they did not is for another study.<br /><br />The key issue at hand that the council dealt with were <b>the big four </b>"pagan problems" that God The Father is concerned about and how the written Torah of God deals with them. The reason: pagan life in Antioch was steeped in idol worship, fornication and blood lust much like a modern Halloween horror movie with a script right out of the crypts of Babylon and Egypt.</div><div><br />The disciples were dealing with the Bible basics, milk as Paul would call it in 1 Corinthians 3:2. </div><div><br /></div><div>Remember grip, stance, posture and alignment? Basics are important for every beginner like milk for a baby.</div><div><br /></div><div>The men in Jerusalem concluded that the former Gentiles needed to turn away from their horror movie habits learned from years of practice in a Zeus temple if they ever expected to properly worship God in a synagogue each week as an adopted child of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Zeus idol worship was bizarre, heathen and absolutely detestable to God. It's paganism was contaminated by sexual formication, eating strangled animals and raw meat, drinking blood and so on. It even included a sine that continues to be a problem today with the horrors of child sex slavery in America.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Jerusalem council knew the pagan problems from Babylon and Egypt were in direct opposition to God's Torah instruction manual that was given to unwind sin's slavery from idol plagued sins. </div><div><br /></div><div>They knew the basics of paganism were the reason God started His covenant at Sinai with: "<b>you shall have no other gods before me.</b>"</div><div><br /></div><div> They also knew this too:</div><div><blockquote>You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD. Leviticus 18:5</blockquote><blockquote>And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. Leviticus 20:23 </blockquote></div><div>The faithful men in that Midrash moment knew the covenant message: turn away (repent) from "<u>idolatry</u>" and its unholy abominations and detestable sin. </div><div><br /></div><div>They knew because they <u>all believed what is written</u> in Leviticus 17-10-16 and Leviticus 18.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, you read that right, Acts 15 is a real world, real life Midrash with a decision on God's voice in Leviticus and Moses wrote every word. </div><div><br /></div><div>They believed Moses because they believed God and they were witnesses to the fact that Yeshua lived, breathed, taught and explained what Moses wrote and that Yeshua never added to or took away from the written word of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>For those that have assumed from an old pulpit sermon or two that Acts 15 does away with Leviticus, <u>think again</u>! </div><div><br /></div><div>Peter declares it remains!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Take a moment to read 1 Peter 2. </div><div><br /></div><div>A big part of that short, to the point letter provides deep insight on the Acts 15 decision and it points to the entry door of Yeshua’s sermon's of God's gospel of the heavenly Kingdom on earth. Peter knew the path in response after forgiveness of sin is to choose a life walk in the clean and set apart ways according to God's written Word.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you find this mind bending, don't give up, the truth of what we can do out of love is worth the journey! As my friend told me, it time to unwind the tangled wire of tradition from the axle of God's voice.</div><div><br />If you don't, your life journey will fall and stumble insisting on an old lie that God changes His mind. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you think the men in Acts 15 changes God's instruction, you'll think Paul was a madman or really confused about everything including the council's conclusion. He did not forsake Torah or forgot it when he penned Romans 3:1-12 and wrote this:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? <u>Great in every respect</u>."</blockquote>Think about that and stew on it for a while.</div><div><br /></div><div>Did Paul break the so-called "new rules" of the council in the very next Acts chapter by circumcising Timothy and preaching that the decrees of Torah are to kept as plainly described in Acts 16?<br /><br />Nope, he did not. Read Acts 16, skip the miss-guided sermons, <u>re-read Acts 15-16 for yourself</u> in one sitting. And as you study, don't forget the storyline behind the story. Timotheus (aka Timothy) was the son of a father that was a Greek Gentile of the nations. </div><div><br /></div><div>Timothy's upbringing was the reason he had not been circumcised, that is until he met Paul and learned that the ways of Torah are good and can be kept, not for salvation from death's sin penalty, but out of love, respect and giving honor back to Almighty God The Father. </div><div><br /></div><div>Like Paul, Timothy learned that The Lord's teaching and instruction (Torah) is the Kingdom constitution that Messiah Yeshua lived out and taught. Tim must have known Yeshua said this at the Sermon on the Mount: "<u>do not think</u> one jot or tittle is done away with."<br /><br />Not a jot or tittle, so:<br /><blockquote>"And as they went through the cities, <u>they delivered them<b> the decrees for to keep</b></u>, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem." Acts 16:4</blockquote>With a perspective on the blatant idolatry embedded in the Greco-Roman lifestyle of Rome's Zeus worship, the Jerusalem council knew the Ten Commandments and the details that follow them in the scroll of Leviticus that provide the mountaintop teaching from Mount Sinai. </div><div><br /></div><div>They also knew first and foremost of God's forgiving lovingkindness, and that fact was understood in the council of those disciples. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's a hidden message if you will in Acts 15 and Acts 16. They all understood the meaning of "holy" and they knew this too:</div><div><blockquote>The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "<b>The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin</b>; yet He will by no means leave [the guilty] unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." Exodus 34:5-7 NASB</blockquote>If you doubt the background story of that council meeting in Jerusalem, do something and grab a Bible and believe. Set aside 15 minutes and read the four short chapters found in Leviticus 17-20. </div><div><br /></div><div>You may not know it, but those four chapters are known as two Torah portions from Leviticus. They are called "Acharei Mot" which means "after the death" and "Kedoshim" which means "holiness" or set apart-ness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Pause and consider that order <b>after the death - holiness set apart</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>After the death of the ways of sin we get to walk before God's holiness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Think about this too and remember, it took 40 years to learn to walk with God before Israel ever entered the Holy Land <u>and the whole time</u> those that entered <u>were not circumcised</u> until the end (more on that later).<br /><br />The Jerusalem council of apostles and elders understood. </div><div><br /></div><div>After all, they had read and studied those Torah portions for years. Those two big time Torah portions provide the <b>basic training </b>the disciples declared for former Gentiles coming into a faith walk from the horrors and abominations of paganism?<br /><br />The council understood the Bible basics of Acharei Mot Kedoshim. We must too if we want to properly understand Acts 15!</div><div><br /></div><div>The council knew that new Gentile believers <b>must be called to turn away from the ways of idol worship immediately </b>because they reeked of the same <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Religion/" target="_blank">Egyptian</a> smell of the pagan life picture described to the world in Leviticus 17-20. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Hebrew name for the book of Leviticus is "Vayikra" it means "and He called."</div><div><br /><b>What goes around comes around.</b> Almighty God called out Israel from Egyptian slavery and the pagan ways they had adopted. We know of the pagan problem because <b>the golden calf crime is the evidence</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The slavery was mixed with pagan-idol worship as the Egyptian society rubbed off like an infection of abomination. You can still find the false gods depicted on <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Hieroglyphs/" target="_blank">Egyptian hieroglyphs</a> and there's a Elohim God reason they remain as a witness to the world. </div><div><br /></div><div>The disciples knew God's voice recorded in "Vayikra" declared the Bible basics against pagan abominations:</div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people.</b> <b>So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”</b> Leviticus 18:29-30 </blockquote>The disciples knew the Gentiles were coming out of a Greco-Roman pagan culture infused with four idol worship traditions. So, the disciples warned against the unholy abominations:<br /><blockquote>"...abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well." Acts 15:29 </blockquote>These four guideposts against the <b>abominable customs of </b>pagan life summarized in Acts 15 were <b>never intended to be the sum total of the ways of God to be learned</b> any more than Leviticus 17-20 can be considered the sum of God's Kingdom instruction and teaching.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bottom line, the former pagans were not ready to start at the first tee at Augusta, there was more to learn every Sabbath because it takes time to build God-like character, for some 40 years.<br /><br />The men that met in Jerusalem knew what they were instructed to do from the Torah and they understood that the balance of God's holy ways would be learned in weekly synagogue Torah teachings as the Scriptures would be taught beyond Leviticus 17-20.<br /><br /><b>How can we know? <u>Because they said so</u>:</b><br /><blockquote>"For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” Acts 15:21</blockquote><br /><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><center><big>Think about it this way... could a beginner start golf </big></center><center><big>by teeing it up in The Masters, </big></center><center><big>could a flag footballer start in the Super Bowl, </big></center><center><big>could a first year med student perform a heart transplant? </big></center><center><big>NO WAY!!</big></center><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><br /><br />Since ancient generations, likely the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Hebrew Scriptures were systematically taught in public readings every Sabbath as the Torah scroll and the Prophets were unrolled for training in righteousness repeated in lessons over and again every year. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's the context of Acts 15.<br /><br />Paul and the Jewish disciples in Jerusalem understood this because they lived it. They believed the Torah could mold a person's character, so much so, they took it for granted that others would follow the ages old Sabbath study and incorporating God's word into daily life decisions through the faith training we call discipleship. </div><div><br /></div><div>Being a disciple is not only about believing.<br /><br />That's why Paul wrote these words to young Timothy long before the New Testament was ever compiled or known to exist:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"You, however, <b>continue in the things you have learned</b> and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that <b>from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith</b> which is in Messiah Yeshua. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness</b>; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:14-17</blockquote>The only Scriptures Paul knew was the same Bible Jesus taught, the Hebrew Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't think Paul ever thought of his letters as Scripture, but he knew all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for training one week at a time, one Sabbath at a time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Reread the gospels, that is precisely how Yeshua taught every Sabbath and it's the way the disciples had all learned the Scriptures. <u>This is proven</u> in Luke 4:16:</div><div><blockquote>And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.</blockquote>For the disciples, weekly Scripture study in a synagogue congregation was like eating bread on Shabbat, you never swallow the loaf all at once, you chew one portion at a time, one week at a time to grow in faith, equipped for every good work. We should all do the same.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hebrews 5:12-14 provides more on this process:</div><div><blockquote>For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. </blockquote><blockquote>You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.</blockquote>One big reason for gathering with others to hear the meat of the Word of Elohim God is that everyday, average people 2,000 years ago or even 500 years ago did not own a Bible, after all there were no printing presses for another 1,600 years.<br /><br />So, the Jewish men that met in Jerusalem outlined four Bible basics God had set forth as principles for those that had not grown up hearing God's Word. </div><div><br />Paul and the disciples were relying on the process of weekly study of God's written word for those Gentiles coming out of a hedonistic lifestyle <u>that had required them to:</u> 1) sacrifice to idols and 2) eat raw meat or blood, eat animals that were strangled while engaging in 3) illicit sexual immorality in heathen worship of false-gods and goddesses.<br /><br />These faithful Jewish men we call apostles agreed to four Bible basics for beginners just as Acts 15:21 says, because they all knew <b>the balance of the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings</b> should be read and taught <b>every Sabbath</b> and they understood 2 Chronicles 7:14:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"My <b>people who are called by My name</b> humble themselves and pray and seek My face and <b>turn from their wicked ways</b>, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin..."</blockquote>The disciples knew believers must learn to act as the King acts, walk as the King walks, and talk as the King talks. The disciples knew the Biblical principles on how to do that would be taught in due course when the Scriptures were read, studied and experienced as God's instruction manual for walking in His image. <br /><br />The disciples also knew that even the least of the commandments should not be set aside. This was a teaching of Yeshua-Jesus. Don't set aside even the smallest instruction:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:19</blockquote>Today, the weekly Sabbath reading of Scripture portions for a remnant of people has become a BIG part of the restoration of the tabernacle of David.<br /><br /><b>The question we might ask is: what on earth happened? </b><br /><br />If God's word was "the way" of Sabbath study for the disciples of Yeshua 2,000 years ago to learn the ways of righteousness, why does the mainstream church not study in the same manner, meet on the Sabbath or teach from the Torah, The Prophets and the Writings like Jesus did?<br /><br />Why aren't we walking in the King's custom, walking as the King walked, and teaching as the King taught?<br /><br />Stop and think about that for awhile. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to challenge new church tradition, time study ancient Scripture.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to uncover the "Constantine problem" of replacement theology tied to the church pew confusion about Acts 15. </div><div><br /></div><div>That a problem us Christians have stumbled over without knowing it. Some of us forgot the Torah Yeshua taught was given by God The Father as the relationship of righteousness and holiness after salvation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's the thing, we forgot the Hebrew Bible of our Messiah:</div><div><blockquote>“My teaching is not My own,” Jesus replied. </blockquote><blockquote>“It comes from Him who sent Me. If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own. </blockquote><blockquote>He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood." John 7: 16-19</blockquote></div><div>We forgot the meaning Matthew 7:13-14 too: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it." </div><div><br /></div><div>We forgot about Luke 13:24 "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We forgot. We are in famine and don't even know it: “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD/Adonai Elohim, “That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.” Amos 8:11 <br /><br />In the true context of Acts 15, we see that Paul plays a big role. The reason, he reached out to the Gentiles, yet he said he remained a Pharisee, a Jew taught by Gamaliel and his ministry assignment from Yeshua was to be sent to the nations (aka Gentiles). <br /><br />Despite being a lifelong student of Scripture, he too had stumbled in some traditions, but his eyes were opened and he agreed with the disciples that learning about the Kingdom ways of life outlined by the teaching of Torah takes time and training in God's written word. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to ask yourself if the four guidelines of Acts 15 are the only rules for righteous living.</div><div><br /></div><div>They are not, that's why we all agree to God's voice against murder, or do we? What about abortion for convenience, after all there's grace, right?<br /><br />Why don't we just teach our children that theft or disobedience to a parent's instruction is fine and that lying, cheating, lust and adultery are good for the soul? <br /><br />We all know murder and mayhem are wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why do we ignore The Lord's Sabbath, His Feasts and the Torah -- calling it old and done away with at the cross?<br /><br />On the road to Damascus, Paul experienced the new covenant "Torah of the heart" and his letters reflect that, but it took time, even for Paul. After that eye-opener, like Ben Hogan, it took Paul years before he was prepared and ready to lead the way. </div><div><br /></div><div>We know because he said so:</div><div><blockquote>But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. </blockquote><blockquote><u>Then after three years</u> I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. Galatians 1:16-18 </blockquote></div><div>Proper grip, stance, posture and alignment have to be re-learned. </div><div><br /></div><div>It took Paul three years. </div><div><br /></div><div>He knew all the manmade traditions of the Pharisees, he had to unlearn some of them but not all. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's not my opinion, Paul said so himself long after the bright light on the road to Damascus:<br /><blockquote>"Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!" Acts 23:6 </blockquote><blockquote>"My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. </blockquote><blockquote>They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee." Acts 26:4-5 </blockquote>The Pharisees rightfully trusted in the hope of resurrection. Paul did as well. </div><div><br />The council at Jerusalem wasn't turning against the Biblical instruction on circumcision as Paul upheld just a page later in the next Acts chapter. The council did not do away with God's words, even the least of them recorded by Moses that Yeshua of Nazareth explained with authority including the amazing Sermon on the Mount as He held up the importance of every jot and tittle.<br /><br />Paul upheld the Torah, we know because he put it in writing:<br /><blockquote>"Do we then overthrow the law (Torah) by this faith? <u>By no means</u>! On the contrary, we uphold the law (Torah)." Romans 3:31 </blockquote>That's exactly what the Acts 15 council did. They upheld the Torah of lovingkindness and they relied on Leviticus trusting the written word would be taught each and every Sabbath.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Today, many claim Galatians and Acts 15 as a New Testament rule of law for the grace.</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>The men that met in Jerusalem described in Acts 15 included Paul, Barnabas, Peter, James, Simeon and "the rest of the apostles and elders." They outlined some Bible milk basics straight from God's voice in Leviticus. They didn't think of Leviticus as old and done away with. Instead they assumed God's teaching and instruction, the Torah message to the world would be taught each and every Sabbath. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's worth repeating that we know because <b><u>THEY SAID SO</u></b>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">“For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” Acts 15:21</blockquote>What they didn't know is that within 300 years, a new religion claimed by Emperor Constantine would officially declare a Gentile opinion against Moses, the Sabbath and the synagogue. <div><br /></div><div>It's time to reconsider our Greco-Roman views that wear Scriptural blinders to Yeshua's Biblical obedience and life offering. Yes grace abounds and there's more to holiness.<br /><br />New religion theories can crash headlong into Almighty God's thunderous voice that declares:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">For the assembly, there shall be <u>one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you</u>, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before YHWH. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.” Exodus 15:15-16</blockquote>The Jewish disciples and Paul all knew the instruction from God that was delivered to Moses was more than a condemnation of pagan 1) idol worship, 2) sexual immorality, 3) eating animals choked to death and 4) drinking blood. </div><div><br /></div><div>The bigger purpose of their message was that the former Gentiles must take the first steps to turn from paganism and return to the heart of Torah. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's a process, a lifestyle to be learned based in the written word not man-made rules like some of the Galatians had fallen for... thinking that circumcision was required for salvation.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Like the disciples, we should take Torah in steps each week.</b> Its well worth repeating a third time...<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is [to be] read every Sabbath." Acts 15:21</blockquote><div>It's time to study the Bible and the Torah portions that the men of the Jerusalem Counsel were talking about.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's start with portion Re'eh, it's the fourth portion of weekly Sabbath reading found in the Torah summary sermon of Moses we now know as the book of Deuteronomy. Turn to Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17. In this reading of the weekly parashah Moses' sermon declares God's choice between blessings and curses and it is repeated three times because it's very important like Yeshua said, it is an easy, light yoke when you think about it:</div><div><blockquote>Deuteronomy 12:16 "...you shall not eat the blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water." </blockquote><blockquote>Deuteronomy 12:23:24 "...be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water." </blockquote><blockquote>Deuteronomy 15:23 "you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water." </blockquote></div><div>In the weekly portion Acharei Mot, Leviticus 17:10 tells us why the disciples chose their words carefully. Acharei Mot addresses the Bible basic against eating animals choked to death. Take note of the big difference: </div><div></div><blockquote> Leviticus 17:15–16 “If any one of the house of Israel <u><b>or of the strangers</b></u> who sojourn among them eats any blood, <b>I will set my face against that person</b> who eats blood <b>and will cut him off from among his people</b>.” </blockquote><blockquote>"And <b>every person</b> who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, <b>shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water</b> and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. <b>But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity</b>."</blockquote><div></div><div>I pray you can see the prohibitions of the Jerusalem Council are embedded in the Torah portions of Acharei Mot and Re'eh.</div><div><br /></div><div>The anti-idol basic is found in the Ten Commandments. It is repeated in Leviticus 17:7-9.</div><div><br /></div><div>Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20 outline sexual immoralities.</div><div><br /></div>The moral of the Acts 15 story is <u>a proper Torah walk like Yeshua's is learned -- it's a grafting-in process.</u></div><div><br /></div><div>Don't fall for a council theory from the dreamer of dreams called Constantine. If you have, then know The LORD is testing you to find out if you love El Shaddai Almighty God with all your heart and with all your soul. Instead, hold to the oracles of God's voice that a few new church fathers and an Emperor turned their backs on after the disciples had passed away.</div><div><br /><b>Bottomline, Constantine forgot that <a href="https://jesusisajew.org/index.php" target="_blank">Jesus is a Jew</a>.</b><br /><br />Jesus warned those that reject the Father's voice calling it old and done away with when He stressed that obedience is essential to true discipleship (see John 8:31).</div><div><br /></div><div>As children of God we have to re-evaluate the will of The Father which is The Torah.</div><div><br /></div><div>Is the will of The Father your goal? If so, how does it affect your witness of faith in the Jewish Messiah? </div><div><br /></div><div>Matthew 7:21 should be the scariest verse in the Bible for any one calling the Old Testament done away with, hung on a cross... </div><div><blockquote><b>"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but <u>only the one who does the will of my Father</u> who is in heaven."</b></blockquote></div><div>Repent and be like Paul, open your eyes and you will see that an out of context short-sided view on Acts 15 is a misguided perception of Paul's statement that false brethren were attempting to turn believers from the truth of <a href="https://www.myscripturestudies.com/2016/11/im-believer-in-yeshua-hamashiach-humble.html" target="_blank">the gospel of the Kingdom</a> that Yeshua taught long before His disciples ever knew about the Passover trial, the cross or the promise of salvation in resurrection.</div><div><br />Yeshua's gospel of the Kingdom message is still misunderstood, yet post-Holocaust eyes on Zion and the Jewish people are being opened today to restoration in relationship for both Jews and Christians as a community of faith comprised of native born and sojourner. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for<span> any</span> sojourner to understand that theMessiah is Jewish. </div><div><br /></div><div>Do you know what that means if you want to follow Him?<br /></div></div><br />Many pulpits have mistakenly portrayed the Acts 15 decision as that of "former Jews" that turned their back on the Old Testament and started a new religion. <u>They did not.</u> Had they done that, the would have rejected the Sermon on the Mount. </div><div><br />None of the disciples, apostles started a new religion. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the contrary, they upheld the law (Torah) focused on the faith, mercy and grace teaching of lovingkindness revealed on the mountaintop of Sinai according to the writing of Moses.</div><div><br />They never imagined we would would abandon Moses, the Sabbath or the will of The Father.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><p>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</p><p>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </p><p>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</p><p>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </p><p>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </p><p>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones. Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</p><p>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom.</p><p>Shalom.</p></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-61638802736775041322019-07-02T22:20:00.020-05:002024-01-21T10:58:43.581-06:00Chronicles to Messiah<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tidvY91yfeQ/XRwV6Vi-KEI/AAAAAAAAChg/ly2Xj5UgEh8j0bY994nv56iwdn_cgNREgCLcBGAs/s1600/wc_131ch.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="1000" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tidvY91yfeQ/XRwV6Vi-KEI/AAAAAAAAChg/ly2Xj5UgEh8j0bY994nv56iwdn_cgNREgCLcBGAs/s200/wc_131ch.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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In my Scripture studies I found that the thousands year old Hebrew Bible does not follow the order of the English Bibles published during the days of King James some 400 years ago. <div><br /></div><div>Basically the same books of the Bible but there's a BIG difference.<br />
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The ages old order of the Hebrew Bible concludes with the two books of Chronicles and they begin with an extensive listing of the genealogies of the families of Israel. <div><br /></div><div>Yet, the order of English Bibles shifted to Malachi. Why in the world did that happen?<br />
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If we read the Scriptures in the order of the same Hebrew Bible Jesus read - and turn the page, we can see that the so-called Old Testament does not fit in with an old label at all. In fact, it leads directly into Matthew's genealogy of Yeshua, or in modern English: Jesus.<br />
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The outline of the family tree of Yeshua listed in Matthew 1:1-17 is outlined in Chronicles.<br />
<br />Are the Chronicles to Messiah what you expected?<br />
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According to Eusebius of Caesarea that learned under under a guy name Pamphilus: an early follower of Yeshua went by the name Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis (today's Pamukkale, Turkey) made the earliest known attempt to assign names to the authors of the Jewish writings we now call "the gospels" around 100AD. Yes, you read that right too, the disciples were Jewish.</div><div><br /></div><div>Regarding the account Papias credited to Matthew, the historian Eusebius summarizes something VERY CRITICAL you need to know about the account that he had read sometime after 300 AD using Papias' assignment to Matthew as the scribe:</div><div>
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"So then Matthew composed <u>the oracles in Hebrew</u>, and every one interpreted them as he could."<br />
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The historian Eusebius is telling the world that the book of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew, not Greek and others back this claim including Irenaeus and Ephrem. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ephrem writes: "Matthew wrote the gospel in Hebrew, Mark in Latin from Simon in the city of Rome, Luke in Greek, John (at last) wrote it because he lasted in the world until the time of Trajan."</div><div><br /></div><div>There's a really good reason for Matthew's writing his account in Hebrew. <br />
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Matthew aka Mattityahu מַתִּתְיָהוּ was also called Levi (see Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27). Levi is likely not just a nickname, but his family identity. So, Bible scholars think Mattityahu was likely from from the levitical family, a Levite. It seems he strayed off the Levite path as a young man because when he met Yeshua, he was a tax collector.</div><div>
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According to the <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/biblical-taxation" target="_blank">Jewish Virtual Library</a>: "Talmudic literature is filled with complaints against the severity of the taxation in Ereẓ Israel during the period of Roman domination." Matthew was despised as a publican for Rome. Before He met Yeshua, he was called a sinner (see Mark 2:16).<br />
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Publican or not, if you read the book of Matthew, you can't help but see the references the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings (known as the Tanach) to illustrate the importance of the identity of Israel’s long-awaited Messiah.<br />
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Mattityahu, is the proper Hebrew name, it means "gift of the Lord." Although it's not really known who wrote the account, its credited to the tax collector. So far, the book of Matthew is the only known documented Hebrew account of the oracles we now call the New Testament written in the native Hebrew tongue. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nearly 200 years before that days of Mattityahu's calling, another man by the name of Mattityahu, a priest from the family of Levi stood up in defiance against the Syria Greeks that controlled the Holy Land. His family led the Maccabean revolt.<br />
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As noted in two other gospel accounts, Mattityahu is called Levi. So, if we want to understand the list and the whole story, we have to be like a Maccabee in a way and go back to the Tanach aka the Hebrew Bible, just as Mattityahu did. That means we have to reorder how we read the Bible just like Mattityahu did to connect the "Chronicles to Messiah."<br />
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Mattityahu starts his account with the genealogy that takes off where Chronicles begins. This brings laser sharp focus to the importance of the chronicles of the ancient family record found in the back of every Hebrew Bible. The generations noted by Mattityahu are grouped by the journey to the Promised Land, the kingdom, the journey from the land promised to Abraham and back to Messiah:</div><div>
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"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations."</blockquote></div><div>Matthew's grouping of generation timelines connects the beginning of the journey to establish the forever Kingdom of God in Israel.</div><div><br /></div><div>To consider this bold statement, we have to know how Mattityahu ends his unfinished story. He concludes it with the "Great Commission." The physical sign of that commission is the Jewish people. They officially returned to the place of Abraham's covenant blessing in 1948, and their mission there whether widely known or not, is to prepare the land for The Kingdom and the return of Messiah Yeshua.<br />
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There's even more when we see that the key storyline in the books of Chroncles is focused on king David's son Solomon. </div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God told David that it was his son's his assignment, not his, to build the House of God. When we realize what that means in God's restoration plan, we can see that the family tree that Mattityahu provides puts a decidedly Jewish bright light perspective on Daniel and Yeshua's role in fulfilling the blessing Elohim God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for all nations with it vortex in Israel.<br />
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That blessing is not just a matter of belief, it's a faith fact because God said so. Not only that, Jesus is a Jew for very good reason. He is forever tied to Abraham, David and the end of the last exile.<br />
<br />The wide wall of differences in faith, the exile of Jew and Christian today are built by a lack of knowledge of Messiah's identity. Truth from God is critical to faith and Biblical truth found in the Torah will tear down the wall one day and lead to the end of the exile of the Kingdom of God and its Messiah King. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are two prophets that declared God's voice on our shared gap of Biblical knowledge and their words can be very disconcerting as they point to an exile and a people rejecting Biblical truth:</div><div><blockquote>
Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst. Isaiah 5:13<br />
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My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law [Torah] of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6</blockquote>Whether Christians see it ot not, Paul described the Torah as "the embodiment of knowledge and truth" in Romans 2:20. Have you forgotten the Torah of your God? Have you taken something away from it?<br />
<br />If so, you must reconsider the ten virgin parable. Messiah will return for a bride prepped with the oil that shines its light on God's Torah. That's what Yeshua taught. Don't be tempted to put God to the test in a new religion and say it's hung on a cross. The word of God is alive. To say that it's done away with is <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/2th/2/7/s_1118007" target="_blank">the mystery of lawlessness that Paul warned Timothy of</a>. The lawlessness Paul wrote of is Torah-less-ness, aka not doing the Torah. That message is front and center in what we can all read in the letter to the Romans:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>For all who have sinned without the Torah will also perish without the Torah, and all who have sinned under the Torah will be judged by the Torah. For it is not the hearers of the Torah who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Torah who will be justified. </div><div><br /></div><div>For when Gentiles, who do not have the Torah, by nature do what the Torah requires, they are a Torah to themselves, even though they do not have the Torah. They show that the work of the Torah is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Messiah Yeshua. Romans 2:12-14</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Paul knew exactly why Jesus said:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>“It is written,</div><div> </div><div>‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by <u>every word </u>that comes from the mouth of God.’” and...</div><div><br /></div><div>“Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” </div></blockquote><div></div><div>Now back to Mattityahu's chronicle. He states the faith facts beginning with Abraham. Following his introduction with the family tree that includes four incredible women with Gentile links, Matthew go on to chronicle more direct and indirect references to the Hebrew Bible than any other Gospel writer and he does that with hints pointing back to the scrolls written by Jewish men. <br />
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Not only that, if you look closely you can see his account is arranged in five parts just like the Torah. The story he tells weaves the gospel of God's Torah with meaning. Matthew's five deliberate weaves are seen in: Matthew 5-7; Mathew 10; Matthew 13; Matthew 18 and Matthew 24-25. </div><div><br /></div><div>Each of these conclude with statements like: "when Jesus had finished saying these things," or "when Jesus finished instructing" or "when Jesus had finished these parables."</div><div>
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In this subtle, inspiring way, Matthew points back to the promise of the prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18 that is again referenced in Isaiah 55:3-4. </div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, Matthew quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures and the words of Jesus that tie to the Tanach more than any other gospel account found in the manuscripts attributed to Mark, Luke or John. This fact demonstrates Mattityahu knew his Tanach Bible basics like a Levite. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mattityahu connects with God's book and his Scripture references begin with the generational scrolls of the Chronicles. His other connections include the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy as well as the Psalms. He also includes references to Ruth, Isaiah, Micah, Hosea, Jeremiah, Malachi, Jonah, Zechariah and Daniel.</div><div><br /></div><div>While Mark quotes Yeshua more than any other good news account, Matthew combines the Hebrew Scriptures to a greater degree with over 100 direct and indirect echos of both the Tanach by the Torah teacher. No matter how you count it, Matthew leads the way.<br />
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We can only imagine that Mattityahu definitely had the faithful Jewish people living in and around Jerusalem as well as Judea and Samaria front and center as the audience of his Hebrew manuscript that was almost lost in a Greco-Roman world.<br />
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Today, almost two thousand years later, Jewish people from around the world have returned from exile to Mattityahu's backyard and many are turning in friendship toward the friends of Yeshua. Not only that, incredibly the Hebrew language has been restored in Israel, so we all need to take another look at this Jewish man's Hebrew story and the order of the Bible Mattityahu read.<br />
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By the way, if you are reading this commentary from Israel, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/HEBREW-GOSPEL-MATTHEW-George-Howard/dp/0865549893/ref=sr_1_2?hvadid=78615142078891&hvbmt=bb&hvdev=c&hvqmt=b&keywords=hebrew+matthew+george+howard&qid=1562245894&s=gateway&sr=8-2" target="_blank">you can buy a Hebrew copy of Matthew at Amazon</a> or get the Hebrew Matthew eBook at <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=4tdEBdVXg3AC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Google Books</a>. There's no need for a Hebrew mystery any longer. God willing, I'll post the red letter words of Yeshua soon so that you can see the Bible from His Jewish Torah perspective that starts in Matthew 4. I hope to highlight some headings to connect the jots and tittles of the written Torah to the prophet like Moses.<br />
<br />For now, you can read the Hebrew account for yourself to connect the jots and tittles that have not passed away in Matthew’s connections to the Hebrew Bible. Importantly, Mattityahu begins the good news record with the family tree in Chronicles and its listing of generations described in the seven chapters from 1Chronicles 2 to 1Chronicles 9.<br />
<br />For Christians, you need to know, the family line charted in Chronicles is not some boring old done away with list, it was put there for good reason, a God reason. The generations Matthew provides gives critical evidence for Yeshua’s connection to Abraham's blessing, David's kingship and the exile of Judah with a critical glimpse into how the first-century Jewish disciples all viewed the Hebrew Bible with anticipation and hope with a Messiah mind-set.<br />
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So, whether you realized it or not, Matthew starts the story by connecting every reader to the Chronicles because they are critical in the redemption plan of God.<br />
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Just when you thought of Matthew as the first book of a Newer Testament, <u>the manuscript does just the opposite</u>, connecting every reader with the Hebrew Scriptures... from the so-called Older Testament.<br />
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The reason Matthew does this is likely from something that Solomon wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by." Ecclesiastes 3:15</blockquote>
What has passed by is important to our future. The fact is, Matthew begins his account with the Hebrew Bible weaving an unbreakable Messianic connection embedded in the Torah that is highlighted in the books of Chronicles and it zeroes on on Solomon's assignment from his father David.<br />
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Matthew writes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The record of the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham."</blockquote>
Basically, Matthew tears the publisher's blank page out of every English Bible with his list of three sets of fourteen generations.<br />
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The Hebrew Bible has been around for thousands of years and it is not divided into 39, but 24 integrated books organized into three sections. They are called 1) the Torah or teaching and instruction (Genesis to Deuteronomy), 2) the Neviʾim or prophets (Joshua to Malachi) and 3) the Ketuvim or the writings (Psalms to Chronicles). <span style="font-family: inherit;">The three, the Torah, the Neviʾim (Prophets) and the Ketuvim (Writings) are the Tanakh Yeshua taught in synagogue every Sabbath according to Luke 4:14-16:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<center>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 393px;"><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3114; mso-width-source: userset; width: 73pt;" width="97"></col> <col style="width: 65pt;" width="87"></col> <col style="mso-width-alt: 3498; mso-width-source: userset; width: 82pt;" width="109"></col> <col style="mso-width-alt: 3200; mso-width-source: userset; width: 75pt;" width="100"></col> <col style="mso-width-alt: 3242; mso-width-source: userset; width: 76pt;" width="101"></col> </colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td height="21" style="height: 16pt; width: 73pt;" width="97"><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">Torah</span></u></td> <td style="width: 65pt;" width="87"><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">Prophets</span></u></td> <td style="width: 82pt;" width="109"><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">Minor Prophets</span></u></td> <td style="width: 75pt;" width="100"><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writings</span></u></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td height="21" style="height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Genesis</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Joshua</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hosea</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Psalms</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td height="21" style="height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Exodus</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Judges</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Joel</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Proverbs</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td height="21" style="height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Leviticus</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">1-2 Samuel</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Amos</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Job</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td height="21" style="height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Numbers</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">1-2 Kings</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Obadiah</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Song of songs</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td height="21" style="height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Deuteronomy</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Isaiah</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jonah</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ruth</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td height="21" style="height: 16pt;"></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jeremiah</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Micah</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lamentations</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td height="21" style="height: 16pt;"></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ezekiel</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nahum</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ecclesiastes</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td colspan="2" height="21" style="height: 16pt; mso-ignore: colspan;"></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Habakkuk</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Esther</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td colspan="2" height="21" style="height: 16pt; mso-ignore: colspan;"></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Zephaniah</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Daniel</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td colspan="2" height="21" style="height: 16pt; mso-ignore: colspan;"></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Haggai</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ezra</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td colspan="2" height="21" style="height: 16pt; mso-ignore: colspan;"></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Zechariah</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nehemiah</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 16pt;"> <td colspan="2" height="21" style="height: 16pt; mso-ignore: colspan;"></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Malachi</span></td> <td><span style="font-family: inherit;">1-2 Chronicles</span></td> </tr>
<tr height="0" style="display: none;"> <td style="width: 73pt;" width="97"></td> <td style="width: 65pt;" width="87"></td> <td style="width: 82pt;" width="109"></td> <td style="width: 75pt;" width="100"></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Order is important to God. Think about it, Paul writes about this fact in 1 Corinthians 14:33 inspired by the prophet Malachi when he said: "...For God is [a God], not of disorder, but of peace.. . ." Where did Paul come up with that? It wasn't new:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“For I, the LORD, do not change..." Malachi 3:6</blockquote>
In the end, Matthew’s Hebrew account answered the big question that was on the minds of virtually every Jewish person including the disciples. It remains in the hearts of faithful Jews today and it is hidden in the "Sod" Messianic themes of Solomon's Temple story in Chronicles. That big question goes like this:<br />
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If Yeshua is the Messiah to come, then where is the peace promised for Kingdom of God?<br />
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That's a big Jewish question and its a good one. One answer can be found in the "Sod" or hidden story of Solomon, the son of David. The chronicle is outlined at prophetic levels, so we have to look closely and study the big story line in Chronicles to see the picture. The answer to the Jewish question is one reason that Matthew begins his account with the family tree genealogy of Yeshua. His goal is to point us back to the focal point in Chronicles.<br />
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One quick comment on that word "Sod." Jewish scholars teach that the Bible should be studied and viewed in at least four different levels of critical study including the "Sod" or hidden level of Biblical inspiration. These dimensions of exegesis and interpretation are called PaRDeS, which is an acronym for Peshat, Remez, Derash and Sod. The first three mean literal, symbolic and seek. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fourth is that word Sod, it means hidden. It involves an inspired understanding of the deep or mystery meaning embedded within the Scriptures and Chronicles has a big one about the House of God.<br />
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At the Peshat and Remez level, Matthew's account reveals that Yeshua is a descendant of David, few people doubt that except the false prophets that now say He was a Palestinian or that say He started a new religion. </div><div><br /></div><div>Solomon was a king. Take note, <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=gospel+of+the+kingdom&t=NASB#s=s_primary_40_1" target="_blank">Matthew tells us at least three times</a> that the gospel Yeshua preached begins with repentance and the gospel of the Kingdom. That's one reason so many people flocked to see and hear Yeshua and knew that He is the prophet (Matthew 21:11). Yet He was rejected by some religious men that thought He threatened their authority (see Matthew 4:23-24; Matthew 16:13–28; Matthew 21:42–46).<br />
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A "Sod" perspective shows us their rejection was much like Solomon's kingdom that was rejected, torn and divided in two after Solomon's death by Jeroboam the rebellious leader of Ephraim and the ten tribes of northern Israel that Solomon had put him in charge of all the labor of the house of Joseph, Jeroboam rejected Jerusalem and God's Torah for a man-made new religion woven with paganism and left his brother Rehoboam the faithful leader of Judah behind in Jerusalem.<br />
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After Solomon died, Jeroboam led Ephraim astray in revolt against: 1) Rehoboam's aka Judah's rule in Judaea, 2) the Torah and 3) Jerusalem. The result was devastating, it divided the kingdom of Israel and it does so today in a Sod way.<br />
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If you think about it, Jeroboam provides a shadow picture cast on a few second century church fathers that claimed a new religion of replacement theology infused with paganism and anti-semitism as they too turned against the front of the Bible, the Jewish people and Jerusalem. Much like Jeroboam adopted the golden calves at Bethel and Dan that people might worship there and not Jerusalem as the place of worship, the church fathers grafted in Rome and Constantinople as the centers of their worship. </div><div><br /></div><div>When you really dig in and think about it, you might see their antisemitism and Greek thinking was just like Jeroboam... and the result has been "constant war with the house of Judah" but that time is ending for a remnant and the key to the restoration is God's Torah which includes the things rejected by the church as old and done away with. The restoration has begun among a few of Yeshua's followers. Some have now realized it's time to go back to the beginning of the return to the Promised Land includes the Lord's Sabbath and the appointed Feasts Days of The Lord and a friendship with the Jewish people.<br />
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Returning to Matthew, his list shows us Yeshua's lineage is a royal family tree rooted in the house of Judah. No rational informed person can dispute it.<br />
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The good news is that the book of Chronicles shows us that David reveals something critically important about this house and is tie to the king over "all" Israel:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Yet, the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me <b>from all the house of my father</b> to be king over Israel <b>forever</b>. For<b> He has chosen Judah to be a leader</b>; and in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over <b>all Israel</b>."</blockquote>It raises the question of just who is all Israel. Does it include all who follow the God of Israel? After all, that exact phrase, "The God of Israel" is found in:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Matthew</li><li>Luke</li><li>John</li><li>Acts</li><li>Romans</li><li>Galatians</li><li>Ephesians</li><li>Hebrews</li></ul></div><div>Consider this: King David knew he would grow old. David knew too that he would die one day just like everyone else, but <u>David also believed</u> the election of the house of Judah that was chosen for God's redemption purpose to uphold the oracles of God and fulfill the light of the world blessing promise for all peoples that started with Abraham.</div><div>
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Not only that, those that say God has no son <u>should listen</u> to king David of the house of Judah. In Chronicles, David is the Jew that declares that God told him Solomon was a chosen son but there's much more in the voice of God... <b><u>I will be a father to him</u></b>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), <b>He has chosen my son</b> Solomon to sit on the throne <b>of the kingdom of the LORD</b> over Israel. He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who shall build My house and My courts; for <b>I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and <u>I will be a father to him</u>.</b>" 1 Chronicles 28:4-6</blockquote>
King David understood what the Lord God had said: <b>I have chosen him to be a son to Me.</b><br />
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After all, Almighty Father God decides who He choses to be a Father to and who is to be called His son. God said it, that settles it.<br />
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Abba Father told David a son of God will build God's house and it courts. Thankfully, David provides us a hidden key to unlock the gate of another another mystery about this Father-Son relationship. David knew he would not be allowed to build the House of God because of war and bloodshed. We can see this declaration in 1 Chronicles 28:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then King David rose to his feet and said, “<b>Listen to me</b>, my brethren and my people; I had intended to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God. So I had made preparations to build it. But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name because you are a man of war and <b>have shed blood</b>.’"</blockquote>
David knew Solomon was chosen like a son of God to build a house of God with courts of stone, but David also believed a deeper mystery <u>about his tie to the forever lineage to come</u> that the Bible links to the new covenant described in Jeremiah 31:31-34. </div><div><br /></div><div>David declared God's election "from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Yet, the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me <b>from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever</b>. For He has chosen Judah to be a leader; and in the house of Judah, my father's house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel." 1 Chronicles 28:4</blockquote>
Solomon's assignment was temporary to be king and to build a stone house, but neither would last forever because it had a condition from the Lord God and Solomon was not faithful to the requirement. So, another leader of Judah, the chosen son of God, the Messiah was required to build the new covenant house to possess the forever Kingdom:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<b>I will establish his kingdom forever <u>if he resolutely performs </u>My commandments and My ordinances, as is done now.</b>’ So now, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, <b>observe and seek after all the commandments of the LORD your God</b> so that you may possess the good land <b>and <u>bequeath it to your sons</u> after you forever.</b>"</blockquote>
Solomon was not resolute, for crying out loud he acquired hundreds of horses for himself. Solomon's stables are the witness. He had a thousand wives and his focus was on worldly pleasure and riches. If you read the Bible you'll see Solomon built pagan altars. The king's job was to destroy them not mke them. He lived out the Deuteronomy 17:18 requirement to write out a Torah scroll, keep all of it and govern by it. God never intended for the children of Israel to be ruled by a Torahless king. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, Solomon missed God's assignment for His son and sinned and that's why his kingdom was divided after his death. He did not meet the standard of the forever king, so the kingdom was divided and fell apart in his son's rivalry. Yet, David was given a forever promise, so another son of man from the house of Judah had to arrive on the scene in the good land to keep the forever promise of a House of Prayers for all peoples and a Kingdom of native born and sojourner children dedicated to serve God as His children should.<br />
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A thousand years after Solomon died, Yeshua of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem (the house of bread) and the childhood home of David. Yeshua was resolute and did not sin or transgress one iota of the Torah written by Moses. He was resolute and lived a 100% Torah observant life walking out God's instruction and teaching just as He taught others to do while reading it as was His custom every Sabbath.</div><div>
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Not only that, Yeshua explained the meaning of Torah, the Prophets and the Writings with a whole heart for a willing mind and by that we can see Yeshua fulfilled the assignment that David gave to Solomon:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and <b>serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind</b>; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be courageous and act</b>." (Summary of 2 Chronicles 28:2-10)</blockquote>
Yeshua was courageous and He acted. And right now, He is still building a living house for The Lord God of Israel. A house of prayer being filled with living stones because the new covenant is about God's law that will be written on the hearts of mankind. That is not new, Abel is the witness outside the garden. It was always God's goal, to have a people devoted to Him that will be resolute in worship and demonstrate that commitment of love in what they do by abiding in the Father's commandments. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua did. In the parable of the vine described in John 15, Yeshua explains the importance of abiding in the authority of the Father for every God believer: "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, <u>just as I have kept my Father's commandments</u> and abide in his love."<br />
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Yeshua understood the Kingdom connection to Jeremiah. The prophet described Israel as a noble, faithful seed of the vine (see Jeremiah 2:21). Yet, some of the branches did not abide in the root of the vine, the commandments of God and they became degenerate, a foreigner for a while to God's teaching and instruction. The same is true for any believer today who does not abide in the living vine of Yeshua's Torah teaching. We have missed the mark, the problem if remain in diobedience, we will not bear fruit in the House of God (household) that is pictured by Yeshua as a fruitful garden.<br />
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Israel was the example then and they are today, we must all understand the way any God believer can bring bear fruit is to stay connected to the vine and keep the commandments, by doing them we can all abide in love and joy as a sanctuary family, native born or sojourner. By explaining this to His disciples, Jesus was teaching that abiding in keeping his teaching as a faithful son is keeping God's instruction for joy and life.<br />
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The abiding household family of God explained by Yeshua ties directly to to the way that the Father wishes to dwell with people. This was nothing new, Abba Father told Moses: "And let them make me a sanctuary that <u>I may dwell</u> among them" (Exodus 25:8) and gave the promise: "And <u>I will dwell</u> among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that <u>I may dwell among them</u>: I am the LORD their God." (Exodus 29:45-46).<br />
<br />Is the LORD your God? Have you joined the family whether native born and sojourner? Have you come out of Egypt? </div><div><br /></div><div>Moses was given the ultimate plan to record that God's desire and heart is to dwell with His people. and Yeshua is the son of man prophet that explained it and lived it out.</div><div>
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God's redemption plan has never changed. It starts with Passover and it ends with Tabernacles.<br />
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I am thankful for God's plan. </div><div>I am thankful for my Jewish brothers and sisters in the family tree. </div><div>I am thankful for God's promise to Abraham to be a blessing to all nations. </div><div>I am thankful I have been blessed and grafted, adopted if you will, into the everlasting promise of Almighty God just like Ruth and Tamar.<br />
I am thankful for the faith of Abraham and for Matthew's list that chronicles the family record of the Tanach to show the world that God’s promise to Abraham was and is His plan for all people from the beginning.</div><div>I am thankful for the promise of a son given to David.</div><div>I am thankful Matthew reveals the critical links between Abraham, David and Judah's exile with a laser focus on Yeshua.<br />
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The Bible does not pull punches, it shows us all that Almighty God's blessings go beyond DNA. His forgiveness, love and mercy that exceed our comprehension is for all. </div><div><br />
Three thousand years ago, David wanted to build a house for The Creator Father of mankind. David was reminded that Almighty God walked with everyone, both native born and sojourner in the wilderness (read 2 Samuel 7:5-7). David was given a promise, and that resolute son is Yeshua of Nazareth. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus fulfills the Torah teaching that God kept the promise given to Moses. He would send a prophet like Moses, teaching God's Word.<br />
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David was given both a revelation and a blessing, that a house would be built for him by God's son, a household of people and the household of David would be the key to that blessing:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, <u>have made this revelation</u> to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and <u>you have promised this good thing</u> to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, <u>so that it may continue forever before you</u>. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever." 2 Samuel 7:27-29</blockquote>
The blessing revealed to David showed the shepherd king of Israel that the house The Lord God would build would be a household heritage full of children that choose Him as The Father. David confirmed his understanding of the blessing in Psalms 127:1-3:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Unless the Lord builds the house,<br />
those who build it labor in vain.<br />
Unless the Lord watches over the city,<br />
the watchman stays awake in vain.<br />
It is in vain that you rise up early<br />
and go late to rest,<br />
eating the bread of anxious toil;<br />
for he gives to his beloved sleep.<br />
<br />
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,<br />
the fruit of the womb a reward. "</blockquote>
The reward of the fruit of the womb promised in Genesis 3:15-16 was a son that was required to be born of a woman because Eve was deceived. The plan included exile and pain that would bring forth children of God to enter into covenant with God like a husband:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"And I will put enmity<br />
Between you and the woman,<br />
And between your seed and her seed;<br />
He shall bruise you on the head,<br />
And you shall bruise him on the heel.” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To the woman He said,<br />
“I will greatly multiply<br />
Your pain in childbirth,<br />
In pain you will bring forth children;<br />
Yet your desire will be for your husband,<br />
And he will rule over you."</blockquote>From the beginning, God made a promise concerning the birth of the Messiah King that would bruise the deceiver and end his reign of death on earth. God told Isaiah Messiah would be Immanuel:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14</blockquote>
Immanuel means God is with us. The Father has had this plan from the beginning. He will abide with His children, but the plan requires a resolute son that would talk and walk in His Torah and never waiver. The miracle through which this plan is being accomplished can be seen to be the raising up of Messiah, who is the son of David and the seed of the woman.<br />
<br />
The Jewish rabbi Paul explains that through death and resurrection, Yeshua became the "firstborn" son of man described in Colossians 1:15-20. It is a big time reference to Daniel 7. </div><div><br /></div><div>For nearly 2,000 years the firstborn of a new creation has been building the temple of the living God, ahouse of prayers for all peoples. Almighty God will dwell in His people have His way:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,<br />
“I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM;<br />
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 2 Corinthians 6:16</blockquote>
<div>
This house is the covenant made with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34</blockquote>
Yeshua meets all the requirements and He will complete the mission for Messiah King. The house of the chosen son is building is much bigger than the stones Solomon used that were quarried by the Gentiles of his day. It is still from God's creation... mankind. After all, the people of God's house are literally living dust, water and spirit. Believing people are the living stones that are alive with the breath of God and they know Him.<br />
<br />
God's living house must be resolute too. We must trust in The LORD with a contrite heart that seeks to honor Almighty God with sacrifices of repentance, prayer and thanksgiving just as it has always been.<br />
<br />
The thing we have to remember about the living tabernacle of God is that from the beginning, Elohim made mankind to resemble of the image of God, so our responsibility is to do that in love as we seek to live in His image:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..." Genesis 1:26</blockquote>
That's what Messiah taught. It's the highest purpose of Torah to walk in the image of God.<br />
<br />
The Jewish disciple John reveals Messiah in these words:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:1-4 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14</blockquote>
That grace and truth was transcribed at Sinai. As it was meant in the beginning, the body of Messiah that is to be both Jew and Gentile is purposed to be an image reflecting of God's light and indwelling Spirit and that's why The Father gave His instruction Moses and Yeshua to teach us how to do it. It's for all of us. It's the way His children get to follow in Yeshua's walk in the Father's instruction for life in God's Kingdom.<br />
<br />I repeat, the living house of God is being built stone by stone, heart by heart, soul by soul in the image of God by the breath of His Word in Messiah's voice. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Jewish Rabbi, Paul of Tarsus explained this fact in typical Jewish teaching style by asking a "Sod" level question and like a good teacher he provides the answer from the Torah that contains blessing and curse:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are." 1 Corinthians 3:16-17</blockquote>
Peter confirmed this Torah teaching of living stones as a second witness and like Matthew, he backed up what he said with Scripture as his witness:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">For this is contained in Scripture: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in him will not be disappointed.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,” and, “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble <u>because they are disobedient to the word</u>, and to this doom they were also appointed." 1Peter 2:1-8</blockquote>
The builder sets a corner stone at, you guessed it, the corner of a building joining the walls and the corner stone is inscribed with the name of the architect and owner. The Lord God of Israel is the architect of the living stones of His children.<br />
<br />
Modern Israel is living proof of this God's promise to Abraham. Israel is not great today because it is made of the bricks that men have been built or by stones they have uncovered there, but it is the Jewish people that will make Israel great. That is why Messiah will return there.<br />
<br />A faithful people have always been Israel's past present and future as the whole household of God.<br />
<br />
A temple of stone cannot contain God's glory but it has a purpose. We know this because wise Solomon said so:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?" 2 Chronicles 2:6 NIV</blockquote>
Yeshua's life offering gives us the answer to Solomon's question, and the broken spirit of repentance as sacrifices of righteousness, a contrite heart and thanksgiving are the sacrifices that are required to be burned in the living house of God Yeshua is building. This fact is the picture declared by none other than David:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the LORD." Psalm 4:5<br />
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." Psalm 51:17 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,<br />
And tell of His works with joyful singing." Psalm 107:22</blockquote>
We know Jeremiah was given great promises, one of them is about a future redemption:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the LORD!’” Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place." Jeremiah 7:1-3</blockquote>
If you have ever read the front of the Bible, this declaration from Heaven may shock you:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘<u>Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people</u>; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’" Jeremiah 7:22-23</blockquote>
Read it again: "Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you."<br />
<br />
If you want life to go well, obey God's voice! It's our first assignment.<br />
<br />
As a second witness, the prophet Micah repeats the offering requirements of justice, kindness and a humble walk:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
With what shall I come to the LORD<br />
And bow myself before the God on high?<br />
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,<br />
With yearling calves? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams,<br />
In ten thousand rivers of oil?<br />
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,<br />
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He has told you, O man, what is good;<br />
And what does the LORD require of you<br />
But to do justice, to love kindness,<br />
And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:6-8</blockquote>
<div>
Micah's questions for mankind points back to Moses same question in Deuteronomy 10:12-13:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Now, Israel, <u>what does the LORD your God require from you</u>, but to fear the LORD your God, to <u>walk in all His ways and love Him</u>, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?"</blockquote>
Messiah Yeshua answered in the same way: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment." Matthew 22:37-38<br />
<br />
Yeshua is the living person, the precious living corner stone in Zion that we are to align with.<br />
<br />
What are we to do with this truth?<br />
<br />
We are to walk in the LORD’S ways, to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God and love the LORD God with all our heart and with all our soul. We get to do that and keep the LORD’S commandments in love.<br />
<br />
In Matthew's lineage, Judah's scepter promise declared by David is verified in Yeshua.<br />
<br />
Judah is the fourth name noted in Matthew's chronicle. Judah's presence is critical and his name means "praised." Another important thing to know about Judah is that his life is heralded not for his transgression with Tamar but his remorse and repentance as he was transformed into a man of God.<br />
<br />
In Egypt, Judah emerged as a kinsman redeemer ready to lay down his life for his brother Benjamin proving to Joseph that he was a changed man. Judah's change proves that God can bring his blessing of a living Temple to the world through deeply flawed people that repent of the wrongs that we do and turn to God transformed from a heart of stone and a stiff neck to a humble heart living for God with a bowed head.<br />
<br />
In the books of Chronicles, Judah first appears in 1 Chronicles 2:1, there he is listed as the fourth son of Israel. He is connected to David and Solomon and God's promise of a house and its precious corner stone in Messiah.<br />
<br />
Yeshua is the ultimate kinsman redeemer who said: “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” John 10:17-18.<br />
<br />
Messiah's work in the world is being accomplished through the building of God's living temple through the living stones of people that seek the heart of The Father, but if you come from a traditional Christian background, you may have been trained in some way to reject the Holy Temple that Yeshua taught in, thinking its old and done away with.<br />
<br />
You may have been taught to reject the purpose of the Temple and the sacrifices, perhaps taught that Christians are now the only Temple of God. But that is not what Scripture teaches. The king is returning and He will have a house. Ezekiel and Zechariah teach us that the Temple will be built again in Jerusalem. God told Solomon:<br />
<br />
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My Name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 2Chronicles 7:15-16<br />
<br />
Yeshua is Messiah ben Joseph. He came first as a humble shepherd (of people) and He will return as King Messiah ben David, the lion of the tribe of Judah to rule the planet from Jerusalem. Yeshua is the son chosen to build God's house. He is coming again to rule the Messianic Kingdom and the world to come from Mount Zion.<br />
<br />
Take note, David was a shepherd too before he was king. So is Yeshua and His desire is to bequeath God's Kingdom.<br />
<br />
David prophetically said this: "In the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, he observed and sought after all the commandments of the LORD God so that you may possess the good land and He will bequeath it to you forever if your follow the King." 1Chronicles 28:8<br />
<br />
David set the standard:<br />
<br />
"If you seek Him, He will let you find Him..." These are big time "Sod" messages from Chronicles about the son that would build a house for God as the precious corner stone.<br />
<br />
I pray you can see the account of Matthew provides one answer to the mystery and order of the bigger picture in the Chronicles storyline. That is why Matthew begins with Yeshua's genealogy and it includes David, his son Solomon and the living temple to be built by the one chosen to be the son of The Heavenly Father.<br />
<br />
Messiah Yeshua is the chosen lamb of God offering for the living temple of God. God knows we are weak like Judah and Solomon, and He wants a house for the temple is not for man, but for the LORD God. The reality is the spiritual and the physical will not be separated:<br />
<br />
"Then King David said to the entire assembly, 'My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen... the work is great; for the temple is not for man, but for the LORD God.'" 1 Chronicles 29:1<br />
<br />
The critical name list in Matthew with its reference to David and Solomon points to the day David bequeathed kingship and an assignment for a righteous one to build a Temple for the LORD God. David's words are prophetic and they point directly to Messiah Yeshua:<br />
<br />
"Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.<br />
<br />
Now behold, there are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God, and every willing man of any skill will be with you in all the work for all kinds of service.<br />
<br />
The officials also and all the people will be <u>entirely at your command</u>.”" 1 Chronicles 28:20-21<br />
<br />
Without knowing it Joseph Caiaphas, the high priest of the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of Yeshua's trial as well as the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judaea and even the crowd were all entirely at Yeshua's command to fulfill The Father's goal of offering redemption for sin through a repentant heart so that His chosen one in the line of Judah could build the living House of The Lord for the service of the House of God.<br />
<br />
The amazing thing about Yeshua's command at His trial is that by courage He did not provide defense against His accusers, yet He was accused of things He never did to break the written Torah of God. They falsely accused Him of breaking the Sabbath of the Lord by healing and his condemnation was agreeing with them about His identity as King.<br />
<br />
In all of the Gospel accounts of His trial, Yeshua gives few direct answers to the accuser's questions, according to John 18:22 this prompted one official to slap him in the face. In Matthew 26:62-64, the lack of response from Yeshua pressed the high priest to arrogantly demand: Do You not answer?<br />
<br />
"The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But Yeshua kept silent.<br />
<br />
And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Messiah, the Son of God.”<br />
<br />
Yeshua said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”<br />
<br />
In the Luke 22:67 account of this Passover trial, Yeshua is asked: "If thou art the Messiah, tell us. But he said unto them, If I tell you, you will not believe".<br />
<br />
In Luke 22:70, when asked "Are you then the Son of God?" Yeshua only answered: "You say that I am."<br />
<br />
The accusers forgot what God had told David, the forgot the words of Moses too. Yeshua was in control, at that point, they decided to condemn Yeshua to death against the Torah of God, yet the accusers were the only witness. They defied Moses saying: "What further need have we of witness? for we ourselves have heard from his own mouth."<br />
<br />
The thing is... the religious men were ignoring Deuteronomy 19:15-17:<br />
<br />
"A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before The LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days."<br />
<br />
Convinced from a defense of silence, the accuser's religious stony hearts weres based on self serving pride and opinion, so the men took Yeshua of Nazareth over to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judaea, and they demanded that he be tried under Roman law for claiming to be the King of the Jews because they knew their verdict did not meet true orthodox faith and its timeless truth of judgment Moses' conveyed.<br />
<br />
They knew they did not seek to honor God rightly and appear before The LORD so their cop out was to transfer their verdict to the rule of law of the Roman and appear before him.<br />
<br />
Do you remember the answer given to Pilate's question?<br />
<br />
Matthew 27:11-14 provides the account. "Now Yeshua stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Yeshua said to him, “It is as you say.”<br />
<br />
Matthew 26:57 tells us that Yeshua was taken back to the house of the high priest of Israel, where the scribes and the elders of the Sanhedrin were gathered.<br />
<br />
Like the account of the spies Moses sent to explore the Promised Land, at Yeshua's trial, only two men dissented against the bad reports of Yeshua. According to Luke, only Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were against the ranting Torahless decision led by Caiaphas.<br />
<br />
Mark 14:53 states that Yeshua was taken that night "to the high priest," where all the chief priests and the elders gathered, and Mark 15:1 adds that another consultation was held among the priests the next morning. Matthew 27:1 also adds that the following morning, the priests held yet another meeting.<br />
<br />
The record from the Jewish disciple John adds something prophetically important that occurred:<br />
<br />
"One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” John 11:49-50<br />
<br />
In the end, one died for the sins of mankind and Yeshua's silence controlled not only Caiaphas to declare the requirement that one man die for the people that the whole nation not perish, but Pilate to declare His innocence so that He could accomplish God's work willingly.<br />
<br />
The trial unfolded just as David spoke to Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:21... "The officials also and all the people will be <u>entirely at your command</u>.”<br />
<br />
This included the crowd at Pilate's hearing. We see this in Matthew 27:24-26 as the death penalty was taken back from Roman rule by the crowd's declaration:<br />
<br />
"When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified."<br />
<br />
At the crucifixion, the Roman soldiers did something critical that points us back to Chronicles and king David. They hung a sign above His head saying: "This is Yeshua King of the Jews" (Matthew 27:37) and they put a crown of thrones on His head (Matthew 27:29).<br />
<br />
As we have seen, Matthew 's account weaves the truth to Chronicles but it's much more than the list as 1 Chronicles 29:15-19 shows us the willing hope offering of Yeshua for the entire world.<br />
<br />
Yeshua is the faithful son, the one David spoke of with a perfect heart to keep God's commandments, testimonies and statutes. He did them all to teach all believers in repentance there is hope in the living house for God's holy name.<br />
<br />
With a "Sod" mystery prophetic voice, Chronicles tells us God's House is from His hand, not man's.<br />
<br />
King David said:<br />
<br />
"For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope.<br />
<br />
O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours.<br />
<br />
Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You.<br />
<br />
O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You; and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple, for which I have made provision.” 1 Chronicles 29:15-19<br />
<br />
After David spoke these words, "On the next day they made sacrifices to the LORD and offered burnt offerings to the LORD... in abundance for all Israel."<br />
<br />
The day following His dark night and silence in trial, Yeshua, the one that kept God's testimonies and statutes and with a perfect heart, offered Himself as a willing sin sacrifice as a burnt offering of redemption for God's living House.<br />
<br />
The account in 1Chronicles 29:23 also tells us what has happened since that fateful Passover day:<br />
<br />
"Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father; and he prospered..." 1 Chronicles 29:23<br />
<br />
Yeshua prospers at the right hand of God instead of Solomon, but something is missing that was granted Solomon that will come to pass with Yeshua: "and all Israel obeyed him."<br />
<br />
Solomon was a shadow picture of Messiah Yeshua our King: "Now Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and exalted him greatly." 2 Chronicles 2:1<br />
<br />
Jesus always quoted Scripture, so we might expect that the Messiah King may use words like these of Solomon when He returns on the cloud of glory first seen at the exodus from Egypt:<br />
<br />
<u>“You have dealt with my father David with great lovingkindness, and have made me king in his place. Now, O LORD God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth."</u> 2 Chronicles 1:8-9<br />
<br />
When Yeshua ben David returns, He will show that He too will count the Gentiles for the work of God's House just like Solomon did: "Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, following the census which his father David had taken; and 153,600 were found..."<br />
<br />
Chronicles shows us that the Temple of God has always been a house for the foreigner and all peoples of the earth:<br />
<br />
"Also concerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name’s sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house, then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, <u>in order that all the peoples of the earth</u> may know Your name, and fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name." 2 Chronicles 6:32-33<br />
<br />
Isaiah 56:5-8 confirms God's house is for all people that join themselves as servants to The Lord:<br />
<br />
"I will give in my house and within my walls<br />
a monument and a name<br />
better than sons and daughters;<br />
I will give them an everlasting name<br />
that shall not be cut off.<br />
<br />
And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,<br />
to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,<br />
and to be his servants,<br />
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,<br />
and holds fast my covenant—<br />
these I will bring to my holy mountain,<br />
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;<br />
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices<br />
will be accepted on my altar;<br />
for my house shall be called a house of prayer<br />
for all peoples.”<br />
<br />
The Lord GOD,<br />
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,<br />
“I will gather yet others to him<br />
besides those already gathered.”<br />
<br />
In 1948, God began regathering the outcasts of Israel and remember God also promised; "I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered."<br />
<br />
When Yeshua returns, He will keep the seventh month agenda just like Solomon:<br />
<br />
"Then Solomon assembled to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel... All the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, that is in the seventh month." 2Chronicles 5:2-3<br />
<br />
The trumpets of Revelation will also be heard for the returning Messiah King:<br />
<br />
"When the priests came forth from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to divisions), and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them one hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the LORD saying, “He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God." 2 Chronicles 5:11-14<br />
<br />
God's living house will be completed as it was with Solomon by the fulness of the Gentiles and The Lord's promise fulfilled.<br />
<br />
"Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in the place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel."" 2 Chronicles 6:10<br />
<br />
All will respond: "We have sinned, we have committed iniquity and have acted wickedly..." 2 Chronicles 6:37<br />
<br />
Then there will be a celebration, like a wedding festival at the final Feast of Dedication and Ingathering like Solomon's but much greater:<br />
<br />
"So Solomon observed the feast at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly who came from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt.<br />
<br />
On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar they observed seven days and the feast seven days. Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their tents, rejoicing and happy of heart because of the goodness that the LORD had shown to David and to Solomon and to His people Israel." 2 Chronicles 7:7-10<br />
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Zechariah tells us more about the millennium day of the Kingdom. There's still a wise choice to make:<br />
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"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 hosts, there will be no rain on them." Zechariah 14:17<br />
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The prophet was thinking on the mystery of Messiah and he likely got his message from Chronicles:<br />
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“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them; then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance." 2 Chronicles 6:26-27<br />
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Many will be shocked by this when Messiah Yeshua keeps David's ordinance honoring the saints described in Revelation 14:12 as He opens the gates described in Revelation 22:14 to the whole assembly of the House of The Lord:<br />
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"Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Yeshua."<br />
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"Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city."<br />
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Yeshua will give a command like David: "Now according to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for David the man of God had so commanded.<br />
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And they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any manner or concerning the storehouses.<br />
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Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished.<br />
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So the house of the LORD was completed." 2Chronicles 8:14-16<br />
<br /><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your life assignment. Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div><br /></div><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.</div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div><div><br /></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.<br />
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Shalom.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-56639791950328361512019-04-13T09:25:00.035-05:002024-01-21T10:49:11.685-06:00Bringing Life to Dry Bones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>"Son of Man can these bones live?"</b><br />
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<br />Ezekiel was asked that amazing question and the prophet was given the answer by Almighty God.<br />
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It's the question with <u>very great promise,</u> pointing to the demise of iniquity on planet Earth and restoration in resurrection.<br />
<br />In my Scripture studies, I found Ezekiel's Q&A with God also points to a preview within the amazing restoration right before our eyes!<br />
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In 1948, many Bible believing Jewish people were restored to the Promised Land of Israel and in 1967, Jerusalem was restored to the Jewish people following the Holocaust and their exile and dispersion that began at the murderous hands of Rome in 70AD.<br /><div><br /></div><div>In Israel there's a resurrection restoration of farms, gardens, orchards and vineyards everywhere across the Land of God's Promise. The world is witnessing the amazing promise of bringing life to dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that, the world is witnessing the prophetic restoration of the Hebrew language promised to Zephaniah.<br /><div>
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We are a virtual witness to the times of refreshing promised by many prophets including Ezekiel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bottomline, you and I are living in Biblical times - right now!!<br />
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These are the latter days of promise, and there's more to come...<br />
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The big question "can these bones live" in one way points to a once parched land that has now blossomed to life following Hitler's fire of the Shoah - Holocaust that mysteriously birthed a nation in a day.</div><div><br /></div><div>The land before the eyes of the nations is back in place because it was dedicated in God's promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. <br />
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In 1948, life returned by the power of Almighty God. The bones of the Jewish people that survived the fires, bullets and the gas chambers live as do their descendants. Many holocaust survivors are alive in Israel. Since that tribulation, cities have been re-inhabited and waste places have been replanted in Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's an ancient promised miracle in modern time with a purpose. The people and the land are being prepared for Messiah's return whether people believe it is the first or second trip.<div><br /></div><div>Everyone needs to take the time to study and read Ezekiel 36 and Ezekiel 37. It's a big picture of the Gospel of God as the prophet writes of God's promise of life after death resurrection and restoration. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many miss it, but what we're seeing in Israel points to the transformation promise that Ezekiel and virtually every other prophet including Moses wrote of. The storyline also points back to Yeshua's death and resurrection on the third day.</div><div><br /></div><div>The return of the Jewish people includes ancient areas in Judea and Samaria as we are seeing Biblical promises unfold right before our eyes.</div>
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The restoration of the House of Judah in Israel is a modern miracle of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many millions of Jewish people are blessed to be back in Israel restoring the land promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. </div><div><br />Restoration is a part of God's promise that includes the nations of the world, but few see it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God's global plan was revealed to David by Nathan. It's a redemption to "all" Bible believer's that seek to follow the God of Israel whether native born or sojourner with Messiah, the promised King of the household of God's Kingdom.</div><div><br /></div><div>What you may have not know is there is a backstory of Almighty God's work behind all of this. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Torah (teaching) of God is being restored among the nations, the falling away is ending for a remnant. </div><div><br /></div><div>It started in earnest after 1967 as the Spirit of God tugged at the hearts of many Bible believing Christians to repent and return to God's ways. It starts with the realization that God does not change and His eyes are still on Jerusalem. His promises are true.</div><div><br /></div><div>They have seen God's work behind the headlines and in them, and they have seen many Bible believing faithful Jewish people have honored the Sabbaths of The LORD for centuries because God does not change. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some Christians are awakening to the light of the Sabbath and the Feasts of The Lord.</div><div>
<br />Perhaps you may have not seen the forest for the trees just yet. You may be seeking to understand what Almighty God has been up to in our generation, so it's time to know believe the Bible. God does not change and Jacob was not consumed in the Holocaust. </div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God is blessing the Jewish people as His chosen people to shed light on His unchanging Word as Israel is making the preparations required for The King and they are shedding light about God's voice to the nations. The Jewish people were given a great responsibility to uphold the oracles of God's voice of instruction recorded by Moses and the prophets for the planet. Steven explained it in Acts 7. Paul repeated it in Romans 3 as did Peter in 1Peter 4. </div><div><br /></div><div>God does not change.</div><div><br /></div><div>His promises and the constitution of His Kingdom remain. That the same message Yeshua (Jesus) delivered at the Sermon on the Mount. He admonished the big crowd, do not think one jot or tittle of God's Torah has been done away with, Heaven and Earth are the witnesses. You can read that in Matthew 5.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is a reason the Jewish people were chosen to hold fast and honor the same Bible Jesus taught and read on the Sabbath (see Luke 4:16). There is a reason the Jewish people have kept God's Sabbath and His Feast Days for thousands of years. They are blessed for doing so. <div><br /></div><div>A part of the blessing they have received from that faithfulness is the honor to be the elect to prepare God's Promised Land for the most extraordinary event since creation.</div><div><br /></div><div>They are the people that brought the world Yeshua and as already noted they are the people chosen by Almighty God to prepare His land for the return trip as King Messiah whether they know it or not. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many Jewish people discounted Yeshua as their promised Messiah because Christians whether they knew it or not rejected the instruction and the Gospel of God. Most Jewish people expected Yeshua to fulfill the Davidic promise long ago because they missed His role as the promised prophet in Deuteronomy 18:18 and the suffering servant promise of Isaiah 53. </div><div><br /></div><div>They saw the suffering as their own. They did not see the Son in large part due to church persecution rooted in antisemitism that re-calibrated God's calendar, His Sabbath's and His Feast with their own.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fact isMoses did not deliver the Torah from one trip, it took two trips down the mountain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses did not enter the Promised land, but he will in resurrection. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some rabbi's miss-read 2 Samuel 7. Almighty God told Nathan to tell David: "I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a son, yet in his distress he will be rejected and stricken by men."</div><div><br /></div><div>They struggle with Agur's questions found in Proverbs 30:1-4:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>Who has ascended heaven and come down? </div><div>Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hand? </div><div>Who has wrapped the waters in his garment? </div><div>Who has established all the extremities of the earth? </div><div><br /></div><div>What is his name or his son’s name, if you know it?</div></blockquote><div></div><div>If you open the Bible to the front of the book, you'll find that in the beginning darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving above the dark void. Just as in the beginning, God's Spirit is moving across the planet and among the nations. There are restoration stirrings of the Spirit God removing the blinders among a growing number of people hungry to find more about the olive tree root of Biblical faith.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you know what Almighty God said in Genesis?<br /><blockquote>
“Let there be light' and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness."</blockquote>God's Spirit is still doing that. The Father is using the restoration of Israel and the Jewish people to shed a bright light on His Word among the nations willing to see beyond the old church lies of replacement theology that invested the hearts of the people in new church Greek thinking that arose from the so-called church fathers that arose after the disciples died in martyrdom at the hand of Rome.</div><div><br /></div><div>Death by Romans, does that sound familiar??</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to go back to the beginning. The Spirit of God by His voice separated the waters of chaos and brought forth land as the place for mankind. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our Creator God then used the dust of the earth to make a man (see Genesis 2:7). Elohim breathed the breath of life into Adam to make him a living creature in His image from the dust. God is doing it again, Israel is the proof. </div><div><br /></div><div>Come to think of it, have you ever considered that the very dust God used to mold mankind was from the Promised Land of Israel?<br />
<br />Genesis shows us that our Creator is the Elohim God of order, not chaos. Nothing with God is random, He does not change. <br />
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The eretz-land of Israel of today is not a coincidence. The place that God chose to put His promise of blessing was void of life, like a dry bone for nearly 2,000 years, that is until until 1948. According to Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) who visited there in 1867, it was dusty, primitive and basically abandoned, but just over 70 years ago, that dramatically changed. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Jewish people began to return after tribulation. </div><div><br /></div><div>The nations have witnessed the healing of the land in the time of its preparation for the millennium Olam Ha-Ba, the blessing of the world to come but most reject it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The reason, darkness opposes light. The United Nations constantly tosses out rulings against God's promise as they call the Jewish people occupiers. Many seek to divide the land for Esau and Ishmael instead of seeing that God's plan is to restore all nations to His House Of Prayer.<br />
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If you cannot see this, it's time to get rid of your new Greek blinders about Israel and the Jewish people.<br />
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The big question Almighty God posed in Ezekiel 37 is like a prism. We can know this because it is a continuation of God's word in Ezekiel 36 that contains a promise to the land of creation that Almighty God chose to vindicate the reputation of His holy name.<br />
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His answer still stands and it is being fulfilled today, so open yours and see the light:<br />
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But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. Ezekiel 36:8</blockquote>
What started in 1948 tells us we need to take note of the beginning on the third day of creation:<br />
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And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” <u>And it was so</u>. Genesis 1:11</blockquote>It was so and it is today because the God of Israel declares the end from the beginning (see Isaiah 46:10 and Ecclesiastes 3:11).<br />
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There's a wonderful mystery revealed in Ezekiel 36:8. The fruit we see today on the mountains of Israel is like the beginning. At creation the breath of life was given to make man a living creature in God's image. That a picture of resurrection to renewed life in God's image. <div><br /></div><div>That's why Israel has to be restored to life before the greater resurrection to come will arrive. It's the order described in the vision given in Ezekiel 37:5-6.<br />
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<b>The vision is not just about the Jewish return, Ezekiel's vision is greater. </b><br />
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Jewish hearts and the nations are being prepared. </div><div><br /></div><div>When the sons and daughters of Abraham declare: “Blessed are you who come in the name of the Lord,” all Israel both native born and sojourner's adopted will fulfill the two branch calling to be one new man in a kingdom of priests, a united holy nation (Exodus 19:6). The world will see Isaiah 49:6 come to fruition as the Jewish people shine the light for the Gentiles to bring God’s redemption and salvation to the ends of the earth. </div><div><br /></div><div>That means Jewish people who see Christians that love them and God's Torah will say “Blessed are you who come in the name of the Lord.” One day everyone will see Yeshua the Son, the Torah teacher prophet like Moses. On that day Jerusalem will be restored as the House of Prayer for all nations. </div><div><br /></div><div>My thought is if you think think of yourself as the bride of Christ and that the Holocaust was a warm up to whip the Jewish people into belief while you're raptured away, your listening to the wrong sermon. If you think the end times begin with global destruction on the planet while you fly off to a cloud hideaway leaving Jews in Jerusalem to suffer until they are saved, think again. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know it's harsh, but the truth can hurt like a flaming sword. Perhaps, like Eve you've been deceived and you're munching on fruit from the tree of good and evil. </div><div><br /></div><div>Just as in the beginning when God saw what He made and called it good, the end is the same, the end of the world of sin is the good of the Kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven, nothing changed. Yes, there will be birth pains for everyone, both native born and sojourner with them, but the promise for New Jerusalem is the return of Yeshua to planet earth in Israel as Messiah King, High Priest and Redeemer of all Israel. The problem is people think Jesus started a new religion.</div><div><br /></div><div>God is Almighty, He does not have a religion. Religions are from men.</div><div><br /></div><div>Israel has the chosen call to be a holy nation, a great light to the world and reveal the land of promise. </div><div><br /></div><div>The land and its people are in the midst of preparation for King Messiah. It's happening right before our eyes, so open them!</div><div>
<br />As He promised, Almighty God is bringing life to dry bones. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Spirit of God is preparing people's hearts. He is preparing the land for life and that mystery promise is found in Ezekiel 36. The prophet describes God's promise, an outpouring of God's Set-Apart Spirit in people's hearts to prepare them for the family of God reunion and the return of Messiah.<br />
<br />Do you feel God's Spirit stirring in you? If so, it's judgment time, time to repent. You can choose to join in the good news, the Gospel of God noted by Peter:</div><div><blockquote>For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1Peter 4:17</blockquote></div><div>In Galatians 3:29 Pauls writes: "And if you are Messiah's, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise."</div><div>
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Do you belong to Israel's promise?<br />
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If you follow the God of Israel, then whether you know it or not, your are a part of the children of God promise and connected to Israel whether believing natural branch or ingrafted in faith. Your identity is linked with the Jewish people and the household of God's blessing in a family name given to Jacob, it's Israel.<br />
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Abraham was called out as a friend of God. The reason is by faith Abraham did something when he was called. Because of that relationship in friendship with His Creator, his son Issac received the same promise:<br />
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“Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Genesis 26:2-5</blockquote>
The promise of blessing was because Abraham kept God's charge, commandments, statutes and His Torah. That blessing was passed on from Isaac to his son Jacob. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, the Jewish people are now doing God's handiwork in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yeshua-Jesus walked across that same land, its mountains, plains and valleys preaching repentance and the gospel of The Kingdom to come. </div><div>
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If we consider Ezekiel's promise seen in the end-time restoration of Israel and its people, how done forget the Bible tells us that a mixed multitude came up from Egypt in keeping with the promise given to Abraham: "in your offspring <u>all the nations of the earth</u> shall be blessed."<br />
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That's a fact and Ezekiel unveils more on the big promise given Abraham that's almost forgotten, so we need to dig in and study the Scriptures if we are to get a grasp on the dry bones.<br />
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There's an ancient way of study by the Jewish people, it is called "PaRDeS." It acronym for taking a disciplined prism-like approach, a 4-D view if you will to four levels of Biblical understanding and perspective. The Jewish people have done it for centuries, but it doesn't mean God's word is limited to just four perspectives.</div><div>
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The term PaRDeS is derived from four Hebrew words and their meaning:<br />
<ul>
<li>Peshat = "surface" or the literal, direct meaning.</li>
<li>Remez = "hints" or the deeper, symbolic meaning beyond the literal.</li>
<li>Derash = "inquire" or seeking comparative meaning through similar references.</li>
<li>Sod = "secret" or hidden meaning given through inspiration or revelation.</li>
</ul>
The "Peshat," "Remez," "Derash" and "Sod" levels inspire layers of meaning into Ezekiel's vision and bring life to the "bones" and structure of Torah instruction and teaching in the framework of God's gospel voice to the world.<br />
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Bringing life to dry bones is not meant to be a hidden mystery or a new teaching. We can know that because Almighty God points Ezekiel back to His mountaintop statute and ordinance instruction given to everyone at Sinai:<br />
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I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. Ezekiel 36:27</blockquote>
The PaRDeS promise given to Ezekiel has not been fully realized, but it is fully engaged. The Torah that Almighty God says we will be careful to observe was never hung on a cross. The statutes and ordinances of God are a gift to anyone that chooses to follow Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thank God, many Christians through the move of God's Spirit are now coming to the light that many faithful Jewish people like the disciples never forgot.<br />
<br />As a God believer, you can follow in the footsteps to the Kingdom led by Yeshua, the living Torah. His framework for life was and remains the Torah of God, and that may be the "Sod" reason His bones were never broken just as king David's prophecy declares in Psalm 34:19-20.</div><div><br /></div><div>Can you see why He always said repent for the Kingdom of God is near?<br />
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The framework teaching and instruction of Almighty God does never rests. God is on the move just like the Tabernacle among His people. So, now after 2,000 years of a dark void in Israel, God's Word is bringing life back preparing the land for Jesus the Jew. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's also an assembly of Jewish believers growing at home in Israel. This is bringing another restoration as Christians are re-learning that God's Word, His Torah was never done away with from Jewish friends. </div><div><br /></div><div>Timing is important. Yeshua was resurrected and in 1967 so was Jerusalem. Since then Christians are waking up to God's voice.</div><div>
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God is restoring truth. Paul preached about that in Romans 11 as he taught about Jewish life from the dead to the Gentiles:<br />
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So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! </blockquote>
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Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch 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. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? Romans 11:11:-15</blockquote>By the way no observant Jew will ever be jealous of anyone that rejects God's Sabbath or call His Torah a thing of the past. Not only that, regarding that word jealous, think of it as "zealous." Zealous for Messiah, the root of Israel's olive tree described by Zechariah. <br />
<br />As we've seen, God's question for Ezekiel reveals the "Sod" part of the prophet's vision: </div><div><br /></div><div>"Son of Man can these bones live?"<br />
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Let me try to explain, but remember I am learning too so I know I can only scratch the "Sod" surface.<br />
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In the beginning, there was darkness before light. In the second century, after the Jewish disciples had been martyred one by one, the so-called church "fathers" from the Gentile nations moved away from Messiah Yeshua's Jewish identity when they turned against Jerusalem, the Jewish people and adopted replacement theology with its headquarters in Rome.<br />
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Those church fathers forgot God's promises as they planted dark seeds of replacement theology. They adopted some evil from the fruit that is now called anti-Semitism, but just a few years ago something changed like a polar shift. when the Jewish people engaged the first phase, if you will, of the parable-like prophecy described in Ezekiel 37.<br />
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The vision of the dry bones went into first gear in the late 1800's then in 1948 it shifted into second gear , then third gear in 1967 when Jerusalem was restored to the Promised Land. That day the Polish born Chief Rabbi of the IDF, former Brigadier-General Shlomo Goren blew his shofar with the Torah in his arm at the Western Wall reclaiming Jerusalem and the Temple Mount at its center.<br />
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Rabbi Goren's trumpet blast announced the beginning of the fullness of the Gentiles with the liberation of the mountain of God in the Old City just as IDF General Motta Gur announced over the Israeli troop's radios... </div><div><br /></div><div>"The Temple Mount is in our hands. I repeat, The Temple Mount is in our hands."<br />
<br />That was a gospel event, a global shift. Incredibly, it occurred just four years after <a href="https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/masada-and-its-scrolls/">an ancient copy of the scroll of Ezekiel 37 was discovered at Masada</a> as well as the final two chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy were uncovered just before the June 1967 Six-Day War.<br />
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In the years since 1967, many Jewish people in Israel and across the world began to see Messiah Yeshua for who He really is, a Jew and Messiah. So did many Christians that thought He had started a new religion. a Jew named Paul wrote about this headline in advance because he believed the promise of the Jewish prophets. Paul's words were NOT new:<br />
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And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. Romans 11:23</blockquote>
Just fifty years ago, perhaps only a few thousand Jewish people around the world believed that Yeshua is the promised Messiah. Yet today, despite all the static of religious opinion, the number has soared and multitudes of Jewish people around the globe believe. The assembly of Jewish believers in Israel is growing too like a beacon on a kingdom hill because God has consigned that he can provide His mercies on all. Check this in Paul's letter:<br />
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As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. Romans 11:28-32</blockquote>
There is no official census in Israel on this, but polls estimate the number of Israeli Jewish followers of Yeshua as Messiah now stand at 30,000 or more and they have not turned their backs on their Jewish heritage! I believe the number may soon reach 144,000.<br />
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When it does, if you ask me you need to be ready with your Torah lamp!<br />
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Two new-life events occurred after May 7, 1945, following the unconditional German surrender signed by General Alfred Jodl at Reims marking the end of the Holocaust. The Spirit of God began to move above the darkness of war to sanctify Israel as the people who came out of Hitler's great tribulation of fire and gas.<br />
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Jesus the Jew is now being revealed in the light of truth as Yeshua HaMachiach despite the fact that for some 1,800 years, some Christians unwittingly disguised the gospel of The Kingdom in a counterfeit as they hung the Hebrew Bible Jesus taught every Sabbath on a Roman cross.<br />
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The Greco-Roman church "fathers" painted Jesus with a halo above His head, gave Him a Christmas birthday and an Easter two day replacement Sabbath resurrection. But there was a problem: in the Bible there is no Santa, no Easter ham either. The diversions from truth were imported from Mithraism and embedded into church frescos of Jesus Christ as the root of His faith was lost.<br />
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That is the reason many Jesus people have not seen Jesus the Jew. It's our fault that He's been disguised.<br />
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Since 1967, the tectonic shift from Jerusalem to Rome has been ending in teshuvah (repentance). Not only that, even an unbelieving world now focuses its attention back on Israel and Jerusalem for righteous Biblical reason. </div><div><br /></div><div>Following the liberation of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, many Christians have experienced an unexplainable inner awakening and hunger for more. They are seeking meaning and a deeper relationship with God as well as the Jewish people. Christians are supporting Israel too.</div><div><br /></div><div>They are driven by a yearning to return to the roots of their faith as it was intended from the beginning.<br />
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Without explanation, the timing of the Temple Mount liberation stirred the hearts of people with a growing hunger to seek the foundation light of faith and see the dark side of the early church fathers that initiated a long history of institutional hatred of the Jewish people. </div><div>
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The shift has been tectonic for many non-Jews like me that want to see Yeshua Ha-Mashiach the Master Torah teacher. Like any earthquake, there's some chaos and confusion as many Christians seek a restored path of repentance back to the front of God's book.</div><div><br /></div><div>Incredibly there are growing groups of Jewish people who are turning to see their Jewish Messiah for who He really is.</div><div>
<br />Spirit and truth are touching Jew and Gentile hearts. Brothers that once opposed each other like Jacob and Esau are becoming friends again.<br />
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It's as if the gospel is coming alive in a heart transplant, a resurrection that somehow ties to the restoration of Jerusalem. That 1967 timeline, included the arrival of the Jesus Movement and many that had not really read the front of their Bibles began to understand there's unchanging truth in the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. They are not "old" or left behind hanging on the cross because they are Messiah's Bible because not one jot or tittle has been done away with.<br />
<br /><b>Bones come to life when hearts are changed.</b><br />
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There's power in the breath from the Ruach Spirit of Almighty God. Slowly but surely, non-Jews began to understand that God's Word is alive and well despite the fact that some of our early church fathers tried to bury it like old bones. Formerly blind church eyes and deaf ears just like mine are opening to the fact that Jesus is not only alive, He is Jewish!</div><div><br /></div><div>And that fact has created wonderful friendships, even for those that don't see Jesus for who He is because He was buried in Replacement Theology.<br />
<br />Yet, slowly and surely, a remnant of Jews have begun to understand that the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings are pointing to the living Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth.<br />
<br />Against all odds, the re-birth of the land and the restoration of people's hearts whether Jewish or not, is proof of God's declaration to Jeremiah that wraps up with this promise of <u>two families to be restored</u>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, “Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘<b>The two families which the LORD chose</b>, He has rejected them’? Thus they despise My people, <b>no longer are they as a nation</b> in their sight. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Thus says the LORD, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.</b>’” Jeremiah 33:23-26</blockquote>
One aspect of restoration has begun with the dry bones described in Ezekiel 37. For some, to see it requires that we remember the reason God designed bones in the first place. They provide a living foundation frame for the human body and that design points us back to the picture of "one new man" both Jew and Gentile that Paul wrote about.<br />
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Think about it, bones give us the ability to live life to the fullest. They are unseen, but as they develop and grow, they give us the ability to crawl, to walk and then run the race of life.<br />
<br />Keep thinking in "Sod" mode and let's reconsider the amazing foundation frame (bones) of God's Word. They provide the framework of teaching and instruction for life in The Kingdom of God and they point us to the life and ministry of Yeshua-Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's something about His Kingdom we have to remember. It's in the promise given to Mary in the book we call Luke. Luke's stated intention was to give Theophilus a written record of the “things he had been taught” that were indeed true and trustworthy. Think about that.<br />
<br />Luke understood the house of Jacob references throughout the Bible and that they all tied to the promise given to Miriam about what was to begin with her because she was chosen by Almighty God just like Sarah. </div><div><br /></div><div>Believe it or not, Mary was overcome by the Spirit of God and she bore Yeshua. Her life message was delivered as a gift of Heaven by Gabriel so that she would understand what was about to happen and not be afraid:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Yeshua. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”” Luke 1:28-33</blockquote>Take notice, Gabriel tells Mary: "he will reign <u>over the house of Jacob forever,</u> and of his kingdom there will be no end."<br />
<br />Nothing there about a church. If you're not Jewish, yet you believe and follow Messiah, ask yourself this: are you a church member or a member of the house Of Jacob?</div><div><br /></div><div>If your shaken, I understand, I've been there too.<br />
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God's Word gives the foundation principles for the house of Jacob to live life to its fullest as it was and is meant to be to prepare us for God's restoration of the fallen tabernacle of David that is promised in Ezekiel 39 . The prophet wrote about it:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. </blockquote>
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Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. </blockquote>
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I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 39:25-29</blockquote><p>James spoke about it: </p>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"Brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. With this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">AFTER THESE THINGS I will return,<br />
AND I WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID WHICH HAS FALLEN,<br />
AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS,<br />
AND I WILL RESTORE IT,<br />
SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD,<br />
AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,’<br />
SAYS THE LORD, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM LONG AGO." Acts 15:12-18 (NASB)</blockquote>
Yet many lost life in the Word of God for a while as they were half-baked and burned by Greco-Roman church fathers that ignored Gabriel's promise to restore the fortunes of Jacob. </div><div><br /></div><div>Those misled church fathers also ignored that God had poured out His Spirit in wind and fire over Jerusalem on the "Jewish" disciples of Jesus the Jew.</div><div>
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The truth of the house of Jacob and the purpose of God's Word soon withered in many hearts and minds sitting in a pew and the dark ages arrived, but today many are awakening and being restored by The Spirit of God. A remnant are returning in repentance (teshuvah) to understand the great value God has placed on restoring the two divided families of the house of Jacob.<br />
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How to we know?</div><div><br /></div><div>Many are awakening to the common ground sign of God's Sabbath and the appointed Feasts of The Lord.<br />
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Not only that many open hearts of brother Judah are awakening to see a friend that follows Messiah Yeshua even though they don't know if Messiah's impending arrival will ne the first trip or the second. If you call yourself a Christian its time to thank God the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings were never dead bones to brother Judah. </div><div><br /></div><div>Without knowing it, Judah has always believed in Yeshua's great promise in the Sermon on the Mount. It's noted in Matthew 5:17-19: "not one jot or tittle of the Torah shall pass..." even while the early church fathers turned their back on Yeshua's words like wolves and led the sheep astray as they turned against the Jewish people.<br />
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Long ago, Greek thinking church fathers rejected the house of Judah and the Hebrew Scriptures that Jesus read every Sabbath. Many church fathers were preaching against Yeshua's sermon saying the Old Testament was old and done away with, ready for the boneyard, but they were wrong, those foundation bones live, every jot and tittle. Heaven and Earth are the witnesses.<br />
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Although Marcion was rejected and called a heretic by most church fathers, over time some of the poison of his bitter wormwood crept its way into people's hearts and just like sheep led astray they jumped off the cliff too and turned against the Jewish people and the Hebrew Scriptures Paul said the Jewish people were given (Romans 3:2) to be a light to the nations.<br />
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Not only that, the order of the Hebrew Bible that Jesus read, the canon of the Prophets and the Writings were re-arranged. That happened in the chaos of the 4th Counsel of Trent in 1546. Open up any King James Bible and in the preface you'll see that the authorized Church of England Bible declares the books were rearranged in their "proper order." Sorry, but that's not true and God's word is only authorized by our Creator.<br />
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Proper order according to who... Jesus? Nope. They are saying that Jesus the Jew, that read the Bible every Sabbath, studied and taught the Word of God out of order. The Hebrew Scriptures read by Yeshua and the Jewish people for thousands of years since the life and times of Ezra and Nehemiah never ended with Malachi.<br />
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The proper order of the Hebrew Scriptures concludes with the Chronicles and its list of chronologies provides a direct connection to Matthew 1. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you can connect the jots and tittles in order, you will see they were in good order for thousands of years and needed no re-arrangement by a church council at Trent. The fact is this: Elohim God is One, He is the unchanging Almighty One, the God of Israel.<br />
<br />Almighty God is the creator and restorer of truth and he's busy at work. Are you paying attention? The shocking fact is Yeshua started no new religion formed in the precepts and traditions of men adding a blank page to the Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>All of His disciples were Jewish people. They followed Yeshua as their Rabbi. See Mark 9:5 or Mark 11:21 or read the book of John for the proof text. Here are a few examples and not all walked in His Yeshiva:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “<b>Rabbi</b>, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John 3:1-2 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And they came to John and said to him, “<b>Rabbi</b>, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John 3:26 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “<b>Rabbi</b>, eat.”John 4:31 </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">
When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “<b>Rabbi</b>, when did You get here?” John 6:25 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And His disciples asked Him, “<b>Rabbi</b>, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” John 9:2</blockquote>
The disciples didn’t convert to a new religion called Christianity. They followed their Jewish Rabbi and came to know He was the Messiah promised to in the Hebrew Scriptures. They knew Him as Messiah ben Joseph and they learned that He would return as Messiah ben David but they would not see the day reserved for another generation:</div><div><blockquote>When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. Acts 1:6-7 </blockquote>They remained Jews and understood God's instruction for life and a proper walk. They preached repentance and the Kingdom constitution based on one truth from the beginning of the journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” Exodus 12:49 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you." Numbers 15:16<br />
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"You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them." Numbers 15:29<br />
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"You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 24:22</blockquote>
One truth of the Torah is that God does not discriminate.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly." Leviticus 19:15</blockquote>
Bottomline, God doesn’t play favors by giving His loving instruction for life in His Kingdom constitution to a chosen few. Yet He chose a few to teach the light of His principles for life in His Kingdom that apply to everyone. The Bible's teachings repeat this message over and again have been misunderstood and misused for centuries by the church but...<br />
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Paul tells the truth about the Torah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you are Messiah’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise." Galatian 3:28-29</blockquote>
A deeper look, a "Sod" view of the vision described by Ezekiel means that Jews and non-Jews, two families, can and will live in peace and in harmony in the promise of the Kingdom of God with one King, one judge, one teaching and instruction, one ordinance for all.<br />
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That teaching and instruction, that ordinance is God's Torah. If you believe in God, believe what He says. You don't have to be a Bible scholar to understand what it means to be a good citizen in God's Kingdom. It's common sense:<br />
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"He is not a citizen who is not disposed to respect the laws and to obey the civil magistrate; and he is certainly not a good citizen who does not wish to promote, by every means in his power, the welfare of the whole society of his fellow-citizens." (Adam Smith, "Theory of Moral Sentiments")<br />
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God's Word is not old and done away with as has been taught since Constantine's day in the sun. That means that Jewish people are not to stand alone in honoring God's commandments, statutes, laws and judgments. Many are confused thinking the 90% of the Torah is only for the Jewish people.<br />
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The Jewish people deserve great credit, after all, for a few thousand years they have been the only people to read it, believe it and to do it out of love for God and know it or not they brought us their Messiah.<br />
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Sure, there are instructions for the Tabernacle and for its offerings. There are other decrees for its priests to care for it and instructions just for Levites too, just as there are teachings for men and others for women. Still others for children. There is instruction for specific circumstances, for food, for treating illnesses, even mold and mildew. All this means that non-Jews are not to mkae thier own Sabbaths. Non Jews are alos not limited to a manmade list of seven (7) Noahide laws as a Gentile path for the sojourner, the Ger aka Bnei Noach nor a pastor's opinion that Kosher is not cool.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sunday is not the Sabbath and the Feasts are The Lord's.<br />
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No religious doctrine or tradition of opinion that misguides "the way" of the Kingdom can be found in the Bible as an excuse to make our own way to worship Almighty God.<br />
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God Word speaks to the native born and to the sojourner alike in His blessing of obedience to follow Him:<br />
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"If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I will make My tabernacle among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. Leviticus 26:11-13</blockquote>
God gave us His teaching and instruction because He wants everyone to live His way and follow Him in the love of a friend. The Bible is the owner's manual for life in The Kingdom.<br />
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We must remember the truth Yeshua proclaimed in Luke 16:17 when the Master Rabbi from Nazareth simply said: "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Torah to fail." Luke 16:17<br />
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Get over it, it's simple, He meant it. Why debate Messiah with tradition?<br />
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In another "Sod" view, we must see that Heaven and Earth as God intended was, is and will be connected by every jot and tittle of God's Word. Remove or add a jot or tittle and you break the connection to God's message of forgiveness, mercy and lovingkindness woven within the Scriptures. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's why repentance is critical in the Kingdom... its why Jesus said repent, the Kingdom is near. It's time to bring life back to the dry bones that say God's word was hung on a cross, its time to repent, time to turn back to the Bible, believe it and do it.<br />
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If we could travel back in time to England in 1604, we would find King James following the lead of his ancestors. Seventy years before James, King Henry VIII served in title as the supreme head and governor of the Church of England. Following Henry's rule, thirty-nine Articles of Religion of the Church of England were put into place during the reign of Elizabeth I to resolve the debate during "The Reformation." </div><div><br /></div><div>King James followed Elizabeth in monarchy as supreme head and governor of the Church of England and he lifted church censure against the Bible and authorized another English translation of the Bible to replace the Geneva Bible. It also replaced the Bishop's Bible, the Coverdale Bible as well as others already in circulation that were not "authorized" by the monarchy.</div><div>
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If you want more insight on the perception of the king's so-called "authorization" you can read its 400-year old dedication in the front of any "King James Bible."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tyndale Bible Photo by Steve Bennett</span> </td></tr>
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If you have not heard of the Coverdale Bible, it's the English Bible translation Myles Coverdale finished based on William Tyndale’s English translation of the Gospels, Epistles and the Hebrew Torah.<br />
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Tyndale used what is now known as the Textus Receptus Greek text that had been compiled by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam Holland.<br />
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The Dutch linguist scholar Erasmus had his work published in 1516 by his friend Johann Froben in his print shop located Basel, Switzerland <u>which just so happens to be the same city</u> that Theodor Herzl organized and led the First Zionist Congress in 1897. There he set out a vision for the unification of the Jewish people in their homeland. </div><div><br /></div><div>Erasmus used several Greek manuscript sources because he did not have access to a complete set.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Erasmus' Greek Bible not only constituted the baseline for the translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, it was used in 1599 to publish <a href="https://genevabible.com/" target="_blank">the Geneva Bible</a> and 12 years later, the Church of England monarchy "authorized" his own King James Version in 1611.</div><div><br /></div><div>There was a lot happening in 1599. Elias Hutter, a German professor of Hebrew at Leipzig University was an amazing linguist fluent in at least a dozen languages. That's what I'd call gifted in tongues. He complied the Nuremberg Polyglot. In 1599 it was comprised of most of the Old Testament in six languages and the New Testament in twelve languages including Syriac, Italian, Hebrew, Spanish, Greek, French, Vulgate, English, German, Danish, Bohemian, and Polish. </div><div><br /></div><div>Charles IX of Sweden asked Hutter to publish a Swedish Bible in 1600 and in 1604 he became King of Sweden. Fast forward and you might see that God honored Switzerland and in my view protected the Swiss during World War II as the tiny nation was completely surrounded by German armies from 1938 to 1945. The Swiss were critical of Nazism and Hitler, but despite that fact their land was protected like a miracle. Who can explain that? </div><div><br /></div><div>The fact is the Geneva Bible was born in Switzerland in 1560.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually, the Geneva Bible made it way to America with the Pilgrim's when they landed in Plymouth, England onboard the Mayflower in 1620. </div><div><br /></div><div>That Geneva Bible was the first English version translated directly from the Hebrew language instead of the Greek. It was also the first English Bible to use verse numbers based on the work of Robert Estienne of Paris aka Stephanus who lived in Geneva at the time.<br />
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The English Reformation translations came in some form or another from William Tyndale's translation work.<br />
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Tyndale deserves tremendous credit as the first English speaking person to translate and publish from Erasmus' copy of the Greek Textus Receptus in 1526. Tyndale was also the first to translate from Hebrew into English as well but he did not get to finish his work. Tyndale was a man of righteous conviction, but due to persecution for beliving the Bible he was never able to publish a complete Bible so Coverdale finished the project in 1535 after Tyndale's murder.<br />
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The reason Coverdale had to help is because Tyndale opposed the church establishment at Oxford that outlawed English translations, Because of that Tyndale worked in hiding in Germany. His story is beyond belief as he was tracked down like a criminal, in-prisoned and strangled to death, then burned at a stake standing for truth and the great commission.<br />
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Sound familiar?<br />
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Murder and martyrdom is the reality of the first English translator. Persecution and death were dark men's response to his attempt to bring light to the world by upholding God's Word and simply print it Messiah's story in English.<br />
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The King James' authorized version was published some 85 years after Tyndale's church bludgeoning. The king's commission missed the mark on some words as their version had inserted influence from the podium and pogrom against Tyndale who like many Jewish people held to the faith in keeping the instruction of God "as it is written."<br />
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In keeping with the word of God, Tyndale did not use the word "church" in his translation. </div><div><br /></div><div>He used the English word "congregation" because it was the proper way to translate the Greek word "ekkelsia" ἐκκλησία which is an assembly of people not a religious institution or a clergy ordained building.<br />
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Tyndale translated the truth. He also understood Greek and he knew "ekkelsia" came from the Hebrew word "qahal" קָהֵל which started with the "congregation" crowd, the "assembly" promised by Almighty God to Abraham in Genesis 35:11 and Genesis 48:4. The same asembly that was present at Mount Sinai as plainly shown in Exodus 12:6 and Deuteronomy 5:22. Tyndale knew the truth and opposed the authority of the Catholic Church and its dominance over the Church of England.<br />
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Tyndale's translation of the Greek word "presbuteros" πρεσβύτερος in the Greek manuscripts as "elder" instead of priest also challenged the religious doctrine of the Catholic Church as it unwound the Catholic Mass and the replacement role of the Catholic priest to offer the sacrifice of Christ's body in the Catholic ritual called Mass.<br />
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Translation, by its nature paints an opinion into what is written, but Tyndale held true and brought life to the dry bones. He was murdered and burned at the stake because he understood Numbers 16:3 "so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”<br />
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One other problem during King James' time is that the Church of England translators had little understanding concerning the weekly Sabbath or the Feasts of The Lord as they worked under the influence of church fathers thinking those things were Jewish and had been done away with.<br />
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This is not a blast against their past, but the fact is that the King James translators were under the influence of the church of Rome and the Latin Vulgate so it's time to finish Tyndale's work. Unlike Tyddale, the King's translators opposed the Jewish people and had little understanding of the Hebraic concepts embedded in all the Scriptures. They had little understanding of God's calendar that did not line up with the Julian calendar edict of Julius Caesar in 45BC nor Pope Gregory's re-write of time that arrived the church's clock just 30 years earlier in 1582 before they began their "authorized" project for the king's Church of England.<br />
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In a way, the leg bone got confused with the hip bone and the living bones, the unchanging foundation of the Hebrew Bible that Jesus read every Sabbath and held fast to as the Word of God got rebranded as dry bones by the title "Old Testament" that is attributed to a Greek Christian, Melito of Sardis around 170 AD.<br />
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When published, the king's English Bibles were labeled as old and new and divided by a publisher's blank page. Despite the religious flaws of translation opinion, the good news is astounding. The Bible finally became available to everyone in English and it spread across the globe quickly and expanded it reach over the next 300 years <a href="https://www.britishempire.co.uk/timeline/colonies.htm" target="_blank">with the growth of British Empire</a> and the English language. All the while, the King James Bible came along for the ride.<br />
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<b>All this might lead us back to consider another "Sod" perspective... one in the Exodus story</b>.<br />
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Joseph knew that Almighty God had not only changed his father's name to Israel, the sovereign Creator promised an oath to his father Jacob that was passed on from his grandfather Isaac and his great grandfather Abraham by THE LORD. The promise of blessing many nations of people as well as a land grant. For that reason, Joseph insisted that <u>his bones</u> be carried back up to the Promised Land:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but <b>God will surely take care of you</b> and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “<b>God will surely take care of you</b>, and you shall carry my bones up from here.” Genesis 50:24-25</blockquote>
Joseph was the 11th son of Jacob and his story of this faith in God's care is a reflection of the Jewish people still linked to his promise and what he required at the end of his mortal life.<br />
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In the fire of all horrors, six (6) million Jewish men, women and children died in the death camps of slavery during Hitler's Final Solution Holocaust. Incredibly, mocking God and the Bible, the Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Flossenbürg and Mauthausen forced labor concentration camps were selected by the SS because of their proximity to soil suitable for making bricks (for reference see Genesis 1:8-14).<br />
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The vile and evil daily burnt sacrifices at the blasphemous altars of Hitler's SS came to an end when the slaughter of millions stopped on May 7, 1945 on the 39th day of the Omer Count when Germany surrendered seven (7) days after Hitler committed suicide on April 30th. It was one (1) day before Shavuot - Pentecost that year when Joseph's promise that <b>God will surely take care of you</b> was realized for the Jewish survivors of The Shoah.<br />
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That 39th day of counting was Iyar 17 and<u> it is important</u>. It was orchestrated by the working of The Lord in God's providence in honoring Joseph. For that reason, it is critical to look back and also know Messiah Yeshua the Jew arose from death and ascended in glory on the 40th day of the Omer Count.<br />
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Stop and think about that long and hard before you read on...<br />
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The prophetic sworn oath God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel was re-engaged as the survivors of the greatest tribulation to date in all of history. Six million Jewish people were destroyed in WWII and including those precious souls, 70 million others (like sojourners with them) died during the horrific war that engulfed the nations of the world.<br />
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In the Scriptures, the number 70 points to the nations because in Jewish tradition in keeping with Genesis 10 and Genesis 11. we can see the "The Table of Nations" in the Bible. There were 70 nations named after the devastation of the flood. So seventy has a sacred meaning in the Bible and it can represent a period of judgment connected to the exile in Babylon that lasted 70 years.<br />
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The fact is in front of us all, the dry bones of the Jewish people were restored and ascended, carried back to the Promised Land on May 14, 1948 from the grave of the concentration camps ovens ending an exile that had begun in the Jewish War of 66-70 AD when the Legions of Titus attacked and destroyed Jerusalem and The Temple and put the Jewish people in diaspora in 70AD.<br />
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Despite the horrors that followed and culminated in WWII, the 70th anniversary of the nation born in a day trumpeted around the world in 2018, after President Trump ratified the bill introduced by introduced in the Senate as S. 1322 by Bob Dole of Kansas. The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 passed the Senate and the House that was left unsigned by President Clinton was finally signed by Trump providing the Congressional recognition of Jerusalem given in 1995 as Israel's capital and the American Embassy finally opened its doors in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.<br />
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In the end, the war and this event showed the world that the Jewish people and Jerusalem could not destroyed by Titus nor by the German Reich. The reason, their bones were miraculously restored from death in 1948 in keeping with Joseph's promise to his brothers shown in Genesis 50:24:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I am about to die, but <u>God will surely take care of you and bring you up</u> from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.”</blockquote>
Joseph's promise is bound to Abraham, Issac and Jacob. It was given to Abram after Almighty God changed his name to Abraham. It was passed on to Isaac, then given to Jacob.<br />
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Joseph's promise links the word of God passed on to his father Jacob after God changed his name to Israel and it does not end there. Jacob passed the promise on to Joseph's two sons by adoption as Ephraim was adopted as a firstborn son of Jacob as was Manasseh. When the Israelites left Egypt, the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh left too and likely other Egyptians that witnesses those ten plagues and believed in the God of Israel.<br />
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They all inherited the promises as sons of adoption. Read Romans 11 and you will see, that by faith, you can too.<br />
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Almighty Lord God shared this promise as a "fearful thing" for Moses pointing toward the mystery outcome of the fire and horrors of Titus that led to the Holocaust and its miracle outcome, the birth of the modern State of Israel declared on November 29, 1947 and established six months later on May 14, 1948 on the 20th day of the Omer Count.<br />
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The heritage of a multitude of nations is the everlasting promise:<br />
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First to Abraham:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“No longer shall your name be called Abram,<br />
But your name shall be Abraham;<br />
For I have made you the father of <b>a multitude of nations</b>." Genesis 17:5 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“In your seed <b>all the nations of the earth</b> shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:18</blockquote>
Then to Issac:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants <b>all the nations of the earth shall be blessed</b>; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” Genesis 26:3-5</blockquote>
And Jacob:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"God said to him,<br />
'Your name is Jacob;<br />
You shall no longer be called Jacob,<br />
But Israel shall be your name.'<br />
Thus He called him Israel. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
God also said to him,<br />
'I am God Almighty;<br />
Be fruitful and multiply;<br />
<b>A nation and a company of nations</b> shall come from you,<br />
And kings shall come forth from you.<br />
The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac,<br />
I will give it to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.'” Genesis 35-10-12</blockquote>
Also Ephraim:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become <b>a multitude of nations</b>.” Genesis 48:19</blockquote>
Moses was told that fulfillment of promise would be a fearful thing and it has been:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and <b>all the people among whom you live</b> will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you." Exodus 34:10</blockquote>
There's much more to this promise that is not fully unrolled in the scrolls of the Bible-- just yet.<br />
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The reason? The mystery of the adoption promise of blessing all nations given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was extended through Ephraim's adoption much in the same way that the Torah given on the first Shavuot at Sinai was expanded by at Shavuot at Jerusalem in 30AD.<br />
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Part of Moses' assignment was to carry Joseph's bones and return them to the place they belonged.<br />
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When the families of Jacob escaped Egypt with Moses as the spokesman with the duty to carry up Joseph's bones, "a mixed multitude also left with them" (Exodus 12:38). Many people honored and revered Joseph, in God's providence he had saved many people and nations from famine and starvation years earlier and he was well remembered for doing so.<br />
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We must realize, God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was expanded too with the firstborn adoption of Ephraim. The man renamed Israel passed the Almighty's first born promise on to Ephraim, the son of an Egyptian mother that Jacob adopted as his son along with his brother Manasseh.<br />
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Through this picture of family expansion by adoption, multitudes as companions came up out of the Egyptian dust as a mixed crowd of people that wanted to be a part of the big promise and walk with Joseph's bones joining the sons of Israel and God's Glory fire to the Land of Promise:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. A mixed multitude also went up with them... Exodus 12:37-38</blockquote>
The blessing of sojourners joining with the families of the descendants of Israel happened because of Abraham's obedience:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“In your seed <b>all the nations of the earth shall be blessed</b>, because <b>you have obeyed</b> My voice.” Genesis 22:18</blockquote>
In Exodus 13:19 we learn that Moses was the surety to Joseph. He honored his request and Moses took Joseph's bones up with him as he followed the cloud, the shechinah glory pillar of fire of Almighty God. The work of the Lord God of "all" Israel began to fulfill Joseph's promise as God took care of his brothers, and we must remember God's promise to Abraham was the promise of blessing many nations, so a "a mixed multitude" left with them.<br />
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Joseph wanted his bones to be brought out of Egypt for good reason.<br />
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In his heart of hearts, he understood the resurrection power of God's glory. So Moses made sure that no one abandoned Joseph so the sons of Israel brought his bones up from Egypt to Shechem.<br />
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Today, Joseph's resting place at Shechem has been turned into an Islamic Mosque in a vain attempt to wipe Biblical history off the map, but that undertaking to desecrate the place of Joseph's bones, like the slavery of Egypt and the Holocaust will only be temporary and like the birth of the nation state of Israel, it will serve to reveal God's Glory and the promise of bringing resurrection life to dry bones.<br />
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The Muslim men bowing toward Mecca while firing rockets from Gaza will be shocked and stunned one day when the Messiah King of Israel returns to Jerusalem as Joseph's bones come the life, but some may not see Messiah coming as they bow with their heads on the ground leaning toward a Kaaba stone while praying to a false moon-god believing the words of a false prophet.<br />
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Joseph's bones will be restored in Shechem to resurrection life in God's Kingdom when the promise shown in Ezekiel's vision is fully revealed by Messiah Yeshua to the world and all nations will know that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob is Y-H-V-H and not any other name.<br />
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In any study of Ezekiel 37, it's important to know the vision began when The Spirit of The Lord by the hand of Almighty God set Ezekiel down in a valley full of dry bones. It's also important to know that the vision reveals that the Ruach Spirit of God moves in stages. First, the bones stood up, then God restored sinews and flesh to the bones in the valley before the eyes of the prophet. The next stage of the vision is the outpouring of the breath and power of the Ruach Spirit of God, and the "Sod" picture is the impact this has on the heart and the mind -- "you will know that I am The LORD Y-H-V-H."<br />
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That is the big picture of revival and Abraham's promise!<br />
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Before the vision of restoration and revival, the Spirit of the LORD required that Ezekiel do something before God would act to bring back life in the valley of dry bones. Like Abraham before him, God required that Ezekiel make a choice to obey God's voice!<br />
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The Spirit of Elohim God then asked Ezekiel if the bones could be brought back to life, and Ezekiel gave the correct answer: <u>only God knows</u>.<br />
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With the righteous answer given, Almighty God then told Ezekiel that he had to do something, he had to speak the word of God over the dry bones:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord (Y-H-W-H)! </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thus said the Lord to these bones: <u>I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again.</u> I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with flesh, and form skin over you. And I will put breath into you, and <u>you shall live again</u>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And you shall know that I am Y-H-W-H! Ezekiel 37:4-6</blockquote>
Ezekiel did as he was asked (shema) as he declared the cycle of the blessing of God's life giving Spirit.<br />
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There was no debate, no question as Ezekiel declared to the dry bones "<b>shema</b>" (hear and do) the word of The Lord God and then Abba Father said: "you shall <u>know</u> I am Y-H-W-H!" The Hebrew word for know is yâda, properly, to ascertain by seeing.<br />
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If we read Luke 11:28 we all can see that Yeshua taught the meaning of the shema: "Blessed rather are those who hear ("<b>shema</b>" the word of God and keep it!" He said that because to shema is to do, to respond and act. It is not merely hearing – it is doing what is written in the Bible.<br />
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The message to anyone with a dry bones attitude, thinking the word of God recorded by Moses and the Prophets reading this: God does not change, hear and do the word of The Lord and He will put His breath (His Spirit) into you and you can live as He intended from the beginning and know He is Y-H-W-H.<br />
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Almighty God's Spirit can give or restore life and that is the "Sod" message in Ezekiel's vision just as Elohim God gave life to Adam by breathing into the dust on the sixth day of creation. In the beginning, God moved in stages one day at a time to prepare the planet for life, then to complete His work, The Almighty breathed life into mankind on the sixth day after He had prepared the planet.<br />
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Incredibly, after World War II, during the sixth (1,000 year) day after creation, the bones of the Jewish people began to come together from the dust and stand up in Israel. In 1948 from the valley of death that began seven years earlier in the death camps of Poland and the Ukraine the dry bones of the Jewish people were restored and anyone that had read the Bible knew this resurrection was from El Shaddai.<br />
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Among those death camps that failed were Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Janowska, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka. Each served evil as seven death pits of travail in the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people, yet as only He can, God used death as a miracle to restore and give life the the Jewish people. In this way, The Father honored Abraham and Joseph as Israel was again blessed as the Promised Land chosen people as the answer to the prophecy in Isaiah 66:8:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Who has heard such a thing?<br />
Who has seen such things?<br />
Can a land be born in one day?<br />
Can a nation be brought forth all at once?<br />
As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. </blockquote>
Long before Joseph was restored to his brothers in Egypt, they threw him in a pit, this is important to remember and you'll see why if you continue on.<br />
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In 1948, many surviving and faithful Jewish people began to make Aliyah back to Israel to return and join those that had returned over the prior 70 years. Once they were standing on the land, the Jewish people drained the swamps, watered the desert and planted. By what they did they began to restore life to the ancient land of milk and honey. Some knew, others did not, but God's purpose in this restoration declared to Ezekiel is resolute. They returned to prepare the land for Messiah. The work in Israel is holy, set apart as a chosen assignment for the Jewish people.<br />
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The Jewish people travailed in the dire tribulation of the Holocaust, they miraculously arose from death and literally began to grow sinews and flesh in the dust of the land that had been promised to Abraham, and because they were there the once parched dry land began to flourish.<br />
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Do you remember why God renamed Abram?<br />
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It's important to the "Sod" picture of Ezekiel's dry bones vision, because his covenant and name is a part of it:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,<br />
And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.<br />
No longer shall your name be called Abram,<br />
But your name shall be Abraham;<br />
For I have made you the father of<br />
a multitude of nations. Genesis 17:5</blockquote>
That Hebrew word multitude is "hâmôwn," it points to a "crowd" of nations, a "gowy."<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
הָמוֹן גּוֹי </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
gôwy hâmôwn </div>
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The Jewish exodus from the Holocaust in Europe was followed by a miraculous exodus from Ethiopia, then Russia and other places across the four corners of the globe as a crowd of bones journeyed back to the Promised Land that was reborn in a day on May 14, 1948.<br />
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So far, the Aliyah has different than the first exodus from Egypt.<br />
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A key difference is that the "hâmôwn gowy" the crowd of nations present in the exodus journey with the sons of Israel as the sojourners and strangers embedded in the covenant of the name change from Abram to Abraham were missing. In the first exodus they all were there in Egypt and again at Mount Sinai and they arrived in Jericho along with descendants of Israel, but many of the <span style="text-align: center;">gôwy hâmôwn </span>were missing in the 1948 exodus from the world to return to Israel. Yet, that does does not mean God's promise of a blessing to all nations will fall short.<br />
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In 1948, the sojourners with Israel, the companions that worship the same God of Israel did not return alongside the survivors of the slain from the House of Judah.<br />
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This is very important and there is a reason. It has to to with God's timing.<br />
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We have to look back to the promise given to the prophet and remember that God gave Ezekiel the promise of a family reunion between the tribe of Judah and Joseph aka the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.<br />
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For some, these are only represented by the lost ten tribes of Israel. In the Bible, <u>after the division</u> of the Davidic kingdom following Solomon's death, the northern tribes were collectively called Ephraim. <br />
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Consider: there has to be a reason that the crowd of nations, the multitude of companions that love the Lord and the Jewish people are not yet able to become citizens of modern Israel because they are ineligible to be a citizen under the Israeli law of return.<br />
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Perhaps one reason is as basic as geography. The fact is, the nation state born in a day was not given the full allotment of the land promised to Abraham by the UN's declaration, yet the Bible is the record of the title deed of truth. The Bible points to restoration and it declares expansion because the Genesis 15:18 promise made to Abraham was much bigger: "From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates."<br />
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The Genesis 15:1 statement remains intact: “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.”<br />
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<b>So, the question: Why were the crowd of sojourners and companions missing in 1948? </b><br />
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Could it be because most of us with a Christina label aren't really qualified to be called sojourners and companions just yet, but a people living in the outer limits of a dry spiritual diaspora and like Ephraim we turned our church backs on the words of Almighty God written in the front of the Bible while without knowing it, the church blindly ignored the walk and ways of Jesus the Jew?<br />
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We have been <u>hearing but not doing</u> the word of God in unity with the faithful of Judah? We are rejecting Yeshua's sermon on the Mount about <u>the jots and tittles</u> and the Kingdom of God?<br />
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What a bizarre paradox, but there's a solution from Heaven...<br />
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Looking back to Ezekiel's prophetic vision, we can see that the prophet had to do something.<br />
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Ezekiel had to make a critical declaration, his job was to declare a move of the unseen “wind” of the Ruach-Spirit of The Lord across the globe:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Come, O breath, <b>from the four winds</b>, and breathe into these slain, that they may live again. The <b>wind comes and the corpses breathe</b> and come to <b>life again in great numbers</b>." Ezekiel 37:9</blockquote>
The amazing "Sod" realization of the requirement for this prophecy is the fact that the four winds point toward exile, the four corners of our Bible rejecting planet. Breathing life into great numbers includes a multitude of nations, a host of strangers and the fact according to Abraham's promise is that they can become companions in a Torah walk just like those that left Egypt with Moses and the families of Jacob as well as the disciple of Yeshua.<br />
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Following Messiah as a disciple is like following Moses by hearing and doing the word of The Lord in our own four corner wilderness before entering the Promised Land. The problem is, it will take a few plagues to wake people up. Jesus promised that in Luke 21, John describes it in Revelation.<br />
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So, if you still doubt the precepts that Ezekiel's vision presents, think about this:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"When a stranger resides <b>with you in your land</b>, you shall not do him wrong. <b>The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you</b>, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God." </blockquote>
That is a quote from the Almighty God of Israel and it's critically important to know that Abba Father sets His standard for the end days restoration right there in Leviticus 19:33-34. The end days are not about the end of the world, but they are about the end of the exile from The Kingdom of God.<br />
<br />As shown by Abraham's covenant and the adoption of Joseph's sons, The Lord God of Jacob points to a latter day miracle of two stick grafting with an adopted family in many nations. With Isaiah's words you can know, believe and understand this poetic and prophetic promise from Leviticus ties to Judah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It shall come to pass<b> in the latter days</b><br />
that the mountain of the house of the LORD<br />
shall be established as <b>the highest of the mountains</b>,<br />
and shall be lifted up above the hills;<br />
and <b>all the nations</b> shall flow to it,<br />
and <b>many peoples</b> shall come, and say: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Come, <b>let us go up</b> to the mountain of the LORD,<br />
to the house of the God of Jacob,<br />
<b>that he may teach us his ways</b><br />
and that <b>we may walk in his paths</b>.” Isaiah 2:1-3</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thus says the Lord GOD: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to <b>the nations</b>,<br />
and raise my signal to <b>the peoples</b>;<br />
and they shall bring your sons in their arms,<br />
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.<br />
Kings shall be your <b><u>foster fathers</u></b>,<br />
and their queens your <b>nursing mothers</b>. Isaiah 49:22-23</blockquote>
Expanding the family like a foster father and restoring life to the nations is Abraham's promise to come in the latter days. The mixed multitude was missing in 1948 for a reason. That's why Judah is alone in the land today, but that is not the end of the dry bones restoration.</div><div><br /></div><div>The story of Joseph reveals when Judah will recognize his brother Joseph. Sadly, there will be trouble in the land of Israel. Joseph will help Judah and Judah will see him for who he is.<br />
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Praise God, the hearts of many Christians began to believe their Bibles after WWII and they repented and return to the front of the Bible.<br />
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<b>This has already happened. </b><br />
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Jerusalem was restored to Israel in 1967. Every serious Bible believer was amazed at the miracles seen in the Six-Day War. A few noticed the restoration timeline of the Old City and the mountain of the LORD matched the six days of creation, a few even realized the land and the Temple Mount were both restored to Israel during the counting of the Omer after Passover during the week of Unleavened Bread. Wake up!! That is the same timetable of the first Exodus.<br />
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Some even linked the six day war to the six days that Israel marched around Jericho before its walls fell on the seventh day:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. Joshua 6:3 </blockquote>
Some noticed the connection to the shouts at Jericho to those over the radio as well as Rabbi Goren's shofar heard at the Temple walls:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. Joshua 6:1-2 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city. Joshua 6:16</blockquote>
The Six-Day War started on the 41st day of the Omer Count up to Shavuot (Pentecost) and Jericho was taken during the Omer Count:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. Joshua 5:10</blockquote>
Those that knew Yeshua ascended on Day 40 of the Omer Count some 2,000 years ago saw a connection to the latter days noted in Isaiah chapter 2 to the very timeline recorded in Matthew called the end of the age:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of <b>all the nations</b>, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, <b>teaching them to observe all that I commanded you</b>; and lo, I am with you always, <b>even to the end of the age</b>.” Matthew 25:18-20</blockquote>
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Jesus taught the great precepts of Torah and there's a latter day, end of the age connection to the land still without awaiting complete restoration.<br />
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There's more...<br />
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You should know about the Six Day War and it's amazing connection to the Torah portion read by the Jewish people on that Sabbath across the globe when the war ended in June 1967.<br />
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On June 10th 1967, the war ended on the weekly Sabbath, the day of rest, a day God says is eternal and <u>a prophetic sign</u> (Exodus 31:17). The Torah parashah that was read that very day in synagogues around the globe was "Naso" or in Hebrew "take a census" or "lift up."<br />
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Naso is the second parashah in the Torah scroll when it is rolled open to the book of Numbers and the portion of the scroll read that week was Numbers 4:21–7:89. It describes the "census" of Israel and God's instruction for the "organization of the camp" around the "Tabernacle."<br />
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It includes the Holy Place duties of the Kohathites and the outer court duties of the Gershonites and the Merarite Levites. The Naso portion outlines responsibilities for camp "purification" and this it includes the "consecration" of the Tabernacle as it teaches "restitution" for wrongs committed.<br />
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Think back to what really happened in real time in Israel. The lived out Naso.<br />
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Not only that, it is the largest of the weekly Torah portions. It wraps up with the dedication-offering and the count of the “peace” offerings, then these words:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
”And when Moses went into the tent of meeting that He might speak with him, then he heard the Voice speaking unto him from above the ark-cover that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and He spoke unto him.” Numbers 7:89</blockquote>
Can you see the deep prophetic "Remez" connections? In a remez teaching, a portion of a Scripture passage is used to explain the full purpose of the Torah.<br />
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In this amazing portion likely established by Ezra and Nehemiah after the Temple was restored following the diaspora to Babylon, God told Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons that they should give the Israelites with this blessing of <u>favor, protection and peace</u>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The Lord bless you and protect you! The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you! The Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!</blockquote>
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Few noticed outside Israel and connected the jots and tittles of "Naso" to Jericho and the incredible Six-Day War and the peace that resulted, but all of this is true. Not only that, the seventh day reading of Naso includes Numbers 7:72–89. The conclusion of the seventh reading is about עליה aliyah as the leaders from the family tribes bought in their dedication offerings for the altar.<br />
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When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with God, Moses could hear God's voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark between the two cherubim.<br />
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The blessing of protection and favor as well as going up (aliyah) to the Temple Mount came before the world's eyes in 1967 without many knowing or understanding Naso. We were all witnessing the beginning of the Temple Mount's "Naso" consecration and restitution for wrongs committed and it was announced with a shofar blast below the threshing floor from a rabbi by the name of Shlomo Goren.<br />
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Shlomo is the Hebrew name of Solomon, the son assigned the duty to build the House of God. The final peace blessing is coming. The "Naso" camp purification and the sanctification of the Tabernacle sanctuary is now in process with Jerusalem's restoration. Today is the time of a living in Bible prophecy.<br />
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This is all a part of the proof that the Messiah King of Judah is returning and the land is being prepared by the Jewish people.<br />
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In the short years that followed the conclusion of this six-day miracle, the modern Aliyah exodus of the Jewish people intensified. From the South, the world watched as Operation Moses unfolded with U.S. assistance in 1984 after famine struck Ethiopia. Operation Solomon began seven years later in 1991, as Jews that left Ethiopia and the Sudan were airlifted to Israel.<br />
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They were followed by nearly a million Jewish people that left Russia in an even greater exodus to Israel from the North.<br />
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Incredibly, many Christians began to awaken to this restoration miracle to understand that God does not change and therefore Jacob was not consumed in the German furnaces, the Russian pogroms or the famine and persecution in Ethiopia where Jews had lived for some 2000 years since the days of Titus.<br />
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The Beta Israel of Ethiopia as they call themselves had survived over the centuries in spite of continuous massacres of the Amhara's religious persecution, enslavement, and forced conversions by none other that Ethiopian Christians. It's not over, Ethiopian Jews that remain in Africa may still be the most threatened Jewish community on any map.<br />
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This must gives us all a big time "Sod" picture that began with the furnace of the Holocaust in WWII. It was as if there was "One" unseen with the Jewish people of Europe, Africa and Russia like the furnace in Babylon that the story of Daniel has made famous because of the fourth man in the furnace of blazing fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego...<br />
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Not only that, beginning in 1967, the dry bones of a remnant of non-Jews like myself that had once thought that God's Word was old and done away with, hung on the cross, began to repent and realize we had adopted the lies of church fathers. We realized we were dead wrong because God does not change, He is not like a man.<br />
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Slowly but surely, a worldwide remnant began to look back at the Hebrew Scriptures Jesus taught every Sabbath as was His custom (Luke 4:16) and believe the words in the witness of Malachi 3:6.<br />
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Many turned to believe the second witness found in 1Samuel 15:29:<br />
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“Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.” </blockquote>
Today, many in the north, south east and west realize that Abba Father's covenant given to Abraham and at Sinai remain unbroken and hearts are turning toward Israel and the Jewish people. Minds and hearts are understanding that there are Ten Commandments, not nine. The Sabbath of the Lord was not changed even if the so-called "church fathers" said so, and the so-called Old Testament with its unchanging promises and prophecies must be seen for what it is, not old at all.<br />
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It is eternal just as Jesus declared from the mountain in Matthew 5.<br />
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A big part of the blessing to come is that a remnant of sojourners are awakening to new life and the fact that the Lord that saves, declares His Sabbaths and His Feasts too as His appointments for blessing all nations.<br />
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Dead bones are coming life and beginning to realize what God meant when He declared this truth:<br />
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"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem." Psalm 51:17-18</blockquote>
Eyes are opening and seeing the apple of God's eye is looking on Jerusalem and Judah.<br />
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They now see the Sabbath and the Feast Days of The Lord honored since Sinai by the Jewish people are very real. The restoration of Judah and Ephraim are just as real.<br />
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Many Christians once in the wilderness can now see glimpses of Almighty God's divine appointments for what they are, a big part of the redemption plan of God for humanity and the outline of the restoration plan described in the Torah for Abraham's blessing of a multitude of nations in the journey toward the Kingdom of God.<br />
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It's true, God has a plan. So, get in line and shema with the Master's plan for your life and purpose and heed God's words, not the idols of a church father like Marcion that tosses a part of the Bible aside as old and done away with:<br />
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"Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers' idols. Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness." Ezekiel 20:15-17</blockquote>
A growing remnant now also realize that the Creator God of life gives us His simple guidelines for health and that a Sunday kitchen is no place to bake a ham or fry catfish because God's teaching and instruction is easy, a light yoke for a healthy, long life. The reason is simple, God loves us all!!<br />
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Repent now. Judah is not supposed to remain alone in Israel. <b>There's more to the valley of dry bones.</b><br />
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From a "Sod" perspective, what was shown to the prophet Ezekiel is the answer to God's question:<br />
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"Son of man, can these bones live?”<br />
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Yes. Understanding the promise given to Abraham to bless the nations of the world is a part of the blessing that transforms Ezekiel's vision of resurrection into reality. The restoration of the bones of Judah are new life from the Shoah, pogroms and persecution. They shine a light and bless a believing world of a multitude of nations as the Mishpachah (family) of Abba Father.<br />
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We have all lived in slavery to sin just as the Bible declares.<br />
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In Egypt, years before the Exodus, something dramatic occurred. Just before his death, Jacob adopted Ephraim as a firstborn son. To grasp the importance of this, we have to remember that Ephraim's mother was not Jewish, his mother was Asenath, the Egyptian daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, the home of the false-god of Egypt.<br />
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Biblical On is now known as ancient Heliopolis, “The City of the Sun,” and it was the center of the cult practices of the Egyptian sun-god, Ra. </div><div><br /></div><div>According to Britannica: "Little remains today of this great ancient Egyptian city. The sole surviving monument is the obelisk of Sesostris I, the oldest obelisk in existence. Of the pair of obelisks erected by Thutmose III in Heliopolis, now known as Cleopatra’s Needles, one stands on the Thames embankment in London and the other in Central Park, in New York City."</div><div><br /></div><div>Did you know Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt was the sister of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the madman that the Maccabees fought against?</div><div>
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Those obelisks remain in existence as a witness.</div><div><br /></div><div>The good news is that Almighty God used Joseph’s marriage and his children to serve as the banner for an amazing blessing... adoption! </div><div><br /></div><div>And don't forget that years later, the Bible tells us the Exodus journey from slavery included a large company of sojourners and strangers that were alien to Israel, yet they chose to follow the mighty God of Jacob and they too were adopted in joining the family of faith called Israel.<br />
<br />Deuteronomy 6:4 declares "shema" hear and do: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one "echad"! <br />
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Almighty God is "echad" אֶחָד one all. Abba Father extended His perpetual, forever teaching as one instruction "echad Torah" אֶחָד תּוֹרָה one law and "echad mishpat" אֶחָד מִשְׁפָּט one ordinance for everyone in the "qahal" קָהֵל assembly before The LORD that followed His glory cloud in the wilderness.<br />
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If you want to carry the burden of old traditions and opinions to reject this fact - - your argument is with Moses and God's eternal voice of authority recorded for everyone to wake up and hear this:<br />
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"As for the assembly, there shall be <u>one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you</u>, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; <u>as you are, so shall the alien be before the LORD</u>. There is to be <u>one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien</u> who sojourns with you.” Numbers 15:15-16 </blockquote>
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"You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them.” Numbers 15:29</blockquote>
That Hebrew word "qahal" קָהֵל means assembly or company. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's a crowd, a gathering for common goal and purpose. The "qahal" crowd is the same word pointing back to the promise God gave to Abram when his name was changed to Abraham and to Jacob when Elohim God made his name change blessing to Israel. At Bethel, God reminded Jacob that he had given him a new identity as he passed on the heavenly name blessing like that given to his grandfather:<br />
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"A nation <u>and</u> a company of nations shall come from you... and kings..." (Genesis 35:10-11 from Genesis 17:5-6)<br />
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In a deep dive into a "Sod" perspective, consider the native born and the sojourning company of aliens and strangers with them represent today's big picture of Jew and Gentile to be one echad new man restored under the promised "melek" King just like it was in the first Exodus to follow and serve the Elohim God of Israel together.<br />
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It's all there in the promise given to Abram when Almighty God changed his name as well as to Jacob when his name was changed by Abba Father. You may ask what about Isaac, but it's not a mystery, he wasn't forgotten, his name was a gift from God before he was born:</div><div><blockquote>Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. Genesis 17:19 NIV</blockquote>If you are like I was, you may have missed the "qanat" key in the Bible thinking Paul was part of a new church that geared up in Acts 2. A new spirit filled "qahal" assembly if you will. The problem with that thinking is shown if you simply read all of Acts 2. You can't find a new church, but rather something very old. </div><div><br /></div><div>Peter explained it to the crowds... "this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel." In Acts 3, Peter (the rock) explains more from the Prophets including the second coming:<br />
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"But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer, he thus fulfilled. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, Yeshua, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. </blockquote>
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Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days."</blockquote>
Paul, the Jewish rabbi to the company of strangers and aliens in the Roman Empire, taught in synagogues and he wrote follow-up letters to them (Ephesians 2:15) about the Ezekiel 37 requirement given to the prophet to "shema" (hear and do) the word of The Lord. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul was preaching that the resurrection will occur as God intended, a restoration of all nations, all believing people, whether native born, sojourner or stranger adopted as children walking as one family of the Elohim God of Israel fulfilling His promise to Abraham that was passed on to Isaac and that Jacob expanded by love in adoption...<br />
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Just as Ezekiel recorded what God promised, the Ruach Spirit breath of God's mighty power came to the valley of dry bones to start the restoration. Beginning in 1948, a big group stood on their feet. In 1967, an exceedingly great army of companions slowly began to be restored in repentance just as God had promised:<br />
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“Son of man, these bones are the <u>whole</u> house of Israel. Then you will know that I am The LORD." Ezekiel 37:11</blockquote>
The word "whole" is a key to the "Sod" understanding of these words. The Hebrew word translated as "whole" is "kol" כֹּל meaning totality, everyone of Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone that believes like children that trust The Father whether born as a son or daughter or adopted are a part of the promise. Now's the time be be walking as companions to follow the glory of the Elohim God of the <u>whole</u> house of Israel.<br />
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If your bones are still dry and you reject God's plan for the restoration of the nations of this planet, listen to the sovereign words of The LORD:<br />
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"The word of the LORD came again to me saying, “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ </blockquote>
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Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. </blockquote>
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When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, <u>and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand</u>.”’ </blockquote>
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The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes." Ezekiel 37:15-20</blockquote>
Those two sticks are becoming one as the whole house of the olive tree Israel, the living bones. The sticks include the companions fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel. There's much more life and Kingdom restoration to come to the bones of the companion nations to be blessed by the power in the Spirit of Almighty God through the faith of Abraham no matter what people may say. </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason, Abraham heard Go and he listened in great faith. The man from the Ur of Chaldees believed God's promise, then he did something about it, he crossed over.<br />
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This is Abraham's great promise of the "melek" king and the world to come that was explained to Ezekiel:<br />
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“My servant David will be king over them, and <b>they will all have one shepherd</b>; and <b>they will walk</b> in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. </blockquote>
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They will <b>live on the land </b>that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and <b>they will live on it</b>, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, <b>forever</b>; and David <b>My servant will be their prince forever.</b> </blockquote>
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I will make <b>a covenant of peace </b>with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And <b>I will place them and multiply them</b>, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. <b>My dwelling place also will be with them</b>; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. </blockquote>
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<b>And <u>the nations</u></b> will know that <b>I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel</b>, when My sanctuary is in their midst <b>forever</b>.” Ezekiel 37: 24-28</blockquote>
This shepherd is the promise of King Messiah Yeshua from the family line of the shepherd, king David.<br />
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Have you ever considered, who are the nations in the covenant of peace?<br />
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They include the "gowy" of Gentiles, the nations with an adoption promise given to Abraham and carried out by his grandson Jacob. The companions of Judah mustl know that The Lord sanctifies all He calls by the family of God name... Israel whether native born or adopted like Ephraim and Manasseh. </div><div><br /></div><div>God's sanctuary will be in their midst forever.<br />
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Paul tied the promised vision of life from the death shown in Ezekiel 37 with the faith of Abraham as he also spoke against the darkness of replacement theology following his letter delivered to the Romans:<br />
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"That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to <b>the one who shares the faith of Abraham</b>, who is the father of us all, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, <b>who gives life to the dead</b> and calls into existence the things that do not exist. </blockquote>
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In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, <b>which was as good as dead</b> (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. </blockquote>
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No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God,</b> but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." </blockquote>
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But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us <b>who believe in him who raised from the dead</b> Jesus [Yeshua] our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses <b>and raised</b> <b>for our justification</b>." Romans 4:16-25 </blockquote>
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"I say then, <b>God has not rejected His people</b>, has He? May it never be! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." Romans 11:1</blockquote>
<b>What does Ezekiel's vision teach us about God's everlasting love and His promises?</b><br />
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Almighty God is sovereign and unchanging. </div><div><br /></div><div>He is the loving, kind, merciful, gracious forgiving Abba Father and He has provided the Torah, the Prophets and Psalms as a road map to Kingdom life to point all people, both Jew and Gentile toward repentance on life's restoration journey which is the living Messiah Yeshua - Jesus the Nazarene and the living Torah given for all that seek to follow in "the way."<br />
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That's the "Sod" part of Ezekiel's vision, the bones and sinews of Torah are to be restored, alive in the companions, just as Yeshua the Jew, the living Torah of life calls everyone that will believe as children walking in unity with Judah to follow the one Elohim God of Israel.<br />
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If you are not familiar with a kosher Torah scroll, now a good time to let you know that before the writing has been completed, the many pieces of parchment are sewn together with thread made of animal veins to form one scroll.<br />
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The finished scroll is attached to wooden rollers by clean animal sinews. The two pieces of wood are called the "atzei chayim" (tree of life). They are the two wooden shafts attached to both ends of the scroll, around which it hung attached to the wood.<br />
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To be considered kosher or clean, a Torah scroll may only be written on parchment from the skin of a kosher animal, preferable lambskin. Incredibly, the animal does not have to be killed in a ritually acceptable manner. <u>Think about that</u>.<br />
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Also, like Yeshua was scourged before beginning to write a Torah scroll, every scribe must scratch lines on the parchment skin. Not only that, every Torah scroll is draped in a garment of scarlet or blue or even white linen and crowned like Messiah:<br />
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They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Matthew 27: 28-29</blockquote>
Each scroll is adorned with a crown typically made of silver, a Biblical symbol of redemption. The crown rests above the wooden shafts of every kosher Torah scroll, which extend above the scroll just a Messiah's crown of suffering was seen on the wood.<br />
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Did you know the Bible honors the “families of scribes” by first mentioning them on 1 Chronicles 2:55 and 2 Chronicles 34:13 and Yeshua did the same in Matthew 5:20. If you are still a stranger and have not experienced a new life restoration in God's Word written on your heart, Almighty Elohim God is calling you like Ezekiel to answer His question "can these bones live?"<br />
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The Abba Father wants to be your Father, He offers you and the world redemption and salvation's exodus from sin by His forgiveness through Messiah's life, death and resurrection with a path to not just consider what would Jesus do, but to do what Jesus did.<br />
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Stand up. Walk like Him in covenant living out and teaching others about God's unfailing Word as the same guide for life that Yeshua taught.<br />
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You too can become a part of the promise given to Abraham and accept Messiah's gospel gift of blessing of life in The Father's Kingdom. Like Jesus said, the words Moses recorded all point toward Him. The Torah points to Messiah, and His Kingdom walk is outlined in the same Bible Jesus read and taught from every Sabbath as was His custom.<br />
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Remember too, all bones require sinews and power from the breath of God's Spirit for true worshippers to live as a people just as The Father intended. The bones of Ezekiel are like a Torah scroll. Every person can revived in the spirit and truth found in the scroll of life.<br />
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Yeshua of Nazareth gave a prophecy to His disciples about this:<br />
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“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." John 4:23</blockquote>
The Father is seeking you out in the spirit and truth of Hs unchanging Word. That's why you are here.<br />
You can make a decison. Consider carefully what your life can be, look at your dry bones and repent of any wrongdoing, depravity, immorality or transgression sin against God and others.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. </div></div>
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Repent and ask Elohim God for His grace and blessing only found in His forgiveness and accept His forever promised gift of love, grace and supplication through Messiah Yeshua, the lamb of God.<br />
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Pray to The God of all creation. If you want a prayer to guide you, consider these words from the Psalm 51 prayer of king David and pray it as your own:<br />
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Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;<br />
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. </blockquote>
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Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity<br />
And cleanse me from my sin.<br />
For I know my transgressions,<br />
And my sin is ever before me.<br />
Against You, You only, I have sinned<br />
And done what is evil in Your sight,<br />
So that You are justified when You speak<br />
And blameless when You judge. </blockquote>
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Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,<br />
And in sin my mother conceived me. </blockquote>
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Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,<br />
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.<br />
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;<br />
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.<br />
Make me to hear joy and gladness, </blockquote>
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Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. </blockquote>
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Hide Your face from my sins<br />
And blot out all my iniquities.<br />
Create in me a clean heart, O God,<br />
And renew a steadfast spirit within me. </blockquote>
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Do not cast me away from Your presence<br />
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.<br />
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation<br />
And sustain me with a willing spirit. </blockquote>
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Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,<br />
And sinners will be converted to You.<br />
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;<br />
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. </blockquote>
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O Lord, open my lips,<br />
That my mouth may declare Your praise.<br />
For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;<br />
You are not pleased with burnt offering. </blockquote>
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The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;<br />
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.</blockquote>
Then stand up and walk in faith, sanctified in new life and follow the Pillar of Fire through the difficult wilderness journey back to The Kingdom of God sustained by God's Spirit. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you don’t believe in His Messiah, you can believe the message. </div><div><br /></div><div>The message of Yeshua is to declare the gospel of God good news for the final redemption.</div><div>
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If you know you need to get your life right, follow the real Messiah Yeshua. Don’t wait for tomorrow, start your walk with power. Ask Almighty God for the Spirit breath of life and Almighty God will breathe His power on you. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can be restored to new life in your dry bones. </div><div><br /></div><div>In faith, grab hold of the hem of the robe of the resurrected Messiah. He is Yeshua of Nazareth. The Father will deliver you to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. In your repentance, if you seek, the power of God's Spirit will walk with you as your teacher and comforter on your life's journey out of sin's slavery.<br />
<br />Just ask and follow Messiah for who He is and receive the Spirit of God's power for life. </div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:<br />
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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </blockquote>
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For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</blockquote>
Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.<br />
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Repent and walk your Emmaus road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with life's way in the Kingdom.<br />
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Yeshua bones were never broken nor was His Torah walk. King David was inspired by the Spirit of God to give us the Messianic prophecy about Yeshua in Psalms 34:20 that is like Joseph's promise and Ezekiel's vision:<br />
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"He keeps all his bones,<br />
Not one of them is broken."</blockquote>You can walk unbroken in the spirit of faith just as He did, because no bone in the living Word of God was ever broken, and not one jot or tittle was lost at the cross.<br />
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Yeshua lived a righteous Torah life and He taught others to do the same. This is shown by the living bones of Yeshua the lamb of God resurrected on First Fruits day.<br />
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When God gave His instruction in Exodus 12:46 for the Passover lamb against breaking any bone of the lamb that is given for each household, He did this for good reason pointing to Yeshua's life offering to redeem life and relationship with Almighty God.<br />
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The record John 19:31-34 is true, it tells us that when the Roman soldiers came to speed up His death by breaking the bones of his legs, they did not, instead one of them horrifically pierced his side. That Roman fulfilled David's prophecy and no one broke a bone in the body of the lamb of God because:<br />
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“These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken’” John 19:36</blockquote>
In a similar way, you too can honor the Word of God, don't break it, even if you have pierced it thinking it is dead and hung on a cross.<br />
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<b>To the last detail, Yeshua fills the Scriptures up with life and meaning and His desire is to fill your life, overflowing with meaning:</b><br />
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"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me." John 5:46 </blockquote>
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“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. </blockquote>
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For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. </blockquote>
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Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-19</blockquote>
The bones of Ezekiel's vision testify of Messiah, the living Scriptures and you too.<br />
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The Messiah's name is Yeshua, it means salvation. He is the Jew many call Jesus of Nazareth. His Hebrew name has come back to life expressing His identity and His Kingdom of God mission to save us all from our own dry bone grave with a death grip on sin to restore us to new life in the Kingdom of God.<br />
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<b>"O dry bones, hear the word of The Lord YHWH!</b><br />
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It's the time of restoration, incredibly that new life includes friendship with Judah as one living stick in God's hand. Be like Ezekiel, do something because you can, shema (hear and do) so you know the I am that is the LORD who sanctifies all of Israel, the children of God.<br />
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The land of Israel is under preparation by Judah as the earthshaking event of Messiah's return draws near, and it's time to prepare our hearts because:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."</blockquote>
In this generation, our generation - we are close to the day of return. It will to be marked first by a a trumpet shofar call, it's high time to prepare hearts.<br />
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The God of Israel will reveal Himself in the sight of all nations:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 39:25-28</blockquote><div>Shalom.</div>
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<br /></div>
</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-6066976412079501542018-09-21T15:16:00.009-05:002023-04-20T07:25:39.930-05:00The Seven Mile Road Lesson... <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gang nach Emmaus - Robert Zünd</span></td></tr>
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This is not a typical post. Little commentary is needed, in my Scripture studies I found a great lesson...<br />
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"It was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near.<br />
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The women, who had come with him out of Galilee, followed after, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid. They returned and prepared spices and ointments.<br />
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On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.<br />
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But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. They entered in, and didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body. While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing. <div><br /></div><div>Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?<br />
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He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what He told you when he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again?”<br />
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They remembered his words, returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.<br />
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Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James.<br />
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The other women with them told these things to the apostles. These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them.<br />
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But Peter got up and ran to the tomb.<br />
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Stooping and looking in, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he departed to his home, wondering what had happened.<br />
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Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia (<i>seven miles</i>) from Jerusalem. They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened.<br />
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While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near, and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.<br />
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He said to them, “<span style="color: #990000;">What are you talking about as you walk, and are sad?</span>”<br />
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One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?”<br />
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He said to them, “<span style="color: #990000;">What things?</span>”<br />
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They said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. </div><div><br /></div><div>But we were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel.<br />
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Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.<br />
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Also, certain women of our company amazed us, having arrived early at the tomb; and when they didn’t find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of us went to the tomb, and found it just like the women had said, but they didn’t see Him.”<br />
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He said to them, “<span style="color: #990000;">Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and </span><br />
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They came near to the village where they were going, and He acted like he would go further. They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.”<br />
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He went in to stay with them. When He had sat down at the table with them, He took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, He gave it to them. Their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, then He vanished out of their sight.<br />
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They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while He spoke to us along the way, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”<br />
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They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” </div><div><br /></div><div>They related the things that happened along the way, and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.<br />
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As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “<span style="color: #990000;">Peace be to you.</span>”<br />
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But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.<br />
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He said to them, “<span style="color: #990000;">Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.</span>”<br />
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When He had said this, He showed them his hands and his feet.<br />
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While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “<span style="color: #990000;">Do you have anything here to eat?</span>”<br />
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They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.<br />
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He took them, and ate in front of them. He said to them, “<span style="color: #990000;">This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.</span>”<br />
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Then He opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.<br />
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He said to them, “<span style="color: #990000;">Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;">You are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.</span>”<br />
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He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up his hands, and blessed them.<br />
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While He blessed them, He withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven. They worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen." (Luke 23:55-56 to Luke 24:1-53)<br />
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<b>What does this seven mile road lesson tell us?</b><br />
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Almighty God is sovereign and unchanging. He is the loving, kind, merciful, gracious forgiving Abba Father and He has provided the Torah, the Prophets and Psalms as a road map to point toward the destination of life's journey with Messiah Yeshua - Jesus the Nazarene, the risen one.<br />
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That's the seven mile road lesson.<br />
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If you have not experienced it, Almighty Elohim God is calling your name. He wants to offer you and the world redemption, salvation and remission from sin through forgiveness. He provides the road to walk with Messiah from the outer court to the inner court.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me as to what I should do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for you to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. </div>
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You can choose to make the first step with repentance. Take a look at your life and repent of any wrongdoing, immorality or transgression of God's ways. Ask Elohim God for His mercy and grace promise of forgiveness and accept His gift of love and supplication through Messiah Yeshua. Then walk with Him and open your Bible, but remember what He said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven..." Matthew 5:18-19</blockquote>
If you know in your heart that you need to get your life right with God, if you know you need to walk out life in God's ways, not your own, seek to follow in His instruction and make them your own. Don’t wait for tomorrow, start your walk on the seven-mile road to Emmaus with Yeshua the Nazarene by grabbing the robe of the resurrected Messiah. If we are not walking like Messiah, who are we following?<br />
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Our way as believers in Yeshua as the resurrected Messiah is to walk like He walked, talk like He talked, read the Bible He read. Yeshua is acting as our High Priest mediator before the right hand of Almighty God, He is looking for your response in choice to pursue His righteous ways that can be found through God's teaching and instruction.<br />
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Yeshua will walk with you too on your life's journey. If you'll listen to Him and follow Him, you can learn the principles of Kingdom lifestyle in the Most Holy Place which are written in the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings. The point to Messiah. They are about Yeshua, your privilege is you get to do them and teach others what you've learned.<br />
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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.<br />
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For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</blockquote>
Today is the time, open your eyes and see Messiah beginning from Moses and from all the Prophets and the Psalms.<br />
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"If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”… John 5:46-47</blockquote>
Choose to walk your life's journey in God's mercy with Messiah from the Outer Court into the Most Holy Place. Study and do the Scriptures He taught that are filled with meaning because of Him that rest beside the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place.<br />
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His name is Yeshua - Jesus of Nazareth and His name expresses not only his identity but His mission to save us from sin's death grip and show us the way to holiness in a royal bondservant priesthood as God's people declared in the Torah lived out by Yeshua and confirmed by Peter the disciple:<br />
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Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:5-6. </blockquote>
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They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.<br /></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1Peter 2:8-10</blockquote>
Shalom.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-3146576949980187252017-10-07T10:24:00.199-05:002024-01-27T11:43:01.839-06:00Why the Letter to the Galatians? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A strange thing happened nearly 2,000 years ago...<br />
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Paul, an orthodox Jew, a Pharisee that studied Scripture under Gamaliel shed its light about Messiah to the Gentiles, but people started spreading disinformation that during Paul's travels he preached a new religion and that his followup letters were written to explain why he turned away from his Jewishness and the Torah.<br />
<br />Yet in my Scripture studies, I discovered Paul did not preach a rnew religion. Not only that, he declared he remained a descendant of the family tribe of Benjamin, a Jew from Tarsus and a Pharisee. <div><br /></div><div>He never said he "used to be" a Pharisee, he said he was a Pharisee. </div><div><br /></div><div>Simply put he remain a Jew that had met Messiah.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, through a man named Ananias, Yeshua gave him an assignment to be sent out and be a part of the unconditional Genesis 12:1-3 covenant Almighty God made with Abraham regarding the promise "all nations" would be blessed. Simply put he was to shine the light for the Gentiles.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua called on Ananias of Damascus to give the Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin his gospel of God assignment before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>As noted Paul, aka Saul of Tarsus was trained under Gamaliel the prominent Jewish rabbi and teacher of the Torah and the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures in Jerusalem. Gamaliel was highly qualified. He a Pharisee and the grandson of the famous Rabbi Hillel. </div><div><br /></div><div>With God’s sovereign gospel plan embedded in Abraham's covenant, the Torah teacher helped preserve the Paul assignment as a witness to the Gentiles. Gamaliel stood up for Paul when the Sadducees tried to stop him dead in his tracks. Not only had Gamaliel helped equip the the apostle as a young man, he saved his life so that he could complete his assignment to spread the word about the promised Messiah in synagogues all across the Mediterranean.</div><div><br /></div><div>As few short years ago I found a crack in the fault line I'd been "reading into" Paul's light in the dark letters. I realized I had missed the history and context of ancient truths. They were hidden in plain sight because I'd read about Paul though verse snippets. </div><div><br /></div><div>For that reason, I could not connect Paul's letters to the front of the Bible or the heart of the God's voice delivered to Moses atop Mount Sinai that Gamaliel must have taught in his yeshiva. Then, some seventeen years ago, I received my marching orders. <div><br /></div><div>I was told... read the Bible, start in the beginning. </div><div><br /></div><div>After I did that over and over again, and despite what I had heard or what I thought I knew, gradually I discovered Paul's letters are deeply rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures. Not only that they provide midrash moments with a Hebrew heart of unchanging faith, not a new one that shifts gears.</div><div><br /></div><div>For me, the big ah ha moment was when I discovered Paul's focus was on what Almighty God revealed about Himself to Moses after the grave harlotry sin of the golden calf at Mount Sinai.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul's letters were followups from what he taught in the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=synagogue&t=ESV#s=s_primary_44_1" target="_blank">synagogue</a> and in the ages-old Jewish way of communicating that he learned in yeshiva school, the key message he delivers over and again is that we can't expect to walk in faith in God’s power and authority if we take one step toward the Kingdom of God, yet choose to stumble in compromise. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Paul's letter to the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/gal/1/1/p1/s_1092001" target="_blank">Galatians</a>, I discovered that without zeroing in on the front of the Bible as the source code of his faith, I'd never be able to understand his eye-opening opposition to religious rules that add to God's instruction.</div><div><br /></div><div>In his day, like today the instruction of the Torah was being largely ignored by preference to religious tradition. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul's messages can seem confusing. </div><div><br /></div><div>One reason: while writing in Greek, Paul's thinking is Hebraic.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul wrote with 3-D Hebraic concepts from God's word not linear Greek thinking or religious philosophy. Another reason the letters seem confusing is due to the fact that Paul's conclusions are often written in chaistic order in which ideas and concepts are presented and then repeated in reverse order with the key point in the middle, not the end. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'd grown up like most people learning conclusions are summed up in the end.<div><div><br /></div><div>To complicate matters, Paul traveled in a culture conflict with a language barrier. Since the end of the Middle Ages, we've translated Paul's Greek letters to English with a "Hellenized" mindset because many are basically ignorant of his resume, his upbringing as well as his eye-opening heart and mind after Damascus.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also realized that Peter (aka Simon son of Jonah) was talking about me when I re-read 2 Peter 3:16. </div><div>Peter's words were like a body slam. Peter was saying Biblically uneducated people are unstable. That was me. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was twisting Paul's words because I was ignorant of the heart of the Scriptures. </div><div><br /></div><div>Peter tossed out a yellow caution flag for me. </div><div><br /></div><div>He laid it out with a warning... that what Paul teaches is not new, not against the Torah or the Prophets. </div><div><br /></div><div>The real world Biblical reality is that Paul argued against certain religious rules of men that God warned everyone about in Ezekiel 34. In Paul's day, the bad shepherd problem zeroed in on a religious conversion process to earn proselyte citizenship in God's Kingdom family. </div><div><br /></div><div>As a parable-like illustration, suppose you are seeking U.S. Citizenship... Can you imagine if the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Office made their decisions to grant citizenship only on the basis of your political views or your religious and ideological perceptions without reliance on the U.S. Constitution much less U.S. immigration and naturalization laws? </div><div><br /></div><div>Here's another metaphor. Suppose the Supreme Court took it upon themselves with their rulings to add to or take away from the U.S. Constitution, rewriting it with every opinion?</div><div><br /></div><div>Funny thing about the Constitution, most U.S. citizens don't read it or even know when it was put in place. The fact is the U.S. Constitution was ratified September 17, 1787 and there's a Biblical calendar connection: that day was Tishri 5, smack in the middle of the days of awe during the Fall Feast countdown from Trumpets day to Yom Kippur. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'll share a personal sidenote on the timing of the U.S. Constitution: my ancestors in America were alive and well at the time living in Cumberland, North Carolina. </div><div><br /></div><div>Three years after the Constitution was made the law of this land, the first U.S. census was taken under President George Washington. That census contains these four names: Jesse, John, Samuel Jr. and Samuel Sr. Northington. A man named Edward was their father, but he had died long before the Constitution came to be the law of the land. </div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the U.S. Constitution... can you imagine if today's Supreme Court did not care about their power set by the very document which says... "The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, <u>arising under</u> this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made..."</div><div><br /></div><div>What if they could toss out "law and equity" and just make their own opinion about power? </div><div><br /></div><div>Taking the Constitution metaphor a BIG STEP further, what if the Constitution had been dictated by the Creator, the Sovereign Almighty God of the universe?</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's the thing about that, there is a family of God Constitution, it's called the Torah, and in Paul's arguments for God's Kingdom way of faith, Paul opposed religious opinion and proselyte citizenship conversion rules that held a manmade twist on Almighty God's name, character and the intent of His gifts of mercy and forgiveness. </div><div><br /></div><div>That ages old grace-less problem still exists today.</div><div><br /></div><div>The good news is that Genesis 17:7-8, Deuteronomy 30:6, Jeremiah 24:7, Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:37 reveal God's gift of divine forgiveness. Our Creator's new covenant purpose is to inscribe His word of Torah teaching and instruction on our hearts. The promise is He will do that if we circumcise our "heart" with repentance and return to God's voice. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul finally understood the about God's voice inscribed on scrolls and that those written words of teaching are the constitution of how to live life in God's image in the Kingdom of God. The Genesis 1:26-27 image that started in Eden is to be a people in holy relationship pleasing to The LORD. That likeness goal for mankind hasn't changed. </div><div><br /></div><div>The religious issue of adding to or taking away from what God has spoken is very old, in fact as ancient as Eden. </div><div><br /></div><div>It began with the question... <b>did God really say?</b></div><div><div><br /></div><div>On the sixth day of creation, Almighty God Elohim made mankind (man and woman) in image and likeness according to Genesis 1:26-27. That fact is bigger than appearance.</div><div><br /></div><div>Abba God gave Adam and Eve a test of faith, a life choice that requires commitment, perseverance to follow The Father's instruction or to ignore it in rebellion. Elohim God set before them the way of eternal life, as exemplified by the “tree of life.” Our Creator gave them choice, represented by the tree of the knowledge of good טוֹב "tob" (prosperity, happiness, bounty, blessing and evil רַע "ra" (distress, misery, injury, calamity, curse). </div><div><br /></div><div>Knowing good and evil represents the mixing. Deception results in the wrong choice that seemed right to Adam and Eve. They broke faith because they ignored God's way of life instruction. Almighty God commanded them not to eat the fruit of that "tob ra" tree or even touch it, and He warned them that if they did, they would surely die. </div><div><br /></div><div>Death was a willful choice from deception, despite's God's love shown in His warning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Knowingly rejecting God's instruction by adding to or taking away from what God says brings the curse on ourselves. </div><div><br /></div><div>We can't sit in God's shoes with religion, only The Father determines the way of salvation. </div><div><br /></div><div>Rejecting God and choosing another way in the sin of blasphemy refusing the Holy Spirit of God and putting the question from a lowly serpent above The Father's. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you ask me, the unforgivable sin noted in Mark 28-30 refers to actions accompanied by a rock hard unchanging choice after the truth is known keeps a person from receiving God’s blessing, His gift of salvation:</div><div><blockquote>"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin..." Mark 3:28-29</blockquote></div><div>The Bible describes such a person as having “a wicked heart” that has become hardened in the deceptive of sin. Only God can judge and forgive. Salvation comes to mankind in God's way shown in His character, not choosing our way. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mixing what God says with our words is not acting in ignorance or with a lack of faith, it's a deliberate religious power play.</div><div><br /></div><div>Isaiah 1:18-20 tells us God will forgive our human relapses into sin as long as our heart has not permanently hardened in rebellion against God and we willingly choose to follow God 's voice of instruction. </div><div><blockquote>Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land. But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.</blockquote></div><div>In the beginning, the serpent lied to Eve with a deception of the spirit of God's word with his own claim about the tree of good and evil. The serpent brought death with a lie about what God had to say:</div><div><blockquote>"You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4-5 </blockquote></div></div><div>Consider the lesson about king Saul. He was chosen by the people, He was not God's choice. </div><div><br /></div><div>Saul was elected and he decided to do things his way. That was his eventual downfall when he sacrificed a burnt offering, but not as The Lord had instructed. Saul admitted to Samuel: "I have not sought the favor of the LORD. <u>So I forced myself</u>, and offered the burnt offering."</div><div><br /></div><div>The heart to follow The Lord, that's the cornerstone person Almighty God seeks (see 1 Samuel 13:13–14). King David's heart goal was to serve his Creator (check out Psalms 57 and Psalms 108:1). David was human too and sinned, but he repented in sincerity and humility (see Psalms 32:5–7, Psalms 51:1–17).</div><div><br /></div><div>David's anointing by Samuel under God's election and instruction was tied to David's heart. To understand him better, spend some time and study the Psalms of David.</div><div><br /></div><div>Most think that the rabbinate problem in Galatia is just ancient history, <u>but is it really</u>? </div><div><br /></div><div>There's ZERO intent to demean anyone here, the only goal is to open hearts to the problematic complications of adding to God's Torah teaching or take away from it as the constitution of holiness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Don't get me wrong, but there are church membership rules among the many thousands of Christian denominations today. That's why they are denominations. Some have their own man-made doctrines that declare you cannot be a registered "church member" without a church elder committee vote. </div><div><br /></div><div>Others require completion of a membership class and signed agreement with a denomination statement of faith in a quasi legal administrative hierarchy defined by a distinctive interpretation of their religious faith.</div><div><br /></div><div>Still others require "sacraments" of initiation. Those include baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist of eating a communion wafer and drinking from a golden cup. This religious process to "become" Catholic varies, it can take on many other different forms. After all, there are at least 24 “churches” within the "Catholic Church" and each has its own doctrines of religious tradition passed down over the centuries by the elders, aka their bishops.</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you starting to see the issue at hand in the Galatian letter? </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul explains the heart issue, the choice that we must hear what the Torah of God says about faith and relationship tied to the forgiveness of Almighty God, <u>not a membership committee rule</u>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul points out that rabbinic approval for conversion and salvation by justification of works is in contrast to the written word of God. My opinion is that Pauls' view it is contrary to God's instruction, His name and character described to Moses by The Lord of Hosts atop Mount Sinai. </div><div><br /></div><div>My take away is Paul's letter provides clarity that religion can add to or take away from God's gospel about Himself. Believe it or not, Paul never promotes disregarding the front of the Bible, just a few religious rules that add an elder's religion to it. Instead, his message leans toward the Torah's mountaintop message that Almighty God shared with Moses after the golden calf breach of the ten word Covenant we know as the Ten Commandments. </div><div><br /></div><div>After that idolatrous breach of the covenant that was a religious choice inherited from Egypt's slavery, Moses climbed his way back up the mountain and wrote down what God said about Himself, you should read it for yourself in Exodus 34. There's no fire and brimstone in forgiveness: </div></div></div></div><div><div><div><blockquote><div style="text-align: right;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: right;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: right;">ויעבר יהוה על־פניו ויקרא יהוה יהוה אל</div><div style="text-align: right;">רחום וחנון ארך אפים ורב־חסד ואמת</div><div style="text-align: right;">נצר חסד לאלפים נשא עון ופשע וחטאה</div><div style="text-align: right;">ונקה לא ינקה פקד עון אבות על־בנים ועל־בני בנים</div><div style="text-align: right;">על־שלשים ועל־רבעים</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: right;"></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: right;"></div></blockquote><div><div>As Almighty God descended in the cloud to the mountain to meet with Moses <u>on his second trip</u>, El Shaddai stood there with Moses and The Lord God of Creation proclaimed His mighty name יהוה and explained His holy, profound character as --- <b>merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin... </b>but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses, the chosen intercessor at the burning bush responded with a plea for forgiveness. It's almost as if Moses said, forgive them they know not what they do. </div><div><br /></div><div>Moses said: “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and <b>pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance</b>.”</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>After that humble, repentant plea --- God, The Father said OK... “<b>I now make a covenant.</b>”</div><div><div><blockquote>"Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And a<u>ll the people among whom you are shall see the work</u> of The LORD, for it is an awesome thing <u>that I will</u> do with you..."</blockquote></div></div><div>The Lord of Hosts then zeroed in on the importance of Passover and the week-long Feast of UnLeavened Bread before He warned again against adoption of the idolatry of the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.</div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>What does this Moses moment have to do with the letter to the Galatians?</u></div><div><br /></div><div>Everything. </div><div><br /></div><div>Moses' request and the name and character of The Lord God written for all to see sums it up. </div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God said "all people" among you, the facts on the ground were that are there were descendants of Israel and foreigners there too, aka former Gentiles that chose to follow The God of Israel.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The lesson for today's modern Galatians wherever you are:</b> we don't have to know how to read Greek or get a degree from a seminary to see that Paul wrote against religious rule as a manmade obligation to achieve pardon for iniquity, transgression and sin after repentance and forgiveness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God's covenant love and character is real, our response in request for pardon for iniquity and sin will be granted. Almighty God promised to do an awesome thing too. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua is the embodiment of that promise and He is the one that said, "forgive them they know not what they do" (Luke 23:4). He is the only Son of Man that never broke one jot or tittle of the written Torah.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now you know why it's important to understand that Paul actually took a stand against adding to or taking away from God's name and character. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul's Galatian letter is based on the foundation of God's profound love and forgiveness, not our own traditions that can take away from what the Torah teaches about The LORD. What we can see too is that Elohim God requires an intercessor. His Genesis 3:15 promise has a name, it is Yeshua and The Lord God told Moses about Him:</div><div><blockquote>And the LORD said to me, 'They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them <u>a prophet like you</u> from among their brothers. </blockquote><blockquote>And <u>I will put my words in his mouth,</u> and he shall speak to them all that I command him. </blockquote><blockquote>And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, <u>I myself will require it of him</u>. Deuteronomy 18:17-19</blockquote></div><div>Some can stop reading here. You have what you need. </div><div><br /></div><div>For others, I hope to properly explain more because as an old friend of mine used to say... it can take some time to unwind the religious wire entwined around the cracked axle of the heart. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua's words and actions against religious traditions that do not line up with God's Kingdom teaching demonstrate what Paul wrote about. Yeshua got to the point quickly. He offended relies men teaching a Torah precept that adding to or taking away from God's word by a tradition of the elders can be a heavy burden. His issues with the Pharisees and Sadducees were about the heart and character of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>The truth is only a few Pharisees in religious charge (the Council) opposed what the mountaintop message of the Torah in Exodus 34 reveals. Their hypocrisy was the issue. They claimed to be teachers of Torah, yet they violated Torah. In addition, some of their manmade “fences" of oral law around the written Torah opposed the character of God reflected in Torah truth.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>In Galatians 1:11-17 Paul wrote about something he called Judaism in the first century. Clearly, that was something he knew a lot about. It included the Pharisaic rules of oral law religion. There are a couple of things that we need to know about Pharisees. They relished their “oral law” and taught that to be saved, you had to follow their tradition.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua did not oppose all good traditions or all Pharisees, Nicodemus for one was welcomed. Not all Pharisees opposed Yeshua either, some warned that Herod wanted to kill Him, you can find that in Luke 13:31.</div><div><br /></div><div>So what is Judaism?</div><div><br /></div><div>When Yeshua told the crowd don't think I'm doing away with anything when He said not one jot or tittle of Torah will fail. Keep in mind He also said unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven, <u>He meant every word.</u> </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul taught we should follow the leader... he's right. Check it out, in 1 Corinthians 11:1:</div><div><br /></div><div>"Follow my example as I follow Messiah."</div><div><br /></div><div>To do that, to follow Yeshua requires an understanding of the written Torah and the teaching of Yeshua is <u>not a new replacement religion</u>. His actions to disprove that. </div><div><br /></div><div>The religious rules of hypocrisy He opposed is <u>a short list</u>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua demonstrated that by healing, and even on the Sabbath is good. Why? It restores joy and good life from harsh misery and suffering! Healing was not a Torah violation, it honors it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Think about something. Do you know any Jewish physicians? Just like Yeshua, they too heal on the Sabbath. So, the Pharisees missed the mark. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks in large part to Rabbi Akiba, "Judaism" now agrees with Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>We need to set the record straight. Yeshua's teaching on hand washing was not against good hygiene, His plain teaching was that an add-on religious ritual can't make a person holy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua kept the Torah mitzvah reminder, He wore tzitzit on His tallit just as God instructed in Numbers 15:37-41 and Deuteronomy 22:12. The evidence is the story of the woman in the crowd that touched the hem of His garment. In faith she was healed. The story is documented in Matthew 9:20 and repeated in Luke 8:44. Yeshua only criticized a few Pharisees who made their tzitzit large and prayers long in order to be seen and heard by others, because while they kept the mitzvah, they did not honor it for the right reason.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua was not against a tithe either, yet He opposed the neglect of justice, mercy and faithfulness:</div><div><blockquote>Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! Matthew 23:23-24 </blockquote></div><div>Understanding Paul requires some additional background context to the culture 2,000 years ago, so let get that out of the way. </div><div><br /></div><div>First of all, the Roman Empire was pagan. Before the Romans, the Greeks were pagan., before the Greeks, the Babylonians were pagan. </div><div><br /></div><div>Rome simply adopted the Greek idols that were born out of whore of Babylon. You have to let that sink in and its best if you do some research on your own. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul was traveling across a Greco-Roman idol infested world outside Jerusalem shining Biblical light on a Hellenistic planet infused with Greek thinking and pagan temples.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back then, people lived in a Torah-less world of myth and fiction. </div><div><br /></div><div>People fell for the old idol myths of the Olympians. For most, the deities of the Greek pantheon was believed to be reality. Whether Roman, Greek or Babylonian the average Joe thought the world was controlled by Mount Olympus somewhere in heaven. </div><div><br /></div><div>You're likely familiar with some of the names that include: Poseidon, Zeus, Athena, Hades, Apollo, Aphrodite and a host of other so-called lesser deities. </div><div><br /></div><div>The point, you have to wrap your head around the culture or you'll not get the big picture behind Paul's letters. The Galatian letter doesn't provide specific clues about their pagan religious cults or calendars, but history does and we can catch a glimpse in Galatians 4:8-11 as the letter points toward the pagan problem Pauls refers to as "the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world."</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul's goal was to teach Biblical truth to a wild bunch outside Israel in conflict with a community in the middle of a culture war of paganism. </div><div><br /></div><div>At the same time, Paul dug in on his opposition to religious rules that added to the written Torah recorded by Moses. His focus in the letter to the Galatians was proselyte conversion designed to earn favor and justification under rabbinic rule.</div><div><br /></div><div>He did not turn against Biblical Judaism as it is written. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we don't connect the dots on the culture conflicts he faced with people that never saw the front of the Bible to those that did, but added to it with their own form of religious rules and hierarchy, you'll will find Paul's messages virtually impossible to decipher. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know I certainly have. </div><div><br /></div><div>For years as I read, I misread his letters. That left me feeling that I was missing something, but I just couldn't quite put my finger on it. I could sense it, but then I finally realized something, I knew very little, next to nothing about the Oral Law or Paul's training under Gamaliel. Worse yet, I had little understanding of the written Torah foundation of Paul's faith. </div><div><br /></div><div>I had to start over from the beginning and reconsider everything. </div><div><br /></div><div>The rest of this commentary explores part of my journey with Paul's letter and my question... Why the letter to the Galatians? </div><div><br /></div><div>Before we dig further into the background of the underlying unveiled in Galatia, we have to believe Paul just as he described himself. Again, check out Romans 11:1. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul writes that he was: 1) an Israelite, 2) a descendant of Abraham, and 3) of the tribe of Benjamin.</div><div><div>
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When we accept those facts, we can begin to believe Paul when he called himself a "Hebrew of Hebrews" in Philemon 3:5. </div><div><br /></div><div>Don't let your head explode, but he was not calling himself a Sunday church Christian with a New Testament religion. </div><div><br /></div><div>Please hang on, don't toss in the towel just yet because we also need to uncover the reason Paul also proudly called himself a "student" of Gamaliel in Acts 22:3 and a "Pharisee" in Acts 26:4-5.<br />
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To understand Paul's perspectives, let's start with the heritage of his training under Gamaliel. We'll find his training is a big part of the Biblical foundation of the views he expressed in the Hebrew thought of his Greek letters. At the same time, let's step back in time to understand the pagan problem he also addressed. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know, it's complicated, but this is the best way I have found to understand the Galatian question and catch a glimpse of the heart of Paul's messages that have been severely damaged by replacement theology. </div><div><br /></div><div>When we read Paul's letters with proper Biblical perspectives, we can catch a glimpse of what he was teaching each Sabbath in those cities scattered throughout the Roman Empire.</div><div>
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Then we might begin to understand that "some" Pharisees in his day, NOT ALL - included men with other schools of thought based on a few religious rules that Yeshua-Jesus called the "tradition of men." </div><div><br /></div><div>We can also catch a glimpse of the crucible of religious conflict with the written Word of God that Paul addressed. </div><div><br /></div><div>Don't get me wrong, <u>traditions can be good,</u> very good but when religious rule becomes more important than God's voice recorded in the Torah's teaching and instruction, some of the traditions of men can conflict with the heart and character of our Father in Heaven. </div><div><br /></div><div>When that happens we will miss the mark that begins with repentance. As Moses' encounter with The Lord demonstrates, repentance allows us to receive the <u>kindness, mercy and love</u> described to Moses in Exodus 34:5-7.</div><div>
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It's mind blowing to see the plain mountaintop truth, and for me it takes repetition to unwind the tangled wires of religious thinking.</div><div><br /></div><div>I need to put this out there too: Paul never taught against the Biblical instruction of circumcision that The Lord linked to a Passover requirement in Exodus 12, nor anything else written by Moses. </div><div><br /></div><div>Instead, Pauls' messages were don't let the traditions of men be the judge of a heart whose motive is repentance, love and joy to walk in God's faith path saved by God's character of forgiveness, mercies and lovingkindness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul taught that redemption is about mankind's restored relationship with the Creator of the planet and others,. After all, that's the sum of Bible's Torah gospel of God message. </div><div><br /></div><div>Salvation is not just a purchase order with a prayer and salvation can't be earned, it's a gift from God's grace. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bottomline, Paul's messages reveal what Moses wrote. </div><div><br /></div><div>Check out these words of admonition: <div><blockquote>"You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you." Deuteronomy 4:2</blockquote>With that said, we know the Galatians were basically clueless about the covenant of Exodus 34 the written commandments of God. They were separate from the Shema. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Galatians were learning that the faith of Jewish people was a faith for all people rooted in the covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Galatians were new to God's Torah, you may be too, but that's OK, we all have to start our mountaintop journey at the bottom. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Galatians didn't grow up reading the Bible. They hadn't learned a thing in the weekly synagogue reading of the Bible since the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fact is they had some pagan problems. </div><div><br /></div><div>Those were real and Acts 15 gives four Bible basics straight from the Torah of how our pagan problems should be resolved step by step to allow anyone new to God's gospel to learn from people familiar with God's word.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Galatians grew up worshipping pagan idols. </div><div><br /></div><div>They had an idol a day if you will and didn't know the first thing about living life in the image of God or His eternal instruction on erasing our pagan ways. They did not understand the promises given to the Prophets either before they heard about repentance and the kingdom God preaching of Yeshua of Nazareth. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, we mistakenly disguise Yeshua with Greek thinking, and call the Bible Jesus read and taught old and done away with at the cross. That's why we don't see Torah basics in the Galatian letter. </div><div>
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When the people in Galatia heard Paul's preaching, the Hebrew Bible was unavailable except in synagogues. Not only that, even if they had access to the scrolls of the Tanach, most Greeks were basically like me, illiterate in Hebrew. Outside Israel, plain folk spoke Greek. </div><div><br /></div><div>It seems even the men that accompanied Paul on the road to Damascus <u>couldn't understand Hebrew</u>. Who knows, perhaps that is why they didn't hear the message if they could hear it at all. Let's look at two references in the book of Acts to piece this together:<br />
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Now those who were with me saw the light <u>but did not understand the voice</u> of the one who was speaking to me. Acts 22:9 </blockquote>
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And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me <u>in the Hebrew language</u>,‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">It is hard for you to kick against the goads?' Acts 24:16</blockquote>So there you have it, they heard but did not understand, and what about that goad, do you get it?</div><div><br /></div><div>A "goad" is basically a sharp stick that was used by any good Hebrew shepherd in Paul's day. It's a long sharpened rod used to "prick" a stubborn sheep to move them along to the destination goaded by the shepherd. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul knew Hebrew and he knew what Yeshua meant. Kicking against a sharp goad inflicts nothing but pain to the animal. Bottomline, Yeshua was simple telling Paul (aka Sha'ul in Hebrew) by this question that in his journey to persecute believers in Damascus, Saul was ignoring the Torah of God, and that by he was persecuting followers of Yeshua. He was persecuting the Messiah of Israel and hurting himself. </div><div><br /></div><div>The teaching point for Paul was the Torah never taught revenge or judgment on others because they don't think like we do. The reason: God is the judge. </div><div><br /></div><div>To do otherwise can cause grave injury. Like Yeshua was saying, don't kick against the goads of the good shepherd's Torah teaching. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was a life lesson for Paul so that his eyes could be opened to truth.</div><div><br /></div><div>As we've noted, if you wanted to hear the words of the Hebrew Bible in Paul's day, you had to go to a synagogue and hear it read aloud. So, when we fast forward from the road to Damascus on to Galatia, we can understand the Galatians had no Biblical training, they did not understand what the Torah teaches about God's character, so a crisis quickly crept into Galatia from the judgment of others with a commitment to the halakhic definition of Jewish identity. That brings us to the crux of the controversy over circumcision</div><div><br /></div><div>The controversy was man's tradition vs. God's written righteous voice!</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Some new believers were being taught oral law traditions with a condition that was not from the writings of Torah. The Galatians were hearing from some that the "only way" to salvation was conversion requiring circumcision. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>They did not know about the Biblical history of circumcision.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Genesis 12 is the beginning of Abrams call at age 75. Twenty four year later, Genesis 17 never mentions conversion for Abraham at age 99. It had been 24 years after he had been called The LORD, believed the promise, received the blessing, left Haran and arrived at the great tree near Shechem when he first entered Canaan and stopped to build an altar before heading on to pitch his tent in the hills east of Bethel. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>They did not understand the moral of the story in Genesis 34. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Circumcision did not save Hamor or Hamor's son Shechem, it did not save the Canaanites or the Perizzites.</div><div><br /></div><div>During Paul’s time, people were lost seeking the tree of life. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul came to know his own goad problem and he was worried about people not rooted in the heart of the Torah, but focused on earning salvation. The sum of Paul's message is that redemption cannot be earned as that takes away from Scripture. Paul's big picture message was that redemption comes from God's forgiveness. It's a gift that starts with our repentance and faith in God's sovereignty, mercy, love and grace. </div><div><br /></div><div>Salvation is God's work not ours. </div><div><br /></div><div>The point Paul made is never think you can "earn" a place in God's Kingdom (see Revelation 14:12). Instead, if you love Almighty God, be a friend show Him and others too by obeying The Father. </div><div><br /></div><div>That is the faith walk of Messiah (1 John 5:3).</div></div><div>
<br />Paul, aka Sha'ul of Tarsus never taught that wanting to do what is written in the Bible is old or done away with. He did write that seeking to be justified by doing religious things "in obligation" is an attempt to earn salvation, and that is not the redemption solution to restoring a broken relationship with Almighty God. </div><div><br /></div><div>The disciples came to understood this too, but they also taught that one's testimony should be seen in good works (see James 2:18).<br />
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Paul's goal was to explain the heart of the Bible.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's God's love-letter of life and it starts by teaching that sin is a grave problem. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because of that Torah teaching, Paul wrote that sin destroys our relationship with God and each another. Like Yeshua, he taught that repentance is the first step toward the Kingdom of God. Paul explained that the Torah teaches that confession and repentance leads to restoring relationship with Almighty God, not a knife. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul also taught the good news of restoration in the end is through the miracle of resurrection, not what some call a great escape rapture before great tribulation.<br />
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One sign of Paul's heart for Torah was his own repentant and circumcised heart. His circumcised heart journey started on the road to Damascus when he quite kicking against the goad. Paul taught about that from Deuteronomy 10:14-16, but if you are not familiar with the foundation of that message you might miss it in Paul's letters:<br />
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"Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. <b>Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart</b>, and be no longer stubborn."</blockquote><b>
This Torah foundation</b> in Deuteronomy <u>is critical to understand Paul's letters. </u></div><div><br /></div><div>It's important to also know that at the end of the wilderness journey, the people that followed the cloud and pillar of fire and heard this sermon from Moses about what God says had not yet been circumcised. </div><div><br /></div><div>The heart lesson is also woven in the great promise of Jeremiah 31:31-34, yet some men were teaching conversion as their own set of rules that to convert as a proselyte required circumcision first. </div><div><br /></div><div>The facts on the ground was this tradition revealed the uncircumcision of the stony hearts of the "party of circumcision, a sect of the Pharisees. So, Paul wrote to change the Galatians' hearts which is the same message revealed to Jeremiah. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul argued against the tradition of those Pharisees that says we must be justified by our works substituting what we do for God's mercy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul's goal was to set the record straight that when we actually listen to what the Torah says about God's lovingkindness in forgiveness, we must see that the only justification available is by faith in the grace and works of Almighty God, not ourselves. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's why Paul wrote that Hagar represents Abraham's feeble attempt to attain the promise of God by what he could do, whereas Sarah represents faith in God to fulfill His promise that never changes no matter what we do. <br />
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A big part of the Galatian (Gaul) crisis was the Greco-Roman gnostic culture of the day. Earlier we noted that the planet was infested with paganism. Regions and cities had there own false-god and they built temples for them in city squares. Some of the municipal deities included:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Corinth - the founder was Corinthos, who was declared a descendant of the fake sun-god Helios.</li><li>Philippia - this was one sanctuary of the false-goddess Artemis or in Roman disguise, Diana.</li><li>Thessalonica - the second largest city in Greece behind Athens. There are no remnants of an imperial cult temple as not much has been excavated but the imperial cult can be seen in early coinage found there that labeled Caesar a god. </li><li>Ephesis - another Artemis hangout, so-called daughter of Zeus and twin sister of Apollo.</li><li>Colossae - Like Thessalonica, no archaeology but the city was connected to the Colossus of Rhodes a massive idol statue of the Greek sun-god Helios.</li><li>Rome - had a host of them. In 217 BC, the Augustan historian Livy listed the big 12 as Jupiter-Juno, Neptune-Minerva, Mars-Venus, Apollo-Diana, Vulcan-Vesta and Mercury-Ceres. </li></ul></div><div>In Galatia, whose headquarters today is Ankara, Turkey modern archaeology shows that the Romans rebuilt a temple of the Phrygian fake-god "Men" there to venerate Augustus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Scholars tell us that Greek Hellenistic philosophy arose in the 6th century BC combining polytheistic idol myth religion with social and political institutions, arts, science and philosophy. For hundreds of years, it was spread by Alexander the Great. Embedded within the culture of the Roman Empire and religious part of Greek philosophy of life, it was polar opposite to the Bible.<br />
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Hellenistic thinking attempted to make sense out of the world in a non-Biblical way. <u>That's backward thinking</u>. If we look closely, we can see that most Greek thinking still survives today as people attempt to make sense of life in our Creator's world while seeking the reason for life in vain philosophies or sciences that rejects the voice of the Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>The conflict in Paul's day was nothing new. Most of the Bible is about conflict. It's very old and arose in Greece and Rome from hedonistic false-idol worship rooted in Babylon, Egypt and Persia. It was manifested with the Tower of Babel. From its beginnings, it morphed into the mythic pagan Greco-Roman idol gods, temples and rituals prevalent in Paul's day.<br />
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Think of it this way -- the myths of Mount Olympus opposed the covenant written in stone and heard by everyone at Mount Sinai whether a descendant of Jacob or not.<br />
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That's precisely why the covenant of Almighty God begins with the truth to set the record straight for anyone that had lived under the slavery of Egypt's old idol worship... the truth is God's lovingkindness that brought people out of slavery. Nothing they did merited their salvation other than God's character and His promise:<br />
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“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. </blockquote>
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You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." Exodus 20:2-6</blockquote>
With that baseline declaration of kindness from our Creator, we have to travel back in time to understand the context of Jewish life in the first century and drop our modern new religion assumptions. When we do, we can discover that Paul's Sabbath synagogue teaching was the polar opposite of the Roman Empire's array of multi-gods of oppression. Those are the ones that Paul called the "no-gods" in Galatians 4:8 and Paul's words were not new at all, they were from Exodus 20:2-6.<br />
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Despite many religious opinions to the contrary, Paul's view was not new. The Galatian cultural perspective was both Celtic and Hellenistic, so the apostle focused on God's first covenant of kindness. It was new to the pagans, but it was not new to Paul, or the Jewish people.<br />
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Paul was focused on the message of <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/niv/deu/6/4/s_159004" target="_blank">the Shema</a>.<br />
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Shema is the Hebrew word that means "hear and do." The Shema was a core foundation of Pauls' faith. It declares: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" Opposed to that, the Galatians living in the area of today's Ankara, Turkey worshipped in cult temples dedicated to at least three primary "no gods." Historians tell us they were: Mēn Pharnakou, Selene and Mēn Askaenos.<br />
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Paul believed the Shema and he taught its message: "You shall love the LORD your God with <b>all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might</b>. These words, which I am commanding you today, <b>shall be on your heart</b>." <br />
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Paul's letters were written to re-educate the former cult members. At the same time, he also debated a few Jewish men that focused their attention on the religious weight of traditional oral law for conversion of the Celtic people vs. the written Torah of kindness. The Galatian letter and others focused on that because during Paul's day, some people misused bits and pieces of the oral law to impress legalistic tradition on conversion to Judaism by requiring circumcision. </div><div><br /></div><div>His message was do not think that you can ever earn your salvation when you begin following the Torah, if you do you annul God's mercy.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Some think Paul turned his back Leviticus. Not so, Paul knew Leviticus teaches us about life in the Kingdom, about walking set apart in holiness and good works and about the Israel of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>New Testament mainstream believers strive with Leviticus in a quarrel, because it is tossed aside, no longer believed, tossed in a cellar. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, nothing good comes from strife. </div><div><br /></div><div>At the beginning of the Exodus journey, from a distance, the mixed multitude had the appearance of all Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, up close, in the heart a mixed multitude of denominations reject the covenant of the way, many refuse adoption and ingrafting into all Israel and do not sanctify the name. They reject the one Torah for both home born and sojourner. They remain a mixed multitude with a golden calf not a part of all Israel and as in Paul's day some born of Israel do the same.</div><div><br /></div><div>At Sinai, everyone there heard the voice of their Creator in the new creation of a people that said I will do. Many must have arrived there at Mount Sinai uncircumcised.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some rabbis say that the man that started the golden calf contention with the covenant everyone heard at the mountain of God was one of the mixed multitude. I think they may have hit the nail on the head.</div><div><br /></div><div>"For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Torah themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh." Galatians 6:13</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul taught that our boasting should be the beaten one, the Messiah of the olive tree the voice, the sinless Torah servant of God.</div><div><blockquote>"But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Messiah Yeshua, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy [be] upon them, and upon the Israel of God." Galatians 6:14-16</blockquote></div><div>He explained the mixed multitude: "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel" Romans 9:6 </div><div><br /></div><div>In Leviticus 24 we see an amazing Kingdom way instruction: "Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually."</div><div><br /></div><div>We aren't to strive with the menorah, we are to be the menorah.</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God." Isaiah 50:10</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua taught about the menorah instruction and explained Isaiah's words: "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16</div><div><br /></div><div>"No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light." Luke 11:33 </div><div><br /></div><div>"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw <u>seven golden lampstands</u>; and in the middle of the lampstands [I saw] one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash." Revelation 1:12-13 </div></blockquote><div></div><div>Following the vision, John wrote the seven letters to the<u> seven assemblies</u>...</div><div><br /></div><div>The book of Revelation reveals Leviticus 23. Here's one example:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong." Revelation 18:8</div><div><br /></div><div>"And if you will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of covenant: and when you are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy." Leviticus 23-26:25 </div></blockquote><div></div></div><div>In Galatians 6:13-16 Paul taught that the Bible's message of mercy is higher than men's traditions. Paul's Biblically Jewish perspective explained the infinite grace of God's character interwoven with The Lord's loving instruction that embraces the heart of repentant life with a caring relationship based on kindness.</div><div>
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Simply put, Paul's teaching infused the message of the compassionate heart of Almighty God declared at Sinai. That is why Paul wrote that love is the fulfilling of the law [Torah] in Romans 13:10 as he quoted Leviticus 19:18.<br />
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In Paul's day, the Jewish belief in the God of Israel was in a state of collision with Galatia's gentile cults of polytheistic paganism that worshipped strains of mythic multi-gods based on undercurrents of power, materialism, bias and cruelty. Galatia looked like Egypt.<br />
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The Greek pantheon listed twelve (12) Olympian gods and dozens of lesser gods and goddesses that were assimilated by the Romans. Paul was dealing with ancient beliefs originating in Egypt, Babylon and as well as Chaldea, Persia and Greece that had morphed into the Roman Empire from the Mesopotamian deities that gave birth to Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, Hellenism and Greek philosophy.<br />
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In one form or another, these religious philosophies have survived in one form or another today.<br />
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Without a proper cultural backdrop of the days and times of Paul, a surface reading of the letters penned by the Jew from Tarsus can lead one to mistakenly think that this rabbi's goal was to start a "new" religion as a break from the Torah and provide an override to God's Kingdom constitution for a set apart life. Yet, on the Damascus road encounter with Messiah, Paul came to know the heart message of the Shema from the bright light of the servant of God. <br />
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Paul's messages were inspired by the Spirit of God's lovingkindness and mercy, the pinnacle weave of the heart of the Torah's instruction was embedded in his letters. The new thing about Paul is he taught the Gentiles who met with him had never heard the foundation of the truth of lovingkindness found in the Hebrew Scriptures could be grafted into all Israel just like the sojourners at Sinai. </div><div><br /></div><div>Noah Webster gives us some insight.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>In 1828, he published his Dictionary with a gentile definition: GEN'TILE, noun [Latin gentilis; from Latin gens, nation, race; applied to pagans.] In the scriptures, a pagan; a worshipper of false gods; any person not a Jew or a christian; a heathen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mr. Webster points to the issue of idol practices as being the character distinction of Gentiles. Idols were linked to the heathens, the image-worshippers according to the 1880 McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.</div><div><br /></div><div>As to the religion of heathenism, it is "a wild growth on the soil of fallen human nature, a darkening of the original consciousness of God's deification of the rational and irrational creature, and a corresponding corruption of the moral sense, giving the sanction of religion to natural and unnatural vices. </div><div><br /></div><div>Does that remind you of the mixed multitude and the Golden Calf?</div>
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The book of Acts describes Paul's heart transplant for these people.<br />
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He was a changed man because he "saw the light" on the road to Damascus as he came to understand the message Moses zeroed in on about Almighty God's mountaintop declaration of mercy, grace and lovingkindness. Paul came to understand that our relationship with Elohim God and each other must be based on The LORD's attributes declared to Moses:<br />
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"The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..." Exodus 34:5-7 </blockquote>
This message is the hidden truth that many miss in Paul's letters. Paul taught the wilderness experience that is central to the heart of God. Bottomline, Paul's faith in a merciful, gracious, patient and forgiving God is not a new religion. Instead, Paul was explaining God's desire for forgiveness in mercy and lovingkindness lived out by Yeshua. That is the shalom peace foundation of Pauls' letters.<br />
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This foundation truth is very hard for many people to grasp if we think for one minute that the Torah's instruction from God was done away with. A big problem arises with the King James word law. The word Torah does not exactly mean law as we know it. The Hebrew meaning is teaching and instruction. That misconception is one reason Paul's letters are so difficult to read. <u>The scary thing is this</u>, <b>if the Torah was done away with,</b> then mercy, grace, steadfast love and forgiveness of sin is old done away with too, because that is the heart of The Torah of God.<br />
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Yeshua summed it best for <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jhn/4/24/s_1001024" target="_blank">the woman at the well in Samaria</a>: "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The fact that the woman a the well was a Samaritan is very important. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>She wasn't from the land allocated to Judah. She was from the area allotted to Joseph's two sons Ephraim. After the United Kingdom of Israel broke up in division about a thousand years earlier, Ephraim turned away from God's ways, but Jesus reminded her God has a plan to restore the Kingdom! </div><div>The key to the Kingdom is that "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth."</div><div>
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The truth is the spirit of the Torah, so to begin to understand the truth of the Galatian letter, we need some help from the letter writer in his letter to the Romans. In it, Paul provides his reference point over and again repeating the words: "<b><i><u>as it is written</u></i></b>."<br />
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<b><i><u>As it it written</u>,</i></b> Paul knew that after the grave fall to sin in Eden God mercifully clothed Adam and Eve. Although Elohim God did not allow Moses to enter into the promised land, he personally buried him. After the dark sin of the golden calf idol, God's heart of lovingkindness and grace was explained to Moses at the mountaintop. The spirit of the Torah was taught as the truth from Sinai, Jerusalem, then Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae, Thessalonia, Macedonia and beyond.<br />
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<b><i><u>As it it written</u></i></b> was Paul's teaching on mercy, grace and the peace arising from the forgiveness of sin was nothing new at all.<br />
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The problem of any "new" religion view of Paul is that it is an "old" remnant of a prejudiced, dispensational, golden calf-like replacement theology that history reveals in the Greek philosophies that infected Gentile minds with no experience or training in the loving kindness of the Hebrew Bible.<br />
<br />If we could travel back in time to 144 AD, we would find a rich, materialistic ship merchant standing on a podium box in Rome in a prideful bid for political power to become a bishop like his father before him. His name was Marcion and his podium pounding was a serpent's poison declaring a division of the Bible as Old vs. New. </div><div><br /></div><div>The term "Old Testament" was eventually coined from his antinomian rantings relating to a view that Christians are released by grace invented only in the concept of new religion that does away with honoring the Torah voice of Almighty God.<br />
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Marcion's version of Christianity was birthed as an anti-Semitic and anti-Torah teaching that eventually took root and spread one day at a time on a global scale that hit a peak in the 16th century in Germany of all places. </div><div><br /></div><div>After Marcion's heyday, his views that had been rejected led a series of so-called new church fathers to claim Christianity as a new religion preaching it's time to turn backs on Torah and Jews. The Gentile church division promoted to a religious community hatred of the Jewish people as Anti-Jewish lies soon morphed into a replacement theology that the church had replaced Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually, even Rome replaced Jerusalem. </div><div>
<br />Replacement theology flies in the face of the Old Testament truths Yeshua-Jesus taught at the sermon on the mount and along the road to Emmaus. Nothing is old, every jot and title counts. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bottomline, a divided Bible cannot walk along the righteous road. Division can never be reconciled with spirit and truth, grace or lovingkindness.<br />
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In a nutshell, Marcion taught that Moses preached the Sabbath as an old law declared by an angry tyrant seeking control. Marcion's label as a heretic is spot on. He taught Jesus Christ freed Christians from an old law Bible that was done away with. Marcion preached a Christian Christ that was not the Jewish Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>In stark contrast, Marcion taught the mitzvoth of our Creator were old and done away with, hung on a cross.<br />
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Does Marcion's podium preaching sound familiar to you?<br />
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If it doesn't, <b><u>you may have heard</u></b> a diluted form of it, but know this, diluted or not it's all poison, a bitter water like that at Marah that is part of an <b>ignorant and unstable lie</b> that began in Eden. A lie that says God does not mean what He says. A lie that says God changes. A lie that says the God of the Old Testament is not the forgiving God of the New Testament. </div><div><br /></div><div>That lie comes from the mouth of a deceptive serpent that wants to destroy your mind, heart, soul and take your life whether his name is Marcion or another.<br />
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Marcion believed a lie and rejected the living word, the tree of life of the Tanach, the written Scriptures that Yeshua knew by heart as He lived them, taught them and explained them. </div><div><br /></div><div>Those same Hebrew Scriptures are available for today thanks to the Jewish people that wrote them and preserved them with God's help. Those scrolls reveal that the essence of sin is man substituting his opinion and choosing to ignore God's view. Yeshua explained that the good news of life in the Kingdom of God begins with teshuvah which means turning around in repentance, returning to God's ways, not walking away from them. That's the essence of the road to Emmaus story.<br />
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Marcion was anti-tesuhvah. Like Balak, he was a supersessionist madman. He not only rejected the Hebrew Bible, he tossed aside most of the Jewish manuscripts of the talmidim (disciples) of Yeshua. The righteous reports from the witness of men like James (Yacov), John (Yochanan) and Peter (Simon) were tossed aside by Marcion except the letters of Paul that he misunderstood and twisted their blessing to a deception. </div><div><br /></div><div>Marcion was clueless to the words of the physician Luke (Lucas) that he redacted to fit his Hellenistic Greco-Roman world views.<br />
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Most Christians initially rejected the views of Marcion and the Gnostics, but the viral damage was began 1,800 years ago and the Old vs. New conflict soon crept into church opinion despite the fact that the Apostles were all Torah-observant <u><i><b>as it is written</b></i></u>.<br />
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Paul came to understand the eternal Almighty God of the universe told His scribe Moses to write down one Torah for all people:<br />
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"There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you." Exodus 12:49 </blockquote>
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"You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am Y-H-V-H your Elohim." Leviticus 24:22</blockquote>
In the ancient synagogues as they do today, most rabbis understood the promise of the Messiah (Mosiach), the prophet promised like Moses, but some in the second and third century church leadership distorted the Jewish personality and faith of Yeshua HaMashiach to fit their own views. So much so, the church fathers after the disciples were long gone eventually created their view of “another messiah” if you will that rejected his Jewishness and commitment to the Torah. According to their new theologies, Jesus replaced the foundation of the Sabbath synagogue Tanach teachings with a Sunday New Testament Gentile sermon.<br />
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The true Jewish Messiah of the Tanach is a much different Messiah than the reinvented Hellenistic Christ that the second generation antisemitic church fathers recreated with a new religion that ignored the fact that Yeshua lived in Israel as a Torah observant Jew observing Shabbat and all the instruction of God that Moses wrote down while teaching others to never take away any jot or tittle of the Torah (Matthew 5:17-20).<br />
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Those so-called church fathers erased the jots and tittles, replacing them with anti-semitism, lawless pride and religious control. They rejected the people that believe and know God is the Creator and ruler of all things, the first and the last. They rejected the people that know all the words of the prophets are true. They rejected the people that believe God knows every man's deeds and thoughts. They rejected the people of the Lion of Judah, the Messiah King that will usher in the Messianic Age to come and that the dead will be brought back to life in resurrection when The LORD God wills it to happen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because the jots and tittles were done away with, many Jewish people all the more rejected belief in Yeshua. Why wouldn't they? In church mode, Jesus could not be Messiah.<br />
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What the followers of Hellenism rejected is the fact that the Jewish people believe by faith that <u>God does not change</u> and His words were <u>never done away</u> with. Faithful Jewish people rightly believe God keeps His word and the fact that God blesses those who keep His commandments including His Feast Day appointments because they love and believe Him. Think about that fact if your call yourself a believer, because it means faithful Jewish people are believers in Almighty God too.<br />
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Marcion was eventually branded a heretic and never made it to the bishop's office, but the bad news is some of his legacy of lies mutated to a lesser form and sadly embedded itself within the hearts and minds of men like a hidden virus that will not go away. A virus that hides the compassion, forgiving heart of the God of Israel declared and shown at Sinai. A religious virus that can't explain the Torah keeping Jewishness of Yeshua of Nazareth that upheld every jot and tittle of the Hebrew Bible that He taught and explained in parables.<br />
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It's important to understand the viral analogy of replacement theology that divides synagogue and church. The wall of division that arose is real because Jerusalem is the place the God of Israel chose to place His holy name, He did not and never will choose a Vatican City enclave in Rome with a obelisk at its center or Mecca with a Kaaba stone.<br />
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You will not find a single Scripture about our Creator placing His name on Constantinople, Salt Lake City or in a Buddhist pilgrimage site. You will not find His name under a thatched roof Shinto shrine or a Hindu temple nor will your ever find His name in the temples of Confucius throughout China or at Stonehenge.<br />
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The Bible has almost a thousand references to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city of Zion and Almighty God has invested his name and reputation there, it's God's place on earth (see Daniel 9:19).<br />
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Are you a citizen of Zion? If not, <u>you can be.</u><br />
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“For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for His dwelling place: “This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.” Psalms 132:13-14</blockquote>
Let's get back on track with the viral blank page conflict of Old vs. New that's created the division.<br />
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The odd scientific fact is that a virus is not known to be living or dead. Instead a virus straddles the frayed boundary between living and dead like a zombie. This is a part of the bigger picture described as the one noted in Sardis whose dead works are not perfect before God (see Revelation 3:1).<br />
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Once a virus mutates, it changes it genetic design, it can replicate and insert itself directly into a healthy host cell with one goal to destroy life. Not only that, it can lie waiting for a future opportunity to become destructive again. Viruses are especially difficult to control because our natural immune system is not always prepared to fight them. </div><div><br /></div><div>In a similar way, Marcion's viral outbreak against God's voice never really ended and the spiritually dead virus became endemic in a church pandemic that turned against the Jewish people with a replacement theology.<br />
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A virus meets the very definition of the undead moving from a dormant state to wreak havoc on the original genetic code God created for life. Worse yet, many viruses use genetic reprogramming as fuel to sustain and spread disease and death whenever and wherever it can.<br />
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The good news vaccine for me began with and understanding that God does not change (see Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19, Isaiah 40:8 and Psalm 33:11).<br />
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James, the Jewish disciple of Yeshua whose real name was Jacob taught the same truth:<br />
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"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights <u>with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change</u>." James 1:17</blockquote>
That unchanging truth is The LORD's unending mercy heart and lovingkindness is shown in the Hebrew Bible. The grace found there is the prescription for healing that starts with repentance.<br />
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Recognizing antisemitism and de-Hellenizing the life of Jesus is the vaccination required for Kingdom restoration. God's attributes and Master Rabbi Yeshua's Torah life teaching are the key lines of defense to help us all overcome any neuro-invasive spiritual disease infecting our souls and dividing our hearts in a Messiah tug of war.<br />
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By most scholarly accounts, re-programming the unchanging DNA of God's Word began with Marcion as his viral code was planted at the podium. Marcion was a willing host for a morphed strain of Mithraism that spread from present-day Iran to Turkey and then throughout the Roman Empire.<br />
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With an infectious hint of Marcion's magic, a man by the name of Simon Magnus led other so-called early church fathers to adopt bits and pieces of Marcion's viral code of spiritual destruction with hypocritical views of replacement theology as a "new religion" with a church replacing the assembly of Israel. Sadly, their cracking voices still echo from some pulpits with occasional snippets from Paul's letters declaring the Scriptures Jesus taught as done away. All this despite Paul's custom (Acts 17:2) every Sabbath to teach, explain and prove from the Hebrew Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead.<br />
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If Paul taught they were old and done away with and replaced by grace alone he would have been schizophrenic and demented.<br />
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He was not. Paul understood the words of Jesus recorded in the gospels and the writings of James and John:<br />
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But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." James 1:22-25</blockquote>
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Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. 1John 3:24 </blockquote>
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By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 1John 5:2-3</blockquote>
Like Paul... James and John knew grace never departed from the Torah, it started there interwoven in God's Word. Yet, Paul's Galatian letter is misused today following the sins of the church father's long ago highlighted in 325AD with their two Council of Nicaea bishop's convention in today's İznik, Turkey.<br />
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That counsel was called to order by Roman Emperor Constantine and that bishop's convention legitimized antisemitism and declared Easter to replace Passover.<br />
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That Council was called to order a year after Constantine's council ordered worship on Sunday and work on The Lord's Sabbath ignoring the Biblical calendar with Constantine's "venerable day of the Sun."<br />
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The second Council of Nicaea in 787AD intensified fierce anti-semitism and over-ruled God's repeated commandments (see Exodus 20:4, Leviticus 26:1, Deuteronomy 4:16-25, Deuteronomy 5:8) to not use images in worship and it restored the veneration of manmade icons in their declaration of faith concerning images that the God of Israel opposed.<br />
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Under Constantine's decree, the Sabbath took on a pagan form of daylight savings time as it sprang forward from the seventh day to the first.<br />
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It was Canon 29 of the Laodicean Council (c. 364 AD) that criminalized the Sabbath and Jewish expression of Biblical faith declaring: "Christians <u>must not judaize</u> by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ."<br />
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Prophetically, Jesus calls the Laodicean church to repent of this sin: “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see” (Revelation 3:18). This is a call from love not condemnation. Jesus declared His concern for Laodicea: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:19-20).<br />
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Incredibly, this Laodicean Council branded Jesus the Jew as an religious heretic. After all, Jesus preached all the jots and tittles remain and He celebrated all the Feast Day appointments of The Lord, but the Council decreed:<br />
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Canon 37: "It is not lawful to receive portions sent from the feasts of Jews or heretics, nor to feast together with them."<br />
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This Laodicean fact leads us back to the big question:<br />
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<b>Why the letter to the Galatians?</b><br />
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The answer is complex because we are far removed from the culture and mindset of those that it was written for - so it requires a deep dive into history and the Bible. The Bible never teaches religious control by the establishment. Religious control is the precept, the issue that Paul addressed in his letter to the Galatians. The reason, religious men were telling the Galatians that they had to be circumcised to be saved and that faith was not enough to believe the Torah that Paul taught in synagogues every Sabbath that pointed to Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel.<br />
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The religious had their own tradition of house rules saying the Galatians had to be circumcised to be saved and convert to the family of God. The problem: God never said that, Moses never wrote that and Yeshua never taught that so Paul tried to explain it as he knew and was inspired to convey the truth of the Exodus story.<br />
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It's prophetic that Paul wrote this to the Colossians: "For I want you to know <u>how great a struggle</u> I have for you and <u>for those at Laodicea</u> and for all who have not seen me face to face..." Colossians 2:1<br />
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His struggle was against traditional religious control not found in Scripture. The Bible tells us about God's engagement through the first 4,000 years of human history, so we have to look in the rearview mirror into the cultural background of the people of the Bible to better understand what we find in the spirit and truth of the Scriptures.<br />
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As noted earlier, some "church" fathers that arrived on the scene after the Apostles, were already infected with Greco-Roman cult of the sun philosophies. These church fathers were infected with antiSemitism and they viewed the Jewish people as “rejected” and "forgotten" by God. The church fathers were led by a lie misunderstanding Rome's onslaught of Temple destruction in 70 AD. They held to their new replacement theology that the Jews were cast out of Jerusalem by God to wander the world as a despised people disconnected from the faith expressed by Yeshua and His Jewish disciples.<br />
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Nothing could be further from the truth. <u>Today's Israel if the proof!</u><br />
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Sadly, men like Justin Martyr began to cast false blame saying of the Jews that: “tribulations were justly imposed on you since you have murdered the Just One.” In that twisted religious view, the cross was used as a sword and a symbol of conquest, hatred and persecution against the Jewish people.<br />
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Yet, the fact remains that Jesus was a Jew. So was Paul, and the disciples were all Jewish and most of the multitudes of the faith of Israel were Jewish because the Gentile worshipped a multitude of false idols.<br />
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The truth of the matter is that the Jewish people were not the murderers of Christ, <u>the opposite is true</u>, the Jewish were the people that brought the Jewish Messiah into a pagan world to save it. That's the reason Paul wrote this:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
?For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16 </blockquote>
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"There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified." Romans 2:9-13 </blockquote>
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"What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin..." Romans 3:9 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Again he says, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, WITH HIS PEOPLE." Romans 15:10</blockquote>
Acts 18:4 is clear about Paul's mission: "And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks."<br />
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Yet, Justin Martyr was a man that believed the lies of replacement theology despite the fact that the Roman prefect of Judaea Pontius Pilate sentenced Jesus to beating, scourging and a verdict of death by his Roman guard. Pilate knew that the evidence in Yeshua's trial was bogus, yet he validated the crime of a few. He knew that the accusations were false and that they did not justify death or any sentence for that matter under any rule of Roman law.<br />
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If you doubt this read Luke 23:4, Luke 23:13-15 and Luke 23:22-23 for the evidence of the trial.<br />
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The prideful rejection of his own perjury in false judgment is why Pilate washed his hands accepting the accusations of a small elite leadership of a few pride-filled religious men misled by Caiaphas as they threw accusation stones of blasphemy at the Nazarene Jesus.<br />
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Almighty God used Pilate's decision. Pilate washed his hands, but it never undid his own perjury.<br />
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This fact zeros in on the great mystery of God’s sovereignty and The Father's desire to provide salvation to all mankind no matter how great the cost. The mystery is that salvation is for the Jew first then the Gentile. God gave His voice, the oracles to be kept by the Jewish people for the salvation of everyone.<br />
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In the end, that trial and Caiaphas' own words point us like a flashing road sign back to the teaching in Genesis 50:20 where we see Joseph telling his brothers that he forgave them:<br />
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"You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result– the survival of many people."</blockquote>
Like Pilate, some second-century pulpits began to wash their hands in perjury with sermons filled with <b>ignorant and unstable</b><b> lies </b>against the Jewish people.<br />
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Their viral lies have numerous progeny that morphed into today's replacement theology, a spiritual virus that is still spreading from one pulpit to another infecting the hearts of congregations that leave their Bibles on the bookshelf like a rejected immunization.<br />
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The viral spiritual hate cycle of their replacement theology led to an illness we now know as antisemitism.<br />
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It is a global pandemic that reproduces itself within a willing host that does not believe God's promises. The truth is a virus is dead, it does not live yet it survives and kills. Like a virus, antisemitism goes dormant for awhile, then it morphs in different strains to survive. Simply put, the actions of an antisemitic heart is an illness that depends on destructive hatred toward the Jewish people that brought the world the Messiah.<br />
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The big problem is the viral lies of certain church fathers have caused the Jewish people to go into quarantine for nearly 2,000 years from a church that declares the word of God is old and done away with and that Israel has been replaced.<br />
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Despite some reform 500 years ago that is credited to Martin Luther, viral lies have produced horrific antisemitic aggression including medieval forced conversions, inquisitions, blood libels, confiscations, expulsions, pogroms, massacres, murders and persecution that culminated in the Romans 2:9 warning from Paul about what may well be about the tribulation of the Shoah, the Holocaust of Hitler and his madmen during World War II.<br />
<br />Hitler did not succeed in destroying the Jewish people.<br /></div><div>
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Tribulation distress is headed toward every human being who does evil justifying it and rationalizing it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today, that evil includes the manmade court rulings that toss prayer from school, pull the Bible from schools bringing our children into spiritual drought, legalizing anytime abortion and conveying the constitution to one like Sodom and Gomorrah in a national and global addiction to the idols of free for all sex, the worship of selfish immoral pleasure.<br />
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The solution God gives in the Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is confession and repentance, to return to the Scriptures. My journey home began through prayer by asking "God what do you want me to do for you?" not do something for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have sinned against you God's word. Knowing the prayer of Daniel, Paul counseled Timothy to study God's word. <br />
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The prayer of confession in Daniel 9 gives us all the model:<br />
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“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. </blockquote>
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“Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you." Daniel 9:4-8</blockquote>
The great tragedy of discrimination and persecution through most of church history is that the light of love and grace of the Torah was nearly extinguished by replacement theology as non-Jewish believers were taught that a Greco-Roman church replaced the Jewish people and Jerusalem in God’s eternal plan to save the world. In antisemitism the Gentile church in large part rejected God's word saying it is old and done away with.<br />
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Yet, a remnant of Christians around the world believe the Bible and are rejecting the new religion of misled church fathers. They are engaging in the celebration of the Lord's Sabbath as well as Passover, Tabernacles and the Feasts of The Lord. Many are visiting synagogues, making Jewish friends including rabbi's while supporting people and projects to bless Israel and Jewish communities.<br />
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Today, many are waking up and rejecting the deadly virus of antisemitism and hate that is materalized in Israel in the form of the rockets of Hamas and jihad sponsored by the Haman-like tirades of Iran's leaders with the stated goal to wipe Israel off the map. </div><div><br /></div><div>But there is opposition. Old spiritual disease has morphed into another form within the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions known as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33563191" target="_blank">BDS Movement</a> against Israeli products from God's land of promise with a blessing given to Abraham and his descendants for all nations.<br />
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Replacement theology came from the influence of the malicious religious infections of men like Marcion, Simon Magnus, Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis who attempted to reprogram the Jewish DNA of faith. Second century assemblies were pushed away from the heritage of their Jewish roots and Jerusalem in a new religion that blamed the death of Jesus on Jewish people.<br />
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We must take note that the letter from John written on the island of Pathos gives an advance warning to men like Melito of Smyrna:<br />
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I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Revelation 3:1-2</blockquote>
Anti-Jewish and anti-Torah replacement theology works to disguise the true faith of Yeshua as a "new religion" in Sardis because it instituted a misunderstanding of the Biblical faith rooted in the hearts of faithful Jewish people.<br />
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The virus has become so virulent in the Middle East today that some now declare that Jesus was a Palestinian Muslim. Yet, in Jesus' day there were no Muslims. </div><div><br /></div><div>After all, Muhammed was 600 years removed. In my view Islam was not actually born as a "new religion" that rewrites the truth of God's election and Abraham's blessing. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>Today, the Temple Mount remains in Islam's control under the rule of the Muslim Waqf from Amman, Jordan and that's a part of the conflict of good vs. evil as radical Jihadists scream Allah Akbar. </div><div><br /></div><div>On 9/11, I heard that for the first time from those that follow Ishmael and soon I learned it means Allah is greater. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's true Abraham asked God to extend His covenant to the descendants of Ishmael, but that wasn't the plan. Almighty God had another one, yet He promised to make a nation from Ishmael but He gave His covenant promises to Isaac's descendants.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today we have the Middle East conflict which has spread globally as the conflict of extreme radical Islam which asks the original deception, did God really say??</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Islam requires that all become Muslim and follow the Koran and the Hadiths.<br />
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That's not only antisemitic it's anti-everything in the Bible.<br />
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Anti-Bible roots began to spread as the demographics of believers in Yeshua changed when His life story expanded from Jerusalem to the pagan Greek mindset of the Roman Empire too. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fact is that in the first century, virtually every believer was Jewish (see Romans 1:16). Yet, as word spread about Messiah Yeshua and what He had done from the witness of believing Jews in cities like Antioch and Alexandria westward to Rome and beyond, the Biblical faith of the Jewish disciples like James and Peter fell under the pagan influence of a Greco-Roman worldview centered in Rome and Constantinople.<br />
<br />Yeshua's name was changed to Iesous then later to Jesus as it has morphed from Hebrew to Greek, Latin to English.<br />
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The heart of the Hebrew Bible and Yeshua's life and Jewish teaching was never known by Emperor Constantine. His lack of foundational Biblical basics and his Scriptural ignorance enabled grievous Jewish persecution by the Roman Empire's new church that attempted to erase the Jewishness of Jesus.<br />
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Constantine re-codified celebrations and dates of Rome's old sun-go religion into a new religion with councils to do the work. All in opposition to the Jewish people in much the same way that Pilate washed his hands and falsely sentenced Yeshua to Roman lashing, beating and nails on a crucifixion tree.<br />
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It's no wonder that just 150 years after Constantine's first Council of Nicea, Rome's unified power had collapsed and was divided between east and west.<br />
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Hosea 4:6 warns of destruction by lack of Biblical understanding:<br />
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"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."</blockquote>
Today, 1900 years after Marcion's heresies and Melito's homilies became more widely known through the Roman Empire, we must face the hard cold facts of their harm. Bible believing Christians must believe the Bible, look back and repent of the dark seed of Calvin's treatise: "On The Jews and Their Lies" and its church curse on the Jewish people.<br />
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Calvin's eventual hatred of the Jewish people unwittingly paved the adoption of a dark path for the mind altering evil of Hitler and Himmler. They built concentration camps filled with demonic hatred that led to the German state's sponsored mass murder of over six million, yes 6,000,000 precious souls that in a bizarre way mirrors the trial and tribulation by the Roman execution of Yeshua the Jewish Rabbi from Nazareth.<br />
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Yet, just as Yeshua, the promised Messiah King of the Jews was resurrected to life by Almighty God's power and authority over death on the third day called First Fruits from a rock hewn grave just outside the walls of Jerusalem, incredibly the Jewish people have been resurrected after two thousand years to new life in the Holy Land promised to Abraham <u>because he obeyed God's voice</u>.<br />
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It's hard to comprehend, perhaps impossible, but no holocaust equals no State of Israel that arose reborn from the ashes of Hitler's ovens. That 70 year-old miracle has opened the eyes and hearts of many to the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 15.<br />
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That fact is that the land of Israel and the Jewish people are a big part of God's salvation plan for the planet.<br />
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God does not change, people do. </div><div><br /></div><div>Marcion and Melito changed Gentile opinion in the nations because they rejected the unchanging promises that the Scriptures hold. The result is that Christianity sought to eradicate the Torah and rewrite its Gospel but that is now changing, at least for a faithful remnant.<br />
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There is repentance today as some now reject Greek thinking that flatly ignores the words of the Jewish disciple John (Yochanan) that declares God's love:<br />
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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 </blockquote>
Calvin fell into Marcion's trap and he believed the lie that God turned His back on the Jewish people, and because Calvin was ensnared by the lies, he ignored the words of Jesus not understanding that He laid His life down for His flock by His own initiative and the authority of the Father to give His life back to Him in the ultimate display of God's love and salvation plan to restore mankind from the grave.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: red;">He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: red;">I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: red;">For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”</span> John 10:11-18</blockquote>
Marcion deemed the letter to the Galatians as the pinnacle of Paul's letters for ALL of the wrong reasons.<br />
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Marcion claimed Paul had walked away from the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings and started a "new" religion. Paul never did that, instead he taught against a few rabbinic legalisms that set religious requirements for conversion through circumcision rather than faith in relationship like that of Abraham, the friend of God that sojourned with Almighty God 24 years before his circumcision. Paul knew the Israelites, like Abraham had followed God as they were trained by Moses for 40 years in the wilderness before circumcision.</div><div><br />
Paul's focus was on the lovingkindness, mercies and grace declared by Almighty God to Moses from the top of Mount Sinai, Paul's message was also about Baal Peor, and I hope to explain that.</div><div>
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Marcion did not believe that lovingkindness and mercies of Almighty God was the Hebrew Bible's pinnacle message found in the Torah. Perhaps his problem was like mine. Because he didn't study Torah, Marcion did not know that Abram was God's friend long before he received the instruction of circumcision after taking matters into his own hands while ignoring God's promise of a son for Sarah.<br />
<br />As I thought about that a few years ago, I realized that God told Abram to circumcise himself only after he listened to some lack of faith advice from Sarah and agreed to take Hagar, his wife's maidservant to bear a son as a substitute that was not promised by Almighty God to be borne by Sarai.<br />
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Steeped in Greek philosophy, Marcion misunderstood Paul's Jewish teaching style about God's character, so he turned the letters of the apostle upside down re-wiring Paul's words into those of a Greek philosopher with a new world view.<br />
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Marcion forgot that while imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote the following words that emphatically mandate a core understanding in ever one of Paul's letters of admonition:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"All who sin apart from the Torah will also perish apart from the Torah, and all who sin under the Torah will be judged by the Torah. For it is not those who hear the Torah who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is <u>those who obey the Torah</u> who will be declared righteous." Romans 2:12-13</blockquote>
Sadly, then and now, no one wants to hear the Roman letter for what it really says. </div><div><br /></div><div>This Torah declaration in Paul's letter was nothing new, it points directly to Almighty God's reason given to Isaac about why The Lord God will continue to honor His forever promise given to Isaac's father Abraham:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"...because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My Torah.” Genesis 26:5</blockquote>
Marcion's vicious attack on the Hebrew Bible (aka the Tanach) rejected righteous obedience.</div><div><br /></div><div>Marcion did not understand Jesus' fulfillment of Isaac's willing ha-Aqedah (binding) on the wood. Not only that, Marcion's hatred of all things Jewish was exasperated by his failure to understand Paul's grafting-in message of faith explained in Romans 9, Romans 10 and Romans 11.<br />
<br />Why didn't Marcion understand? He failed the faith test. </div><div><br /></div><div>He did not understand the historic Biblical context of the Galatian letter that proclaims the gospel of the Kingdom of God and its mountaintop focus on God's covenant promises tie to His heart of everlasting lovingkindness and redemption is the character focus of the Torah of God.<br />
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Marcion's twisted views were driven by a Greek Hellenistic worldview that was spun by the lie that God changes. That Greek thinking still pervades the hearts of Christians that do not believe what God said to Moses because they believe like Marcion did. </div><div><br /></div><div>Following in the footsteps of Marcion, Rome's Emperor Constantine took the original replacement theology lies to a whole "new" level as he turned Christianity against the Torah lessons that were to be learned every week in the synagogue.<br />
<br /><b>Today, many Christians claim Galatians and Acts 15 as a New Testament council rule of law for the church.</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>That's understandable if the covenant in Jeremiah 31:31 is not fully understood or if the purpose of basic training is forgotten. My brother served in the U.S. Army, my dad in the Air Force and my uncles served in the Navy as well as the Army. One thing I learned from them is that basic training does not prepare a soldier for the battlefield. </div><div><br /></div><div>Boot camp is only the start of the process and journey. After basic training, the next step is to attend advanced individual training that consists of consists of classroom, hands-on and field training. </div><div><br /></div><div>The U.S. Army's Advanced Individual Training (AIT) is where soldiers learn how to perform the tasks required in their specific Military Occupational Specialty.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's the same for The Lord's army.</div><div><br /></div><div>Advanced training involves the teachings of God that takes time to study, learn and practiced by any believer traveling the road that leads to salvation from death in resurrection. </div><div><br /></div><div>The men that met in Jerusalem described in Acts 15 had all gone through advanced training, all but one on the list were trained by Yeshua of Nazareth. They included Paul, Barnabas, Peter, James, Simeon and "the rest of the apostles and elders." </div><div><br /></div><div>The fact is they outlined the Bible's basic boot camp training straight from God's voice out of Leviticus. They obviously didn't think of it as old and done away with. What many overlook is that they assumed God's teaching and instruction, the Torah message to the world would be properly taught each and every Sabbath in advanced individual training. </div><div><br /></div><div>We know, because <b><u>THEY SAID SO</u></b>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” Acts 15:21</blockquote>What the men at the Jerusalem Council didn't know is that within 300 years, a church religion claimed by Emperor Constantine would officially declare a Gentile opinion against Moses, the Sabbath and the synagogue as the new rule of law that would do away with advanced individual training each Sabbath in which The Ten Commandments are the outline, the beginning of the teachings of God. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to reject Greco-Roman Christian views that wear Scriptural blinders to Yeshua's Biblical obedience and life offering with a view that non-Jews grafted as a wild branch into the assembly of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob need to show that only grace abounds and there's no holiness call other than the basic Torah prohibitions on four things: 1) idols, 2) sexual immorality, 3) strangled meat and 4) drinking blood. </div><div><br /></div><div>A four-point Greco-Roman view is much like the Tosefta of the Talmud that teaches seven rabbinic Noahide laws are the commandments for Gentiles to be assured of a place in the world to come (Olam Ha-Ba) without a need for conversion to Judaism. Although not prescribed as such in the Torah, the seven Noahide laws include three other Torah prohibitions the Jerusalem Council did not mention. The seven include 1) worshipping idols, 2) cursing God, 3) murder, 4) sexual immorality, 5) theft, 6) eating a living animal and 7) the obligation to establish courts of justice.</div><div><br /></div><div>The problem with the Noahide seven is what rule of law is used in the courts of justice?</div><div><br /></div><div>Did the Jerusalem Council do away with Torah prohibitions on murder, theft and the obligation to establish courts of justice? What about the Ten Commandments, is that all that was said at Sinai? No, God did not go silent. </div><div><br /></div><div>Both are false teachings that take away from the Torah and violate Deuteronomy 4:2.<br />
<br />Pulpit new religion theories are like Balaak, they crash headlong into Almighty God's thunderous voice that declares:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For the assembly, there shall be <u>one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you</u>, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before YHWH. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.” Exodus 15:15-16</blockquote>
Thank God the Jewish elders, the disciples and Paul all knew there's much more instruction from God that was delivered to Moses than a condemnation of pagan idol worship, sexual immorality, eating animals choked to death and drinking blood. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>They knew Moses' reminder, all who follow Baal-peor die.</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Although Acts 15 does not mention Baal Peor, it <u>was the basis of their decision</u> straight from Moses. So, their message was that Gentiles must take the first steps to turn from Baal-peor paganism before they could begin to learn the rest of Torah. They also knew Torah teaching a process, a Godly lifestyle to be learned based in the written word of God, not man-made rules like the Galatians had fallen for that circumcision was required for conversion.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>We should take Torah steps each week too!</b> That's the <u>big lesson</u> of Acts 15 with a focus on the Sabbath and its well worth repeating...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is [to be] read every Sabbath." Acts 15:21</blockquote><div>If you are wondering about the disciples admonition against blood and idols, you can find the Bible basics for their Jerusalem Council declaration in the Torah portions binding those who choose to join with Israel as part of the assembly of the children of God under the tutelage of Moses. It's time study the Bible Torah portions that the men of the Jerusalem Counsel were talking about.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's start with portion Re'eh, it's the fourth portion of weekly Sabbath reading found in the Torah summary sermon of Moses we now know as Deuteronomy. Turn to Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17. In this reading of the weekly parashah (the scroll portion) the Jerusalem Council focused on. Moses' sermon declares God's choice between blessings and curses and he repeats this three times because it's very important, yet it is easy, a light yoke:</div><div><blockquote>Deuteronomy 12:16 "...you shall not eat the blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water." </blockquote><blockquote>Deuteronomy 12:23:24 "...be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water." </blockquote><blockquote>Deuteronomy 15:23 "you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water." </blockquote></div><div>In the weekly portion Acharei Mot, Leviticus 17:10 tells us why the disciples chose their words. Acharei Mot also addresses eating animals choked to death. Take note of the big difference: </div><div></div><blockquote> Leviticus 17:15–16 “If any one of the house of Israel <u><b>or of the strangers</b></u> who sojourn among them eats any blood, <b>I will set my face against that person</b> who eats blood <b>and will cut him off from among his people</b>.” </blockquote><blockquote><div>"And <b>every person</b> who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, <b>shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water</b> and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. <b>But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity</b>."</div></blockquote><div></div><div><div>The story of Baal Peor begins with Balaak, the king of the Moabites. He paid Balaam, to curse Israel. The Baal Peor storyline continues in Numbers 25, when the women of Midian seduced the men of Israel into sexual sin and convinced them to sacrifice, eat meat and bow to their fertility gods. In righteous judgment against their sin, God sent a plague among the people. That's a warning for today.</div><div><br /></div><div>According to Numbers 31:16, the women of Midian were following Balaam's suggestion for Balaak. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>The prohibitions of the Jerusalem Council are also embedded in the Torah portions of Acharei Mot and Re'eh. The anti-idol basic found in the Ten Commandments is repeated in Leviticus 17:7-9. Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20 outline sexual immoralities named in the Torah portions of Acharei Mot and Kedoshim.</div><div><br /></div>
The moral of the Acts 15 story is that <u>a proper Torah walk like Yeshua's is learned -- it's a grafting-in process that starts with boot camp.</u> It takes some time to be built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. not just a blind faith decision with a one-time prayer of repentance.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don't fall for a pulpit theory emanating from Marcion or the dreamer of dreams called Constantine. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you have, then know The LORD is testing you to find out if you love El Shaddai Almighty God with all your heart and with all your soul. Repent and hold to the oracles of God's voice that a few new church fathers and an Emperor turned their backs on. Don't be one of their descendants.</div><div>
<br />
<b>Bottomline, both Marcion and Constantine forgot that <a href="https://jesusisajew.org/index.php" target="_blank">Jesus is a Jew</a>.</b><br />
<br /><div>Are you a Gentile Christian or a former Gentile?</div><div><br /></div>Ephesians 2:11-12 confirms former Gentiles have turned away and re-evaluate our lifestyle and how it affects our witness of faith redeemed by the life-blood offering of the Jewish Messiah that put to death the hostility that started in Eden with a serpent's lie. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and like Paul, open our eyes to see that short-sided views on the Galatian letter come from a misguided perception of Paul's statement that false brethren were attempting to turn believers from the truth of <a href="https://www.myscripturestudies.com/2016/11/im-believer-in-yeshua-hamashiach-humble.html" target="_blank">the gospel of the Kingdom</a> that Moses wrote about in Deuteronomy and that Yeshua taught long before His disciples ever knew about the Passover trial, the cross or the promise of salvation in resurrection from a grave.<br />
<br />
Yeshua's gospel of the Kingdom is still misunderstood, yet post-Holocaust eyes on Zion and the Jewish people are being opened today to restoration relationships for both Jews and Christians in a friendship of faith comprised of native born and sojourner. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for<span> any</span> sojourner to understand that the Jewish Messiah is 100% Jewish. </div><div><br /></div><div>Do you know what that means if you want to follow Him?<br />
<br />
Irenaeus another Greek man was from Smyrna, now known as İzmir, Turkey. He opposed the heresy and hatred of the church fathers that turned against the Jewish people. A righteous man, he wrote a treatise called "<a href="https://biblehub.com/library/irenaeus/against_heresies/index.html" target="_blank">Against Heresies</a>." In it, Irenaeus described why he opposed Marcion.<br />
<br />
Irenaeus was a righteous gentile, a little known church father that upheld the Hebrew Bible as one truth.<br />
<br />
Because of that, the Gnostic fanatics of Smyrna demanded his execution, so Irenaeus fled to Lyon, France. He's now known as Irenaeus of Lyons. It is said that he suffered and died a martyr for his treatise of truth around 200AD. Irenaeus believed the Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>Irenaeus had heard the Kingdom gospel from Polycarp who had been tutored by the Jewish disciple John.<br />
<br />
In the Revelation letter to Smyrna, John prophetically recorded these words:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10</blockquote>
The reference to ten days of testing should point us back to Daniel 1 where we see four Jewish men: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah tested in their faith.<br />
<br />
Irenaeus knew in support of the Hebrew Bible, his mentor Polycarp had tried and failed to persuade Pope Anicetus to celebrate Passover on the 14th of Nisan, as it is written by Moses and declared by God. That battle with the pope strengthened Irenaeus' resolve.<br />
<br />Many that read Revelation are still wondering who the Nicolaitans were. In his writings, Irenaeus identified the cult he called the Nicolaitans. He called them an "offshoot of the knowledge which is falsely so-called." The Nicolaitans are behind the scenes, not mentioned directly in Pauls' letters, but they are important if we want to understand the Galatian letter.<br />
<br />
The Nicolaitans are noted twice at the assemblies of Yeshua's followers living in Ephesus and Pergamum in Revelation 2 for good reason, they held on to the ages old teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak how to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Irenaeus wrote that they "lead lives of unrestrained indulgence." Their swerve from faith mirrors the grace only knowledge of ignoring the Father's instruction in the Torah and that links to the warning Paul gave his student Timothy about faith. You can find it in 1Timothy 6:20-21:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith."</blockquote>
In the end, Balaam's advice was followed by Marcion and those like him still babble contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge” that opposes the Torah of God. They are like the irreverent Nicolaitans teaching a Greek philosophy that says the Torah is old and done away with, people can be saved by grace and then do whatever they want except idol worship, sexual immorality and drinking blood, unrestrained by God's words of instruction for both native born and sojourner in a holy set apart righteous life forgetting Yeshua's teaching and the reason God gives for honoring His promise to His friend Abraham.</div><div>
<br />
As a good and faithful scribe, the Jewish disciple John sent a warning with his Revelation letters to Ephesus and to Smyrna, the home of Marcion: "you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false..."<br />
<br />
Now you know the mystery of the Nicolaitans from Ephesus and Smyrna.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Revelation 2:6 and Revelation 2:15</blockquote>
The hard cold facts are the teaching of the Nicolaitans of yesteryear survive today and cast a dark shadow on the revelation of Messiah Yeshua's commandments that explain the heart of God's commandments with a direct link to Genesis 26:5 and Deuteronomy 11:13:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, <b>just as I have kept my Father's commandments</b> and abide in his love. John 15:10 </blockquote>
If you want to follow and walk in the footsteps of Jesus, this requires <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/rev/14/12/s_1181012" target="_blank">a messenger's call</a> for "repentance" and "endurance" in Biblical life, love <u>and</u> faith in keeping with the commandments of God, not an unrepentant walk away from them. Come to think of it, that is <u>the Revelation call</u>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Here is <b><u>a call</u></b> for the <b><u>endurance</u></b> of the saints, <u><b>those who keep</b></u> the commandments of God <b><u>and</u></b><u><b> their faith</b></u> in Jesus. Revelation 14:12</blockquote>
If you have ever run a cross country race, think back to the preparation. Endurance requires a lot of training and an inner voice of courage and strength to persevere to finish the race as best you can.<br />
<br />
Three hundred years after John penned his solemn warnings about the Nicolaitans, another Greek thinking church father by the name of John Chrysostom opposed this call for endurance as he preached against the commandments of God and anyone who sought to honor God's voice in His moedim appointments that include the weekly Sabbath and the Feasts of The Lord.<br />
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Without a doubt, people like Chrysostom among others are the reason for Peter's yellow caution flag that is still waving to stay in the endurance race today because Messiah will come and He will rule people of faith with one teaching and instruction as the constitution of The Kingdom.<br />
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Peter (Kepha) was a fisherman and in the end, a faithful Jewish disciple of Yeshua (aka Jesus) that believed every word of truth. That's why he wrote that Paul’s “letters contain <b><i>some things</i></b> that are hard to understand, which <i><b>ignorant and unstable</b></i> people distort, as they do the <b style="font-style: italic;">other Scriptures</b>, to their own <b><i>destruction</i></b>” (see 2Peter 3:16 and open your eyes).<br />
<br />
Marcion, Melito, Chrysostom as well as Constantine and many others have ignored Kepha's urgent warning and tossed it aside just as they tossed aside the Hebrew Scriptures that Yeshua taught calling them old and done away with as they ignorantly used Paul's letters to distort the truth...<br />
<br />
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<center>
<big>Ignorant and unstable people distort Paul's letters</big></center>
<center>
<big>to their own destruction. </big></center>
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<br />
These are wise words from Peter, don't ignore them!<br />
<br />
Today, the revelation warnings against Nicolaitan thinking remains in full force as people like Chrysostom believe that "the Law" is contrary to their new religion, doctrine, theology and belief in opposition to the words that give the call for "endurance" declared in Revelation 14:12 and Matthew 5:46-47.<br />
<br />
Like Marcion, some in church believe the Hebrew Scriptures that Yeshua taught in synagogues every Sabbath are good stories but the instructions are old, set aside and done away with "hung on the cross" while distorting Paul's words to "prove" their unstable dogma that will ultimately lead to destruction.<br />
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Hold onto your pew!</div><div><br /></div><div>The Merriam Webster dictionary defines dogma as "a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds" and "a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church."<br />
<br />
The deception of Nicolaitan dogma is that God's Word is old and done away with, and that is a big reason that so many Jewish people have denied Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah because of church dogma that is rooted not in the Bible but in a replacement house without adequate grounds, <u>without the foundation</u>.</div><div>
<br />
The sad reality is that these misguided church father views disqualified Jesus as the Christ.<br />
<br />
<b>Replacement theology is a grievous lie, a dogma that requires a broken heart in </b><b>repentance returning to the foundational faith of Yeshua Ha'Mashiach.</b><br />
<br />On the other hand, another problem is the thought that Jesus does not qualify as Messiah because He did not restore the Kingdom of God when they thought He should, but the truth is He will, but He had to first come as the humble Rabbi, the suffering servant of God, the Torah teacher before He will return as King Ha'Mashiach.<br />
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Like Pilate, at some point we must all ask the question: "What is truth?"<br />
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Pilate asked Yeshua the Jew this question at the Passover hour of trial. The truth is our Jewish brethren will one day come to learn that what Pilate said is true: “I find no guilt in Him" (John 18:38).<br />
<br />Yeshua taught and upheld the written Torah in everything He did in life, in death and that truth remains in resurrection. He quoted Moses and the Prophets and the Writings constantly, we just miss it when He does because we don't really know the heart of God or the Scriptures. </div><div><br /></div><div>The heart and soul of the voice of God was the pinnacle of everything Yeshua did and taught. If you believe God, don't just ask what would Jesus do? Do what He did.<br />
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We must change because God does not.<br />
<br />
Simon Peter did and it took some time for Peter to come around. His warning of destruction comes from the same man that despite hearing every word that Yeshua of Nazareth spoke and despite seeing His many miracles to heal and help others... denied knowing Him three times in His grave hour of trial but Peter became a man of faith and action.<br />
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Yeshua never gave up on Peter (aka the rock) because Jesus knew God's lovingkindness and grace would transform Peter's stony heart in the end and bring the living water of life from a rock. By his repentance, the Jew named Peter was given another chance because he did the righteous thing, he repented.<br />
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His warning about distorting Paul's letters and the Scriptures still stands as a truth we must all uncover as we consider: Why the Letter to the Galatians?<br />
<br />Messiah Yeshua gave Paul the rabbi another chance as He sought him out on the road to Damascus. This will happen again.<br />
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Like Peter before him, Paul repented and he never turned his back again on the lovingkindness of God shown in the Hebrew Scriptures. Paul had been so vehemently zealous for religious opinion that he pridefully sought to destroy the Jewish men that knew Yeshua as Messiah. Paul had added prideful religious precepts to God's written word with commandments of a few leaders who had turned away from the truth as he had.<br />
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Few realize that Paul constantly weaves messages from the Hebrew Scriptures to explain the heart of the Torah's gospel message of God's desire for grace, mercies and lovingkindness in his letters.<br />
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Below are just five examples <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/quotes03.cfm" target="_blank">of many of Paul's Hebrew Scripture teachings</a> seen in chapter three of the Galatian letter:<br />
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Galatians 3:8, Paul quotes from Genesis 12:3</li>
<li>Galatians 3:10, Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 27:26</li>
<li>Galatians 3:11, Paul quotes from Habakkuk 2:4</li>
<li>Galatians 3:12, Paul quotes from Leviticus 18:5</li>
<li>Galatians 3:13, Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 21:23</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
If Paul declared a new religion and turned his back on a so-called Old Testament, ask yourself <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/quotes03.cfm" target="_blank">why did he use it so often</a> to teach?<br />
<br />
Perhaps Melito never read the second letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 5, Paul connects the importance of staying away from unclean (tame') by summarizing a number of sayings from the Torah and the Prophets:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Messiah and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I will live with them<br />
and walk among them,<br />
and I will be their God,<br />
and they will be my people.”[1] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Therefore,<br />
“Come out from them<br />
and be separate,<br />
says the Lord.<br />
Touch no unclean thing,<br />
and I will receive you.”[2] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And,<br />
“I will be a Father to you,<br />
and you will be my sons and daughters,<br />
says the Lord Almighty.”<br />
2 Corinthians 5:14-18</blockquote>
1) 2 Corinthians 6:16 = Exodus 6:7; Leviticus 26:12; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 37:27<br />
2) 2 Corinthians 6:17 = Leviticus 5:2-3; Leviticus 10:10; Isaiah 52:11; Ezekiel 20:34,41<br />
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Turn and look at Galatians 4 again. There we see some things that might shake many old pulpits. Paul writes a parable:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Now I say, as long as <b>the heir is a child,</b> he does <b>not differ</b> at all from <b>a slave</b> although he is owner of everything, but <b>he is under guardians</b> and managers until the date set by the father. So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage <b>under the elemental things of the world</b>. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, <b>born under the Law</b>, so that He might <b>redeem those who were under the Law</b>, that we might receive the <b>adoption as sons</b>. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; <b>and if a son, then an heir</b> through God." Galatians 4:1-7 </blockquote>
Parables are misunderstood when we use Greek thinking. The reason, they are Hebraic. They teach a message that compares two things through a story that has a deeper meaning. Today, call them an allegory, a metaphor in which a character, place or event is used to deliver a hidden truth.<br />
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Paul's allegories are still falsely used against the written Torah today. The "law" that Pauls often writes against is Rabbinic addition in oral law.</div><div><br /></div><div>But in this case it's straight from Genesis. How do we know? Notice the parable is about children, redemption and adoption. Genesis 3 is the placeholder of the "law" that Paul refers to:<br />
<br />
In the beginning, God promised to bring forth new life but we bring on tribulation pain because of sinful rejection of what God says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To the woman He said,<br />
“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth,<br />
In pain you will bring forth children...</blockquote>
God's instruction was be fruitful and multiply, but to bring forth life but pain will not go away. His next was watch what you eat, don't eat from the wrong tree. In other words, Almighty God was saying don't take everything in that is available to you because it can eventually kill you, choose instead to carefully do what I say is God's message to Adam. Don't kill yourself with a curse you bring on yourself.<br />
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Death is the enmity warning from the second "law" that Paul wrote about that is done away with by Messiah in resurrection. <br />
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God's voice gave the ultimate warning as a "law" to Adam and Eve if they rejected God's authority and chose to ignore Him and put their opinion above God's voice.<br />
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Adam and Eve brought death's destruction on themselves because they both fell for the deception of another voice that sought to control them under the bondage of sin. The serpent understood God's instruction better than they did, because he knew death's rule.<br />
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God described the curses bought to the earth by Adam and Eve for deliberately breaking His instruction out of His lovingkindness, not as vengeful condemnation or retribution:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Because you... have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Cursed is the ground <u>because of you</u>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In toil you will eat of it<br />
All the days of your life.<br />
Till you return to the ground,<br />
Because from it you were taken;<br />
For you are dust,<br />
And to dust you shall return.</blockquote>
To the deceiver serpent, God promised a redeemer from the law of death when He said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And I will put enmity<br />
Between you and the woman,<br />
And between your seed and her seed;<br />
He shall bruise you on the head,<br />
And you shall bruise him on the heel.</blockquote>
After this, Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden and put out, yet it was an act of unfathomable love because it saved them and humanity.<br />
<br />
Had they stayed near God's glory, they would have quickly died living in their sinful state near God's glory and they would never have had the opportunity to fulfill the first commandment to bring forth children.<br />
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Sin and God's glory cannot coexist, so they had to leave. The goal was to protect them, so God stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword to guard "the way" דרך (derek) to tree of life because the Redeemer had not yet come to provide the way of redemption and ressurection. Had they eaten from the tree of life they would have lived in an eternal state of decay, literally living out death in a state of disintegration, disease and ruin.<br />
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Death is the "law" Paul wrote about that we can be redeemed from through Messiah Yeshua. The curse is seen in the beginning and it is described in Galatians 4 as well as Hebrews 2:14-18 (NASB):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."</blockquote>
The penalty of the law of sin that Adam and Eve chose to bring on themselves in rebellion as a curse is revealed in Genesis 3 as well as Deuteronomy 28:45.<br />
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Paul's parable-like teaching reaches back to Genesis 21 contrasting choices people make with faith and without faith as he compares Sarah and Hagar and then Paul connects this message to Isaiah 54. Likely, he did this because the Genesis 21 passage was read in the synagogue as the fourth annual Parshah Vayeira. Jews read it on the fourth Sabbath after Simchat Torah and they read parts of the parashah as Torah readings for Rosh Hashanah aka the Day of Trumpets. After all, Paul NEVER knew the Hebrew Scriptures as old or done away with so he used them constantly to teach.<br />
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It's important to read all of Isaiah 54 to complete the parable-like picture that Paul paints with his words. In summary, take note of the child and the groom, as well as everlasting lovingkindness, compassion and redemption:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne <b>no child</b>;<br />
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, <b>you who have not travailed</b>... </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And your descendants will possess nations<br />
And will resettle the desolate cities. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For <b>your husband</b> is your Maker,<br />
Whose name is the LORD of hosts;<br />
And your <b>Redeemer</b> is the Holy One of Israel,<br />
Who is called <b>the God of all the earth</b>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I hid My face from you for a moment,<br />
But with <b>everlasting lovingkindness</b> I will have <b>compassion</b> on you,<br />
Says the LORD <b>your Redeemer</b>.</blockquote>
Did you notice the redemption includes action... "resettle the desolate cities."<br />
<br />
<u>That is exactly what is happening today in Israel</u>. The prophecy hit the headlines in 1948 and again in 1967.<br />
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We can see another Torah-Haftorah connection in Paul's letter delivered to Corinth. Check it out for yourself and you'll see 2Corinthians 3:6-18 reconnects Moses breaking the tablets at the golden calf idol worship scene described in Exodus 34:27-35.<br />
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After this grave sin of graven image idolatry, God describes His heart for mankind, it is the good news of His everlasting character of lovingkindness and compassion through forgiveness as He demonstrated the second chance He provides all of humanity when He provided a second set of tablets to replace the ones that were shattered so that Moses could return with them <u>a second time</u>.<br />
<br />
His second descent points us to Messiah's two comings, not two Messiahs.<br />
<br />
Paul ties Moses' two-trip message that reflects Messiah's first and second coming and a teaching of the heart of the Torah shown in Jeremiah 31:32-39. God gave the prophet Jeremiah His loving promise to make a new covenant for the forgiveness of sin with His promise to write His Torah on our hearts.<br />
<br />
The new covenant of Jeremiah 31 is the same new covenant described in Luke 22:20, 2 Corinthians 3:6 and summarized in Hebrews 9:15 below that speaks of the Genesis 3 promise of Messiah and points to the golden calf sin shown in the Exodus 32 narrative:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a <b>death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions</b> that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of <b>the eternal inheritance</b>."</blockquote>The Torah-Haftorah connections are the hidden gemstones in Paul's letters and the failure to see the facets are part and parcel of Simon Peter's grave warning of ignorance of the Scriptures.<br />
<br />
Peter was concerned about Biblical blinders in a form of cognitive dissonance, a teaching that was spreading that the letters of Paul provided a "grace escape" of ungodliness from the foundation of a Biblical lifestyle described in Deuteronomy 6:18. </div><div><br /></div><div>The theology of the mainstream preaches the opposite. They should about a new second covenant that says the “old” covenant is old and done away as Jesus ended the need for God's laws and rules. The mainstream believes Jesus eliminated the need for Moses, the Sabbath, and the Lord's Feasts.</div><div>
<br />
Take note that Galatians 2:1-3 mentions a man named Titus.<br />
<br />
He was a Gentile and is seen in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians and the letter to Timothy. Titus was an understudy and Paul knew of Peter's concern so he counseled Titus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul's letter to Titus clarifies grace as bringing salvation to all people and he admonishes Titus to righteousness with an emphasis on good works and pure Godly living in an upside down world that twists and rejects God's Word and authority.<br />
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These are the same Torah foundations Yeshua taught and expounded on. Paul clearly instructs Titus to deny ungodliness and strongly encourage, yet reprimand others out of love accordingly:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, <u>instructing us</u> to the intent that, <u>denying ungodliness and worldly lusts</u>, we would <u>live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present world</u>; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah; who gave himself for us, that he might <u>redeem us</u> from all iniquity, <u>and purify for himself a people for his own possession</u>, zealous for good works. Say these things and exhort and reprove with all authority... Titus 2:11-15 </blockquote>
Peter understood Biblical blinders too, he had once worn them for a time just as Paul had. Remember, it was Peter that denied even knowing Yeshua three times, yet he was present at the sermon of beatitudes when he heard Yeshua of Nazareth boldly declare an unchanging truth: <b>not one jot or tittle will ever be done away </b>in the Torah as long as heaven and earth remain.<br />
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Peter eventually repented and was forgiven. He understood grace and the words that promise a new covenant that the Torah, the laws of God are to be written on our hearts... do you?<br />
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Heaven and earth remain, and Paul's letters still reflect the true gospel of the compassionate lovingkindness redemption message embedded throughout the Torah. If you want to heed Peter's warning, believe Jesus and agree with Paul that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness (2Timothy 3:16).<br />
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When you do, you'll understand why Peter's warning flag still waves in the race for endurance to the tree of life promise of the eternal inheritance.<br />
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Grace does not annul God's Torah nor allow ungodliness to reject it, rather the Torah of God directs us live righteously under God's grace. It directs us to be passionate for the good works it promotes to love God and others. Grace is from God's throne it is given to redeem and strengthen us to walk in the path of God's way of life when we choose His ways over ours.<br />
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Grace began in Eden with the promise of the bruised Messiah and it is seen in Adam's 930 year life allowing him to fulfill the first commandment which is why you and I are here today. It is front and center at the mountaintop teaching after the golden calf sin below caused Moses to shatter the first tablets. Grace is seen everywhere in Scripture including Jeremiah as God promises the prophet He will write His laws on our hearts as a new covenant, <u>not do away with them</u>.<br />
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The thing that is new about the new covenant is nothing new in the Torah, what is new is that we won't jest read them, we will know them, live them and know The Lord God who gave them to us.<br />
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Yeshua of Nazareth excludes no one from His voice and authority on God's eternal truths and He expounded on them in the Sermon on the Mount. By its very nickname, the "Sermon on the Mount" teaching of Messiah Yeshua should remind you of the other mountain, "Mount Sinai" and the weight of the words spoken there from the fire, smoke and thunder.<br />
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Not one jot or tittle of the words written in stone or scroll in the wilderness of Sinai are changed or done away with, no not one letter. This gospel for life in the Kingdom is the life testimony of Jesus and it can be yours too.<br />
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His mountaintop sermon reveals the spirit and truth of lovingkindness and compassion shown in the Torah regarding "the way" of the Kingdom of God and we have two witnesses of the Sermon on the Mount testimony in Matthew 5 and John 5.<br />
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The humble Yeshua taught "The Way" and "Truth" (Derech v’Emet) of the Kingdom that seems hidden for some, yet is deeply woven in Pauls' letters.<br />
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Did you know Yeshua's followers were called "the Way?"<br />
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This points back to Abraham, not to a new way or a new religion:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to <u>keep the way</u> of the LORD <u>by doing righteousness and justice,</u> so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” Genesis 18:19</blockquote>The followers of Yeshua of Nazareth were trained to do good things (righteousness and justice). They were called a sect of Nazarenes, see Acts 9:2, Acts 19:23, Acts 24 and other references. In addition to keeping the written Biblical instruction to go and do as God says in righteousness, Yeshua also taught Biblical Jewish concepts with moral exhortations known as haggadah. <br />
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There's an old Jewish saying that halakhah without haggadah is dead. That's why the Jewish disciple James (Yacov) wrote these words:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:17</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. James 2:26</blockquote>The Jewish understanding that James emphasized is that halakhah deeds and action come from what you know is the right thing to do. Haggadah is in the category of faith and spirit, the things that are not seen. James was teaching the two can't be separated in the way of true faith. In other words, what you believe does not constitute the whole concept of faith. </div><div><br /></div><div>Think of it this way, if you say believe in Jesus, you should demonstrate that by seeking to walk as He walked. The important faith issue then then is not to just question what would Jesus do, but in the faith walk, do what Jesus did.<br />
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You might be blown away to know that the Hebrew word for "the way" or "derech" is known as "halakhah" and that the walk of Yeshua is the "haggadah" of truth and spirit of the Hebrew Bible. Yeshua constantly quoted and taught from that Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>James is saying that doing righteousness and teaching the truth and spirit of the Bible go hand in hand. </div><div><br /></div><div>Think of faith as what can be seen in action, it's referred to one's walk because anyone can see the purpose in your actions. </div><div><br /></div><div>Look in Scripture and you'll see two stones that God wrote the table of contents of covenant relationship with His finger. We call them the Ten Commandments. Desiring to keep the Ten Words because of one's love and heart to walk in God's ways in response to His grace is the haggadah of life.<br />
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Yeshua's faith can be seen in the perfectly righteous way He lived and taught others to do from the Torah as well as parables. It's no wonder the crowds that followed Master Rabbi Yeshua of Nazareth said He "taught with authority" because <u>He was doing what He preached </u>(see Luke 4:31-32). </div><div>
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Back to Paul, during the time preceding his road trip to Damascus, Paul initially rejected the Biblical concept of a bruised and pierced Messiah that is described in Isaiah 53 as well as other prophets. Paul had ignored the prophetic psalm of king David noted below, but Paul repented and no longer persecuted or mocked those that followed in the footsteps of Yeshua believing in He is the promised Messiah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What man can live and never see death?<br />
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah<br />
<br />
Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,<br />
which by your faithfulness you swore to David? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,<br />
and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,<br />
with which your enemies mock, O LORD,<br />
with which they mock the footsteps [aqeb עָקֵב]<br />
of your anointed [מָשִׁיחַ Mashiach].<br />
Psalm 89:48-51</blockquote>
The faithfulness of David was the steadfast love of old, it points to the promise of Messiah that Paul had rejected. He could not see the staked heel of the Passover lamb of God because he only looked for the lion of the tribe of Judah instead of the everlasting steadfast love of an anointed shepherd that would give His life for His sheep.<br />
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Many today are like Paul before he saw the light. They stumble over a church pew. Think about it, whose fault is it that many Jewish people struggle with Messiah just as Paul did before his eyes were opened?<br />
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Is it any wonder that Jews detest replacement theologies that started with the Nicolaism of Marcion, Chrysostom and Luther? Believe it or not, the replacement theology most Jewish people have turned away from eventually turned the church away from Jesus the Jew.<br />
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The good news is not all people continue to think like Nicolaitan church fathers and not all Jews reject the bruised heel of the humble Mashiach as Paul once did.<br />
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History is important. It's time to restore the reformation. Understanding this mandates that we see Yeshua is not new and He did not replace the good teaching of Jewish rabbis nor Biblical Judaism.<br />
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A historic and highly revered Jewish sage, Elijah ben Solomon Zalmam, known as the Vilna Gaon (the genius of Vilna) lived in Poland and Lithuania in the mid 1700's and he taught that one of the roles of Messiah was that of Moshiach ben Yosef. Rabbi Zalmam taught others that the humble Messiah's mission was to reveal the "Sod" or the hidden wisdom of the Torah of the Kingdom of God which is exactly what Yeshua of Nazareth did.<br />
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The <span style="background-color: white;">Gaon of Vilna</span><span style="background-color: white;"> once said that “all wisdom is needed for the holy Torah and included therein.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: white;">He was a genius and he was correct. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Yeshua taught, the eternal wisdom you need to guide your life is in God's teaching and instruction. That is the yoke Messiah followed His entire life without fail. He owned them. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Keeping God's commandments as His own is the reason Yeshua is eligible to be Messiah. </span><span style="background-color: white;">That is why Yeshua taught: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">"</span>For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Adding a heavy manmade yoke of religious </span><span style="background-color: white;">pride, power or even prejudice can make the easy yoke of the written law Moses faithfully recorded, a manmade legalistic burden. </span><br />
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Examples of Yeshua's teachings are many and a keynote is found in the Sermon on the Mount given to the large crowds that followed Jesus the Jew from Galilee and the Decapolis as well as Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan (see Matthew 5, Matthew 6 and Matthew 7).<br />
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There at the mountainside, Yeshua taught with authority about the Kingdom of God. The fact that He taught that lesson from a mountain is no coincidence as He described the Torah's purpose to the crowds there from Judea and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon (see Luke (6:17–49) as He expounded on the gospel of the Kingdom of God and its Torah lifestyle.<br />
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In His teaching we call the Sermon on the Mount, Rabbi Yeshua explained the heart and "Sod" truth of adultery from the instruction given in Exodus 20:14, Deuteronomy 5:18 and Proverbs 6:32.<br />
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He explained the critical importance of the Sabbath in Matthew 12 and Luke 6. Yeshua taught on its hidden "Sod" purpose in Luke 13:10-17 by His own good deed that day. On that particular Sabbath, Yeshua healed the sickness of a woman caused by a dark spirit. Her body was bent over and twisted and she could not straighten up for 18 years. The "sod" storyline of the years of her suffering is that the woman represents the assembly of all Israel, both native born and sojourner that are oppressed by spiritual sickness from deception that leads to sin.<br />
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Like a release from slavery, her affliction was rightly judged by Yeshua when He said to her: "Woman, you are freed from your sickness."<br />
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Yet, along the storyline found in Paul's letter to the Galatians, a religious official was indignant with Yeshua because of the official's adopted tradition of the elders, a heavy yoke that opposed the high purpose of Torah and Shabbat which is to rest, heal and restore. The heavy burden of that religious man was he thought healing was a violation of his religious definition of "work" on the Sabbath (more on that later).<br />
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It is important to understand that Luke's mention of her 18-year affliction is no coincidence. Tere are no coincidences in the Bible.<br />
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A casual reading does not reveal how critical the 18-year timeline is to the prophecy revealed in that Sabbath miracle. The number eighteen (18) provides a symbolic meaning for "bondage" in the Bible. This number is revealed in the book of Judges and the people that saw her healed in the assembly that Sabbath day likely knew the significance of that number. That is another reason "the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him."<br />
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The book of Judges can take the mystery out her 18 years of bondage in suffering.<br />
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How can we know? After entering the Promised Land, the children of Israel were in afflicted by several nations of people before David became king. Two key enemies, the Moabites and the Philistines oppressed them for eighteen (18) years ( see Judges 3:12-14 and Judges 10:7-8). Yet, God freed the Israelites of that 18-year bondage through the work of Ehud, Jephthah and Samson.<br />
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Looking forward, the day is coming that Melek King Messiah Yeshua will again teach God's Torah face to face and free all Israel and sojourner alike from the bondage of sin and the deception during the Sabbath day of the Messianic Kingdom to come. This is promised in 2 Samuel 7:11–16. This hidden "Sod" message was preached by Yeshua in Matthew 5 at the Sermon on the Mount and it is revealed again in Revelation 20:2-6.<br />
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Back to the genius of the man from Vilna. Its important to know that the Vilna Gaon is not the only Jewish rabbi witness of serious thought and commentary on the critical role of Moshiach ben Yosef, the suffering Messiah. The earliest Talmudic writings give many references dating back to the third century, identifying Moshiach as the "man of sorrows" in Isaiah that many people will look upon and mourn because He is the same one pierced that is described in Zechariah.<br />
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The "Sod" message is that there is only one Messiah, not two and like Moses, as an intercessor, Messiah will make two trips "down the mountain" to deliver the eternal covenant to Israel and the sojourner companions with them.<br />
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The first trip down the mountain, Moses shattered the first two tablets because Israel committed adultery with the golden calf and broke their promise to Almighty God:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and <b>they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!</b>” So Moses took the <b>blood and sprinkled it on the people</b>, and said, “<b>Behold the blood of the covenant</b>, which the LORD has made with you <b>in accordance with all these words</b>.” Exodus 24:7-8</blockquote>
Messiah Yeshua, the living Torah in the flesh was shattered in His first trip as Messiah ben Joseph, but Messiah will return with the same Torah in his mouth as Messiah ben David.<br />
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The prophetic picture given by Moses' two trips with the covenant tablets is no coincidence because he wrote of Messiah. Have you ever considered... Moses went up and came down a second time after the first Lord's supper when the people at Mount Horeb were sprinkled by the blood of the sacrifice?<br />
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Yeshua told people to believe Moses because he wrote about Him (John 5:46). Yeshua fulfilled the prophetic promise of David's Psalm as He taught the great congregations, <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/luk/6/17/s_979017" target="_blank">the multitudes</a> that heard Him speak:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I have told the glad news of deliverance<br />
in the great congregation;<br />
behold, I have not restrained my lips,<br />
as you know, O LORD.<br />
I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;<br />
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;<br />
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness<br />
from the great congregation. Psalm 40:7-10</blockquote>
Simply put, Moses shows us the reason for the first coming of Messiah in Deuteronomy 18:15 and that reason was that people were afraid to hear directly from Almighty God, so God promised a prophet to speak His words on their behalf:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him."</blockquote>
The Hebrew word Moses uses here for <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5030&t=NASB" target="_blank">prophet</a> is נָבִיא nabiy' and this word points to the inspired messenger (angel) of God, the one that did not speak his own words, but that delivered words received from Almighty God. Yeshua points to this when He said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me." John 5:46</blockquote>
The NASB Bible translation describes the messenger (angel) of The Lord in at least 77 verses so the message is critical to understand.<br />
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The Jewish disciple we call John tells us three times how explicitly Yeshua speaks as the messenger of The Lord and the prophet that Moses had promised in Deuteronomy 18:15. In John 7:16 Yeshua said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me." In John 12:49 Yeshua said, "For I have not spoken on My own [authority]; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak." And finally in John 14:24 Yeshua said, "the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me."<br />
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Yeshua, the messenger of God shows us that He is the promised prophet of God the Father and the same prophet Moses wrote about that raised up by God from among Israel 2,000 years ago to speak what God commands.<br />
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You see the Vilna Gaon was a genius and there are many rabbinic writings that agree with the Vilna Gaon about the Messiah and his required ordeal of suffering revealed at Mount Sinai. They include these witnesses:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The Holy One gave Messiah the opportunity to save souls but to be severely chastised: and forthwith the Messiah accepted the chastisements of love, as is written, 'He was oppressed, and he was afflicted.' And when Israel is sinful, the Messiah seeks mercy upon them, as it is written, 'By his stripes we were healed,' and 'He carried the sins of many and made intercession for the trangressors.'" (Bereshith Rabbah, Rabbi Moshe Hadershan) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The word 'man' in the passage refers to the Messiah, the son of David as it is written, 'Behold the man whose name is Zemah'; there Jonathan interprets, Behold the man Messiah; as it is said 'a man of pains and known to sickness.' (Midrash Thanhumi, Rabbi Nahman) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Rabbinical Elijah the prophet quote: "Bear the suffering and punishment of thy Lord, with which he chastises thee for the sins of Israel, as it is written, 'He is pressed for our rebellion - crushed for our iniquities' until the end come." (Midrash Cohen, BhM, 2:29) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Talmud explains: "The Messiah--what is his name? Those of the house of Rabbi Yuda the saint say, the sick one, as it is said, 'Surely he had borne our sicknesses'." (Sanhedrin 98b) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It is because of this future ordeal that David (prophetically) wept, saying My strength is dried up like a potsherd [Psalms 22:7]. At this hour, G-d will say to Him, Ephraim, My Righteous Messiah, didst Thou not agree before the creation to this? Now let Your sorrows be as My own sorrows....At that Messiah answers, Now is My Spirit calmed for 'It is enough for a servant to be like master.'" (Pesikta Rabbati Piska 36:142/Yalkut on Isaiah 60:1-2) </blockquote>
These are rabbinic comments on Isaiah 53. Here are two witnesses's on Zechariah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Referring to Zech 12:10-12, "R. Dosa says: '(They will mourn) over the Messiah who will be slain.' " (B. Suk. 52a; also Y. Suk. 55b)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Messiah son of Joseph was slain, as it is written, "They shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son" (Zech xii 10 (Suk. 52a)) </blockquote>
Others rabbis also agree on the prophecies of a suffering Messiah and take note, not one of them declares the suffering is only figurative of Jewish people, the focus is on Messiah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I am pleased to interpret it in accordance of our rabbis, of the King Messiah, and will be careful, so far as I am able, to adhere to the literal sense: thus, possible, I shall be free from the fancied and far fetched interpretations of which others have been guilty...." (Rabbi Moshe Kohen Ibn Crispin of Cordova and Toledo in Spain, ca. 1350)<br />
<br />
"I will now proceed to explain these verses of our own Messiah, who G-d willing, will come speedily in our days. I am surprised that Rashi and Rabbi David Kimchi have not, with the Targums, applied it to the Messiah likewise." (Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Altshuler, ca. 1650 A.D.) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The Holy One gave Messiah the opportunity to save souls but to be severely chastised: and forthwith the Messiah accepted the chastisements of love, as is written, 'He was oppressed, and he was afflicted.' And when Israel is sinful, the Messiah seeks mercy upon them, as it is written, 'By his stripes we were healed,' and 'He carried the sins of many and made intercession for the trangressors.'" (Bereshith Rabbah, Rabbi Moshe Hadershan) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The word 'man' in the passage refers to the Messiah, the son of David as it is written, 'Behold the man whose name is Zemah'; there Jonathan interprets, Behold the man Messiah; as it is said 'a man of pains and known to sickness.' (Midrash Thanhumi, Rabbi Nahman) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Rabbinical Elijah the prophet quote: "Bear the suffering and punishment of thy Lord, with which he chastises thee for the sins of Israel, as it is written, 'He is pressed for our rebellion - crushed for our iniquities' until the end come." (Midrash Cohen, BhM, 2:29) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Talmud explains: "The Messiah--what is his name? Those of the house of Rabbi Yuda the saint say, the sick one, as it is said, 'Surely he had borne our sicknesses'." (Sanhedrin 98b) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It is because of this future ordeal that David (prophetically) wept, saying My strength is dried up like a potsherd [Psalms 22:7]. At this hour, G-d will say to Him, Ephraim, My Righteous Messiah, didst Thou not agree before the creation to this? Now let Your sorrows be as My own sorrows....At that Messiah answers, Now is My Spirit calmed for 'It is enough for a servant to be like master.'" (Pesikta Rabbati Piska 36:142/Yalkut on Isaiah 60:1-2) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then He [My Servant Messiah] will become despised, and will cut off the glory of all the Kingdoms; they will be prostrate and mourning, like a man of pains, and like One destined for sickness; and as though the Presence of the Shekinah had been withdrawn from us, they will be despised, and esteemed not." (Targum Jonathan Isaiah 53:3) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"And when Israel is sinful, the Messiah seeks for mercy upon them, as it is written, 'By His stripes we were healed, and He carried the sins of many; and made intercession for the transgressors'." (B'reshith Rabbah)</blockquote>
It's impossible to deny that both a humble Messiah and King Messiah is declared by these highly respected Jewish sages and rabbis that confirm Moses and the words recorded by Hosea, another Jewish prophet that wrote of a great diaspora and hinted at two comings of Messiah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even <b>I will tear them and go away;</b> I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>I will return again to My place</b> till they acknowledge their offense. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Then they will seek My face; <b>In their affliction</b> they will earnestly seek Me.” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; <b>He has stricken, </b>but He will bind us up. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
After two days <b>He will revive us</b>; On the third day <b>He will raise us up</b>, </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
That we may live in His sight. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
His going forth is established as <b>the morning</b>; He will come to us like the rain, <b>Like the latter and former rain</b> to the earth." Hosea 6 14-16; Hosea 6:1-3</blockquote>
Hosea's prophetic promise of two days leading to the third point directly to Messiah. After all, God declares the end from the beginning:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"So it came about <b>on the third day</b>, when it was <b>morning</b>, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And <b>Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God,</b> and they stood at the foot of the mountain." Exodus 19:16-17</blockquote>
Hosea's promise of a second rain is pointing at the second mission of Messiah. It comes directly from Moses:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, that <b>He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain</b>, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Deuteronomy 11:13-15</blockquote>
The second work of Messiah Yeshua is to the thousandth generation and the work is to gather His harvest. This is etched in Torah and the gospel accounts beginning with Matthew for anyone to see.<br />
<br />
Yeshua fills up the Torah with the gospel truth of everlasting lovingkindness and compassion reflecting God's heart of lovingkindness and forgiveness that The Lord declared: "showing mercies unto the thousandth generation that "love Me and keep My commandments." These words tie to the teaching of Messiah to sin no more as shown in John 8:11:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”</blockquote>
Sin no more is the same message as "keep My commandments." Jesus would never say that if the commandments of God that He kept were old and done away with, that's why His message "sin no more" is revealed in Revelation as the definition of the unwavering perseverance of the saints:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Yeshua." Revelation 14:12</blockquote>
If you say you believe in Jesus, <u>do you really believe in Him</u> and do what Jesus did?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that <b>I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.</b> And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, <b>for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.</b>” As he was saying these things, many believed in him. John 8:28-30</blockquote>
I do nothing on my own authority... for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.<br />
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This is the pinnacle point, if you want God to be with you, if you want God to not leave you, do the things that please God, do the things God teaches in His instruction manual, fill them up with meaning, don't toss them aside thinking they are hung on a cross or abolished in a Jerusalem Council that you don't fully understand only set the framework for proper Torah study.<br />
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Perhaps you have read the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 5:17-19 where the Greek word "plēroō" has been translated in modern English Bibles as "fulfill" which is a word many mistake as a definition of a finish line...<br />
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"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to 'fulfill'. <br />
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For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. <br />
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Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." NASB </blockquote>
If you are thinking "plēroō" means to end and finish off the endurance race of the Torah; you need to re-think perseverance because Jesus opposes your religious race, so its time to rewind and repent. Time to go back t the staring block because the Greek word "plēroō" means <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4137&t=ESV" target="_blank">to cause to abound - to render perfect - to perform</a>. It means run the race!<br />
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Plēroō does not "do away with" anything, it engages, it maximizes so grab the baton.<br />
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<big>Why the letter to the Galatians?</big></center>
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Anyone that has traveled abroad knows that when you visit any foreign country for the first time, you are best served in your journey by enlisting a local guide for the adventure, importantly a guide can help you understand the history and culture of the people.</center>
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A proper historic and Biblically balanced perspective on Paul as a Pharisee, a rabbi and a Jewish believer in Yeshua the Messiah of Israel is just like the good travel guide you need today when it comes to the hidden aspects of his Galatian letter.<br />
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Like all his letters, each of them are set amid an epicenter of chaos. On one hand there's Gentile paganism and idol worship in which polytheism was a civic duty in a Greco-Roman world mixed in a culture focused on false-gods and sacrifice to pagan idols that hates <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/deu/6/4/s_159004" target="_blank">the Shema</a>. On the other hand there's Biblical Judaism which follows one God and loves <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/deu/6/4/s_159004" target="_blank">the Shema</a>.<br />
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This Shema conflict was present at Mount Sinai. The golden calf is the remnant evidence of the idol worship of Apis from Egypt, a fake deity worshipped at Memphis in the form of a bull idol, but the Shema says there's no room in your heart for a false idol from a cow lot: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart."<br />
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Every line of Paul's letters comes from a Biblical historic context intertwined within the social influence and conflicts of his day and as you will see, nothing has changed. This is still a clear and present danger.<br />
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In many ways, life in first-century was not much different from our modern world, yet most traditional misinterpretations of Paul's letters ignore this allowing only a dim view of their foundation in Biblical reality. Gentiles that grew up in a multi-verse of blood drinking pagan idol worship did not understand a universe of set-apart Biblical lifestyle focused on God's way in Paul's day, so conflict and confusion was the norm. Today, nothing is new under the Sun.<br />
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There were some differences though.<br />
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For starters, in Paul's day there really was not concept of separation of religion and state government in the Imperial Cult of the Roman Empire's dominance of the first century world. During Paul's childhood Emperor Augustus used religion as a toll to promote and exercise his power, he was not only Emperor but Pontifex Maximus. Emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Caesar Nero carried on the religious power charade from 14AD to 68AD.<br />
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Paul's appeal to Caesar was during Nero's reign.<br />
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Today, our so-called modern western society proudly waves a banner of separation of church and state, but in yesteryear that idea would likely yield a prison sentence. After all, homage to the mythic Greco-Roman gods including the Emperor himself were required of most 'citizens' of the Roman Empire. Until Emperor Theodosius arrived on the scene and prohibited pagan temple sacrifice in 395AD, every Roman Emperor in charge of the Empire before him assumed the title of "Pontifex Maximus" aka supreme guardian of the Roman "cults" the chief priest of Rome and head of the Collegium Pontificum, the highest priests in the land.<br />
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You have to keep those cults in your time-line perspective as you re-consider Paul's letters.<br />
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The Roman pagan temple cults remained front and center in society well over 300 years after Paul penned his letters. Yet, miraculously in Paul's day, Jews were exempted from many Roman cult duties required of its citizens under Roman rule because the Pontifex Maximus refrained their "yoke of bondage" on people they considered as conquered and defeated.<br />
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Jews lived all around the Mediterranean Sea as well as Rome since the turn of the 2nd century BC. The Caesar's had long supported Jewish protection to worship pretty much as they chose and the Roman's even called synagogues "colleges" to dodge Roman Senate laws that banned secret societies outside of their own cults.<br />
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In a form of discrimination, the Emperor's considered the Jews unworthy of their gods. Yet no matter their intention, God withheld the Emperors for the survival of the Jewish people as a set-apart people as promised by God in Exodus 31:12-17.<br />
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In a miraculous way, God used His Sabbaths literally and figuratively as a protection and sanctification for faithful Jewish people.<br />
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It's now time to look at another side of the Galatian letter.<br />
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In chapter 5:1-4 of the letter delivered to Galatia (now modern-day Turkey), Paul wrote some difficult words for those Gentiles who had formerly been "estranged from Messiah." He sent the letter there because they were falling under a "yoke of bondage" of tradition not from the Roman cults but as a non-Scriptural duty of ritual obligation for conversion rather than faith.<br />
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Paul understood the "yoke of bondage" lesson from Egypt. He knew bondage arises out of precepts of power and control, not the first rule of a love-filled thankful heart for God's mercies and grace that has transcended human understanding from the beginning.<br />
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Paul knew God's heart of lovingkindness and forgiveness was given to Adam and Eve and witnessed firsthand by Moses when he was called up again to the top of the mountain to deliver the renewed covenant after the first two tablets were shattered in the dust at the sight of idolatry from the sin of spiritual adultery and idol worship at the foot of Mount Sinai.<br />
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<big><b style="text-align: start;">Take note, because the first </b></big><span style="font-size: 19.200001px;"><b>covenant was broken...</b></span></center>
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<big><b style="text-align: start;">Redemption requires two trips</b></big></center>
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<big><b style="text-align: start;">because God's heart is full of mercies for all!</b></big></center>
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The willful choice of the graven golden image broke the marriage covenant of all the people who said: "we will do all that God has spoken." They broke their word, oath and promise to Almighty God, so redemption required two trips down the mountain of God then and it will again because God does not change:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord." Exodus 19:7-8 </blockquote>
The breaking of the two stones pf the first Horeb covenant was shown as the ten words Elohim God had written with His finger were shattered against the earth when Moses threw the first two tablets down to the ground. Yet, instead of vengeance and destruction, God called Moses back up the mountain to wait and receive the covenant again by God's lovingkindness and the forgiveness He revealed to Moses.<br />
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<b>Incredibly, in the beginning of the exodus journey, redemption required two trips for Israel and the sojourners that had joined them to follow the God of Israel in covenant. </b><br />
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This mountaintop gospel (good news) reflects the truth of God's character and heart of grace that is plainly described by Moses for the whole world to see and believe in Exodus 34:6-7 after the promise of the people was broken by the golden calf sin.<br />
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Before the terms of the first covenant was given in the wilderness of Sinai in front of the mountain, after Moses ascended and returned to give them the words of God:<br />
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"You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Exodus 19:4-6 NASB</blockquote>
They said:<br />
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<b>“All that the LORD has spoken we will do!”</b></div>
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Almighty Lord God still speaks from above for all the earth today revealing His everlasting lovingkindness and forgiveness for iniquity, transgression and the iniquity of sin:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin..."</blockquote>
This truth of God's lovingkindness and forgiveness is why Paul wrote against a stony belief of justification before God by people's unreliable words and doctrines as a prerequisite conversion by circumcision rather than God's character in lovingkindness and forgiveness. This is the truth revealed at the top of Sinai.<br />
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Paul is teaching we too are to reflect God's lovingkindness truth first and foremost in faith. Paul called any religious attempt at conversion by deeds and works as a doctrine of justification and a yoke of bondage (of men) not God. The burning issue here is one of authority and religious pride. Paul understood the simple warning on this issue declared in Isaiah 2:22:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;<br />
For why should he be esteemed?</blockquote>
In his style of Biblical teaching, Paul wrote of God's forgiveness of sin through repentance and His eternal love for all. Paul learned this after he came to understand that the written Torah was given as a guide for life after salvation and that men's traditions, customs or doctrines that add to what God declares as a manmade bondage to-do list to check off for salvation, or conversion by merit from what we do is not a part of the grace and love of the Sinai story or any other from the beginning of Scripture.<br />
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As the "One" that gives the breath of life to dust that is cursed, Almighty God incomprehensibly forgives for His reasons, after all, God's incredible mercies from His lovingkindness created and governs the universe.<br />
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Long ago, after the bondage of Egypt, Israel and the sojourners with them in the wilderness could do nothing to merit that second trip by Moses down from the top of the mountain with the renewed covenant. The same is still true today. The thing the assembly did then was to break their promise and grievously sin right in front of the mountain of glory by their golden calf iniquity of idolatry, but God's mercies judged then just as it does today and tomorrow.<br />
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To one whose eyes and ears are not focused upward on God's personal narrative about His character and heart with a keen perspective of the truth given to the Galatians, Paul's letter can sound like a warning against walking in the way of Torah and a once and for all condemnation of circumcision.<br />
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That is fake news.<br />
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As we have seen, to understand this, we have to dig into the religious opinion that Paul had held before he met Yeshua if we are ever to believe and understand his message in its proper context.<br />
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If you believe a requirement of faith mandates that you must first become circumcised to be in good standing with God as a proselyte, Paul is saying you take on a debt of bondage that cannot be paid because as God declared in Genesis, a redeemer is required.<br />
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Simply put, if you sin, then go through circumcision, then sin again, then what... get a bigger knife?<br />
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Paul's message is that good standing by earning merit by anyone who claims to be justified in conversion by circumcision will eventually end up in spiritual bondage, without the Redeemer. The reason, we all break our promises to Almighty God, we all sin.<br />
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Paul is teaching this because the written Torah reveals God's mercies and The Lord's impeccable character of lovingkindness and forgiveness, so our feeble deeds or works are never good enough. After all, everyone has sinned in the past and we will do so again. We are all human, stumbling along the way until the final atonement from sin is fully revealed.<br />
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Not only that, Paul’s seemingly hidden message in the Galatian letter is that Paul understood circumcision was never a Torah requirement "before" friendship with God, it came after. Paul knew...<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><big><b style="text-align: start;">C</b></big><b>ircumcision was never a requirement to walk with God.</b></span></center>
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Paul knew it was an act of humble obedience, that the written Torah Moses recorded plainly declares "Abram" was God's friend and that he sojourned under The Lord's direction for many years starting at age 75, long before he was circumcised at age 99 after Sarah's non-belief resulting in intimacy with Hagar after he was renamed Abraham by God Almighty (see Genesis 17:25-26 and Romans 4:11-16 for the proof text).</div><div><blockquote>"Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised..." Genesis 17:24 </blockquote>By looking back to the faith and friendship of Abram, we can see that Paul's teaching is integrated with the Torah and laser focused on God's lovingkindness and friendship. This message is repeated by Paul in Romans 4:9-10.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul's central point is that religious conversion can be a form of bondage, a religious power-play if you will that attempts to re-order God's teaching and instruction with men's opinions that add to or take away from the unchanging message of the written Word of The Almighty God of Israel.<br />
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In Paul's day, a doctrine of conversion requiring circumcision was esteemed by religious groups he labeled as "the party of the circumcision" (see Galatians 2:12). This was his code word for legalism i.e. justification by works instead of the gift of the Redeemer.<br />
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Paul knew that whether Jew or not, every man, woman and child ultimately fails to keep God's instruction, so no merit can be earned by one's effort to 'keep' men's religious law but the Torah of God is good. It is good because it declares God's gift of patient lovingkindness.<br />
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Paul understood the early lessons of Abraham and God's mountaintop declaration to Moses after the golden calf sin.<br />
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Those lessons are the foundation to his letters. </div><div><br /></div><div>Genesis 3:15 provides the first promise that God would send a suffering Savior. Those who lived in the past before Yeshua looked forward in faith to the coming Messiah. Those who have lived since can look back in faith on His life, death and resurrection as they look forward to His return.<br />
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We will all fall short in one way or another and continue to do so despite our best deeds, intentions or religion. Paul understood the requirement for God's forgiveness cannot be earned by our own merit because<b> every man is found a liar</b>, but incredibly:<br />
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“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”<br />
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By the way, the words Paul uses in Romans 10:13 are not his own, they are borrowed from a prophet of old, see Joel 2:32 for the original. The letter to the Galatians points to the one way of salvation, by God's action, not ours. Throughout its story lines, the Bible shows us people have tried to pervert God's grace by adding our work, or deeds to God's promises. Abram did that, we all do at one time or another.</div><div><br /></div><div>We can't “earn” salvation. Works are for a paycheck, yet the Bible’s message is that the way of unfathomable and inexplicable redemption has always been by God's gift of unmerited grace.<br />
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Paul also knew that Almighty God declared circumcision as <b>a covenant 'sign'</b> for Abraham and his descendants to receive the land. Yet, Paul realized circumcision was not the reason for the land<b> 'promise' </b>given to Abram 24 years earlier.<br />
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Paul understood <b>the pattern and order declared in the Torah</b> for the families of Israel as well as the strangers and sojourners with them that were "saved out" of Egypt as they followed the glory shekinah pillar of fire through the wilderness 1,500 years earlier.<br />
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Paul understood that the descendants saved out of Egypt's oppression received forgiveness after the golden calf were like Abraham. Believe it or not, the men of Israel were not circumcised <b>until 40 years later</b> at the end of their journey<b> </b>at Gibeath-haaraloth (check it out, read Joshua 5:2-3), <b>yet just like Abram </b>they received God's covenant at Horeb and walked with God for years as He tabernacled with them in the wilderness <b>while they were uncircumcised.</b><br />
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The truth is they were all near God's Shekinah glory cloud and saved while uncircumcised until it was time to enter the land promise God gave to Abraham. The men were circumcised just before they entered the land and there's a reason: God said it was the covenant sign.<br />
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The people of Israel and the sojourners with them had walked with God just as Abraham had, uncircumcised until the proper time.<br />
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Paul never turned his back on this truth about the covenant sign or the Jewish people, he always remained Sha'ûl of Tarsus a Jew and a Pharisee. He proudly declared this fact many years after his Damascus road encounter. Read Acts 21:39 and Romans 3:1-2:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? <b>Great in every respect. </b>First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, <b>their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God</b>, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, <b>though every man be found a liar</b>, as it is written,</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”"</blockquote>
Paul opposed his own religious prejudice in which he had used the Torah with traditions added in as a religious weapon against the disciples. In the end, he never opposed Biblically based Judaism.<br />
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Biblical Judaism derived its connection with the Jewish people after the Northern ten tribes split from Judah. They were scattered like the wind by the Assyrians leaving only a remnant of Judah along with Benjamin and a few Levites.<br />
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Paul was proud of his traditions, but he came to realize that adding or taking away from God's instruction in extra-Biblical custom may not always line up with the words of Moses. Paul was likely a former member of "the party of the circumcision" as he called them. Their tradition that did not teach the fact that Abraham had a friendship relationship with God or that the Israelites followed God uncircumcised for years.<br />
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Paul came to understand: "all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised" (see Joshua 5) yet they had walked under the pillar of fire glory cloud of The God of Israel until they arrived at Gilgal along the banks of the Jordan River.<br />
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There they were circumcised there and "they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho."<br />
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Paul's eyes were opened to this and he understood that in God's lovingkindness, the Heavenly Father chose to lead Israel though the wilderness "uncircumcised" after Moses' returned to the mountaintop <b>for a second time</b> following the golden calf idol worship the Levites rejected.<br />
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Paul also understood that Moses was called <b>by God to return to Israel</b> with the assignment to bring the Heavenly Father's renewed covenant with God's good news of lovingkindness and forgiveness to the multitudes of people saved and protected by The Father's mercies and compassion, <u>not circumcision</u>.<br />
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The fact that Almighty God chose to do this demonstrated that deeds like <u>circumcision</u> do not merit forgiveness or God's friendship. Paul realized that the descendants of Israel and the aliens and sojourners with them that chose to come out of Egypt with Moses were saved by God's grace and there was nothing they could do to earn righteousness after Israel broke God's covenant.<br />
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Paul realized the way to the Kingdom and the message from the mountain is that walking in God's truth was proclaimed in God's inconceivable majesty of lovingkindness. This was put on full display with Lot and his family. You see, Lot lived in Sodom, yet God saved him (it's time to reread Genesis 19:15-21).<br />
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If we look closely at the Galatian letter, we can hear the heart of God's message recorded by Moses that is about inconceivable heartfelt mercies and lovingkindness despite our failures in sin. </div><div><br /></div><div>That is the truth found in heart of Paul's letters. It seems hidden in Paul's Galatian letter, yet that is his testimony revealed with the account of Felix the Governor in Acts 24 as Paul bears a second witness to the words of the Prophets and of Moses:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It <b>is not because of your righteousness</b> or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and <b>that He may fulfill the word</b> which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Deuteronomy 9:5</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"But this <b>I admit</b> to you, that <b>according to the Way</b> which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, <b>believing everything that is in accordance with the Law [Torah] and that is written in the Prophets</b>..." Acts 24:14</blockquote>
Paul's admonitions about the Galatian party of circumcision is teaching that without a circumcised heart, one can become a slave to religious legalism while seeking justification with a misguided goal to 'earn' merit with God.<br />
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Paul was teaching the big time warning from Moses: </div><div><blockquote>"<b>It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart..."</b></blockquote>Purposefully choosing to set aside God's words and replace them with requirements of men's religious pride in legalism separates people from the truth of God's life-giving lovingkindness and compassion in grace. Paul's letters reverberate this message woven in the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings.<br />
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Paul's taught what The Lord requires from the writing of the prophet Micah:<br />
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"<b>He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God</b>?" Micah 6:8 </blockquote>
The requirements of justice, kindness and humility is "the way" to walk with God. Religious dogma and pride has no place.<br />
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And as we've seen, when we dig in deep in the "Sod" letter, we can see Paul never said he started a new religion. The gospel he taught started with Genesis.<br />
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Paul didn’t believe Messiah Yeshua of Nazareth ever stopped being Jewish. Paul never promoted anti-Semitism or anti-Judaism as many Jews have been misled to believe by misinformed, new religion sermons from a pulpit of old, anti-semitic, dispensational replacement theologies.<br />
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Thinking that Paul converted from being a Jew and formed a new religion is a form of Scriptural blindness because Paul never turned against God’s assignment for Israel to teach others about His covenant and the Scriptures.<br />
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That's why his letters all focus on God's mercy and lovingkindness. This Jewish man understood his role in Israel's eternal assignment to be a light to the nations in the darkness of a Gentile idol-infested planet. Paul understood the goal of the Torah is to shed a loving light to guide all nations toward the redemption offered by Messiah. He also knew God’s covenant for Israel has never changed. It remains today for Israel to be a distinct people, a nation set apart to point all people to walk with God and believe His provision declared by the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings.<br />
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Paul never taught that anyone that chose to follow Messiah was separate from the assembly of Israel either.<br />
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He taught the opposite. He taught God's loving principles of adoption and grafting. He taught that Yeshua was the Messiah of "all" Israel defined as those that seek to believe and follow the Father of Israel in "the ways" of the Holy 'One" on earth as it is in heaven.<br />
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If you doubt this read the letter to the Romans.<br />
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It's the proof that Paul taught that all Israel will be redeemed, never replaced or done away with with a church.<br />
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"And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’" Romans 11:26-27</blockquote>
Any other view, wears Scriptural blinders like the writings of another so-called early church father by the name of Barnabas who taught radical anti-Jewish hatred. Barnabas sustained an ongoing attack on Jews and the Torah they upheld as God's instruction manual for life in the Kingdom of God. Barnabas opposed animal sacrifice, the Temple and the altar because he did not understand them. In doing so, Barnabas opposed God's sovereignty over all creation. Barnabas held that sacrifice, the Temple and the altar were God's mistakes. That is why he also taught against the dietary instruction for healthy living outlined by Almighty God for His children that medical science now supports.<br />
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Yes, Barnabas was a father all-right, a father of Biblically blind people teaching a replacement theology that the church is the sole heir of God's new covenant. The truth is the new covenant described by Jeremiah is about writing God's Torah on the heart. This truth declared by Jeremiah was a teaching of Yeshua.<br />
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Paul knew firsthand that blindness like that proclaimed years later by Barnabas can be temporary if we just open our eyes to the bright light of God's forgiveness and see Messiah in His redemptive mercy. The good news is we don't have to walk on a road to Damascus to see this. Messiah's promise is in the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings, the road to Emmaus story validates this.<br />
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Acts 9 reveals Paul was healed of his physical and spiritually leavened blindness to the mountaintop purpose of Torah that reveals God's character in mercy and lovingkindness. We can be healed of this same blindness if we just open our eyes to it.<br />
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After he "saw the light" Paul never intended that any of his letters would encourage people to turn their back on the Jewish people or God's Kingdom constitution. Paul used the instruction manual upheld in esteem by the Jewish people since Sinai to declare the gospel of the Kingdom. Paul brings all of this to focus in his letter to the Romans. Go ahead and reread Romans 3:20; Romans 3:31; Romans 6:15; Romans 7:7, Romans 7:12 and Romans 11:26-27 for yourself.<br />
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Like the words written to the Romans, every letter aligns Paul's esteem and knowledge of the Torah with a focus on forgiveness through God's character and name recorded by Moses. Paul understood that what God had commanded Moses to write was impossible without God's character and gift of mercy and grace. Paul also knew from his own past sin, that repentance was essential for forgiveness and a life changing faith focus on the first mission of Messiah.<br />
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Paul's word to the Galatians about God's weightiest instruction provides further proof of this Jewish man's focus on the heart of Torah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For the whole law [<i>Torah</i>] is fulfilled [<i>performed</i>] in one word [<i>saying</i>]:<br />
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14</blockquote>
As usual, Paul did not come up with this... it's direct from God's mouth and it was recorded by Moses in Leviticus 19:17-18:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD."</blockquote>
Study this, take time to consider and reflect on the heart of this divine Torah instructon.<br />
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Call it law if you insist, but doing so can take away from the heart of God's voice because the words Moses wrote as God's scribe are so much more. The Torah is God's teaching and instruction that reveals God's character bound in love.<br />
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That love message embedded in each of Paul's letters seems difficult to understand as he wove the highest teaching of the Torah truth of God into the hearts of people living in a mixture of decadent pagan society and religious opinion that strayed away from God's character and heart.<br />
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Sound familiar?<br />
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The teaching and instruction of Almighty God defines the thoughts and actions that oppose our loving God's heart and Paul boldly states this in Galatians 5:18-21 even declaring that an immoral anti-Torah lifestyle will keep people out of God's inheritance:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” </blockquote>
It is time to take a deeper look at the Galatian letter and reconsider the ancient culture of the polytheistic Roman Empire where idol worship, selfish ambitions, drunkenness, sexual perversion and the like prevailed as the norm of the day. <br />
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Come to think of it, what goes around comes around and remains.<br />
<br />Not only that, if we just look in the mirror, we will also find "religious" conflict remains with us whether Jew or non-Jew, and that fact will shed some new light on the letter to the Galatians. Today, these conflicts still include religious interpretations, customs, traditions, sects and church denominations that have splinted over time to define religious difference and opinion.<br />
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Disagreement and difference is at the center of the core concept of thousands of church denominations, not El Shaddai the unchanging Almighty God of Israel.<br />
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Denominational differences have morphed into takkanot to fit aa difference of opinion. <br />
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Galatians deals with the opinion that circumcision was a requirement for conversion, it was the tradition that crept into Galatia. So, we must ask again... does the letter to the Galatians deal with the written words of the Hebrew Bible being questioned or does the letter reveal a deeper message: understanding God's heart revealed at Sinai and concern about a mindset of takkanot that had grown out of extra-Biblical bias on religious doctrine and interpretation?<br />
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It's important to understand the blurred vision of Christian religion today focuses on Greek thinking and people's institutionalized systems of belief and practice, not God's Hebrew Bible. That flies in the face of Yeshua's words in Matthew 11:25-30 where He refers to His yoke of Torah observance handed over by the Father as His will and an easy place of rest:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. </div><div><br /></div><div>Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."</div></blockquote><div>The thing that is man's religion is heavy. Merriam Webster defines religion as: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Oxford calls religion a particular system of faith and worship. Collins says a religion is a particular system of belief in a god or gods and the activities that are connected with this system.<br />
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The Torah is neither a system nor an institution of men's beliefs or activities, it is our Creator's instruction manual for life, the constitution of His Kingdom.<br />
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Over the past 2,000 years, we have seen the historic Christian institution define their religion as new and the Torah of God as an old burden. This Greek thinking likely began in Turkey with Melito of Sardis. Melito, immersed in a Greek world was the first to call the Hebrew Bible the Old Testament. A few years later, Tertullian coined the term New Testament around 200AD in today's Tunisia, Africa.<br />
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By the time Paul arrived on the scene in Jerusalem some time after 30AD, there were three primary religious sects: the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes. The Essenes are not identified in the Gospels, the book of Acts or any of Paul's letters, likely they had already left Jerusalem and moved to Qumran.<br />
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You might say the Essenes were missing in action, but they were not because they have been revealed by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.<br />
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During the 70 years of exile in Babylon, away from Jerusalem and the Temple, traditions arose from Jewish perspectives that were eventually documented in the Talmud some 2,000 years later. Recording the Talmud began around the 5th century although parts and portions of the Talmud were assembled earlier.<br />
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The Targums, Mishna, and the Talmuds of rabbinic literature record the sermons and commentary from the Jewish sages on the Scriptures much like Christian Bible commentators such as John Wesley, Matthew Henry, John MacArthur, Charles H. Spurgeon, Warren W. Wiersbe, Chuck Smoth, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Charels C. Ryrie and a host of others have published Christian commentaries.<br />
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The traditional observances of the forefathers, the elders of the Jewish sages began to develop during the exile to Babylon. At that time, the Temple lay in ruins in Jerusalem and the exile eventually led to the emergence of rabbinic Judaism in the 1st century. It was led by Yohanan ben Zakkai (Rabban). He is credited as the first Jewish man given the title of rabbi in the Mishnah.<br />
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In a profound way, the second destruction of the Temple by Rome forever altered the focus of rabbinic Judaism.<br />
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Rabbinic Judaism is largely a mystery in the church. Importantly, that does not mean <u>in any way</u> that every commentary or sage's opinion is to be tossed aside. Many think Jesus did that, He did not. Instead what He taught was that the plumb line of observance must be rooted in Scripture because not one jot or tittle has passed. Like Heaven and Earth, the Torah remains.<br />
<br />Many traditions can be good guide rails along the way, but if the guide rails becomes the way, we can find ourselves drifting off to the side of the road and crashing before we ever reach the gate. This is not my view, this is what Yeshua taught as He honored good in Mishnah tradition. If you doubt this, just do your own homework and research the Passover Seder with bread and wine that He famously kept. Many call it the Last Supper. His teaching focus was on the midrash of explaining in an interpretive act of what Moses wrote from the voice of Almighty God, not something new.<br />
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Yeshua knew and upheld those truths becuase He is The Lord's Promised Prophet:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him." Deuteronomy 18:15-19 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. " Matthew 5:19 </blockquote>
Explaining Moses and the will of The Father was Yeshua's focus and the reason for His hand washing lesson described in Matthew 15 and Mark 7. It would be ridiculous to think Jesus was against hand washing before a meal, that's common sense hygiene and a good tradition. He simply taught that a religious prescription that held that a specific order and method for hand washing before a meal was not required for righteousness. </div><div><br /></div><div>He opposed the unseen accusation against the disciples: that they were spiritually defiled because they did not follow a traditional hand washing protocol of the Pharisees, which they believed led to defiled food which led to a defiled (unclean) person.<br />
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In other words, Yeshua was teaching that a person’s righteousness (cleanliness) is not determined by measuring up to a requirement for righteousness not derived from the Torah that in a way gave the power of a burden over people that to be pure in heart, required a ceremonial hand washing. Yeshua's message explained that hands not washed in a specific order cannot defile a person’s heart, and that the Torah teaches that what proceeds from one's heart and mouth is what defiles a person.<br />
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The disciple James taught the very same lesson about slander and rumor that Jewish people call lashon hara (evil speech). It's a teaching right from Leviticus 19:16, "You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:7–8</blockquote>Lashon hara is not only noted by James, its warning is also found in the Babylonian Talmud.<br />
<br />On tradition that goes beyond Torah precepts, Yeshua taught that they those that held to a prescribed manner of traditional ritual ceremony to achieve rightousness were: "invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down." The reason He said this is a Bible basic: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition." Mark 7:9</blockquote><div><div>Yeshua's message was we all need to zero in on what was written by Moses and the Prophets and keep in mind that the voice that matters most is God's mountaintop voice and not put tradition above it.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's what Yeshua taught quoting Isaiah's warning in Mark 7 when he addressed the traditions of the elders. Yeshua appears to have also addressed a tradition in Mark 7:11-13 that is also found in <a href="https://sacred-texts.com/jud/t07/t0718.htm#page_241" target="_blank">the Gemara</a> of the Baylonian Talmud: "If one wrote: "I bequeath my estate to my son from today, and after my death," he has no longer any right to sell his estate, because it is bequeathed to his son..." (Babylonian Talmud, Book 7 Baba Bathra (Last Gate) Mishna X). </div><div><br /></div><div>We don't know all the circumstances, but it appears Yeshua was addressing the need of an elderly father to sell property for income needed for survival, but it was prohibited by the son due to inheritance rights. Think of it this way, that could mean one's parents in Yeshua's day would not be allowed to write a will and then downsize to a smaller home to create some cash for retirement due to a tradition that actually dishonors one parent's.</div></div><br />
Some say Yeshua unwound kosher food guidance in the Torah too, He did not, instead He focused on the essential message of The Torah for internal purity. Yeshua explained how the digestive system rids the body of waste. When God instructs us to not eat certain animals, He describes what was good (clean food) for us, its about healthy living and why He lovingly gave us those commandments in the first place.<br />
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Debate on religious traditions have been around a very long time. Thousands of denominations are the proof that this remains. At the vortex of debate is what Moses warned the world about in his last three sermons before Israel and the sojourners with them before they crossed over the Jordan River into the Holy Land.<br />
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The setting for Moses' sermon was at the edge of the wilderness of Moab. Moses' three summary sermons are called the book of Deuteronomy or in Hebrew, Devarim. The sermons given by Moses go back over the lesson summary of the 40-year journey with an exhortation to not be a bystander or a back slider but follow the teaching and instruction found in God's commandments, testimonies and statutes and to listen to The Prophet to come.<br />
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Moses gave a prophecy on the blessings for doing them and a warning of curses we bring on ourselves for rejecting God's teaching and instruction. Moses also gave hope for restoration in repentance with a focus on God's lovingkindness.<br />
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Here's the thing: blessings are gifts given from God connected to the Torah.<br />
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Since that day in the wilderness of Moab, setting aside or adding to the commandments of God with someone's opinion or tradition that takes the focus off the greatest commandment of the Shema to love God first and foremost declared in Deuteronomy 6:4 has been the vortex of religious debate that can occur when we take our eyes off Him.<br />
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Yeshua of Nazareth is not the only Jewish dissenter for those that add tradition to God's word to make it a burden... Gamaliel's son Gamaliel II disagreed with rabbi Akiva on many customs of oral law according to the Jewish Talmud. <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.37b?lang=bi" target="_blank">One example</a> of their disagreement was regarding the number of prayers that were required after a meal.<br />
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<a href="https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/flavius-josephus/antiquities-jews/book-13/chapter-10.html" target="_blank">According to the Jewish historian Josephus</a> in his work "Antiquities of the Jews" we can see another core of the conflict of Pharisee vs. Sadducee 2,000 years ago:<br />
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<i>"What I would now explain is this, that <b>the Pharisees</b> have delivered to the people <b>a great many observances</b> by succession from their fathers, <b>which are not written in the laws of Moses</b>; and for that reason it is <b>that the Sadducees reject</b> them, and say that <b>we are to esteem those observances</b> to be obligatory <b>which are in the written word</b>, <b>but are not to observe what are derived from the tradition </b>of our forefathers."</i> Antiquities of the Jews Book 13 Chapter 10.6<br />
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Tradition in its proper form with the Shema front and center is good, yet, if you are a "member" of a church denomination because you side with a tradition not found in Scripture, the idea of choosing sides and creating a division in God's Word will sound familiar. After all, taking sides is the very definition of a denomination.<br />
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According to Merriam Webster a denomination is: a religious organization whose congregations are united in their adherence to its beliefs and practices. A sect is a dissenting or schismatic religious body; a religious denomination.<br />
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During Paul's time, religious belief and practice in daily life was influenced by two leading schools of thought in and around Jerusalem. One from Hillel, and the other was the often opposing view of the House of Shammai.<br />
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Both taught and expounded on somewhat differing views and opinions of Scriptural interpretation as they sided with the elders in Babylon that had originated in the absence of the Temple services led by the Levites some 500 years earlier during the exile. This fact is <a href="http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3190-bet-hillel-and-bet-shammai" target="_blank">carefully recorded in Jewish history</a>. During the 70 year exile, the faith of Israel with its focus on the the Temple services began a transformation toward rabbinic Judaism. </div><div><br /></div><div>In exile, the Torah was studied, interpreted, and lived out in practical ways. Slowly, the process of interpretation led to differing schools of opinion on the interpretation of the writings of Moses.<br />
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Men debate, yet what matters is the heart of God's Word and that is the focus in Deuteronomy's sermons. It is a summary of the journey and they stress the need for living life God's way. It's the same message found in the Sermon on the Mount as Yeshua expounds on God's heart and teaching, not man's interpretation. Put simply, these sermons teach us to choose blessing over curse, life over death. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's the same message from the beginning. Adam and Eve chose to listen to a lie that leads to death and ignore God's instruction that leads to life. The result was the curse of death they brought on themselves and mankind. At Sinai God revealed the details of His restoration plan to repair the world that is revealed in Genesis 3:15:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I will put enmity between you and the woman,<br />
and between your offspring and her offspring;<br />
he shall bruise your head,<br />
and you shall bruise his heel." </blockquote>
That enmity and bruise is the reason Yeshua offered up His life as a ransom. Without it there could be no promise for resurrection to crush the way of the serpent that says God changes.<br />
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The "house" of study in Jerusalem that trained Paul provided him an advanced knowledge of the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. Paul was under the tutelage of <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Gamaliel" target="_blank">Gamaliel the Elder</a> (see Acts 5:34-39 and Acts 22:3 for the proof text). Like Paul, Gamaliel was a Pharisee and he was also a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest court of the council of Jerusalem.<br />
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Gamaliel was the grandson of <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hillel_the_Elder" target="_blank">Hillel the Elder</a> and his's family line connected to Shlomo Yitzchaki (aka Rashi) several generations later.<br />
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After his "Damascus Road" encounter and with much study re-examining the Scriptures with an eye on Messiah and God's heart of lovingkindness revealed at Mount Sinai in Arabia, Paul came to realize that he had let prejudice and pride lead him on to a dark road away from the Biblical teaching of his Jewish mentor Gamaliel on God's character of lovingkindness and mercy for all nations.<br />
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To understand why Paul proudly declares himself a Pharisee, we would be well served to reconsider the words of his teacher Gamaliel. Some of them are recorded in Acts 5:34-39. Here, we can read that Gamaliel prophetically warns the High Priest and his associates known as "the council" that judged Yeshua against harming His faithful disciples:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"... a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law [Torah], respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God."</blockquote>
It took an encounter with the risen Messiah in His glory to open Pauls' eyes to seek the truth. Paul realized he had developed a stony heart embedded in a pretense of virtuous pride (aka hypocrisy) forgetting what he had learned at the feet of Gamaliel. He repented when His eyes and heart were opened on the way to Damascus as he saw his own leavened attitude of hypocrisy was the same problem that Yeshua often challenged:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Luke 12:1 NASB</blockquote>
Read this carefully!! <u>Jesus never said beware of the Pharisees.</u><br />
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He said beware of their leaven aka the error of religious rule that adds to the bread of life teaching of God's Word.<br />
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Leaven is a yeast, it's added to wheat dough to puff it up. Leaven changes the character of the wheat. A few prideful people in leadership in Paul's day had allowed the leaven of hypocrisy to lead to the sin of judgmental hatred of Yeshua and His followers because Yeshua taught against their power plays of religious control, so He rebuked them with words and events described in the Tanach such as David's eating the bread on the Table of Presence.<br />
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A hypocritical power play, a leaven had infected Paul's heart much like the virus of the Greek merchant Marcion a few hundred years later.<br />
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As already described, hypocrisy rebounded years later when some of the so-called "church" fathers turned against the Jewish people and Judaism. The so-called church "fathers" with the loudest voices presented Jesus as a Christ not seen in Scripture.<br />
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Eventually, they ignored Moses' warning of adding to or taking away from God's Torah as they they labeled the Hebrew Bible old and done away with. In doing this they took away from Scripture and most Gentiles ate the leaven infused with Hellenism and Greek thinking.<br />
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Soon, opinions outside Judea were leavened like the Nicolaitans described in Revelation 2:6 and Revelation 2:15. This has continued since Constantine as the theologies of Judaism and Christianity separated to such a level of distinction that they obscured the heart of the message of their shared Scriptures. </div><div><br /></div><div>This was not always the case. The early Christians were all Jews. Over the centuries that truth was lost in a bitter wormwood of stubborn tirade from the church against the synagogue that is depicted in Revelation 8:11.<br />
<br />Yet that wormwood warning does not begin in the book of Revelation as many think, its from Moses sermon in Deuteronomy:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"So that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will boast, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land with the dry.’" Deuteronomy 29:18-19</blockquote>
In Paul's day as today, power puffed up a few religious shepherds to try to control the flocks. Eventually, this leaven of hypocrisy allowed the Romans to beat and kill Yeshua of Nazareth in response. Little did any of them know, it was all a part of God's restoration plan.<br />
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A few saw Jesus as a peril to their position of esteem and power over others, but Almighty God had a plan and they were a part of what was revealed in Isaiah 55:8:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD."</blockquote>
Yeshua confronted people with the warnings of Moses in Deuteronomy 4:2 and Deuteronomy 12:32. But the Pharisees had stony hearts so they stumbled over the warnings of Moses Yeshua delivered.<br />
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Like Moses, Yeshua taught against adding to God's Word or taking away from it and like Moses, Yeshua lived out the Torah message of mercy and grace by His deeds that were focused on God's heart and the fountain of life in "the way" of Torah. The admonitions of Moses and repentance is the cherished "way" Yeshua taught His disciples.<br />
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Paul gives witness to this according to Acts 24:14-15:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law [Torah] and that is written in the Prophets; having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves..."</blockquote>
Analyzing "the Way" in the first century can reveal how the schism between Judaism and Christianity began. Paul focused on the truth of loving kindness and the promise of resurrection declared under the authority and compassion of God, not a tradition that adds to it or takes away from Scripture like the Sadducees that had wholly rejected the promise of resurrection.<br />
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Yeshua taught the same loving kindness in authority as declared by God through the witness of Moses, Hosea, Micah, David and Solomon that was the faith of the vast majority of Jewish people in the first century. That is why the Jewish "multitudes" followed Him, they knew He spoke with authority and that earning one's salvation by deed was not the cornerstone of the faith of their forefathers coming out of Egypt. The Messiah redeemer promised from the beginning was the prophet Moses had written about so they knew to listen to Yeshua:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him." Deuteronomy 18:15</blockquote>
Every Jewish man, woman and child knew what The Lord had shown Moses at the exodus mountaintop and they knew what pleased The LORD according to the prophets:<br />
<blockquote>
"The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, </blockquote>
<blockquote>
“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” </blockquote>
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And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” Exodus 34:5-9 </blockquote>
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"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6 </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? The voice of the LORD cries to the city -- and it is sound wisdom to fear your name: "Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!" Micah 6:7-9 </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:15-17 </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice." Proverbs 21:2-3 </blockquote>
Much like the debates recounted within the pages of the Talmud, the elders of the Pharisees on the right and the Sadducees on the left stumbled at times begrudging religious opinions against a backdrop of the written Torah teaching in keeping with Exodus 34:27:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then the LORD said to Moses, “<u>Write down these words</u>, for in accordance with <u>these words</u> I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”" </blockquote>
Some of the Pharisees and the Sadducees leaders did not hear and do (shema) the words given in Leviticus 19:18:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord.”</blockquote>
There's much more to the story. As noted, the first century Pharisees believed in the resurrection promises of Scripture. On the other hand, opposing them were the Sadducees that rejected this promise of God's power for resurrection. The Sadducees were under the influence of a Hellenistic philosophy that takes away from God's Word, yet they oddly held that the nothing should be taken away from the written word.<br />
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Sound familiar to you?<br />
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Not only that, a few of these men bore grudges and sought revenge as they threw stones of accusation against Yeshua regarding His Torah's instruction. It's well worth repeating that the Jewish historian Josephus defines the conflict described in Paul's letter to the Galatians:<br />
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<i>"For now I wish only to explain that the Pharisees transmit to the people <b>some rules</b> in line with the fathers, <b>which were not written</b> in the laws of Moses. And because of this, the line of the Sadducees reject these things. They say that it is necessary to hold those rules that have been written but it is not (necessary) to observe what is (only) from the fathers' tradition. And, as a consequence, <b>controversies and great disagreements</b> have occurred between them." </i>Antiquities 12.297<br />
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<i>"Now the Sadducees, the second party, <b>deny destiny altogether</b> and place God beyond doing or seeing anything bad. They say that <b>good and bad are dependent on human choice</b>; and one may allow each of these <b>according to one's own decision</b>." </i>Josephus, Jewish War 2.164<br />
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Just before he set off to Damascus to drag followers of Yeshua to prison, Paul sought to persecute any Jew that professed Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel. According to Acts 8:8, it was Paul, in his burden of legalism, that approved Stephen's stoning and murder in Jerusalem.<br />
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One religious opinion Paul may have held before his Damascus road encounter continues on today despite the many prophecies from Almighty God that oppose it, which is that Yeshua could not be Israel's Messiah King because He did not restore the fallen tent of the Davidic kingdom.<br />
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Rome was still in charge and oppressing the Jewish people and the rest of planet by a Pharaoh-like rule of slavery from the Caesar's of Rome. Paul's initial worldview of Yeshua had ignored the hundreds of Messianic prophecies including those found in Daniel 9:24-26; Zechariah 9:9; Zechariah 11:12-13; Psalm 2:7; Psalm 22:16-19 and Isaiah 53.<br />
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Paul's opinion held to Balaam's last oracle. Paul expected a Messiah King to be fulfilled in his day as shown in Numbers 24:15-25, but <u>he forgot</u> what Balaam actually said to Balak. Balaam spoke of the "latter days" in the prophecy:<br />
<br />
"<i><b>Come, I will let you know <u>what this people</u> will do to your people <u>in the latter days</u></b></i>.”<br />
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The widely differing views of the Pharisees and the Sadducee elders were like the many schools of religious thought today with differing opinions based on the sayings and opinions of religious men. A bit like the Pharisees, Sadducees and Zealots of yesterday, today's Christians have outdone them by a large margin today and fractured into<b> not two but thousands of differing denominations,</b> all with their own rules, views, qualifications and creeds of "what we believe" for "church" membership eligibility.<br />
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Some denominations even have different opinions about what canon of Jewish books should be included in "their" Scripture versions. Incredibly. that's one reason the Bible was not made available to the masses.<br />
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What goes around comes around. Nothing is new under the sun, but after he saw the light, Paul's message was about the character of the lovingkindness of the God of Israel, not about earning religious righteousness by creed or deed declared by religious men.<br />
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Bottomline, we all need to see the light and turn back to the heart of Bible. Like Paul did, we all need to make a road trip to Sinai to hear God's voice and do it.<br />
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One lesson Paul learned deeply concerned him. That led to Paul's letter about division in opinion as he told the Corinthians who were fractured by quarreling in religious jealousy. He admonished the people in Corinth calling their debates "worldly" (see 1 Corinthians 1:26).<br />
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Paul's "worldly" warning was simple: people tend to seek the opinions of others putting religious heroes on a pedestal, not the truth of the Torah of the Almighty God of heaven and earth. Even today, people still ask things like, what church are you a member of, or what does "your" pastor say and the replies are often like this: I am a member of Pastor so and so's church and he says...<br />
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"You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. </blockquote>
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So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building." 1Corinthians 3:3-9</blockquote>
The denominational cracks in the church caused by men known as "church" fathers began to crumble into replacement theology when Christendom's leadership falsely taught their opinions that the church replaced the Jewish people as a new covenant people, aka the Greek thinking of a new "spiritual Israel" that rejected the Biblical lifestyle of faithful Jewish people including the Sabbaths and Feast of The Lord in keeping the Torah of God written by Moses.<br />
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The "church" father foundation cracks were built on the sand of men's opinion that Jesus started a new religion and did away with the law at the cross, not on the foundation rock of God's voice that created the universe or Yeshua's teachings from the Torah and the Prophets. The Sermon on the Mount is a great example that many miss so we'll dig into that in another post one day.<br />
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The "church" sought some reform 500 years ago as Catholic priests stockpiled indulgences and kept God's word hidden from the masses in Latin language mass, yet despite the printing press, the reformation fell short insisting on a blank page to divide the Bible between old and new.<br />
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Today, the "church" remains splintered and fragmented in many beliefs that have morphed into fractured walls of "church" separation called denominations. The reason, there's always been some form of religious debate on legalism and we must see that the clashing views of the Pharisees and Sadducees of days gone by are still around.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> Perhaps, </span>the best light in reading the stories of conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees is our own denominational fractures today.<br />
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We all need to see the light and turn back to the Bible.<br />
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Like the debate of Pharisees and Sadducees, in certain churches including the Roman Catholic and the High Anglican Church, members subscribe to a theory of manmade legalism called "transubstantiation." That belief is that the bread and wine of a eucharist communion are transformed into the actual flesh and blood of Jesus, although their appearance remains as simply bread and wine.<br />
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Find that one in the Bible. Jesus was using the bread and wine as a parable teaching, He never described a eucharist transformation!</div><div>
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Another doctrinal debate is "consubstantiation" which is variant of "transubstantiation." This doctrinal theory holds that the substance of the body and blood of Christ coexists in the bread and wine of "communion." This is a mind-body connection, hence the word "communion." This religious opinion was promoted by Augustine of Hippo (354AD-430AD).<br />
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Once again, try to find that one in the Bible, you will not.<br />
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Other theological doctrines include foreordination, predetermination, preordination and predestination. Augustine promoted those as well.<br />
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I pray that you can see that some church doctrines are not far from the legalistic circumcision debate on righteousness as they require Catholic elements or sacraments believing that God seals believers and renews their identity with them while marking them for service. Other forms of legalism require prayer beads and repetition or chants while recanting a rosary to the virgin Mary as the intercessor to be heard by God.<br />
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Once again, you will not find that in the Bible.<br />
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It was during the second diaspora that so-called church fathers began to do away with the authority of the Torah, calling it old and replacing it with their own religious rites of a new religion as they turned against the Jewish people and the only Bible Jesus the Jew ever read and taught. <br />
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Paul has some advice on all of this, you may have missed it but he wrote to his understudy Titus and said: "Study to show thyself approved to God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings for they will increase to more ungodliness." 2Titus 2:15-16<br />
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Only a few of the traditions of the elders were front and center in the vortex of Yeshua's first century confrontations with the Pharisees and the Sadducees as He focused on the heart of Torah as the witness of truth just as Moses had written:<br />
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"Take this Book of the Torah, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of The LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you." Deuteronomy 31:26</blockquote>
Yeshua taught that the precepts of Torah written by Moses prevail over opinion and tradition.<br />
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And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Matthew 8:4</blockquote>Moses' teaches that adding to or taking way from the Word of God is a big problem. That's the Egyptian storyline of the Torah. The golden calf was an add on. In the garden of Eden, eating from the forbidden tree was a take away, ignoring God's voice. <br />
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Slavery's escape is the Passover exodus journey shows us we all need redemption if we are to be free to walk near God and follow Him. </div><div>
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We all need forgiveness too through God's lovingkindness and mercy and we all need to keep God's instruction for life in the Kingdom - we must not toss it out with a sermon from Marcion. Instead we all need the prophet like Moses. He is the Messiah promised in Deuteronomy 18:15-19.</div><div><br /></div><div>Grace does not annul any of God's written word, it fulfills and upholds it. Deuteronomy 17:8 and Deuteronomy 17: 10-11 state this plainly:<br />
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"If any case is too difficult for you to decide, between 1) one kind of homicide or another, between 2) one kind of lawsuit or another, and between 3) one kind of assault or another, being cases of dispute in your courts, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses...</blockquote>
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"Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the LORD will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left."</blockquote>
Did you know that while writing on this Torah instruction about difficult court cases related to homicide, litigation or assault, Rashi (Shlomo Yitzchaki) the famous 12th century French rabbi interpreted the Bible's instruction given for the Levites to apply to a rabbi's opinion in his commentary on the Babylonian Talmud... "Even if he tells you regarding the right that it is left, or regarding the left that it is right, and certainly so if he tells you regarding the right that it is right, and regarding the left that it is left."<br />
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In other words, if you are told that your right hand is your left and even if you know that is not correct, it doesn’t matter... do what the rabbi says. </div><div><br /></div><div>We all make mistakes, including Rashi. We need to learn the difference, we must choose to make the right choice based on God's voice and we all need to see the light and turn back to the Bible and that's Paul's message to the Galatians.<br />
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Yeshua called His disciples and all others to the truth that not one jot or tittle shall pass from the written words of Moses as declared in Matthew 5:17-19 and the true spirit of authority declared in Matthew 5:21-48. The reason, because God said so:<br />
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"The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the <u>people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.</u>” Exodus 19:9</blockquote>
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Jesus taught that the opinion that matters is God's voice of instruction. The point is simple: listen to men that declare God's words, not their own. Please know, <u>there is no intent here to bash Rashi</u>, like I said the Bible teaches <u>we all make mistakes</u>, in fact many Jewish rabbis completely disagreed with his interpretation, but they showed respect in their debate.</div>
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The important thing to know is that Moses tells us there is "one" Torah for both the native born and the sojourner and it is the Torah of God, not men's religious opinion. God's Torah applies to all (see Numbers 15:16; Numbers 15:29). </div><div><br /></div><div>As the old saying goes: "there is a big difference between someone who is in authority and someone who is an authority."<br /><br />
Paul was never against the Jewish people or the Torah, he was always for them, after all he was Jewish and he never turned his back on his heritage. However, he was concerned about certain customs requiring a tradition of proselyte conversion not found in the Scriptures.<br />
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Simply put, a religious rite of conversion not given in Scripture is not Scriptural.<br />
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Better than most, Paul knew discriminatory perspectives were not a part of God's covenant. In a bizarre adoption of prejudice and discrimination, certain church opinions have endowed many people with a false inheritance of replacement theology and the false belief that the Torah was hung on the cross and done away with by grace. These opinions of the so-called church "fathers" have caused many to ignorantly err in opinion and reject the Jewish people.<br />
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Horrifically, Jewish people were subjected to forced conversions in the middle ages, they were expelled without a home or business and eventually millions of Jewish people have suffered and died in anti-Semitism. God forgive us! The lies of replacement theology still echo in many pulpits, but those days are ending for a remnant that see the truth of Torah and the Jewish roots of the Biblical faith of the Jewish Messiah!<br />
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We must all know that replacement theology grew in a horrific way in dark hearts until it culminated in the Holocaust of Hitler. It has created a grave stumbling block for the Jewish people to see the identity of Messiah Yeshua for who He really is... Jesus is a Jew.<br />
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Jesus kept Torah, ate kosher, honored the Feast Days and kept the Sabbaths as He taught the Torah.<br />
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Praise God, today Jews and non-Jews are growing closer in friendship and relationship whether we know the promised Messiah to return or come for the first time to restore the world.<br />
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Incredibly, a healing process from the Spirit of God has begun in lovingkindness.<br />
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Abraham's servant said this:<br />
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“<i><b>Blessed be the LORD</b></i>, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, <b><i>the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.</i></b>” </blockquote>
The sad truth is the "church" had once forsaken lovingkindness and committed many terrible things resulting in grave persecution that ultimately led to the death of millions of Jewish families over the centuries across the planet, God forgive us!<br />
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The good news is that many now recognize the terrible sins of our fathers that were inherited in church history. <br />
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<b>Can you imagine what Paul would write if he attended your assembly today?</b><br />
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Would Paul say that every Sunday preacher's sermon must be tossed aside or that every word of rabbinic halakhah should be ignored?<br />
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No...<br />
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After all, if we look at Matthew 3:1-17 we can see a very good tradition of the Pharisees with the reference to immersion in regard to repentance and righteousness. Mikveh is a wonderful tradition and John followed it as he baptized people that sought repentance along the Jordan River.<br />
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Halakhah is not a set of rules to be tossed aside any more than a good Sunday sermon about the Ten Commandments, but when the guide rails of halakhah added in by religious men become higher in our hearts than the word of God, they take us off the straight and narrow path of "the way" written in the word of God<br />
<br />What do I mean? A great teaching of halakhah is to love one's neighbor. This eternal Jewish perspective on life and society weighs great importance on the proper treatment of others described in the Torah and that is the same message Yeshua taught from The Scriptures.<br />
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There is another Jewish tradition of halakhah that Yeshua not only upheld, but explained its meaning in prime time to His disciples. The Passover meal we call the "last supper" is the witness. Read Exodus 12, Leviticus 23, Numbers 9 and Deuteronomy 16. These chapters each give some instruction for Passover observance, yet in all of them there is no mention whatsoever of 1) breaking bread or 2) sharing a cup of wine. There's also no mention of prayer and song, yet the traditional Jewish seder order of the Passover celebration takes us front and center stage into Matthew 26 and Mark 14 whether you have recognized it or not.<br />
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The "last supper" account shares a wonderful halakic tradition derived from Genesis 14:18 not found in the specific Passover instruction of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers or Deuteronomy.<br />
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Tradition can be good as long as it holds its proper place and supports God's written word.<br />
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The traditional hope of Judaism is Messiah. He is at the core of Jewish faith. The belief of the coming Messiah originated in traditional Judaism, not Christianity. </div><div><br /></div><div>Judaism teaches of an anointed King Messiah (Melekh Mashiach) will rule the world in the messianic age aka world to come. Judaism also teaches of a time of peace when all nations, Jew and Gentile will recognize that the God of Israel is the one true God that resurrects the dead and in the end creates a new heaven and a new earth. Sound familiar?<br />
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It was Maimonides that wrote in his Mishneh Torah writings of a halakhah that, "Anyone who does not believe in him, or who does not wait for his arrival, has not merely denied the other prophets, but has also denied the Torah and Moses, our Rabbi" Melakhim.<br />
<br />As you might see, Jewish halakhah should not be wholly tossed aside nor should the Talmuds of Babylon and Jerusalem containing <span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;">the commentary, interpretations and conclusions of the </span><span style="font-family: times;">Jewish</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"> sages that were derived from the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div>
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Let's take a quick look at two critically important Talmudic sayings about the Mashiach (Messiah) that are full of <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px;">the spirit of grace</span>. They define what the Jewish sages understood in their midrash about the identity of the Messiah and the process of messianic redemption of the world to come:</div><div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">1) Zechariah 12 says that The Lord God will pour out the spirit of grace and supplication, and that someone has to be pierced, but who is the He? In the </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Babylonian Talmud Succa 52a, the rabbi </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px;">Yalkut Shimoni says: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">"This is Mashiach ben Yoseph, who is to be slain."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px;">Yalkut Shimoni is 100% correct, like the once doubting disciples of Jesus, Shimoni did not understand that Yeshua Ha</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px;">Mashiach would be slain then resurrected, instead he pointed to two Messiah's not two comings of one Messiah.</span><br />
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</span>2) Today, Isaiah 53 is a key point of interpretative disagreement between synagogue and church, yet the Talmud's commentary <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">on Isaiah 53 found in </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px;">Sanhedrin 98b asks the right question to resolve the dilemma</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">: </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>"The </span><span>Messiah </span><span>what is his name? Those of the house of Rabbi Yuda the saint say, the sick one, </span><span>as it is said, </span><span>'Surely he had borne our sicknesses." </span></span><div><br /></div><div>Those sicknesses are our sins and there's more, a lot more... the Babylinian Talmud (<a href="https://www.halakhah.com/zarah/zarah_9.html" target="_blank">Avodah Zarah Folio 9a</a>) states: The Tanna debe Eliyyahu taught: The world is to exist six thousand years; the first two thousand years are to be void; the next two thousand years are the period of the Torah, and the following two thousand years are the period of the Messiah. Through our many sins a number of these have already passed [and the Messiah is not yet].</div><div><br /></div><div>The thing is, those words in the brackets were added by Rashi (Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac) many years later after Tanna debe Eliyyahu taught them. The rabbinic sages that contributed long ago to the two Talmuds of Jerusalem (4th century) and Babylon (3rd to 6th centuries) did not write Scripture, instead they provided a record of the opinions of the rabbis while in diaspora from Temple services.</div>
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Think of the Talmud as a bit like modern Christian Bible commentators such as Matthew Henry, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, C. H. Spurgeon, Dr. J. Vernon McGee and many others.<br />
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<big>The teachings that stand in authority above all opinion </big></center>
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<big>and commentary is the holy, divine teaching and instruction </big></center>
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<big>found in the written word of Almighty God. </big></center>
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One thing is not changed with opinion, God's Word! His Bible shows us how to live in the Kingdom of God and it applies to everyone that chooses the way of the Kingdom whether native born or sojourner, Jew or Gentile, we can all be citizens.<br />
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Instruction number one from the Ten Commandments is foremost, it is to put Almighty God first, not a sage or a pastor. That includes Bible commentators or students of Scripture including me.<br />
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Putting God first requires a restored relationship based on spirit and truth. Biblical instruction teaches us how to live and love as God intended from the beginning. Spirit and truth requires relationship with a heart of repentance. The purpose of God's Word is to paint the big picture which reveals our sin against God's will for our lives and the need for redemption, atonement and the Messiah to restore relationship and the world that is broken. See Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 3:15, Deuteronomy 30:3-5, Numbers 24:17-18, Zechariah 9:10, Obadiah 1:21 and John 5:39-47 for this truth.<br />
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Yeshua is the master Jewish Rabbi, the Torah teacher and doer from Nazareth that is the branch of the House of David born in Bethlehem. He walked and talked in Biblical authority teaching His Jewish disciples to do the same and reflect God's holy image and Torah light to a broken world and He suffered because of it.<br />
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During their yeshiva time, the disciples (talmidim) saw Yeshua demonstrate God's mitzvot prescribed by the written law while anchoring long known Jewish halakhah into the spirit of Torah by explaining God’s highest mountaintop ways in the Father's new covenant purpose in writing His teaching and instruction on our hearts so that all people may know Him in a relationship.<br />
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Yeshua-Jesus is the one that explained the new covenant heart when He taught the Jewish halakhah of the new heart covenant proclaimed in Jeremiah 31:31-34. And as if you look at it, you will see it DOES NOT ALIGN with a common Sunday pulpit teaching that the Torah (law) is old and done away by grace alone on a cross. Noteven close, He<u> properly declares the opposite!!</u><br />
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Yeshua expounds on halakhah with haggadah by explaining the very heart of Torah when He spoke these words: "<b>You have heard... but I say</b>":<br />
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“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ <b><u>But I say to you that everyone</u></b> who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ <b><u>shall be guilty before the supreme court</u></b>; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first <b><u>be reconciled</u></b> to your brother, and <b><u>then come and present your offering</u></b>." Matthew 5:21-24 NASB</blockquote>
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"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; <b><u>but I say to you </u></b>that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her <b><u>in his heart</u></b>." Matthew 5:27-28 NASB </blockquote>
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“It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’; <b><u>but I say to you</u></b> that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." Matthew 5:31-32 NASB</blockquote>
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“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ <b><u>But I say to you,</u></b> love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may <b><u>be sons of your Father who is in heaven</u></b>; 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? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? <b><u>Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect</u></b>. Matthew 5:44-48 NASB</blockquote>
A story from the Jewish scribe that we now call Mark shows us that Yeshua plainly agreed with the sages explaining the Torah's greatest teaching called <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/niv/deu/6/4/s_159004" target="_blank">the Shema</a> is the first and highest instruction. After all, the first set of five commandments etched in stone by the hand of God teaches us to love God first and at the same time, the second set of five commandments teaches we must also love one's neighbor as oneself. That is why Mark writes that the Jewish scribe speaking with Yeshua said brotherly love is given greater weight than "all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” See Mark 12:28-33.<br />
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Yeshua taught what this means in the Luke 10:30-37 <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/luk/10/30/s_983030" target="_blank">parable of the good Samaritan</a>. You may have not noticed it before, but this amazing midrash was <u>not new at all</u>. It reveals Yeshua's teaching focused on some ancient words from Leviticus 19:17-18 and the parable is another example that the Messiah of all Israel came to compel people to walk <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/31/31/s_776031" target="_blank">in the path of the Torah written on the heart</a> to rectify the wide chaotic road of sin that we choose in arrogance and prideful prejudice.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whether you believe it or not, Yeshua is the pierced one, the Mashiach ben Yoseph that Tanna debe Eliyyahu taught about. He is the one who was slain as noted by rabbi Yalkut Shimoni. His return as King with the authority granted by the throne of God will prove these good words shown in the Talmud are 100% correct.<br /><br />
Like Joshua (Yehoshua), King Messiah will fight the wars of God against those that choose to raise their arms in final defiance to reject God's authority, His words, His covenant, His people and His land. </div><div><br /></div><div>In that day, God's Kingdom will be established on this earth.<br />
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Yeshua began the Kingdom restoration process as He filled the appointed Spring Feasts up with meaning as the lamb of God and He will return as the Lion of Judah to fulfill the promise embedded in each of the appointed Fall Feasts starting with Trumpets, the ten days of awe and repentance leading up to the atonement of Yom Kippur. He will lead the ingathering celebration of the pilgrimage Sukkot festival in Jerusalem known as the Feast of Tabernacles that was instituted long ago by God's voice at Sinai recorded in Leviticus 23:33.<br />
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Each of the appointed feasts of The Lord have wonderful Jewish traditions and promise. For that reason, it's really important to understand all customs and traditions do not oppose God's plan or His Word, many celebrate it.<br />
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Yeshua taught that problems arise when the priority of men's traditions are put above God's Word. </div><div><br /></div><div>When that happens traditions can oppose repentance, forgiveness and lovingkindness. Tradition above God's Word is likely the "different gospel" Paul notes in the introduction of the letter sent to the Galatians. He understood because he explains that he had been "extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions." Paul had placed some of those traditions above the righteousness of faith.<br />
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In faith, we must all remember Yeshua is a Jew. He will fulfill the Jewish custom of Simchat Beit HaShoevah, the water-drawing celebration of Sukkot (Tabernacles) pointing to the spirit and truth of the Word of God and the seven processions known as Hoshanahs, because while the procession will be made as the book of Revelation declares, we will all hear the seven trumpets and recite a prayer like the traditional refrain: "Hosha na!" (Please save us!).<br />
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Yeshua will fulfill the day of Trumpets in His arrival as King, He will lead Yom Kippur as High Priest and judge on the seventh day of Sukkot, traditionally called Hoshana Rabbah which is known as the last of the "Days of Judgment." I believe Yeshua will lead the tradition of reading of the Torah on the night of Hoshana Rabbah, the seventh day of Tabernacles.<br />
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In the end, Jesus will fulfill the holy days of The Lord that many call the Jewish holidays because in good tradition and custom they keep them. During Sukkot and the day known as Shemini Atzeret, Messiah Yeshua will restore the Lord's House of Prayer <b>for all nations. </b>He will gather together all the dispersed of Israel both <b>Judah as well as the sojourners that will go with them</b> just as it was at Mount Sinai.<br />
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As promised by many sages, King Messiah will repair our corrupt world, governing it by righteousness with the Torah as its constitution, the conduct code of The King. With God's authority, Messiah will heal nations and instruct everyone in the proper worship relationship with the God of Israel. Everyone will see and know Yeshua HaMashiach as the Melek Mĕlakîm (King of Kings). All Israel will be saved in resurrection.<br />
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It seems, perhaps with some humor built in, that Rabbi Pinchas, the “woodcutter” of Koretz that lived in the 1700's knew something about the Hoshana Rabbah to come when he taught that one should bake an apple with the Hoshana branch in it to ward off tooth aches in the coming year because all pain will be done away with when Messiah returns as King.<br />
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When we dig into Paul's letters, we can see he teaches the haggadah of the Torah of God to be written on the heart was taught by Yeshua. For examples from Paul's other letters read: 1Corinthians 7:10-11; 1Corinthians 9:14 1 Thessalonians 4:11; 1 Thessalonians 14:34 and 1 Thessalonians11:23-25.<br />
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Paul's letters are difficult to read if we do not understand they address only a few religious opinions Yeshua opposed because their righteousness rules were put above the heart of Torah by a few men with traditions not in line with God's heart of mercy and lovingkindness. Paul taught nothing new. Instead he taught in keeping with the prophecy of Almighty God declared in Isaiah 29:13:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The Lord says: <b>These people come near</b> to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but <b>their hearts are far from me</b>. Their worship of me is <b>made up only of</b> <b>rules taught by men</b>.”</blockquote>
In proper Biblical and historic context, it becomes clear that Paul was deeply concerned that legalistic righteousness that add to Torah can take us off the true faith path because they put a stumbling block of men's pride in front of the Torah of God and its good news gospel of God's everlasting love for all mankind by tossing mercy under a man-made tradition for righteousness.<br />
<br />
Paul knew firsthand how pride could lead to persecution if God's heart of mercy and grace is missing from the heart of men.<br />
<br />
Paul's restored focus was for all God believers, whether Jew or non-Jew to faithfully fulfill the Lord’s will to establish His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven according to the heart of Scripture. Paul understood his former stony heart embedded only in tradition was missing the good news:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus." Galatians 1:11-17 </blockquote>
Paul is not the only Jewish rabbi to write about the stony heart issue.<br />
<br />
In 1955, another famous rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel elegantly provides the same warning in his book: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/God-Search-Man-Philosophy-Judaism/dp/0374513317" target="_blank">God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism</a>:<br />
<br />
"<i>Indeed, the essence of observance has, at times, become encrusted <b>with so many customs and conventions that the jewel was lost in the setting.</b> Outward compliance with externalities of the law <b>took the place of the engagement of the whole person</b> to the living God.</i>"<br />
<br />Daniel Fohrman another well known Orthodox Jew asks a similar question. Check out the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95cJIoLGjF4" target="_blank">Do we need to focus more on Written Torah vs Talmud?</a><br />
<br />
In his letters, Paul is preaching the same lesson, calling on God's voice as THE teaching for love and respect as the cornerstone relationship for all people. Paul points to the witness of Messiah Yeshua to Jews and non-Jews.<br />
<br />
Paul had confronted his own encrusted religious tradition that divided people and persecuted others instead of fulfilling the two greatest commands of Torah based on love for God and each other. After meeting the risen Messiah Yeshua in the bright light on the road to Damascus, Paul came to realize everyone has been created in the image of God and that Yeshua gave His life as a ransom for the salvation of all people with no precondition based on observance of religious traditions not infused in God's heart of mercy and lovingkindness declared to Moses atop Mount Sinai.<br />
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If you require more context on the labyrinth of cultural and historic religious conflicts at hand, perhaps there's something you may have never considered if you have read the letters of Paul: Rome's food markets as well as those in Galatia, Corinth, Thessalonica, Colossia, Philippi and Ephesus were all run by Greco-Roman Gentiles embedded in a pagan lifestyle that sacrificed sheep and cattle to their many mythic false-gods before they sold them in street markets.<br />
<br />
This pagan market system created conflict with the Biblically kosher lifestyle of the Jewish people that sought to honor the instruction of The Father. You may not know it, but many other remnants of false-god worship remain with us today. One example is our insistence on <a href="https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Planets" target="_blank">naming the planets</a> with their worthless Greco-Roman idol origins that began in Babylon:<br />
<ul>
<li>Mercury</li>
<li>Venus</li>
<li>Mars </li>
<li>Jupiter<br />
</li>
<li>Saturn</li>
<li>Uranus</li>
<li>Neptune<br />
</li>
<li>Pluto</li>
</ul>If you've read the book of Acts, take notice Saturn worship is mentioned. You may have missed it though. The reason is a name change. In chapter 7, just before Stephen is stoned to death he noted what Amos said in the warning of Amos 5:26-27:</div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>You took up the tent of Moloch</div><div>and the star of your god Rephan,</div><div>the images that you made to worship;</div><div>and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon. Acts 7:43</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div>Rephan is the name of an old idol, it's Saturn and its worshippers are called the tent of Moloch.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even the Moon has a lunar problem. Today, its name is taken from another fake deity. Luna is the Roman goddess of the Moon. It seems that only the term "heaven" remains unpolluted with direct links to the old pagan idols. Heaven's name comes from the translation of Hebrew shamayim שָׁמַיִם.</div><div>
<br />
The word "earth" derives its current name from German origin and is thought to be a personified goddess from Norse mythology as the mother of Thor. That's where the term mother nature comes from.<br />
<br />
The first verse in Scripture gives us the proper names. There, earth is Hebrew word, erets אֶרֶץ and the heavens are the Hebrew word shamayim שָׁמַיִם.<br />
<br />
Our solar system's amazing planets are not the only remnant today of a pagan the Greco-Roman world. Most of the names of the twelve months of the year on our calendar are remnants from idol worship and so-called Greco-Roman gods. January is named for Janus, March is named after the false-god Mars, April for Aphrodite, June for Juno and the list goes on.<br />
<br />
In the Roman Empire's pagan culture, the Caesars were considered to have god-like status, this is known as the 'imperial cult' and it continues hidden yet embedded in our calendar today. July is named for Julius Caesar and August for Augustus Caesar. Our week days are named after Norse idol-gods and Saturday retains the name of Rome's false-god Saturn, aka Saturn's day.<br />
<br />
Then of course there's the big one, Sun-day, named in honor of Sol Evictus, the primary sun god of the Roman Empire that was given official cult status by the Romans on December 25, 274 AD under Roman emperor Aurelian.<br />
<br />
First the Babylonians, then the Egyptians, next the Greeks and the Romans. Each culture had a counterfeit cult system of pagan religion to worship the Sun opposing Moses admonition in Deuteronomy 4:19. The crime began in Babylon with Bel or Ba'al in Canaan and the names come from Semiramis and Nimrod. After their deaths, they were worshipped as Ashterath and Tammuz. That's why you can find their false idol names listed as an abomination in Scripture.<br />
<br />In his book, The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop writes: <i>“... the Tower of Babel was actually the worship of Satan in the form of fire, the sun and the serpent. However, Satan worship could not be done openly because of the many who still believed in the true God of Noah. So a mystery religion began at Babel where Satan could be worshipped in secret.”</i><br />
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This is why Revelation 17:4-4 describes the religions of Babylon as the "mother" of harlots and abominations as deities and sun-worship found throughout recorded history originated there. It was in Babylon that men laid out the ground work for every false religious system.<br />
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In Paul's day, the Greek Sun-god of the day was called Helios. Later, as we have seen, the Roman religious cults worshipped Sol Invictus as the name of the Sun-god morphed from Greece to Rome. The Sun-god has had different names through the years, but they are the same false-idol as different harlot people groups and cultures worshipped the Sun and used the planets as a fake foundation for polluting God's purpose and disguising His plan for redemption.<br />
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It is disturbing that a remnant of false-idol gods are still used today to describe time on our planet, but they do not govern it. This is a bizarre scenario we've adopted from Babylon if you just stop and think about it for a minute or two. The deception is that our Creator's perfect creation timepiece, the solar system has been rebranded with idol worship disguising Almighty God's creation calendar that was designed to point us toward <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/09/three-fall-feasts-of-lord.html" target="_blank">The Feasts of The Lord</a> on God's appointment schedule that outlines the Elohim plan for man's redemption and relationship restoration.</div><div>
<br />
Greco-Roman timekeeping birthed in Babylon has caused many to not only lose track of time, it has led many to an identity crisis with God's covenant given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.<br />
<br />
Moses' words were given to the descendants of Israel as well as the foreigners and sojourners with them and: "in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. <u>For the LORD your God is a compassionate God</u>; He will not fail you nor destroy you <u>nor forget the covenant</u> with your fathers which He swore to them."<br />
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Most of the world celebrates a new year on January 1st. The truth is, January is named for Janus, the Roman myth-god of beginnings, gates, transition, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. This is a remnant tradition from Babylon. According to our Elohim Creator, the Biblical new year for redemption from Egypt begins on the first day of the first month God declared in Exodus 12:2. That ‘first month’ is the month of Passover and Unleavened Bread in the Spring and since that wilderness time, the new moon has marked the beginning of each month noted in the Bible.<br />
<br />Does January sound confusing?<br />
<br />It is. You may think that Greco-Roman false-gods and goddesses birthed out the pagan minds deceived by ignorance, astrology and the divinations of Babylon do not mean much anymore and that their lucky charms and idols of wood and stone are long gone, <u>but think again</u>... ancient polytheistic cult idols based on debauchery, moral chaos and philosophy have not vanished, they have simply morphed and shape-shifted into plastic and foam depending on location, language and the culture of sport mascots.<br />
<br />
Yet, the unchanging calendar of the Bible still governs our modern world whether we know it or not. God's calendar and His appointments have everything to do with your future and God's time keeping for redemption, the ge'ullah of Messiah.<br />
<br />
It's time to reset your calendar, clock and your heart.<br />
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Just when you thought idols were a thing of the past, the reality is people worship other idols like money. I know, I once did and its pretty bizarre when you think about it, but God warns that idols are not real, and neither is money these days. Money is no longer denominated by gold, silver or copper, its modern reality is that it is not real. Money today is just a few electronic digits, a row of electron idols called a credit or debit on a bank account and an investment is simply an electronic accumulation of ticker symbols on the stock market of a computer that can be cut off with the flick of a power switch. The latest is this metamorphosis is crypto currency.</div><div><br /></div><div>We are fulfilling the word of God Hosea recorded:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off." Hosea 8:4</blockquote>
Our modern idol list has morphed into many other forms. As noted, just like the ancient Greek culture sports teams, heroes and sports idols dominate our modern week-end psyche. You may have never thought much about it, but ask yourself, what's up with all the sports mascots?<br />
<br />
Not to bore you, but Merriam Webster defines a mascot as: "a person, animal, or object adopted by a group as a symbolic figure especially to bring them good luck." Synonyms include amulet, charm and related words are toadstone; emblem, symbol, token and totem. The Random House Dictionary says the origin of "mascot" is French: "mascotte meaning talisman, charm, derivative of masco sorceress."<br />
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Man oh man, that sounds strange doesn't it?<br />
<br />
Now, it's time to leave the charms of modern Rome and our Greek sport's arenas and get back to the letter of Paul written to the Galatians and us.<br />
<br />
The letter writer has a goal.<br />
<br />
Paul wanted to help people prioritize the weight of God's character founded in His lovingkindness. If you look at the Ten Commandments, you will notice the first four point to our first priority which is to love God with all of our heart, mind and soul. The second stone tablet is not disconnected, it is outlined in the commands which say love your neighbor as yourself.<br />
<br />
These two principles of covenant are the jewel foundation stones of all of God's Torah.<br />
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If we look closely at Paul's letters in proper context, we can see that Paul is addressing this issue of relationship priority declared in the Ten Words, aka the Ten Commandments. Paul shows us that passing judgment by not loving opposes the greatest commands of the Torah to love God first and to love others.<br />
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Religious judgment has divided both Jew and Gentile for centuries, whether then or now and God will be the judge on this. As a Pharisee, Paul understood this more than most, he knew his temporary blindness was caused by his own prejudice and pride. When his eyes were opened, he learned judging others distances oneself from the very heart of the Father and the promise of Messiah. He returned to study God's word at Mount Sinai in Arabia and relearned the priority in everyday relationship is to love God and our neighbor and not bear a grudge. He knew forgiveness too because his own religious views had once led to grudges, vengeance, imprisonment and eventually death for people like the Jewish disciple Stephen, yet Paul was forgiven. He knew forgiveness because he was given an assignment from heaven to spread God's promise to the Gentiles.<br />
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How did Paul learn to know the heart of Abba Father includes the sojourner and stranger? Just re-read the Torah words of Leviticus 19:15-18, Deuteronomy 9:6 and Deuteronomy 10:19 with its focus on loving your neighbor, they are the same words Paul wrote of:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'You shall <b><i>do no injustice in judgment</i></b>; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to <b><i>judge your neighbor fairly</i></b>. 'You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and <b><i>you are not to act against the life of your neighbor</i></b>; I am the LORD. 'You shall <b><i>not hate your fellow countryman</i></b> in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, <i><b>but shall not incur sin</b></i> because of him. 'You shall <b><i>not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge</i></b> against the sons of your people, but you shall <b><i>love your neighbor as yourself</i></b>; I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:15-18 NASB </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Know, then, it is <b><i>not because of your righteousness</i></b> that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<b><i>Love the sojourner</i></b>, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. "</blockquote>
Paul knew his own past stubborn sin against people and because of that he was also concerned for the weak in faith, those "new" to true faith that were still heavily influenced by Roman and Greek lifestyle and a pagan idol-infested mindset:<br />
<blockquote>
"Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions." Romans 14:1</blockquote>
In his letter to the Romans, Paul also notes certain Jewish believers that had returned to Rome after Claudius' expulsion of Jews from the city refused to eat meat for fear that it was defiled by idol worship as many became vegetarian because it eliminated the possibility of association with idol sacrifice. Yet, the situation at hand was far beyond food and historic custom that disallowed meat to be consumed that was butchered and sold by Gentiles because they were considered idolaters.<br />
<br />
<u>Imagine yourself as an observant Jew</u>, return to Rome and trying to keep the traditions of your fathers in ancient Rome and you might understand Paul's concern was that religious division could hinder relationships and sharing the message of the good news of the Kingdom of God with the Gentiles that needed to hear about God's love and His teaching and instruction for life.<br />
<br />
Rome was run by the Imperial Cult but people there needed redemption too so Paul preached the Bible.<br />
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Now imagine yourself as a former pagan idol worshipper repentant yet ignorant of the Torah, the oracles of God recorded by the faithful Jewish people.<br />
<br />
Paul was concerned that new Yeshua-believers could stumble just as I had done not understanding the Torah and its the set apart Sabbath and Feasts are appointment gifts from Elohim God, days we get to celebrate and participate in because we love Almighty God.<br />
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<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<center>
<big>This is the historic culture context of the letters</big></center>
<center>
<big>that is misunderstood.</big></center>
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<br />
As noted, another perspective on Paul can be understood if we dig deeper into the conflict of the two leading religious sects in his day, the division between the Sadducees and the Pharisees.<br />
<br />
Did you know that the Sadducees rejected the oral Torah that had developed over generations which the Pharisees claimed was passed down from the days of Moses? The Sadducees placed their emphasis on this Psalm:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It is better to take refuge in the LORD<br />
than to trust in man. Psalm 118:8</blockquote>
The Sadducees insisted on a strict, literal interpretation of the written Torah much like Karaite Judaism does today rejecting good Biblical tradition in the lifestyle of today's Orthodox Judaism with a priority on the oral traditions of the rabbinic sages.<br />
<br />
The Sadducees sought to follow the written Torah, yet incredibly they stubbornly rejected the hope of resurrection to eternal life that is shown in the Prophets and Writings including Daniel 12, Ezekiel 37 and Isaiah 25.<br />
<br />
Biblical truth from these prophets points to resurrection. This is shown too when the prophet Elijah prayed and God raised a young boy from death in 1Kings 17:17-24, It is also seen in the story when Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman in 2Kings 4:32-37 and the story of a dead man's body that was thrown into Elisha's tomb that was resurrected when his body touched Elisha's bones as described in 2 Kings 13:21.<br />
<br />
Resurrection was the great divide of Sadducee and Pharisee, but there is much more to the story.<br />
<br />
Many traditions advocated by the Pharisees were in opposition to the Sadducees who opposed observances not found in the Torah and both conflicts are described among these sects throughout the Newer Testament. You can read about this in Matthew 16:6, Matthew 16:12, Matthew 22:23 and Acts 23:7-8 for yourself.<br />
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Not only did the Sadducees not see eye to eye with the Pharisees, others disagreed over polarized interpretations and deeply divided opinions between the Jewish sages of the day, Hillel and Shammai. Josephus touches on this:<br />
<br />
<i>"Our rabbis taught: </i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>It happened that a certain foreigner came to Shammai and said to him: "How many Torahs are there for you?"</i><br />
<br />
<i>He told him: "Two! A written Torah and an oral Torah." </i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>He said to him: "I will trust you on the written but I will not trust you on the oral. I will be a proselyte providing you teach me (only) the written Torah." </i>Babylonian Talmud, Shabbath 31a<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
After the Temple was destroyed the first time centuries earlier, Pharisaic opinion started the walk on the path that led to rabbinic Judaism.<br />
<br />
After the Temple was destroyed the second time, the opinions of the early church fathers eroded the way of the faith of the disciples and incredibly turned against the Jewish people.<br />
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The Bible's core teaching is about God's character of mercy and lovingkindness, and we can see that Paul was deeply concerned that man-made religion can potentially lead to impairing our love for each other, so Paul wrote that those "opinions" should be examined. That is the context of Paul's letter to those in the synagogue of Rome, i.e., if you do not observe God's law based on Biblical truth focused on the "mercy" seat described in Exodus 25, then you cab=n become a slave to the traditions of men that have no merit in the gift of salvation.<br />
<br />
Paul brings division from religious opinion to focus when he describes the divide of Sadducee and Pharisee over resurrection. This is described in Acts 23:6-8:<br />
<blockquote>
"But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men [and] brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both." </blockquote>
Chew on this for a moment... Have you ever considered that when writing of "days" in his letter to those in Rome (Romans 14:5-14), Paul was not speaking of the weekly Sabbath or the Feast Days of The Lord first revealed to the world in the Torah scroll of Exodus?<br />
<br />
That will fly in the face of whatever replacement theology you may have been taught, but you should know this: The Lord's "holy" set apart days are always described in the Hebrew Scriptures with a connection to their names given by Almighty God. The same is true of the Newer Testament writings but they are not new really just commentary on the originals. Names such as <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=unleavened+bread&t=KJV&csrf=Mat&csrt=Rev#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">Feast</a> or <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=passover&t=KJV&csrf=Mat&csrt=Rev#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">Passover</a>, <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=unleavened+bread&t=KJV&csrf=Mat&csrt=Rev#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">Unleavened Bread</a> and all of God's appointed <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4521&t=KJV" target="_blank">Sabbath days</a> when used are never referenced simply as "days."<br />
<br />
The reason, God's appointed days are holy (set-apart) days. In reverence, Paul's letters and the book of Acts also reference The Lord's set-apart appointments by the names Elohim God gave them. For example:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three <b>sabbath days</b> reasoned with them out of the scriptures Acts 17:2 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And we sailed away from Philippi <b>after the days of unleavened bread</b>, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. Acts 20:6</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of <b>the new moon, or of the sabbath</b> [days] Colossians 2:16</blockquote>
Not only that, but if we just look at the context of hedonistic history and the pagan culture of the Greco-Roman Empire, we must realize that there was a long standing debate between the Biblical calendar and Roman time keeping. So, without question, days were debated, so much so, the Roman idol driven calendar changed several times in the window of time between the foundation of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire.<br />
<br />
Compounding this issue on time keeping, we must remember each day of the Roman week was dedicated to their false-gods of the seven visible planets in our solar system. This and other aspects of the Roman calendar are hidden in plain sight today. That is the "day" issue Paul wrote about as Rome's calendar and mandatory seven-day work-week conflicted with the Scriptural command to keep the Sabbath and all of the Feast Day Sabbaths of The Lord.<br />
<br />
If you are not familiar with Rome's debate over 'days' think again and consider history and the debates about time, and ask why on earth did our planet convert to the Julian calendar?<br />
<br />
In Rome, not only was there an ongoing debate on what day or year it was, in Rome's culture each "day" had a character of its own, which is shown in the writings of the Roman "fasti."<br />
<br />
The "fasti" or the "Six Books of the Calendar" was a Latin poem published by Ovid in 8 AD that explained the origins of the pagan Roman holidays and associated the customs for each day supposedly put forth by their false idol-gods. The most important of these superstitions were the days denoted as "dies fasti" marking "days" when legal matters could to be heard in court and "dies nefasti" when they could not be heard. Not only that, there were "dies comitiales" when public assemblies known as "comitia" were only permitted.<br />
<br />
Can you imagine trying to honor God's word as best your could and assemble for a Biblical Feast Day like Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost) or Sukkot (Tabernacles) on a day in Rome that was not approved on their Roman "fasti" calendar to allow a day of rest with a Biblically ordained assembly?<br />
<br />
The early <a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-roman.html" target="_blank">Roman calendar</a> needs to be understood a bit more if we want to understand the context of Paul.<br />
<br />
Consider this too, Paul may have been pointing toward differing opinions on the timing of the Biblical calendar. Did you know there is an old Jewish debate on the day by day counting up to the festival of Shavuot. That same debate existed between the Pharisees and the Sadducees in Paul's day over the meaning of the "Sabbath" noted in Leviticus 23:15-16.<br />
<br />
Another old debate is the proper counting of a Jubilee Year. Another is how to count the 50 days up to the appointed day of Shavuot. That has likely been a rabbinic debate since the exile to Babylon despite the fact that each Sabbath to The Lord is defined in Leviticus 23. Check it out for yourself.<br />
<br />
In Leviticus a Sabbath day is defined: "<b><i>the seventh day there is a sabbath</i> </b>of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; <i><b>it is a sabbath </b></i>to the LORD."<br />
<br />The Lord declares the count to 50 days: "you shall also count for yourselves from <i><b>the day after the Sabbath</b></i>, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be <b><i>seven complete Sabbaths</i></b>."<br />
<br />
Looks simple enough, but there's a debate because the Passover is also called a Sabbath.<br /><br />
The Sadducees based their view on the "weekly" Sabbath and counted after that first weekly Sabbath following the beginning of the week of Unleavened Bread, the day after the eve of Passover. On our Greco Roman calendar, the Sadducees counting began on a Sunday, the 1st day of each week.<br />
<br />
However, the Pharisees based their view on a tradition that counted only after the first day of Unleavened Bread each year no matter what day of the week it was, because they declared it a Sabbath although Leviticus 23 does not.<br />
<br />
Read Leviticus 23:9-14 for yourself, how are we to count the days?<br />
<br />
There is a similar ancient argument about the Jubilee Year counting from the Lord's appointed day of Yom Kippur. The Jubilee is the 50th year, but the debate is this: is the first of 50 years included as the first year in the counting up to the next Jubilee or does it stand alone as year 50 and when it is complete, do we then start the first year?<br />
<br />
Read Leviticus 25:8-12, how are we to count the years?<br />
<br />
There's another rabbinic tradition that declares the first day of Tishre as Rosh Hashanah, or literally, beginning of the year. According to Merriam Webster the term was never used until 1594.<br />
<br />
The Bible says: "Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you." Exodus 12:1-2<br />
<br />
That first month is Abib also known as Nisan and Esther 3:7 confirms it. It is the day first new day of the first month described in Genesis 8:13. Tishrei is actually the seventh month of the Biblical year.<br />
<br />
Enough on calendar debates.<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>Let's get back to the Galatian question</b> about circumcision as a requirement for conversion and conversion as a requirement for salvation... some preached an oral law tradition that unless you were circumcised, one cannot become "a people for God's name." See Acts 15:13-18 for more on the argument.<br />
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Paul's reference points to Amos 9:11-12 where the prophet Amos borrowed from the prophet Nathan.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">In the Jerusalem counsel meeting, James aka Yacob also paraphrased the same message from Amos when he quoted Amos 9:11-12 which is God's promise to restore the fallen tabernacle of David, the whole house of "all" Israel" as Amos points toward </span>Nathan's prophetic words of promise in 2 Samuel 7:8-17. These are all supported by Jeremiah 3:17-23,<span style="background-color: white;"> Isaiah 25:3 and Psalm 106:47.</span><br />
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At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and <b>all Gentiles</b> shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD... </blockquote>
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Therefore a strong people will glorify You; Cities of <b>ruthless Gentile</b>s will revere You. </blockquote>
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Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among <b>the heathen</b>, to give thanks to your holy name, and to triumph in your praise.</blockquote>
James' message in Jerusalem reverberated the words of its annointed king David:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sing to the LORD, all the earth; <b>proclaim the good news of His salvation</b> from day to day. Declare His glory among <b>the Gentiles</b>, His wonders among <b>all peoples</b>. 1Chronicles 16:1:23-24</blockquote>
Holy Bible, believe it or not the gospel assignment to <b>proclaim</b><b> the good news of His salvation </b>comes from the book of Chronicles. That's in the so-called Old Testament, as you can see, it's not old at all.<br />
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The religious conversion by circumcision debate was raised by the Pharisees in Acts 15... "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."<br />
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With the help of the proper context of the issues of the day, we can better understand the reason the Pharisee Paul taught against that particular rabbinic conversion ordinance (takkanah) not directly based on biblical authority.<br />
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He agreed to go to Jerusalem with Barnabas in the first place because he knew the Torah had a Biblical instruction to do so. It's found in Deuteronomy 17:8-10. So he went there to meet with the disciples regarding the issue of whether circumcision was required for a non-Jew to become a child of God.<br />
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Together, they discussed the Scriptures but...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Notice, they had no need to mention not to </span></center>
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<span style="font-size: large;">blaspheme God's name, make idols or worship them, or </span></center>
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<span style="font-size: large;">to honor the Sabbath, not to steal or lie,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> honor parents, </span></center>
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<span style="font-size: large;">or wrongfully covet another's wife or property.</span></center>
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The reason is a Bible basic, but something has been lost in translation in a sermon or two because a careful reading of Acts 15 reveals that they did not say that a person coming into the faith without circumcision "should" not be circumcised. The issue at hand that the council dealt with was about what pagan basics were to be turned away from including things contaminated by idols, formication, eating strangled animals and so on that tie directly to God's instruction outlined on these which is found in Leviticus 17-20.<br />
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Yes, you read that right, Acts 15 is a real world, real life teaching on following the instruction found in Leviticus. For those thinking Acts 15 does away with Leviticus, you may find this mind blowing, but don't give up, the truth is worth the journey!<br />
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If you think Acts 15 changed the commandments in Leviticus, you might also think Paul was confused about the council conclusion when he penned Romans 3:1-12:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? <u>Great in every respect</u>."</blockquote>
Did Paul then break "the new rules" in the very next chapter by circumcising Timothy and preaching the decrees of Torah are to kept as plainly written in Acts 16?<br />
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No, he did not. Paul was not arguing against Biblical commandments, that witness is Timothy when he was circumcised. Timothy's obedience to the law was on the basis of faith.<br />
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Don't forget the backstory behind the story, Timotheus (aka Timothy) was the son of a father that was Greek, a Gentile. His upbringing in his father's house was the reason Timothy had not been circumcised until he met Paul and learned that the ways of Torah are good and to be kept, not for salvation from death's sin penalty, but out of respect, worship and love for God and His teaching and instruction which is The Lord's Kingdom constitution.<br />
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Timothy left his childhood home:<br />
<blockquote>
"And as they went through the cities, they delivered them <u>the decrees for to keep</u>, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem." Acts 16:4</blockquote>
With a perspective on the context of culture, the Scriptures, the outline of the Ten Commandments and the details that follow them in the Torah of Leviticus, we can also see that Acts 15 and Acts 16 provide a Torah teaching from the center of the Torah of the Bible.<br />
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If you doubt this grab a Bible, set aside 15 minutes and read Leviticus 17-20. These four short chapters are also known as the two Torah portions of Leviticus called Acharei Mot which means "after the death" and Kedoshim which means "holy."<br />
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The counsel of apostles and elders had read and studied theses two Torah portions for years, so naturally they agreed that these two Torah portions in the middle of the Torah were the <b>basic training, the charge</b> for Gentiles coming into faith from paganism and that they <b>should stop doing these immediately </b>because they reeked of the smell of a pagan idol lifestyle picture shown in Leviticus 17-20 with the Egyptians and Canaanites noted there.<br />
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What goes around comes around. They knew that God's voice in Leviticus plainly declared the basics for these abominable practices:<br />
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<b>For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people.</b> <b>So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”</b> Leviticus 18:29-30 </blockquote>
After all, the new believing Gentiles were coming out of a Greek and Roman lifestyle infused with idol worship focused on four old pagan traditions practiced by the Egyptians and Canaanites years before:<br />
<blockquote>
"...abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well." Acts 15:29 </blockquote>
These four guideposts against the <b>abominable customs of </b>irreverent pagan life in Acts 15 were never intended to be the sum of all the ways of God to be learned by Gentiles over time any more than Leviticus 17-20 can be consider the sum of the Bible's message for mankind that takes time to unfold.<br />
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The apostles that met in Jerusalem knew what they were instructed to do from the Torah and frankly they simply assumed that the balance of God's ways and how they could respond to them in love would be learned in due time each Sabbath in the weekly synagogue Torah portion teachings as the Scriptures would be read and taught beyond Leviticus 17-20.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">How do we know? <u>They said so</u>:</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
"For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” Acts 15:21</blockquote>
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<big>Think about it this way... could a beginner start golf </big></center>
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<big>by teeing it up in The Masters, </big></center>
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<big>could a flag footballer play quarterback in the Super Bowl, </big></center>
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<big>would a first year med student perform a heart transplant? </big></center>
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<big>No way!!</big></center>
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<br />
I enjoy golf, but it would be a very cruel joke to ask any rank beginner to start playing from the back tees at TPC Sawgrass, much less learn to play in front of tens of thousands at Augusta National.<br />
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The raw, untrained beginner would immediately become discouraged in the first round and likely quit the game before finishing the 18th hole. Good advice always starts with a few basics. The important thing is to fall in love with the game first, learn the four basics of the grip, stance, posture and alignment then and only then move on to advanced training over time to learn how the game should be played by playing it. Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus all did this. Not only that, throughout their competitive careers, they all had teachers they could trust and emulate to go beyond the basics.<br />
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In Paul's day as today, the way to learn Scripture and walk in God's instruction is the same, it takes time.<br />
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Since the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. the Scriptures were systematically taught in cycles of public reading every Sabbath for training in righteousness.<br />
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Paul and the counsel of disciples in Jerusalem understood this, so much so they took it for granted that others would follow the ages old process of learning and incorporating God's word into daily life and decision through a faith training we call discipleship. That's why Paul wrote these words to Timothy long before the New Testament was ever compiled:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You, however, <b>continue in the things you have learned</b> and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that <b>from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith</b> which is in Messiah Yeshua. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness</b>; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:14-17</blockquote>
One week at a time, one Sabbath at a time is how the disciples and apostles had all learned the Scriptures and their Biblical training was the same way Yeshua taught as described in Luke 4:16.<br />
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For the disciples, weekly Scripture study in a congregation was like eating bread, you never swallow the loaf all at once, you chew one bite at a time and sustain life and grow in faith, equipped for every good work.<br />
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A big reason for gathering with others to hear the Word of Elohim God is that everyday people did not own a family Bible, after all, there were no printing presses for another 1,600 years. So, the Jewish men that met in Jerusalem outlined four basic priorities for those that had not grown up hearing God's Word each week.<br />
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Paul and the disciples were basically relying on the weekly study of Scripture for those Gentiles formerly participating in a hedonistic pagan lifestyle <u>that required them to:</u> 1) sacrifice to idols and 2) eat raw meat or blood, eat animals that were strangled rather than properly butchered while engaging in 3) illicit sexual immorality in heathen worship to their false-gods and goddesses born out of Egypt and Babylon.<br />
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These faithful Jewish men we call apostles all agreed to four basics for beginners because just as Acts 15:21 says, they all knew <b>the balance of the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings</b> would be read and taught to the Gentiles <b>every Sabbath</b> and they understood the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 included turning from wicked ways:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"My <b>people who are called by My name</b> humble themselves and pray and seek My face and <b>turn from their wicked ways</b>, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin..."</blockquote>
After all, the disciples had over time, learned all Believers must act as the King acts, walk as the King walks, and talk as the King talks. The disciples knew the Biblical principles on how to do that would be taught in due course when the Scriptures were read, studied and experienced as God's instruction manual for the good life in God's Kingdom.<br />
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The disciples also knew that even the least of the commandments would not be set aside in the synagogue, this was a teaching of Yeshua. Don't even set the smallest instruction aside:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:19</blockquote>
Today, the weekly Sabbath reading of Scripture portions for a remnant has become a part of the restoration of the fallen tabernacle of David. The question we must ask then is: what on earth happened? If this was "the way" the disciples of Yeshua 2,000 years ago learned the ways of righteousness, why does the mainstream "church" today not meet on the Sabbath or even teach the Torah, The Prophets and the Writings like Jesus did?<br />
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Why aren't we acting in the King's customs, walking as the King walked, and teaching as the King taught?<br />
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Stop and think about that for awhile, study Scripture and church history... and you will uncover the answer.<br />
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Paul's ministry to the nations (aka Gentiles) was about life in Messiah Yeshua's promise of redemption by God's lovingkindness first, yet as a lifelong student of Scripture, he agreed that learning about the Kingdom lifestyle outlined by the teaching of Torah takes time and training.<br />
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If the four guidelines of Acts 15 were the only rules for righteous living for the "church" then why do we have laws against murder and theft? Why don't we just teach our children that disobedience of parents is fine or that lying, adultery and cult idol worship are OK, after all there's grace, or do we?<br />
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We all know murder and mayhem are wrong, yet we ignore The Lord's Sabbaths. Why?<br />
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Paul became expert in the new covenant, the "Torah of the heart" and his letters reflect this. Not only that, he also knew the teachings of the sect of the Pharisees. That's not my opinion, he said so himself:<br />
<blockquote>
"Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!" Acts 23:6 </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee." Acts 26:4-5 </blockquote>
So, if we want to stop skimming the surface and dig in deep into the Jewish context and historic culture conflicting with the pagan setting in the days of Paul of Tarsus, you might see something, a hidden treasure in the book of Acts that can help us better understand Paul's message to the Galatians:<br />
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"... I have lived as a Pharisee."<br />
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The words say I have lived, not I used to. The Pharisees upheld the Torah and they upheld the Scriptural promise of resurrection and Messiah. Paul wasn't turning the Galatians against the Biblical instruction of circumcision found in the teaching he upheld with Timothy, nor any of God's words recorded by Moses that Yeshua of Nazareth explained with authority including the amazing Sermon on the Mount.<br />
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We can know Paul upheld the Torah in his faith in the Messiah of Israel simply because he professed it:<br />
<blockquote>
"Do we then overthrow the law (Torah) by this faith? <u>By no means</u>! On the contrary, we uphold the law (Torah)." Romans 3:31 </blockquote>
Paul wrote against his own prior prideful prejudice that was not upholding the Torah of God as a Believer in the resurrected Jewish Messiah. Before He saw the light of Messiah and heard Him on the Damascus road, he led religious persecution against those Jews that were called "The Way."<br />
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His new found heart message was simple, don't exchange the gracious mercy gift of a life-changing relationship with The Father for religious works required by men in a vain attempt to try to earn merit with God. Redemption by the works of the religious laws that add or take away from God's word are not God's way for the gift of salvation.<br />
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Like Daniel was promised, in the latter days "knowledge will increase."<br />
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About 70 years ago, a letter was found at Qumran in cave four, it is a part of the Dead Sea scroll collection and catalogued as 4QMMT from an abbreviation of its Hebrew name, Miqsat Ma`ase ha-Torah aka the "works of the law" recorded by the Essenes.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/images/torah-b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="800" height="189" src="https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/images/torah-b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: Library of Congress</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
According the notes at the Library of Congress, the letter expresses some of the sect’s halakhic views:<br />
<br />
"Apparently it consisted of four sections: (1) the opening formula, now lost; (2) a calendar of 364 days; (3) a list of more than twenty rulings in religious law (Halakhot), most of which are peculiar to the sect; and (4) an epilogue that deals with the separation of the sect from the multitude of the people and attempts to persuade the addressee to adopt the sect's legal views."<br />
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Martin Abegg is the author of an article entitled "<a href="https://members.bib-arch.org/biblical-archaeology-review/20/6/5" target="_blank">Paul, 'Works of the Law' and MMT</a>." It appeared in the 1994 November-December edition of Biblical Archaeological Review noting:<br />
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"In short, ma-ase ha-torah is equivalent to what we know in English from Paul's letters as 'works of the law.' This Dead Sea scroll and Paul used the very same phrase. The connection is emphasized by the fact that this phrase appears nowhere in rabbinic literature of the first and second centuries A.D. -- only in Paul and in MMT."<br />
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"The works of the law that the Qumran text refers are obviously typified by the 20 or so religious precepts (halakhah) detailed in the body of the Qumran text. Perhaps, for the first time we can really understand what Paul was writing about. Here is a document detailing works of the law." (p. 53, BAR, 11-12/94 issue).<br />
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The discovery of the Dead Seas Scrolls is a latter day miracle and the MMT fragments clear up one aspect of the often clouded picture of Paul's letters that reveal he realized religious efforts to achieve righteousness will never earn anyone redemption as he referenced the works of the law like those recorded by the Essenes. Paul understood Exodus and that salvation form slavery occurred before the Torah was ever given to Moses.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Galatians 2:16 KJV</blockquote>
Salvation's door must be first marked by the blood of the Lamb of God, the work of Yeshua, not men.<br />
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Many pulpits have mistakenly portrayed Paul as a "former Jew" that turned his back on the Old Testament and started a new religion after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul did not start a new religion or ever read the New Testament. Hold on to your pew, but he never went to church on Sunday as many believe, and he did not turn against Torah, the faith of Messiah Yeshua or the Jewish people, but he was concerned with some but NOT ALL traditions or oral laws. Some are very good and revealed in the ministry of Messiah.<br />
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What Paul did was depart from his former religious prejudice which he had once given greater weight than the faith, mercy and grace found at the very heart of God's Torah revealed at the mountaintop. Paul simply realized discrimination and prejudice was the crack in a dividing wall of hostility.<br />
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Like Peter, he learned God holds no hostility, no division or opinion of one person being holier than thou... for all have sinned. He learned salvation for everyone starts with faith just as Peter learned to not to continue to hold his prejudice against the Gentiles. Both men learned salvation is given by God's lovingkindness and grace for all people, whether Jew or Gentile and they learned God is faithful to bless "all nations" as He promised Abraham for their devotion and love returned to Him.<br />
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Paul, like Peter learned that a Gentile did not have to become a Jew to be a part of God's covenant. Peter learned the lesson with his food vision. That vision was not about food but people, like Paul he was called to those that even he considered "unclean."<br />
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As we have seen, Paul learned this truth after the bright light on the road to Damascus opened his eyes to God's plan for mankind. He learned it from Yeshua who had once said to the Pharisees that had: "...neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done."<br />
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Paul's concern was that the believers of Galatia were being leavened as he once was. Leavened if you will by a religious prejudice that Paul had been expert at. He like Peter, once propped up religious opinions that forbid the men of "circumcision" to associate with men of "un-circumcision."<br />
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Paul was trying to teach the spirit of Torah, the weightier provision of the royal law of faith that is about one growing in God's character of mercy and love, aka circumcision of the heart.<br />
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This heart lesson was the same one Peter learned from his vision on that rooftop in Joppa before he met with the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/act/10/1/s_1028001" target="_blank">Centurion from Caesarea</a>. His name was Cornelius and he loved the Jewish people. Peter went to meet him with six other Jews and all seven men including Peter were awestruck and amazed as they witnessed as the Holy Spirit poured out on the uncircumcised Roman Cornelius, his family and friends.<br />
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Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians from the heart of his own past bondage to religious persecution that was not the written life-giving character of the mercy and grace of the Torah-giver. Something dramatic and heart changing happened to Paul on that road to Damascus. Paul had met the risen, resurrected Yeshua on the way to his own redemption from the sin of prejudice. Paul came to know the glory of God on earth he became a light to the pagan Roman world as he traveled to wreak havoc and drag off Jewish men and women, committing them to prison if they followed "the way" of Yeshua (please read Acts 8-9).<br />
<br />Paul's heart was changed, God's new covenant was now written on it and like Peter, he learned that religious works as a means to salvation by religious conversion leads to persecution that is blind to God's goodness and unfailing love for all people through The Father's covenant with Abraham for all nations to be blessed in full character revealed atop Mount Sinai to Moses.<br />
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Simply put, both men learned one's religious heritage does not merit righteousness nor God's salvation and redemption by who we are or what we do, because all have sinned. Through his blindness and heart's healing, Paul saw the truth declared in the scroll of Exodus at the top of Mount Sinai:<br />
<blockquote>
"And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." Exodus 33:19 </blockquote>
Paul's heart was circumcised after he came to know El Shaddai's word in the flesh shown to the prophet Zechariah:<br />
<blockquote>
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem <b>a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy</b>, so that, when they look on me, on him <b>whom they have pierced</b>, they <b>shall mourn for him</b>, as one mourns for an only child, and <b>weep bitterly over him</b>, as one weeps over a firstborn." Zechariah 12:10</blockquote>
In the record of Acts, Paul provides his own expert witness of this to king Agrippa, before Festus, the military tribunes and the prominent men of Jerusalem, admitting his past sin which ignored mercy and grace as he appealed to mercy from Caesar.<br />
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We can understand this if we read and hear Acts 26:9 where Paul proclaimed to the angry, cynical crowd:<br />
<blockquote>
“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Yeshua of Nazareth." </blockquote>
Did you see that?<br />
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Paul was once convinced that he should oppose "salvation" the name of Yeshua by persecuting others. But Jesus of Nazareth showed Paul he was wrong in opposing the mercy of God's love by kicking against the pricks.<br />
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Paul realized the humble Yeshua, the "pierced one" came to tear down the "middle wall of separation" that existed between Jew and Gentile. He did not add new bricks, God's glory is unity (echad) in the royal law to love God and each other, both Jew and Gentile. Yet, this "middle wall of separation" is still dividing hearts and minds today.<br />
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In a way, we can see the separation refers to the Torah inscribed by Moses and the living Torah Yeshua Messiah. Many have rejected the Jewish people and rejected the Torah saying it is old and done away in a church that believes it has replaced the Jewish people. Yet, Yeshua is the living Torah because He lived the Torah. If we reject it don't we reject His Jewishness?<br />
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Division is symbolized by the wall in the Temple courtyard that separated the court of the Goyim (Gentiles) from the court of Yehudah (the Jews). <br />
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After Paul heard Yeshua's voice, he realized...<br />
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<b>Messiah's purpose, formerly a mystery, is to bring Heaven to earth by reconciling people. </b><br />
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</b> That includes the Gentiles (goyim) restoration with the Jewish (Yehuda) people as one (echad) new man in an ancient faith focused on friendship and love of The God of Israel. The God we serve does not changes, He will always be the “God of Israel.”<br />
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Yeshua's Torah path of righteous living was perfect because He followed the constitution of God's Kingdom. Paul taught the Ephesians this storyline of The Kingdom mystery of Messiah that is inclusive for all nations to be like Abraham and "cross over" in obedience, faith and love for The Father and each other on Earth as it is in Heaven. That is the big blessing of Torah, the most important teaching of the Bible according to Yeshua:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22 37-40</blockquote>
Everyone, whether Jew or not should seek restoration with each other and be spiritually revived, and follow the instruction and teaching of Scripture as a witness of Messiah in love for our Creator God of Hosts. Israel is the “apple of God’s eye.” The future of Christianity will be determined by its relationship with Israel.<br />
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Paul revealed this message to the Ephesians:<br />
<blockquote>
“When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Messiah, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles (nations) are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Messiah Yeshua through the gospel.” Ephesians 3:4-6</blockquote>
Paul never taught lawlessness against the God's teaching in the instruction of Torah, he never spoke against faithful Jewish people who sought wisdom in the oracles of God, nor did he ever teach against the 1,000 or so commandments anyone can find in the Newer Testament writings that expound on the message of Torah to reveal the heart of God's lovingkindness and expectation for His children to walk together in a servant's heart of righteous love.<br />
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The disciple John like Paul, taught from Isaiah in total agreement on this: <br />
<blockquote>
"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness [Torah-lessness]." 1John 3:4 </blockquote>
In fact, in his defense before Agrippa, Paul proclaimed in his confession we are all to perform good deeds, i.e. mitzvot of Torah in keeping with our repentance from wrong doing: <br />
<blockquote>
“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance." Acts 26:19-20 </blockquote>
Paul's Galatian letter combats his former longstanding, un-biblical notion of ignoring God's mercy and grace that had infiltrated the community, a teaching not found in Torah that to be considered a child of God, you had to become a proselyte by first being circumcised to be considered righteous and accepted. He opposed this religious "work" as a prerequisite for any Gentile (un-circumcision) to be eligible to become a bona fide member of the "family" of the God of Israel. <br />
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Paul came to know the heart of Torah, that no person, Jew, Greek or in between is ever worthy of salvation's righteousness by one's own deeds. He realized and taught that righteousness before God, is a gift given through repentant faith and belief in the life blood, freewill death and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua sent by God for the redemption and restoration of mankind to God.<br />
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Salvation and atonement of sin is based on Messiah Yeshua's worthiness not ours, but Paul also knew there is richness in a worthy walk in God's instruction for life in His Kingdom.<br />
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Paul realized some rules of religion had over time, forgotten that Abraham was God's friend years before he was ever circumcised.<br />
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He understood the place of Scripture as the guide for life had been usurped by religious traditions and popular opinions that led many to ignore the authority of Scripture.<br />
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In fact, in response to these issues, the apostle Paul told Timothy, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). In line with this, Paul understood that only the original manuscripts of the Bible are the inspired words of God standing as the final judge of truth in all areas of life, not men's religious opinion.<br />
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According to Paul, his former prejudice led to religious fury against faithful Jews that followed Yeshua as their Rabbi and Messiah emanated from religious discrimination that he had once held in his own heart as a raging fury that led to imprisonment and even death like Stephen's (see Acts 8).<br />
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Paul taught that religious tradition could expel love and relationship contrary to <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/deu/12/32/s_165032" target="_blank">the teaching of Moses</a> against God's own heart described by The Creator in Exodus 34:5-6.<br />
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Look at Paul's own public confession of his sin in Acts 26:10-11... <br />
<blockquote>
"And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities." </blockquote>
Now you know: Why the Letter to the Galatians?<br />
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In summary, Paul's issue was that religious tradition if it opposes God's Word, can miss the heart and goal of Torah to show the world God's mercy and lovingkindness. That was the issue. Lovingkindness was missing because in those days tradition did not allow a Jew to even walk, talk or befriend a Gentile just as Peter once believed.<br />
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Paul's focus in the letter zeroes in on a repentant walk of faith that must come first, just as Abraham's faith was based on relationship not tradition. As we have seen, Paul professed this in the court of Agrippa describing the deeds in a proper Torah walk: "and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, [<i><b>then</b></i>] <u>performing deeds in keeping with their repentance</u>."<br />
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To get an even better grip on the heart of the Galatian letter, consider the mixture of differing 'church' traditions embedded in the thousands of denominational doctrines prevalent within a wide spectrum of opinion infused with shades of varying attitudes that separate rather than provide unity in the 'body' of Messiah.<br />
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As we have seen, a modern version of the conflict in Galatia still exists today in plain sight as the root of faith in God is buried in a myriad of opposing denominational differences never found in Scripture.<br />
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Not to pick a bone with anyone in particular but only as an example, consider a doctrine of a denomination teaching that a person must be first baptized in water in order to be saved. This is yet another promotion of Augustine that resulted in his promotion of child baptism by water sprinkling has resulted in heated debates much like the issue of circumcision as a requirement for salvation that Paul wrote about. Not only that, like the issue of circumcision, this salvation requirement of baptism poses a manmade dilemma for one that believes on Yeshua as the Messiah but receives no baptism.<br />
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The thing is Jesus was Jesus before He was ever baptized at the Jordan River. Think about that for a minute or two.<br />
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Baptism or "mikvah" properly follows salvation as a witness of a changed life, but like circumcision baptism is not a pre-condition deed required to be eligible for God's salvation.<br />
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Baptism is commanded by Yeshua as an outward sign of a servant under God's authority in heaven over sin on earth. When Messiah was mikvah-ed, aka baptized by John in the living water of the river, He said: "for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."<br />
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Water immersion represents fulfilling righteousness in the Word of God, the process of new life from death fittingly symbolizes the glory power of God to cleanse and cover (atone) the death penalty of sin and it points to the promise of resurrection to restored life in righteousness (see Matthew 3:16, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33 and Acts 2:38).<br />
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If you have heard or follow other denominational doctrines that are declared for church "membership" you might see that are not that far from the Pharisee's views on circumcision. Think long and hard about this too: if all the denominations of today and their requirements for "membership" existed in Paul's day, we would find the New Testament too heavy to carry all the letters of admonition from the Jew of Tarsus against denominational teachings that add to and take away from God's words.<br />
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Just as it was in Paul's day, it's time to re-examine religious tradition and line up our denominational dogmas and doctrines against the straight plumb-line of Scripture. Its time to let go of anything in your life, whether sin or custom that opposes "the way" of life Torah teaching of the anointed one, Yeshua of Nazareth.<br />
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If we will just step back for a moment, we might see that denominational doctrines also separate us like the Pharisee and Sadducee of Paul's day. According to a 2011 report from the <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/" target="_blank">Pew Research Center</a>, Christians are diverse theologically... "About half are Catholic. Protestants, broadly defined, make up 37%. Orthodox Christians comprise 12% of Christians worldwide."<br />
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Perhaps the best example to understand about diverse theology that differs from God's Word is <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Church+of+the+Holy+Sepulchre/@31.7784809,35.2252229,16z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x150329cf1c246db5:0x2d04a75cfc390360!8m2!3d31.7784813!4d35.2296002" target="_blank">the Church of the Holy Sepulcher</a> located just a few hundred feet from the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem. The church building there is believed by many to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection despite the fact that other locations for the crucifixion include Golgotha as well as locations for the burial and resurrection. These include <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Garden+Tomb+Jerusalem/@31.7784776,35.2119833,14z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sGolgotha!3m4!1s0x0:0x6aca923e271b71b2!8m2!3d31.7839843!4d35.2302736" target="_blank">the Garden Tomb</a> and Talpiot tomb sites carved from the limestone bedrock in the area.<br />
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The Church of the Holy Sepulcher location was established by Constantine's mother Helena in the 4th century. Believe it or not, access to this old church building in Jerusalem is governed today by a Muslim family that literally holds the keys to the church door while six denominations with widely varying doctrines maintain distinctly separate traditional services there.<br />
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These denominations include Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, as well as Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Ethiopian Tewahedo. These six can teach us about Paul's Galatian letter. Which of these divided denominational groups would Paul choose to "join" if he were living in Jerusalem today? I know that's a difficult question but the answer should be obvious - none of them!<br />
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If we look at <a href="https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&q=differences+in+denominational+teachings&oq=differences+in+denominational+teachings&gs_l=psy-ab.3...2735.15139.0.15635.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.b7-oxMJQURw" target="_blank">differences in denominational dogmas</a> that separate <b>rather than</b> bring people together as "one" in Messiah, the living Torah in the flesh, we might begin to understand the dilemma of "hostility" and the "stumbling stones" <b>of opinion </b>that existed in Paul's day. These stones of hostility <b>have not</b> <b>disappeared over time, they have multiplied. </b><br />
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You do not have to travel back in time or go to Jerusalem<b> </b>to ask the question,<b> </b>why the letter to the Galatians?<br />
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All you need do is drive around any city or town and look around at the host of different denominations near you. If you want to ultimate proof and you have the time, money and means, simply go to home base. Book a flight to Jerusalem and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.<br />
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Have you ever visited "different" church denominations or even Jewish synagogues comprised of a variety of movements? If not, why not, do you shy away because they do not "believe" as you do?<br />
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If you will take on the challenge to visit other denominations, sooner or later you will likely be asked to undergo doctrinal training or conversion so that you will be eligible to become a tithe paying "member." <br />
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Now, step back for a moment and ask: why is membership needed, and why do creeds, confessions and statements of faith vary so widely?<br />
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What happened to the book of life?<br />
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Isn't the Bible the one word of God, isn't the 'church' supposed to be 'one' assembly, the 'whole' body of believers united as one in Messiah in "the way" Paul described:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you are Messiah's then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:27-29</blockquote>
Perhaps now you can understand the faith dilemma of the Galatians!<br />
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Paul said, "if you are Messiah's then you are then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise." Perhaps you are beginning to see the bricks in the walls of separation that are held by the mortar of doctrines that create division and oppose what Paul describes as "one new man" establishing peace and reconciliation to God (Ephesians 2:15) and "heirs according to the promise" given Abraham.<br />
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Paul did not come up with a new religion. He knew the word of The Lord given to the prophet Jeremiah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,<br />
“when I will make a new covenant<br />
with the people of Israel<br />
and with the people of Judah." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel<br />
after that time,” declares the Lord.<br />
“I will put my law [Torah] in their minds<br />
and write it on their hearts.<br />
I will be their God,<br />
and they will be my people."</blockquote>
The key to covenant is the Torah of God and Messiah the living Torah, and the message of forgiveness that is to be written "in" our hearts has its foundation on God's character of mercy and lovingkindness. The new covenant written inside the heart was foreshadowed by Moses when he set the tablets inside the heart of the Tabernacle after his return trip:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as the LORD commanded me.” Deuteronomy 10:5</blockquote>
Every letter of Paul describes a proper heart relationship with God and each other through Messiah Yeshua.<br />
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If you think Paul if difficult to understand, consider today's religious difference and tradition, they offer a time portal of understanding for you to see the truth because division, partition and separation from the loving heart of Torah is what Paul was dealing with in Galatia.<br />
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<center>
<big>Like Paul, the disciples taught the opposite of religious difference.</big></center>
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As noted, we can learn from Peter. He learned to teach what the Torah teaches, but it took a vision from God to show him the truth although he walked with Yeshua for years. After Peter's eyes were opened, he then wrote of one faith, "a" royal priesthood, "a" holy nation, "a" people, not many. Like Paul, Peter never taught that you should look around for the "right" church to join because you agree with a denominational doctrine. No, Peter taught of unity in faith and the excellencies of mercy from the Torah established by THE FATHER, recorded by Moses and instructed by Yeshua through God's mercy: <br />
<blockquote>
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, <b>that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light</b>. Once you were not a people, but <b>now you are God’s people</b>; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1Peter 2:9-10 </blockquote>
As we learn from the words from Peter the Jew named Kepha, the focus of faith, is about a royal priesthood from God's mercy and it is for <b>you to proclaim the excellencies of Him</b> and be blessed by <b>the same faith promise</b> given Abraham declared in the same Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures) that Jesus the Jew taught. After all, the Torah was given to Israel AND the aliens and sojourners with them.<br />
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They were "all" called out by God.<br />
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Paul and Peter are two witnesses that came to understand why Messiah Yeshua prayed: "<b>that they may all be one even as we are one</b>" to The Father in His high priestly prayer revealed to the planet in John 17 and that prayer is the same no matter who you are: <br />
<blockquote>
"Sanctify them in the truth; <b>your word is truth</b>. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may <b>be sanctified in truth</b>. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, <b>that they may all be one</b>, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, <b>that they also may be in us</b>, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, <b>that they may be one even as we are one</b>, I in them and you in me, <b>that they may become perfectly one</b>, so that the world <b>may know that you sent m</b>e and loved them even as you loved me." John 17:17-23 </blockquote>
Like the noble Bereans mentioned in Acts 17:11, you too can search the Scriptures to see how the Father wants as you worship Him and love others in mercy and grace. The Torah does not need a religious fence around it and this is Paul's message.<br />
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God does not need our religious dogma to help Him govern the universe.<br />
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The Bible shows us from the beginning to the end that God is seeking people with a repentant heart that choose to walk after Him.<br />
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This is the plain faith message of Moses: <br />
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<center>
<big>"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, </big></center>
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<big>and be no more stiffnecked." Deuteronomy 10:16</big></center>
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As we have seen, Abraham was the first witness to Paul's message on circumcision. He was not circumcised in the flesh until age 99, yet he received "the covenant" blessing for the nations of the earth long before the day Almighty God <i><b>came like a man</b></i> and stood before him at the oak of Mamre. Abraham walked with God as a friend for at many years before God's instruction of circumcision as a sign before Issac was conceived by Sarah.<br />
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Paul never taught against God's Word, but the way in he taught can be difficult to understand so I pray this has helped you in some way.<br />
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Don't forget, he taught Timothy encouraging him to study the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings to be equipped for every good work (mitzvah). Think about this too, there was no New Testament in existence when he penned these words: <br />
<blockquote>
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2Timothy 16-17 </blockquote>
An uninformed pulpit teaching of Galatians can be a big problem for the people in the pew if it teaches against God's instruction in righteousness.<br />
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Paul's teaching about the Torah and God's heart has been interpreted. That was what Peter said when he wrote: <i><b>ignorant and unstable</b></i> people distort, as they do <i><b>the other Scriptures</b></i>, to their own <b><i>destruction</i></b>. It is the crucial factor around which the church has misunderstood its own relationship to the Torah, but that is changing, praise God and that is why you are here.<br />
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So, we must search out the Torah hidden within Paul's letters if we are to ever understand them, and to do so we must dig into God's Word. We must ask our Heavenly Father to give us understanding through His Spirit to help us see that doctrines can distort the truth of mercy like tares sown among the wheat. Paul's message is to focus first on a repentant relationship with God first with faith in Messiah – not in the religious doctrines of men that can mislead us if we seek them in exchange for God's mercy.<br />
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Remember, Moses instructs all people not to add to God's instruction or subtract from it and that's the bedrock of Paul's letters. Replacement theology in any form has no place in The Kingdom of God.<br />
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Did you know, the first instruction given Moses for the sanctuary was about the pure gold (kapporeth) covering of the ark that has now come to be called the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/exo/25/17/s_75017" target="_blank">mercy seat</a> that rested atop the Ark of the Covenant?<br />
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Likewise, we can pray and reflect first on the unchanging gold character of Messiah Yeshua because we are responsible first to repent and seek mercy before we can be forgiven and understand God's instruction for holy (set apart) living. If we are to live out God's instruction in love we must first study and teach His word just as Paul and our Messiah did (see John 13:15; 1 John 2:6; Ephesians 5:1-2 and 1Corinthians 11:1).<br />
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The reason, the “Great Commission” isn’t only about preaching about a cross, but about discipling and teaching others how to live a Kingdom lifestyle in repentant love for The Father and others as we learn to follow God in righteous kingdom living as a child of God and one new man (Matthew 28:18-20).<br />
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This is "the way" Paul taught and that Yeshua walked. Both have been misunderstood for 2,000 years, but repentance is coming forth today as the divide is closing as promised by the prophet Jeremiah. Believers are learning to believe, learning to love God and His instruction that does not minimize or diminish mercy or grace. It puts the character of God first and foremost in our heart where it belongs before the seat of God's mercy in Yeshua's sprinkled blood. God's loving instruction is about walking near Him, it moves a person from the penalty of man's religious tradition that can reject mercy and lovingkindness.<br />
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In fact, it is God’s grace that provides forgiveness for the times that we "miss the mark" when we slip and fall on the narrow path. It is only in love for The Father that we get to walk in His path of forgiveness, love and in repentant obedience just as we forgive those that trespass against us.<br />
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God's mercy and unending love is why the world has His once-and-for-all healing offering which is from the blood of the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/isa/53/5/s_732005" target="_blank">one pierced for our transgressions</a>, Messiah Yeshua, the Son of God noted in Proverbs 30:4 who walked a sinless Torah path as a man and willingly offered His own life to pay the penalty that we all deserve for going astray in sin rejecting God and His instruction.<br />
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Isaiah 53:4-6 declares: <br />
<blockquote>
<i>"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness." "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.</i> </blockquote>
When we accept in faith Yeshua's atoning gift of God's grace, we can receive the deliverance in restoration only our Creator can bring and we get to show our gratitude in love in faith as James taught by our heart for Torah deeds. Our works honor our Heavenly Father, others and ourselves by keeping God's Kingdom ways because we choose to, and we can do so in amazement and joy trusting what Yeshua has done to atone and heal mankind's iniquities!<br />
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From a proper Biblical perspective, Paul’s comments are easier to comprehend when placed into their proper Biblical and historic context, I pray this commentary has shown you... that God's restoration plan includes both Jew and Gentile, one in Messiah.<br />
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If I can summarize, Paul declares the ancient truth, that relationship based on "faith" is the doorway to covenant with our Creator. Faith is as it has always been shown by the faith of Abraham who listened to God and "crossed over" from the Ur of the Chaldeans in Babylon to the Promised Land (see Galatians 3:6-9).<br />
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<center>
<big>Seeking the light of truth is the key to understanding Galatians.</big></center>
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<br />
Paul's message is not hidden below the surface of his words. His point is that God seeks those who will regard Him with fond affection, rather than stand at a religious arm’s length from Him as a taskmaster. This truth is also shown in this declaration to Hosea: <br />
<blockquote>
“It will be in that day," says the LORD, "That you will call me 'my husband,' And no longer call me 'my master.'” Hosea 2:16 HNV </blockquote>
Paul's Torah message comes out in its proper context. God wants people that to serve Him and others out of love much like that of a woman for her husband. Paul's point is that God is concerned with intimate relationship. The Father wants our worship to be borne of love and devotion, not ruled through religious control. The fact is, the Galatians that Paul met came from neo-pagan worship, they were "non-Jews" assimilated in ancient Greek and Roman lifestyle before Paul arrived with other brothers in faith.<br />
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Before they met Paul, many Galatians didn't know Torah or hear it and likely did not know anything about God's teaching and instruction before Paul's arrived on the Greek scene. Instead, the Greeks, like the Romans, worshipped false-gods and followed the dark celebrations and seasons of Olympus.<br />
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These non-Jews had grown up in pagan culture, a yoke of slavery, and Paul know they would never view the Torah as they should without caring instruction that would take time.<br />
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As we have seen in the letter to the Romans, the "days and months and seasons" that were disparaged by Paul in Galatians 4:9-10 were not the Biblically appointed Sabbaths or the Festivals of The Lord, but rather the pagan ways of hellenistic polytheism that carried on from its roots in ancient Babylonian idol worship polluted by the festivities of Greco-Roman nations that still remains hidden on our calendars in a few remnant forms today celebrated with mass marketed "holiday" cards.<br />
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Many of those Greek days, months and seasons that have survived morphed in Rome in one form or another from Babylon and Egypt. Incredibly, some have been adopted and morphed into the Christian church as major celebrations. They are from the Bible and include Christmas and Easter and neither are a part of the Feasts of The Lord, but that is another study you can easily do on your own, but you have to tear out the blank page in your Bible to let you mind see the truth.<br />
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Bottomline, in the Greek culture of Paul's day in Galatia, people celebrated and worshipped all sorts of polytheistic idols and Greek fake-gods and <a href="https://www.vita-romae.com/ancient-roman-calendar.html" target="_blank">used their own calendar </a>system to manage the festivities and orgies. Basically everyone had a family shrine and would go to the temples of the gods. Only a few of the holidays remain today such as but in Paul's day the Roman calendar had about 40 religious festivals a year. Saturnalia and Lupercalia were a part of the Feriae Conceptivae, the dates of which were fixed and included Feriae Latinae in April. The name Easter comes from an Anglo-Saxon goddess named Eostre, but the Romans called their festival time Feriae Latinae.<br />
<br />
As we have seen, even our modern weekdays are infused in Hellenistic Roman and Greek astrology as each day is named after myth-idol-god deities of the heavens. Naming the days of each and every week was is a system made popular around the globe by the Romans when they honored the days after the neo-pagan deities of their time mixing the Bible's ancient countdown to the 7th day Sabbath with false-god and Mother Earth rituals and sacrifice.<br />
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During the course of a year in Paul's day, celebrations of the Greek and Roman gods were in conflict with Jewish teaching that tracked with the Bible, so if we do not have at least some understanding of the context of the culture of his day, we can not easily see the truth in the Galatian letter and continue to follow adopted part of the Roman calendar Feriae Conceptivae.</div><div>
<br />I do hope you are opening your eyes to Paul's letter and the fact that many ancient Greek traditions survive today in one form or another even including the Olympic Games that still carry on the mystical name of the home of the Greek false-gods of Olympus. In fact, references to the legends of some of the multitude of their false-gods and heroes continue in common everyday expressions such as "Achilles heel" or "Pandora's box" and "Herculean effort." They all tie to the Greek culture of Paul's day.<br />
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Even the architecture of the Greek temples like the Parthenon and the Acropolis are still revered today as well. If you doubt that, just take a trip to Washington DC to view the Greek temple architecture that is infused even in the U.S. Supreme Court building. In fact, the most recognized legal symbol there is the female figure on the steps and the lampposts leading to the main entrance representing "justice." It dates back to depictions of Themis and Justicia that are infused in the religions of Greece and Rome that still survive, alive and well.<br />
<br />
In Roman mythology, Justicia (Justice) was one of the "four virtues." Themis was the Greek Goddess of Justice and Law.<br />
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That reverence for the Greek gods is why Paul appeals to the Galatian people to rely on the account of Abraham (Galatians 3:6, 3:14, 3:16, 3:18; 4:22), after all they could relate to Abram. He left the pagan ways and life of Babylon, he "crossed over" and Paul knew the Gentiles could relate to his story. Abram was God's friend and he 'demonstrated' his love in truth and spirit as “two” witnesses to the mercy that was shown to him.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham. Nehemiah 9:7</blockquote>
As Peter points out for those that distort Paul, the problem is not with Paul, people have an issue with the front of the Bible, they distort the Scriptures" to their destruction as I once did despite the fact that the Scripture are the <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/messiahs-bible_31.html" target="_blank">Messiah's Bible</a>.<br />
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So what do we do now with the bondage of law that Paul wrote about?<br />
<br />
As we have seen, for many years, religious men have been adding to the Torah or taking away from it, rather than finding rest in YHWH's love and grace established in the Torah that was made to abound through Messiah Yeshua.<br />
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When God's words are written in our hearts, His Spirit gives us the desire do the things instructed by His voice, not in order to earn merit or favor or hope our names will be written on the book of life, but rather because we delight in "getting to" do them as we celebrate love for our Father and others. It is that expression of love that is the real blessing... after all, loving Almighty God in relationship is the greatest command we must understand (See Matthew 22:37-40) and the second is loving others too.</div><div>
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But there is one, a serpent that opposes this great truth about the mercy and grace of God's love emanating from His mercy seat. That beast if you will, does not want us to be 'whole' Bible believers, so he promotes Greek philosophy. The adversary wants us to be deceived and think we do not need God's whole instruction manual. The enemy wants people to be ineffective and not know that after Jesus healed others, He ALWAYS instructed them to "go and sin no more."<br />
<br />
The deception is the lie that faith in Yeshua as Messiah should not be followed with honoring God's Torah, His instruction manual for living that defines the life of Messiah. The enemy wants us to remain sidelined in sin so we cannot be effective in showing others how to demonstrate their love for God and others through the blessing of righteous living in the power of the Holy Spirit.<br />
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The deception veils our understanding of Paul's letters and separates Christians from our Jewish brothers and sisters too. The adversary abhors a family of faith walking together like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.<br />
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Paul taught that all nations can be adopted as a part of God’s children in the promise of Abraham, after all that was the promise given to Abraham. A family with the name Israel given as as gift by faith and trust in the redemption gospel of the Kingdom. That's the message seen in the aliens and sojourners following the cloud and pillar of fire along with Israel in the book of Exodus is about.<br />
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Paul taught the Gentile believers about a repentant life of faith. He expounded in the Roman letter that followers of Messiah are fellow heirs with Abraham, and partakers of the promises of the covenant God made with Israel. He taught that all believers are grafted in as heirs of God's great promise and blessing through Messiah Yeshua (see Galatians 4:7).<br />
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Paul also warned the Galatians to not be entangled again with <b>the yoke of bondage</b> of Hellenism, a devotion to ancient Greek thought, customs and lifestyles (see Galatians 5:1).<br />
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I must say it again, the message to the Galatians is not in opposition to a Torah lifestyle that God outlined for mankind as His Kingdom constitution and the letter is not difficult to understand, provided you first seek truth and spirit to understand the message in the truth of Biblical light.<br />
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Paul taught the power of the gospel and faith in Messiah Yeshua is the entry to the door of God’s covenant household. Paul taught from Moses who wrote: <br />
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"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." Deuteronomy 30:6 </blockquote>
Paul hit the nail on the head by asserting that righteousness does not come via circumcision as “works of law.” He taught one’s forgiveness does not come by human deed or action seeking brownie points with God, but forgiveness comes through repentance and the redemptive work that Yeshua Jesus offers for all people, all nations, Jew and Gentile. Yeshua walked the walk, talked the talk and took on sin's penalty at his Passover cross three days before He arose in eternal resurrection glory as God's Priest King.<br />
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If you believe this, then your life, your study and your perspective on the deep message of Galatians will go well with you. Not only will you be able to have a fuller grasp on the context of the religious conflict shown in Galatians that continues today, but also its great importance in the circumcision of your own heart as you work out your faith in loving God and others.<br />
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There's something else to remember about the two trips Moses made with the covenant of the Ten Commandments and the final redemption. God's Passover instruction in Egypt saved people at a personal level. The blood of the lamb was smeared on each doorway by each family so that those inside could be saved from the final plague of death. Yom Kippur speaks of corporate or national redemption, so that all Israel many be saved and Paul wrote of this too although it is still hidden in plain sight to many:<br />
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For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” Romans 11:25-26</blockquote>
Needless to say, we need to understand the foundation of the Hebrew Scriptures given in the letter to the Romans and the Galatians because the body of believers have entered the season when Jew and Gentile are called together in fullness by our identity in Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel.<br />
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So, I will say it again, Paul is not trying to do away with Torah, circumcision or start a new religion. He never did, nor did Yeshua who upholds God's Torah and He will fulfill it, all of it, even the fall feast of judgment day aka Yom Kippur.<br />
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Some say Paul started a new religion replacing the old with the new and that his letters prove it, yet the fact is Paul uses all of his learning from the front of the Bible to prove God's mercy and grace. In all of he letters, Paul always uses the highest commands of Torah and prophet-based proof for his positions. Each passage is built on the context of the Tanach.<br />
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Not understanding that is the ignorance that the disciple Peter warned of and it only causes destruction and really bad preaching.<br />
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That's why Peter warns that <i><b>ignorant and unstable</b></i> people distort Paul's letters, as they do the <b style="font-style: italic;">other Scriptures. </b>Peter's message is don't remain ignorant of God's Word. Study the Tanach for yourself just as Messiah did. Rather than invalidating the Torah, look to the teaching of Messiah that causes the Torah to abound.<br />
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It's not easy but Paul can show you how. Believe the Torah, it is from the voice of God. It teaches the big picture that a person can only be justified before God not by works but by faith, atonement and God's own redeeming mercy and grace.<br />
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<big>Paul's writing is not new, it is from the beginning.</big></center>
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We can see Paul taught Abraham lived by faith in the eyes of God, because of that Abraham was God's friend. Read Galatians 3:9 again for yourself. Paul taught that Abraham in faith kept the Torah he had received as instruction from God (see Genesis 26:5). Abraham was the first man to be circumcised and Paul never taught against that, <b>again he called it profitable</b>!<br />
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"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit [<i>is there</i>] of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." Romans 3:1-2 </blockquote>
Paul was a Jew, but many have changed His Jewish identity. Paul wrote this: <br />
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“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.” Romans 2:28-29</blockquote>
The disciple James, another Jew whose real name was Jacob (Yaakov) also uses Abraham as the example to show us that Abraham was justified by his faith and his faith was made perfect and complete by his works because Abraham "acted" on his faith just as James taught: faith without works is dead (see James 2:14-24).<br />
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Due to the error of dispensational, replacement theology, and lack of proper historic context, many Believers suffer from an identity crisis and misread the message of Paul and the words of James, the brother of Jesus. It is time to put an end to this.<br />
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Don't remain confused in ignorance and equate doing the law (Torah) with a goal to earn justification and salvation by good works. The Torah never taught that message as the Heavenly eternal instruction manual for "living near" God and walking in His ways on earth because you love and worship Him as a bond servant.<br />
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Messiah Yeshua didn’t come to replace Israel. He came to find them and fulfill the Torah, make it abound so that the Jewish disciples could become a royal priesthood to teach the world about the Kingdom of God. Yeshua came to close the gap, tear down the walls of separation to reconcile all men to God, first the Jew, and then the Gentile as a faithful assembly.<br />
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The Hebrew word, Torah means "to teach, to point out as aiming". After all, instruction is what any father, but most especially our Heavenly Father gives to all of his children to draw us near and point us toward truth and living a life which is righteous and pleasing to the Father. The storyline of Exodus is quite clear about this.<br />
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Doing the Torah does not save anyone, it never did, it was given by God to teach us how to live life in His Kingdom.<br />
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Read the Exodus account carefully for yourself and take notice, Israel received the Torah from the fire "after" they were saved by the blood of a lamb and brought out of Egypt through the sea to be set-apart in covenant near the Creator God of Israel. Exodus ultimately teaches us all that a person must believe in the Messiah's atonement for sin and <b>we get to demonstrate our love</b> by living life in the light according to the truth and spirit of the living water of Torah. This is the same message James taught: <br />
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"Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” — and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." James 2:20-24 </blockquote>
Yeshua Ha-Mashiach is the embodiment of living Torah, He is sinless "Word of God" made flesh. When He lived his life on this planet as a humble Jewish man from Nazareth, Jesus always instructed his followers how they could live in a Heavenly way as He explained the meaning of Torah and the sayings that supported it.<br />
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In Matthew 5:17, our Savior taught the multitudes gathered and the Mount and He still teaches us about this: <br />
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"<b>Think not that I have come to destroy the Torah.</b>" </blockquote>
This word "destroy" points us to a basic Hebrew idiom about the Torah which means <b>to wrongly interpret and teach</b> the meaning of God's instruction for your life given by the voice of God at another mountain, Mount Sinai: <br />
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"But I have not come to destroy (<i>wrongly interpret and teach</i>) but to fulfill (another Jewish idiom which means to "<i>make abound</i>" in your life) ..."</blockquote>
In Revelation 14:12 He said: "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua." Yeshua reinforces His goal to make the Torah abound, endure in purpose and in Revelation 22:12,14 He reiterates what James had learned from Him: <br />
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"And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work (good works) shall be... Blessed are they that do his commandments (walks by love and walks in the path of the Torah taught by Yeshua) that they may have right to the tree of life (eternal life) and may enter in through the gates of the city". </blockquote>
Yeshua uses words fromof tree of life here for good reason too. It's another Hebrew idiom. Did you know that the columns of a Torah scroll are called leaves? That is no coincidence, its another Hebrew word picture. Jeremiah 36:21,23 tells us about the leaves of a Torah scroll: <br />
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"So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll (scroll)... and Jehudi READ it in the ears of the king ... And it came to pass when Jehudi had read three or four leaves ..." </blockquote>
Here, the "leaves" on the "tree of life" is a reference to the passages found inscribed in the columns of every Torah scroll. The vision of Revelation also describes a river that runs beside the tree of life. Do you know why He does that? In its Hebraic context, Revelation tells us keeping the commandments of God is like a river of life and Revelation 22:2 is a direct reference to the promise of Psalm 1:2-3 which describes the delight of a person who keeps the Torah of God: <br />
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"But his delight is in the Torah of the Lord: and in his Torah does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; and his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall prosper". </blockquote>
Any biologist will tell you the basics, life cannot not exist without water. We cannot live abundantly without God's Torah either. In summary, the issue in understanding Paul's message to the Galatians is that we must read the letter in its proper Torah foundation, not mixed with religious confusion. The nature of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was that it mixed these together; the fruit of the tree, when eaten mixes the truth with lies.<br />
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Mixture is the serpent's poison to cause chaos and that is why the Torah has prohibitions against (kalayim)) mixing or combining certain species of animals, plants and even clothing (shatnez). These the Torah's way of teaching a greater meaning by using creation as an example of a greater truth (see Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:11. The verses serve teachings that reveal insights for our understanding of holiness. Deception mixes a little bit of truth with a big lie. One of those lies that I once fell for was that the Torah is a good read but an "Old" Testament, done away at the cross. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is not, God does not change.<br />
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Paul was concerned with a mixture of truth that the way to earn salvation is 'doing' Torah. Paul actually writes that keeping the commandments of God can never provide mercy for eternal life. God is the provider of mercy. Paul taught the goal of Torah is to point you to Messiah, to show you that we all need a redeemer. It sets out Godly standards to show our need for the Messiah while at the same time it teaches us how we get to live our lives in a kingdom way which is pleasing to The Father just as Yeshua did. Paul used the Torah and the Prophets as the source text trying to teach others who Yeshua is: <br />
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"... From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Yeshua both from the Torah of Moses and from the Prophets." Acts 28:23 </blockquote>
Yeshua overcame the curse of willful sin (violation of Torah) by taking death upon Himself, offering His life as a door to eternal life at a Roman execution stake. His offering was an exchange for life in resurrection. He is the kinsmen redeemer breaking the curse of eternal death and separation from God which comes from our own deliberate choice in disobedience to God's word. The Torah of God is about blessing. Yeshua did not do away with the Torah, Heaven forbid, He fills it with meaning.<br />
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He never took away the blessing that results when we walk just as He did.<br />
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Yeshua alone can redeem us from eternal death. Think of it as separation from Eden. There, the first curse was not brought not by God, He warned of it; but by Adam and Eve's choice they disregarded God's instruction as if it had been done away with and brought destruction on themselves.<br />
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The first command given to them was a blessing to be fruitful and multiply, to bring forth life to the earth and rule over it. Our Creator never dis away with this or any blessing but the choice is yours.<br />
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Paul taught this: <br />
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"Wherefore the law [Torah] is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? <b>God forbid...</b>" Romans 7:12-13</blockquote>
So what is its message for today?<br />
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To answer that, the simple question that we should all be asking is, "How is God telling us to live and bring forth life in God's instruction?" Of course, our minds will immediately think of our natural surroundings first, but this is the wrong place to look. To answer the question, we must look inward and at the great commission.<br />
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How is He asking us to live? The instruction manual is within the guidelines and principles of the Torah: love God and others. This is the summary of God's will. The big picture question posed to the Galatians boils down to this: how are we to live in true faith?<br />
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Does Scripture urge you to live following man's traditions that take away or add to God's teaching and instruction or have you been "called out" to live a life separate and apart as a divine appointment with your Abba Father?<br />
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Are you truly serious about your faith?<br />
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If so, live within the guidelines of God's word which Paul has told us to begins with repentance. Do you believe every unchanging jot or tittle of what God has spoken even if you do not understand them just yet? Or, do you believe the lie from Eden that He does not mean what He says as we preach man-made traditions not looking to God's Word with the covenant to bless all nations?<br />
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Do we mix the knowledge of good and evil turning our backs on His Word, and facing man's religious doctrine?<br />
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Many people are now re-considering what they have been taught and are stepping out on a walk of faith just as Abraham taught his son Isaac. As we have seen, when famine came, Isaac wanted to take control of the situation. But the message to Isaac was clear. He was told to follow God's instruction.<br />
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Isaac accepted this, he made the right choice and entered a new walk because of it. It was one he had not walked in fully before that time. In order for him to live in the provision of his Creator, Isaac learned to let go and trust in the voice and teaching of Almighty God. He had to learn faith, then walk in repentance.<br />
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Since the first century, only a few, a remnant have walked boldly in faith and obedience to God not turning to men like Marcion for advice. We can be like them and return to "the way" God tells us to live in a Kingdom lifestyle.<br />
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The unfiltered message to the Galatians is for us too, we must understand that it is the walk of faith in Messiah, the living Torah that has to come first, it's the will of God.<br />
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If we will learn and choose this, then we can live as Messiah tells us to live just as He did. This is a part of the process of bringing the lost sheep home in reconciliation with God as He intended and make atonement a reality. The God of Israel does not want to remain distant, He wants to be close, to be with us, to live with us and in us, to write His Word, His law on our hearts.<br />
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Messiah Yeshua's Hebrew name means salvation. He was dedicated to God from the beginning on the 8th day of His life on earth He was circumcised and given His amazing name. Take note, His family was devoted to God's instruction in circumcision. He was set apart for God's work on earth and the Father's purpose in His name. He was circumcised just as Isaac was on the eighth day according to the teaching and instruction (the Torah) and in agreement with the covenant given to Abraham:<br />
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"When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Yeshua, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived. And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord… Luke 2:21-22 </blockquote>
Messiah Yeshua is the fulfillment of the instruction and trial given Abraham that would test his faith. <br />
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“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Genesis 22:1-2 </blockquote>
After Isaac's binding (called Akedah) on the wood at Mount Moriah, Isaac is not seen again in the Torah until his bride Rebekah approached him. The same will be for Messiah Yeshua. Be the bride, approach Him today, move toward Him, seek Him.<br />
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Throughout His ministry, Yeshua taught and lived out the Torah. He never added to or took away from it. He did this by always making a resolute daily decision, a choice to put God's instruction first and foremost, not Himself, but God’s will. He said this: "I came down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me."<br />
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Messiah lived out His purpose to serve God as His son by setting Himself apart as a living sacrifice and He will live out Torah when He comes again as He did before. Yeshua taught the life of Torah when He said: "I sanctify Myself, I set Myself apart to serve God; set Myself apart from anything that is unholy, anything that is against God’s will." He set Himself apart by doing the Word of God. He never violated God’s teachings, He did not sin, He did what His Father said, like the shadow picture Isaac provides. Not only that, He became the lamb that God would provide for Himself: <br />
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And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. Genesis 22:7-8 </blockquote>
Yeshua taught of the Kingdom of God as He healed people and gave sight to the blind while He taught that people were sanctified by truth and Spirit (John 4:23-24) that God’s Word sanctifies life on earth as it is in heaven. He spoke to God all the time in prayer. He had a mission. He said: "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work." <br />
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<big>Messiah Yeshua never compromised God's will, His instruction.</big></center>
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Messiah Yeshua shows us how to walk out the Torah in word, thought and deed in the will of God and the Spirit of God can help us maintain our dedication in faith to The Father just as His friend Abraham did even if we do not understand how right now.<br />
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We all must make a decision to devote ourselves daily to Messiah's walk to the best of our ability if we want to live according to God's will. If we do, we "get to" set ourselves apart as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him (1 Peter 2:9) to others. In this way, His way, a believer teaches salvation in Yeshua through the faith blessing of the gift of God's lovingkindness.<br />
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Abraham's friend of God faith is what we all need because The Lord is not only our Creator and instructor, He is our Redeemer, Savior and friend. </div><div>
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Messiah can save us from destruction, the curse of eternal separation from God by the exchange of His perfect life for our sinful ways. If we repent and choose to see Him in this way and live in His faith, God will send His Spirit to comfort, teach and indwell us just as the Spirit of God filled the Temple.<br />
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<b>Have you made your choice? </b><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me as to what I should do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for you to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. </div><br />
It's more than a decision, it a commitment to dedicate yourself to the God of Israel through a life gift of faith and walk in "The Way" of Messiah Yeshua. <br />
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Your choice is the living Torah, the son of God and it is what Paul taught, if you do not think so, reconsider Peter's simple warning: <b>ignorant and unstable</b> people distort Paul's letters.<br />
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If you have not made the choice to follow the faith of Yeshua as your savior and Messiah, the next step is to repent of sin and ask Almighty God to forgive, and He will.<br />
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You can be a citizen of Zion, you can follow the way and walk like Yeshua in love and obedience to The Father and show your love for one another, Jew and non-Jew each day.<br />
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Walking like Messiah means keeping yourself apart from anything that is unholy and against God’s will for your life because you love Him. To understand this fully, pray and ask for help as you study God's voice and heart to know His teaching and instruction in each situation you encounter. The decision is yours. The choice is to leave the slavery of sin in Egypt, exit Babylon and head to The Kingdom.<br />
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In God's Torah, we can all learn that our Creator has a set-apart lifestyle outline for those that want to follow Him to the Promised Land and He wants us live just as Messiah did, in God's image, helping, discipling others and declaring the Kingdom of God.<br />
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The way starts with keeping the covenant of the Ten Commandments and God's instruction for life. That includes honoring God's Sabbath rest, keeping His appointed Feast Days, even watching what we eat so that we may live a long healthy life and fish for others that need the great Shepherd.<br />
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God calls for His people to be different, to walk in righteousness and sanctification set apart in Messiah's Kingdom lifestyle. <br />
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You can begin your journey by repentance, then praising and thanking The Father for all the good things He has done, is doing and will do as you realize that you have been given a path to follow that leads to life. God has given mercy to all as a gift of grace if you repent and choose it. He has a mission because time is short to bring in the fish from the sea of humanity God has put before us. <br />
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There is eternal-life changing work to be done and it starts with your faith choice in prayerful repentance and teshuvah. You can be a part of the reconciliation between all who believe in our God and King. So spread the message, sow the seeds of the Kingdom and tell others of God's love.<br />
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The fruit of the truth of the living Word of God is revealed in the Jewishness of Yeshua of Nazareth. He desires to redeem and save all of mankind from the curse of sin, that is the end of the journey and the choice is yours, wide road or narrow road.<br />
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Choose life and show others what you have done so they can do the same and follow Messiah Yeshua!<br />
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Shalom.</div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><center><b>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></center><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a name="choose_name">Updates</a> </span></b></center><center><b>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></center></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>August 29, 2021: </b> I read an article on <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkvuy67by" target="_blank">Ynet News</a> and read the Pontiff wrote something last week that has upset some Rabbis in Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ki Tetze which was last week's parshat has a big picture lesson and speaks to the evil inclination whose greatest weapons from the beginning are confusion and false premise. </div><div><br /></div><div>I found the <a href="https://www.archstl.org/popes-message-as-christians-we-journey-toward-a-promise-of-encounter-with-the-lord-6759" target="_blank">Pope's message</a> that Ynet had reported on.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's my soapbox about it: Since only one Greek word “nomos” translates as “law” it causes confusion. The problem, "nomos" does not differentiate between the oral law of the Pharisees of the day seen in Acts 15 as a yoke our fathers nor we have been able to bear and the jots and tittles of Torah recorded by Moses and taught by Yeshua.</div><div><br /></div><div>This leaves the Pope reading Paul with the ages old disability of a Gentile teaching about the words of a Jew while wearing Greek glasses without bifocals rightly dividing the word of truth. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because of that, many are led astray from the gospel and turning the new covenant and Messiah upside down, not letting God’s Torah voice of grace speak for itself which was the Pharisee problem of ignoring the spirit of the Torah to be written on the heart. </div><div><br /></div><div>Parshat Ki Teitzei (Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19) includes teaching about the adulterous wife and the parent trap about a son who does not listen. That portion reminds me of Revelation 22:15 because both will to be brought outside the city gates along with everyone who loves and practices falsehood.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul was explaining Yeshua can take away the sins of the world including God believing Gentiles who are grafted into the House of the God of Israel becoming one with Yeshua's Jewish family through trust and faith, able by grace to partake of the blessing given to Abraham and the covenants of Israel, whose constitution is the Torah kept and taught by Jesus the Jew. </div><div><br /></div><div>What does this have to do with the Pope? </div><div><br /></div><div>My view, perhaps Frances does not realize that in Galatians 3:13 the letter quotes from Deuteronomy 21:22-23 direct from Torah portion Ki Tetze. The Pope does not understand the Sermon on the Mount is about keeping the jots and tittles as mitzvah acts of kindness and love for God, we are to keep it because it is the response to grace.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Sermon on the Mount points directly to the act of love of walking in faith as the demonstration of love toward Almighty God. It the big question of Deuteronomy 10:12-13. Since Hebrew has not commas I'm taking the them out because they confuse many people about Moses question: </div><div><blockquote>"And now Israel what does the LORD your God require of you but to fear the LORD your God <u>to walk in all his ways to love him to serve</u> the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?</blockquote></div><div>Paul wrote Galatians 3:21: "Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law."</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul’s issue is not with the Torah, it's a love offering we get to do. His issue is misuse of the law, the Pharisee problem that one can earn a righteous standing with God on the basis of works. Paul continues in Galatians 3:22: "But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ [Messiah Yeshua] might be given to those who believe."</div><div><br /></div><div>In other words, The Scriptures show that everyone has sinned and forgiveness is according to the promise of faith in the Messiah, the salvation gift of God that cannot be earned.</div><div><br /></div><div>We are justified and included among God’s people by grace through faith in the Messiah. It’s through that faith, not ritual conversion that we may become included among Abraham’s offspring as sons of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>In summary, Paul’s issue was not with the law but with the misuse of the law. Paul was in step with Moses message in Deuteronomy that walking in line with Torah is a grateful and thankful reply to salvation already received by grace. That's the whole pattern of the Exodus from Egypt and sin.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Paul opposed a misuse, a distortion of the law. Essentially, the false teachers believed that the only way Gentiles could be “saved” was to “become Jewish” through their ritual conversion use of circumcision.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul’s broader teaching regarding God’s law is that God's Torah, not man's rule of law is the teaching and instruction from THE Spirit of life:</div><div><blockquote>"For the law [Torah] of the Spirit of life has set you free in Messiah Yeshua from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2 </blockquote></div><div>His use of Spirit of life tracked with Job's description:</div><div><div><blockquote>"The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." Job 33:4</blockquote></div></div><div>The Spirit of all life is our Creator, the One, the only One that creates life has set you free in Messiah Yeshua in the promise of resurrection from the law of sin and death. The sin and death warning was given at Eden for the choice made to oppose God's warning and listen to the serpent's eye opening deception that said to the woman:</div><div><blockquote>"You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4-5</blockquote></div><div>The first promise of Messiah was also given in Eden. He would undo the demon's crime against humanity:</div><div><blockquote>"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15</blockquote></div><div>Paul's Roman letter clarifies his position given in Galatians 2:21 and Galatians 3:21 that God never intended the law to be a means of justification for resurrection salvation to overcome death but Messiah, after all He was declared in Genesis 3:15 at the scene of the crime.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Faith in the Messiah does not nullify the law but establishes it Romans 3:31</li><li>Sin is defined by breaking the commandments of the law Romans 7:7</li><li>The law is “holy and righteous and good” Romans 7:12</li><li>The law is “spiritual” Romans 7:14</li><li>Paul agrees with Messiah's sermon on the Mount teaching that observance of the law must be fueled by love Romans 13:8-10</li></ul></div><div>Pauls' use of the term “circumcision” is shorthand for describing proselytism and the rabbinic tradition of a ceremony by which a Gentile person could be given the status of a Jew and therefore qualify to have a place in the world to come ruled by Messiah. Paul's use of the term "the circumcision party" is code for those that said you did.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul did not believe you have to convert to be a Jew to be saved in resurrection from the death. That's why he wrote:</div></div><div><blockquote>There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. Galatians 3:28</blockquote></div><div>Paul’s point in Galatians is that false teachers were on the wrong road. </div><div><br /></div><div>His message was that obedience for the sake of tradition does not lead to salvation, but salvation is a result of faith. The law was given at Sinai to show the world the big picture of how God deals with transgression through atonement. The purpose of the Torah is not to provide a religion but to provide a way of living out one’s faith in love. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's why he quoted Leviticus 18:5 in Galatians 3:12: "But the law is not of faith, rather <i>The one who does them shall live by them</i>."</div><div><br /></div><div>My prayer for reconciliation is one nation of faith under God, may His will be done on earth as it is in heaven and I pray for peace in Jerusalem.</div></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-43347155494017902312017-07-08T13:52:00.017-05:002024-01-21T11:05:29.781-06:00Biblical Symbols and Keys <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ELsY7uCQC4/WJYfT9uMmqI/AAAAAAAACNM/Ja5GYgZbjCkplR82tEXiYOJxhAOZ5ddQgCLcB/s1600/1QM1T.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ELsY7uCQC4/WJYfT9uMmqI/AAAAAAAACNM/Ja5GYgZbjCkplR82tEXiYOJxhAOZ5ddQgCLcB/s200/1QM1T.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
This post is different from the usual. It may seem a bit academic, but its not really.<br />
<br />
The goal is to help you see that the symbols in the Bible have a Hebraic meaning, a graphic depiction, a parable-like key if you will -- that God provides as a visual signpost to convey the depth, meaning and insight of how God teaches. <br />
<br />
Working together like a 3-D road map Biblical symbols and keys include numbers, directions, colors, animals, precious metals and so on. <br />
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Imagine trying to read aloud without first learning the alphabet or phonics or driving to a destination down the road without a signpost.<br />
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It is much the same when we begin to understand the Bible uses Hebraic symbols and types. Those patterns provide keys to Biblical literacy and knowing God's will for your life from the Bible.<br />
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The journey can be helped with the desire to understand the words and decode them so that a deeper understanding of God's Word shines like a bright light. In my Scripture studies, I found the beauty of the Bible's symbols and keys is that we can begin to connect with the Word of God as He gives us glimpses of His glory and mystery.<br />
<br />But it's not so easy. The thing is, God wants us to search Him out, it's the honor of a king to do so. Proverbs 25:2 tells us:<br />
<blockquote>
"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings."</blockquote>
Biblical imagery through symbols and keys as well numbers allows our eyes to open and our ears to hear the Scriptures to unlock the timeless, Heavenly messages our Creator has embedded into His living word. That is declared in this Psalm:<br />
<blockquote>
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." Psalm 32:8</blockquote>
We can gain a lot of insight by studying the Hebraic symbols used in God's Word and we can gain a better connection to the Hebrew text and deeper revelation to understand how God weaves the light of the life giving water of His two-edged sword of truth and its promise of restoration through the work of Messiah and yours too.<br />
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There are many Biblical depths and dimension to the Scriptures, and they are there to encourage you in faith and point you to Messiah and your redemption. The following list gives just a few of them, but I've included some resources I've found that you may find helpful as you link the pages of Scripture to your heart and life.<br />
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The Bible's patterns and themes will help you see Messiah throughout the storylines of the Scriptures. When you begin to do that, you'll come to realize the Bible is not about religion, its about life and what you do.<br />
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A few of the symbols are noted below:<br />
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<b>Numbers in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>One = Beginning, unity, Elohim-God</li>
<li>Two = Witness</li>
<li>Three = Complete</li>
<li>Four = Wholeness of physical creation</li>
<li>Five = Torah teaching, mercy and grace</li>
<li>Six = Mankind</li>
<li>Seven = Perfection, rest </li>
<li>Eight = Restoration, Resurrection</li>
<li>Nine = Divine Judgment and Order</li>
<li>Ten = Perfection</li>
<li>Eleven = Disorder, confusion</li>
<li>Twelve = Foundation of the King of King’s government</li>
<li>Thirteen = Rebellion</li>
<li>Fourteen = Deliverance and salvation </li>
<li>Fifteen = Completion of God's Kingdom </li>
<li>Twenty = Time of waiting</li>
<li>Twenty four = Priesthood</li>
<li>Thirty = Maturity, readiness</li>
<li>Forty = Trial, testing</li>
<li>Forty two = Completion of a journey</li>
<li>Fifty = Freedom, restoration</li>
<li>Sixty = Pride and arrogance</li>
<li>Sixty-six = Idol, false worship</li>
<li>Seventy = Nations, completeness</li>
<li>One Hundred and twenty = Fullness of time</li>
<li>One Hundred forty-four = Perfect government</li>
<li>One Hundred fifty-three = Fruit bearing</li>
<li>Six Hundred = Warfare</li>
</ul>
Interestingly, if we review the meaning of the numbers six, sixty and six hundred; one message we can embedded in Revelation 13:15-18 is: Mankind + pride and arrogance = warfare. That is revealed in the infamous 666.<br />
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For more on the wisdom of Biblical numbers online: Try <a href="http://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/introduction.html" target="_blank">BibleStudy.org</a>. It is an excellent reference.<br />
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<b>Colors in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>White = Purity, righteousness</li>
<li>Red = Blood, offering sacrifice, ransom for life</li>
<li>Blue = Healing, instruction, faithfulness</li>
<li>Purple = Royalty, Kingship</li>
<li>Gold = Perfection, God’s word, glory</li>
<li>Silver = Redemption</li>
<li>Green = Life, growth, restoration</li>
<li>Black = Famine, death, sin</li>
</ul>
In addition to adding Hebraic meaning to numbers found in Scripture, <a href="http://www.biblestudy.org/bible-study-by-topic/meaning-of-colors-in-the-bible/introduction.html" target="_blank">BibleStudy.org</a> provides an excellent reference on understanding colors found in the Bible.<br />
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Other Biblical symbols, image types and keys include:<br />
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<b>The Human Body in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Head = Thought, mind, memory, intelligence, leadership</li>
<li>Heart = Center of life, seat of emotion</li>
<li>Blood = Life through sacrifice</li>
<li>Eyes = Spiritual vision, wisdom, discernment, insight</li>
<li>Ear = Spiritual hearing, reception of faith</li>
<li>Nose = Breath, discernment</li>
<li>Face = Favor, friendly regard, permission</li>
<li>Shoulders = Seat of God's government, strength</li>
<li>Belly = Emotion</li>
<li>Arm = Strength, power, support</li>
<li>Hands = Tools of ministry, deeds, works, action</li>
<li>Legs = Support and strength of the body</li>
<li>Thigh = Symbol of stabilizing our walk</li>
<li>Knee = Symbol of reverence and humility</li>
<li>Heal = Power to crush, stomp</li>
<li>Feet = Way of life, walk following God</li>
<li>Bowels = Inner man</li>
<li>Tongue = Language</li>
</ul>
<b>Compass Directions in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>North = Power and authority</li>
<li>South = Refreshment</li>
<li>East = God's light and glory</li>
<li>West = End of the age</li>
<li>Up = Going forward toward God</li>
<li>Down = Going away from God, backsliding</li>
<li>Return = Repentance</li>
</ul>
<b>Clothing in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Wool = Warmth and comfort</li>
<li>Linen = Righteousness and purity</li>
<li>Flax = Weakness of mankind</li>
<li>Robe = Covering of righteousness</li>
</ul>
<b>Metals in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Gold = Perfection</li>
<li>Silver = Redemption </li>
<li>Copper, Bronze = Judgment of sin</li>
<li>Iron = Man’s weakness, rebellion, crushing, unyielding</li>
<li>Tin = Worthlessness, weakness, impure character</li>
<li>Lead = Weight, heaviness of the heart</li>
</ul>
<b>Heavenly Bodies in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Sun = Life, glory, light</li>
<li>Moon = light reflector</li>
<li>Stars = Abraham's heavenly descendants, Israel, messengers, light bearers</li>
<li>Falling Stars = apostates, betrayal, blasphemers</li>
</ul>
<b>Trees in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Almond = Resurrection from death</li>
<li>Cedars = Power, majesty, royalty</li>
<li>Hemlock = Wormwood, false worship, calamity</li>
<li>Mulberry = Battle, broken heart</li>
<li>Oak = Strength</li>
<li>Fig = Israel, fruitfulness</li>
<li>Myrtle = Blessing </li>
<li>Palm = Reverence, victory</li>
<li>Pine = Fragrance and beauty</li>
<li>Olive = Life, spirit, light, peace </li>
<li>Pomegranate = Abundance and joyfulness</li>
<li>Willow = Weeping and heartbreak</li>
</ul>
<b>Animals or Beasts in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Bear = Evil, cunning, cruel men</li>
<li>Beast = Worldly, reactive, devouring, craving</li>
<li>Bull = Strength, labor, servanthood</li>
<li>Calf = Praise, joyful thanksgiving</li>
<li>Camel = Service, burden bearer</li>
<li>Dog = Unbelievers, hypocrites</li>
<li>Donkey = Stubbornness</li>
<li>Dove = Gentleness, Holy Spirit</li>
<li>Eagle = Vision, swiftness, rising above</li>
<li>Fish = Souls of men</li>
<li>Fox = Cunning evil men</li>
<li>Frogs = Liars, boastful croaking</li>
<li>Goat = Shaggy, sinners</li>
<li>Horse = Military power in battle, conquest, war</li>
<li>Lamb = Offering, Messiah</li>
<li>Lion = King, ruler</li>
<li>Owl = Dark evil spirit, night bird</li>
<li>Ox = Strength, service, sacrifice</li>
<li>Ram = Stubborn, self-willed, wild state</li>
<li>Serpent = Satan, deception </li>
<li>Sheep = God's people, defenseless except by a shepherd </li>
<li>Wolf = False teachers</li>
</ul>
<b>Insects in Scripture</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Flies = Evil spirit, filth, satan's domain</li>
<li>Grasshopper = Multitudes, destructive</li>
<li>Locust= Devouring destruction</li>
<li>Scorpion = Evil spirits, evil men, pain</li>
<li>Worm = Despised</li>
</ul>
<b>Important Symbol Types in Scripture:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Angel = Messenger</li>
<li>Air = Dark spiritual power</li>
<li>Ark = Safety</li>
<li>Babylon = False religion, idol worship, religious apostasy and mixing whoredoms</li>
<li>Bow = Success in battle against evil</li>
<li>Bread = Life-sustaining living Word of God</li>
<li>Brick = Slavery, work of men's hands, false worship </li>
<li>Chaff = Sin, uselessness</li>
<li>Cities = Man’s religious governments</li>
<li>Clay = Frailness of the human flesh</li>
<li>Clothing = Torah based character</li>
<li>Crowns = Kingship, victory</li>
<li>Cup = Suffering</li>
<li>Day = Measurement of time</li>
<li>Dust = Humanity</li>
<li>Dark Clouds = Trouble</li>
<li>Earth = Man’s domain</li>
<li>Earthquake = Shaking of society, revolution</li>
<li>Eat = Take in the message</li>
<li>Egypt = Bondage to sin, confusion, worldliness</li>
<li>Eye salve = Truth, antidote for spiritual blindness</li>
<li>False Prophet = Liar, deceiver</li>
<li>Famine = Lack of truth and spiritual discernment</li>
<li>Field = Land, the world</li>
<li>Fire = Trials, purifying and testing</li>
<li>Fornication = False idol worship</li>
<li>Fruit = Action, works, doing</li>
<li>Garments = Covering of righteousness</li>
<li>Grass = Masses of mankind</li>
<li>Hail = Hard truth, divine judgment</li>
<li>Harlot = Idol worshipper, corrupt, apostate </li>
<li>Harvest = Ingathering</li>
<li>Healing = Salvation</li>
<li>Honey = Happy life<br />
</li>
<li>Horn = Strength and power, rulers, man’s government</li>
</ul>
<b>Even more...</b> <br />
<ul>
<li>Image = Likeness</li>
<li>Islands = Organizations of people</li>
<li>Jar = Vessel, person</li>
<li>Lamp = Indwelling Spirit of God, Holy Scripture</li>
<li>Lightning = Flashes, diffusion of truth and knowledge</li>
<li>Light = God Almighty</li>
<li>Leprosy = Sickness, sin leading to death</li>
<li>Measuring Rod = God’s Word</li>
<li>Merchants = Selling false teachings and requiring tithes</li>
<li>Mountain = Nations, man’s kingdom governments</li>
<li>Name = Authority, reputation, purpose</li>
<li>Night = Spiritual darkness, wrath, judgment</li>
<li>Oil = Holy Spirit, anointing</li>
<li>Pit = Without a Bible foundation</li>
<li>Plague = Wrath glory of God on sin</li>
<li>Rain = Blessings</li>
<li>Rock = Truth</li>
<li>Sackcloth = Mourning, sorrow</li>
<li>Salt = Incorruptible life, preservation</li>
<li>Sand = People, multitudes</li>
<li>Scepter = Power, authority, kingship</li>
<li>Sea = Restless mass of humanity, unruly people, nations</li>
<li>Seal = Sign or mark of approval or disapproval</li>
<li>Seat = Power of authority</li>
<li>Seed = Message of truth</li>
<li>Shield = Faith and truth</li>
<li>Sickle = Reaping</li>
<li>Stiff-necked = Stubbornness, resistance to God’s authority</li>
<li>Sweat = Man's efforts and work</li>
<li>Sword = Word of God</li>
<li>Tabernacle = God’s existence</li>
<li>Tares = Children of error</li>
<li>Thorns = Sin’s curse</li>
<li>Trees = Prominent men</li>
<li>Trumpet/Shofar = Warning of God's coming approach</li>
<li>Torment = Test by trial</li>
<li>Two-edged sword = Blessings and curses</li>
<li>Valley = Lowly and meek</li>
<li>Virgin = Pure, clean</li>
<li>Wings = Protection, deliverance</li>
<li>Water = Truth, God’s Word of life</li>
<li>Wheat = Faithful followers, children of truth</li>
<li>Wind = God’s Spirit, breath of life</li>
<li>Winds = Man’s strife, commotions, wars</li>
<li>Wine = Blood covenant of life, good doctrine</li>
<li>Whoredoms = Idolatry, false doctrines, unclean</li>
<li>Wormwood = Bitterness, lies</li>
<li>Yoke = Servitude, bond servant fellowship</li>
</ul>
<b>Don't stop here.</b> There is more, much more that calls for wisdom and understanding. <div>
<br />
This list just scratches the surface of the depth of meaning for the Hebraic symbols and keys found in the scrolls of Scripture and there are plenty of online resources that are broader and more extensive than this listing that can benefit you.<br />
<br />
There's much more to learn and it's really important to understand the context of the culture of the people of the Bible. For example, the word of God is full of Hebrew idioms that need to be uncovered. <br />
<br />
For further study you can check these resources:<br />
<br />
Biblestudy.org provides a good list of <i><a href="http://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/introduction.html" target="_blank">Meaning of Numbers in the Bible</a> </i>as does <i><a href="https://philologos.org/__eb-nis/" target="_blank">Number in Scripture</a></i> by E.W. Bullinger which can be <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Number-Scripture-W-Bullinger/dp/B004B4LTP6" target="_blank">bought</a> or found online at philologos.com presenting a topic not referenced here.<br />
<br />
Published in 1980 and updated in 1996 the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-of-Bible-Themes-ebook/dp/B007IA35XE/ref=sr_1_16?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1331272125&sr=1-16" target="_blank"><i>Dictionary of Bible Themes</i></a> by Martin H. Manser is a good tool as well as <a href="http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-a-to-z-guide-to-bible-signs-and-symbols/338710" target="_blank"><i>The A to Z Guide to Bible Signs and Symbols Understanding Their Meaning and Significance</i></a> by: Neil Wilson, Nancy Ryken Taylor.<br />
<br />
One of my favorite study aids is the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Scripture-Knowledge-R-Torrey-ebook/dp/B00SA2841M/ref=pd_sim_351_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CM0NPQTKQR4GAFHEFAD6" target="_blank"><i>Treasury of Scripture Knowledge</i></a> by R. A. Torrey.<br />
<br />
Finally, in addition to unlocking Scripture through an understanding of numbers, symbols and types, there are hundreds of Hebraisms (Hebrew idioms) found in the Newer Testament that are explained verse by verse in this book that will open your eyes. One of the first things you will see is the Biblical root of the faith of the disciples and Messiah: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1941173128?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=1941173128&linkCode=xm2&tag=olivprespubl-20" target="_blank"><i>Hebraisms in the Original Renewed Covenant</i></a> by Rabbi Julio Dam. Published in 2015. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/language_idioms.html" target="_blank"><i>Ancient Hebrew Idioms</i></a> by Wayne Leman and for an even deeper study of over 500 idioms embedded in the Bible, you can enrich your understanding with <a href="https://www.hebrewworld.com/idioms.html" target="_blank"><i>Treasure of Hebrew Idioms</i></a>. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Interpreting-Symbols-Types-Kevin-Conner/dp/0914936514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486233807&sr=8-1&keywords=biblical+symbols+and+types" target="_blank"><i>Interpreting The Symbols and Types</i></a> by Kevin J. Conner.<br />
<br /><div><b>What does all this mean?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div><br />
Shalom.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-18666540997046788872016-11-13T12:55:00.210-06:002024-03-09T14:09:39.895-06:00Thy Kingdom Come...<br />
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We just finished an election here in the U.S. and the vote that defied the polls elected the 7th "businessman" President in U.S. history, but my faith is not in any elected man, no matter how good the slogan sounds to make America great again. <div><br /></div><div>Why do I say that? Because Psalm 16:8 says:</div><div><br /></div><div>“I have set The LORD always before me..."</div>
<br />So, my faith is in The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in Messiah Yeshua the Master Torah teacher and doer. <div><br /></div><div>Yeshua is the anointed one that came as the lamb, the bruised Messiah ben Joseph who will return as HaMashiach ben David, the lion of the tribe of Judah. <div><br /></div><div>Here we'll explore what it means that in death, resurrection, in ascension and intercession, He is the...<div><br /></div><div>King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. </div><div><br /></div><div>In his last words, Stephen spoke of it in Acts 7:55-56:</div><div><br /></div><div>"But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” </div><div><br /></div><div><b>David wrote about it... </b><br /><div><div><br /><div>"The LORD has sworn </div><div>and will not change His mind,</div><div>“You are a priest forever according to </div>the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:4</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Peter referenced it in Acts 2:32-25:</b></div><div><br /></div><div><div>This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:</div><div><br /></div><div>‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD,</div><div>“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,</div><div>UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”’</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus (Yeshua) spoke about the the kingdom priesthood assignment first seen in Exodus 19:5-6.</div><div><br /></div><div>That priesthood stands as a global assignment of ambassador service in reverence and awe. Moses tied it together again Deuteronomy 32:7-9 pointing to Genesis 11:5-9 because this priesthood is linked to the covenant blessing for all nations promised to Abraham. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most of us don't connect all the jots and tittles, but Abraham was just the tenth generation from Noah. He was alive and well during the time of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel crime scene that is linked to Genesis 12:3: "And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” </div><div><br /></div><div>The judgment at Babel was confusion as people were divided into 70 nations and nations that were dispersed. In that way, the priesthood assignment of blessing is linked to repairing the breach of Babel. You may have never thought of it in this way, but that's connected to the reason the Spirit of God poured out the gift of language (aka tongues) in Jerusalem on Shavuot (Pentecost) on devout Jewish men from every nation as described in Acts 2: AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’</div><div><br /></div><div>In that chapter, the Greek word saved σῴζω sṓzō according to Strong's Lexicon means to save, i.e. deliver or protect (literally or figuratively):—heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.</div><div><br /></div><div>That day, Peter taught the same thing that he had learned from Jesus, <b>repent</b> (Acts 2:38). </div><div><br /></div><div>Repentance is the Hebrew word teshuvah, and its goal is to turn back to the right road to serve Almighty God humbly and to walk God's way in His image, not in prideful opposition like the early days in Shinar that were filled with confusion. </div><div><br /></div><div>The<u> hard lesson</u> of Babel is people did not repent despite the judgment of the flood, but The LORD is faithful and He reversed the curse of Bale at Shavuot - Pentecost.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Repentance is the Torah's beginning to a victorious life led by the Holy Spirit.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>It requires a circumcised heart not pride <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/gen/11/4/p0/s_11004" target="_blank">to make a name for ourselves</a>. Repentance opens the door to restoration, healing, mercy and grace. Too sum it up, a Torah walk in God's teaching and instruction is a response in thanksgiving and love to walk in God's ways, which is the image for mankind that Almighty God intended when He created us (please read Genesis 1:26-27). </div><div><br /></div><div>Think of Torah as the constitution of the Kingdom of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>A teshuvah circumcised heart empowers a person to believe and to help others learn God's set apart (holy) ways as ambassadors for the King of the Kingdom to come led by the risen Messiah that overcame the enemy of death with reborn resurrection life. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's why a big part of the gospel of God priesthood assignment is to understand the real message behind the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:5-15: </div><div><blockquote>"<u>Thy will be done</u> on Earth as it is in Heaven... </blockquote></div><div>The LORD God's will and place for it to be done is front and center in that prayer. It's the "Kingdom Come" good news (in Hebrew "besorah") gospel of God, the restoration of All Things on earth!</div><div><br /></div><div>At the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua (Jesus) said the Kingdom of God is near and not one jot or title has passed away from the law. That law is the Torah, it lays out The LORD's will as the constitution for His Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. </div><div>
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We all have a choice to seek understanding and joy of the gospel of "thy Kingdom come" to earth, not a blissful cosmic golden gate in the sky. The Kingdom of Heaven as its reward of eternal life is coming to earth.</div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God's will on earth is the foundational preaching, teaching and instruction declared by Yeshua of Nazareth. God's will is what Yeshua spoke of when He said:</div><div><blockquote><b><u>If you abide in me</u></b>, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. </blockquote><blockquote><b>By this my Father is glorified</b>, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. </blockquote><blockquote>As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. </blockquote><blockquote>Abide in my love. </blockquote><blockquote><b>If you keep my commandments</b>, you will abide in my love, <b>just as <u>I have kept my Father’s commandments</u> and abide in his love.</b> </blockquote><blockquote>These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:7-11</blockquote></div><div>Yeshua's commandments are to joyfully abide in (live out) and keep the Father's commandments just as He kept them. That's summed up in the Sermon on the Mount: "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Are the Father's covenant commandments your joy, or have you disowned them at the cross?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>When Yeshua taught about abiding in love and joy, the two punch message is love for The Father and each other. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, many want to define Thy Kingdom Come and God's will on our own terms like those in Shinar that built the Tower of Babel seeking a way to Heaven. That's why I believe there are so many different denominational signs along any church road.</div><div><br /></div><div>That should raise a question: what denomination can you see in the book of Acts?</div><div><br /></div><div>There isn't one.</div><div><br /></div><div>What we must know is what Peter said and what Yeshua taught. To start our Kingdom journey and abide in God's love requires <u>repentance</u>. Repentance aka teshuvah, is more than belief, it points to both hearing and doing. Repentance requires we humble our hearts circumcised in love and <u>return to</u> hear God's voice and walk in God's ways which is His image just as it was in the beginning (Genesis 1:26-27).</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The transformation back to the image of God is what Paul wrote about when he penned this referencing the veil Moses wore only after he stood in the presence of The LORD. In the tent of meeting, in freedom from sin he never wore the veil:</div><div><blockquote>But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 </blockquote></div></div><div>Seeking Almighty God's voice in my Scripture studies, I've realized the gospel of the Kingdom is everywhere in the Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>I discovered Jesus preached the good news "gospel of God" promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that Acts 13 notes Paul spoke about when he spoke about utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath. It's may be a shock to you system but Paul writes about unchanged Sabbath readings that declare the gospel of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul never shifted to a Sunday new religion:</div><div><blockquote>And we preach to you <b>the good news of the promise made to the fathers</b>, that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU.’ </blockquote><blockquote> “As for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY AND FAITHFUL MERCIES OF DAVID.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’ </blockquote><blockquote>For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. Acts 8:32-37</blockquote></div><div><div>I finally came to realize it was in the book of Mark that Jesus preached repentance <b>and belief in the gospel of God:</b></div><div><blockquote>"Now after John was arrested, Yeshua came into Galilee, <u>proclaiming</u> <u><b>the gospel of God</b>,</u> and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and <b>the Kingdom of God is at hand</b>; repent and believe in the gospel." Mark 1:14-15</blockquote></div></div><div>Peter gave the same good news gospel of God, saying it's the abiding forever word of the LORD:</div><div><blockquote>Having <b>purified your souls by your obedience to the truth </b>for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, <b>through the living and abiding word of God</b>; for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, <b>but the word of the Lord remains forever</b>." And this word <b>is the good news that was preached</b> to you. 1Peter 1:22-25 </blockquote></div><div>Then, I discovered something after resurrection. It's Yeshua's ongoing role of the High Priest to intercede before The LORD as Paul had written:</div><div><blockquote>Christ Jesus is the one who died—<b>more than that</b>, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, <b>who indeed is interceding for us</b>. Romans 8:34 ESV</blockquote></div><div><b>I had to stop and think about that. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, as Paul wrote, interceding included the cross, yet Paul writes and zeros in on Yeshua's resurrection to new life. The book of Hebrews explains His ongoing intercessory role as High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then, it dawned on me, atonement is not finished, I'm still in repair mode and the planet is not restored, there are wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, there are many false prophets and lawlessness aka Torah-less has increased. </div><div><br /></div><div>I understand what Paul actually taught, the cross is not the gospel end... "—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." </div><div><div><br /></div><div>I discovered the Sermon on the Mount does not teach the Torah was finished at the cross.</div><div><br /></div><div>Soon, I began to see the God gospel pattern in Leviticus. There, I learned that sacrifice is not the death. The sacrifice requires the life blood offering by the High Priest in the very presence of The LORD in the most Holy Place. </div><div><br /></div><div>By the quickening miracle life giving power of our Creator God, I realized Jesus, yes Yeshua lives in resurrection power having overcome the death of Adam and is indeed interceding as High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek just Psalm 100 declares. I realized the book of Hebrews is the treatise to explain what David wrote about in that Psalm. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then it hit me, Yeshua kept and is keeping the Torah of God in High Priestly duty, honor and privilege in the Holy of Holies of Heaven to atone sin that continues. Stephen saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand. Stephen's last words are critical to repeat:</div><div><blockquote>"But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55-56</blockquote></div><div>Yeshua's death, resurrection, ascension and now in living intercession at the right hand as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek proves nothing in His life was or is Torah-less. That means to ask what would Jesus do means to do what Jesus did. To be a follower of Jesus requires the Torah of God Jesus kept.</div><div><br /></div><div>His death by Rome's guard occurred just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem as it had to be according to Leviticus, and the enemy's plot failed in God's perfect plan carried out in the First Fruits' power of resurrection to eternal life given by Almighty God on the 3rd day just like the sign of Jonah. On the 40th day of the Omer count, He ascended to the Heavenly throne room and He serves just as David declared in Psalm 110 as the forever King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>As Christians living in a the western world we are generally content in our faith at the cross. Many of us are happy with what we have been told and the sermon: "Jesus has done it all."</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, God's Gospel required that I reconsider Melchizedek's meeting with Abraham and Abraham's faith too because he entrusted his life journey to God's instruction. </div><div><br /></div><div>Abraham believed God <u>and he did something about it</u>. No doubt, Abraham knew that God's promise of a son and many descendants meant that even if he raised a knife, Issac would be saved in resurrection. That is why Abraham's faith describes the "besorah" (good news) for the planet spoken by Almighty Elohim God and declared long before the cross that God Himself would provide the burnt offering. </div><div><br /></div><div>God's Gospel was revealed in great detail to the prophets including Nathan the first prophet who explained the kingdom gospel of God promise to David. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul wrote about that promise in Romans 1:1-2:</div><div><blockquote>Paul, a servant of Messiah Yeshua, called to be an apostle, set apart for <u><b>the gospel of God</b></u>, <u><b>which he promised beforehand</b></u> through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures...</blockquote></div><div>Yeshua tied Abraham to His own ministry:</div><div><blockquote>"Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad." John 8:56 </blockquote></div><div>I believe Abraham not only saw the cross, but he also saw the resurrection and ascension as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek.</div><div><br /></div><div>Abraham was a believer. The record is Genesis 15:6:</div><div><blockquote>Then he believed in The LORD; and He credited it to him as righteousness.</blockquote></div><div>In Genesis 18:19 The LORD declared the belief assignment:</div><div><blockquote>For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of The LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that The LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.</blockquote></div><div>As already noted, we need to understand Nathan was one of the prophets Yeshua spoke of when He said the Gospel of God was spoken by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can check out every detail of Nathan's prophecy in 2 Samuel 7:10-17. Every person should study it very carefully because it summarizes the gospel of God about the family of the House of God and the eligibility for blessing promise given to Abraham for Kingdom citizenship for ALL nations. </div><div><br /></div><div>King David's response was prayer. You should read it too in 2 Samuel 7:18-29.</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite what we may have heard, the Gospel of God did not start in the New Testament and Jesus said so. That gospel includes "the will of God assignment" for all children of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God's will is that He wants a holy (set apart) people to follow Him out of obedient love, respect and awe. That's what's woven into the House of God instruction, "<b>you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation</b>." (see Exodus 19:5-8). </div><div><br /></div><div>Just as Jesus taught, the House of God priesthood assignment <b>starts with repentance</b> from our ways to a choice God's ways to live life in God's image as a royal ambassador. That choice carries a promise front and center in the <b>mercy and pardon</b> recorded in Isaiah 55:3-9:</div><div><blockquote>"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and <b>let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy</b> upon him; and to our God, <b>for He will abundantly pardon.</b>"</blockquote></div><div>Think of it this way, to begin to understand the good news Gospel of God, we need to return and we get to do what The Father asks of everyone, just as Yeshua did.</div><div><br /></div><div>That means not to just regret what we know we've done wrong in the past, but to repent and return to walk in The Father's teaching and instruction (Torah) ways of victorious Kingdom life. That teaching was outlined as a Kingdom Constitution at Mount Sinai and repeated at the Sermon on the Mount. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua shouted it out to the mountainside crowd<b> <u>do not think</u></b>... not one iota, not a jot or tittle has passed away from God's instruction for gospel life serving God:</div><div><blockquote>"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; <b>I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.</b> For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. <b>Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven</b>, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17-19</blockquote></div><div><u>That word "fulfill" does not mean finish off</u>. You may have heard or thought that it does, but it does not mean do away with, <u>it means to actively fill up with meaning.</u> </div><div><br /></div><div>Filling up with meaning is a big part of the Gospel of God disciple assignment for every believer too. It requires a circumcised heart inscribed with God's Torah for kingdom life.<b> </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>It starts with a choice to repent or not. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Do you want to walk like a disciple in the dust of Rabbi Yeshua? Do you want to follow out of love for what Yeshua did at the cross and now does in resurrection at God's right hand as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek?</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you believe Yeshua took on death to prevail over the iniquity of death that started in Eden/ That iniquity started by believing a lie that asks, did God really say? You can know Yeshua took on death to restore the blood covenant broken at Mount Sinai by the idolatry of the golden calf after Israel and the sojourners with them were saved out of Egypt. You can restore their vow they broke when they said, "all that The LORD commands we will do." (Exodus 19:8, Exodus 24:3 and Exodus 24:7)</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua, the lamb of God chose to take on death. Because of that, <b>we get to choose the "I do" and follow Yeshua's ways which are The Father's Torah ways</b> and be set apart - holy for The LORD. </div><div><br /></div><div>To do that, we need to realize the holy nation House of God that Almighty God seeks relationship with as His children still have God's Sinai assignment. It's the same Royal Priesthood assignment given at Mount Sinai because God does not change. We get to choose to live life in repentance as an ambassador under the royal priesthood order of Melchizedek that Yeshua holds forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>A big part of that assignment is to be a beacon of light to a dark world not knowing or ignoring God's voice thinking it's old and done away with. Paul is misunderstood about that because we miss his message:</div><div><blockquote>Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 4:1-2</blockquote></div><div>God's voice is eternal. In the end, the repentant priestly duty is not limited to Sinai and it's not hung on a cross. It's past, present and future because Yeshua connects the eternal covenant with the command of The LORD:</div><div><blockquote>Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:5-6</blockquote></div><div>Our unchanging Almighty God is looking for you and others who want to hear His voice and choose to walk in a restored covenant relationship as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. </div><div><br /></div><div>That walk does not "earn" righteousness, for all have sinned. Righteous declaration is bestowed by Almighty God alone and His righteousness is given by pardon and mercy though repentance.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Romans 1:5-6 Paul wrote about the walk, the <u>obedience of faith</u> when called to follow Messiah.</div><div><br /></div><div>I used to think the obedience of faith stopped at the cross, like Nicodemus I did not understand that obedience in faith is about death to sin on a daily basis and restoration in an abundant, blessed new life in relationship. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some say the Kingdom of God will come at any time with an escape hatch to a rapture cloud in heaven, but Yeshua never said that. Yeshua spoke of repentance in the obedience of faith here and now... because the Kingdom is near! That's the gospel of God reason that Yeshua taught people to pray as a priest: "<b>may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven</b>." </div><div><br /></div><div>That gospel truth is emphasized front and center in Revelation 5:10 (notice the words "made them":</div><div><blockquote>You have made them to be <u><b>a kingdom and priests to our God</b></u>; and t<u>hey will reign upon the earth.</u></blockquote></div><div>Those words are from the critical assignment at Mount Sinai after coming out of Egypt (notice the words "shall be":</div><div><blockquote>Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and <b>you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests </b>and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:5-6</blockquote></div><div>The kingdom assignment is on earth, so my question is, how can one become a <u>kingdom priest</u> to our Holy God without <u>loving repentant response in obedience and in faith right here, right now?</u></div><div><br /></div><div>I know that Yeshua wants to change our mind and heart about God's Gospel and His purpose as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. He said so at the Sermon on the Mount where He connected the written words of God's Torah for the Kingdom of heaven on Earth from the Sermon on the Mount:</div><div><blockquote>"<b>Do not think</b> that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; <b>I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them</b>. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law [Torah] <b>until all is accomplished.</b> Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but <b>whoever does them and teaches them will be called great </b>in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-19</blockquote></div><div>Later, Yeshua revealed a future mystery of the gospel of the Kingdom of God in Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>After the Sermon on the Mount while in Jerusalem, Yeshua declared a requirement that is yet to be fulfilled to the crowds and His disciples. It's a declaration cry for the inhabitants of Jerusalem to one day <u>bless the one <b>who will come in the name</b> of The LORD</u> (Matthew 23:39). It comes from Joel 2:32.</div><div><br /></div><div>The words "the name" HaShem is literal and it includes the one living in God's image and their is only one. We must believe and do things in God's Kingdom ways in a set apart relationship with Yeshua who is interceding right now at the right hand of Almighty God, restoring the covenant heard at Sinai with blessings linked to the purpose of the calling of the Priest of the Most High. He lives in the power of an indestructible life through which we have a better hope (eternal life) in which we may draw near to God. Yeshua lives to make intercession as mediator of the New Covenant in the presence of God for us.</div><div><br /></div><div>The name of The LORD prophecy declared by Yeshua is headed Jerusalem's way and we can be a part of it and the promises made to Israel. We are living in Bible times because the book of life Yeshua taught is not dead or done away with and it's not old.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nearly 2,000 years ago, a Roman named Titus started the desolation of Jerusalem with destruction and mass murder in 70 AD. The Jewish people's last stand against Rome was against Emperor Hadrian when the Bar Kohba revolt ended at Masada in 135AD, Hadrian thought he finished Titus' work when he erased the map and renamed the Promised Land. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hadrian called it Syria Palaestina. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>In doing so Hadrian thought he destroyed the name of the Holy Land and that label morphed into Palestine. It still causes confusion and chaos. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, Almighty God is faithful to His promise to Abraham, Issac and Jacob. The Jewish people began to return home after the Balfour Declaration declared the vision of a restored national homeland for the Jewish people. Wisely, they rejected Hadrian's name Palestine and chose the name God gave to Jacob, the family name of Israel in 1948.</div><div><br /></div><div>Both Titus and Hadrian have dark legacies and they were reborn in explosions, pogroms and Hitler's Holocaust of evil and hatred that still remains. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, that deceptive evil remains a clear and present danger in the form of a global goal for a Palestinian State whose radical leaders fund terrorism against Jewish people with Hadrian's goal to wipe Israel off the map and ultimately erase God's gospel from the globe.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Yehudim (Jews) that survived Titus and Hadrian some 2,000 years were taken captive to Europe. They also escaped to areas like Russia, North Africa and other corners of the Middle East. A remnant remained hiding away in the Galilee and other areas. Yet, the Jewish people survived and the prophecy from the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/deu/18/15/s_171015" target="_blank">"Prophet" like Moses</a> proclaims the Kingdom of God will come when Jewish hearts in Jerusalem are unlocked to this mystery of the good news of God:</div><div>
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For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23:39</blockquote>Who is the one that is blessed? </div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps the most often untold truth is that Yeshua (Jesus) came to live out, teach and explain the Torah. Many think and teach He came to do away with it. That's why the "thy Kingdom come" gospel of God is so misunderstood and why many say "there has to be more" as they seek the will of God for their lives.</div><div><br /></div><div>The will of God is outlined in the Torah of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is infused with the will of the Father to restore the broken covenant between Almighty God and mankind that crashed and burned in Eden, in Shinar and again at the altar of the golden calf at Sinai. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Messiah's first trip purpose was to teach and fulfill God's Torah.</b></div><div><br /></div><div><div>The cross was not the end of Torah or the start of a new religion. Instead, by the quickening eternal life giving miracle power of our Creator God, Yeshua lives in resurrection having overcome the death spiral of Adam and Eve. He kept and restored the Torah of God, in God's image so that God's Spirit could be poured out with the new covenant goal, not to do away with Torah but: “I will put My law (Torah) within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."</div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing in Yeshua's life was Torah-less. His death by Rome's guard occurred just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem, but the enemy's death plot failed in God's perfect plan carried out in the First Fruits' power of resurrection to eternal life given to Messiah Yeshua by Almighty God on the 3rd day. On the 40th day of the Omer count He ascended to the Heavenly throne room of the most Holy of Holies as High Priest King in the order of Melchizedek and he will return just as David declared in Psalm 110 as explained in the book of Hebrews and Revelation that few read. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua started the prophetic work to repair the life breach between heaven and earth. Not only that but between Jew and Gentile, native born and sojourner. Yeshua's first trip revealed God's work to light up the planet for the priesthood assignment on this planet. </div><div><br /></div><div>A hidden truth of the gospel story is that many Jewish people have remained faithful to the Kingdom constitution. As Paul said, it's their assignment from God:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. </div></blockquote><blockquote><div>To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,</div><div> </div><div>“That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” Romans 3:1-4 </div></blockquote><div></div><div>The Kingdom oracles, the Torah teaching of God is the template of the handbook for life in the Kingdom. It's not done way with, by no means, every jot and title remains.</div><div><br /></div><div>It remains the eternal way, the instruction manual for priesthood life in the image of our Creator for all children of God that choose to love Him. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>We can believe that because heaven and earth have not passed away.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Due to bad choices to ignore God's instruction, entropy and death entered Eden's Kingdom of God realm on earth and sin was set loose. At the same time, God revealed that He had a plan is to redeem mankind from our fallen state and restore His Kingdom on earth defiled by the choice to believe a lie from a thief that comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Kingdom of heaven assignment included Messiah's suffering as He born our iniquities against God, yet in resurrection, He crushed the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15) fulfilling the first promise of Almighty God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Within moments of confession of their sin, our Creator gave His summary outline to repair the breach. It was spoken some 6,000 years ago to the adversary:</div><div><blockquote>"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."</blockquote>Four thousand years later, Messiah Yeshua, the son of Abraham and son of David born in the pain of childbirth in Bethlehem walked across Israel as "the prophet" promised by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-18. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua proclaimed and explained the heart of God's gospel. He arrived just as Isaiah promised as the bruised, pierced suffering servant Son of Man, not the nation of Israel, but the representative:</div><div><blockquote>Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 </blockquote></div><div>Yeshua is the day four light of the world that crushed the head of the serpent's death plan for mankind to undo God's will for a royal priesthood to serve Him. And, just as Matthew 1 declares, Yeshua is the shoot, the branch of David promised in Isaiah 11:1-2</div><div><blockquote>"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD."</blockquote></div><div>Yeshua is the Passover lamb that willfully took on death for mankind's sin that began in Eden fulfilling Genesis 3:15 and He is the High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek (Psalm 2:6-8; Psalm 110:4 and Hebrews 5:5-10).</div><div><br /></div><div>The good news He declared starts with our heavenly assignment to repent and do life God's way as it was intended from the beginning. Our image of God assignment is about loving God and others as God loves. That's the teaching in John 14:15, but there's more: our royal priesthood assignment is to teach others to repent and disciple them in God's ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you choose to be a member of that priesthood, that means spreading the light of the Bible across the planet from Yeshua's bright light Torah perspective, not a new religion. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because men like Marcion, Ignatius, Martyr, Melito, Tertullian, Augustine, Chrysostom and Constantine, many so-called church fathers misled the Gentile Greco Roman church as minds and hearts were led astray into a new religion called replacement theology. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>Replacement theology is also called supersessionism. It's a church made religious doctrine that basically says, God changed His mind despite Malachi 3:6, disavowed His teaching and instruction for holy life including turning His back on His forever Sabbath and Feast Days because the church superseded the nation of Israel, assuming their elect role as His chosen people.</div><div><br /></div><div>One problem with that is return in humble repentance is lost. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's embedded in Malachi 3:7-18 "From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts..."</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Replacement theology erases and rewrites the Bible's holy outline for the priesthood and it replaces the Sabbath and the feast days of The LORD with the days of the Baals (see Hosea 2:23). </div><div><br /></div><div>It forgets the sanctification and holiness taught at Sinai is how God's children are to speak, act, walk and worship in a heart of love following the ways and appointed days of The LORD. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The good news is that today, those lies are finally coming out of the wormwood.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>A remnant are realizing there has to be more, the book of life was not erased at the cross. They are being called out by God's Spirit and returning to the Torah of God that Yeshua taught and explained. They are hearing the messages of Isaiah 43:27, Ezekiel 20:4 and Lamentations 5:7 and understanding the words are about them. </div><div><br /></div><div>This calling is part of the promise of a latter day restoration. Repentant return is becoming a reality that we can worship in God's ways because we get to and want to as The LORD Almighty writes His Torah on our heart (see Jeremiah 31:31-37).</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank God, Isaiah 11:3-16 begins with the storyline of the return trip of our High Priest and King Messiah. The events that unroll in the scroll from that point on up to Isaiah 35 give us important details and Isaiah 35:10 sums up a Jubilee event not yet seen:</div><div><blockquote>"And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."</blockquote>Before Yeshua of Nazareth volunteered for His trial, before He was bruised and beaten by the Romans, before He willingly gave His life blood on the Passover cross as the redemptive Son of Man to overcome death.</div><div><br /></div><div>He arrived in a synagogue in Nazareth one Sabbath day and opened a scroll at the bema in Nazareth. </div><div><br /></div><div>There He read what Isaiah had written and revealed the High Priest's role to deliver the good news of God's Jubilee plan for mankind. You can read all about it in Luke 4:16-20:</div><div><blockquote>"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And <u>as was his custom</u>, he went to the synagogue <u>on the Sabbath day,</u> and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: </blockquote><blockquote>"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me<u> to proclaim good news</u> to the poor. He has sent me <u>to proclaim liberty</u> to the captives and <u>recovering of sight </u>to the blind, <u>to set at liberty </u>those who are oppressed, <u>to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor</u>." </blockquote><blockquote>And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him."</blockquote></div><div>Shortly after that, at the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua taught everyone that would hear and do how to pray and participate in God's good news Jubilee to come. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Spirit of the LORD rested on Yeshua. In the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, in the Spirit of counsel and might with the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD, Yeshua taught our Kingdom of God prayer assignment in Matthew 6:5-14:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pray then like this:<br />
<br />
“Our Father in heaven,<br />
hallowed be your name.<br />
Your kingdom come,<br />
your will be done,<br />
on earth as it is in heaven.<br />
Give us this day our daily bread,<br />
and forgive us our debts,<br />
as we also have forgiven our debtors.<br />
And lead us not into temptation,<br />
but deliver us from evil."</blockquote>It's not hard to read, but many miss it as this prayer sums up what The Father purposed in Eden at creation and at Sinai... <b>the good news is about God's will from heaven on earth</b> in the Kingdom to come, not the other way around! </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet religious replacement theology has gotten things backwards because we have inherited some lies (see Jeremiah 16:19).<br />
<br />
Repentance is the beginning of the Emmaus road trip toward the priesthood, always has been, always will be. </div><div><br /></div><div>Let's not start the walk of the way in Messiah only reciting a silent prayer, let's do it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Almost 2,000 years ago, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin by the name of Nicodemus wanted to know the gospel truth. Yeshua told Nicodemus you must be born from above, but despite his life's work as a leading Torah teacher, Nicodemus did not understand the Torah but he wanted to understand:<br />
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“Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? </blockquote>
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No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." John 3:10-15</blockquote><b>Are we like Nicodemus? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>In evangelical Christianity, the phrase you must be “born again” to receive eternal life comes from the conversation with Nicodemus. John 3:3 is often translated as: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is <u>born again</u> he cannot see the kingdom of God.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, the old Greek manuscripts behind the new English translations read a bit differently: </div><div><br /></div><div>“Unless someone (anōthen) is born <u>from above</u>, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” </div><div><br /></div><div>So, what did Jesus mean when He said born from above to see the kingdom?<br />
<br />
Many think of "born again" as a moment of belief. After all, many sermons describe a salvation gospel that stops with belief in a sinner's prayer to avoid eternal hell fire and brimstone. That prayer call is often at sermon's end that doesn't quite track. The fearful thing is demons believe in Jesus, you can read about that in two mind bending accounts described in Matthew 8:28-34 and Mark 1:23-28 so there has to be more than belief. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>Yes, Almighty God The Father sent His Son Yeshua to fulfill the redeeming life offering for sin. We must believe that. Yet, unlike the demons, we are to repent and turn back to God in a faith walk in His image. </div><div><br /></div><div>That faith includes the response in love to want to do what The LORD God has said is pleasing to Him. Repentance includes an inward change of heart, to do things God's way, to show we love The LORD by what we do for Him... </div><div><br /></div><div>That's a part of the new covenant heart that doesn't stop at the cross. Jeremiah wrote what God has to say about it:</div><div><blockquote>"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law [Torah] within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:33-34</blockquote></div><div>If we want to really know The LORD as His people, we should realize that The LORD's teaching and instruction was given to an assembly whose first born had been saved at the first Passover in Egypt. Not only that, the Torah spoken at Shavuot at that mountain was not only given to Jacob's family released from the shackles of slavery.</div><div><br /></div><div>The covenant at Sinai was given as a life covenant, a constitution life for every saved soul, including native born and sojourner alike, those there and those not there to hear and do so we can all learn how to walk in relationship and in the image of our righteous Almighty God.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>The disciple James provides a sobering commentary on that fact. </div><div><br /></div><div>James taught that salvation is a gift and holiness is learned. His admonition is: </div><div><blockquote>Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:21-22 </blockquote></div><div>It's time to read James 2:14-26. The message is faith without works is a problem.</div><div><br /></div><div>The word James references is the covenant word of God. James words follow the book of Exodus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some people not all tend to ignore God's good news process, but the love of The Father's message must be understood to grasp the good news Kingdom gospel of living for our Holy God, His way. That's why understanding the Exodus pattern is critical to any believer's learning. In a believer’s walk, following Jesus is a matter of walking set apart in holiness, aka set apart to walk in God's image with a changed heart.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our perception of the word holiness is misunderstood by most. In the Bible, holiness is not an abstract spiritual achievement or designation. Holiness is doing what is right, here and now. At Mount Sinai doing what is right was explained to Moses. The teaching from God there we call commandments is about doing the basics of righteousness:</div><div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Do good, extend mercy.</li><li>Honor our parents.</li><li>Lend a hand, take care of people that need help.</li><li>Pay people a fair wage on time.</li><li>Deal with others with care and compassion. </li><li>Respect people rich or poor.</li></ul></div></div><div>Paul describes the process of moving toward holiness as sanctification, to grow in obedience to Almighty God. Paul also challenged people to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. But take care, Paul did not say to “work for” salvation but to “work out” salvation. </div><div><br /></div><div>Scripture teaches that we are saved not by our works but by God's grace. What we do is our response to that gift of grace. In Romans 13:8-10 Paul wrote that love fulfills the Torah. </div><div><br /></div><div>That Scripture message is not new, it's from Sinai:</div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>"<b>All scripture</b> is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Timothy 3:16</div><div><br /></div><div>"<b>Blessed </b>are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14 </div></blockquote><blockquote>"Here is the <b>endurance</b> of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12 </blockquote><div></div></div><div><b>Those Kingdom Come words are powerful. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Endurance (ὑπομονή) is about sustaining perseverance. The King James Bible renders the Greek in Revelation 14:12 as patience, but that olde English translation does not quite convey the heart of the message of sustaining steadfast endurance, aka running the race by choosing to keep Almighty God's voice of teaching that leads to blessing.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's why it's so important to dig deeper into what Yeshua said to Nicodemus to understand <u>birth from above</u> by the Spirit of God:</div><div><blockquote>"No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." John 3:13-15 NIV</blockquote></div><div>Yeshua was explaining the gift of eternal life (the tree of life) is faith revealed in action, evidenced by His deed at the cross, revealed in resurrection and ongoing in intercession at Almighty God's tight hand.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unlike the belief only of demons, the belief and faith of a saved soul includes steadfast endurance in God's holy words. That's the straight path of holiness the New Testament declares:</div><div><blockquote>Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, <u>and make straight paths for your feet</u>, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, <u>and for the holiness</u> without which <u>no one will see</u> the Lord. Hebrews 12:12-14</blockquote></div><div>As the book of James and the letter to Timothy explain, one who believes in the redeeming work of Messiah... chooses to do life God's holiness way in blessing. </div><div><br /></div><div>The book of Revelation reveals that blessings include getting to do the commandments of our Creator God. Those include not only how we heart others in kindness but how we can honor The LORD's Sabbath, The LORD's Feast Days, even The LORD's diet instruction as well as understanding The LORD's calendar, because “I the Lord do not change.” Malachi 3:6.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus (Yeshua) taught straight from Deuteronomy 30:11-14 when He said:<br /><blockquote>For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:30</blockquote>After all, how hard can it be to rest one day a week and honor The Lord's Sabbath? How hard can it be to eat a healthy meal? And how hard can it be to honor The Lord's appointed Feast Days each year with joyful vacation days granted by the Creator as He outlines His plan of redemption?</div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God has not reordered time. His Sabbath day of rest remains. His Passover lamb did not morph into an Easter bunny or Santa Claus. The LORD still uses the sun and the phases of the moon for all to see as His master timepiece to mark His feast seasons.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Some people think they are too busy with life to learn the words of our Creator God, so they choose to listen to the opinions of others in a sermon about a new religion in the back of the book, but that is why many may not receive blessed answers to prayer:<br /><blockquote>He who turns away his ear from hearing the Torah, Even his prayer is an abomination. Proverbs 28:9 </blockquote>If you ask me, the proverb is telling us that if we follow God's path, hear and do, then we can receive the blessing of answered prayers. </div><div><br /></div><div>We must remove the "leavened" teaching of men and focus on the voice of our Creator so that we can know the power and glory of Almighty God. In order to do that, we should leave new "religious" tradition not based on God's voice in Scripture as it is written. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's the hard hitting message Yeshua preached.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>The disciple John goes on to say that if you hear the calling of God, it's up to you to answer the call to believe, and do life God's way. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>We can't read John 3:16 out of context. Many do but</b> we have to keep reading on to John 3:21, to see belief includes doing: </div><div><blockquote>"“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. </blockquote><blockquote>For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. </blockquote><blockquote>Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. </blockquote><blockquote><u>And this is the judgment:</u> the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. </blockquote><blockquote><u><b>But whoever does what is true</b></u> comes to the light, <u><b>so that it may be clearly seen that his works</b></u> have been carried out in God.” John 3:16-21 </blockquote></div><div>Practicing truth and faith in righteous deeds starts with belief. The learning process continues with living life God's way in Kingdom faith. It's all outlined in the Torah and that's what Jesus did and taught others to do. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nicodemus was missing what the Torah teaches about returning to Almighty God in repentance. It brings The Father's mercies and grace in forgiveness in line with the Tree of Life promise of return and resurrection embedded in the Torah. </div><div><br /></div><div>Good deeds are proof of repentance and the way of Torah, not earning the road to salvation. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's why the royal priesthood must function under the order of Melchizedek. Paul taught the same straight way but few see that, so let's read this:</div><blockquote>"According to <u>the way </u>which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, <b>believing everything that is in accordance with the Law [</b><i>Torah</i><b>] </b><u>and that</u> is <b>written in the Prophets</b>." Acts 24:14 </blockquote><div>In the Greek manuscripts of John, "works" are translated from the Greek word "ergon" (ἔργον) meaning an act, deed, thing done. The good we do for others is set apart by Almighty God as holy and right. Good works shine a bright light on God's words of truth. It's no wonder that "light" has been a big time keyword in the Bible ever since the beginning. </div><div><br /></div><div>What is that light? Psalm 119:105-106 gives us the answer, it's God's word:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.</blockquote>The Psalmist ties God's word to how we act, aka how we walk and live life in God's image as our Creator intended from the beginning. Did you know this description of God's word begins with the letter Nun? </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason it that each Hebrew letter has an important embedded meaning. </div><div><br /></div><div>It just so happens the letter "Nun" נ represents "faithfulness." </div><div><br /></div><div>The psalm mentions feet and path. The word of God shows us the way of faithful restoration to Father God and to others. The first step on the path to the Kingdom of God starts with teshuva (repentance) and that's when the relationship begins, it continues on in faithfulness. That's what this Psalm is teaching. That's what Yeshua taught Nicodemus in the Psalm 119 lesson.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Don't forget, even demons believe. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>You can read about that nightmare scenario in Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 1:32-34 and Luke 4:41; 8:26-33.</div><div><br /></div><div>Belief alone is not a stop sign on the Emmaus road to faithful life. The roadmap to the Kingdom of God continues by walking in the truth and light of the word of God and choosing to do so because you love The LORD.</div><div>
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The journey is not a one time decision, it's a daily life choice, a Royal Priesthood journey when we choose to follow the High Priest and King Yeshua every day. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>Belief is an action word, faithfulness is a lifestyle that is grounded in acts of righteous obedience leading to holiness. Being faithful and set apart (holy) is Yeshua’s life, death and resurrection demonstration. If we are to follow in His footsteps in the Royal Priesthood (1 Peter 2:7-12) we must choose to walk in holy set apart ways.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>That gospel of God is a very old message. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Moses outlined it in the sermons we now call the book of Deuteronomy. The Prophets zero in on it and they outline the problems of not walking in the way of the word of God. </div></div><div><div><br /></div><div><div>No wonder Yeshua shouted "<a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=repent&t=ESV&csr=9#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">repent</a>!" He proclaimed that door opener to kingdom living over again for righteous reason, He was declaring the prophecy of Isaiah 1:27:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness."</div><div></div></blockquote><div>Repentance engages redemption. God responds to repentance and forgives in mercy and grace when we repent and turn back to walk in the light of God's righteousness. Almighty God's mercy and redemption is available to everyone. Our response should be to turn back and keep the path of a righteous walk of the Royal Priesthood. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua proved His faithfulness by walking in sinless life and He was born again in resurrection as the first born on the appointed day of First Fruits. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Eternal life and resurrection can be yours too!</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua knew that Almighty God gave Solomon great wisdom that's never changed. It too is a part of the gospel with a promise from the God of Israel to every humble God fearer and it's the same gospel Yeshua taught when He said repent because God described His plan to Solomon:</div><div><blockquote>"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2Chronicles 7:14 </blockquote></div><div>That <u>land promise</u> is not old and done away with either. Modern Israel is the proof that syncs perfectly with the Luke 11:1-4 teaching of Lord's Prayer: "<u>your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.</u>"</div><div><br /></div><div>We need to know God's forgiveness is granted by His justice as a response to our repentance by turning from our ways to God's ways. Repentance is the call of truth that requires we do something and humbly reexamine ourselves, pray, turn away from sin and return to God in teshuvah to walk in the light and truth of God's Kingdom ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bottomline, believing in Jesus does not stop with a sinner's prayer.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Bible is the proof, Almighty God makes a big promise to forgive sin but like all all relationships are a two way street. </div><div><br /></div><div>Repentant faith continues with faith in action in God's image, not just belief.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>How do you want to respond? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Do you understand that it's the Jewish people that brought the Messiah into the world? </div><div><br /></div><div>That fact cannot be forgotten. He the lion of the tribe of Judah. </div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that, the faith of the Jewish people brought the world the Bible, God's oracles to the world and after grave tribulation from Hitler's horrors, the Jewish people have brought healing back to the land promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob although it was empty and void for nearly 2,000 years. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Jewish people are proof that the Kingdom of God is near.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The Jewish people are preparing it for Messiah's return whether one thinks it is the first trip or the second!</div><div><br /></div><div>The ways of God are not new and the good news gospel of the Kingdom of God isn't new. The path remains the same: repent, turn away from sin and fearfully turn back to God. That's not a new religion, it's not a religion at all, it's fact.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua of Nazareth added weight to the Bible's urgent gospel message because "the Kingdom of God is near." Our responsibility is to choose to make the first move and that choice begins with repentance and then to walk in God's Kingdom ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>The more that message of choice is proclaimed around the globe, the closer the Kingdom of Heaven led by Messiah Yeshua is to returning the light of God's word to this dark planet.</div><div><div>
<br />Do you know the Exodus 33 mercy lesson? Yeshua did!</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses asked for God's forgiveness and wanted to continue on the journey back to the Promised Land with the assembly of the sons of Jacob and the sojourners with them. Many had sinned and broke their covenant with God with the golden calf. Yet, the life lesson on God's character is seen at the mountaintop immediately after the golden pagan idolatry leftover from Egypt broke the covenant everyone had just agreed to. </div><div><br /></div><div>Do you remember what Moses asked of The LORD? </div><div><br /></div><div>"Let me know <u>Your ways</u> that I may know You, <u>so that I may find favor</u> in Your sight."<br />
<br />Almighty God agreed with the request: "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest."<br />
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There from that cloud of fire on the mountain, Almighty God said: “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.”<br />
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The answer was for both of Moses' requests: go with us - and let me know your ways so I may know you. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Father of Heaven then outlined His Kingdom ways and His desire for us as redeemed children of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>The gospel started at that mountaintop and Moses wrote everything he heard.<br />
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God's response to Moses included His teaching and instruction <u>from above</u> and Yeshua admonished Nicodemus about that because he should have known the Torah's compassion promise that will come with the new birth of resurrection life is the ultimate gift of forgiveness for mankind's iniquity, transgression and sin:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The LORD <u>descended in the cloud</u> and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">'The LORD, the LORD God, <u>compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin;</u> yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.'"</blockquote>Bottomline, if we repent and seek to follow the living Torah, aka the sinless way Yeshua walked anointed by the Holy Spirit, we are following in the footsteps of Messiah. </div><div><br /></div><div>Rebirth as a child of God begins with repentance followed by God's forgiveness of the guilt of sin and our choice to walk in the journey of life to the kingdom of God brings blessing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just like He taught Nicodemus, the path to being born again in resurrection is revealed in The Father's character. He is <u>compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin</u>!</div><div>
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I pray that helps explain why Yeshua questioned Nicodemus “the teacher of Israel” and expected him to understand what the Torah declares. Remember the question in John 3:10: “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? <br />
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Nicodemus was a educated Pharisee, a Torah teacher and a member of the Sanhedrin, but he did not understand the “kingdom of God” realm from above that God is full of compassion and grace, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth, forgiveness of iniquity, transgression and sin. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, Nicodemus had let some religious views distort God's gospel plan.</div><div>
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That conversation with a Pharisee points to God's eternal life resurrection promise from “above.” </div><div><br /></div><div><b>There's another truth found in the book of Luke.</b></div><div><br /></div><div><div>One Sabbath, when Yeshua went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, he healed a man there that suffered from dropsy. </div><div><br /></div><div>The disorder is now called edema which is bodily swelling. It can be a sign of serious medical complications. When very serious, it can cause difficulty in breathing and requires immediate medical attention. Left untreated, it can produce more serious complications and can result in heart or kidney failure leading to death. </div><div><br /></div><div>While there, Yeshua gave the Pharisees several parables. Yeshua wrapped up the meeting saying:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void. Luke 16:17</div><div><br /></div><div>If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Luke 16:31</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div>In the book of John, Yeshua addresses how God chose to deal with transgression, sin and death, with love!</div><div><blockquote>"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." John 3:16-17.</blockquote></div><div>Why saved through Messiah as the only begotten Son?<br />
<br />Adam was the first man, yet he was not born. Adam was hand made, but broke his relationship with The Father. Everyone else has done the same except Yeshua. It was Israel's choice to disregard God's covenant at Sinai so they needed an intercessor. Moses gives us the preliminary big picture about that including to trips down the mountain of God with the Ten Commandments.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rewind for a moment and you'll see that after everyone agreed to God's covenant, people were too afraid to hear God's voice, thinking they would die, so they asked Moses to be their intercessor to declare God's words to them.</div><div><br /></div><div>The intercessory plan of redemption actually started in the beginning. </div><div><br /></div><div>Adam received the broth of life from God's Spirit. the Bible tells us our Creator literally blew life into him and created mankind to live in God's image. The problem is Eve made the decision to ignore God's instruction and darkened that image by believing a lie. </div><div><br /></div><div>In doing so, Eve disrespected God and chose a prideful deception that says God's word is old and done away with. </div><div><br /></div><div>Noah was an intercessor for mankind's survival too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Adam followed along with Eve. Some 3,600 year's later, The Lord God told Isaiah the prophet:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Remember this and stand firm,<br />
recall it to mind, you transgressors,<br /><u>
remember the former things of old</u>;<br />
for I am God, and there is no other;<br />
I am God, and there is none like me,<br /><u>
declaring the end from the beginning</u><br />
and from ancient times things not yet done,<br />
saying, ‘<u>My counsel shall stand</u>,<br />
and I will accomplish all my purpose... Isaiah 46:8-10</blockquote>
The Master Rabbi Yeshua taught Nicodemus a Torah teacher of Israel the purpose of God's goal from the beginning. It's declared in Genesis 3:15, but Nicodemus struggled to see the light just like many others do today. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>We have all inherited lies in one way or another.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Because of that, we are blind in many ways to Messiah's first coming as He properly taught Torah to Nicodemus about resurrection and the Kingdom of heaven on earth as it was intended for Adam and Eve. </div><div><br /></div><div>Until Yeshua, how God would accomplish His purpose was almost a hidden mystery, for many it remains a mystery even today. </div><div><br /></div><div>The gospel plan of God was started in Genesis 3:15 and Yeshua revealed His bruised heel purpose to Nicodemus. The proof is found in John 19:39. Before that day...</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” </blockquote>
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Yeshua answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? </blockquote>
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No one has ascended into heaven <u>except he who descended</u> from heaven, the Son of Man. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:9-15</blockquote>
Despite some sermons many have heard, or New York Times best sellers you may have read, the Bible promises that t<b>he Kingdom of Heaven is coming back to planet earth.</b> There's no rapture escape hatch flight in the sky to Heaven leaving unbelieving Jews behind. </div><div><br /></div><div>Messiah Yeshua is the one worthy to open the seven seals in Revelation 5. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua is the promised anointed King and High Priest that will return to rule from Jerusalem by God's Kingdom constitution and knock out sin, destroying the destroyers of the earth and He will lead the way to rebuild Zion. </div><div><br /></div><div>Revelation 6 describes tribulation much like the plagues that fell on Egypt. Jacob's descendants were never swooped up by a cloud, but they were protected.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua's High Priest role as returning King is to knock out evil and restore mankind to life in righteous relationship with our Creator. That goal will be complete when the head of the serpent is crushed just as it was stated in the beginning when God first revealed the outline of His plan.<br />
<br />Whether you believe it or not, Yeshua is the Son of Man descended from heaven, the prophet like Moses that was lifted up just like the snake Moses put on a stake to save Israel and the sojourners with them. Yeshua was bruised and beaten for our transgressions, yet He is the living Son of Man raised in the eternal life promise of resurrection and ascension to intercession. He will rule as King forever as promised to David and to Daniel some 500 years later:<br />
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"But the holy [set apart] of the Highest One [the Son of Man] will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come." Daniel 7:18</blockquote>Many want to know, when will we see this forever kingdom and the end of the age of sin and death? </div><div><br /></div><div>That's the same question the disciples asked Yeshua. His answer was that Daniel told us it will be after a time of grave trouble and Yeshua backed up that end of age of sin prophecy in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 described by Daniel:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints [bond-servants] of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. Daniel 7:21-22</blockquote><b>
Jerusalem is the location.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Events in Jerusalem will clear up all the confusion of the gospel of The Kingdom to come. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jerusalem was chosen by Almighty God to be the place of redemption and atonement. Jerusalem is the center of the conflict of good and the evil that opposes God's authority. The Old City is already a cup of reeling because Jerusalem is where our relationship with Almighty God will be restored back to the beginning.</div><div><br /></div><div>The deceiver hates Jerusalem and the Jewish people. Jerusalem is hated by most of the U.N. There are more condemnations against Israel from the U.N. Assembly than any other country, and many more will come in the days ahead.</div><div>
<br /><b>But we have a choice.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>We can choose Almighty God's Kingdom ways and will for our lives if we first repent and believe the teaching of Yeshua-Jesus the Jew descended from David. His is the light shining throughout the narrative of the Bible both old and new and the Kingdom's latter day restoration is coming into full gear through Yeshua's life, teaching, trial, death, resurrection and ascension as intercessor. </div><div><br /></div><div>His faith is coming back full circle from the pits of anti-semitism and replacement theology for a remnant. </div><div><br /></div><div>As a Jew and the Son of Man, He suffered, yet He was resurrected, born again in new life so it time to take a deep look at the resurrection of Israel and the Jewish people. They are a part of the plan.</div><div><br /></div><div>Did you know the Messiah to come declared in the daily Amidah prayers of faithful Jewish people that stand and pray every day: ""I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach. And though he may tarry, I shall wait anticipating his arrival each day."</div><div><br /></div><div><b>
Do you stand with them or against them?</b></div><div><br />
The “good news” is that the Jew called Jesus is the Son of Man and that Moshiach. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's some Jewish confusion, aren't two Messiahs and recognizing Him in repentance is the Kingdom of Heaven key to God's redemption. When He is called on by Jerusalem, He will return as Messiah King with the authority over the earth that Adam unwittingly gave up, and the reality is there will be a battle for those that now seek to destroy or divide the eretz land of Israel:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” Revelation 11:18 </blockquote>
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“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. Revelation 22:12</blockquote>
The unchanging word of God reveals His lovingkindness in the Torah of our forgiving Father that thank God was never done away with on a Roman execution cross at Golgotha. </div><div><br /></div><div>Instead, God's mystery gospel plan revealed in the Torah is to remove sin with a glorious redeemed future from beginning to end. The resurrected redeemer King and High Priest in the order of Melchizedek will return as the “king of righteousness” to govern the world from the holy mountain on the throne of David in Jerusalem.<br />
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When He does, the Torah of God will be His covenant Kingdom constitution that will be taught to all “peoples, nations, and languages” and that teaching is the reason for the season of the millennium celebration of Tabernacles described by the prophet Zechariah:</div><div><blockquote>“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” Zechariah 14:16</blockquote><b>Do you remember Abraham? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>He was God's friend because he did what God asked without hesitation. Abraham lived out his faith by what he did. Had he never stepped out of the Ur of the Chaldees, you would have never heard of him. That faith in action is what Jesus was teaching Nicodemus about when He said:<br />
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"But <b>whoever does what is true</b> comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen <b>that his works</b> have been carried out in God. John 3:21</blockquote>
In our Creator’s timing and according to His master plan outlined in the Feasts of The Lord, the Kingdom of God will be restored on earth with Jerusalem as its Sukkot centerpiece. The stones that the Highest One is using to accomplish the New Jerusalem are His bond-servants walking in repentance and making the right choice as the children of God to hear God's voice and walk in faith as a friend under the teaching of the Messiah of Israel.<br />
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Yet, this gospel message from above about living in the light of the Word of God can get lost when you stop at the cross and do not understand the Son of Man in His First Fruits resurrection desires we all walk in the ways of new life empowered by the Spirit of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent from replacement theology and religious theories of a future floating around on an escape cloud of bliss playing a harp or living in a mansion behind pearly gates guarded by Saint Peter. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>That's not a gospel kingdom promise found anywhere in the Bible Yeshua taught. <br /></b>
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Matthew 24:14 tells us Jesus said that is Kingdom dependent on what we need to do, so I am doing it here:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“This <u>gospel of the kingdom</u> shall be preached in the <u>whole world</u> as a testimony to all the nations, and <u>then the end will come</u>."</blockquote>
The Kingdom gospel is what Yeshua taught Nicodemus and the end is <u>not global destruction, it's the end of the age of sin and rebellion against God's voice</u> that will come with a grave price for those that continue to reject God's voice.<br />
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Two thousand years ago, a Levite named John was born to preach repentance to all that would hear the priestly call in mikveh preparation to receive the humble Messiah that would teach Torah as the Kingdom ways from above. John the immerser (aka baptist) was chosen from the womb like Elijah to begin the restoration process of mankind through repentance to return to God's ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>The mikveh or baptism if you will that John was chosen for at the Jordan River is a picture of preparation for priestly duty in resurrection because Yeshua was given Adam's original assignment to have dominion over the earth in the Kingdom of God.<br />
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Matthew's account says: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the <u>whole world</u> as a testimony to <u>all the nations.</u>" The words "whole world" are from the Greek word "oikoumenē" and while it can be translated as "whole world" another meaning is hidden according to both Strong's and Thayer's Greek Lexicons. They both give a subtle reference to the Roman Empire.<br />
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During Yeshua's day, that evil empire of bronze ruled over people and land by dictatorial oppression from Rome's Caesars that started in 60BC with their invasion of the Promised Land. The Roman Empire included dominion over the "land" (eretz) of Israel after Pompey aka Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus marched into Jerusalem. He became famous as a Roman General. That fame remains.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today, the oppressive Roman rule has morphed into the divided iron and clay toes of radical Islam's Shiite and Sunni Islamic kingdom with U.N. backing. The U.N. has committed their own resolutions to constantly condemn Israel while Jordan<b> enforces an abomination</b> to Jewish and Christian prayer atop the Temple Mount. </div><div><br /></div><div>Their religious goal is to rule what they call their Noble Sanctuary. It's just as Daniel explained when he described the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's nightmare in Babylon:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle." Daniel 2:41-42</blockquote>
Not only that, despite the fact that Israel is the birthplace of Yeshua of Nazareth, today He is barely known there as the Jewish Messiah, despite His Torah observance and teaching like the prophet promised to Moses. </div><div><br /></div><div>Believe it or not, Yeshua is little known to the Christianity that believes Jesus tuned His back on the Jewish people and started a new religion. They think upended the Sabbaths of The LORD and hung God's Torah on a cross while some Palestinians say he was a Palestinian born in Bethlehem.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>But the teaching given to Nicodemus can not be forgotten.</b><br />
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In the manuscripts we now call the gospels, Jesus never taught of converting anyone to a new replacement religion. </div><div><br /></div><div>Instead, He taught and explained the heart of the same Torah that God had given to Moses and promised to Jeremiah about the restoration of the heart of Ephraim and Judah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">I have heard Ephraim grieving, 'You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.' </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD." Jeremiah 31:18-20 </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: "'The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!' Jeremiah 31:23</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:33-34</blockquote>
Yeshua admonished righteousness and mercy found in the instruction of Moses when He said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."<br />
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."<br />
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:6-8</blockquote>Thinking the Sermon on the Mount was a new teaching, many miss the echo of Moses in Yeshua's words. It's as if Jewish people have been wearing a veil and can't see Yeshua in the Torah heart of the seasoning salt He taught or the light of doing the good deeds (mitzvah) of Torah by showing God's heart in healing others. It's time to see Joseph too.</div><div><br /></div><div>The story of Joseph reveals when Judah will recognize his brother Joseph. Sadly, there will be trouble in the land of Israel. Joseph will help Judah and Judah will see him for who he is.<br /><br />Praise God, the hearts of many Christians began to believe their Bibles after WWII and they repented and return to the front of the Bible.</div><div><br /></div><div>The truth is mitzvah (good deeds) gives salt and light glory back to God:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16</blockquote>When Yeshua healed a leper, you need to know He kept the Torah's instruction explicitly: "The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look." Leviticus 14:1-3<br />
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Here's the record:<br />
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And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” Matthew 8:4</blockquote>
Yeshua did not do away with the Torah, He did it. He focused others on keeping the commandments of God because it's the righteous "life" choice:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” Matthew19:17</blockquote><b>
Yeshua taught the pinnacle of the Torah and the prophets:</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">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 first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:36-40</blockquote>An observant Jew to the written Torah, Yeshua kept it. That includes keeping the Sabbath and thank God He kept the festivals of The LORD right on time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Have you read what He told the Samaritan woman?<br />
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“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.” John 4:22</blockquote>
Yeshua is the Jewish name for Jesus that means salvation and He taught the way of the heart in The Kingdom is to fulfill the whole Tanach (Hebrew Bible) with meaning, not finish it off on a cross:<br />
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“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-19</blockquote>
Yeshua taught the heart of Torah righteousness is more important than some religious traditions:<br />
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"For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:20</blockquote>Yet, traditions that hold up the ideals of Torah are forever as long as they do not add to or take away from God's written word.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Son of Man's gospel of The Kingdom intertwines truth and spirit, yet His Kingdom preaching has been distorted and <u>we have inherited some knowledge lies</u>, but the light will shine in the darkness. Just as Daniel was promised, knowledge has increased. That knowledge is about God's Torah, its truth is being revealed to many among the nations, seeing it as the constitution of The Kingdom and believing Yeshua. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, Yeshua's words can be read by anyone for what they say thanks to the blessing of the printing press and they can be seen and heard virtually everywhere thanks to technology.</div><div><br /></div><div>The truth to know is the living Torah of God connects heaven to earth, always has, always will. Yeshua is the written record of the voice of the Sovereign Creator of the Universe. Being a citizen of the Kingdom of God makes you and I accountable to His constitution. </div><div>
<br /><b>It's time to stand and boldly proclaim, repent and live like you're a child of God citizen. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>It is time to take hold of the shield of faith and put on the helmet of salvation. It's time to strap on the sword of truth and buckle up with righteousness because the fearful glory of the Messiah King is coming back to deal with the adversary as those that oppose The Father.<br />
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It's time to prepare hearts to understand and believe The Kingdom Come gospel promise and declare it just as Yeshua taught Nicodemus from the foundation of the Hebrew Scriptures.<br />
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This past week, I was blessed to hear a wonderful presentation on sharing the gospel and the next day I received this message from a dear friend who "follows" Yeshua and seeks to walk in "the way" of the Messiah's voice and relationship with The Father. She wrote:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida sans";"><b>Have we reduced His voice to white noise?</b></span></center>
<span style="font-family: "lucida sans";"><br />"I keep catching myself striving to hear from God. Bear with me, I know that He speaks though his Word, for where would I be without that?</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "lucida sans";">I know the heavens declare his glory, day after day they pour forth speech. I praise God for these. I just find myself hungering to hear him MORE! He is Immanuel. God with us. God with me! My ever constant companion. Assuming I were ever quiet, wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect to hear from my companion throughout the day, every day? <br />
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I use to think it was some level of spiritual maturity I needed to attain in order to hear His voice in this way. Maybe when I have uncovered every hidden sin and spent X amount of time reading my Bible and praying, then maybe I could hear him speak to me like that. Or, maybe if I would sit in silence for extended periods of times.<br />
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While all those things are probably good and even profitable for hearing him, I think I have made this altogether too complex. What if my striving is the very thing keeping me from what I desire? What if instead of me becoming ‘more’ to hear him, I need to become ‘less.’<br />
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“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” 1 Corinthians 8:1<br />
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“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3<br />
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Oh Lord, I fear the puffing up has clogged up my ears. In my ‘sound doctrine,’ have I put into a box what hearing from you is supposed to be like?<br />
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I remember when I first moved to California, I was totally taken by the mountains.</span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: "lucida sans";">There was one specific spot where I struggled to keep my eyes on the road at all because of the majesty of the view. Completely breathtaking. Yet, after some time of driving that same stretch day after day, would you believe I forgot the mountains were even there? I didn’t notice them at all. Why?</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "lucida sans";">Did the mountains lose their splendor? Oh, Lord, have I treated you like that mountain?<br />
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“He who has ears, let him hear!” Matthew 11:15 and Matthew 13:9<br />
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Oh, how that verse pierces me! He has given me all the equipment! I just haven’t been using it. I want to hear you God, how can I open my ears?<br />
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“For it was you who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13<br />
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Wait a minute! I was created for this! No created thing has to strive to do the very thing it was created for? You created me for relationship with you! This hunger to hear you, is from you! You love me! You designed me! All of me, all of my senses, with relationship with you as priority #1!</span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: "lucida sans";">You are most definitely speaking to me!<br />
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You are speaking to me so much, with everything in me and around me. You ARE pouring forth speech. You speak with such generosity, that we have considered it white noise, or ‘my imagination.’ Unclog my ears Lord Jesus! Scrub them clean from preconceived notions and lies that I have believed. Cleanse them from the noise of this world and the noise of my striving flesh. <br />
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Make me like a child, at peace just to be in my Daddy’s arms. No theology to complicate things... just the love of a Father and his daughter. You do not withhold your life giving words from me. You aren’t holding anything back from me. Thank you! My ears and all of my senses, all of me, look to you. Wide eyed and confident that I was made for this.<br />
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This song is playing in my head…<br />
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‘May we never lose our wonder! Wide eyed and mystified, may we be just like a child, staring at the beauty of our King!’<br />
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May it be so."</span></blockquote>
The LORD is speaking, yet our t<span style="font-family: "lucida sans";">heologies can complicate our understanding of His voice as they often add or take away from the promise and purpose of the written Word of God to connect heaven and earth. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "lucida sans";"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "lucida sans";">T</span>he awe and wonder of the promise of being born from above with the good news of the Kingdom of God is that the hope for the coming of our Messiah King to restore the planet and mankind in resurrection back to the beginning in a bond-servant's Father son, Father daughter relationship with God.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's how it was intended from the beginning.<br />
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So listen up.</div><div><br /></div><div>My friends message reminded me of Jeremiah. He was given the big promise... knowing Almighty God, The LORD:<br />
<blockquote>
"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: <u><b>for they shall all know me</b></u>, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for </blockquote><blockquote><b><u>I will forgive their iniquity</u></b>, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:34</blockquote>
The good news is humble Yeshua HaMashiach walked in and taught the perfect walk of The Kingdom bringing the Word of God to life as the heart of Torah in the flesh. Yeshua lived out God's instruction righteously and He was anointed by God's Spirit. In the priestly prayer to The Father about those He taught and others to follow He said:</div><div><blockquote><u><b>I have manifested your name</b></u> to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, <u><b>and they have kept your word</b></u>. John 17:6 </blockquote><blockquote><u><b>I have given them your word</b></u> and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. John 17:14 </blockquote><blockquote>Sanctify them by the truth; <u><b>your word is truth</b></u>. John 17:17</blockquote><p>The Kingdom begins when we repent and our sin is forgiven and forgotten in gracious mercy and <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=lovingkindness&t=KJV#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">in lovingkindness</a>. Because of that promise, Yeshua taught everyone to repent, to return to know God's heart declared to Moses:</p></div><div><blockquote>And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth... Exodus 34:5-6 KJV </blockquote></div><div>Because He loves The Father, Yeshua followed and taught the heart of The Father's teaching given on the mountain. Because of sin's curse which is death, the grave could not hold the sinless One and resurrection new life was given to Him with authority to pass on for the final redemption. <br />
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Yeshua experienced trial and tribulation for its highest purpose, and He overcame the death penalty of sin that mankind brought on himself by believing a deception that Almighty God held something back. Yeshua offered His righteous life in an exchange with goodness and truth for the iniquity of all. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Kingdom come good news is Yeshua lives!</div><div>
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Those that repent and believe the Gospel of the Kingdom get to follow God in faith as a friend of God like Abraham. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, you too can walk in loving obedience as a child of God and you can prepare others for the day Melek HaMashiach returns. Rest assured, He is coming in resurrection glory as King Messiah. He will destroy what is evil, He will fulfill the appointed Fall Feasts just as He filled the purpose of the Spring Feasts in Jerusalem two millennia ago.<br />
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When He returns in glory and power, the shofar will be heard on the day of Trumpets in Jerusalem as it was for thousands of years. The rehearsals will end. Yeshua will restore the fallen tent of David and establish His throne in Jerusalem, and as David was promised, His work will be greater that David's. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>That's what Nathan revealed to David.</b><br />
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David was the first anointed, chosen of God leader of Israel. Yeshua is the chosen, anointed Messiah King of all Judah and all nations.<br />
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There, in Israel just as the prophet Nathan promised David: "a son will build a house for God" (2 Samuel 7:10-17). </div><div><br /></div><div>That house today is being built with livings stones... they are led by the High Priest King that declares the constitution that defines God's heart in righteousness and forgiveness, it is called the Torah, the eternal Kingdom teaching of The Father.<br />
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Listen up, Nathan repeated God's promise of Messiah when he said: "I will be a Father to him and he will be a son to Me." (2 Samuel 7:14)<br />
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Yeshua never turned against His Father's ways.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua did not do away with the Torah like you may have heard, He did the opposite.</div><div><br /></div><div>The reason, it is The Father's heaven to earth message, it's the instruction manual for kingdom life in the House of the God of Israel. Righteous children, citizens whether native born or adopted are those that choose to obey The Father in love because they want to. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>That's the very definition of a bond-servant.</b><br />
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That simple gospel may be hard to hear, difficult to grasp due to some misguided religious sermons about a New Testament vs. an Old Testament, but Yeshua of Nazareth never started a new religion.<br />
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Believe it or not, Yeshua never attended Sunday school either. </div><div><br /></div><div>His custom was was to go to synagogue to read and teach on the Sabbath (see Luke 4:16 for the proof text). </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua revealed the meaning of living the life of Torah in the heart while teaching "the way" of life in the Kingdom of God. To understand this requires the Sermon on the Mount, so one day you'll find more here about that. </div><div><br /></div><div>We can be pure in heart, we can hunger and thirst for righteous truth. We can be meek and peacemakers full of salt and light. "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)<br />
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<big>The Kingdom come gospel was spread by Jewish disciples.</big></center>
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Have you heard the Gospel message they proclaimed?<br />
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One response to this question is that they preached on the death and resurrection of Jesus as the Gospel, another is that a person can receive salvation by "believing in" in Jesus, raising a hand and reciting a prayer of forgiveness. Hold onto your pew,<b> those are righteous right steps</b>, but it's not the whole Kingdom gospel message they heard to live like Yeshua - Jesus in a royal priesthood.</div><div>
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How do we know?</b><br />
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We know because the disciples preached the gospel of The Kingdom <b>before they ever realized </b>Jesus would actually give up His life as a freewill offering to defeat the sting of death from sin as promised from the beginning in Genesis 3:15 and go on the intercede as the right hand of God as the King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we read their accounts, the disciples heard Yeshua <b>preach the gospel of The Kingdom before they ever witnessed </b>the Passover trial or crucifixion.</div><div><br /></div><div>They heard the gospel of God (Mark 1:14-15) before they heard Yeshua prepare them for the burial to come (Mark 14:3-10) or saw Yeshua appear with them in glory after His First Fruits resurrection with their commission to preach the gospel after the resurrection (Mark 16:14-20). </div><div><br /></div><div>If look back at the accounts, the disciples did not understand what was going on.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>So, what gospel were they preaching after the resurrection?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The same gospel they heard preached earlier throughout the Galilee and in Judea and Samaria.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was declared before Peter turned his back in fear denying he was a disciple of Yeshua in the darkness of the Passover trial. The disciples heard the gospel preached long before they received the outpouring of the Spirit of God on Shavuot (Pentecost) to empower them to declare the good news to all nations in all languages.<br />
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One record of the gospel of the kingdom of God before the cross and resurrection is found in Luke 9:1-6:<br />
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"And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. </blockquote>
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And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” </blockquote>
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And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere."</blockquote>
Nowhere in the Jewish writings of the disciples now called the gospels, do we find any account about the disciples preaching to the crowds about a Passover trial, death on a cross, three days of death in the grave before the First Fruits resurrection. It has been that way since the beginning when the gospel of God was first revealed in Genesis 3:15.<br />
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Read Matthew, Mark, Luke or John for yourself and consider what this means:<br />
<ul>
<li>What gospel did John the Baptist preach? (Luke 3:18, Luke 16:16)</li>
<li>What gospel did Yeshua preach while He walked through the Galilee, Samaria and what gospel did He teach at Jerusalem at The Temple? (Matthew 4:23, Mark 1:14, Luke 20:1)</li>
<li>What gospel were the disciples sent out to preach? (Luke 9:6)</li>
<li>What gospel is the great commission assignment? (Matthew 24:14, Mark 13:10, Mark 16:15)</li>
</ul>
Yeshua started teaching with the word "repent" and "the gospel of God" proclaiming the Kingdom to come!!<br />
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From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 3:17 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Now after John had been taken into custody, Yeshua came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. Mark 1:14-15</blockquote>
Repent does not just mean feeling sorry or expressing regret for sin in a one time prayer. It starts with that but repent also means turn back, turn around and return to God's ways. The Hebrew word for repent is "teshuva" and it's faith in action, a process. That gospel was not a "new message." </div><div><br /></div><div>Its true, the gospel that Yeshua of Nazareth began with the same message the prophet Ezekiel declared:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. Ezekiel 14:6 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Ezekiel 18:30 </blockquote>
The gospel Yeshua declared was that the Kingdom of God was at hand and Yeshua confirmed the Torah's connection to The Gospel:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law [Torah] to fail.” Luke 16:16-17</blockquote>
A manuscript called Hebrews from the Newer Testament record from the Jews that followed Yeshua confirms that the gospel they proclaimed was preached to the children of Israel and the companion sojourners with them in Moses' time, but people rebelled and grumbled without faith against Moses, all that is except two witnesses: Joshua and Caleb. (See Numbers 13:1-33 and Numbers 14:1-44). The message in in the book of Hebrews:<br />
<blockquote>
"Therefore, while <u><b>the promise of entering his rest still stands</b></u>, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For <u><b>we also have had the gospel preached to us</b></u>, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, <u><b>because those who heard did not combine it with fait</b></u>h. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, `They shall never enter my rest.'" </blockquote><blockquote>And yet <u><b>his work has been finished since the creation of the world</b></u>. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." </blockquote><blockquote>It still remains that some will enter that rest, and <u><b>those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in</b></u>, because of their disobedience." Hebrews 4:1-6 </blockquote>
Believe it or not, "repentance" and the “restoration” of God's Kingdom as it was intended from the beginning is the good news gospel message that was preached to all that could hear and believe.<br />
<br />It was the gospel preached to Abraham noted in Galatians 3:8. Yeshua's gospel includes the restoration of the fallen tabernacle of David. To understand that, we must look back to the life and times of king David. First, he was a humble shepherd and then anointed. A man of God, he was a king not elected by the people, but he was chosen by God in power by the Spirit of God to be king:</div><div>
<blockquote>
"So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David." 1Samuel 16:13</blockquote>
When we look at this critical account from the book of Samuel, we can see it is a mirror image of John's "mikveh" duty like Samuel's at the Jordan River anointing in at the Jordan River:<br />
<blockquote>
"Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:21-22</blockquote>
It’s hard to fathom, but Jesus did not reveal to the crowds that heard Him preach after that day that He came to give His life on a Passover cross to accomplish God's goal to bind the death penalty of willful sin declared at Eden to that He was Messiah. He told the disciples to keep the secret until the right time (Matthew 16:13-20). Yeshua waited on the Spirit of God to reveal this. He only told His closest disciples privately of the mystery of God's plan only days before He went up to Jerusalem before Passover to give His life life as the Son of Man kinsman redeemer so that He could overcome death.<br />
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Not only that, hold onto your hat, but like I've said you need to know that Jesus is a Jew. He is the one that chose Hanukkah, the feast of "dedication" to reveal the Father's promise of eternal life in resurrection to the crowds:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It was the Feast of Hanukkah at Yerushalayim. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple, in Shlomo's porch. </blockquote>
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The Yehudim therefore came around him and said to him, "How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Yeshua answered them, "I told you, and you don't believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, these testify about me. But you don't believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. </blockquote>
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My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:22-30 HNV</blockquote>
You read it there, plain as day about the time and place: </div><div><blockquote>"It was the Feast of Hanukkah at Yerushalayim. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple, in Shlomo's porch. " John 10:22</blockquote>Have you realized that in December, the Torah portion Genesis 41:1-44:17 is read, it's called "Miketz" and it's Sabbath reading falls within the eight days of Hanukkah most years?</div><div><br /></div><div>The Hebrew meaning for Miketz is: "At the End." </div><div><br /></div><div>This Genesis 41:1-44:17 parshah describes Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams of seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. </div><div><br /></div><div>Whenever parshah Miketz coincides with the first Sabbath of Hanukkah, the traditional haftarah that is read is Zechariah 2:14–4:7 and when parshah Miketz coincides with the second Sabbath of Hanukkah the haftarah portion is 1 Kings 7:40–50.<br />
<br />Here's the thing you should know about that. The haftarah of Zechariah 2:14–4:7 includes the prophetic vision of Joshua (Yehoshua) <u>the High Priest</u>: <br />
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And the angel of the LORD solemnly assured Joshua, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then <u>you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts</u>, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: <u>behold, I will bring my servant the Branch</u>. Zechariah 3:6-8</blockquote>
When Parshah Miketz coincides with the second Sabbath of the eight days of Hanukkah, the haftarah portion read is 1 Kings 7:40–50. It tells us:<br />
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"So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the LORD: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, the lamp stands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the Temple. 1 Kings 7:48–50</blockquote><b>
While walking in Solomon's porch Yeshua revealed this:</b></div><div><blockquote>I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11</blockquote></div><div>It was the dedication and considering that Hanukkah dedication, we need to see the lamp stands of pure gold represent God's Spirit outpouring before the end of the age and the return. </div><div><br /></div><div>Regarding Hanukkah, I have to ask, will a darkness like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antiochus-IV-Epiphanes" target="_blank">Antiochus Epiphanes </a>repeat before The Shepherd returns?<br />
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Hanukkah is important to Yeshua. It starts on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month and <u>it is a big deal in the Kingdom to come</u>... especially when you realize Haggai wrote these words hundred of years before the days of the Maccabees, long before the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV unleashed his horrific, murderous persecution of the Jews and his desecration of The Temple. </div><div><br /></div><div>Haggai's prophecy was written one month <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/zec/1/1/s_912001" target="_blank">after the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah</a> with God's critical call for repentance: </div><div><blockquote>"<u><b>Return to me</b></u>, says the LORD of hosts, <u><b>and I will return to you</b></u>, says the LORD of hosts." </blockquote></div><div>This promise was given in the 9th Biblical month, that's Kislev, usually December:</div><div>
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"Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. <u><b>Since the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid</b></u>, consider: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. <u><b>But from this day on I will bless you</b>.</u>” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, <b style="text-decoration: underline;">I am about to shake the heavens and the earth</b>, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am about to <u><b>destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations,</b></u> and overthrow the chariots and their riders." Haggai 2:18-22</blockquote>We should all thank God we can see the gospel account, John 10:22 reveals Hanukkah is a very big deal.<br />
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As we have seen, another John (aka John the immerser) was the mikveh man, he's "John the Baptist" and his Hebrew name is Yochanan. <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/mat/3/2/s_932002" target="_blank">He preached repentance, the same message given to Zechariah</a> and John tied it to Isaiah 40:3, nothing is new about that.<br />
<br />The thing is John was not a Baptist, <u>he was a Levite.</u> Noting new about that either. At the same place that Israel ended the exodus and entered the Promised Land at the Jordan River, this man Yochanan the Levite declared the lamb of God offering acceptable. Only Levites could say what offerings were acceptable.</div><div><br /></div><div>By declaring that, Yochanan prophesied of Yeshua's first trip role that Yeshua explained to the Pharisees that winter day at Solomon's porch during Hannukkah.</div><div><blockquote>I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and <u><b>I lay down my life for the sheep</b></u>. And <b><u>I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also</u></b>, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. <u><b>For this reason the Father loves me</b></u>, because I lay down my life that <u><b>I may take it up again</b></u>. John 10:14-18</blockquote></div><div>John's ministry was predicted in Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1. Yeshua told His disciples John was the greatest:</div><div><blockquote>Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And <b>from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been treated violently</b>, and violent men take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law [Torah] prophesied until John. Matthew 11:11-13</blockquote></div><div>Yeshua called John the the greatest because John the Levite revealed the purpose of the lamb of God in real time:</div><div>
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"The next day, he saw Yeshua coming to him, and said, "<b>Behold</b>, the Lamb of God, <u><b>who takes away the sin of the world</b></u>!" John 1:29</blockquote><div>When he spoke those words, Yochanan the Levite fulfilled his Levite responsibility as he was righteously declaring the lamb, just as Abraham had promised Isaac in place of his son. Abraham told Isaac, God will provide:</div>
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"Abraham said, "<u><b>God will provide himself the lamb</b></u> for a burnt offering, my son." So they both went together." Genesis 22:8</blockquote>
At the Jordan River's living water mikveh immersion, Yochanan acted in Levite authority declaring the acceptable offering Abraham promised Issac the son of promise. The "behold" word of Yochanan about Yeshua was spoken in keeping righteous Abraham's prophecy given to his son Issac.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua's response to John after he said he was worthy to immerse Yeshua was: "Allow it now, for this is the fitting way<u> <b>for us</b></u> to fulfill all righteousness."<div><br /></div><div>Like Moses did at the Red Sea, Yeshua entered His time teaching and instruction with a mikveh. </div><div><br /></div><div>When Yeshua stood at the Jordan River, before the immersion, despite His cousin John's objection, He told John the son of the Levite Zechariah something very important. Those words "<u><b>for us</b></u>" connect that immersion moment to the righteous requirement for two witnesses found in God's Word. </div><div>
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There's no question, preparation for the destination of the Kingdom of God starts with repentance is Yeshua's gospel message.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repentance is what was first preached to the masses and that's the good news that starts with the command to repent is the righteous requirement given to the prophet Zechariah a month before Haggai's promise was given about Hanukkah. </div><div><br /></div><div>The good news in Yeshua's day <b>is the same gospel</b> that was promised a thousand years earlier to David by Saul.</div><div>
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<u>Did you know about that gospel promise</u>?<br />
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The foundation of that prophetic promise of Messiah and the Kingdom of God is revealed in 1Samuel 24:20 when the man chosen by men, king Saul, told the shepherd David "<b>behold"</b> because Saul knew David was the one chosen to be king by Almighty God:<br />
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“And now, <u><b>behold, I know that you shall surely be king</b></u>, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.” </blockquote>
Not long after Saul spoke those words to David, the prophet Nathan also revealed prophetic words about God's plan to David. It was a picture of the Kingdom gospel Yeshua was preaching all across Israel to anyone that would hear, believe and do.<br />
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The power of Nathan's message is amazing -- after all, people <u>were healed in faith</u> by Yeshua's touch and His words. Here is the Kingdom gospel that was prophesied in 2Samuel 7:11–16: <br />
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“The LORD also declares to you that <b><u>the LORD will make a house</u></b> for you. </blockquote><blockquote>When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers,<b> <u>I will raise up your descendant after you,</u> who will come forth from you, and <u>I will establish His kingdom</u>.</b> </blockquote>
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He shall build a house for My name</b></u>, and <b><u>I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever</u></b>... Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; <u><b>your throne shall be established forever.</b>”</u></blockquote>
Nathan was obviously not speaking of David, but Messiah and God never breaks a promise. </div><div><br /></div><div>David's earthy kingdom did not last forever because the Kingdom of God throne is for Messiah, the netzer or branch of David. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>His name is Yeshua.</b><br />
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For a moment, try to imagine if you can, Yeshua walking through the Galilee declaring the same Kingdom promise. God gave Nathan (in Hebrew meaning "giver") the gospel of God (see Mark 1:14). </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua is David's descendant of this promise declared by Nathan.<br />
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During the gospel of God ministry of Jesus, Nathan's prophecy was in the limelight as the 1,500 year old “forever” promise that everyone, literally anyone living in Israel at that time knew by heart and waited for. The Jews were doing the right thing, looking for the coming of the son of David, the anointed Messiah King to restore The Kingdom of God and they all knew this promise was to fulfilled by Melech HaMoshiach.<br />
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Luke records the Spirit of God anointed Yeshua to preach this gospel:<br />
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"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18-19 </blockquote>
Try to imagine the scene on a hillside in Galilee…<br />
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The "forever" promise of the acceptable year of the Lord the prophet Isaiah had been given by God to proclaim was beginning. The prophecy Nathan gave to David was "near" to the ears and hearts of those that were afflicted by Roman occupation and rule. <br />
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For years and throughout the generations since king David, the Jewish people had held on to the prophetic promise given by Nathan and they waited for the good news of King Messiah spoken of so long ago, but many of them, like us forgot the storyline...<br />
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Before he was to serve as king, David was a shepherd, so Messiah is too!<br />
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<big>"I will raise up your offspring after you..." </big></center>
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Some "forget" that king David's descendant must first suffer then sit at the right hand of God as intercessor High Priest before He will rule as King on Earth, but David knew this because he wrote a song about it and its not easy to read:<br />
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“Sit at My right hand <b>until I make Your enemies a footstool </b>for Your feet. The Lord will stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Your enemies’... <b>The Lord is at your right hand</b>; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. <b>He will judge the nations</b>, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth." Psalm 110:1-2,5-6</blockquote>
The "one" everyone waited for to do away with evil and judge the evil nations that rejected God's ways is none other than Melech HaMoshiach, King Messiah Yeshua in the line of David, and many still forget the prophetic words given in Isaiah 49 and Isaiah 53.<br />
<br />He must first bear our iniquities, then give us peace and healing and guidance as the Torah shepherd King before the return and big end time battle of good and evil:<br />
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"But he was pierced for our transgressions;<br />
he was crushed for our iniquities;<br />
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,<br />
and with his wounds we are healed.<br />
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All we like sheep have gone astray;<br />
we have turned—every one—to his own way;<br />
and the LORD has laid on him<br />
the iniquity of us all."</blockquote>
Like many Jewish people today, the Jewish men we call the disciples at that time focused on the promise of the Messiah King only, not the way of Almighty God that requires a blood offering in resurrection glory before restoration of life as it was in Eden.<br />
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Yet, despite forgetful hearts and minds, The Lord has a gospel plan for the House of Israel and all those that will sojourn with them as companions adopted into Israel, not replacing:<br />
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“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’" Jeremiah 33:14–16</blockquote>
The coming of "the" King was known by many that gathered to hear the words of Yeshua because they knew David’s prayer of thanksgiving for the forever promise from Abba Father:<br />
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“Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”</blockquote>
This is the "gospel" many haven't seen while reading Matthew 4:23 and 9:35:<br />
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“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”<br />
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“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.”</blockquote>
Mark 1:14 recounts that this Kingdom preaching began after John (the Baptist) was arrested: <br />
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“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming <b>the gospel of God</b>, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and <b>the kingdom of God</b> is at hand; <b>repent and believe</b> in the gospel.”</blockquote>
The gospel is the good news that can heal. It is to repent and believe that the Kingdom of God is "at hand." The Kingdom of heaven is the promise of God’s Kingdom returning to His good creation on earth -- so repent and be healed now.<br />
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Years before Yeshua's arrest and delivery to the Idumaean called Herod, whose father was an Edomite descendant of Esau, John’s priestly Levite message in the wilderness was aways simple: <b>repent and turn back to God’s ways and His instruction</b>.<br />
<br />As you have seen this preaching from the prophet John came before Jesus ever revealed the mystery of His mission for the cross and resurrection during the week of Unleavened Bread. Yeshua's death and third day resurrection in glory that week paved the way for the Spirit of God to indwell those at Shavout (Pentecost) that believe just as the Spirit of God had done in the past to accomplish His works (Exodus 31:3, Numbers 11:17; 25-26; 29; Numbers 27:18-19; Judges 3:9-10; 13:25; Isaiah 59:21, Ezekiel 2:2; Psalm 51:11; Daniel 5:11 1 Chronicles 12:18 and 2 Chronicles 20:14-15). Once again, nothing new.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua’s unleavened minchah bread of life offering rebooted and restored the Lord's Covenant given at Mount Sinai. </div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>That's good news. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua's blood offering intercession created the way for a redeemed people to be sanctified as a Royal Priesthood to be a holy people. His Passover memorial is our reminder to keep the covenant with God holy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hebrews 8:8-10 quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34 links to John 5:46-47 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” </div><div><br /></div><div>The Royal Priesthood points us back to Leviticus 6:17-18:</div><div><blockquote>“It [minchah bread] shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my food offerings. It is a thing most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering... Whatever touches them shall become holy.”</blockquote>It was after the third day, the great day of Shavuot, the same day the Torah Covenant at Mount Sinai was spoken that Yeshua-Jesus gave the Royal Priesthood assignment to His disciples with a great promise:<br />
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“And this <u>gospel of the kingdom</u> will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, <u>and then the end</u> will come.”</blockquote><b>
The "end" promised is not the end of the world as so many proclaim from a pulpit. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>It is the end of the divorce, the end of the exile of the Kingdom of God from earth and the end of Satan’s authority in death over this planet. The restoration of the Kingdom of God in resurrection is coming with Yeshua, the Melech HaMoshiach who is returning from the right hand of God as the anointed King on the appointed Fall Feast day in the acceptable year of the Lord.<br />
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That day is coming. Get ready.</b><br />
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This promise is summed up in the narrative hinting about the <a href="https://www.gotquestions.org/Azazel-scapegoat.html" target="_blank">Azazel goat</a> of Yom Kippur by none other than Yeshua the Jew: <br />
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“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:31-34</blockquote>
Many nations still do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, embassies abound in Tel Aviv, yet one day Jerusalem will be the Kingdom capital city of the world as it was intended from the beginning. All nations will go there to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and worship the King of Kings as promised in Zechariah 14:16-19.<br />
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So, the gospel message of the Kingdom we need to tell others about is not limited to Yeshua's redeeming work at the Passover cross, it includes His Unleavened way of life, His raising up in glory resurrection on First Fruits, His going up to the right hand of The Father as intercessor High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek and there's a resurrection plan ahead for eternal life.</div><div>
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For now, we get to do as He did and walk in God's instruction and proclaim the forever promise of the restoration of the "Kingdom" that Jesus preached and taught to everyone. His "Gospel" is the same "good news" any believer in the God gospel can proclaim to the whole world now as we make disciples to teach others how to live in "The Kingdom" to come like Nathan declared to David. <br />
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The Bible's storyline of that gospel is amazing and it sometimes requires a difficult, but joyful journey of study and understanding of God's gospel promises in the root of the faith of the Messiah that is seen with the covenant promise given Abraham of the Promised Land as the focal point of Kingdom blessing. That gospel is a blessing given for all nations. <br />
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If you have visited this website before now, you know most of the messages here are devoted to point to the Word of God as it points to Messiah and the truth of His Kingdom to come.<br />
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God's gospel message of the promised restoration of the Kingdom is the one lesson we must all know and declare if the end of evil is to come in our time. The focus of the Word of God on the whole gospel of the restoration <b>of God's Kingdom on earth</b> and it is the message that includes <b>Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so, all of it.</b><br />
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So love Him back as your King, repent and believe the good news that the Kingdom of God will be restored. It's that simple, return to God's ways and He will return to you and bring redemption to earth. Turn your life around and open your Bible it shows you how to live in The Kingdom and believe in Messiah Yeshua.<br /><br />
The Creator of the universe and this world wants you to believe Messiah Yeshua whether you be Jew or now-Jew. Repent and make Him your King and High Priest over your life so that your can walk in His righteousness and in the lovingkindness and forgiveness of Almighty God. With the Holy Spirit as your helper, you can walk in the way and know the Father through Messiah's deeds and understand the Torah He taught.<br />
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But, if you see the truth and walk away from it, consider it old and done away with, hung on the cross, you will extinguish the fire of the Spirit of God's grace and you may hear the words ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Read Matthew 7:21-23; 25:1-13. </div><div><br /></div><div>After all, if the Torah was done away with why is Jesus interceding on behalf of believers as the Great High Priest?<br />
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This is plainly declared in Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 4:14-15, Hebrews 5:5, Hebrews 5:10, Hebrews 6:20, Hebrews 7:26, Hebrews 8:1 and Hebrews 9:11.<br />
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Yeshua's ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His intercession on behalf of believers as their Great High Priest is filling the Torah of Leviticus up with meaning, it does not do away with it.<br />
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Believers that believe God and can know Yeshua as Messiah, and know Him as High Priest. Just open your eyes to the gospel of the Kingdom way of life to live as He lives. So repent and walk in the Kingdom way taught by Yeshua in John 5:14 and John 8:10... "Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”"<br />
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"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, <u>but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God</u>. </blockquote>
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Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. </blockquote>
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How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?" Hebrews 10:26-29</blockquote>
The Jewish disciple Peter (aka Kepha) gives us a warning as a witness to the words of Yeshua noted in Matthew: "For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17<br />
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It takes a heart of repentance to understand the gospel Yeshua taught and choose to receive the promise of resurrection into eternal life in the Kingdom of God. So, if you love God, walk the way Yeshua walked and leads now in righteousness, be a disciple and do what He did in God's service and turn back to the Bible, <u>all of it. </u><br />
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The Jewish disciple John (Yochanan) taught the simple reason we all need to return to a walk of righteousness:<br />
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"Little children, <u>let no man deceive you</u>: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:7-8 </blockquote>
The destruction of the works of the devil is a part of the gospel promise to come in God's Kingdom. The works of the devil have no place in The Kingdom. The gospel preaches resurrection life in the Kingdom as a gift from God for those who by faith believe in Him through the words of Yeshua, sanctified in the truth of Scripture so that the world may know that Yeshua was sent by The Father. <div><br /></div><div>In that way, we may know the Father in Him. This is the critical message of the "Priestly" prayer of Yeshua. You can read it in John 17 as "the lamb of God" humbly prepared for His trial and scourging before the Passover cross: <br />
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“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, <br />
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"Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. <br />
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I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. <br />
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Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. <br />
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While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. <br />
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I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. <br />
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Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. <br />
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As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. <br />
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The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. <br />
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O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:1-26</blockquote>
No one has known the Father like the Son, and the Son of God reveals the Father to those He chooses, so we must "seek" Messiah. Repent now and get to know Him. Knowing Him as Messiah King is the goal, not just knowledge of a cross. We must make His covenant ways our life, that is a big part of repentance.<br />
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Remember Yeshua's prayer... "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."</b><br />
<br />God's word is truth, it is not abolished. He is eternal life and the way of life is to know the Father. Yeshua was not just praying for His disciples to know the truth of God's Word, He was also praying for you and me. It is important to look at His words as He prays:<br />
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“I do not pray that you should take them out of the world but that you should keep them from the evil one.” </blockquote>
We are to be a lamp of light sanctified in the truth, we are to repent to be set apart in His Torah walk for everyone to see and we are to shine brightly teaching and building disciples.<br />
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Jesus prays, I do not pray for these alone but also for those who will believe in Me, He focuses on what is critical for eternal life that is possible when we know Him, not know about Him. And, He wants us to walk as he walked no matter what we call ourselves. Isaiah declares:<br />
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""One will say, 'I belong to the LORD'; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, 'The LORD's' and will take the name Israel." <br />
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Thus says the LORD, <b>the King of Israel and his Redeemer</b>, the LORD of hosts: “<u>I am the first and I am the last</u>; besides me there is no god." Isaiah 44:5-6</blockquote>
The prayer Yeshua has prayed is for all people to repent and return to God to seek only His face as the first and the last, the King of 'all' Israel. <br />
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<big>Eternal life is the eternal gift of righteous faith, <br />
it's be the plan of God since the beginning.</big></center>
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<br />Adam certainly believed in God, but his unrighteous action turned his back as he fell out of faith. He could have interceded for Eve, but in his choice for unrighteousness he didn't and he blamed Eve instead.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul includes righteousness as a part of the gospel of God he preached, but as Peter said, people that lack Bible knowledge twist his words just as they do the Scriptures (please read 2 Peter 3:14-18).</div><div><br /></div><div>Sin is defined as breach of faith committed against the God of Israel in turning away from following the LORD's instruction. Sin is breaking the Torah of God. 1 John 3:4 says, “Sin is Torah-lessness.” </div><div><div><br /></div><div>John did not come up with that, he knew it from Leviticus 5:15, Leviticus 6:2, Numbers 5:6, Numbers 6:12, Numbers 5: 27, Deuteronomy 32:51, Joshua 7:1 and Joshua 22:16 among others. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sin is a transgression of the Torah [law] of God, sin is an unrighteous act. Sin is turning away from the will of God to our own. Sin is in opposition to God’s teaching and instruction, against His will and constitution for kingdom life. Sin is not just changing our minds about what we believe. It is an open rebellion and disobedience to what God has declared is righteous. </div><div><br /></div><div>Peter teaches us what we are to do:</div><div><blockquote>As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Messiah, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1 Peter 1 14-19</blockquote></div><div>Sin can only be properly understood if we understand we are to live in the image of God since God is the holy one. God’s standard is what we are all obligated to obey as His children nd when we do not, we have sinned. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus died to to redeem us from our sin, and His life teaches how to walk without sin. As we wal... do do not think one jot or tittle is done away with.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hebrews 10:26-29 warns us if we only believe:</div><div><blockquote>For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing and has done despite unto the spirit of grace?</blockquote></div><div>To repent means to turn, to walk away from our bad choices to do God's. </div><div><br /></div><div>Repentance is a heart conviction to turn from wrongdoing and do what is right in God's eyes. I'd the start of the journey. We are not called to continue walk away from God's Kingdom ways. We are called to repent to do what is right, and honor Almighty God because we love Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>We are not saved by our repenting, our repentance is what we do about salvation.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Many twist Paul's words in his letters thinking righteous faith stops with belief.</b> That's Greek thinking.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul taught by the Lord's words given to Habakkuk the prophet in Romans 1:14-17: </div><div><blockquote>“The <u>righteous will live</u> by faith." Habakkuk 2:4 </blockquote></div><div>Many take excepts from Paul's letters with verse snippets, but Paul gives a dire warning if we hold the truth of the gospel yet live in ungodliness and unrighteousness:</div><div>
<blockquote>
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." Romans 1:18</blockquote>
Jesus is the worthy lamb of God because He talked and walked in the righteousness of Torah, all of it. Today, we call that His sinless life.<br />
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The world does not know the Father sent His son on the righteous Torah mission or they choose to not believe it thinking He came to do away with Torah. </div><div><br /></div><div><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><center><big>Pauls' warning is if we consider ourselves as a believers, <br />yet we think Jesus did away with God's law</big></center><center><big>we do not really know the</big></center><center><big>Gospel of God nor God's will for our life.</big></center><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><br /></div><div>This is not to say, we can be saved by our attempts at righteousness, eternal life is a gift from the mercy and grace of God lived out through the Yeshua. He alone has walked sinless in the righteousness of Torah. We have to understand if we want to do what Jesus did.</div><div>
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There are many who believe in Jesus, but many don't know Yeshua and the problem is He doesn't know us. <br />
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Jesus warned His disciples about the dilemma Paul and Peter wrote about. Jesus' words are found in Matthew 7:21-23:<br />
<blockquote>
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, <b>but the one who does the will of my Father </b>who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘<b>I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of Torahlessness</b>.’.<br />
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“I never knew you.”</b></blockquote>
If we hold belief only but not truth in faith with a pure heart, it's not OK to walk in deliberate unrighteousness. We have a big problem... Jesus will say "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of Torahlessness.<br />
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The weighty matters of Torah are faith and pure heart. Yeshua taught that. Take a close look at Matthew chapter 5 and ask, do you believe? <br />
<blockquote>
"Blessed [are] the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed [are] the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Matthew 5:7-8 </blockquote>
Yeshua also taught that we are to disciple others about repentance and the Torah [instruction of God] and He ties this teaching directly to the coming Kingdom. </div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, just as He is teaching on mercy and grace, Yeshua says this about the teaching and instruction of the words of the Torah... if you <b>do them and teach them</b> you will be called <b>"GREAT" in the Kingdom.</b> Take another look at Matthew chapter 5 where find teaching about righteousness:<br />
<blockquote>
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I do not come to destroy, but to fulfill (fill up with meaning). For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all (law and prophets) be fulfilled. <br />
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Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17-19</blockquote>
Praise God not one jot or tittle has passed and that Yeshua upheld the Torah or He would not be able to fulfill God's gospel promise from the beginning:<br />
<blockquote>
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel” Genesis 3:15</blockquote>
Do you believe The Lord? <br />
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Remember, the story of a man's faith in action begins in Genesis with Abraham as does righteousness. Can you see that these go hand in hand if you believe The Lord? <br />
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"And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Genesis 15:6</blockquote>
Take a look at the genealogy of Mary and Jesus given in Matthew. It begins with Abraham for a big reason.<br />
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When Yeshua return in the authority of Melech HaMoshiach, will He find us walking "in faith" like righteous Abraham who looked forward to the Messiah like John 8:56 tells us:<br />
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"Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."</blockquote>
Or, will Yeshua arrive and find us neglecting His walk of righteousness, looking for oil for our lamps?<br />
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Take a look at the parable prophecy of the ten virgins that Jesus taught in Matthew 25. Remember the five foolish ones? The oil they were missing was the Spirit of God in a righteous life of faith and mercy. In neglect, they missed their opportunity, so we must not. </div><div><br /></div><div>Can you imagine hearing the King saying, I never knew you, we never had a faith relationship?<br />
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We should concern ourselves with Bible basics, keeping the Sabbath of The Lord and His Feast Days, after all God does!<br />
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We should distinguish heathy "clean" foods from unclean things that are not good for our bodies.</div><div><br /></div><div>These are the steps of Yeshua's walk, yet they are not more important than our relationship with The Father. <br />
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There's plenty of commentary on Bible basics throughout this website because of the gospel words and walk of Yeshua that many may have misunderstood. In Matthew 5, during His famous "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus broadcasts to the world... keep God’s instruction with our heart and our walk of love and teach others how to do the same. That is discipleship, that is how we demonstrate our love to God and to others. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><center><big>The thing we forget is that God's grace, <br />is available because we have </big></center><center><big>believed a lie.</big></center><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><br /></div><div>Yeshua provides the covering, an atonement for our breaking of God's law (Torah) through His life blood offering. When we repent and make Yeshua the Lord of our life each day, forgiveness is God’s eternal mercy and love for us in action. God's law is Yeshua's command because he is the Son, they are one, in unity - they are echad. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua kept God's commandments, as they say, own it. He owned them.</div><div>
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Our response is keeping Yeshua's teaching is we get to live out the Word of God to the best of our ability. When we see the truth, we need to walk in it. Yeshua speaks plainly and simply about this as love:<br />
<blockquote>
"If you love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15 </blockquote>
How much do you love Him? Show Him and others.<br />
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The good news is that Yeshua came that we might see how we are to live and have eternal life.</div><blockquote><div>The Kingdom gospel that He preached across the Holy land of Israel God's gospel and our faith. It is the good news of the gospel of the "whole" Bible that is the "forever" promise that Father God gave Nathan to deliver to David... it is about the Kingdom and the God's ways shown to us in the writings of the Torah. It's the Kingdom teaching of Messiah that is a part of the "Great Commission."<br />
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How much do you love Him, do you want to declare the gospel and teach others to repent and demonstrate love to Almighty God by walking in His ways?<br />
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Two thousand years ago, many people across Israel heard and saw Yeshua in person and many were healed. The gospel accounts of Matthew and Mark tell us many witnessed Him preach "the gospel of the Kingdom", but others did not recognize the time of His visitation as the humble shepherd servant of Isaiah 53. Yeshua knew that The Father's will was to fulfill the lamb of God life offering. </div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Like Isaac, He would willingly lay down his life in obedience to His Father. </div><div><br /></div><div>The very heart of the Torah given for Moses to record and teach was revealed after everyone but the Levites broke their promise to do all that The Lord gave them to do in covenant at Mount Sinai. </div><div><br /></div><div>Moses knew that their idol worship sin of the golden calf was just like Adam's sin in Eden. </div><div><br /></div><div>Moses offered his life in exchange for the covenant breaking sin of those given the assignment to be a royal priesthood. Moses interceded on behalf of Israel and the sojourners with them. Moses told The Father, if you want to blot them out, blot me out.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was then Moses learned our Heavenly Father's heart is merciful, full of grace, love and compassion, if you repent He will accept your heart. It takes no special knowledge to know, but it requires a decision, a response. Repent and return to God's ways or your guilty. Just look at Exodus 34:5-9:<br />
<blockquote>
“The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”</blockquote>
There is an intimate relationship we can have with Almighty God through Messiah Yeshua who like Moses said, Father forgive them for what they do. Yeshua <b>wasn't just speaking</b> about the Centurions that beat Him, lashed Him and nailed His hands and feet to the cross. </div><div><br /></div><div>Repentance and forgiveness gives us inheritance to become the children of a loving God, and we don't want to be found guilty.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we love the LORD, our Kingdom of God citizenship responsibility is to show those who come in contact with us to see the image, the Spirit of God within us as someone who is wise, understanding, full of fortitude, caring, integrity, gracious, merciful, compassionate, long suffering, slow to anger and full of love. <br />
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The story of the Bible focuses on the people that went down to Egypt and were brought back up by Almighty God, but the thing is, while it was easy for God to get the people out of Egypt, it is not easy to get Egypt out of ourselves, God's ways are easy, the burden is light but we resist, we are stiff-necked, it takes work.</div><div>
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What God has given, God has intended for the person next to you, that is why discipleship is a big part of Messiah's "Great Commission" because God is calling those of faith to make disciples and train others. Doing so is not easy, there is spiritual opposition and deception.<br />
<blockquote>
"And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." Mark 16:15</blockquote>
We have all lived in Egypt as a slave to sin, but it is time to come out of "her" my people. Start the walk with a repentant step.<br />
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If you repent you will come out, you can know the King of Righteousness and show Him you love Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to know Him, quit acting like an Egyptian.</div><div><br /></div><div>Walk away from your slavery to sin and self. Accept what God wants to do for you empowered through your High Priest and King Messiah. Repent. Throw away your abominations of lust, adultery, divorce, fornication, anger, strife, rage, revenge, envy, resentment, manipulation, listlessness, depression, oppression, sorcery, hatred, greed, lying, violence, pride, dishonor, hatred, contempt, impatience, lust, envy, gluttony, narcissism, immorality and all other false self-centered idols of Egypt. <br />
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Repent and walk in the Kingdom way. </div><div><br /></div><div>Accept what God wants you to do for Him. because you love God and others including the widow, the fatherless, the poor and the stranger with all of your heart. Walk with Him with all of your strength and soul. Serve Him by demonstrating your love to Him as He asks us to love others by telling them about the King. </div><div><br /></div><div>Do the chosen work of a servant in God’s Kingdom, believe, repent and accept God's instruction each day, let other people know The Father has sent The Son and that He will return as King in the power of God for resurrection salvation to everyone who believes, repents and lives in faith:<br />
<blockquote>
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, <b>for it is the power of God</b> for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For <b>therein is the righteousness of God revealed</b> from faith to faith: as it is written, <b>The just <i>shall live</i> by faith.</b>" Romans 1:16-17</blockquote>Embrace the role of a humble servant of God in the example given to us byYeshua in how He walked in Torah and in the way He preached "the Gospel" of God. When you do, you can have an impact on His return as King to end the abomination of sin on Earth. </div><div><br /></div><div>How can we know? Jesus told us:<br />
<blockquote>
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, <i><b>and then</b></i> <b><i>the end </i></b>will come." Matthew 24:14</blockquote>
This end of what? It's the new covenant promise: "for they will all know Me".<br />
<blockquote>
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law [Torah] within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. </blockquote><blockquote>They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31:33-34</blockquote>Remember too, the world will not see Messiah arrive until the walls of Jerusalem hears <u>these words</u>:<br />
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<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<center>
<big>“<b>Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.</b>”</big></center>
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The return is no anytime secret anytime as many think. Now you know act to look for.</div><div><br /></div><div>Messiah carries that title of one who comes in the name of the LORD for a reason. He keeps the word of the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Moses, the God of Israel, the God Joshua and the God of David. Each had a personal relationship with the great "I AM." </div><div><br /></div><div>Both Jewish people and Christians know this. </div><div><br /></div><div>The relationship of Christian and Jew is being restored today, it's blessing. Jews in Jerusalem are beginning to call evangelical Christians blessed friends that love Israel and the Jewish people that come in the name of The Lord rejecting replacement theology.</div><div>
<br />They both know the place God chose to place His name is Jerusalem, and it's the headquarters of the "forever" Kingdom of God.<br />
<br />Almighty God has promised to pour out His Spirit there again on the "House of David." </div><div><br /></div><div>A part of the gospel of God is the Jewish people have returned to Israel after nearly 2,000 years of exile and condemnation, sadly by many people that called themselves Christians. But the house of Judah has returned and Zechariah 12:10 gives a promise:<br />
<blockquote>
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” </blockquote>The morning will be like the tears shed when Joseph wept when his brothers were restored. The next prophecy in Zechariah points us back to the prophet Nathan. Zechariah 12:11-14 reminds us the promise given to Nathan that he delivered to David, it includes Levi and even Shemei from the family of Saul and all other families:<br />
<blockquote>
“On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.” </blockquote>
<b>What does this mean?</b><br />
<br /><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me as to what I should do.</div><div> </div>
If you call yourself a "believer" it time to return to understand the full gospel of God message. It's about restoration, living as Yeshua lived just as he told the adulterous woman:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"She said, 'No one, Lord." And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.'" John 8:11 </blockquote>
If you are not living in repentance, return to God's covenant, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path declared by Messiah Yeshua.</div><div><br /></div><div>Use your Torah lamp for your assignment in the Kingdom. As you do, take hold of a Jew (Zechariah 8:23) and do the same commandments Jesus the Jew taught and lived out (John 14:15).<br />
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God is a sovereign God. He is a loving God and He has provided a way to offer the world His salvation. You can walk in His gospel gift of life in the Kingdom. To start, consider carefully what your own life consists of, look at it and repent, ask the Father for His forgiveness and accept His gift of life, love, grace and supplication through Messiah Yeshua. </div><div><br /></div><div>Follow the Messiah of Israel and do as He has done.<br />
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If you know you need to get your life right with God, don’t wait for tomorrow, get it right with Him right now and grab the robe of Messiah!<br />
<blockquote>
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. <br />
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For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</blockquote><div><div>My benediction is from Hebrews 13: 20-21:</div><div><blockquote>Now <b>the God of peace</b>, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Yeshua our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do <b>His will,</b> working in us that which is <b>pleasing in His sight</b>, through Yeshua Messiah, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13: 20-21</blockquote></div></div><div>Today is the time, repent and walk the walk out of love, preach the gospel of God, disciple others and when needed use words.</div>
<br />Shalom.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-78687772663959709452016-06-28T21:38:00.043-05:002024-01-27T11:36:10.555-06:00The Ezekiel Sequence <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, some nations seek to destroy Israel, others on our planet seek to divide the Promised Land into two states for "peace." <div><br /></div><div>One called Israel, the other a Palestinian State. <div><br /></div><div>That's the plan from the United Nations who will undoubtably once again make that division goal a key discussion point in the next General Assembly meetings in New York City.<br />
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After all, at the UN they always do. The Jewish-Arab debate engaged years ago in 1947, but the truth is this: a Palestinian State did not exist at that time nor before.<br />
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In my Scripture studies I found the truth, there is no Jewish occupation.<br />
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In fact, the Palestinians as they are called today, did not exist in 1947, the entire world including the former League of Nation ambassadors all called them... Arabs. Aren't Arabs from Arabia and Israelis from Israel?<br />
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<a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/res181.asp" target="_blank">U.N. Resolution 181</a> never mentioned a people group now called "Palestinians." </div><div><br /></div><div>Palestine is a relatively new name from Rome. </div><div><br /></div><div>In 135 AD, the term "Syria Palaestina" was used in naming a "new" Roman province with the merger of Roman controlled Syria and Roman controlled Judaea after the Romans crushed the Bar Kokhba opposition against the Roman Empire that invaded took control of Jerusalem in 63BC. <br /><div><br /></div><div>Take a look at Resolution 181 for yourself, there's no need to take my word for it. The resolution refers to <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/balfour.asp" target="_blank">the 1917 Balfour Declaration</a>, the Territory of Palestine and <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/palmanda.asp" target="_blank">The Palestinian Mandate</a>: which dealt with the Ottoman Turk's conquest of the land renamed by Rome as an insult 1,800 years earlier:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed, for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/leagcov.asp#art22" target="_blank">Article 22</a> of the Covenant of the League of Nations, to entrust to a Mandatory selected by the said Powers the administration of the territory of Palestine, which formerly belonged to the Turkish Empire, within such boundaries as may be fixed by them; and </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/balfour.asp" target="_blank">the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917</a>, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country..."</blockquote>The Romans occupied Judaea. The "state of confusion" about the so-called occupied Palestinian territory we have today began with the Roman invasion of God's land grant after the Romans invented the term Palaestīna in the 2nd century to mark their intrusion into the Promised Land. Their Latin claim morphed into English as the word "Palestine." </div><div>
<br />"Palaestīna" was a label by the Romans to usurp the rightful heritage of the Jewish people destroyed and dispersed into today's Europe by Emperor Titus. Professor Lewis got it right:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"From the end of the Jewish state in antiquity to the beginning of British rule, the area now designated by the name Palestine was not a country and had no frontiers, only administrative boundaries . . . ." Professor Bernard Lewis, Commentary Magazine, January 1975 </blockquote>
The Romans invented Palaestīna to hide the Biblical truth about Judea and Samaria as they put a new label on a Roman occupation map in a feeble attempt to wipe out the heritage of God's land promise to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. </div><div><br /></div><div>The ruins you see in Jerusalem today are there because the Romans attacked Jerusalem in 70AD and destroyed the city and The Temple. Attacks continue today, but the map of the Roman Empire has been replaced by public rhetoric at a podium in the U.N. building and in media headlines.<br />
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Long before the Arab nations attacked Israel in May 1948, when surrounding Arab forces invaded and attempted to finish Hitler's Holocaust after the middle of the night evacuation of British armed forces, a prophetic sequence was written to record the visions of a great prophet some 2,600 years earlier.<br />
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The Ezekiel scroll is date stamped describing the day of each vision and it provides a chronologic view of latter day events that are unfolding in the mountains and valleys of Israel today. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ezekiel does not state that the prophecies are sequential, he doesn't have to, the scroll only unrolls one way.</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>The “latter day” prophecies revealed in Ezekiel 38-39 is seen by many as describing events which will occur in the time immediately preceding the Messianic Age. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>What if those chapters reflect the very same events John describes in Revelation 20:7-9?</b></div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in 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 [fn]broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the [fn]saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.</div><div></div></blockquote><div>When we compare the Ezekiel prophecies to these parallels in the Book of Revelation, we see there is a sequence that provides additional details on the mystery "release" of evil at the end of the Messianic Age of peace. </div><div><br /></div><div>The primary focus of Ezekiel 38 is that Israel is finally dwelling securely in safety without walls, bars or gates with none to make them afraid. Today, Israel lives in a tight security envelope managed by the IDF. Security walls and gates are everywhere as well as the IDF troops. To top it off, the Iron Dome is a mobile anti-rocket defense system that was installed in 2011 to defend the nation from rocket attacks that emanate from Gaza. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>They are there to protect Israeli Jews from jihad violence established in <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp" target="_blank">the HAMAS Charter.</a></b></div><div><br /></div><div>That Charter declares war on Israel with this goal: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" </div><div><br /></div><div>The land is not restored from war, in fact the U.N. and most nations want to push Israel back in time to pre-1967 green lines. HAMAS wants to obliterate it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Those green lines are from the 1949 Armistice agreements between the armies of Israel and those of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria established after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The green lines served as the borders of Israel from 1949 until the Six-Day War in 1967 that have nothing to do with the borders established by Almighty God in Genesis 15:18 nor the land described for the 12 tribe allottment in Ezekiel 47:13-23.<b> </b> </div><div><br /></div><div>One last good vs evil battle is described in Revelation 20, it links to the Gog Magog war described in Ezekiel 38 and Ezekiel 39.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's really strange that the Gog Magog sequence and the circumstances described in Ezekiel and Revelation are ignored, after all there's no true peace in Israel. If the gates and walls were torn down, if Iron Dome was turned off, all hell and horror would break loose on the land and its innocent people. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have a simple question, is Revelation 20 the second witness to <b>The Ezekiel Sequence and the Messianic Age</b> or is Revelation 20 a rerun of the chaos before it?</div><div><br /></div><div>Ezekiel was a Jewish prophet, but come to think of it, all the prophetic books of the Bible were written by Jewish men including the visions of John the Jew (aka Yochanan). </div><div><br /></div><div>Yochanan penned Revelation. </div><div><br /></div><div>"Yĕchezqe'l" aka Ezekiel <b>יחזקאל</b> is a Hebrew name that means: "God strengthens." His scroll provides the headlines back to future from the day King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon ransacked Jerusalem, to Titus and beyond. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Nebuchadnezzar's day, despite valiant effort, no one could stand up to stop the horrific destruction of Jerusalem, but Ezekiel reveals a similar battle, yet a different story in the end and there is a huge difference:</div>
<br /><b>The Lord will defend His people in His land.</b><br />
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Nebuchadnezzar's attack came from Babylon circa 587 BC and we must not forget what happened in the exact same spot on the same day 657 years later when Rome's Titus and <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2011/09/who-were-legions-of-rome.html">his local Legions</a> attacked Jerusalem destroying The Temple for a second time. Both occurred on the 9th of Av as invaders battled the Jewish people and defeated them, yet in Ezra and Nehemiah's day they returned after Nebuchadnezzar's attack and in 1948 they returned after Titus.</div><div><br /></div><div>That 9th of Av destruction leads me to a question, could the final Gog Magog war begin on the same day?</div><div>
<br />In Titus' time, the Legions led by the Romans thrust the survivors of the Jewish-Roman wars out of their homeland into a 1,900 year diaspora among the nations that ended after Hitler's tribulation Holocaust of World War II.<br />
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Today, Ezekiel's scroll continues to proclaim a latter day sequence to the events that "<a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=the+word+of+the+LORD&t=KJV&csrf=Eze&csrt=Eze#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">the word of The Lord</a>" showed Ezekiel while Jerusalem lay in ruins under Nebuchadnezzar's rule.<br />
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Ezekiel, like Daniel and Jeremiah paid close attention to God's calendar by recording the dates of their visions as "the word of the Lord" came to reveal details of end-time sequence of events to these prophets. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can use see the time stamps their writings, but unlike Jeremiah and Daniel's writings, the sequence in the Ezekiel scroll looks to be in sequence. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can see the Ezekiel time stamps in the eternal promises beginning with the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/eze/1/3/p1/s_803003" target="_blank">fifth year of Jewish king Jehoiachin's exile to Babylon</a>.</div><div>
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Ezekiel's first vision occurred seven years before King Nebuchadnezzar's armies finished their destructive chaos against the people of the house of Judah. If you are wondering why we should pay attention to the time stamps given by Ezekiel, the reason is simple:<br />
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They are important because Elohim God proclaims Ezekiel's visions as a "sign" (Hebrew... "mowpheth"). Should we not know that everyone can know the signs of Abba Father's plan for the final redemption of all Israel?<br />
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The majority of Ezekiel’s prophecies have not yet come to fruition. </div><div><br /></div><div>We all know every road has signs so that you can know where you are if you want to reach your destination. Ezekiel's writings are reserved as signposts for the days to come for a reason... so you will know that Almighty God is Y-H-V-H, The Lord of Hosts:<br />
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"Thus Ezekiel is unto you <b>a sign</b>: according to <b>all that he hath done shall you do</b>: and when this cometh, <b>you shall know that I [am] Adonai YHVH</b>." ... "<b>In that day</b> shall <b>your mouth be opened</b> to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be <b>a sign unto them</b>; and <b>they shall know that I [am] YHVH</b>." Ezekiel 24:24 and Ezekiel 24:27 </blockquote>
Before this heavenly declaration was made, if we read Ezekiel 12, we can see that the word of The LORD tells Ezekiel that the words He gave the prophet to record are road signs for the future, not for the generation or time that the prophet lived. God promises Ezekiel they will happen --- in the future called the latter days of the last generation: <br />
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Again the word of The LORD came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he sees <b>is for many days to come</b>, and he prophesies of <b>times that are far off</b>. <br />
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Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: There shall none of my words be deferred any more, but <b>the word which I shall speak shall be performed</b>, says the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 12:26-28</blockquote>
Ezekiel was told that God's good verdict of judgment is for Jerusalem, the Promised Land and its people that will be performed. </div><div><br /></div><div>This bold statement ties directly to Revelation 10:1-7 when there will be no longer a delay as the seventh trumpet sounds. John describes a messenger (angel) from Heaven that has a little book. That book is sweet as honey but was made bitter. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Have you ever considered, the book may be the scroll of Ezekiel?</b><br />
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Revelation 10:7 describes the future days of mystery given to the prophet Ezekiel and other prophets:<br />
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"But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."</blockquote>
If you not have read the book of Revelation or Daniel, you must if you want to understand Ezekiel's vision and the sequence of events to come.<br />
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You can read the words for yourself and you will discover that a final seventh trumpet will be blown. </div><div><br /></div><div>That promise is in Revelation 11:15 as the messenger of God sent to John declares that the "kingdoms of this world" will become "The Kingdom of God <u>and</u> Messiah."<br />
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Both Revelation and Ezekiel declare that the world will see great tribulation in the battles to overcome evil on the planet, Those battles will turn people back in repentance to the God of Israel. The focus is on Messiah and His defense of Israel as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.<br />
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Tribulation is a time of mystery that Ezekiel writes about and the prophet, like Daniel, records some important details on the conflicts of kingdoms and a final attack in the end days that will end with these words: Blessed is He that comes in The name of The LORD:<br />
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<big>"Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai."</big></center>
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Take note, because it's critical... we need to see something, the word "kingdom" used in Revelation 11 is the Greek word "basileia" - it means "territory."<br />
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Have you ever noticed that the land areas claimed today by the Palestinian Authority (PA) are mistakenly called occupied "territories"?<br />
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Today, the world's headlines tend to blame all Middle East conflicts on this so-called "occupied territory." Yet, that territory is not occupied by the Jewish people, it is their home and the deed to that land is the Bible, the Word of God because it is His land to grant to those He choose to declare His Word to the world.<br />
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Every other day it seems, we hear or read of random terror attacks on innocent Jewish people including those rocket attacks from Gaza. Attacks include shootings, stabbings, rock throwing and car ramming by Palestinian jihadists that are brainwashed to seek martyrdom with 72 virgins in a Qur'anic paradise while the PA pays their families a pension to reward their death work.<br />
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Let's take a turn from the horror of the headlines and the lies of the Koran and its hadiths to the truth of The Scriptures.<br />
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In Ezekiel 13, God speaks to the men of Israel that see visions of peace for Jerusalem “when there is no peace.” That provides a blueprint for today's headlines:<br />
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"To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD."</blockquote>
Later, Almighty God tells Ezekiel (in chapter 35) that at the latter time of punishment, The Lord will stand against the descendants of Esau (Mount Seir). </div><div><br /></div><div>As you can see, this calamity mirrors historic events that through time have horrifically led to European church-led <a blank="" href="https://www.biblebelievers.org.au/expelled.htm" target="_">expulsions</a> and Russian <a blank="" href="https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005183" target="_">pogroms</a> against the Jewish people. Yet all the while, many faithful Jewish people have remained committed to the Bible as the Word of God.<br />
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That fact shows the insanity of anti-Semitism, replacement theology and dispensation.<br />
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Today, many nations seek to divide the Promised Land for peace, others like Iran and their proxies declare their goal is to wipe Israel off the map as Iran seeks nuclear capabilities.<br />
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So-called world leaders make excuses veiled in a disguise they call the <a blank="" href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2011/07/israel-palestinian-conflict-truth-about.html" target="_">Israel-Palestinian Conflict</a>.<br />
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However, when you step back and look around the Middle East today, you can see the real conflict comes from radicals like those that kidnapped American hostages in Iran for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, an army called the Revolutionary Guard are full of Iranian radicals currently led by the despotic rule of Khamenei. His proxy reach extends to Syria as well as Lebanon under Hezbollah to Gaza and their subordinate Hamas that fires rockets like arrows at Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Further west, there's Turkey under the iron fist of Erdogan who at times resembles an Ottoman Sultan, yet it seems no one knows what he stands for other than protecting his own power base. My view is he is an enemy of Israel.<br />
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It's time to take a look at the evidence in the Bible because prophecy is God's voice of history written in advance to show the world the God of Israel is sovereign. There is good news in the prophetic headlines of Ezekiel's scroll too. It describes what the prophet was shown, and it is a vision of the future Messianic Age to come.<br />
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The Ezekiel sequence is scary too because it describes suffering, oppression, war and tribulation but it does not stop there, <b>greater than all of that is its promise of redemption and restoration.</b><br />
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It describes the blessing of peace that will not come from dividing God's land, but from a renewed covenant restoration of God's promises to Abraham and King David. </div><div><br /></div><div>A big part of the promise of restoration will include the restoration of Jew and former Gentile, one new man both adopted in Messiah just as the apostle Paul declares in Romans 11 from Ezekiel 37.<br />
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Paul was not writing about a new promise. He was repeating the promise from the prophet.<br />
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Despite political plans, peace will not come with a Palestinian State land plan nor from the diplomatic process of a "United Nations" against Israel no matter how noble the words "peace and security" may sound. </div><div><br /></div><div>Peace will never come from a people called Mt. Seir or from Gog and Magog either.<br />
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Did you know the word "Seir" means "hairy" and that fact should raise an eyebrow when you think back to Jacob's story when following his mother's advice and supposedly disguised himself from his father Isaac, pretending to be "hairy" like his twin brother Esau (see Genesis 27).<br />
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Genesis 36:7-8 explains Esau's choice: "For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together; the land where they stayed could not support them because of their livestock. So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir. This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.…<br />
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The sequence of Ezekiel's end-time calamity that leads to restoration zeros in with the timeline of events in the scroll as it unrolls in Ezekiel chapters 35-39. The scroll reveals tribulation events followed by the promise of blessings to follow that are seen in chapter 40. <br />
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The prophetic stage of Ezekiel's sequence is before us. The timeline we are in today is revealed in Ezekiel 33 when the prophet learns that the occupiers of the land will be front and center with a global focus on overturning Abraham's covenant:<br />
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"The word of the LORD came to me: 'Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.'" Ezekiel 33:23-24</blockquote>
Aren't those the agitated words of today's Palestinian leaders?<br />
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This is why there will be no lasting peace deal, some Palestinians, like Esau want the birthright, but they forget that Esau gave it away for a cup of soup.<br />
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But there will be peace, it comes from the promise of The LORD’s covenant for peace not the UN:<br />
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“I will make with them a covenant of peace <u>and banish wild beasts from the land</u>, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. </blockquote>
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<u>And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing</u>, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and <u>they shall be secure in their land. </u></blockquote>
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And <u>they shall know that I am the LORD</u>, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. <u>They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them.</u> They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. </blockquote>
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And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and <u>no longer suffer the reproach of the nations</u>. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God with them, and that they, <u>the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord GOD. </u></blockquote>
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And you are my sheep, <u>human sheep of my pasture</u>, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 34:25-31</blockquote>
The reproach of the nations against Israel Ezekiel describes change dramatically in chapters 40-48 because we get to read of another promise that is declared at the end of the book of Revelation in chapter 21 and 22. It's the same promise given as Ezekiel's scroll unrolls after a period of grave tribulation also described in Daniel 12, Zechariah 14, Haggai 2, Zephaniah 3, Micah 6, Obadiah 1 and Amos 8.<br />
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Malachi 1-4 provides the executive summary of tribulation and restoration.<br />
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The visions recorded in Ezekiel are seen with a slightly different perspective than that of Amos 9, Micah 7, Haggai 2, Hosea 14, Habakkuk 2, Malachi 4, Joel 3, Isaiah 66 and Revelation 20:11-15.<br />
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Ezekiel gives us minute details reiterated by the prophets about the Tabernacle "dwelling place" of Heaven on Earth, New Jerusalem and the promise of "My sanctuary in their midst forever" declared in Ezekiel 37:26.<br />
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Believe it or not, the prophetic restoration promises of all prophets ties back to The Lord's Prayer: <br />
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"Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven."<br />
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That's because in the end, it's not about a escape cloud in Heaven, its about Heaven coming to Earth, God tabernacling with mankind, just as it was in the beginning at the garden. <br />
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<big>This last page in Revelation is not the end, <br />
it is the new beginning.</big></center>
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Eden's tabernacle peace promise is revealed in Revelation 21:3...<br />
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"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."</blockquote>
This is the same picture given to Moses at Mount Sinai as he records the instructions for the Tabernacle. </div><div><br /></div><div>God will be living among His people again one day. That's His redemption plan.<br />
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The book of Revelation is full of big picture themes and graphic images as well as images that tie many details of Ezekiel's sequence together.<br />
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Revelation links to the visions of Daniel as well as those given Ezekiel. So much so, we might imagine that the Apostle John was given his vision at the Isle of Pathmos after reading the scrolls of Ezekiel and Daniel. John was given an amazing revelation while fasting and praying over the words he had just read in the scrolls of his Jewish peers.<br />
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There is something very important to know whether you are a Bible student or not. You need to know - Almighty God is serious when He promises that <u>He declares ALL things to the prophets</u> (read Amos 3:7).<br />
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<u>God said that for a reason.</u><br />
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So, it is not up to me to worry about interpretations of theories or opinions that do not tie to the prophets of the Bible.<br />
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God's declaration to Amos that you just read is the reason we must study the words of the prophets of the Bible, no matter how difficult they may be. The disciple Kepha (aka Peter) reiterated just how critical this is. Check it out in 2Peter 1:20-21 as the disciple exhorts everyone to rely on the writings of prophets:<br />
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"But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."</blockquote>
Our Creator God tells us through the prophet Isaiah's pen that the Almighty God of Israel declared the end from the beginning (read Isaiah 46:8-11). That means reading and studying the front of the Bible is key and it starts with the creation week. That fact is critical if we are to ever understand the restoration in the end.<br />
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<big>That fact is critical if we are to ever understand the restoration.</big></center>
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At least two promises must be considered to understand the Ezekiel sequence:<br />
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1. God declares all things to the prophets and<br />
2. He declares the end from the beginning.<br />
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The creation week portrays the timeline of mankind, so before we look further into the Ezekiel sequence, consider what has happened over the past few years.<br />
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Just five years ago, the unrest that we now know as the "Arab Spring" included a focus on ancient Egypt and if we paid attention, it starkly reminded us of the Bible verses that speak of <u>seven nations</u> living in and around ancient Israel.<br />
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The Bible declares that the ancient nations of 1) Hittites, 2) Girgashites, 3) Amorites, 4) Canaanites, 5) Perizzites, 6) Hivites, and the 7) Jebusites were seven nations more numerous and mightier than Israel. This is shown to us Deuteronomy 7 and by a glance at any map today, the nations of people surrounding Israel are Muslim people groups and each of them are more numerous and seemingly mightier than tiny Israel.<br />
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The uprising of radical Islamists within a combination of government and religious powers in Muslim countries in 2011 was mistaken by the "Western" media as an uprising of people seeking democracy. The Arab Spring was thought to be a good thing by many western political prognosticators including Obama, but they were wrong. How do we know?<br />
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The world stage is a witness to the horrors just north of the land of promise in Syria.<br />
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The headlines are full of the news of wandering Syrians, refugees from the terrible conflict that began three weeks before Passover 2011. Horrifically, in the Syrian uncivil war, some 400,000 or more men, women and children have been killed to date, and 4.8 million Syrians have been scattered around the globe like an anti-thesis to the ten tribes of Israel that the Assyrian armies attacked and scattered beginning in 721 BC.<br />
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The Bible tells us that idolatry infested ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom, often called "Ephraim." They disappeared when the Assyrian armies invaded, captured and deported the Israelites of the northern kingdom that had separated themselves from Judah in the south.<br />
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At the time, the ten tribes were collectively called "Ephraim" because their family was the largest of northern Israel.<br />
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Believe it or not, the division started with a civil war that divided Judah in the south and Israel in the north. Their disputes divided the kingdom united under king David. The northern kingdom under Jeroboam and the southern kingdom under Rehoboam separated in 931 BC and it stated with a tax dispute.<br />
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The northern kingdom's Assyrian assault began in 721 B.C. during the reign of King Hoshea (2 Kings 17). Those who survived the onslaught disappeared into exile among the nations and they are still known today as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.<br />
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The first invasion came from Assyria's king Tiglath-Pileser. The second under Shalmaneser V and Sargon in 722 B.C. Samaria fell at that time as well. After the northern kingdom of Israel was assimilated by Assyria, eventually the southern kingdom fell to Babylon's attack and Daniel was forced to leave Jerusalem with everyone else or face certain death.<br />
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Incredibly today, in an eerily similar way, many Syrian people are now scattered in diaspora to the same places the ten tribes of Israel were assimilated into. Millions have fled grave tribulation wandering on their way, scattered on a global scale among the nations and some fear that terrorist radicals are embedded among the Syrian immigrants.<br />
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All the while, the UN focuses its efforts to condemn and divide Israel.<br />
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Syria... what goes around comes around. The end that was declared from the beginning is real because we are living in Biblical times, a time called the latter days by the prophets of God.<br />
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The prophet Joel declares:<br />
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"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, and have cast lots for my people..." - Joel 3:1-3 </blockquote>
Devastation continues everyday in Syria and the plight of Syrian refugees, the so-called migrants will be on the world's stage for years to come. <br />
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I'm not quite sure why the press calls them "migrants." That's really confusing. In most any dictionary, migrants are defined as crop workers who "voluntarily move" from place to place to do seasonal harvest work. The Syrian refugees are not crop workers, many are Christians and their move is an escape from hell.<br />
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They are on the run because their homes, schools, churches and cities have been destroyed in grave tribulation for crying out loud!<br />
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What goes around comes around. The fact is the first refugee exodus from Syria began during the end of the reign of the Ottoman Empire that ended at the conclusion of what we call the first World War... WWI.<br />
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At that time, nearly one million Syrians arrived in the United States and more than 90% of them were Christians. Others fled to Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Australia. Before that first exodus, 25% of the Syrian population was Christian. Not so today.<br />
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When the current assault on the people of Syria began, about 10% were Christian. Damascus, Homs and Aleppo had been the focus of Christianity in the region thanks to the amazing ministry of the disciple Peter. You remember him, he delivered the sermon at Shavuot (Pentecost) after the Holy Spirit descended right on time fifty days after the resurrection of Yeshua.<br />
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Years later, Peter's assignment to preach the gospel of The Kingdom was included Damascus. The Syrian Christians learned of the Jewish Messiah from Peter but today his legacy is being wiped out by radical jihadists!<br />
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Syria's conflict will continue to be front and center for awhile and someone at the UN will continue to blame Israel for all radical Muslim unrest in the Middle East as they always do. Syria will be a major topic of debate by world leaders at the UN's 71st General Assembly in September, later this year. I'm no prophet, believe me, the UN agenda is posted online for anyone to see. The general debate on Syria is titled: "Summit for Refugees and Migrants."<br />
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The Arab Spring uprisings were the will of the people all right, but it was not democracy they sought, it was division and the seed of rebellion sowed by ancient descendants that rejected the God of Israel. No militant rebel in Syria or Northern Iraq seeks democracy, they seek a radical Caliphate and the rule of Sharia as Sunni fight the Shiite in the Levant.<div>
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Joshua 11:1-5 records that many of the hostile nations were defeated by Israel's armies under Joshua's (Yehoshua's) military leadership. Long ago, the radicals were called Canaanites, Amorites as well as Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Hivites. These nations are named in Deuteronomy 7:1 but Joshua 11:19 clearly tells us Israel's armies did not destroy them all. <br />
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The Hivites of Gibeon were spared and the Girgashites disappeared in the Bible, so we know at least five of the seven fell in antiquity including the leader of them all, King Jabin of Hazor. <br />
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Jabin means "whom God observes" as in the popular saying: "know your enemy."<br />
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When modern Israel was established in 1948, the enemies of Israel were known as <b><a href="http://www.arableagueonline.org/wps/portal/las_en/home_page/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gXy8CgMJMgYwOLYFdLA08jF09_X28jIwN_E6B8JG55C3MCuoNT8_TDQXbiNwMkb4ADOBro-3nk56bqF-RGVHjqOioCAKQoUKM!/dl3/d3/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/" target="_blank">The Arab League</a></b> or more formally, the League of Arab States. These seven point us back to the days of Joshua. The Arab League was founded in Egypt in 1945 by 1) Egypt, 2) Iraq, 3) Lebanon, 4) Saudi Arabia, 5) Syria, 6) Yemen and 7) Transjordan (renamed Jordan, as of 1950). <br />
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The founding Arab League nations were established by the Protocols of Alexandria, and like a Biblical blueprint, four leaders of these seven nations have now fallen from power. As noted, the western media called the Islamic Awakening an Arab Spring, and it has changed the power structure of four of these Arab nations... yet thousands of years ago, Biblical prophecy declared "five will fall." So one remains.<br />
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The question is who? <br />
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This prophecy of the "fall of five" is seen in Revelation 17:10 and it certainly appears that the end time prophetic events are coming together before our eyes and headlines. History is important if we are to understand prophecy, becuase its history in advance. Don't forget, immediately after Israel declared itself an independent state following Hitler's Holocaust, the armies of five, yes five Arab League nations: 1) Egypt, 2) Jordan, 3) Syria, 4) Lebanon, and 5) Iraq attacked Israel without any provocation.<br />
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Yet, just before their attack on the new tiny newborn state, many thousands of Arab people ran from their homes and deserted the Promised Land. All of this sounds like a storyline right out of the book of Joshua doesn't it?<br />
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For Bible students, today's devastation of Syria might point you to the prophetic words of Revelation 17:9-11 but it may be another nation that was in the terror headlines well before Syria. The US was attacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists. They emanated on 9/11 out of Afghanistan in 2001 and for them men like Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri are heroes.<br />
<br />Is that nation still in play, is the Taliban? I really don't know, but we will. </div><div><br /></div><div>The thing right now is U.S. forces have not withdrawn. When Obama pulled troops out of Iraq a couple of years ago, chaos ensured from radical ISIS terrorists that grabbed the war machines and equipment we left behind for the US trained Iraqi forces. Will the same ISIS-like chaos repeat like a time bomb in Afghanistan when we pull out of our hedge of protection? </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason to worry is simple, ISIS is a highly radical terrorist offshoot of al Qaeda which is an offshoot of the Taliban of Afghanistan. Warped terrorist minds filled with hate and without a heart are waiting on the failure of an Obama-like administration to withdraw American troop protection. If that happens, we'll likely see horrors in the headlines about ISIS or a group like them in some other terror-morphed form. The real time bomb may be the ticking heard next door. That's the possibility of a jihadist uprising in Pakistan with its nuclear weapon arsenal.</div><div><br /></div><div>For now, I think it is worth knowing that four of seven "kings," the rulers of the original Muslim states that attacked Israel "have fallen" since 2003. I don't think that's a mere coincidence and it's a link to the Ezekiel sequence.</div><div><br /></div><div>Egypt was seen by everyone in the headlines. Their leader Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak was taken down in the Arab Spring. He was an Egyptian military and political leader who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Yet, all is not well in Israel despite word opinion about Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi the Egyptian politician who serves today as the sixth and president of Egypt since 2014.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Ezekiel sequence tell us Egypt has a problem:</div><div><blockquote>Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. </blockquote><blockquote>"Because you said, 'The Nile is mine, and I made it,' therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. </blockquote><blockquote>And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries. Ezekiel 29:8-12</blockquote>Yet, there is good news too for Egypt after the destruction that will start in Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. Today's Ethiopia is Cush, the area is now home to Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Egypt and Sudan say that Ethiopia has acted unilaterally and Egypt relies on the Nile for its water supply so they see this dam as an existential threat. Why will the area not be inhabited for forty years?</div><div><br /></div><div>Does this speak of a nuclear problem?</div><div>
<br />Let's get back four of seven "kings." For the nations that oppose Israel, the modern king's fall began the day Saddam Hussein was captured. He was found on December 13, 2003 hiding out in a six-foot hole in the ground in ad-Dawr near his childhood home of Tikrit, a two and 1/2 hour drive north of Baghdad. </div><div><br /></div><div>Eight years later, on October 20, 2011, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi was found in the same way, hiding in a drainage pipe outside Sirte, Libya near his childhood home in the desert of Tripolitania.</div><div>
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So, if we are paying attention, what does the riddle in Revelation say about wisdom? <br />
<blockquote>
"Here is the mind which <u>has wisdom</u>. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and <u>they are seven</u> kings; <u>five have fallen</u>, one is, the other has not yet come; <u>and when he comes</u>, he must remain a little while. The beast <u>which was and is not</u>, is himself also an eighth and is <u>one of the seven</u>, and he goes to destruction". Revelation 17:9-11 </blockquote>
Consider this... following the day Iraq's Dictator Hussein met death by hanging after being convicted by an Iraqi Special Tribunal for the Dujail massacre of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites in the town of Dujail in 1982. Libya's Dictator Gaddafi was excuted without a trial after he was found in a drainage pipe. Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fell. Ben Ali fall from power was followed by the death of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and then Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh. <br />
<br />Right now, Ben Ali still lives, but he is in not hiding in a hole. He fled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the western gateway to Mecca. Amazingly, in 2008 Ben Ali predicted the fall of Egypt, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the revolt in Syria. Perhaps his hiding may show us the one that must remain a little while in this prophecy or is the remaining one Bashar Assad who leads the fight of destruction in Syria?<br />
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The Jerusalem Post reported an amazing story back in December of 2010 about Ben Ali: <a href="http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=198534&R=R1" target="_blank">'Tunisian premier predicts Muslim Brotherhood takeover'</a> <br />
<blockquote>
By Herb Keinon Last Updated: 12/08/2010 14:28 - The moderate Arab states' fear of Iran and Islamic radicalism continued to pour forth from documents released by WikiLeaks Tuesday night, with the Tunisian President predicting in a conversation with a senior US diplomat two years ago that the Muslim Brotherhood would take over Egypt sooner or later. According to a cable written on March 3, 2008 by Robert Godec, the U.S. ambassador in Tunisia, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali told Assistant Secretary of State David Welch that "Tunisia was happy it was part of the Maghreb, and not part of Levant or Gulf."<br />
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The dispatch said Ben Ali "opined that the situation in Egypt is 'explosive,' adding that sooner or later the Muslim Brotherhood would take over. He added that Yemen and Saudi Arabia are also facing real problems. Overall, the region is 'explosive.'" Ben Ali said that Syria was a source of concern in the region, since it is "acting for Iran, and the later is fueling regional problems." Ben Ali, according to the dispatch, said "he 'does not trust' the Shia." </blockquote>For now it appears now that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad may be the next to fall from power... yet the prophecy also says: "one is, <u>the other has not yet come</u>; and when he comes, he must remain a little while." Is that the Taliban? Perhaps. They have waiting since we invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, when we invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government with the goal to dismantle al-Qaeda.</div><div><br />
Astonishingly, some two thousand years after it was written, Revelation 17:10 tells us plainly that five of seven end-time leaders must fall and an eight that was one of the seven which was and is not will go on to destruction. Yes, you read that correctly and it remained a mystery for nearly 2,000 years.<br />
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It's likely that the prophecy of Revelation 17 and today's Middle East Muslim nations are linked.<br />
<br />There may be another link. It's between the ancient nations that opposed Joshua with the modern armies that attacked Israel in 1948 as the tiny nation state fought back the Arab League troops to retain their Promised Land.<br />
<br />
Israel successfully defended itself again in 1967 during the Six Day War and in fact by many miracles gained more of the promised land grant given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Today, about two-thirds of the original land grant remains in the future. The land promised to Israel is found in Genesis 15:18 and Ezekiel 48:1-29. It extends from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates first named as the fourth river flowing of Eden.<br />
<br />If the fifth king to fall is Assad, at the end of the day what will be left of Syria?<br />
<br />Isaiah has something to say about that. Isaiah calls Damascus forsaken and a ruinous heap. This is described in Isaiah 17 and there's more commentary about that in <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2012/02/oracle-of-damascus.html" target="_blank">The Oracle of Damascus</a>.<br />
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Unless there is another, perhaps in Afghanistan, Mr. Assad may be the fifth dictator of the 'original' 1948 Arab League to fall from power through Muslim violence. Don't forget: Syria is one the nations including Egypt, Syria and Jordan that fought against Israel in 1967. Consider too, Israel has strong peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt, but not Syria to the north. <br />
<br />
Egypt and Jordan represent the fulfillment of prophecy as these Arab nations remain committed to peace with Israel and others will follow as they fear and oppose the Shia of Iran. Egypt's peace treaty was signed just <u>before</u> the Spring Feasts of 1979 and Moab, rather 'Jordan's' treaty was signed in 1994 just <u>after</u> the Fall Feasts that year. <br />
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God's word is incredible, its prophetic words point toward these treaties.<br />
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They are found near the end of the Torah scroll in the portion known worldwide to the Jewish people as Ki Tetze "When You Go Forth" (Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25:19). There in Deuteronomy, as plain as day, we can read about nations that God says will be at peace with Israel:<br />
<blockquote>
“Do not despise an Edomite, for the Edomites are related to you. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you resided as foreigners in their country.” Deuteronomy 23:7</blockquote>
Who should believe this report remains true today and that the words written so long ago should still stand even today?<br />
<br />
Yeshua of Nazareth, that's who.<br />
<blockquote>
“Think not that I am come to destroy the Torah, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Torah, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17-18</blockquote>
The scrolls of the prophets are unrolling, so let's look again at what's happened since the Arab Spring began. <br />
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As it stands now, the world has witnessed the fall of four modern Arab League leaders: 1) Iraq's (Saddam Hussein), 2) Tunisia's (Zine El Abidine Ben Ali), 3) Egypt's (Hosni Mubarak) and 4) Yemen's (Ali Abdullah Saleh). Each has fallen from power right before our eyes as they were stripped of their post World War II autocratic rule and dictatorial power given to them by France and Britain's withdrawals. <br />
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If these four men: Saddam Hussein, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Ali Abdullah Saleh are indeed four of the seven "kings" noted in the book of Revelation, then one of the seven today is 'the' government which was (in power)... will come back into power... yet go on to destruction by the sword in the valley of decision.<br />
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This means that the aggressive side of Islam that feigned death at the end of World War I with the fall of the Ottoman Turk Empire will rise up again and go on to destruction and Israel may be the tip of the spear.<br />
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These prophecies look like a re-run of the fall of King Jabin of Hazor described in Joshua 11. Today's Jabin whoever he is on the world stage, may very well rise from the chaos of this "Islamic Awakening" in an attempt to unify the people nations of the Mideast.<br />
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We are seeing the Bible's prophecies repeat as the Arab League seeks a Palestinian State to negotiate new treaties to divide Israel.</div><div>
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With that as the given, let's consider the goals of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council's charter. The 1981 GCC founding charter states (<u>underlines mine for emphasis</u>): <br />
<blockquote>
"Being fully aware of the ties of special relations, common characteristics and similar systems founded on the <u>creed of Islam</u> which bind them; and Desiring to effect <u>coordination, cooperation and integration</u> between them in all fields; and, Having the conviction that coordination, cooperation, and integration between them serve the <u>sublime objectives</u> of the Arab Nation; and, In pursuit of the goal of <u>strengthening cooperation</u> and reinforcement of the links between them; and In an endeavor to <u>complement efforts</u> already begun in all essential areas that concern their peoples and realize their hopes for a better future on <u>the path to unity of their States</u>; and In conformity with the Charter of the League of Arab States which calls for the realization of closer relations and stronger bonds; and In order to <u>channel their efforts</u> to reinforce and serve <u>Arab and Islamic</u> causes, Have agreed as follows: <a href="http://www.gcc-sg.org/eng/indexfc7a.html?action=Sec-Show&ID=1" target="_blank">click here to continue reading the Arab States GCC charter...</a> </blockquote>
We must keep our eyes wide open as watchmen over Jerusalem and Israel, and there is much more to consider about the <u>objectives</u> of the radical Islam. There is more to prepare our hearts and the hearts of others for - as we pray about events in the sea of the Mideast nations that have allowed Islamic radicals to move from persecuting Christians to trying to destroy Israel in the end as many in the 'west" rely on a rapture ride not found in Scripture even as Al-Qaeda attacked the United States.</div><div>
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So what is next?<br />
<br />
The stage has been set for monumental events within the Islamic lands surrounding Israel that will impact the Promised Land and the world. <br />
<br />I think the prophet Ezekiel gives us 'the sequence' of the final events. <br />
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In the beginning of his scroll, Ezekiel gives a wake up call about events described in Matthew 24:21; 2 Thessalonians 1:6 and in Revelation 7:14 just before the coming 1,000 year Messianic "day." The difficulties of the birth pangs are not validated in Christian rapture sermons. Like the entire Bible, the origin is Jewish and they come from Biblical prophecies like those first found in Deuteronomy 4:30. </div><div><br /></div><div>This one is noted By J. Immanuel Schochet as the <a href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/100900/jewish/The-Time-Before-Mashiach.htm" target="_blank">Ikvot Meshicha: The Time Immediately Before Mashiach</a>:<br />
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"The time appointed by G‑d for the Messianic redemption is a closely guarded secret.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span> Nonetheless, we are offered many hints to recognize its proximity: when certain conditions come about, await the imminent coming of Mashiach.<br />
<br />
Most of these conditions are quite disturbing, clearly displaying a situation of the very “bottom of the pit.”<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span> One major source describes the world-condition in those days as follows: increase in insolence and impudence; oppressing inflation; unbridled irresponsibility on the part of authorities; centers of learning will turn into bawdy houses; wars; many destitutes begging, with none to pity them; wisdom shall be putrid; the pious shall be despised; truth will be abandoned; the young will insult the old; family-breakup with mutual recriminations; impudent leadership.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span><br />
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Other sources add: lack of scholars; succession of troubles and evil decrees; famines; mutual denunciations; epidemics of terrible diseases; poverty and scarcity; cursing and blaspheming; international confrontations nations provoking and fighting each other.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4</span> In short, it will be a time of suffering that will make it look as if G‑d were asleep. These are the birthpangs of Mashiach, bearable only in anticipation of the bliss that follows them.<br />
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“When you see a generation ever dwindling, hope for him… when you see a generation overwhelmed by many troubles as by a river, await him.”<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5</span> “When you see nations fighting each other, look toward the feet of Mashiach."<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6</span><br />
<ol>
<li><i><span style="font-size: small;">Pesachim 54b; Midrash Tehilim 9:2. See Zohar Chadash, Bereishit, 8a.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-size: small;">Midrash Tehilim 45:3. See Ma’amarei Admur Hazaken-Ethalech, p. 103f.; and Besha’ah Shehik-dimu-5672, vol. I:p. 551; relating this to the principle (Midrash Tehilim 22:4; Zohar II:46a) that the darkest moments of the night are immediately before daybreak. Cf. Zohar I:170a. For this analogy see also the comment of R. Elijah, the Vilna Gaon, cited in Even Shelemah, ch. 11:5.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-size: small;">Sotah 49b.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-size: small;">Sanhedrin 97a; Shir Rabba 2:29.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-size: small;">Sanhedrin 98a.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-size: small;">Bereishit Rabba 42:4. Note Pesikta Rabaty 37:2 (ed. Friedmann, ch. 36)!</span></i></li>
</ol>
The prophet Joel records God's words and they are a <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2012/12/a-wake-up-call.html" target="_blank">wake up call</a> about the key issue for an hour of trial. Its about dividing Israel, and that's one reason America has a big problem:<br />
<blockquote>
“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to My inheritance, My people Israel, because they scattered My people among the nations and divided up My land" Joel 3:1-2.</blockquote>
The scene that Ezekiel records tie in with the words of Joel as well as Zechariah.<br />
<br />
They each address the events of a vision of trouble "in that day." The overriding message is the fact that Almighty God has never given up on the Jewish people, they have not been replaced by another dispensation and Jerusalem remains the apple of God's eye. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is clear if you keep read what the prophet saw recorded in Ezekiel 40. You'll even notice a gate and you'll see Messiah the prince in Ezekiel 44-48 as well as the 12 gates of YHWH-shammah, The promise of Messiah is the praised son of the right hand and that blessing can be found in the names of the tribes of Israel:<br />
<ul>
<li>Reuben "behold a son"</li>
<li>Judah "praised"</li>
<li>Levi "joined to"</li>
<li>Joseph "Yehovah has added"</li>
<li>Benjamin "son of the right hand"</li>
<li>Dan "a judge"</li>
<li>Simeon "heard"</li>
<li>Issachar "there is recompense"</li>
<li>Zebulun "exalted"</li>
<li>Gad "a troop"</li>
<li>Asher "happy"</li>
<li>Naphtali "wrestling"</li>
</ul>
The modern nation of Israel is wrestling with Messiah right now, but it is the old land of new covenant promise and any <a blank="" href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2010/01/zechariahs-february-vision.html" target="_">division of the Promised Land</a> by the nations will bring on trouble before Messiah's "millennium" the Messianic Era of rest when Zechariah's and Isaiah's words will ring true:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship...and to keep the feast of tabernacles..." Zechariah 14:16</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." Isaiah 66:23</blockquote>
Isaiah 46:10 tells us God will make known the end - from the beginning.<br />
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In this way, all people must make their Yom Kippur choice: accept the living Word of God and sacrifice offering of Messiah. Repent and accept His splattered blood offering. </div><div><br /></div><div>Since Eden, God has always given each of us a choice, and His love, His desire is that you choose Messiah as the way to the Tree of Life and the water of God's Word that nourishes eternal life.<br />
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<b>When people study Ezekiel today, we always hear something about the Gog-Magog war.</b><br />
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This end time battle is always a big part of most any discussion about Ezekiel or end-times. Usually, the dialogue points to an end of days battle scene before the return of Jesus and the culprit are ofter said to be Russia or China.<br />
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Here's the thing about the timing of God-Magog. There is a second witness to the sequence of Ezekiel 38-39 and as you've seen it's found in Revelation 20. John's vision provides a very specific time line for the God Magog war that everyone seems to ignore: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<u>When the thousand years are completed</u>, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in <u>the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog</u>, to gather them together <u>for the war</u>; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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." Revelation 20:7-10</blockquote>
When paired with the book of Revelation, the battle of Gog from Magog that Ezekiel describes in great detail is the final battle. John writes that it is after the thousand year millennium Sabbath rest. </div><div><br /></div><div>Revelation declares haSatan will be loosed "for a little season until the thousand years should be fulfilled."<br />
<br />Unless it is a rerun, the Revelation time stamp in the Ezekiel sequence places Gog from Magog at the end of the line in the "final" conflict of good and evil, not in the beginning of great tribulation. It will come to a conclusion with fire from heaven at the end of the thousand years. This is not my timeline, it is described in Revelation as haSatan will be released to test the hearts of mankind for the last time.</div><div>
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There has to be a reason. I believe that our Heavenly Father desires to give everyone the opportunity to repent and "choose" Him.<br />
<br />
What we see in Revelation is the gift of God through the prophets to be given time to make the right choice in the end just as it was in the beginning, after all, the Bible is about choice: good or evil, light or darkness.<br />
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Revelation sums it up:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:22-27</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Then 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. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.” Revelation 22:1-7</blockquote>
The Gog-Magog battle is a big part of the loosening at the end of the millennium day, when haSatan’s deceived hordes led by Gog will come against the Promised Land and its allies. And just when the situation seems impossible... God's glory will consume them like the priests of Baal in Elijah's day because of their fatal choice to join the final rebellion against God. The good news is all people that call out to God for salvation will receive it.<br />
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At the end of the Messianic Era and the Gog-Magog war, the Great White Throne final Yom Kippur judgment will be in court and the good news is that evil will be banished - forever in judgment. The Revelation scroll sums up the courtroom scene: <br />
<blockquote>
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.” Revelation 20:11-13</blockquote>
Halleluyah and amen, <u>all glory to God</u>! <br />
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The final sequence of Ezekiel chapters 40-46 describes the place where this will happen and Ezekiel gives us a virtual tour of New Jerusalem syncing with the angel's words in Revelation 11 as he measures the city to be lit by the Glory of God promised in Revelation 22 and Ezekiel 43.<br />
<br />
If we look at the scroll of Isaiah we can see another witness to this day:<br />
<blockquote>
"In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion. It will be for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain." Isaiah 4:2-6</blockquote>Ezekiel describes a great calamity before the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom under King Messiah that was promised to Miriam (Mary) by Gabriel. He called those in the Kingdom, the house of Jacob.<br />
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The reason, the house of Jacob is a big deal in the Bible. The family, or household designation appears 148 times in 30 verses in the ESV Bible translation, 164 times in 33 verses in the KJV and 143 times in 30 verses in the NASB translation.<br />
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It's the explicit promise and favor given to Mary aka Miriam in Luke's narrative to Theophilus in which Luke wrote an historic description of the life, death, and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua. Luke's stated intention was to give Theophilus an account of the “things he had been taught” that were indeed true and trustworthy.<br />
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The house of Jacob references throughout the Bible are tied to the promise given to Miriam about what was about to begin because she was chosen by Almighty God in the line of Sarah, yet Mary would be different, overcome by the Spirit of God her son would be the promised Messiah King.<br />
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The message was delivered to Miriam as a gift from heaven delivered by Gabriel so that she would understand and not be afraid or give up on her betrothed fiancé Joseph:<br /><blockquote>
"And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.<br />
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And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Yeshua.<br />
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He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”” Luke 1:28-33</blockquote>We must remember that the Bible is intended to be understood as a whole and Mary knew the whole story. Scripture is laser focused on the house of Jacob and the Kingdom of God. A devout young Jewess, she must have known what Gabriel meant when he gave that promise of the house of Jacob and the Kingdom to comfort her because she knew the suffering servant prophecy given in Isaiah 53.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The prophecy found in Isaiah 53 would be distressful to any mother. It describes the rejection, suffering and sacrifice of our humble and loving Messiah:</div><div><blockquote>He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Isaiah 53:3-6</blockquote></div><div>As obvious as it may be to Christians that this prophecy describes Messiah’s sufferings, Judaism has rejected this interpretation of Isaiah 53. Rabbinic Judaism holds that this prophecy is a historic description of the Jewish people in their suffering at the hands of the nations. Sadly, the reason is due to a church that has persecuted the Jewish people for thousands of years and taken the Jewishness out of Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Zohar, a Jewish commentary on the Torah and the Prophets has this to say about Isaiah 53:</div><div><blockquote>When the Messiah hears of the great suffering of Israel in their dispersion, and of the wicked amongst them who seek not to know their Master, he weeps aloud on account of those wicked amongst them, as it is written: “But he was wounded because of our transgression, he was crushed because of our iniquities”. The souls then return to their place. The Messiah, on his part, enters a certain Hall in the Garden of Eden, called the Hall of the Afflicted. There he calls for all the diseases and pains and sufferings of Israel, bidding them settle on himself, which they do. And were it not that he thus eases the burden from Israel, taking it on himself, no one could endure the sufferings meted out to Israel in expiation on account of their neglect of the Torah. So Scripture says; “Surely our diseases he did bear”... The Zohar, Soncino Press (vol.4, pp.220-221)</blockquote></div></div><div>When Miriam heard the message, she knew the twelve sons of Jacob that left Egypt with them to follow The Lord was the angel's reference of the house of Jacob.</div><div>
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Jacob's twelve sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin. They received a land inheritance with the exception of Joseph, whose two sons Manasseh and Ephraim were adopted into the house of Jacob.<br />
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Joseph, although the most favored of his father Jacob was not provided an allotment of the Promised Land of Israel, the two adopted sons Manasseh and Ephraim, were given a double portion of Joseph's inheritance. </div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually, the portions of David's kingdom became divided. This is shown in the books of Kings.<br />
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The Northern Kingdom became known as "Ephraim" and the Southern Kingdom became known as "Judah." They differed both politically and religiously. Judah held on to Jerusalem and the Torah, Ephraim did not, he turned his back on both choosing Shechem as the capital of the northern kingdom while mixing worship with "two calves of gold, and saying: "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt."<br />
<br />Israel has never been reunited since the split after Solomon's death and this is a spiritual picture, a Biblical blueprint. In the same way, since the death and resurrection of Yeshua, a 2,000 year old religious split over the identity of Messiah has divided Christianity and Judaism, yet we both worship the same God of Israel whether in church or synagogue.<br />
<br />Years after Solomon, the Northern Kingdom was attacked by the Assyrians. This a spiritual picture too, a Biblical blueprint given for the end days recorded in Ezekiel.<br />
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Upon their captivity by Assyria, Ephraim was assimilated and intermingled into the nations of the world and they became sojourners. The intermarriage of the Assyrians and the descendants who remained in Northern Israel were known as Samaritans. Now you know the history of the Samaritan woman. When some of Ephraim returned, brought back by Shalmaneser, they established a temple at Mount Gerizim located on the south side of Shechem. </div><div>
<br />Solomon's son Jeroboam expanded the ancient Danite altar at Tel Dan and built another at Bethel. Judges 18:29-30 tells us: "And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first. And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land."<br />
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The Danite pagan altar at Tel Dan became a template for a "new religion" he led at Shechem. </div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently, the tribe of Dan in leading Israel into mixed worship is a problem so big that they are not listed among the 12 tribes in the book of Revelation. Perhaps because they represent those unwilling to come out of worship mixed with false idols.<br />
<br />Clearly new religion is a problem, but worship in spirit and truth is the solution.<br />
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We know because it is stated in John 4:19–24, when Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman. During their conversation, she contrasts the schism of Samaritan worship at Mount Gerizim against Jewish worship at Mount Moriah and Jesus provides her the solution:<br /><blockquote>
“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’<br />
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Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.<br />
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But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”” John 4:19–26</blockquote>The Jews and the Samaritans that claimed to be Israelites from Ephraim and Manasseh never really got along with each other, and the same has been true for the past two thousand years as the church split from the synagogue, but praise God those days are ending for a remnant seeking spirit and truth.<br />
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Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob was a restoration picture, a Biblical blueprint given to us about the restoration of spirit and truth (John 4:4-42) occurring today. By the way, it is the longest one-on-one exchange ever recorded by any of the Gospel writers for good reason.<br />
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An even longer story is Joseph's in Genesis. The account tells of how he was rejected by and separated from his brothers. If you think about it, this foreshadows the dividing of the nation of Israel into Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom.<br />
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But God always uses tough times for good purpose. Joseph's family revival with His brothers foreshadows the unification of the whole house of Jacob in the end of days that has just begun. Ezekiel was told to lay on his side, this foreshadows the timeline of the judgment of the Northern Kingdom. The suffering of Ezekiel foreshadows the suffering of the Messiah too.<br />
<br />Did you know Orthodox Jews pray three times a day for the ingathering of the lost exiles of Israel?</div><div><br /></div><div>When you realize the significance of that the prayer for the lost tribes, the importance for today is astounding. The Sabbath Millennium or Messianic era known as the Day of The Lord is the time that Messiah will gather the exiles, the lost sheep and restore them to Judah as one flock in the Kingdom. </div><div><br /></div><div>How do we know?<br />
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Jesus said so as He spoke to His Jewish disciples:<br /><blockquote>
"And I have <u>other sheep</u> that are not of this fold. <u>I must bring them also</u>, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." John 10:16</blockquote>The "day of the Lord" is a Sabbath picture of the seventh day, a foreshadowing of the 1,000-year Messianic Age of the re-united Kingdom to come in the 7,000-year redemptive plan of the Almighty God of Israel.<br />
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<b>What does all this have to do with Gabriel and Mary?</b><br />
<br />A lot. The big promise given Miriam (Mary) is about the Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua. He will return to the earth at His second coming as King Messiah, known in Judaism as Messiah ben David. He is the "star that comes out of Jacob" (Numbers 24:17) and the "bright and morning star" (Revelation 22:16). He will again teach and explain the Torah from the Temple in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2-3) but this time not as a Rabbi, but as King.<br />
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The hidden story that Gabriel did not reveal to Miriam is about the timeline of the last generation to come before The Kingdom of the Sabbath Millennium called Olam Ha-Ba. Gabriel did not mention the last generation of the second coming. Like Daniel's message from Michael, Gabriel's message to Mary was sealed, unspoken and reserved for the last generation.<br />
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According to Jewish tradition, the Messianic Age or "yamei hamashiach" will a time of global peace and harmony, an era free of strife and hardship, and one focused on the Creator. Christians believe the same. The key difference is that Jewish tradition says it will be the Messiah's first visit.<br />
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Jewish tradition also states each day in creation represents 1,000 years in the timeline of mankind. This is based in large part upon connecting Psalm 90:4 to the six days of creation:<br />
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"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."<br />
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The traditional Jewish view of each day of creation representing 1,000 years of time for each day is also expressed in the New Testament. Its found in 2 Peter 3:8-10, where the Jewish disciple writes:<br /><blockquote>
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.<br />
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But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."</blockquote><b>Boundaries are important.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Ezekiel describes the restoration of the boundaries of the Promised Land that ties to the land grant noted in Numbers 34:1-12. We see its new allotment in Ezekiel 48:1-7 and Ezekiel 48:23-29.<br />
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<b>In the first exodus God used a census and He will again.</b><br />
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Measuring is a big part of the Ezekiel sequence. It begins with the measuring rod of the Temple in Ezekiel 40 and the portion of the land for inheritance in Ezekiel 48.<br />
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Everyone that is familiar with the exodus account has read about the census of Israel, but few Christians seem to think about the last census as being the same. Interestingly, today the nation state of Israel contains a remnant number of Yeshua believers scattered in many congregations across the land. Many say there are more Jewish believers worldwide today than there are Hassidic Jews. Some even say there are perhaps 30-40,000 Jewish followers of Messiah Yeshua in the Promised Land right now that remain fully Jewish.<br />
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With an outpouring of the Spirit of God described in Ezekiel 37, could we soon see many more, perhaps even the census of 144,000 described in Revelation 7:4 and Revelation 14:1?<br />
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When we look toward the end of the Ezekiel scroll, we can see that the prophet describes fruit trees on the banks of water flowing from the Temple. These are like the trees of Eden that were "good for food" and they are the same trees and fruit by the pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb described in Revelation 22. <br />
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Some believe the Ezekiel 37 words of resurrection are only symbolic, perhaps a metaphor much like David Ben-Gurion spoke of when Israel was reborn in 1948. After the Holocaust… the Shoah, Ben-Gurion became Israel's first Prime Minister and he made this bold statement on May 14, 1948: </div><div><br /></div><div>"Ezekiel 37 has been fulfilled, and the nation Israel is hearing the footsteps of the Messiah."</div><div><br /></div><div>Ben-Gurion was correct, we are hearing the footsteps of Messiah, but Ezekiel 37 was not fulfilled in 1948, but its fulfillment started. We can know this in the Ezekiel sequence because the name of our Creator is not yet known by all, there is still idol confusion among the nations, but that day will end.<br />
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The ultimate promise of resurrection, redemption and restoration described in Ezekiel 37 is very real. It will come to pass. When we look into Ezekiel 37 we can see the resurrection described is the first at the beginning of the millennium that will occur at the return of Messiah.<br />
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Billy Graham once said: “Many people do not understand the fundamental truths about mankind’s eternal destinations and that each person has in a free will choice to make concerning the most critical matter of life — where they will spend eternity after death.” <br />
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In Revelation, John writes of events following <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/rev/20/6/s_1187006" target="_blank">resurrection</a> to physical life that Ezekiel points toward. The first resurrection is described in Revelation 20:4-6. Importantly, Yeshua of Nazareth speaks plainly of a second resurrection before the final Yom Kippur judgment described in John 5:24-29 when He states:<br />
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"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. <br />
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Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. <br />
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Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."</blockquote>
Ezekiel, like the Apostle John, describes what he 'saw' as the heavens opened, and Ezekiel records a vision of God's glory with four living creatures around the throne of El Shaddai. This same throne was seen by Daniel (read Daniel 7:9) and the four creatures around the throne are described by John as a witness in his vision at Pathmos (read Revelation 4:6-9 and Revelation 5:6-14). <br />
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There's a lot of speculation about resurrection.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>There's a lot of confusion too. So much so, many Christians no longer use the word resurrection confusing its reality promise with a theory called the pre-trib rapture. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the same way, there is much deception on <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2012/07/end-days.html" target="_blank">the end days</a>. Many think of them as an end of world disaster, the end of the world if you will. The facts are the end is a new beginning. </div><div><br /></div><div>Needless to say, there is a lot of confusion about the sequence of Ezekiel too, but God is not the author of confusion. He is the God of order. El Shaddai says He has declared everything to the prophets. The reason, He wants everyone to have a chance at redemption.<br />
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The important message God gives us is to study the prophets. Messiah advises us to ask the Spirit of God to be our head professor. <br />
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If you will study God's word, take note to look at the order and sequence of Ezekiel. Study chapters 36-39, it appears to span a millennium and it describes events leading up to judgment at the end of the day, the 1,000 Sabbath of Messiah described in Revelation.<br />
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<b>The Ezekiel 35 sequence begins with a remnant of Esau called Mount Seir.</b><br />
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Moreover, the word of YHVH came to me saying, “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it and say to it, Thus says The Lord YHVH, Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, And <b>I will stretch out My hand against you</b> And make you a desolation and a waste." <br />
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“I will lay waste your cities and you will become a desolation. <b>Then you will know that I am YHVH</b>."<br />
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"Because <b>you have had everlasting enmity</b> and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword <b>at the time of their calamity</b>, at the time of <b>the punishment of the end</b>, therefore as I live,” 'declares The Lord YHVH', “I will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you. <br />
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I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns. I will fill its mountains with its slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain by the sword will fall. I will make you an everlasting desolation and your cities will not be inhabited. <b>Then you will know that I am YHVH</b>."</blockquote>
<b>After division - God's Judgment.</b><br />
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“Because you have said, ‘These <b>two nations and these two lands</b> will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although YHVH was there, therefore as I live,” declares The Lord YHVH, “I will deal with you <b>according to your anger and according to your envy</b> which you showed because of your hatred against them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you."</blockquote>
<b>The Mountains of Israel will become desolate.</b><br />
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"Then you will know that I, YHVH, have heard all your revilings which <b>you have spoken against the mountains of Israel</b> saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given to us for food.’ And you have spoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard it.” 'Thus says The Lord YHVH', “<b>As all the earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation</b>. As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be a desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. <b>Then they will know that I am YHVH</b>.” Ezekiel 35:1-15</blockquote>
<b>Guess what... today's 'West Bank' (Judaea) claimed as a prey and occupied by Palestinian Arabs is full of mountains, hills and valleys!</b><br />
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“And you, son of man, prophesy to the <b>mountains of Israel </b>and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of YHVH'. 'Thus says The Lord YHVH', “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘<b>The everlasting heights have become our possession</b>,’ therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', “For good reason they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become <b>a possession of the rest of the nations</b> and you have been taken up in the talk and <b>the whispering of the people</b>.”<br />
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Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of The Lord YHVH." <br />
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'Thus says The Lord YHVH' <b>"to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys</b>, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities <b>which have become a prey</b> and a <b>derision to the rest of the nations which are round about</b>," 'therefore thus says The Lord YHVH', “Surely in the fire of My jealousy <b>I have spoken against the rest of the nations</b>, and against all Edom, <b>who appropriated My land </b>for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, <b>to drive it out for a prey</b>.” <br />
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"Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys", 'Thus says The Lord YHVH', "Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because <b>you have endured the insults of the nations</b>."</blockquote>
<b>After division, restoration will come from God.</b><br />
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'Therefore thus says The Lord YHVH', "I have sworn that surely <b>the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults</b>. But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for <b>they will soon come</b>".</blockquote>
<b>After desolation, "all Israel" will return and that has already begun.</b><br />
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"For, behold, I am for you, and <b>I will turn to you</b>, and you will be cultivated and sown. I will multiply men on you, <b>all the house of Israel</b>, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the <b>waste places will be rebuilt</b>. I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and <b>I will cause you to be inhabited </b>as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. <b>Thus you will know that I am YHVH</b>." <br />
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"Yes, I will cause men — <b>My people Israel</b> — to walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their inheritance <b>and never again bereave them</b> of children."</blockquote>
<b>God Warns Esau that You will Never Bereave Israel Again.</b><br />
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“Thus says The Lord YHVH', "Because they say to you, You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children, therefore <b>you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave</b> your nation of children," 'declares The Lord YHVH'. “I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,” 'declares The Lord YHVH.’</blockquote>
<b>God Recalls the Sins of Ancient Northern Israel and their Scattering.</b><br />
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Then the word of YHVH came to me saying, “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. Also <b>I scattered them among the nations </b>and they were dispersed throughout the lands. <br />
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According to their ways and their deeds <b>I judged them</b>. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of YHVH; yet they have come out of His land.’ But <b>I had concern for My holy name</b>, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went." Ezekiel 36:1-21</blockquote>
<b>God Will Act for the Holiness of His Name’s Sake.</b><br />
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“Therefore say to the house of Israel", ‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, <b>but for My holy name</b>, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. <b>I will vindicate the holiness of My great name </b>which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. <br />
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<b>Then the nations will know that I am YHVH</b>,” 'declares The Lord YHVH', “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. <br />
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For <b>I will take you from the nations</b>, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. </blockquote>
<b>God Promises a New Covenant.</b><br />
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Moreover, <b>I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you</b>; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. <br />
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I will put <b>My Spirit within you</b> and cause you to <b>walk in My statutes</b>, and you will be careful to <b>observe My ordinances</b>. <br />
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You will <b>live in the land</b> that I gave to your forefathers; so <b>you will be My people, and I will be your God</b>. Moreover, <b>I will save you </b>from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you.<br />
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I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.<br />
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Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. <b>I am not doing this for your sake</b>,” 'declares The Lord YHVH', “let it be known to you. <b>Be ashamed and confounded</b> for your ways, O house of Israel!”<br />
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‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', “On the day that <b>I cleanse you</b> from all your iniquities, <b>I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt</b>. The desolate land <b>will be cultivated</b> <b>instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone</b> who passes by. They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’"</blockquote>
In just three short years, Israel will celebrate 70 years of land restoration. In that timeline, cities have been inhabited and waste places have been rebuilt. The land has been cultivated like Eden in many areas by the Jewish people and ruined cities are again being inhabited.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>If we will just read Ezekiel 36 and Ezekiel 37 we can see this picture as the prophet describes the physical restoration of the Jewish people back to their ancient homeland of Judea and Samaria and the transformation of Israel that Ezekiel and virtually every other prophet including Moses wrote of this promise. We are seeing the promises before our eyes.</div><div><br /></div>
Israel became a nation during the Omer Count (day 20) to Shavuot on May 14, 1948 when <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/state-of-israel-proclaimed" target="_blank">David Ben Gurion declared independence.</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>Does that day have a connection to the end of the 70 years in Babylon and the promise Almighty God gave to Zechariah to declare to the world? I say yes.<br />
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Therefore thus says the LORD, “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.” Zechariah 1:16</blockquote>
We can all read what God has promised and the details of what is to come out of this is revealed by Ezekiel: "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. <b><u>Then I will sprinkle clean water on you,</u></b> and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols."</div><div><br /></div><div>What does this mean. I believe it points to the events of 1967, when the time of the Gentiles saw the beginning of its final chapter when Jerusalem was retaken. </div><div><br /></div><div>According to Fausset's Bible Dictionary, "The times of the Gentiles" began with Judah's depression and captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, to whom God delegated the world empire (Jeremiah 27:6-7), from whence Jeremiah's counsel to the Jews to submit to hint was true patriotism, not cowardice. Jerusalem has more or less been ever since "trodden down of the Gentiles," and shall be so "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). Then shall the times of Israel begin with a glory eclipsing her past glory. "All Israel shall be saved." </div><div><br /></div><div>That historic Six Day War means...<br />
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<b>Is it time for the water of God's Spirit to be poured out again in Jerusalem.</b><br />
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“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD; it will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.” Jeremiah 31:38-40 </blockquote>
The location near the <a href="https://biblewalks.com/sites/TempleMount.html" target="_blank">Temple Mount</a>, the <a href="https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/hinnom-valley-of/" target="_blank">Valley of ben Hinnom</a> (Gehenna) are where the bones of murdered children were laid... "the scene of idolatrous practices in the days of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:3) and of Manasseh, who "made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom."<br />
<br />Those were dark days, the filthiness was murder and abortion for Molech the idol that destroys life, but...<br />
<b><br /></b><b>All the World will Know YHVH the life giver.</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Then the nations that are left round about <b>you will know that I, YHVH</b>, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, YHVH, have spoken and will do it.”<br />
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'Thus says The Lord YHVH', “This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: <b>I will increase their men like a flock</b>. Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. <b>Then they will know that I am YHVH</b>.” Ezekiel 36:22-37</blockquote>
<b>The Vision of Dry Bones - tells us Israel will know Redemption. </b><br />
<blockquote>
'The hand of YHVH was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of YHVH and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, <b>there were very many </b>on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me':<br />
<br />
“Son of man, can these bones live?” 'And I answered', “O Lord GOD, You know.” 'Again He said to me', “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of YHVH.’ Thus says The Lord YHVH to these bones, "Behold,<b> I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life</b>. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and <i>you will know that I am YHVH</i>.”<br />
<br />
So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. <br />
<br />
Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', Come from the four winds, O breath, and<b> breathe on these slain</b>, that they come to life.” <br />
<br />
So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.</blockquote>
<b>The Vision is Explained – Restoration and Resurrection - Heaven on Earth.</b><br />
<blockquote>
Then He said to me, “Son of man, <b>these bones are the 'whole house' of Israel</b>; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them", ‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', “Behold, I will open your graves and <b>cause you to come up </b>out of your graves, <b>My people</b>; and <b>I will bring you into the land of Israel</b>. <br />
<br />
<b>Then you will know that I am YHVH</b>, when I have opened your graves and caused you<b> to come up</b> out of your graves, My people.<b> I will put My Spirit within you</b> and you will come to life, and <b>I will place you</b> on your own land. Then you will know that I, YHVH, have spoken and done it,” declares YHVH.</blockquote>
<b>Reunion of Two Sticks: Judah and Ephraim, the House of Joseph His Companions.</b><br />
<blockquote>
The word of YHVH came again to me saying, “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘<b>For Judah and for the sons of Israel</b>, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘<b>For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel</b>, his companions.’ <br />
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Then join them for yourself <b>one to another into one stick</b>, that they may become one in your hand. <br />
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When the sons of your people speak to you saying", ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ say to them, ‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', “Behold, <b>I will take the stick of Joseph</b>, which is <b>in the hand of Ephraim</b>, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, <b>with the stick of Judah</b>, and make them <b>one stick</b>, and they will be one in My hand. The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes." </blockquote>
<b>One New Man in the Land, United on the Mountains of Israel with One King.</b><br />
<blockquote>
Say to them, ‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and <b>I will gather them</b> from every side and bring them into their own land; and <b>I will make them one nation</b> in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and <b>one king will be king for all</b> of them; and <b>they will no longer be two nations </b>and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. <br />
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They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but <b>I will deliver them</b> from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. <b>And they will be My people, and I will be their God."</b></blockquote>
<b>Messiah’s Everlasting Kingdom under the Covenant of Peace.</b><br />
<blockquote>
“My servant David will be king over them, and they will <b>all have one shepherd</b>; and they will walk in My ordinances <b>and keep My statutes</b> and observe them. <br />
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They will live on the land that <b>I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived</b>; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. I will make<b> a covenant of peace</b> with them; <b>it will be an everlasting covenant</b> with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. <br />
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My <b>dwelling place</b> also will be with them; and <b>I will be their God, and they will be My people</b>. And <b>the nations will know that I am YHVH</b> who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is <b>in their midst</b> forever.” Ezekiel 37:1-28</blockquote>
<b>Gog of Magog Will Come in The End of the Millennium shown in Revelation 20:7-10. </b><br />
<blockquote>
And the word of YHVH came to me saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say", ‘Thus says The Lord YHVH, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. <br />
<br />
I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and <b>I will bring you out, and all your army</b>, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; <b>Persia, Ethiopia and Put</b> with them, <b>all of them</b> with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b>Be prepared, and prepare yourself</b>, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and <b>be a guard for them</b>."</blockquote>
<b>The Summoning - In the Latter Years.</b><br />
<blockquote>
"After many days you will be summoned; <b>in the latter years</b> you will come into the land that is <b>restored from the sword</b>, whose inhabitants have been gathered <b>from many nations</b> to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its <b>people were brought out from the nations</b>, and they are living securely, all of them."</blockquote>
<b>Invasion – The Final Battle.</b><br />
<blockquote>
"You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.”<br />
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‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', “It will come about <b>on that day</b>, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan, and you will say, ‘<b>I will go up against the land</b> of unwalled villages. I will go <b>against those who are at rest, that live securely</b>, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and <b>against the people who are gathered from the nations</b>, who have acquired cattle and goods, <b>who live at the center of the world</b>.’<br />
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"Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?’”</blockquote>
<b>In the Last Days - The Armies of Gog will Attack.... and Lose the Final Battle.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>At the end of the millennium day, Gog will show up:<br />
<blockquote>
“Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says The Lord YHVH, “<b>On that day when My people Israel are living securely</b>, will you not know it? <br />
<br />
You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, <b>you and many peoples with you</b>, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; and you will come up against <b>My people Israel</b> like a cloud to cover the land. <b>It shall come about in the last days</b> that I will bring you against My land, <b>so that the nations may know Me</b> when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”<br />
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‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', “Are you the one of whom <b>I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel</b>, who prophesied in those days <b>for many years</b> that I would bring you against them?"</blockquote>
<b>The Wrath of God Starts with the Revelation 16:18 earthquake or shaking from Almighty God's presence.</b><br />
<blockquote>
"It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” 'declares The Lord YHVH', “that <b>My fury will mount up in My anger</b>. In My zeal and<b> in My blazing wrath</b> I declare that on that day there will surely be <b>a great earthquake </b>in the land of Israel. <br />
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The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth <b>will shake at My presence</b>; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground."</blockquote>
<b>Revelation's Judgment Sword of Pestilence and Hail will be seen like a Pharaoh repeat.</b><br />
<blockquote>
"I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains,” 'declares The Lord YHVH'. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and with blood <b>I will enter into judgment</b> with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, <b>and on the many peoples</b> who are with him, a torrential rain, <b>with hailstones, fire and brimstone</b>. I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and <b>make Myself known</b> in the sight of many nations; and <b>they will know that I am YHVH</b>.” Ezekiel 38:1-23</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe. Revelation 16:21</blockquote>
<b>What happens next? </b><br />
<br />Blessing. Ezekiel 39 tells us about The Spirit outpouring that will overwhelm:<br />
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“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now<b> I will restore the fortunes of Jacob</b> and <b>have mercy on the whole house of Israel</b>, and <b>I will be jealous for my holy name.</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, <b>when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands</b>, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. </blockquote>
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<b>Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God</b>, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. And <b>I will not hide my face anymore </b>from them, when <b>I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel</b>, declares the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 39:25-29</blockquote>
<b>Invaders that oppose God will be Destroyed on the Mountains of Israel.</b><br />
<blockquote>
“"And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say", ‘Thus says The Lord YHVH', “Behold, <b>I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal</b>; and I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel." <br />
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"I will strike your bow from your left hand and dash down your arrows from your right hand. <b>You will fall</b> on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food <b>to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field</b>. You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken,” 'declares The Lord YHVH'. “And <b>I will send fire upon Magog</b> and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am YHVH."<br />
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“My holy name <b>I will make known in the midst of My people Israel</b>; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. <b>And the nations will know that I am YHVH</b>, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,” 'declares The Lord YHVH'. "<b>That is the day</b> of which I have spoken."</blockquote>
<b>Seven Years of Firewood from Weapons of Plunder.</b><br />
<blockquote>
“Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and <b>for seven years</b> they will make fires of them. They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for <b>they will make fires with the weapons</b>; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” 'declares The Lord YHVH'.</blockquote>
<b>Armageddon's Seven Month Burial, Cleansing the Land for the last time.</b><br />
<blockquote>
“On that day <b>I will give Gog a burial ground</b> <b>there in Israel</b>, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea, and it will block off those who would pass by. So they will bury Gog there with all his horde, and they will call it <b>the valley of Hamon-gog</b>. <br />
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<b>For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them</b> in order to cleanse the land. Even all the people of the land will bury them; and <b>it will be to their renown on the day</b> that I glorify Myself,” 'declares The Lord YHVH'. <br />
<br />
“They will set apart men who will constantly pass through the land, <b>burying those</b> who were passing through, even those left on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it.<b> At the end of seven months they will make a search</b>. As those who pass through the land pass through and anyone sees a man’s bone, then he will set up a marker by it until the buriers have buried it <b>in the valley of Hamon-gog</b>. And even the name of the city will be Hamonah. So they <b>will cleanse</b> the land.”</blockquote>
<b>Scavengers will be Assembled for The Men of War.</b><br />
<blockquote>
"As for you, son of man, 'thus says The Lord YHVH', Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as<b> a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel</b>, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. <br />
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You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and <b>all the men of war</b>,” 'declares The Lord'".</blockquote>
<b>Judgment and Glory - The Summary of the Prophecies of the Scrolls.</b><br />
<blockquote>
"And <b>I will set My glory</b> among the nations; and all the nations will see <b>My judgment </b>which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. And <b>the house of Israel will know that I am YHVH </b>their God from that day onward.<br />
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The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and <b>I hid My face from them</b>; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them.”</blockquote>
<b>Calamity, Restoration and The Spirit of God Outpouring.</b><br />
<blockquote>
'Therefore thus says The Lord YHVH', “Now <b>I will restore</b> the fortunes of Jacob and <b>have mercy</b> on the whole house of Israel; and <b>I will be jealous for My holy name</b>. They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when <b>they live securely on their own land</b> with no one to make them afraid.<br />
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When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then <b>I shall be sanctified through them</b> in the sight of the many nations. Then they will know that <b>I am YHVH their God </b>because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then <b>gathered them again</b> to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.<br />
<br />
I will not hide My face from them any longer, for <b>I will have poured out My Spirit</b> on the house of Israel,” 'declares The Lord YHVH'. Ezekiel 39:1-29</blockquote>
The Ezekiel sequence of the scroll tells us a dark day of calamity is coming for those that oppose Israel, a time of <b>tribulation and desolation</b> will come in the mountains of Israel when the forced division of the Promised Land for peace sought even today by the nations will meet its end in God's Glory.<br />
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Today's calamity of division against God's promise to Abraham began in 1947 <a href="http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/un/res181.htm" target="_blank">with the U.N. Partition Plan</a>. UN Resolution 181 includes a "Special International Regime" for the City of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Believe it or not, Jerusalem's UN resolution was accepted by the Jewish government but rejected by the Arabs.<br />
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This short video shows the truth about the PLO that was founded in 1964, never before:<br />
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<b><br />N</b>o matter what your views are on the timing of the Ezekiel sequence, or your belief of whether Messiah came to suffer for you, it is now time to turn to Messiah Yeshua before He returns as King. </div><div>
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When Yeshua said your "house" will be desolate in Matthew 23:38, perhaps He was referencing Ezekiel 35:15. </div><div><br /></div><div>The word "house" used in Matthew is from the Greek "oikos" which means "the place where one has fixed his residence, one's settled abode.'"Today, many call the West Bank, the settled abode, aka the "settlements."<br />
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Yeshua words are a prophecy people of Israel, an attempt at division will come for the Palestinian settlements of Gaza, Judea and Samaria and battles will arise.<br />
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Israel, now is the time to call out for your Jewish Messiah. Repent and return to God's ancient promise of both suffering Messiah and King. Yeshua is both Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah ben David.<br />
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Believe the Bible, repent and return to hear God's word on this declared to the prophets and walk in the faith of the Kingdom ways of Torah like Yeshua did so that you can be ready before the calamity Ezekiel describes.<br />
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God is a sovereign God. He is a loving God and He has provided the way to offer all His salvation in resurrection and redemption through HaMoshiach. You can accept His life blood to restore the broken covenant. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua mentioned the parable of the figs in Luke 21 as a sign of His coming. Why?<br />
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Jeremiah 24 gives the answer to the question raised in Luke 21, the good figs will know Messiah.<br /><blockquote>
Then the word of the LORD came to me: “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. </blockquote><blockquote>I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 24:4-7</blockquote><div>Israel, reconsider Isaiah 53 very carefully, sure it points toward your calamities, but look at it closely, it is about the Messiah from the tribe of Judah in the line of David. It is not just about a people wounded by the world's transgressions. In the end, it's about Messiah. Isaiah plainly says so:</div>
<blockquote>
"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."</blockquote>
Judah you were stricken and afflicted by men, many of them Christians in our history, so forgive us.<br />
<br />Remember, no one is healed or redeemed by your suffering, but we can all be by the affliction of the Son of God. Turn back, repent, accept God's gift of love through Messiah Yeshua. He is the suffering servant, the King of Kings and the High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek, that's the mystery. </div><div><br /></div><div>Suffering comes before redemption. Egypt and the Exodus a lesson.<br />
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Today is the time, listen to Ben-Gurion: "the nation Israel is hearing the footsteps of the Messiah." </div><div><br /></div><div>The world will see Messiah when you declare:<br />
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"Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord'. Psalm 118:26</blockquote>
Yeshua came in the name of The Lord and He validated this Psalm when He said:<br />
<blockquote>
"For I say unto you, You shall not see me henceforth, until you shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Matthew 23:39</blockquote>
You can say it, "Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai." <br />
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America, consider this too: Are we the daughter of Babylon?<br />
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This we know, some in America have turned against prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Bible and in many ways through our sad history, the church has turned against the Jewish people. America, we have even legalized Molech's child murder with abortion and a legalized a Sodom and Gomorrah's marriage in our Supreme Court. Time is short. Wake Up!<br />
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Jeremiah says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Thus says the LORD of hosts:<br />
Behold, disaster is going forth<br />
from nation to nation,<br />
and a great tempest is stirring<br />
from the farthest parts of the earth! Jeremiah 25:32</blockquote>
This we do know, the God of Israel made a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that cannot be broken. Yeshua from the House of David wants to bless Israel:</div><div><blockquote>"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."</blockquote>The world needs to know Zechariah 12:3 declares:<br />
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"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."</blockquote>
Because of this warning, we have to remember the inspired words of David in Psalm 121:4: "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." And in Psalm 122:6: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee."<br />
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May the Lord pour out His Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) and unite all hearts in love for Zion bringing redemption, restoration and reconciliation to the whole house of Jacob, both natural born and adopted because of our shared love for The God of Israel and His Messiah.<br />
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Whether Jew or not, we all need to get our life right with our Creator, don’t wait for tomorrow, repent and follow Messiah Yeshua now! He bore our grief and sin for your healing, for our redemption and restoration in resurrection. We can all declare it:<br />
<blockquote>
"I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin". Psalm 38:17 <br />
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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</blockquote>
We are fast approaching the third day since these words were penned in the book called Matthew some 2,000 years ago.<br />
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Moses gave the world a prophecy when he recorded the words of The Almighty at Mt. Sinai:<br />
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"Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day The Lord will come down… in the sight of all people…. Only when the yovel sounds a long blast may they go up."</blockquote>
The reason that Messiah Yeshua did not bring world peace two days ago (two thousand years) is because The Father wants to save the whole world. He is giving us all as much time as He can but:<br />
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After two days he will revive us;<br />
on the third day he will raise us up,<br />
that we may live before him. Hosea 6:2</blockquote>
I pray we will all be able to come together and say these words to the coming Priest King in Jerusalem:<br />
<blockquote>
“My father was a wandering Syrian. He went down to Egypt with a few people and lived there. There he became a great, powerful, and populous nation.<br />
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But the Egyptians mistreated and afflicted us, and forced us to do hard labor. So we called out to The Lord, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our cry and saw our misery, hardship, and oppression.<br />
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Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with terrifying power, and with signs and wonders. He led us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. <br />
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Now I have now brought the first of the land’s produce that You, LORD, have given me.</blockquote><div><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div></div><div><br /></div>
Shalom.</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-26338245914977958542016-01-08T07:39:00.028-06:002024-01-27T11:33:58.283-06:00The Test<br />
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<a href="http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R7Dp3LQ1-B4/VpwQ-QIMz4I/AAAAAAAAB-I/fpOgJ6XdA1A/s200/Scroll%2Bof%2BIsaiah.JPG" /></a></div>
<figcaption><a href="http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">he Great Scroll of Isaiah from Qumran</span></a></figcaption><a href="http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"> </a> <br />The scroll of Isaiah has been around for some 2,700 years. Theologians say it was written in Jerusalem over a 40 year period from 740-700 BC. <div><br /></div><div>It's the one scroll that a copy survived virtually intact in the caves of Qumran for 2,000 years.<br />
<br />Isaiah wrote just before the time window that the northern Ten Tribes of Israel were taken captive and exiled by Assyria.<br />
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Why did that exile happen? <br />
<br />In my Scripture studies I found the the Ten Tribes of Northern Israel turned their back on God's word and went their own way. They were counseled and warned by the Prophets but they did not repent of their pride, lust or idols. <br />
<br />Despite all the warnings, they did not repent!<br />
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Instead, they chose their own path, they made their own religious rules and they did not walk in God's ways, so they failed "the test." </div><div><br /></div><div>Because of that failure, after time was given for repentance, they were eventually dragged away from the Promised Land, imprisoned if you will in exile's captivity to their own sins and they lost their identity in outside the promise. They paid with a lost identity, the price of their own desires as they were divided and separated from God's Kingdom. 2 Kings 17:6 tells us when and where: <br />
<blockquote>
"In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and he carried them away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of Medes." </blockquote>
In ten short years that most historians mark between 732-722 BC, the northern Kingdom of Israel disappeared from the Promised Land. They were conquered by the Assyrian King Shalmaneser V, they were exiled to upper Mesopotamia and Medes which covered most of today's Syria and Iran. </div><div><br /></div><div>There they faced persecution and slavery. Today, radical despots of Islam rule there.<br />
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If you are wondering about where they went before they were scattered even further, just search the web for the term "<a href="https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Syria+and+Iraq&tbm=nws" target="_blank">Syria and Iraq</a>."<br />
<br />Just before the timeline when the marauders of Shalmaneser moved in to take them as prisoners, the book of Isaiah was written and there is a Messianic connection, a test we must all learn from.<br />
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The book of Isaiah can be trusted. It's unchanged as Qumran proves. How do we know? When the Dead Sea scrolls were found in the caves of Qumran, they were dated long before the time of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).<br />
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<a href="http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah" target="_blank">The ancient scroll of Isaiah is now online</a> for all to see. It's still intact with truth and virtually identical with the Hebrew Masoretic texts which make up our modern day version of the scroll of Isaiah.<br />
<br />We call it the scroll of Isaiah, but more importantly, it is critical to consider "who" gave the words to the prophet Isaiah. We are told just "who" this one is by none other than Isaiah. The very same words were given to the Apostle John, some 700 years later on the Isle of Patmos. <br />
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We have to take also note, the messenger who identifies himself as Israel's King and Redeemer meets the two or three witness requirement of Torah (God's teaching) in Deuteronomy 19:15. Take note there are three witness clues given in Isaiah and two in Revelation. These provide a critical and direct connection between the messages in the two prophetic Biblical books that we must not ignore.<br />
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<big><big>This is a BIG deal and it is tied to... "The Test"</big></big></center>
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The great prophet Isaiah writes what he hears:<br />
<blockquote>
1) "Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD with <b>the first of them and with the last I am he</b>.” Isaiah 41:4<br />
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2) “This is what the LORD says — Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: <b>I am the first and I am the last</b>; apart from me there is no God. Isaiah 44:6<br />
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3) “Listen to me Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; <b>I am the first and I am the last</b>. Isaiah 48:12</blockquote>The disciple John writes what he is hears as well with the same message given to Isaiah and the identity of the messenger is given in Revelation 2:8:</div><div>
<blockquote>
1) When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. <b>I am the first and the last</b>. Revelation 1:17<br /></blockquote><p></p><blockquote>2) And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the <b>first and the last</b>, who died and came to life. Revelation 2:8 </blockquote><p></p><blockquote>3) I am the Alpha and the Omega, <b>the first and the last</b>, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 22:13</blockquote>
Listen to me Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he. Just before this declaration in the first verse of Isaiah 48 we read these words from the King James Bible translation:<br />
<blockquote>
"Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have [chosen] thee in the furnace of affliction." Isaiah 48:10 KJV</blockquote>
The King James translators used the word 'chosen' here. Interestingly, the NIV shows the word "chosen" much closer to its Hebrew word meaning which is... "test, testing, tested." The Hebrew word for [tested] is "bachan" בָּחַר (bet-hey-rosh), and the present active form [testing] is the Hebrew word "bochan" בֹּחַן (bet-hey-vav). <br />
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All Hebrew letters have individual meanings: the bet meaning is "in" or "at", hey means "behold", the meaning of rosh is "first" and vav represents a "nail". <br />
<blockquote>
See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have [tested] you in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10</blockquote>
So, how do we read this with the letter meanings? Is it chosen or tested? Perhaps it is both. But just who is "chosen and tested" in the furnace of affliction?<br />
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We are if we are following Messiah. He was tested, so are we. The disciple Peter (aka Kepha) "the rock" writes about this:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn't fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials, that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah -- whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don't see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory -- receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1Peter 1:3-9 HNV</div></blockquote><div>Many have heard or read the story that Jesus was "tempted." We can find the account in the King James Bible:<br />
<blockquote>
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." Matthew 4:1 KJV</blockquote>
"Tempted" is the "olde English" word that the King James translators used, but in a way, it puts out a slightly different connotation and as we will see, the disciple James (aka Jacob) writes about tempting - so we should examine that too. <br />
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Matthew records the story of a "furnace of the affliction," the test that occurred during Messiah's 40 days of fasting. During those 40 days in the wilderness, we actually see the "test" as Jesus would be proven worthy as King on earth since Adam, the first man failed his test. <br />
<br />HaSatan would be shown to have "no hold" on mankind after the wilderness test of Yeshua. We must "behold" Messiah to understand this and the tie to the words given to Isaiah and John. <br />
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Yeshua-Jesus is the "first and the last." His is the Alpha and Omega, in Hebrew the Aleph and Tav and He was held by the nail for the ultimate test at the Passover cross where He would, in justice and righteousness, overcome and release the death penalty given to Adam for those that would rely on Messiah the second Adam as Paul calls Him in 1Corinthians 15:47 as the cornerstone (1 Corinthians 15:45). </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua gave His life to overcome the death penalty for sin.<br />
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As we've seen, the King James Bible translation gives us something worth repeating: <br />
<blockquote>
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." Matthew 4:1</blockquote>
And the NIV gives us <a blank="" href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mat&c=4&t=NIV" target="_">a footnote</a> stating the Greek word for "tempted" here means "tested."<br />
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This Greek "tempt" word is peirazō - "to try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself." It is the same as the Hebrew word "bachan." Strong's concordance tells us "bachan" means: "to test, prove, try (of gold, persons, the heart, man of God)." <br />
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The Hebrew Bible, <a blank="" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh" target="_">the Tanakh</a> points to Yeshua's exam to prove His heart as the man of God and James [Ya'cob], the half brother and disciple of Yeshua teaches us something critical about the big tests that we face each day: <br />
<blockquote>
"When tempted, <u>no one</u> should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their <u>own evil desire</u> and enticed." James 1:13-14</blockquote>
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<big><big>We tend to want to blame the devil <br />
for our trials and tests.<br />
Since the beginning, we all cast blame on others. </big></big></center>
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Isn't that the first thing Adam did when God questioned him? <br />
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<a blank="" href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/3/12/s_3012" target="_">Adam blamed Eve</a>. Then <a blank="" href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/3/13/s_3013" target="_">Eve blamed the serpent</a>. <br />
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But the thing James is teaching is this: God gives us choice. The decisions we make are ours as are the consequences. We have to own them both. Consider these important words from the Apostle James. Mull them over very carefully... they are critical: <br />
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<b>"By their own evil desire." </b><br />
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Does this truth of "the test" matter? If it does to you and I, we must realize we are descended from Adam and Eve and what that means. They failed the test and blamed haSatan. The Exodus people at Mt. Sinai that worshipped the golden calf and those that gave a bad report on the Promised Land failed the test. The Ten Tribes of northern Israel did as well. We too have failed "the test" - but Jesus (Yeshua) overcame His test for us. He did not fail the 40 day test in the wilderness (Luke 4:2) or the test <a blank="" href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/luk/23/34/s_996034" target="_">at the cross</a> (Luke 23:34). </div><div><br /></div><div>Instead He offered forgiveness and eternal life.<br />
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If we step back, we can see that haSatan tested ("bachan") Yeshua the son of man and the Son of God, just like the first Adam was tested in his examination. There was a big test in Eden, and Adam failed. He was weak like the 3,000 that failed their 40 day test at Sinai when they chose their own way and worshiped the golden calf and the 10 that failed the 40 day exam to report on the Promised Land. </div><div><br /></div><div>Will we continue to choose to fail our tests?<br />
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I wonder if Adam and Eve had been tested 40 days after God's instruction about the tree of good and evil when they were tested? <br />
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We do not know the answer, but I do know Messiah Yeshua had victory in His test so that the cornerstone of redemption could be set.<br />
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Let's look at a parable prophecy of His testing with a promise that we can see in Isaiah's scroll... <br />
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"So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place." Isaiah 28:16-17</blockquote>
Yeshua proved Himself to be the tested cornerstone that Isaiah wrote of and because of that Paul wrote this to the people in Ephesus: <br />
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For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2:18-20 </blockquote>
The cross is the final measuring line and the plumb line for the cornerstone. The first son of God, the man Adam, failed his test from haSatan and brought corruption, entropy and death into the world giving temporary authority of our planet over to "the prince of this world" that Yeshua will come again to take away as King and Priest in the order of Melchizedek because His work was not finished at the cross. Evil that opposes God must be abolished.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua's first mission was declared by Isaiah. We can read the synagogue declaration in Luke 4 when the scroll of Isaiah was handed to Yeshua to read. He chose chapter 61 and read this:</div><div><br /></div><div>The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor..."</div><div><br /></div><div>He stopped reading there. He did not read beyond that because they are reserved for His second mission: "and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified."</div><div><br /></div><div>Isaiah goes on to describe the day of vengeance against sin and death and those that hate the God of Israel in Isaiah 63. John repeats the day in Revelation 14 for those that worship the beast.<br />
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The deceiver's test of Yeshua in the wilderness demanded signs from Heaven and like Eden, thes test started with food by <a blank="" href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/mat/4/3/s_933003" target="_">the rock to bread test</a>. So Jesus, the bread of life, declared His authority over haSatan with the warning from Deuteronomy 8:4: "<a blank="" href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/mat/4/4/s_933004" target="_">Do not put the LORD your God to the [test]</a>.<br />
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You must do the same. Do not test The Lord.</div><div>
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The Pharisees came to Jesus attempting to test him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven (see Matthew 16:1). Others also attempted to test Him by asking for a sign from heaven (see Luke 11:16). The Pharisees also tested His Biblical teaching against some extra Biblical teachings as religious requirements. </div><div><br /></div><div>Importantly, those men that tested Him recognized He deferred <u>to no one</u> but God: "Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any." The account is in Matthew 22:15-21, Mark 12:13-17, Luke 14-1-6 and Luke 20:20-26.</div><div><br /></div><div>They tested Him on the greatest commandments in Matthew 22:34-26 and Mark 12:28-34. They tested Him on judging adultery and in return He tested them on the requirement of two or more witnesses. That account is in John 8:3-4. In Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6 and Luke 6:6-11 they tested Him on healing on the Sabbath.</div><div><br /></div><div>They tested Him on their hand washing rituals in Mark 7:1-9 and Luke 11:37-54. That wasn't a test on washing before a meal but on ritual.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua admonished extra-Biblical religious laws of men. He said they were like leaven in Matthew 16:5-12: Luke 12:1-2 and Mark 18:14-21.<br />
<br />The prophet Zechariah saw a foreshadow of a test of Yeshua. Check it out: "And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him." Zechariah 3:1<br />
<br />Righteous testing is OK, but it's our duty to test men, not God. <br />
<blockquote>
In Revelation 2:2, Jesus says: "I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have <u>tested</u> those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false."</blockquote>Messiah's ultimate mission is the test about eternal life and love. That is why we must carefully examine all of Yeshua's words and deeds, not men's and make them our own and place them above the Bible. <br />
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Some of the hardest passages to comprehend in the Bible are from our Savior. One reason is we don't under stand them is the culture of the day. Nonetheless, I feel like the terrified disciples when I read and consider some of them, but the thing is - they did not understand the work of the cross just yet when they heard Him speak. That is why Jesus taught them: "with God all things are possible." <br />
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Let's take a look at one of Yeshua's teaching:<br />
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Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly <u>astonished</u> and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:16-17 NIV</blockquote>
In the book of John, we see the possibility revealed: Thomas said... "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:5-6<br />
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Believe it or not, like always, Jesus was claiming another Torah promise given to Moses... "See, I am sending an angel [mal'ak messenger] ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared." Exodus 23:20<br />
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The story given in Matthew 19 is repeated in Mark 10, but instead of the word astonished, the word amazed is used in the NIV translation.<br />
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The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Mark 10:26-27 NIV </blockquote>
The words astonished and amazed are the same Greek word [ekplēssō] and this word actually has the meaning to be struck by "panic and shock" so we can see in both Matthew and Mark's accounts, the disciples were hit by panic and shock at Yeshua's teaching because they knew they too had broken God's commandments. <br />
<br />Panic and shock sounds a lot different from "astonished and amazed" if you ask me. Those words tend to render awe and wonder. But the reality is: the disciples were [panicked and shocked], and said to each other: <br />
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"Who then can be saved?"<br />
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Following the Messiah's teaching about eternal life, their panic and shock is accelerated: "They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid." Mark 10:32<br />
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The Greek word astonished here in this verse is 'thambeō'. It literally means "terrified!" That word translated as afraid is 'phobeō' and it means to put to flight by terrifying (to scare away). That kind of fear makes the hair stand up on my neck!<br />
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So, if we dig in, we see the reality of the moment... They were ascending, on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way and the disciples were [terrified], while those who followed were afraid [scared]. <br />
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That is why Jesus (Yeshua) immediately explained the purpose of the cross to the twelve disciples. His work there would provide the way, the way to eternal life for all who have fallen short of God's commands.<br />
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If we chose Him, we can know in faith that Yeshua overcame the law of Eden's death penalty for everyone at the cross as He took the penalty declared by Almighty God on our behalf. It is Messiah in us that gives us the strength to pass the test when we are dragged down by our own evil desires away from God's commands because He is the first and the last, the Aleph and Tav of the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. <br />
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Until the resurrection, the conflict between the “law of life” and the “law of sin” governed earthly existence. The conflict of good and evil continues, but we can't blame God, only ourselves, yet God The Father provides the solution of redemption though Messiah with the “law of life.”<br />
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Deuteronomy 32:4 tells us: "The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He."<br />
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Instead of casting blame outward, our goal must be inward. We must turn inward to seek the spiritual heart that serves the “law of God” that opposes the carnal “law of sin” that brings us into captivity and bondage spiritually and physically as it has its temporary reign. The Torah of God opposes sin, the “law of God” is life, the “law of sin” is bondage to ourselves that results in sin and death. <br />
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This is why we all need Messiah Yeshua as our redeemer, why we all need to be set free by Yeshua for only He can cover and atone for our sins and give us the strength through the Spirit of God to walk like Him so that we are not terrified and afraid. Yeshua is the rock of our salvation. Isaiah builds on the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:4 as he writes: <br />
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“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug." Isaiah 51:1</blockquote>
Once we let go and give The Lord our life and follow Him in His Torah teaching, haSatan will continue his fight with the law of life, but he has no right to our hearts and minds because the authority of Messiah resides in the believer like the new covenant of God described to Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31:31-33 says <a blank="" href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/jer/31/33/s_776033" target="_">written on our minds and hearts</a> - so we must never say it is done away with, or we will lose our test everyday. <br />
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God's Torah declares "blessing" for walking in it and God instruction describes the “curses” that we bring on ourselves as the result of choosing to break away from God’s instruction for living.<br />
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The very beginning of the Torah is where the concept of the “curse of the law” that we bring on ourselves originates. By this, we can easily see what Paul is not saying God's law (Torah) is done away with and he is not inventing anything new.<br />
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Folks, Paul never called the Torah, the “law of God” a curse. The “curse” is the result of deliberately breaking or ignoring God’s instruction and seeking our own way to add to or take away from God's teaching and instruction. <br />
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Have we all done it? <br />
<br />Did the Pharisees do it too? Yes, we have all broken God’s law, that is the test! <br />
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Are we cursed by our own action or inaction? Yes! </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, in grace, Yeshua gives us the answer. We all have to deal with the curses and make the choice for life and blessing. If we don't do that, then we remain under the curse of the law and we will go to the second death at the God's judgment of Yom Kippur with our heads held in shame, not covered by the atoning blood of Messiah's personal sacrifice to end the death penalty. <br />
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That is why we need to receive Yeshua as our Savior Messiah, to heal the spiritual division between us and our Creator. Bottomline, Yeshua can save us, from ourselves.</div><div>
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Man's choice for sin brought death to the planet, not haSatan. He understonn the curse so he brought the deception. Creation was introduced to the curse of death by Adam and Eve and we continue in their pattern. The curse includes atrophy and entropy leading to death. The ultimate curse of sin is death and separation from eternal life isolated from our Creator God. Believe it or not, the laws of physics make note of this. The reality of death stems from mankind's engagement with the second law of thermodynamics, which states that entropy tends to increase in an isolated system. Isolated from God.<br />
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With a view of physics and the second law of thermodynamics, we can see the penalty of the law of sin and death by our own willful rebellion in disobedience. The result is exclusion and isolation from the eternal life that God can provide. The law of sin and death comes from disobedience that God warned Adam and Eve about. </div><div><br /></div><div>The sinless life of Messiah Yeshua is the perfect walk to follow though life in the Torah of God toward His Kingdom.<br />
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There is a higher law than the lowly penalty, the judgment of death. The blessings of this "gospel" good news is life, eternal life with the Creator of life in His Kingdom that will be restored. </div><div><br /></div><div>Believers, whether Jew or not that have faith and follow Messiah in God's instruction are no longer under the curse of the law of sin and death through grace by faith in Yeshua the Messiah who takes away the ultimate curse of sin by His own death offering through redemption and resurrection. <br />
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We are all to walk in God's ways. The Spirit of this truth is given to us by God and Messiah.<br />
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Messiah Yeshua asked God to forgive us at the stake because we do not know what we are doing. In authority at <a blank="" href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/mat/26/64/s_955064" target="_">the right hand of God</a> He sent us the advocate, our teacher. In that way God gives us the help we need to understand His ways and He gives us comfort by His Spirit to teach us. Let's read from John:<br />
<blockquote>
"Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work." John 14:10 </blockquote>
Jesus gave us words that we must not reject:<br />
<blockquote>
"If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." John 14:15-16 </blockquote>
He also gave us a promise:<br />
<blockquote>
"Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." John 14:19-21 </blockquote>
Jesus called them His commands because He kepy them and filled the Torah, all of it with meaning:<br />
<blockquote>
"Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." John 14:24 </blockquote>
The gift of the Spirit of God is our inner guard, our Heavenly teacher and comforter against the deception of haSatan while we wait for King Yeshua's return. We can see this promise in Exodus 23:20 if we just look closely:<br />
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"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared."</blockquote>
This is a great promise and it carries the living power of God:<br />
<blockquote>
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26 </blockquote>
Yeshua explains the role of God's Spirit as our teacher not men that serve away from them, and because of that, haSatan has no right to our domain because the Spirit of God indwells us and haSatan does not have the authority to stand beside our Elohim. Yeshua gives us this authority and we MUST claim it. <br />
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<big><big>We should therefore ask our Abba Father to pour <br />
His Spirit on us and renew us daily.</big></big></center>
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Why? It's because life is just as Yeshua teaches: we have to contend with ourselves, deny ourselves in a humble spirit to take up His cross daily in our testing to live a crucified life (death to our desire to sin in rebellion to God's Word). That's what Yeshua taught in Luke 9:23.</div><div><br /></div><div>Only then, can Jesus truly live His resurrection life of sacrificial love through us. This is like beholding the nail in the Hebrew word "bochan" בֹּחַן (bet hey vav). <br />
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Paul teaches in Romans 6:10-12:<br />
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The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. </blockquote>
It is to sin that we are to take up our cross daily to die to.<br />
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There are no excuse, we have to understand we are still mortal and we must contend with our selves because our physical bodies have not yet been glorified by the Shechinah Glory of our Creator in resurrection. Our bodies remains as our perishable refuge of flesh that opposes God's instruction for living so we must fight the good fight. We are all literally dying in the entropy that Adam and Eve brought into the world, but praise Yah, halleluyah... our souls can be redeemed in the first coming of Jesus and one glorious day, our souls can be redeemed as well at His second coming as King on Earth on Trumpets Day. </div><div><br /></div><div>But for now, we must be humble and press on in the cross walk of Messiah searching out His instruction, allowing the Spirit to teach us as we walk humbly in God's instruction and in repentance each day. <br />
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John penned these words almost 2,000 years ago explaining sin in the simplest of terms:<br />
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Everyone who sins breaks the law (Torah); in fact, sin is lawlessness (Torahlessness). 1 John 3:4</blockquote>
Yeshua taught that the greatest command of the Torah is to love God and the second is to love our fellow man so we have a powerful choice. </div><div><br /></div><div>We can worship God and live in Sprit and truth if we choose to. The new covenant is the promise of the Spirit writing the law (Torah) of God on our hearts as His Spirit convicts the world of sin. In this way, the Spirit of our living God opens our heart on how we are to live and love and the Bible teaches us how we are to do that. Living in the Spirit means that we are given a gift to take that which was written for our instruction so that we might understand the meaning and purposes of the Torah to apply it daily in our lives, in every situation.<br />
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This is the power of the Holy Spirit teacher given to us as a gift and we are to tell others this good news: <br />
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But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8</blockquote>
Without a doubt, our lives, our faith are tested daily and we will experience more testing in this fallen (entropy) world. Yes, seemingly overwhelming problems come at us at times, because from the beginning, by our own failure in human nature, we have all purposefully rejected God's voice in Eden and we have all turned away from His perfect Kingdom instruction, but:<br />
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The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:7</blockquote>
Under God’s inspiration, King David wrote of mankind's dilemma:<br />
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“They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one”. Psalm 14:1-3</blockquote>
The prophet Jeremiah shows us that we are largely blinded by the deceit of our own motives and intents: <br />
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“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”. Jeremiah 17:9</blockquote>
But there is a solution, His name means salvation:<br />
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"Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die". John 11:25 </blockquote>
Flesh and blood will not inherit the Kingdom. The Kingdom is not of this world, but Messiah is coming again to renew us on the Earth. It will be here, Heaven on Earth because the prince of this world and the enemy of God will be defeated as Isaiah 63 tells us and The Lord's mercy will be remembered. <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/1co/15/54/s_1077054" target="_blank">Death will be swallowed in victory</a>.<br />
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Botton-line, we must be adopted from above as Romans 8:23 teaches and we must work out our salvation in great fear and trembling with a pure heart as Paul admonishes in Philippians 2:12. Our life battles, the tests that many blame on the devil, is really the conflict of our own flesh against God's Spirit just as Paul writes:<br />
<blockquote>
"For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other..." Galatians 5:17.</blockquote>
God has given us His word to help strengthen us and His Spirit to teach this and love is the foremost instruction that we have been given as we contend for the faith by the power of the Spirit. YHVH God has made this clear over the centuries through all of His prophets.<br />
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It is our faith in the Word of God and love of Messiah who taught it that produces obedience. That obedience produces the power. That is why Jesus instructed His disciples to remain in Jerusalem until Shavuot (Pentecost). By their obedience they received power. The disciples personified faith and action working together and they received the Spirit. If we reject this we are foolish and we grieve the Holy Spirit:<br />
<blockquote>
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. Corinthians 2:14<br />
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And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption... Ephesians 4:30 1 </blockquote>
God’s ways are different from ours. <br />
<blockquote>
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’”. Isaiah 55:8-9</blockquote>
One way we can improve our vision of the Kingdom of God is by understanding the meaning and timing of God’s Sabbath and His seven annual Feasts. Although many people still think of the Feasts as only Jewish or an observances of Judaism, God says they are His Feasts, His appointments and seasons (see Leviticus 23:2-4). When you think about it, the Jewish people have always kept them, so the idea of them being Jewish ties to Messiah, after all Jesus is a Jew.<br />
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God gave us His set apart appointments to help us all understand Messiah's role in our salvation and how the Kingdom of God will be established on earth in God's timing. The Bible’s ultimate promise is that Messiah coming to earth as King to sit on the throne of Israel is forever. The Kingdom of Heaven is near on earth and it contains the hope of resurrection.<br />
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All nations will be under Yeshua'a Priesthood Kingship under the God of Israel one way or another. Messiah will regather His people, native born and sojourner with them to Jerusalem. Despite what you may have heard, going to Heaven isn’t our final destination, so we need to know the plan of the God of Israel shown in His Feast Days. <br />
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In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul referred to the Feasts of The Lord as “a shadow of things to come.” Paul was right about the picture and the early followers if Yeshua kept them as reminders of the promise of the coming Kingdom of God. Paul grasped the connection between the purpose of these days and the gospel message (see 1Corinthians 5:7-8 and 1Corinthians 11:23-29).<br />
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Understanding the meaning of these annual appointments can help us understand the wonderful message of Messiah Yeshua in God’s plan for His coming Kingdom and eternal life on a redeemed planet. If you would like to know more about the annual festivals and God’s plan, you might want to check out the message in "<a blank="" href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2012_12_01_archive.html" target="_">The Feasts of The Lord</a>."<br />
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In the end, God's Fall Feasts show us that He will restore the world back to creation as it was intended and eliminate the battle of our flesh against the will of His Spirit in resurrection when Messiah returns to tabernacle with us:<br />
<blockquote>
"So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable" 1Corinthians 15:42 </blockquote>
And ultimately God will use haSatan's authority against him: <br />
<blockquote>
"I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now; let us leave." John 14:30-31 </blockquote>
Jesus tells us, the prince of this world comes so that the world may learn that Yeshua passed the test and did as the Father commanded.<br />
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That's our assignment too, but we can only do it in Truth and Spirit. The test for mankind started in Eden and it zeroed in on the planet at Mount Sinai as shown in Exodus 20:18-20:<br />
<blockquote>
"When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid." <br />
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God has come to test us</b>, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”</blockquote>That fear is reference and awe.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you walk away from the written Torah of God and His instruction, you will fail God's test and wander off the same way Adam did, the same way ancient Israel did in the years of the judges and kingdom division shown in the books of the Kings. <br />
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You’ll likely end up next to an altar to Baal carrying an idol or bowing under the Asherah. But if you stay strong in the journey of the teaching in very same Hebrew Bible Jesus read and taught you can be a part of the Josiah generation that found the scroll of the Torah.<br />
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People will see your walk, set apart like Yeshua’s and they too may choose to follow your faith and walk in the ways of Messiah. Be Master Rabbi Yeshua disciple, take ownership of your faith and trust the Spirit of God as your teacher and comforter. Don’t rely on any pastor or rabbi alone, rely on Yeshua and ask God's Spirit to guide you! <br />
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Believe God's words, have faith, live it out, walk in it with the heart of the Spirit of God's voice within you, it is from the same shechinah glory fire presence that spoke to Moses at the mountain top. <br />
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Teach God's grace and loving kindness to your children, to your friends and to strangers by putting the living word on your doorpost, on your arm and in your head so that it will impact your heart. <br />
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Dig in and trust God when He says do and when He says don’t. It’s the Kingdom way.<br /><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div>
The test is to repent and stop sinning. It's time to return to God's covenant, return to hear and do His words, they are not heavy. Walk in the faith of the Kingdom path because birth pains are coming.<br />
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God is a sovereign God. He is a loving God and He has provided the way to offer you His salvation. You can accept His gift of life in Messiah. Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent, ask God for His forgiveness and ask others living out God's gift of love through the life of Messiah Yeshua. <br />
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Today is the time, you can only pass the test to come in the end with Messiah. If you know in your heart you need to get your life right with God, don’t wait for tomorrow, get it right with Him now!<br />
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I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. Psalm 38:17 <br /></blockquote><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time of testing, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div><div><br /></div><div>Shalom.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-79589514788586711072015-03-25T07:10:00.018-05:002023-12-05T18:02:45.228-06:00Peace and Security?<br />
On May 19, 2011 a Presidential <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/19/moment-opportunity-president-obama-middle-east-north-africa" target="_blank">lecture</a> went on for nearly an hour. <br />
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<a a="" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frizh1FjLqU/VRH9i5HtHpI/AAAAAAAAB3Y/l2GtG2W8l_8/s1600/Obama%2B5.19.11.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frizh1FjLqU/VRH9i5HtHpI/AAAAAAAAB3Y/l2GtG2W8l_8/s400/Obama%2B5.19.11.JPG" /></a></div>
<figcaption><a a="" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frizh1FjLqU/VRH9i5HtHpI/AAAAAAAAB3Y/l2GtG2W8l_8/s1600/Obama%2B5.19.11.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank">“So we face an historic opportunity."</a></figcaption><a a="" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frizh1FjLqU/VRH9i5HtHpI/AAAAAAAAB3Y/l2GtG2W8l_8/s1600/Obama%2B5.19.11.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"> </a> </center>
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We need to look back on that day as Obama issued his <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/19/fact-sheet-moment-opportunity-middle-east-and-north-africa" target="_blank">FACT SHEET: "A Moment of Opportunity" in the Middle East and North Africa</a>.<br />
<blockquote>
“So we face an historic opportunity. We have embraced the chance to show that America values the dignity of the street vendor in Tunisia more than the raw power of the dictator. There must be no doubt that the United States of America welcomes change that advances self-determination and opportunity. Yes, there will be perils that accompany this moment of promise. But after decades of accepting the world as it is in the region, we have a chance to pursue the world as it should be.”<br />
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President Barack Obama<br />
May 19, 2011 Washington, DC </blockquote>
Obama's moment of opportunity fact sheet was immediately posted at <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/19/moment-opportunity-president-obama-middle-east-north-africa" target="_blank">Whitehouse.gov</a> as the Commander in Chief incredibly compared the abyss of chaos from the Arab Spring that began in Tunisia, spread to Egypt and moved like a devouring locust across the lands of the Bible to the historic American bravery of <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/rosa-parks-9433715" target="_blank">Rosa Parks</a>. <br />
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I was horrified at that comparison. <br />
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Rosa Parks was peaceful and brave. She stood up for what is right, she was not a destroyer. Barack Hussein Obama even went on to proclaim the grievous uprisings that have stricken North Africa and the Middle East as "change" as if it would bring good tidings. <br />
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Is that his vision for America? <br />
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Obama started a destructive "change" campaign as a Senator from Illinois back in 2008 when he ran for the Democratic nomination of U.S. President. NO doubt his predecessors will attempt to continue it.<br />
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On October 30th that year at the University of Missouri, Obama, the junior United States Senator started his ominous speech by saying: “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” <br />
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Now, Obama has called the Arab Spring a fundamental "change" for reform and self-determination in the Middle East. He has even described his "change" rhetoric as one to be seen in what he called the success of the "self-policing" democracy of Iraq. <br />
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Iraq is not a success, it will not be. It is a powder keg and it will haunt our troops as long as they remain there.<br />
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In a bizarre way, Obama has connected U.S. 'change' with the dark side of the Muslim world that is sadly rooted in jihad against Israel and the United States. But the Muslim people need light. We are not to hate or fear Muslims. Muslims need Jesus too, He said so with these prophetic words.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than anyone else? Even the pagans do that, don’t they? </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Therefore be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48</blockquote>
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If you have forgotten the details of Obama's comparison with Rosa Parks, I understand. But I pray you have not forgotten about the burden of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=nineveh&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=nineveh&tbm=nws" target="_blank">Nineveh</a> because Iraq is not self policing, it is a disaster and a horrific seething storm in the making. </div>
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Radical savages promoting the Islamic State are currently called ISIS. They seek to destroy freedom and life for anyone that opposes their Sharia horrors along the Tigris River. This includes their opposition of the Shi'ites that lead the government of Iraq.</div><div><br /></div><div>The opposition of Sunni v. Shi'ite goes back to Muhammad. </div><div><br /></div><div>After he died, a Shi'ite group believed Islam's leadership should remain in Muhammad's family bloodline. The Shiites are a minority and still believe the caliphate was promised to Muhammad's nephew Ali and Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Sunnis are in the majority now and they believe Muhammad did not designate a family successor to his leadership so they elected one, a caliph. </div>
<br />Fast forward to today. This thing Obama has called "change" is a radical re-awakening from an Ottoman nightmare. <br />
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It's ultimate goals of are simple, to sever Israel and the United States from the Middle East and to re-establish an Ottoman style government-religion combo lost at the end of World War I called the "Caliphate."<br />
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One "Caliphate" goal shared by Iran is to push the tiny democracy of modern Israel into the sea and expand radical Islamic terror and destruction chanting not only “death to Israel” but “death to America” in their plan to rain Iranian down fire both Israel and America.<br />
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Today, brings the words of Daniel's war vision some 3,000 years ago to the front page of the world's headlines:<br />
<blockquote>
"In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. <br />
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The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. <br />
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At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.<br />
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On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.<br />
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I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves.<br />
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So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground. A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. <br />
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He said, "Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. <br />
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Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. </blockquote><blockquote>But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. <br />
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Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come." Daniel 10:1-14 (NIV)</blockquote>
Just six months ago, during his 9/11 anniversary speech given the day before 9/11/14, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/20/four-months-ago-obama-called-yemens-war-on-terror-a-success-now-the-yemeni-government-may-fall/">President Obama called Yemen a "success" in the fight against terror</a>.<br />
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How could Obama ever say Yemen is a success?<div><br /></div><div>Those words will come back to haunt him. Yemen is another failure and the Shi'ite Houthis there are a vicious pawn of Iran. For now, it seems they are collapsing under the crushing weight of Saudi-Sunni v. Shi'ite opposition that may in the end, energize a 10 nation Arab coalition against today's Persia, relabeled as Iran since 1935. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sunni v. Shi'ite is a very big deal as the kings of the north and the south, the iron and clay of trample on each other.<br />
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Yemen is one of many Shi'ite v. Sunni conflicts unfolding in the Middle East today that's is simply not understood in the west. They are not about the legitimacy of borders or the validity of Yemen or Syria, instead, the origin of the struggles within these countries is over who has the right to rule the world after Muhammad, the conflict is it Sunni or Shi'ite?<br />
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Yemen may be on the second page of the headlines today as a "<a blank="" href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/26/GCC-states-to-repel-Houthi-aggression-in-Yemen-statement-.html" target="_">Decisive Storm</a>" but the Shi'ite v. Sunni conflict will eventually move front and center against Israel because iron and clay don't mix. <br />
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In the Bible, Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream warns prophetically about the feet of the final empire of Islam in marriage that battles itself and the beautiful land. The legs of the iron kingdom of the Ottoman Empire invaded and held occupied ground in Israel for 400 years from 1517 to 1917 until the sequence of the Balfour Declaration, San Remo, The British Mandate and the United Nations unfolded restoring a part of the Promised Land as the Jewish homeland by international rule of law. <br />
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But a fourth beast remains with a proxy footholds in Israel, hiding in Gaza for now and in the foothills of Judea and Samaria that will erupt against Israel one day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Elsewhere, radical jihad Caliphate warriors have shattered Syria and attacked Nineveh in Iraq. Meanwhile in Iran, the Ayatollahs are plotting a plan of nuclear global jihad while sponsoring and funding terror proxies against Israel with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. </div><div><br /></div><div>Why Iran? </div><div><br /></div><div>Iran's Shi'ite goal is the bring back the 12th Imam to rule the planet as Muhammad's end day successor.</div><div>
<br />Look again at Daniel's prophecy in chapter 2...<br />
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"And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. Daniel 2:40-43</blockquote>Then there's Saudi Arabia.</div><div><br /></div><div>There one thing you might immediately think of if you visualize the landscape of "Sunni" Saudi Arabia. It has vast areas of sand literally everywhere you look and the massive crude reserves sit below as if in an earthen pot of "clay" below.<br />
<br />There's something about Iran you may not know.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's something you may not see about "Shi'ite" Iran. If you are from the United States, you may think about images of the American Embassy being attacked in 1979 when Jimmy Carter was at the helm of the U.S. Presidency, but the thing to know is, Persia-Iran is tied to the words of Daniel as one of the world's largest producers of guess what... iron ore. <br />
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<big>Are you beginning to see the picture now?</big></center>
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<br />It seems that Sunni and Shia are just like the toes seen in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, iron and clay. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, think again if you ever consider our future and pray for the peace and security of our friends in Israel. <div><br /></div><div>What radical Islam does not know is that Yeshua is the Lion of the Jewish tribe of Judah, He loves Israel and the Jewish people and His kingdom will be there front and center defending Israel in Daniel's interpretation for Nebuchadnezzar:<br />
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"As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. </blockquote>
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And in the days of those kings the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. </blockquote>
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It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” Daniel 2:43-45 </blockquote>
This dream requires that we pray for the eyes and heart to be opened for men like President Obama because they are perhaps unwittingly directing a collision course with the God of Israel as they seek to divide it for peace and security. </div><div><br /></div><div>There is already a two state solution in effect. Israel gave Gaza away and shortly thereafter the people of Gaza elected an Islamic terrorist organization called Hamas to run the place. The election victors then attacked, killed or imprisoned the Islamic Fatah officials that lost that election. </div><div><br /></div><div>Gaza is a terrorist state.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that, any deal with Iran is a nuclear deal with a "Shi'ite" Iranian Ayatollah that calls for "<a blank="" href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/khamenei-calls-death-to-america-as-kerry-hails-progress-on-nuke-deal/" target="_">Death to America</a>" the 'great' Satan while the Ayatollah calls Israel the 'little' Satan.<br />
<br />
<a blank="" href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/great-satan-backs-small-satan-obama-reaffirms-stance-against-iran-20120305-1uf46.html" target="_">Netanyahu has warned Obama</a> over and over and over again about the words of the Iranian mullahs but Obama does not listen, likely because he spent too much time in his youth listening to Islam's call to prayer as he has said he did.<br />
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So far, Obama has failed in each of his attempts to force the Quartet's so-called two state peace plan that will not provide peace but ultimately endanger Israel and people that live there, whether Jew, Muslim or Christian.<br />
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The lurking danger in Israel will be revealed in horrors so grave that in the end, God will send Messiah King to break in pieces and consume the earthly kingdoms against Israel just as the Bible declares through the prophets including Daniel. <br />
<blockquote>
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." Daniel 2:44</blockquote>
There is great and grave reason to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. Perhaps more that you ever realized because the ancient clay and iron is making its way in Israel.<br />
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Just weeks ago, when no one was looking the Pentagon declassified an April 1987 Department of Defense top-secret document entitled <a blank="" href="http://irmep.org/cfp/DoD/071987_CTAIIANN.pdf" target="_">"Critical Technology Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations"</a> which details Israel’s nuclear and advanced technologies defense program which until March 2015 has remained as it should, silent and well guarded. <br />
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Why now? <br />
<br />
America's Commander in Chief has allowed those under his command to breach the silence to keep quiet on Israel’s nuclear power and the timing of this is very grave. After all, it occurred as Obama riled against Netanyahu's March 3rd address to Congress as the Prime Minister warned the world against the dangers of Iran’s nuclear program.<br />
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You should look at the document. When you do, you will notice an odd aspect that openly shows all sections on Israel’s nuclear program yet the sections on Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries are completely blocked out and redacted throughout the <a blank="" href="http://irmep.org/cfp/DoD/071987_CTAIIANN.pdf" target="_">"Critical Technology Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations"</a>.<br />
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For our voices to be heard in Heaven, <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&c=122&v=6&t=ESV#s=600006" target="_blank">pray for the Peace of Jerusalem</a> and the Land of Israel, the only democratic true friend of America in the Middle East. Israel is a miracle. The land is indivisible and I highly recommend that you take the time to watch this critical film to find out why.<br />
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<br />
Back to May 19, 2011 in Washington:<br />
<blockquote>
"In a major speech at the State Department, President Obama laid out his vision for a new chapter in American diplomacy as calls for reform and democracy spread across the Middle East and North Africa. <br />
<br />
He made clear that the United States will support people who call for democracy and reform and leaders who implement them, will oppose violence in cracking down on protests and efforts to limit the rights of minorities, and continue to work for peace between Israelis and Palestinians." </blockquote>
The speech announced a commitment to "di-vide" Israel back to <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/05/24/136495202/background-israels-pre-1967-boundaries" target="_blank">pre-1967 lines</a> as the eruption of violent uprisings and protests that now divide Tunisia, Libya, Syria and Iraq. <br />
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<big>Obama's chaos of "change" is dark and <br />
it has grown globally since his <br />
<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/NewBeginning/transcripts" target="_blank">New Beginning speech of June 4, 2009</a>.</big></center>
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Obama's Cairo speech to the 'Muslim World' now propels the planet toward <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/21/middleeast/iran-nuclear/" target="_blank">a framework deal with the Twelvers of Iran</a>.<br />
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Indeed, we are only seeing the beginning of chaos as so-called Middle East politics are defined by instability and the shifting sand of geo-religious-militant Islamic Jihad alliances as grave conflict and terror lies ahead to be spewed in eruptions of terrorism and violence not only in the Middle East but abroad wherever they can plant and hide their jihadist operatives to stab and kill infidels or worse...<br />
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How can we know?<br />
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The prophet Hosea prophetically warned the world of a latter day call for "change." Now, a woe heard first in Egypt has now turned directly toward Assyria:<br />
<blockquote>
“Whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets; but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me."<br />
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"Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over. Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice. <br />
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Israel's arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the LORD his God or search for him. "Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless-- now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria. <br />
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When they go, I will throw my net over them; I will pull them down like the birds in the sky. When I hear them flocking together, I will catch them. Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak about me falsely. They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail on their beds. They slash themselves, appealing to their gods for grain and new wine, but they turn away from me. I trained them and strengthened their arms, but they plot evil against me. <br />
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They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt." Hosea 7:1-2 NIV and Hosea 7:8-16 NIV</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2011/02/oracle-concerning-egypt.html" target="_blank">Egypt</a> saw a revolution and today ISIS declares an Islamic State in <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2014/07/the-burden-of-nineveh.html" target="_blank"> Nineveh Iraq</a> and in <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2012/02/oracle-of-damascus.html" target="_blank">Syria</a> the black flag of beheading prevails. This month, Yemen has fallen as the nation's besieged President <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/21/shia-rebels-call-offensive-against-forces-loyal-yemen-president" target="_blank">Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi</a> begs for U.N. protection as U.S. Troops have withdraw from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-houthis-take-parts-of-yemeni-city-hadi-sees-coup-2015-3" target="_blank">the threat of Shi'ite Muslim Houthis</a>.<br />
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Did Obama see this dangerous road ahead, did he see the change he promotes as the evil that is pressing forward?<br />
<br />Maybe. The President is now using a proxy.<br />
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His name is Press Secretary Denis McDonough. He is calling for the clock to be rolled back to 1967 and for the "change" of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/18/politics/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-elections-obama/" target="_blank">abandonment</a> that could engage judgment on our soil as a result of a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/01/politics/obama-benjamin-netanyahu-clash/index.html" target="_blank">clash of world views</a>. <br />
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In case you are not familiar with McDonough, he served as a senior foreign policy adviser to Senator Tom Daschle.<br />
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<big>You should remember Daschle and his post 9/11 speech:<br />
"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukYiWd3T9sk" target="_blank">The bricks have fallen down but we will rebuild...</a>" </big></center>
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Daschle quoted Isaiah then, but I can't help but think of Daniel 12:9 today: <br />
<blockquote>
"Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days." </blockquote>
Those words are linked to these from Zechariah:<br />
<blockquote>
"The oracle of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. </blockquote><blockquote> The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it." Zechariah 12:1-3</blockquote>
Below, is another extract from the Obama <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/23/white-house-chief-staff-denis-mcdonough-remarks-prepared-j-street-annual" target="_blank">Whitehouse website</a> that was posted yesterday, March 23rd. </div><div><br /></div><div>I encourage you to read it as you consider what the Wall Street Journal calls <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/max-boot-obamas-mideast-realignment-1427324786?tesla=y" target="_blank">"Obama’s Mideast Realignment"</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>The commentary is critical. In it, Max Boot says: "His new doctrine: Downgrade ties to Israel and the Saudis while letting Iran fill the vacuum left by U.S. retreat." Mark your calendar, but we will see no "Peace and Security" from the President's agenda.<br />
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<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/23/white-house-chief-staff-denis-mcdonough-remarks-prepared-j-street-annual" target="_blank"><b>White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough Remarks <br />
As Prepared at J Street Annual Conference<br />
<br />
As Prepared for Delivery --</b></a><br />
<blockquote>
"In his call to congratulate Prime Minister Netanyahu last Thursday, President Obama committed to continuing consultations on a range of regional issues, including resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The process of forming a new Israeli government is now underway, and in the coming days and weeks, we’ll see what that looks like. So, with the remainder of my time with you today, I’d like to share with you how President Obama sees the road ahead.<br />
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First, no matter who leads Israel, America’s commitment to Israel’s security will never waver. As we all know, Israel faces real dangers in a tough neighborhood. I traveled with then-Senator Obama to Israel in 2008. I will never forget our time in the holy city of Jerusalem and following behind him as he approached the Western Wall—and even in the dark hours of that very early morning, it was a place bustling with energy afforded by one’s faith. On that trip, the President toured Sderot and saw the devastation wrought by Hamas-launched rockets. He met with Israelis living under the threat of rocket attacks. And, since then, I’ve seen President Obama’s personal commitment to increasing our security cooperation with Israel to unprecedented levels.<br />
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Today, our security, military, and intelligence cooperation is stronger than it’s ever been, and that’s not going to change. The U.S.-Israel consultative group will continue to ensure cooperation at the highest levels of our governments. Under President Obama, we’ve spent hundreds of millions helping to develop David’s Sling and the Arrow missile defense systems. I recall very clearly a call with the Israeli Ambassador at 5:00 PM on a Friday evening last July, when he requested – and shortly thereafter the President and Congress delivered – an additional $225 million for Iron Dome missiles and batteries. That on top of the nearly $1 billion we had invested in Iron Dome already, which saved so many Israeli lives during the conflict with Hamas last summer. And, next year, when we deliver the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Israel will be the only country in the Middle East with a fifth-generation aircraft. In other words, we will continue to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge. As the President has said so many times, we have Israel’s back.<br />
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Second, we continue to believe that the best way to safeguard Israel’s long-term security is to bring about a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians—two states for two peoples, living side-by-side in security and peace.<br />
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To achieve this, the United States has long advocated direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. In 2009, Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly endorsed a two-state solution. Over the course of President Obama’s administration, most recently with the tireless efforts of Secretary Kerry, the United States has expended tremendous energy in pursuit of this goal. That is why the Prime Minister’s comments on the eve of the election—in which he first intimated and then made very clear in response to a follow up question that a Palestinian state will not be established while he is prime minister—were so troubling.<br />
<br />
After the election, the Prime Minister said that he had not changed his position, but for many in Israel and in the international community, such contradictory comments call into question his commitment to a two-state solution, as did his suggestion that the construction of settlements has a strategic purpose of dividing Palestinian communities and his claim that conditions in the larger Middle East must be more stable before a Palestinian state can be established. We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made, or that they don’t raise questions about the Prime Minister’s commitment to achieving peace through direct negotiations.<br />
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In recent days, some have suggested our reaction to this issue is a matter of personal pique. Nothing could be further from the truth. America’s commitment to a two-state solution is fundamental to U.S. foreign policy. It’s been the goal of both Republican and Democratic presidents, and it remains our goal today. Because it is the only way to secure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state.<br />
<br />
That is why President Obama has said that we need to re-evaluate our approach to the peace process and how we pursue the cause of peace – because, like all of you, we care deeply about Israel and its future. We will look to the next Israeli government to match words with actions and policies that demonstrate a genuine commitment to a two-state solution. And, like every administration since President Johnson, we will continue to oppose Israeli settlement activity since it undermines the prospects for peace. Meanwhile, we share Israel’s concern about the security environment in the region – which is why, as part of the last round of talks – the President and Secretary Kerry had General John Allen prepare a detailed plan to provide for security in the West Bank over the long-term.<br />
<br />
In the end, we know what a peace agreement should look like. The borders of Israel and an independent Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps. Each state needs secure and recognized borders, and there must be robust provisions that safeguard Israel’s security. An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end, and the Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state.<br />
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President Obama still firmly believes what he said in Jerusalem two years ago—that peace is necessary, just, and possible. Peace is necessary because it is the only way to ensure that a secure State of Israel is both Jewish and democratic. Israel cannot maintain military control of another people indefinitely. That’s the truth. And as President Obama has said, neither occupation nor expulsion of Palestinians is the answer. Anything less than true peace will only worsen the situation. A “one-state solution” would effectively end Israel’s nature as a Jewish and democratic state. Unilateral annexation of the West Bank territories would be both wrong and illegal. The United States would never support it, and it’s unlikely Israel’s other friends would either. It would only contribute to Israel’s isolation.<br />
<br />
Peace is also undeniably just. Palestinian children deserve the same right to be free in their own land as Israeli children in their land. A two-state solution will finally bring Israelis the security and normalcy to which they are entitled, and Palestinians the sovereignty and dignity they deserve.<br />
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And we cannot give up on the idea that peace is possible, because peace will make Israel stronger. It would provide clear, secure borders that would increase Israel’s security. It would deal a knock-out blow to calls for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions, which many of you have fought hard and courageously to oppose. It would undercut efforts to isolate Israel in the international community and roll back de-legitimization efforts.<br />
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Achieving peace won’t be easy. It will require political courage. But nothing would do more to improve Israel’s security or its relations with its neighbors than to bring about a sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state alongside a secure, democratic, Jewish Israel. No nation has done more to stand with Israel in the world, including at the United Nations, than the United States. And so, as difficult as it is, the United States will never stop working for a two-state solution and the lasting peace that Israelis and Palestinians so richly deserve.<br />
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I know that you are here because you care deeply about the cause of peace. And your voices are important too – you can help remind people that there is a great constituency for peace; that there are people who believe, as President Obama does, that peace is necessary, peace is just, and – yes – peace is possible."</blockquote>
Press Secretary McDonough left out something very important. He forgot God's request for fasting, weeping and mourning. He forgot these warnings too:<br />
<blockquote>
“‘Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments.’ Now return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and relenting of evil.” Joel 2:12-13<br />
<br />
"I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.” Joel 3:2</blockquote>
Seven years ago, the Shemittah economic crisis ruptured in large part due to housing greed, giving away land if you will to those that it did not belong, backed by dishonest mortgage lending schemes and guarantees. <br />
<br />
Now much worse will unfold. Division and hate in "The Land" will embolden chaos to erupt in Israel under the sword of extremist anti-Jew Islamic terror and tribulation that is from the pit of hell and funded in ancient Assyria with the goal of destroying Israel and the modern day boundaries established at the demise of the Ottoman Empire of the Turks.<br />
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Do you see the dark days ahead?<br />
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Paul did, even before the destruction from Rome that came in 70AD:<br />
<blockquote>
"While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief." 1 Thessalonians 5:3-4</blockquote>
Do they see what's ahead? I don't think so.<br />
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You can read much more about what behind the global goal to divide The Promised Land and who the players are at these posts: <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2010/01/zechariahs-february-vision.html" target="_blank">Zechariah's Vision and The Quartet</a> and <a href="https://www.myscripturestudies.com/2012/12/a-wake-up-call.html" target="_blank">A Wake Up Call !!</a><br />
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<b>What does this all mean?</b><div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. </div><br />
It's time to repent and pray for the Peace of Jerusalem not division. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today is not a time for change, it's time to repent.</div><div>
<br />Almighty God is a sovereign God and the God of Israel. He is a loving, forgiving has provided the way to offer His salvation through His gift of eternal life. Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent, ask God and others for forgiveness, Accept His gift of love through Jesus Christ, He the Jewish Messiah Yeshua for everyone. He's coming back and the spot is Israel.<br />
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Today is the time to walk the way Yeshua walked in God's truth and Spirit. If you know you need to get your life right with God you can, don’t wait for tomorrow, get it right now!<br />
<blockquote>
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</blockquote>
Shalom.</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-73374372376030332972015-03-02T21:46:00.015-06:002024-03-07T07:05:03.931-06:00The Link from Esther to Isaiah <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, as the Assyrian Christians in present-day Syria and Iraq suffer grave tribulation, I am writing in remembrance of this week of Purim and the "star" of the story (Esther) who made intercession for the Jewish people in the Persian land of Iran.<br />
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Many say God's name is not seen in <a href="http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt3301.htm" target="_blank">the Esther account</a>. <br />
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It's true but... in my Scripture studies, I discovered the name Esther <b>אֶסְתֵּר </b> contains something important that requires a look. <div><br /></div><div>It's the Aleph Tav <b>אֶתֵּ. </b><div><br /></div><div>These two Hebrew letters combine their graphic meanings as "strength of the covenant" and they are found over 10,000 times embedded in the Hebrew Bible, but never seen in an English translation. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Aleph Tav is found in the very first verse of the Bible and again in the Newer Testament in the book of Revelation carrying a Greek disguise as the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=alpha+omega&t=ESV#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">Alpha and Omega</a>. When you open up the book of Revelation its important to know the revelation of the Alpha and Omega, aka the Alpha Tav.<div><br /></div><div>Did you know each Hebrew letter has a unique meaning derived from the Paleo Hebrew script that was used in Moses day? </div><div><br /></div><div>Paleo Hebrew is a hieroglyphic script and the graphic meaning when embedded in Scripture as the Aleph Tav <b>אֶתֵּ</b> reveals the Bible's ultimate redemptive purpose as the "strength of the covenant." That includes the Aleph Tav -<b>אֶתֵּ</b> that's inscribed in Esther 1:4:<br />
<blockquote>
<center>
<b>בְּהַרְאֹתוֹ, <span style="color: red;">אֶת</span>-עֹשֶׁר כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ, וְאֶת-יְקָר, תִּפְאֶרֶת <br />
גְּדוּלָּתוֹ; יָמִים רַבִּים, שְׁמוֹנִים וּמְאַת יוֹם </b></center>
<br />
"When he showed <b>אֶתֵּ</b> the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days."</blockquote>
Coincidentally, a hundred and fourscore days is 180 days. That just happens to be the time window from the First Fruits Day of Passover week to the the first day of every Sukkot Tabernacles week on God's calendar that's been embedded in Leviticus 23 for 3,500 years. </div><div><br /></div><div>That Leviticus chapter is one to remember because it provides the outline of God's schedule of appointments in The LORD's daytimer for the redemption of the planet. <br />
<br />There's an Esther link to Isaiah as the prophet gives the Jewish people a prophetic account of excellent majesty, known as the intercessor that's shown in Isaiah 53. <br />
<br />
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<big></big><br />
<center>
<big>Judah will see Him</big></center>
<center>
<big>and believe the report!!</big></center>
<br />
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<br />See who?</div><div><br /></div><div>To answer that we need to see is that here again we find the witness of Aleph Tav <b>אֶתֵּ </b> inserted into the prophetic words of Isaiah that identifies who the mysterious Aleph Tav is.<br />
<blockquote>
"Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of YHVH been revealed? <br />
<br />
For He comes up as a tender plant before Him, and as a Root out of a dry ground. He has no form, nor honor, when we observe Him, nor beauty, that we should desire Him. He was despised, and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.<br />
<br />
And as one hiding His countenance from us, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by Elohim, and afflicted. <br />
<br />
And He was pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.<br />
<br />
All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned each to his own way, and YHVH has laid on Him <b>אֶתֵּ</b> the punishment of us all. </blockquote><blockquote>He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. <br />
<br />
He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, He did not open His mouth.<br />
<br />
By oppression and trial was taken away, and who can speak of <b>אֶתֵּ</b> His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. <br />
<br />
And He made His grave with <b>אֶתֵּ </b>the wicked, and with <b>אֶתֵּ</b> the rich in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.<br />
<br />
Yet it pleased YHVH to bruise Him and to cause Him to suffer, and though YHVH makes His life an offering for sin, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of YHVH will prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.<br />
<br />
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. <br />
<br />
Therefore I will give Him a portion with the great, and shall divide <b>אֶתֵּ</b> the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul even to death, and was numbered with <b>אֶתֵּ </b>the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."</blockquote>
Micah 5 gives us another witness with some details on how the one that Isaiah describes as the promised ruler to be born in Bethlehem will return as in a future Purim scenario to cast out another siege of people that will come to Israel with one goal, to destroy the Jewish people and wipe them off the face of the earth.<br />
<br />
That day will be just like the days of Haman, there will be a time of great tribulation that has not been seen "since the beginning of the world to this time." But this time it will not be Esther or King Ahasuerus that saves the Jewish people. <div><br /></div><div>It will be King Messiah the Alpha Omega - Aleph Tav <b>אֶתֵּ</b> "strength of the covenant" and Messiah will regather all people of God together, both Jew and non-Jew among the nations to join as brothers in the family of God:<br />
<blockquote>
Marshal your troops now, city of troops,<br />
for a siege is laid against us.<br />
They will strike Israel’s <b>אֶתֵּ</b> ruler<br />
on the cheek with a rod.<br />
<br />
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,<br />
though you are small among the clans of Judah,<br />
out of you will come for me<br />
one who will be ruler over Israel,<br />
whose origins are from of old,<br />
from ancient times.”<br />
<br />
Therefore Israel will be abandoned<br />
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,<br />
and the rest of his brothers return<br />
to join the Israelites.<br />
<br />
He will stand and shepherd his flock<br />
in the strength of the LORD,<br />
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.<br />
<br />
And they will live securely, for then his greatness<br />
will reach to the ends of the earth.<br />
<br />
And he will be our peace<br />
when the Assyrians invade our land<br />
and march through our fortresses.<br />
<br />
We will raise against them seven shepherds,<br />
even eight commanders,<br />
who will rule <b>אֶתֵּ</b> the land of Assyria with the sword,<br />
the land of Nimrod with drawn sword.<br />
<br />
He will deliver us from the Assyrians<br />
when they invade our land<br />
and march across our borders.<br />
<br />
The remnant of Jacob will be<br />
in the midst of many peoples<br />
like dew from the LORD,<br />
like showers on the grass,<br />
which do not wait for anyone<br />
or depend on man.<br />
<br />
The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,<br />
in the midst of many peoples,<br />
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,<br />
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,<br />
which mauls and mangles as it goes,<br />
and no one can rescue.<br />
<br />
Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies,<br />
and all your foes will be destroyed.<br />
<br />
“In that day,” declares the LORD,<br />
“I will destroy your horses from among you<br />
and demolish your chariots.<br />
I will destroy the cities of your land<br />
and tear down all your strongholds.<br />
I will destroy your witchcraft<br />
and you will no longer cast spells.<br />
<br />
I will destroy your idols<br />
and your sacred stones from among you;<br />
you will no longer bow down<br />
to the work of your hands.<br />
I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles<br />
when I demolish your cities.<br />
I will take vengeance <b>אֶתֵּ</b> in anger and wrath<br />
on the nations that have not obeyed me.”</blockquote>
It's time to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem not its division. <br />
<br />
God is a sovereign God. He is a loving God and He has provided a way to offer you His salvation. You can accept His gift of life. Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask His forgiveness and accept His gift of love and grace through the Jewish Messiah Yeshua.<br />
<br />
Today is the time. If you know you need to get your life right with God, don’t wait for tomorrow, get it right with Him now!<br />
<blockquote>If there is therefore any exhortation in Messiah, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.<br />
<br />
Have this in your mind, which was also in Messiah Yeshua, who, existing in the form of God, didn't consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.<br />
<br />
And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:1-11</blockquote>
If you will just check the Strong's concordance on the Greek word Lord kyrios it means this title is given to: "God, the Messiah."<br />
<blockquote>
As therefore you received Messiah Yeshua, the Lord, walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving. <br />
<br />
Be careful that you don't let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Messiah.<br />
<br />
For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power; in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Messiah; having been buried with him in immersion, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:6-12</blockquote><div><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and return to God's voice the Bible, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open the Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life, love God and others like Jesus in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're lost in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah Yeshua from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the forever Torah. You can find Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him and be a gatekeeper until the house of God is complete.</div></div><div><br /></div>
Shalom.</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-69834391358124679562014-11-09T21:15:00.017-06:002024-01-27T11:33:30.216-06:00The House of Prayer <b><a href="#choose_name">Latest House of Prayer Alerts:</a></b> January 1, 2018<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wXSlCM74bGY/VGAtr8C1lGI/AAAAAAAABxE/dEun5pRQVgw/s1600/Western%2Bwall%2Bprayer.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wXSlCM74bGY/VGAtr8C1lGI/AAAAAAAABxE/dEun5pRQVgw/s200/Western%2Bwall%2Bprayer.JPG" /></a></div>
<br /><figcaption><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wXSlCM74bGY/VGAtr8C1lGI/AAAAAAAABxE/dEun5pRQVgw/s1600/Western%2Bwall%2Bprayer.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">The Western Wall</a></figcaption><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wXSlCM74bGY/VGAtr8C1lGI/AAAAAAAABxE/dEun5pRQVgw/s1600/Western%2Bwall%2Bprayer.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a> <br />"My house is a house of prayer." In my Scripture studies I found God's house is found the words of Isaiah 56:7, but instead of prayer cries of fear are being heard today — cries of terror at the Temple Mount.<br />
<br />
Much of the Bible is prophecy, and prophecy in the Bible is pointed to the Middle East with its focus on Israel and aimed at Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.<br />
<br />
All people that join themselves to The Lord among the nations must read God's words in Isaiah 2 and Isaiah 56. The Temple Mount is critical to everyone. If you follow Yeshua and want to be like Him, you must know the story and remember what his disciples all knew about Him:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” John 12:4-17</blockquote>
Israel is the Bible on location - in real time and The LORD is consumed with zeal for the Temple Mount.<br />
<br />
Regrettably, some Christian churches are filled with people that do not know that Israel, the walls of Jerusalem, the City of David and the Temple Mount have everything to do with their seat in the pew.<br />
<br />
They also do not understand that any conflict at the sacred and holy site of the Temple, God's House of Prayer must be understood as the ultimate spiritual battle ground.<br />
<br />
The battle today is yours. It calls for a decision, to stand in prayer with the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/eph/6/10/s_1103010" target="_blank">Armor of God</a> and action supporting the Jewish people against dark schemes and turn from the luke-warm church of Laodicea.<br />
<br />
The real battle is not only a far-removed Middle East terror-laden political, ideological or religious conflict. It is not just a struggle of geography or flesh and blood, but a struggle with dark powers of this world and spiritual forces of evil that seek domination and destruction.<br />
<br />
The thing you need to know about the spiritual battlefield of light vs. dark is that it is centered in a very real place at The Lord's House of Prayer in Jerusalem. Despite former destructions of the Temple, the Temple Mount location remains, the reason it remains is The creator does not change. We did. <div><br /></div><div>Eventually we will all will return back to Him as it was intended from the beginning.<br />
<br />
The prophet Isaiah was given a mind bending promise regarding the Temple Mount that you need to understand whether you are a Jew or not:<br />
<blockquote>
“And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,<br />
to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,<br />
and to be his servants,<br />
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,<br />
and holds fast my covenant—<br />
these I will bring to my holy mountain,<br />
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;<br />
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices<br />
will be accepted on my altar;<br />
for my house shall be called a house of prayer<br />
for all peoples.” </blockquote><blockquote>
The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,<br />
“I will gather yet others to him<br />
besides those already gathered.”<br />
Isaiah 56:6-8 </blockquote>
God's "House of Prayer" is on a mountain in Jerusalem. It was bought by a Jewish man by the name of David and it is a place for all nations aka sojourners who join themselves to The LORD God of Israel.<br />
<br />
You may be ambivalent or you may be shocked by this prophetic truth, but the Temple Mount, Almighty God's holy mountain is eternally linked by the covenant of blessing given to Abraham by our unchanging Creator God.<br />
<br />
The holy mountain of The LORD is not for a people that follow a false god. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Jerusalem, that other is called Allah.</div><div><br /></div><div>Islam robs the word of the truth, holding the Temple Mount hostage as a prayer ransom as they mock Israel just as Goliath once did. Many nations have opposed Israel through the eons of time and guess what, like Goliath they are long gone, but the Jewish people remain.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Today, the Temple Mount remains in Islam's control under the rule of the Muslim Waqf from Amman, Jordan and that's a part of the conflict of good vs. evil as radicals scream Allah Akbar. </div><div><br /></div><div>On 9/11, I heard that for the first time from those that follow Ishmael and soon I learned it means Allah is greater. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's true Abraham asked God to extend His covenant to the descendants of Ishmael, but that wasn't the plan. Almighty God had another one, yet He promised to make a nation from Ishmael but He gave His covenant promises to Isaac's descendants.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today we have the Middle East conflict which has spread globally as the conflict of extreme radical Islam which asks the original deception, did God really say??</div>
<br />
Ignorance of these Biblical facts will leave your faith weak susceptible to deception.<br />
<br />
The House of Prayer for all nations is a part of the mystery of the Gospel of the Kingdom of the God of Israel that Yeshua of Nazareth declared throughout Israel, and Jerusalem is the same place that Yeshua will return as the Lion of Judah for all people and nations that join themselves to The LORD God!<br />
<br />
The prophet Joel wrote of latter-day events that we can see unfolding today in Jerusalem. <br />
<br />
To get a glimpse you should read all of <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Joe&c=3&t=NASB&p=1" target="_blank">Joel chapter 3</a>.<br />
<br />
One reason God gave us prophets like Joel and Isaiah to study right now is so that anyone, Jew or not can know The LORD God alone is sovereign - declaring the end from the beginning, and He is jealous for His name and jealous for Zion.<br />
<br />
Another reason for the prophets is for anyone to be able to recognize the signs and seasons of prophetic events as they occur in and around Israel on God's prophetic redemption calendar. This requires a proper interpretation, understanding of doing His "Word."<br />
<br />
Matthew 21:13 quotes the words of Yeshua of Nazareth as he taught from Isaiah's scroll about God's "House of Prayer" for all nations:<br />
<br />
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<blockquote>
<center>
<big>“ It is written, he said to them,</big><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></center></blockquote><blockquote><center><big>‘My house will be called a house of prayer,</big><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></center></blockquote><blockquote><center><big>but you are making it a den of robbers.' "</big></center>
</blockquote>
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<br />Jerusalem was restored to the nation of Israel on June 11th 1967 during the omer count, yet Islam still robs everyone that believes the Bible of prayer on the Temple Mount. In 2016, Israel's <a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/mfadocuments/yearbook1/pages/14%20protection%20of%20holy%20places%20law.aspx" target="_blank">Protection of Holy Places Law</a> will pass a 49 year milestone, but notably it has never been enforced for the Jewish people that seek to pray at the Temple Mount.<br />
<br />
That law was passed and adopted by the Knesset after the ages old "status quo" was re-confirmed in 1967 by Moshe Dayan when he promised the Muslim Waqf control of the Temple Mount. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, Temple Mount police will not allow spoken prayer there except by a Muslim. So, at the end of the day, the Temple Mount continues just as Yeshua said, it is "a den of robbers" robbing the Jewish people as well as Christians of prayer atop the mountain of Almighty God, but that will change.<br />
<br />
The headline of the future remains written just as Jesus said: "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer'" Matthew 21:13.<br />
<br />
We need to know the words spoken by Prime Minister Eshkol on June 27, 1967 just two weeks after the Six Day War. </div><div><br /></div><div>He said: "It is my pleasure to inform you that the Holy Places in Jerusalem are now open to all who wish to worship at them - members of all faiths, without discrimination."<br />
<br />
The Waqf robs everyone of that promise and the UN backs them up.<br />
<br />
The "status quo" is no prayer except those of Islam, but the hope of many faithful is to pray at Mount Moriah just as Prime Minister Eshkol stated. The truth of the Bible is that the Temple Mount is reserved as a gathering place for those of faith, joined in lovingkindness and forgiveness from the God of Israel:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The Lord GOD,<br />
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,<br />
“I will gather yet others to him<br />
besides those already gathered.”</blockquote>
Since Prime Minister Eshkol made his statement, the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the right for others to pray is not enforceable at The Temple Mount as it would pose a grave danger to peace.<br />
<br />
What kind of real peace is that?<br />
<br />Since when is prayer a danger and why is prayer to The LORD God worthy of arrest?<br />
<br />
For more insight on our upside down world, turn the pages back in time to hear and seek understanding on what Yeshua once said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34</blockquote>
That sword is the sword of truth, the Bible, not the Koran. Jesus is teaching that the prophetic message of the Bible is about the ultimate conflict of good and evil that claimed God's good creation through our disobedience in Eden. Perhaps as it was before in the garden, in the end, that conflict is centered in Jerusalem at the House of Prayer for The LORD God of Israel.<br />
<br />
The spiritual conflict of good and evil can be seen at the Temple Mount. The focus is the battle of the this conflict is prayer, talking to our Creator, thanking Him, blessing Him.<br />
<br />
The ransom of prayer is about the Bible vs. the Koran. Good vs. evil disrupting relationship just as it was in the beginning.<br />
<br />
Prayer is a huge part of the ultimate conflict that is arising from this insanity and the division of the Promised Land. Yet, this is the generation that seeks the inheritance of Jacob and it includes God's gift of prayer where Solomon prayed in its dedication.<br />
<br />
I have written extensively since February of 2010, warning about the pressure to divide Israel and Jerusalem for peace via the formation of a bogus Palestinian State in my commentary on <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2010/01/zechariahs-february-vision.html" target="_blank">Zechariah's Vision and "The Quartet"</a> and have provided numerous <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2010/09/news-updates-on-zechariahs-vision-and.html" target="_blank">Zechariah's Vision Prayer Alerts</a>. <br />
<br />
Today, I am writing to you about the attempted murder that occurred a month ago on October 29, 2014 when Yehuda Glick, an incredibly brave American-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi was attacked with a gun and bullets. <br />
<br />
Rabbi Glick was shot three times in the chest by a radical Islamic terrorist driven by a misguided rumor that Israel will change the "status quo" at the Temple Mount.<br />
<br />
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>The terror was driven by belief that Israel will allow </big><span style="font-size: 19.200001px;">Jewish people to pray at the Temple Mount</span><span style="font-size: 19.200001px;">.</span></center>
</blockquote>
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<br />
A few days before rabbi Glick's horrific, attempted assassination, Arab leaders demonstrated in Jerusalem. One of the men with a loudspeaker and a chant was Sheikh Kamel al-Khatib. He is a leader of the northern branch of the 'so-called' Islamic State that has arisen in Nineveh, Iraq. <br />
<br />
Ask yourself: why in the world was he even allowed in the Promised Land?<br />
<br />
Below is an excerpt of Sheikh Kamel al-Khatib’s dark, hate-filled speech to the crowd that gathered in Jerusalem:<br />
<blockquote>
“The nation is in a bad state, due to what is happening in the Arab homeland and the counter-revolutions against the ‘Arab Spring’ being carried out by the enemies of the nations. This situation requires that steadfast people say: We are here, against the den of iniquity whose occupants occupy the stage in the entire Arab homeland. In the center of this thieving den of iniquity, we stress our right to stand strong and patient, attached to the land right here in Jerusalem. I repeat: Jerusalem is not only the capital of a Palestinian state, but the capital of a righteous Islamic Caliphate, soon to arrive, Inshallah.”</blockquote>
Later, when interviewed about his speech, Sheikh Kamel al-Khatib uttered these foreboding words to the press as he referenced Muhammed:<br />
<blockquote>
"We, as Muslims, believe in the future of Islam no matter what is happening, and an Islamic state will return once again and Jerusalem will be its capital. This is expressed in our confidence that the Israeli occupation will disappear, this is not just a hope or supplication on our part, but the words of the Prophet, who said that one day Jerusalem will be the location of the Islamic Caliphate."</blockquote>
Did you see that? <br />
<br />
He said: "Jerusalem will be the location of the Islamic Caliphate."<br />
<br />
Jeremiah 29:32 shows us that The Lord God Almighty warns that a conflict will be brought about by the descendants of Shemaiah the Nehelamite.<br />
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The Hebrew word "Nehelamite" means "he of the dream." So, we must take note that before the dark revelations of the Koran ever came to Muhammad in a cave "he saw prophetic dreams and heard unseen voices and calls" (<a href="http://islamicblessings.com/upload/Mishkat%20ul%20masabeeh%20ismaeel%20Salfi-4.pdf" target="_blank">Mishkat Volume IV</a>). <br />
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In fact, most of Muhammad's experiences were just that, a dark dream, a nightmare for mankind. He told family and friends that Gabriel, the angel who transmitted the revelations, "came to me... while I was asleep." This night terror storyline includes Muhammad's infamous vision of a night journey from Mecca. Muslims declare it is very place of the mosque location today atop the Temple Mount, the Masjid al-Aqsa while riding Muhammad's white horse Buraq. FYI... Buraq means "Bright One" in Arabic.<br />
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If you've read Revelation 6:2 take note of Muhammad's white horse and keep in mind that the Masjid al-Aqsa mosque was not even in existence at the time of his dream vision. <br />
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The second book of Chronicles refers to the book of "Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer" but the book like many others mentioned in the Bible has been lost to antiquity, or has it?<br />
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"Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually." 2Chronicles 12:15</blockquote>
What we know today is that this message from God tells us that Shemaiah the Nehelamite: "has persuaded you to trust in lies..." Those lies have morphed into the Koran and the continual yoke of wars against the planet radical Islam brings. Consider...<br />
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“Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, <u>even though I did not send him</u>, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, this is what the LORD says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. <br />
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He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the LORD, because he has preached rebellion against me.’” Jeremiah 29:31-32</blockquote>
Jeremiah chapter 30 goes on to warn of the conflict arising from the lies of the Nehelamite and his descendants:<br />
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"This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: <br />
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: <br />
‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. <br />
The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, <br />
‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity <br />
and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the LORD.<br />
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These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel <u>and</u> Judah: <br />
This is what the LORD says:<br />
‘Cries of fear are heard — <b>terror, not peace</b>.<br />
Ask and see: can a man bear children?<br />
Then why do I see every strong man<br />
with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,<br />
every face turned deathly pale?<br />
How awful that day will be!<br />
No other will be like it.<br />
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It will be <b>a time of trouble for Jacob</b>,<br />
but he will be saved out of it.<br />
‘In that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty,<br />
‘I will break the yoke off their necks<br />
and will tear off their bonds;<br />
no longer will foreigners enslave them.<br />
Instead, they will serve the LORD their God<br />
and David their king,<br />
whom I will raise up for them.<br />
‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;<br />
do not be dismayed, Israel,’<br />
declares the LORD.<br />
Jeremiah 30:1-10</blockquote>
Do you follow the lies of Shemaiah the Nehelamite or seek the truth in God's word? <br />
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Do you pray to the Creator whose name is placed in Jerusalem or pray to another?<br />
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In Jerusalem, the temporary rule of Islam does not allow anyone but a Muslim to pray to Allah atop the Temple Mount, yet just below, the Jewish people welcome anyone who wants to reverently pray to the Almighty God of Israel at the Western Wall (the Kotel ha-Ma'aravi).<br />
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Now that this attempted murder has occurred, rest assured that so-called diplomats will arrive in Israel giving their own formula for peace and security. Somehow they will figure a way to cast blame on the Jewish people and the Bible. But the time is now for Judah to be wary of these so-called peacemakers.<br />
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Jeremiah 30:14-15 warns the Jewish people:<br />
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"All your allies have forgotten you;<br />
they care nothing for you."</blockquote>
Today, <a blank="" href="http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-EU-chief-Europe-wants-Palestinian-state-as-world-cannot-afford-another-Gaza-war-381164" target="_">AFP reported</a> that the European Union’s new foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said this in Gaza:<br />
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"'The entire European Union seeks the establishment of a Palestinian state.'<br />
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'We need a Palestinian state -- that is the ultimate goal and this is the position of all the European Union.'"</blockquote>
And these words came today from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as reported by The Jerusalem Post:<br />
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<a href="http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Abbas-PA-will-ask-UNSC-for-Israeli-withdrawal-from-West-Bank-381207" target="_blank">Abbas: PA will ask UNSC for Israeli withdrawal from West Bank</a><br />
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"Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Saturday that the PA leadership would go to the UN Security Council this month to request a resolution that considers the territories conquered by Israel in 1967 as the lands of the Palestinian state.<br />
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Abbas said that the Palestinians would also ask the Security Council to set a timeline for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines. Take note, that would include The Temple Mount and its Western Wall.<br />
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Abbas made the announcement during an emergency meeting of the PA leadership in Ramallah. The meeting was called to discuss the latest developments in the region, especially the tensions in Jerusalem and Israeli plans to build new housing units in the city.<br />
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“We want the Security Council to issue a resolution affirming the status quo that has been prevalent in Jerusalem since 1967,” Abbas said.<br />
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Referring to tensions on the Temple Mount, Abbas accused Israel of violating all international resolutions.<br />
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“We want the Security Council to condemn what is happening [at the Temple Mount] and affirm the need to preserve the status quo,” he added. <br />
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“The international community is requested to clearly declare that there is no peace partner in Israel,” the statement said.<br />
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The statement also accused the Israeli government of seeking to alter the "status quo" on the Temple Mount and “cancel the centuries-long nature of this holy Islamic site.” The biblical Mt. Moriah is the site of the Temple, the ancient House of Prayer and today it is the site of Islam's third-holiest location, the Al Aqsa mosque which has been governed by a near 50 year old arrangement known as the "status quo," under which today only Muslims are allowed to pray on top of the Mount.</blockquote>
Abbas called on a U.N. Security condemnation of Judah's prayers following the announcement that <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinians-again-call-for-Day-of-Rage-against-Israel-on-Friday-381091" target="_blank">Palestinians call for ‘Day of Rage’ against Israel</a><br />
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"Groups call for demonstrators to step up protests against Israel in West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza; Islamic Jihad says time has come for "popular revolution.""</blockquote>
In Europe, 'The Economist' filed this mis-information online: <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21631026-binyamin-netanyahu-must-resist-dangerous-campaign-jewish-prayer-rights-muslim-holy?fsrc=outbr" target="_blank">Temple madness</a><br />
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"The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD is seared in Jewish memory and carved in marble on the Arch of Titus in Rome, which depicts legionnaires carrying off the temple menorah. Every day since then, Jews have prayed that the temple may soon be rebuilt.<br />
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For most, this has been an abstract longing for a future perfection, to be realised when the Messiah appears. Until then, they have been content to pray at their traditional holy place, the Western (formerly Wailing) Wall, at the foot of the mount where the temple once stood. For a growing band of zealots, however, this is not enough. Rabbis and activists have been preparing for the restoration of the temple and challenging the ban on Jews praying on the esplanade on top of the mount, the Haram al-Sharif, site of two venerable Muslim shrines, the golden Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque."</blockquote>
Seriously... two venerable Muslim shrines?<br />
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In the western world, we call Him Jesus now, but some 2,000 years ago He answered to the name Yeshua and He declared that the Kingdom of God would suffer violence from the agendas of religious men, and so it does! <br />
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Today, we can see the world's headlines support the past seven centuries that have imposed Islamic theologies of dreams to ensure control over the Temple Mount, yet Biblical truth remains the goal of faithful Jewish people.<br />
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We must not forget that the Promised Land is not just the current small tract of Heaven our maps define as the nation-state of Israel, its much larger. The geographic promise of the land was first made to Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21 and then as a second witness the promise was repeated to his son Isaac, and as a third witness to Isaac's son Jacob. This unchanging promise is declared by The Lord God Almighty in Genesis 28:13. <br />
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The thing is, the promises were spoken to Abraham and given to his 'seed'. We must take note that the Scriptures do not say “and to seeds” meaning many people, but it plainly says: “and to your seed" meaning one. In Galatians 3:16, Paul explains that this promise is ultimately for Messiah Yeshua. He will restore the tabernacle of David and the House of Prayer for all nations at its center.<br />
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In Genesis 15:18-21 the full boundary of the promised land is established in terms of the territories of various ancient peoples seemingly lost to antiquity, it reads:<br />
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"On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates - the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.""</blockquote>
The geographical borders given in Exodus 23:31 describe borders marked by the Red Sea beside Egypt, the "Sea of the Philistines," the Mediterranean, and the "River," (the Euphrates). This land area has not lost its status as the "Promised Land" and strangely some of this land was just taken suffering violence by ISIS in Nineveh, Iraq along the Tigris River where Christians have now fled beyond the river. <br />
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The Tigris is East and North of the Euphrates and it runs though the area from which Abraham was called out of, that is why it is not a part of God's promise.<br />
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The exhortation then is to renew our view and God's vision of His Biblical land of promise. <br />
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Not only that, we must hold to a Biblical understanding of the 'Gospel of The Kingdom' and what the prophetic Scriptures actually reveal concerning the process of how Yeshua's lawful redemption of a called-out righteous nation will unfold one day, for in these last days many traditional doctrines are being found to be wanting and falling short of the truth. <br />
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Failure to properly know, understand and accept the covenant promises of the Bible causes many to become disillusioned like Federica Mogherini and many others to stumble in blindness. That is exactly what we see today in the headlines and what we hear from many pulpits as some in Christianity have rejected Jerusalem and the Temple and its location in the plan of God as a 'House of Prayer' for all nations. <br />
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Some 1,700 years ago the anti-semitic leadership of the so-called church fathers pushed "Christianity" away from the planet's intersection point with Heaven. After that, 'the church' mistakenly took ‘Jesus’ out of His Jewish context separating Him from His Jewish background and promise. Christian teaching went astray, even attempting to remove the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible known as the TANAKH, the only Bible He ever read or taught.<br />
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By doing this The Lord God’s personal love letter to us was labeled as a done away with "law" and His marriage Covenant written by Moses fell from grace. No wonder the Jewish people have avoided Jesus, he has been disguised like a counterfeit Messiah.<br />
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Yet, prophetic events are happening right now and this is another shofar wake up call to watch carefully to see them and be a part of prophecy.<br />
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Jesus taught what we would see today by something He did NOT read from the scroll of Isaiah almost 2,000 years ago when anointed and filled with the Holy Spirit He chose to read from Isaiah 61 on the Sabbath in a synagogue "as was His custom." There in that Nazareth synagogue, He inaugurated His ministry in the Galilee of the nations where the Jordan River begins. <br />
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The words of Luke 4:18-19 are well worth repeating:<br />
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"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of The Lord." </blockquote>
Take notice... Yeshua stopped reading after He pronounced the personal name of God. He told the assembly where He read that the words the words He read and that they heard were fulfilled in that very synagogue. Later as Jesus (Yeshua) left: "he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also for therefore am I sent".<br />
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As the headlines tell us of the terror at The Temple Mount in October where Messiah walked and taught, what struck me then and today as I read Federica Mogherini's views is the possible timing of the reading of the portion of the scroll of Isaiah that was opened and read so long ago in Galilee. As Jesus 'stood up' before the assembly. He used that Sabbath day to announce His first mission in the restoration of the Kingdom of God, that His first mission would atone sin's penalty of death. <br />
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That is why He only read only a part of Isaiah 61:1-2. <br />
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If He was standing in the synagogue reading that Scripture portion within the timeline of the historic annual Sabbath Torah and Haftorah reading schedule that has been faithfully kept by the Jewish people, we might consider it may have been the portion reading called "Nitsavim" which means: "You are Standing". <br />
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Incredibly today, Isaiah 61:1-2 is not read under the present order of the weekly synagogue reading of the Jewish people. At some point, it was eliminated, I am not certain why, but perhaps it was taken out of the reading a few years after the Passover cross and First Fruits resurrection of Yeshua.<br />
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The Jew we should all know is Yeshua (Jesus), and He did not read the full portion of Isaiah that week because it is reserved by our Heavenly Father to be engaged before Messiah Yeshua returns when mourning is grievous in Zion much like it is now. <br />
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That mourning will likely come after man's division of the land of Israel for peace and the abomination against prayer to the God of Israel at the Temple Mount.<br />
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The missing words of Isaiah that Yeshua <u>did not</u> read that day are these:<br />
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"... and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations." Isaiah 61:2-4</blockquote>
Because of those prophetic words and many others from the Jewish prophets of Israel, followers of Yeshua need to step back and look at the Western Wall as watchmen of the nations joined the The Lord God to be counted worthy: <br />
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"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke 21:36</blockquote>
You may not know it, but this year we my be in a Biblical calendar time called a Shemittah year and it is within the 49 year of counting up to a Biblical Jubilee on God's calendar. And what do we see before us but Jewish people mourning in Zion as the spirit of heaviness is on the Wailing Wall.<br />
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The reason, the Temple Mount has been desolate of daily prayer for too many generations.<br />
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If you will just open your Bible, open your eyes and look at the Temple Mount today, you will see the mourning of faithful Jewish people, unable to legally pray atop the Temple Mount. Yet, this trial will be 'worked out' for God's Glory somehow in Zion, for this is mysteriously a part of the Kingdom preparation -- "for all Israel shall be saved."<br />
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It is hard to comprehend how, but God's ways are higher than ours:<br />
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"For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9 </blockquote>
If you are like me, you may want to run away from the concept of mourning and suffering before glory and it is very, very hard to understand, but that is how our King Messiah Yeshua established His Kingdom way to eternal life by overcoming death in His resurrection. That glory could not have occurred except by His own grievous suffering and beating.<br />
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This is very unsettling because we all want to see the foundation of God's coming Kingdom established by celebration and victory not by suffering, but God's ways are above our ways and His way requires resurrection.<br />
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As difficult as it is to understand, only through distress and suffering does God tear away the chaff and penalty of sin so that we can become bound together by Yeshua's suffering and resurrection life. Through Him, we get to look forward to the coming Kingdom on Earth. Yes, it is hard to understand, yet Messiah binds eternal life to us through His suffering by our own suffering and discipline.<br />
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After all, when our suffering in sin is realized, that is when we can turn to Him for forgiveness and salvation in God's lovingkindness. And by God's grace, we can choose to follow the One that suffered for all mankind. <br />
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That is why His name is Yeshua - it means Salvation!<br />
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"Behold, God is my salvation (Yeshua); I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD YEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation." Isaiah 12:2</blockquote>
Messiah Yeshua knew of His suffering long before He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. He said: <br />
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“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have an immersion to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!” Luke 12:49-50</blockquote>
Messiah Yeshua, knew ushering in God's Kingdom of glory on Earth would come through His suffering. Jesus saw what was coming, so we must too. <br />
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He told His disciples... that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of men so that on the third day, He would be raised to Heaven. There at the right hand of God He sent His Spirit as He began His intercession ministry, unseen in Heaven. This is shown in the book of Hebrews and in the Revelation vision recorded by John.<br />
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After His suffering, on the Pentecost, the 50th day of Shavuot, Almighty God sent the fire of His Spirit to the place that He chose to put His name, it is Mount Zion - The Temple Mount, the same place that Yehudah Glick has now suffered. <br />
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The House of Prayer has been destroyed there, first by Nebuchadnezzar, then by Titus in 70 AD and some 600 years later, Jerusalem was conquered by Muslim Arab forces in May of 638. They were led by Muslim Caliph Umar, but in return for assistance in the taking of the city, the Jewish faithful received the right to reside in Jerusalem and to pray on the Temple Mount without interference.<br />
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Umar's promise was broken, almost a 1,000 years until after Crusades of the 14th and 15th centuries when Islam again took possession of The Temple Mount and declared it an exclusive Muslim prayer site. At that time, Suleiman instructed his court architect to prepare a place for Jewish prayer in an alley at the bottom of the Western retaining wall after he prohibited all non-Muslims from going up to any part of the Temple Mount. <br />
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Now you know the story of the wailing wall, the Western Wall. A decree was issued by Suleiman that guaranteed for "all times" the right of Jewish people to pray at the Western Wall in compensation for relinquishing their right to pray atop the mountain of God.<br />
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The Temple Mount remains the exclusive domain of a people praying to Allah and the Dome of the Rock at its center proclaims the anti-messiah words etched in Arabic: "<a href="http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Inscriptions/DoTR.html" target="_blank">It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son.</a>" <br />
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It is important to know since the 1500's, Muslim prayers at the Temple Mount have only been stopped twice, yet the God of Israel does not yield his place, He gives His name and His glory to no one else, so the status quo of the 'House of Prayer' will be changed forever one day. Muslim idolatry and its mournful desolation of prayer will face its end there. <br />
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That day is what Joel's prophetic message is about. The God of Israel is not Allah and that is why The Lord God gave the message to a man named Joel, after all <b>יוֹאֵל</b> Joel is Yow'el it means "Yah is God".<br />
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The first time Muslim prayer to Allah was stopped there was in 1967, and we must take notice it was when the Temple Mount was taken back by Israeli troops right after Pentecost during a Jubilee year, so look for that to occur again. Looking at God's Calendar... based on the counting of 49 days to Pentecost after the first weekly Sabbath following Passover, we can see it was some 40 days after Passover in 1967 during the 50 day "Omer Count" that the Israeli troops surrounded the Old City and approached the place of God's Name on Earth. <br />
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Do you remember what happened on day 40 of the Omer Count almost 2,000 years ago?<br />
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In victory over death, the Messiah Savior Yeshua, ascended to the Heavenly Tabernacle from the Mount of Olives.<br />
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In 1967, during this Biblical time of counting, Israeli troops moved in to take the Temple Mount back. It was June 7, 1967 and many Christians thought the return of Messiah was imminent when the Israeli army ascended the wheat threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite that David had purchased with six hundred shekels of gold by weight. That threshing became the Temple Mount and it was bought with gold for a Devine reason.</div><div><br /></div><div>The chronicle of that historic day is found in 1 Chronicles 21. The account tells us of the "threshing floor" purchase. It happened after "haSatan stood up against Israel" when King David mis-spoke and ordered an unauthorized census of Israel:<br />
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"So The Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy-thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, The Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of The Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of The Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces."</blockquote>
In a way, this stand by haSatan thousands of years ago counterfeited the stand of Messiah and haSatan stood up again at the same place on Wednesday October 29th, (Cheshvan 5) in Jerusalem. To top it off, the Scripture reading portion that week made note of the events in Jerusalem. Part of the Scripture reading was this: <br />
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"<u>Thus saith God the LORD</u>, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; <u>he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein</u>: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, <u>and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles</u>; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and <u>them that sit in darkness out of the prison house</u>. I am YHVH: that is my name: and my glory will <u>I not give to another</u>, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, <u>and new things do I declare</u>: before they spring forth I tell you of them." Isaiah 42:5-9 </blockquote>Isaiah's message about a prison is the prison of idolatry. Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary sheds some light saying: <div><br /></div><div>"GEN'TILE, noun [Latin gentilis; from Latin gens, nation, race; applied to pagans.]<div><br /></div><div>In the scriptures, a pagan; a worshipper of false gods; any person not a Jew or a christian; a heathen."</div><div><br /></div><div>Mr. Webster points to the issue of idol practices as being their key character distinction. They were linked to the heathens, the image-worshippers according to the 1880 McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia:</div><div><br /></div><div>"As to the religion of heathenism, it is "a wild growth on the soil of fallen human nature, a darkening of the original consciousness of God's deification of the rational and irrational creature, and a corresponding corruption of the moral sense, giving the sanction of religion to natural and unnatural vices."</div><div><br /></div><div>I wholeheartedly believe staying in tune with the annual Scripture readings, the Jewish people have been faithful to for thousands of years is critically important today. Not only do they speak timely truth and righteousness to us as we read and listen each week, but somehow they are a timely part of a latter day restoration that aligns us with the Word of God in a prophetic restoration of God believing Jew and former Gentile in The Kingdom as one new man, one body... Basar Echad in Messiah. <br />
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In the weeks before Jesus read from Isaiah 61, the Scripture portion would have included Isaiah 11. These prophetic words may have well been read in Galilee at that time: <br />
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"The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim." Isaiah 11:13</blockquote>
When Rabbi Yehuda Glick was shot three times in the chest by the Islamic terrorist who 'stood up' at the threshing floor. Importantly, the prayers to the god of Islam stopped for a day. The assassin never imagined that would be the result of his terror plot but the God of Israel had another plan.<br />
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Yet, Abbas and the world rage even louder against the Jewish people because of it. <br />
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King David made a mistake, he mis-spoke long ago calling for his census. Just a week prior to the shooting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the modern leader of Israel may have mis-spoke as well saying, "We will preserve status quo on Temple Mount." </div><div><br /></div><div>Netanyahu did this because he's fearful of starting a religious war with jihad radical Muslims. His fears appear to be well founded. You can read it for yourself at this Times of Israel headline: <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-no-change-in-temple-mount-status-quo/" target="_blank">Netanyahu: No change in Temple Mount status quo</a>.<br />
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Despite the Prime Minister's words, the status changed, if just for a day.<br />
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I may be wrong because I am impatient, but Mr. Prime Minister remember Isaiah 42 in the reading portion the week of the shooting of Rabbi Glick. There, our Creator tells us NOTHING, NO ONE exceeds His authority as Creator, and what happened? The status of the Temple Mount was changed, even if just for a day as the five daily prayers to Allah atop the Temple Mount came to a dead stop. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Psalms tells us, a day is like a thousand years and one day no prayer facing the graven image of the Kaaba stone in Mecca, Saudi Arabia will be heard at the House of Prayer.<br />
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That's a millennium promise, and for now, God's timing for that is His alone. <br />
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This I do know, Rabbi Yeshua is righteous and He was called to give covenant light to the Gentiles to open their blind eyes to truth so that they may repent form idolatry's ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>May God soon show Judah the light too. </div><div><br /></div><div>A former Gentile people were adopted sojourners in exodus with the House of Israel. The world calls them Christians, God calls them Israel and I pray Mr. Prime Minister that you and the people you lead will come soon to accept God's eternal life covenant in Yeshua. He is One with The Father, He shares His righteousness and His glory at The Right Hand. May God soon open your eyes in Jerusalem! <br />
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Looking back at 1967, Muslim prayers were silent at The Temple Mount after a red blood moon eclipse on Passover April 24, 1967. Now, on October 30th, much like a second witness, they were silent again just 21 days after the first day of Sukkot, a day when the world saw another red blood moon before sunrise on the first Day of Tabernacles. Coincidence?<br />
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The headlines over the past week have pitted the heritage of the Temple Mount between Isaac and Ishmael. It is the central conflict of the Koran that opposes the Bible saying Ishmael was the one conceived after The Lord visited Abraham and Sarah. Amazingly, as this theme pervades the air in Jerusalem, the age old Scripture portion is VaYera, which means "And He Appeared'. It is the reading of Genesis 18:1–22:24 and it includes these words:<br />
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"And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.<br />
For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.<br />
And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.<br />
And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him." Genesis 21:1-4</blockquote>
The headlines in Jerusalem have shown us that Rabbi Glick was gunned down right after he gave a speech near the Temple Mount promoting the restoration of The Temple. The thing to note this week is this: Glick is of Judah and our unchanging God keeps His word to defend Judah in Jerusalem, period. <br />
<br />
Glick is alive even though haSatan stood up through his cohort at the Temple Mount, and the son of Fatah that harassed a son of Judah, Moataz Ibrahim Hijazi is dead, cut off from life. The fact remains: God's defender lives today and Allah's defender is dead.<br />
<br />
The Lord does not change, He keeps His word. <br />
<br />
There's more to the story, a week prior to the shooting, Haaretz reported: "Glick predicted last week that the situation on the Temple Mount would change only after an act of violence against Jews." <a href="http://www.ciibroadcasting.com/2014/10/30/enemy-1-of-masjid-al-aqsa-who-is-yehuda-glick/" target="_blank">Muslim news sources say</a> He is enemy #1 of Masjid al Aqsa because he defends the Temple Mount. <br />
<br />
While Glick's vision of the Temple Mount mirrors is controversial and mirrors Eshkol, his defense of worship is not. So we must keep our eyes wide open. <br />
<br />
It may seem odd that this shooting that shut down Muslim prayer for a day happened once again during a blood red moon cycle that started on Passover Day this year and that the shooting occurred after the second red moon eclipse of Sukkot but it is not. It was the second of <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/27mar_tetrad/" target="_blank">a Tetrad</a> that will conclude on Passover and the first day of Tabernacles next year. This is not just a strange coincidence!<br />
<br />
Prayer stopped for a day after the blood red moon of the past Tabernacles as Benjamin Netanyahu gave the Temple Mount back Friday in time for the Muslim prayers as Netanyahu repeated his own words to "preserve status quo" on Temple Mount. He said: "Since the days of Abraham, the Temple Mount has been the holiest site for our people and with this, the Temple Mount is also the most sensitive kilometer on earth," Netanyahu also said. "Alongside our determined stance for our rights, we are determined to maintain the status quo for all the religions in order to prevent an eruption." <br />
<br />
The shared vision heard round the world today to divide the land is exactly why God gave Joel these words to declare to us:<br />
<blockquote>
"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land." Joel 3:1-2</blockquote>
Here the Hebrew word captivity is shĕbuwth, it is in respect to the captivity we have to welfare and happiness and Jehoshaphat means: "Yah has judged." Here, the word translated as "valley" is the Hebrew word `emeq, it means open country and the Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon says it is wide tract of land suitable for battle.<br />
<br />
That should remind you of a field, a battlefield. It is a different word from the Hebrew gay' (Strong's H1516) which is translated by the King James as 'valley' in 60 other verses.<br />
<br />
The Temple Mount will one day become the fulcrum of a battlefield, consider the past week's headlines in Israel: <br />
<blockquote>
● <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186860#.VFWfB_nF-Sq" target="_blank">Jordan Threatens to Revoke Peace Treaty Over Temple Mount</a><br />
● <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/10/30/360114377/palestinians-condemn-closure-of-disputed-religious-site-in-jerusalem" target="_blank">Palestinians Condemn Closure Of Disputed Religious Site In Jerusalem</a><br />
● <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/30/world/meast/temple-mount/" target="_blank">Palestinian President: Closing Jerusalem holy site 'a declaration of war'</a><br />
● <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186848#.VFaCZPnF-So" target="_blank">Kerry Reiterates Call to Reopen Temple Mount to Muslims</a><br />
● <a href="http://www.scnow.com/news/headlines/article_4fb42520-f7da-5430-acc3-f684c347d606.html" target="_blank">Israeli leader urges calm in Jerusalem</a><br />
● <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Hamas-Islamic-Jihad-call-for-Palestinians-to-step-up-resistance-against-Israel-after-shooting-380370" target="_blank">Hamas, Islamic Jihad call for Palestinians to step up 'resistance' against Israel</a><br />
● <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186848#.VFaCZPnF-So" target="_blank">Kerry Reiterates Call to Reopen Temple Mount to Muslims</a></blockquote>
"The Word" of God is not from Washington, New York or the EU... so why does the world not seek "the Word" of God and stand up for opening the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the prayers of the people the Bible calls Judah and the nations that join themselves to The Lord God of Israel? <br />
<blockquote>
"My house is a house of prayer."</blockquote>
Open your eyes to the Bible's warnings we are on the cusp of Zechariah's prophecy:<br />
<blockquote>
"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves." Zechariah 12:3</blockquote>
There is still more... If we keep our eyes on Jerusalem, we can see that the nation of Israel was declared by the U.N. on November 29, 1947. The Scripture reading of the Jewish people that week was VaYishlach "And He Sent". The matching messianic reading in Matthew begins with Matthew 26:36-39:<br />
<blockquote>
"Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me."</blockquote>
The words "watch with me" are powerful.<br />
<br />
We must watch and look at the book of Daniel as well as we consider these events in Jerusalem. Daniel was told of 69 weeks of years, so we have to keep our eyes wide open... Although not weeks of years, they are weeks of Sabbaths, if we add 69 calendar years to November 29, 1947, (the day the U.N. declared that the state of Israel be established) we arrive at the Biblical Jubilee Year. Is this just another coincidence?<br />
<br />
The Day of Atonements (Yom Kippurim) on September 14, 2015 will occur 49 Biblical years following the 1967 restoration of Jerusalem after Israeli troops <a href="http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/ReunificationJerusalem.asp" target="_blank">entered the gates of the Old City as the shofar sounded</a>. The place was basically deserted as the Muslim Arabs ran out of the city the night before. The troops walked in virtually unopposed and reclaimed the Temple Mount. The Israeli troops brought the city under Israel's control. </div><div><br /></div><div>It had been some 2,500 years from 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar first moved against Judah when Israel was reborn as a nation by a people called Judah took the Temple Mount in 1967.<br />
<br />
Indeed, 1967 was the first time the Jewish people had legal control the Temple Mount since the Legions of Titus destroyed The Temple in 70 AD. Practically mirroring the words of Suleiman, <a href="http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/ReunificationJerusalem.asp" target="_blank">Moshe Dayan said</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
"To our Arab neighbors we extend, especially at this hour, the hand of peace. To members of the other religions, Christians and Muslims, I hereby promise faithfully that their full freedom and all their religious rights will be preserved. We did not come to Jerusalem to conquer the Holy Places of others."</blockquote>
Perhaps Moshe Dayan was led to say this because God's timing is not ours. Dayan's act points toward Ezekiel 44:8...</div><div><br /></div><div>"And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary."<br />
<br />
The 2,500 year period from 586 BC to 1967AD marks a time window that the Temple Mount has been under a trampling time if you will by ruling kingdoms comprised of men from Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece and Rome. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, those trampling atop the Temple Mount point toward the ten toes of iron and clay, the Sunni and Shiite atop the Temple Mount ever since the Dome of the Rock was completed in 691-692AD. But know this... God has a plan and it is written in His word, the Bible.<br />
<br />
If we watch, we may know more of His plan soon. Perhaps, it will be when the Jubilee Year of 2015-2016 comes along marking 50 Biblical years since Jerusalem was taken back during the Six-Day War that ended on a Sabbath, just days before Pentecost (Shavuot) in 1967. That day prayer to Allah briefly stopped there. In the Arab world, the 1967 war is called, an-Naksah, "The Setback." Set back indeed.<br />
<br />
An inscription in the Dome of the Rock <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/168491/Dome-of-the-Rock" target="_blank">establishes its date of completion as 691-692 AD</a> after Muslim armies captured Jerusalem. Why do I mention that?<br />
<br />
Everyone seems to know there are 365 days in a year, that is except in the Bible's timelines! So, if we subtract 1,335 Biblical years from the possible Jubilee Year of 2016, it just so happens we arrive back to 691 AD when the Dome of the Rock was completed in Jerusalem atop the Temple Mount. <br />
<br />
Is there a connection to the words of Daniel 12:12? I certainly don't know, but the possibility is well worth consideration.<br />
<br />
This we do know, the year 1967 marked 50 years since the Balfour Declaration and the 100th modern anniversary will occur in 2017. <br />
<br />
Balfour dated his letter November 2, 1917 (Cheshvan 17). The Balfour Declaration led to the establishment of the "State of Israel" some 50 years later through the adoption of Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947 that grafted in on May 14, 1948. Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria attacked immediately after the withdrawal of British troops and Ben Gurion's declaration of the modern state. Israeli forces defeated the Arab invaders and armistice agreements were signed in 1949, but the Arab nations held that the armistice lines were only cease-fire lines and not borders. That battle continues today. <br />
<br />
Two years after Resolution 181, when the law of Aliyah was established on July 5, 1950, this all occurred as none other than four blood red moons arose on consecutive Feast Days of Passover and Tabernacles 1949-1950. July 5th occurred just past the midpoint of the 1950 Passover and the first day of Tabernacles eclipse that year.<br />
<br />
These Tetrad eclipses are repeating now, we have seen two total blood moon Feast Day eclipses so far in 2014 and two more are headed our way next year. However, these Feast Day blood moons are not what we should be looking for ultimately. What we are to be seeking is the Creator.<br />
<br />
We must also take note that after the Temple Mount was retaken in 1967, Israel began an offensive against the Syrians in the Golan Heights. Today, in Syria horrific battles have raged since March 2011. <br />
<br />
The title of the 1967 conflict, 'The Six-Day War' was given by Yitzhak Rabin. At the time, he was chief of staff of Israel’s armed forces during the Six-Day War. He gave it that name not only because it lasted six days but because he felt strongly that the six days of the war somehow corresponded to and aligned with the six days of creation. He later became Prime Minister of Israel, but he was shot and killed November 5, 1995 on Cheshvan 12. <br />
<br />
The territory gained within the Promised Land in 1967 re-established a portion of the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yitzhak Rabin knew that. That tells us we need to study those six days of Genesis, after all God declares the end from the beginning. <br />
<br />
That's a challenge! Open your Bible, unroll your scroll, to the beginning.<br />
<br />
By now you might imagine that there's more to consider... the coming Feasts of 2015-16 will arrive 70 years after World War II ended on May 8, 1945. This terrible tribulation birthed the modern State of Israel. By the way, that day in May 1948 marked the 21st day of counting the Omer.<br />
<br />
Christians should know the 40th day of counting the Omer well but many do not connect to the count, yet it's the day Yeshua (Jesus) ascended to the Father as shown in Acts 1. The Jewish disciples knew it was the 40th day because they were counting the Omer days just as the Bible instructs.<br />
<br />
If we look forward at God's calendar, just 5 days after the coming 2015 Yom Kippur Feast Day, the world will see the last of the four notable full lunar Tetrad eclipses. This will occur on the first day of Sukkot (Tabernacles) in Jerusalem on September 28th. At that time, the likely Jubilee Year will have already begun with a shofar blast on Yom Kippur September 23, 2015. <br />
<br />
When that 2015 Tabernacles Day arrives, Jerusalem will see none other than a "super moon" eclipse. <a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LEcatalog.html" target="_blank">NASA shows us</a> it will conclude the 8th cycle of lunar eclipse Feast Day Tetrads in the last 2,000 years. The 2015 cycle wraps up the 8th series of four red blood moons on The Lord's's Feast Days since Yeshua stood and read in that synagogue in Galilee. <br />
<br />
The exact Jubilee year count may have been lost, perhaps after The Temple Mount was destroyed in 70 AD, but the events within the past 100 years show us something important is on the horizon and we must be on a Jerusalem watch. <br />
<br />
One day, perhaps soon, the prophecy of Daniel 12:1 will arrive and Michael, '<a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H4317&t=KJV" target="_blank">who is like God</a>' will stand up again and fulfill the second promise of Isaiah 61. The deceiver will be cast down from Heaven as the accuser and those who harass Judah will be cut off. It will be as Isaiah says... "the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn".<br />
<br />
One day too, the covenant of Peace given to Phineas will be given to all that mourn in Jerusalem because the House f Prayer is missing. The promise of Psalm 106:30 will come true: "Then stood up Phineas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed..."<br />
<br />
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, pray for all that live there both Jew, Christian and Muslim to know Messiah whose name is Yeshua.<br />
<blockquote>
<center>
"For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,<br />
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,<br />
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,<br />
her salvation וִ<b>ישׁוּעָ</b>תָהּ like a blazing torch." Isaiah 62:1</center>
</blockquote>
Today, those that follow and love the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must stand with the Jewish people in the land of Israel and remain in prayer before The Lord <b>יהוה</b> in the face of the violence, terror and hatred being directed against them from every side. Militant Jihadist terror events like Rabbi Glick's attempted murder that are playing out right now in Jerusalem point to the evil that is veiled as an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is not just a territorial struggle in the MidEast, but a conflict of good and evil that is coming to the forefront of history and prophecy before our eyes that will have global repercussions.<br />
<br />
Events in Israel should be a <b>prayer alert</b> but not only prayer for those in the land of Israel, but for those scattered among the sea of the nations. It's time to study Romans 9-11 and make the connections with Ezekiel 37. <br />
<br />
Today, my prayer is that you will stand with Messiah to be recognized as brothers and sisters of the Jewish people. Our Heavenly Father YHWH has a plan to deliver "all Israel" (Romans 11:26) and if you are one of Messiah's followers you are a big part of God's redemption plan so it is time to stand up. Stand up and be a friend, pray for peace, pray for the Jewish people, pray for the nations, pray for Jerusalem. <br />
<br />
Ezekiel was given a vision of this very time, a vision of violence and cruelty for the House of Israel <b>ישראל</b>. We can not be silent, about Yehuda Glick radical terror events and evil are no longer distant and remote, they are before us and among us:<br />
<blockquote>
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness; And say unto the people of the land, thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, [and] of the land of Israel; they shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD." Ezekiel 12:17-20 <br />
<br />
"Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off." Ezekiel 12:27</blockquote>
If you are a serious Bible student, and seek to learn more about God's "House of Prayer" and what a day in the Temple was like, I'd recommend that you consider reviewing the Temple Institute's "<a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/day_in_life/24_shifts.htm" target="_blank">A Day in the Holy Temple</a>." The teaching slides start with the division of the Cohanim priests responsible for the daily service and it ends with a summary of the daily prayers. The Cohanim were divided into 24 separate shifts by King David which points us directly to Revelation 4:4:<br />
<blockquote>
“Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.”</blockquote>
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<b>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></center><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a name="choose_name">House of Prayer Alerts</a> </span></b></center><center><b>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></center>
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<b>January 1, 2018:</b> MK Rabbi Yehudah Glick’s Wife, Yaffa, Passes Away <br />
<br />
<b>Prayer Alert July 21, 2017:</b> Sign of the times... MAJOR ALERT FOR PRAYER.<br />
<br />
Today marks 49 Biblical year (360 day years) from the April 1, 1969 (the day before Passover Eve - Nisan 13) that the Knesset of Israel voted to establish a government owned entity called "<a href="http://www.rova-yehudi.org.il/company-profile/" target="_blank">The Company of the Reconstruction and Development of The Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem</a>" under the Construction and Housing Ministry of Israel. You can view scanned copies of the original Hebrew documents describing <a href="http://www.archives.gov.il/archives/#/Archive/0b071706803095b1/File/0b07170680b4f209" target="_blank">the reconstruction work planning</a> from the <a href="http://www.archives.gov.il/en/" target="_blank">Israel State Archives</a> dated from August 12, 1968 to date October 26, 1969. <br />
<br />
Yet, despite all the plans, today is the 'only' day since where Jews prayed openly and without reservation or fear on the Temple Mount. <br />
<blockquote>
<center>
<b>"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!<br />
<br />
“May they be secure who love you!<br />
Peace be within your walls<br />
and security within your towers!”<br />
<br />
For my brothers and companions’ sake<br />
I will say, “Peace be within you!”<br />
<br />
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,<br />
I will seek your good."</b><br />
Psalm 122:6-9</center></blockquote><center>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center>
<br />
<b>Prayer Alert October 13, 2016:</b> It has been all most a year since the last update to this commentary and a lot has happened. <br />
<br />
In Israel, it has been a year of terror. Over 40 have lost their lives in Israel in terrorist attacks and nearly 600 people have been injured on both sides. According to the <a href="http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Palestinian/Pages/Wave-of-terror-October-2015.aspx" target="_blank">Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs</a>, there have been 166 stabbing attacks and 89 attempted stabbings; 109 shootings; 47 vehicular (ramming) attacks; and one vehicle (bus) bombing. <br />
<br />
And today, we see the fruition of the spiritual battle that reminds us of the prophecy of Revelation 12:7-8 and Revelation 13:1-2.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.voanews.com/a/israel-decries-unesco-vote-jerusalem-site/3549541.html" target="_blank">Israel Decries UNESCO Vote on Jerusalem Site</a><br />
<br />
"PARIS — UNESCO member states have renewed a resolution criticizing Israel for restricting Muslim access to a Jerusalem holy site, a European diplomatic source said, angering Israel's government by also referring to the area only by its Muslim names.<br />
<br />
The site is revered by Jews and Muslims alike, known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as the al-Aqsa compound or Haram al-Sharif.<br />
<br />
But a draft of the latest version of the resolution, posted on UNESCO's website and dated October 12, showed the site repeatedly described only by its Muslim names — something Israel says amounts to a denial of its Jewish history.<br />
<br />
"The theater of the absurd at UNESCO continues and today the organization adopted another delusional decision which says that the people of Israel have no connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Jerusalem after the decision."<br />
<br />
Here are excerpts of the resolution decision passed by UNESCO as submitted by the 7 nations of Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan the day before Yom Kippur: <br />
<br />
"OCCUPIED PALESTINE The Executive Board, Having examined document 199 EX/19… Deeply regrets the Israeli refusal to implement UNESCO previous Decisions concerning Jerusalem… Strongly condemns the Israeli aggressions and illegal measures against the freedom of worship and Muslims’ access to their Holy Site Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al Sharif, and requests Israel, the Occupying Power, to respect the historic Status Quo and to immediately stop these measures…"<br />
<br />
Al-Haram Al Sharif is the Arabic name falsely claiming the Temple Mount, the site of The Lord's House of Prayer. Read the resolution and if you are a child of God, you a member of His House so be a house of prayer and pray for the peace of Jerusalem:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002443/244378e.pdf" target="_blank">PROGRAMME AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS COMMISSION (PX) OCCUPIED PALESTINE</a><br />
<blockquote>
There has been some speculation that the United Nations may recognize an independent “Palestine,” and that the United States would not to veto another UN resolution. So, we must pray that we will not be united against Israel. Instead we must...<br />
<br />
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, [and] prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace [be] within thee. Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good." Psalm 122:6-9 </blockquote>
<br />
Did you see Psalmist's plea, it mentions the same wall noted in the UNESCO resolution, so there can be no doubt the time is now that we must pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.<br />
<br />
<b>Prayer Alert May 23, 2016:</b> Today, there is a very big story in Israel from YNet News <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4806435,00.html" target="_blank">Israel's newest MK: God thought I have things to do in the Knesset</a><br />
<blockquote>
"Considered by many to be one of the most extreme members of the right, Yehuda Glick's battle to allow Jews to visit the Temple Mount nearly cost him his life when he was severely injured by a Palestinian terrorist; this week, a year and a half after he was miraculously saved, Glick will be sworn in to the Knesset, replacing the newly-resigned Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon."<br />
<br />
"It was only a year and a half ago that right-wing activist Yehuda Glick was dangling between life and death. After being shot point-blank four times by a terrorist, he managed to utter "Shema yisrael" (the Jewish declaration of faith that the devout strive to say before death) before falling into a dark sleep from which he arose ten days later. This week, following Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon's resignation, Glick is to be sworn in to the Knesset, which will make him perhaps the most controversial MK in the current government, having incited severe criticism from the Palestinians, the left, and the right.<br />
<br />
"I feel that God hugged me, and that he didn't let me go for a minute while my life was in danger, wrapping me up in so much love," said Glick. "I was in such critical condition that a lot of people thought I wasn't going to make it, and that if I were, I'd be severely disabled for the rest of my life. And now here I am, standing on my own two feet and being sworn in to the Knesset. God must have thought I still have things to do in the Knesset. I'm glad to be alive and have God put his faith in me.""</blockquote>
YNet's Noam Barkan asks Glick: "Did the assassination attempt change you?"<br />
<br />
Glick's response...<br />
<blockquote>
"I suppose it did. It became even clearer to me how dangerous violence can be, and how we as a democracy need to make sure that elected officials working toward certain principles are safe. One of the surgeons who operated on me was Muslim, and I think he did a lot more for Islam than the Muslim who shot me in the name of Islam. People who think God wants them to promote hatred are misinterpreting his will. Despite being all the more committed to the mission God has created me, I feel it has given me a new path for a dialogue with the many people who are willing to listen."</blockquote>
<b>Prayer Alert October 25, 2015:</b> On Fox Network's 'The Kelly File', <a href="http://www.thelawfareproject.org/brooke-goldstein.html" target="_blank">Lawfare Project Director and human rights attorney Brooke Goldstein</a> discusses Arab Palestinian incitement to violence against Jews, amidst the recent string of terror attacks targeting Israelis and why the U.N. has it all wrong.<br />
<br />
History is important as Brooke Goldstein explains regarding the massacre of Hebron. Defilement is shown <a href="http://hebron1929.info/Hebronletter.html" target="_blank">by Meyer Greenberg</a>: "The massacre of the Jews of Hebron in 1929 put an end to the ancient Jewish community at the burial site of the patriarchs."<br />
<br />
History is repeating, in fact UNESCO has just reaffirmed the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron as a Muslim holy site. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/world/middleeast/unesco-jerusalem-al-aqsa-mosque-western-wall.html?_r=0" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reports that this time they have also declared Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem as Muslim and “an integral part of Palestine.” The report states:<br />
<blockquote>
"Israel quickly condemned the Unesco resolution.<br />
<br />
“This decision is yet another step in the continuous Palestinian endeavor to rewrite history and distort the sources of World Heritage in this part of the world,” the government said in a statement. “The Palestinian leadership’s attempt to claim for themselves Jewish and Christian holy sites doesn’t bode well; suffice to look at the torching of Joseph’s Tomb by Palestinians just a few days ago.”<br />
<br />
Ronald S. Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, said in a statement that Unesco had “given in to false claims and to radical, one-sided Palestinian demands.”"</blockquote>
The original UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) resolution that was just released included the Western Wall as an exclusive Muslim site, but it was pulled at the last minute. The NY Times notes: "The resolution had been put forth by six board members, representing Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates." <br />
<br />
UNESCO has tossed out the Bible condemning what it calls “Israeli aggressions and illegal measures against the freedom of worship and Muslims’ access to their holy site, Al Aqsa Mosque”. <br />
<br />
The world needs to see the truth about the site of The House of Prayer. It is falsely known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary. The Al Aqsa Mosque is a part of the transgression that causes the desolation of prayer. It is sitting atop the true sanctuary site of God Almighty described by the prophet Daniel. Along with the Dome of the Rock, it causes an abomination of desolation for daily prayer to the God of Israel.<br />
<br />
Almighty God declares His house as a House of Prayer, and it's not for Allah. Islamic prayer has defiled the Temple Mount for 1,310 years, but time is running out despite Benjamin Netanyahu's <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-pledges-to-prevent-jewish-prayer-on-temple-mount/" target="_blank">pledge</a> of not permitting non-Muslim prayer on Jerusalem’s holy hill.<br />
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UNESCO you have a problem, your covenants, your resolutions are lies that will not last. Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates, you too now have a problem. Islam dishonors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the God of Israel. You have a problem because The Lord said to Abram:<br />
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"I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse...” Genesis 12:3 ESV</blockquote>
Despite the Biblical facts that tie the cave of Machpelah in Hebron as well as the tomb of Rachel near Bethlehem to Israel, UNESCO declared that the tombs of of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah as well as Rachel are exclusive Muslim holy sites. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xt46sbbBJSk/VknZidBu58I/AAAAAAAAB8k/iyk2ATu4m4M/s1600/Ibn%2BYaymiyyah.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xt46sbbBJSk/VknZidBu58I/AAAAAAAAB8k/iyk2ATu4m4M/s320/Ibn%2BYaymiyyah.jpg" /></a></div>
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The UNESCO proposal that flies in the face of <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA363&dq=hebron+sufi&hl=en#v=onepage&q=hebron%20sufi&f=false" target="_blank">Ibn Taymiyyah</a> was submitted by six Arab states and only the U.S., U.K., Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic, and Estonia voted against the resolution. <br />
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These burial sites along with the Temple Mount where Isaac was bound where Jacob years later saw the ladder vision of Messiah have all experienced extreme and violent acts of hatred since Yom Kippur as the vow of enmity has taken root in the hearts of Palestinian people not unlike Esau: <br />
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"Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing... and Esau said to himself, The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”</blockquote>
UNESCO is a lie. <br />
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Consider... "Then Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted his voice and wept."<br />
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I've often wondered why he wept, now I think I understand, perhaps he somehow knew about Rome's attacks on her children almost 2,000 years ago and about UNESCO today. <br />
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"This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter crying. Rachel is crying, and she refuses to be comforted for her children..." Jeremiah 31:15</blockquote>
History is important, Brooke Goldstein knows what she is talking about!!<br />
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And there is more to the story of Hebron as the nations of the world seek to divide Israel.<br />
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Hebron was one of the six cities of refuge. The Torah names the six cities as being cities of refuge as: Golan, Ramoth, and Bosor, on the east of the Jordan River, and Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron on the western side.<br />
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Hebron is where the elders of Israel came to make a covenant before Elohim and anoint David king of Israel. King David reigned for seven years. It was in Hebron that David’s son Absalom declared himself king and revolted against his father. After the destruction of the First Temple, most of the Jewish inhabitants of Hebron were exiled. <br />
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Found some Hebron info on Wiki: Hebron was burnt by the Maccabees who fought against the Edomites there in 167 BC. Herod the Great, king of Judea, built the wall which still surrounds the Cave of the Patriarchs there. After the defeat of Simon bar Kokhba in 135 AD, the Jewish captives were sold into slavery at Hebron's slave market. Hebron was one of the last cities of Palestine to fall to the Islamic invasion in the 7th century. <br />
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The British occupied Hebron on December 8, 1917. Hebron remained undamaged when an earthquake struck on July 11, 1927. On the eve of the Palestinian Arab revolt (April 23, 1936) the British Government decided to move the Jewish community out of Hebron as a precautionary measure to secure its safety. The sole exception was the 8th generation Hebronite Ya'akov ben Shalom Ezra. <br />
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In November 1947, in anticipation of the UN partition vote, the Ezra family closed its shop and left the city. At the beginning of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt took control of Hebron. After the Six-Day War in June 1967, Israel occupied Hebron along with the rest of the West Bank, establishing a military government to rule the area until the Hebron Protocol.<br />
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Hebron means "alliance."<br />
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Fifty years ago following <a href="http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000436" target="_blank">the Hebron Agreement</a>, Netanyahu and Arafat shake hands on Hebron.<br />
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"This agreement, signed on 15 January 1997, divided the city of Hebron into two parts: H1 and H2. Israel retained full security control over the Israeli settlement enclaves in downtown Hebron (H2), over another settlement (Kiryat Arba) just outside the city, and, in order to facilitate movement by the settlers and the IDF, over the surrounding area. The agreement gave the PA security responsibility for the rest of Hebron (H1), although this responsibility remained closely monitored by Israeli authorities."<br />
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"The Hebron protocol was the culmination of intensive efforts, led by the United States, to save the Oslo accords, and more generally the Middle East peace process, threatened since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shortly after the conclusion of the 1995 Interim Agreement known as Oslo II, and especially since the May 1996 election of an Israeli government on an anti-Oslo platform. The 'tunnel uprising,' the territories-wide intifada-like protests of late September 1996 that escalated into armed clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian police, brought the process to the verge of total collapse. Yet, it was these same clashes, in which over sixty-one Palestinian civilians and fifteen Israeli soldiers were killed in the space of three days, that provided the shock that got the process back on track. <br />
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The Hebron protocol does not constitute a new agreement but rather the steps required to implement an agreement -- or part of an agreement -- concluded over a year earlier... Hebron had deliberately been left as the last of the West Bank towns from which Israeli soldiers were to redeploy under Oslo II in order to allow time to work out the security issues arising from the presence of 450 militant Israeli settlers in the city's center. The agreed-upon guidelines divided Hebron into Jewish and Arab sectors governed by different security arrangements. The Israeli military would retain full security control over the Jewish sector (H2), comprising the settlement enclaves in downtown Hebron, the Qiryat Arba settlement just outside the city, and the surrounding areas deemed necessary for movement of the settlers and the army. The Palestinian Authority (PA) would have security responsibility over the rest of Hebron, referred to in the guidelines as H1."<br />
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<b>Prayer Alert October 17, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/France-advancing-plan-to-deploy-international-observers-at-Jerusalems-Temple-Mount-426219" target="_blank">France advancing plan to deploy international observers at Jerusalem's Temple Mount</a><br />
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France plans to invite representatives from the Arab League to talks with an eventual goal to lead a Palestinian statehood resolution at the UN Security Council. Hear the warnings of Zechariah and Joel, this opposes God's word. France wake up so that you may escape all these things that shall come to pass, don't cast these lots, you'll be drawn to the valley of judgment!<br />
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<b>Prayer Alert October 16, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/10/16/the-latest-palestinians-torch-site-revered-by-some-jews" target="_blank">France urges stepped up international action to end Israeli-Palestinian conflict</a><br />
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"France's U.N. ambassador is calling for stepped up international action to find a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<br />
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Francois Delattre told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday that it's crucial the two-state solution does not fall apart, given the risk that Islamic State extremists might take up the Palestinian cause "with the consequences we can imagine."<br />
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He said France is drafting a council statement that will appeal for restraint by all parties and maintaining the status quo at Jerusalem's holiest site.<br />
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Delattre called for the U.S., U.N., EU, Russia and key Arab nations to meet and work on confidence-building measures to ease tensions, support Palestinian reconciliation and draw up "guarantees and compensation that each party will need" in order to sign a peace agreement."</blockquote>
Hear the warnings of Zechariah and Joel, this opposes God's word. France wake up so that you may escape all these things that shall come to pass, don't cast these lots, you'll be drawn to the valley of judgment!<br />
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<b>Prayer Alert October 14, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/french-plan-israel-palestine_561e684ee4b028dd7ea5e51a" target="_blank">France's Proposed Solution To Israel-Palestine Conflict Sidelines U.S.: Invited 19 other countries and the Arab League to peace talks</a><br />
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"France is drafting a 'presidential statement' in order to advance a plan to station international observers at Jerusalem's Temple Mount to ensure that the status quo at the site is preserved, French daily Le Figaro reported on Saturday, quoting French diplomatic sources.<br />
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French Ambassador to the UN Francois Delattre said, at an emergency meeting on Friday of the UN Security Council on the ongoing violence between Israel and the Palestinians, that he would circulate a draft statement to the council that would appeal for calm and restraint and for a revival of the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and for maintaining the status quo at the Temple Mount. <br />
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Statements by the 15-member council must be agreed unanimously.<br />
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The unrest in recent weeks has been triggered in part by Palestinians' anger over what they claim to be increased Jewish encroachment at the Jerusalem holy site which is revered by both the Muslim and Jewish faithful. <br />
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly over the past few weeks that Israel has not changed the status quo on the Temple Mount, nor has it any intention of doing so, characterizing Arab charges to the contrary as “lies” and “deceit.”"</blockquote>
Hear the warnings of Zechariah and Joel, this opposes God's word. France wake up so that you may escape all these things that shall come to pass, don't cast these lots, you'll be drawn to the valley of judgment!<br />
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<b>Prayer Alert January 21, 2015:</b> Over the course of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/10/world/france-paris-who-were-terror-victims/" target="_blank">three days 17 souls were killed by terrorists</a> in Paris. Today, Hamza Mohammed Hassan Matrouk attacked with a knife. CBN News of Isreal reports: <a href="http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2015/January/17-Injured-in-Tel-Aviv-Bus-Stabbing/" target="_blank">Seventeen Injured in Tel Aviv Bus Stabbing</a> <br />
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"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed P.A. Chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) for these attacks.<br />
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"The terrorist attack in Tel Aviv is the direct result of the poisonous incitement being disseminated by the Palestinian Authority against the Jews and their state. This same terrorism is trying to attack us in Paris, Brussels and everywhere," Netanyahu said, pointing out that Hamas, the Palestinian faction ruling the Gaza Strip, quickly praised the attack.<br />
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"It is Hamas -- Abu Mazen's partners in a unity government -- that hastened to commend this attack. This is the same Hamas that announced it will sue Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague," he said. "Abu Mazen is responsible for both the incitement and the dangerous move at the ICC in The Hague."<br />
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Hamas officials called it "a brave and heroic act" against "Zionists" in Tel Aviv and a response to Israel's "crimes.""</blockquote>
In Brussels today, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30924276" target="_blank">the BBC reports</a>... "<br />
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A top EU official has warned that Europe faces a "huge challenge" in persuading Jews not to emigrate in response to anti-Semitism.<br />
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European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans suggested the issue was as urgent as the euro's troubles.<br />
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"In some [EU] states the majority of the Jewish community is not sure they have a future in Europe," he said."</blockquote>
<b>Prayer Alert January 11, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/01/11/after-mass-rallies-hollande-and-netanyahu-join-paris-grande-synagogue-ceremony-live-stream/" target="_blank">Netanyahu Delivers Emotional Speech at Paris Synagogue Memorial Service, Highlights Threats Posed by ‘Radical Islam’ and Iranian Regime</a><br />
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"Paris, January 11 -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a passionate and emotional speech at the Grand Synagogue in Paris tonight, where both he and French President Francois Hollande attended a special memorial service.<br />
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Netanyahu said that “radical Islam,” and not “ordinary Islam,” was the enemy, along with the Iranian regime.<br />
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“The radical Islamists do not hate the West because of Israel; they hate Israel because it is an integral part of the modern world,” he declared to loud applause. “We cannot let Iran achieve nuclear capabilities. Israel stands with Europe, and Europe must stand with Israel.”<br />
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Netanyahu told the service, “Those who murdered Jews at a synagogue in Jerusalem and those who murdered Jews and journalists in Paris are part of the same problem. We must condemn them and fight them!”"</blockquote>
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<b>Prayer Alert January 9, 2015:</b> Please pray! In Paris today, a house of prayer was again closed due to terrorism. <a href="http://www.jpost.com/International/Landmark-Paris-synagogue-closes-on-Shabbat-for-first-time-since-World-War-II-387262" target="_blank">Landmark Paris synagogue closes on Shabbat for first time since World War II</a><br />
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"The Grand Synagogue of Paris shuttered ahead of Shabbat services on Friday night in the wake of a series of terror attacks across the city, including one siege on a Jewish market by an Islamic extremist.<br />
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The synagogue was evacuated during the event, Le Monde reported on Friday, and did not reopen for services on Friday night.<br />
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Friday's closure marks the first time since World War II the synagogue, a Paris landmark, was not open for worship on the sabbath, according to the Orthodox Union.<br />
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“The Jewish community feels itself on the edge of a seething volcano,” said Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Paris-based director for international relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. <br />
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“Hostages in a kosher supermarket held [up] by an African jihadist, who reportedly already killed two victims… The scenes are out of a war movie,” he said. “But the war is undeclared as long as the sickness is not publicly named as a state of emergency. A culture of excuse exonerates the perpetrators as ‘disaffected, alienated, frustrated, unemployed.’ No other group of frustrated unemployed has resorted to such behavior.”"</blockquote>
The killers murdered twelve yesterday. Please, please pray for the families and for peace.<br />
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<a bl="" href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/terror-onslaught-in-paris/" target="_">As an uncertain Sabbath dawns, Jews ponder their future in France</a><br />
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"France is reeling from a terrorist onslaught, with two fatal incidents in Paris on Friday, and at least four innocent people killed. Two days after two gunmen killed 12 in an assault at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the two suspects were shot dead by French security forces on Friday afternoon and the hostage they were holding was freed. Security forces simultaneously stormed the kosher supermarket where another gunmen was holding hostages, killing him. Four of the hostages he was holding were killed, and four more badly hurt. His wife-accomplice was said to have escaped. The terrorists involved had been coordinating their activities."</blockquote>
<a blank="" href="http://news.yahoo.com/britains-mi5-chief-warns-al-qaeda-syria-planning-220625665.html" target="_">Britain's MI5 chief warns al Qaeda in Syria planning mass attacks on West</a><br />
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"LONDON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda militants in Syria are plotting attacks to inflict mass casualties in the West, possibly against transport systems or "iconic targets", the head of Britain's MI5 Security Service said on Thursday.<br />
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Speaking after gunmen killed 12 people in an assault on a French satirical newspaper, MI5 boss Andrew Parker warned a strike on the United Kingdom was highly likely."</blockquote>
The is another critical story we must all watch. It is unfolding before our eyes in Yemen as: <a blank="" href="http://www.12newsnow.com/story/27803697/al-qaida-in-yemen-urges-local-and-international-jihad" target="_">Al-Qaida in Yemen urges local and international jihad</a><br />
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"CAIRO (AP) - The al-Qaida offshoot that claimed Friday to have masterminded the bloody rampage in France has been the most active of the terror network's branches in trying to strike in the West.<br />
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Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula said it directed the attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris "as revenge for the honor" of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.<br />
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The strike would be the Yemen-based branch's first successful strike outside its home territory - and a triumph for its trademark double-strategy of waging jihad in Yemen to build its strength to strike abroad."</blockquote>
About 4 years ago as chaos was erupting in Syria, I noted grave concern about comments from Tunisia's former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali that were unfolding before our eyes. Today, those thoughts are well worth revisiting and updating below...<br />
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The uprising of Islamists to a combination of governmental and religious power in a number of Muslim countries is mistakenly seen by the west as the rise of democracy which was thought to be a good thing. It is the will of the people all right, but in the end, it is Sharia and the Koran that is sought, not democracy and a constitution. <br />
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Joshua 11:1-5 records that five (5) of seven (7) hostile nations were utterly defeated under Joshua's leadership of Israel. Joshua 11:19 clearly tells us Israel's armies did not destroy them all, just five. One that feel was King Jabin of Hazor. Jabin means "whom God observes" as in the popular saying: "know your enemy". <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4b-a-Qwwt_8/Ts25CCNA1OI/AAAAAAAAAjk/IyK6yZ3K1KA/s1600/Arab%2BLeague.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4b-a-Qwwt_8/Ts25CCNA1OI/AAAAAAAAAjk/IyK6yZ3K1KA/s200/Arab%2BLeague.JPG" width="82" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.arableagueonline.org/wps/portal/las_en/home_page/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gXy8CgMJMgYwOLYFdLA08jF09_X28jIwN_E6B8JG55C3MCuoNT8_TDQXbiNwMkb4ADOBro-3nk56bqF-RGVHjqOioCAKQoUKM!/dl3/d3/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/" target="_blank">The Arab League</a></b> or more formally, the "League of Arab States" was founded in Egypt in 1945 by the assembly of seven nations: 1) Egypt, 2) Iraq, 3) Lebanon, 4) Saudi Arabia, 5) Syria, 6) Yemen and 7) Transjordan (Jordan, as of 1950). <br />
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These seven (7) founding 'Arab League' members were established by the "Protocols of Alexandria", and perhaps like a prophetic Biblical blueprint, four (4) of the original seven leaders have now fallen from power in the Arab Spring or rather the "Islamic Awakening" as it's known in the Mideast. If Revelation 17 is tied to the days before us, another Arab League government will soon fall just as five fell in 1948 and five fell 3,500 years ago. <br />
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Since Joshua tells of five that fell after Israel entered the land, the prophecy of Revelation 17:10 is worth repeating here:<br />
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"And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." </blockquote>
Chapter 17 of Revelation goes on the say: "These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them..."<br />
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Let's not forget that immediately after Israel declared itself an independent state in 1948, the armies of five (5) Arab League nations surrounding Israel attacked. They were Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. They attacked Israel without any provocation. <br />
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<b>For Bible prophecy students, today's events in the Middle East should remind you of these prophetic words of Revelation...</b> And if we are to be wise, it is worth repeating that four of the seven "kings", the rulers of the original Arab League "have fallen" since December 13, 2003.<br />
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That was the day Saddam Hussein was captured when he was found hiding in a six foot hole in the ground outside his childhood home of Tikrit. And believe it or not, Lybia's Muammar Gaddafi was found hiding in a drainage ditch outside the town of Sirte: <br />
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"Here is the mind which <u>has wisdom</u>. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and <u>they are seven</u> kings; <u>five have fallen</u>, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. "The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction". Revelation 17:9-11 </blockquote>
Obadiah tells us that Esau has a confederacy, a league of nations if you will, which will include deceptive, modern Islamic nations.<br />
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All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: <b>the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee<b></b></b>, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him. Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? Obadiah 1:7-8</blockquote>
And like Revelation, Obadiah tells of the end of the league of Esau:<br />
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And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. Obadiah 1:10-11</blockquote>
Today, the fall of four (4) Arab League 'kings' from power has been chronicled in the headlines since the execution of Iraq's Dictator Hussein on December 20, 2006. Libya's Dictator, Muammar Gaddafi fell from power as has Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. Ben Ali was the first. He fled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the western gateway to Mecca. It is the land of Edom. Amazingly, back in 2008, Ben Ali predicted the fall of Egypt and a take over of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as explosive events across in the entire Middle East region. The Jerusalem Post reported what has now become an incredible story from December 2010: <br />
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<a href="http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=198534&R=R1" target="_blank">'Tunisian premier predicts Muslim Brotherhood takeover'</a> <br />
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"The moderate Arab states' fear of Iran and Islamic radicalism continued to pour forth from documents released by WikiLeaks Tuesday night, with the Tunisian President predicting in a conversation with a senior US diplomat two years ago that the Muslim Brotherhood would take over Egypt sooner or later. According to a cable written on March 3, 2008 by Robert Godec, the U.S. ambassador in Tunisia, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali told Assistant Secretary of State David Welch that "Tunisia was happy it was part of the Maghreb, and not part of Levant or Gulf." <br />
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The dispatch said Ben Ali "opined that the situation in Egypt is 'explosive,' adding that sooner or later the Muslim Brotherhood would take over. He added that Yemen and Saudi Arabia are also facing real problems. Overall, the region is 'explosive.'" <br />
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Ben Ali also said that Syria was a source of concern in the region, since it is "acting for Iran, and the later is fueling regional problems." Ben Ali, a Sunni Muslim according to the dispatch, said "he 'does not trust' the Shia." </blockquote>
Perhaps, Ben Ali did not foresee his own demise, but it appears now that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad could be one of the kings noted in Revelation. Perhaps he will be the king "that is" of the original seven Arab League governments to fall. Will this possibly be the last straw of the prophecy. I don't know, it may be another, after all Ben Ali warned of Yemen and the Gulf. Way back in 2008, a Wikileaks report noted by the Jerusalem Post stated in words that sound very prophetic today: <br />
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"According to a cable written on March 3, 2008 by Robert Godec, the US ambassador in Tunisia, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali told Assistant Secretary of State David Welch that "Tunisia was happy it was part of the Maghreb, and not part of Levant or Gulf.""</blockquote>
Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali warned the "Maghreb" and today we see that he (Tunisia) as well as the leaders of Libya (Gaddafi) and Egypt (Mubarak) have all fallen. The "Levant" includes Syria and northern Iraq and today ISIS has established an Islamic Caliphate there, so if Ben Ali was right, then we need to watch the "Gulf" area and Yemen.<br />
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Time will tell, so remember these words:<br />
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"one is, <u>the other has not yet come</u>; and when he comes, he must remain a little while". </blockquote>
Astonishingly, two thousand years after it was written, Revelation 17:10 tells us plainly that of the end time leaders, <u>five will fall</u> and one of the seven will arise. That leaves a 6th that may hold his own despite tremendous conflict.<br />
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It does certainly appear that the prophecy of Revelation 17 and today's "Esau-like" nations may be prophetically linked. If so, we may now have a chain link between the nations that opposed Joshua's ancient armies to today's Israeli defenses that have fought to defend themselves against members of these Arab League states beginning in 1948. </div><div><br /></div><div>The battles continued in 1967, during The Six Day War and again in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War when both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated support efforts to their separate allies. This nearly led to a confrontation between the two world superpowers pitting east against west. Today, we see this alignment again as Russia supports nuclear developments in Iran and Iran seeks to support civil uprising in Yemen as history and prophecy repeat. <br />
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Again, we have all already witnessed the demise of four Arab League leaders so it is time to wake up and open the Bible because 1) Iraq (Saddam Hussein), 2) Lebanon (Fouad Siniora), 3) Egypt (Hosni Mubarak) and 4) Libya's (Muammar Gaddafi) have all fallen from governing power right before our eyes, stripped from their autocratic rule and dictatorial power as these four "kings" fell from power while the world watched. <br />
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And today, Syria's Bashar al-Assad is on the threshold of prophecy as is Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, as the Sunni oppose the Shiite. Iron and clay do not mix, Sunni and Shiite do not mix. <br />
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If these Arab League nations are indeed the seven "kings" of Revelation reflected first within the book of Joshua, then one of the seven today may be the government leader described in Revelation which was (in power)... will come back into power... and go on to destruction by the sword in the valley of decision. <br />
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This prophetic story line is also backed up by the prophecies of Joel 3:4, Joel 3:10, Joel 3:14-16, Joel 3:21 as well as Zechariah 9:7. This may mean that the Arab League, like Islam itself that feigned death at the end of World War I with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, might be reborn, transformed and revived as a beast to rise up again as a mighty man marching toward Israel. <br />
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Today's headlines look much like a repeat of the fall of King Jabin of Hazor described in Joshua 11. Today's Jabin whomever he is, may very well rise from the chaos of the "Islamic Awakening" following the fall of a fifth king in an attempt to unify the people and nations of the Mideast and divide or seek to destroy Israel. This leader may not be a part of the southern states of the Arab League, he may will be an Assyrian, from the north:<br />
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O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. Isaiah 10:5<br />
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Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. Isaiah 10:24<br />
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That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. Isaiah 14:25</blockquote>
<b>One thing is certain, as watchmen we must do just that... watch and warn. </b><br />
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Is seems we are seeing the Bible's events prophetically repeat as the Arab League supports Palestinian statehood and Israel agrees to divide its people and the unconditional Covenant Land... <br />
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"Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming with his 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and his two servant wives." Genesis 33:1 </blockquote>
And like the original Arab League, the ebb and flow of today's Middle East upheaval may all very well be led by the nation with the greatest might and wealth in the desert sands at the end of the day... Saudi Arabia. <br />
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This too raises a possibility. Do you suppose Esau and his 400 men were came from the same area? Well the Bible says they were from the land of Seir, the country of Edom. This is Jordan today. It sits between Saudi Arabia and Israel but it has not been there for long. With the break-up of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, the League of Nations (now the U.N.) led by Britain and France, redrew the borders of the Middle East and drew up the national borders. In 1946, two years before the birth of Israel, the country became the Hashemite Kingdom of Trans-Jordan.<br />
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The Arab League is been highly fractured by the chaotic fall of four leaders and a fifth is on the brink. <b>This is an ALERT - - WATCH. </b>Don't be caught sleeping with no oil in your lamp.<br />
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<b>Prayer Alert December 26, 2014:</b> <a blank="" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/27/world/middleeast/2-israeli-police-officers-wounded-in-attack-by-palestinian.html?_r=0" target="_">The New York Times</a> reports today:<br />
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"JERUSALEM — A Palestinian armed with a knife wounded two Israeli border police officers in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday, the police said, in the latest in a wave of attacks in recent months.<br />
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The Palestinian approached the officers as worshipers dispersed after dawn prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque, stabbed one of them in the neck and wounded the other during the ensuing struggle, the police said in a statement. The officers were said to have suffered minor injuries.<br />
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The recent increase in Palestinian attacks against Israelis has included deadly assaults with guns, knives and vehicles in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.<br />
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The violence has been fanned in part by a dispute over the holy site in Jerusalem revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and the site of Al Aqsa Mosque. Israeli security officials have characterized the attacks as the work of individuals acting largely on their own initiative, and not orchestrated or on the orders of any group or organization."<br />
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<a href="http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25717/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Israel Today</a> also reports that "Palestinian assailants lobbed a firebomb at the car of Avner Shapira, who was driving home to the Jerusalem-area community of Ma’aleh Shomron with his 11-year-old daughter, Ayala.<br />
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Both father and daughter were injured in the attack. Ayala suffered third degree burns over most of her body and had to be placed in a medically-induced coma as doctors worked frantically to save her life."<br />
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<b>Prayer Alert November 21, 2014:</b> <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Israeli-official-Erdogan-rhetoric-befits-Tehran-or-Damascus-not-a-NATO-capital-382455" target="_blank">Turkey's Ergodan spews more of his hate toward Israel</a><br />
<blockquote>
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday in remarks immediately slammed by Israel as “malicious and extremist” rhetoric not befitting the leader of a NATO country, that Israel’s “barbaric” attack on al-Aksa was an attack on Turkey.<br />
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According to a report Thursday in Today’s Zaman, Erdogan, during a speech in Algeria to Turkish and Algerian businessmen, said “Israel’s barbaric attack on al-Aksa Mosque is tantamount to an attack on Turkey and Algeria because al-Aksa Mosque belongs to all of us.”<br />
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One government official said Israel has been facing “a malicious campaign of slander concerning a so-called threat to al-Aksa. This campaign has been led by Islamist extremists who claim there is a Jewish threat to al-Aksa. This is baseless and ridiculous, it is slander that has no relationship to the truth whatsoever.”<br />
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The official said Jerusalem was disturbed when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the PA “echoed these baseless charges” and Abbas said Jews were “contaminating” the Temple Mount.</blockquote>
<b>Prayer Alert November 20, 2014:</b> We must not forget Jerusalem. This is very, very difficult, but if you dare to understand, today a commentary from <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Column-One-Responding-to-the-slaughter-382423" target-:_blank="">Caroline Glick in the Jerusalem Post</a> shows a needed but horrific glimpse of the Jihad terror that occurred this week in the Bnei Torah Kehillat Yaakov synagogue in Jerusalem.<br />
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The Hebrew name of the synagogue refers to Jacob's charitable children of Torah. <br />
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Three of the four rabbis praying in the Jerusalem synagogue were from America, the other rabbi was from Canada. Can you imagine making the pilgrimage there to worship and pray to only be brutally attacked and murdered.<br />
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Eight other people including two police officers were wounded in the evil jihadist stabbing attack. One of the officers was from Galilee, he has now died, raising the grave and horrific murder spree to five.<br />
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Columnist Ben Caspit wrote this week in the Maariv newspaper: "The true danger… is that the wave of terror will turn into a true religious war, such as has not yet occurred here" as places of worship are becoming battlegrounds just as Jesus said they would. (see John 16:2 and Luke 21:12)<br />
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The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has taken credit for the attack. Hamas and another militant group with the goal of destroying Israel called the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, praised the attack.<br />
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<b>Prayer Alert November 19, 2014: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!! </b><a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4593099,00.html" target="_blank">Four people killed in terror attack at Jerusalem synagogue</a><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FoihyzPR83s/VGtAJ2ZgkxI/AAAAAAAABxU/Y75izW0lQAQ/s1600/Harav%2BShimon%2BAgasi%2BStreet.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FoihyzPR83s/VGtAJ2ZgkxI/AAAAAAAABxU/Y75izW0lQAQ/s200/Harav%2BShimon%2BAgasi%2BStreet.JPG" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
Two terrorists infiltrate synagogue, yeshiva compound in Har Nof neighborhood, attack worshipers with large knives and gun; eight people wounded; terrorists killed.<br />
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At around 7am, the terrorists - wielding massive knives and a gun - entered the Kehilat Yaakov synagogue on Harav Shimon Agasi Street, which includes both a synagogue and yeshiva (rabbinical seminary), and carried out attacks in more than one location.<br />
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The two were killed following a gunfight with security forces who arrived at the scene. The wounded were taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Hadassah Ein Kerem. At around noon Tuesday, the hospitals said that two people were in critical condition, two people had sustained serious wounds, one person was in moderate condition, and two more were lightly hurt.</blockquote>
While it may not seem related, but the day after the attack something terrible again occurred with roots to 1492 when the Jewish people were expelled from Spain. <br />
<br />
The Edict of Expulsion was issued March 31st by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. It ordered all Jews to leave the country by the last day of July, the day before Tisha B'Av. In 1493-94 there were 4 consecutive red blood moons on the feast days Passover and Tabernacles. We are watching this repeat now. The day after the Jerusalem Synagogue massacre that killed four Rabbis during their weekly Torah study and one police man, Spain voted 319-2 not to condemn the attack but to recognize a Palestinian State.<br />
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<b>Prayer Alert November 12, 2014:</b> In the twilight zone that is the Middle East today... <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4591051,00.html" target="_blank">Turkey to Israel: Stop attacks on Jerusalem</a><br />
<blockquote>
Turkish PM Davutoğlu says Turkey will work to protect Jerusalem from Israel's brutal attacks, as Kerry announces visit to Jordan in bid to calm tensions.<br />
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Speaking to the Turkish paper Hürriyet, Davutoğlu said that nothing would keep Turkey from "protecting Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque."</blockquote>
<a href="http://mobile.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_turkish-minister-to-israel-leave-al-aqsa-or-well-send-you-packing_363990.html" target="_blank">Turkish minister to Israel: Leave al-Aqsa or we’ll send you packing</a><br />
<blockquote>
Turkey's European Union Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkır slammed Israel for an incursion into al-Aqsa Mosque, telling the Israeli soldiers to leave the sacred site at once.<br />
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“I am sending this message to those soldiers who enter [al-Aqsa Mosque] with their boots: If you don't leave it immediately, we will hand you your boots and watch you run away,” Bozkır was quoted by private Doğan news agency as telling a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the southwestern province of Burdur on Sunday.<br />
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Israeli police clashed with Palestinians on Wednesday at the entrance to the 8th-century mosque, Islam's third most sacred place, after what Palestinians call an illegal storming of the mosque by Israeli extremists protected by some 300 Israeli security forces. Palestinian officials said Israeli forces had crossed the threshold of the mosque for the first time since 1967, while Israeli police denied going into the house of worship.<br />
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Palestinian officials say that Israeli police went far inside the mosque wearing their shoes in a sign of disrespect for Muslims, who leave their shoes outside.<br />
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Bozkır,a former diplomat, said Turkey will protect peace in Palestine. “Turkey will not allow [people to] disrupt peaceful orders that we established in Palestine or anywhere else in the world,” he said.<br />
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Since capturing east Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, Israel has maintained a ban on Jews praying at a sacred compound that houses the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.<br />
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In recent weeks, however, a campaign by far-right Jewish nationalists, including ministers in the Israeli government, to be allowed to pray at the site has gathered momentum, which led to clashes at the compound between Israeli security forces and Muslim worshippers angry at what they see as an assault on a shrine that is administered by Islamic authorities.<br />
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The area is run by Muslim authorities under Jordanian custody.<br />
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Turkey lashed out at Israel for the incursion into al-Aqsa Mosque, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu calling it “barbaric.” Davutoğlu also said it was a “divine duty” for Turkey to protect al-Aqsa Mosque.</blockquote>
<b>Meanwhile in the good 'ol USA...</b> The National Cathedral will host prayer to Allah on November 14th. Believe me this is a real headline. It might look like a nightmarish scene from some cheap Hollywood End-Times movie where a single evil anti-christ figure pushes his anti-religion over the entire world. <br />
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But America will witness something different in America’s Cathedral. We will see many Muslim worshipers down on their prayer rugs in a unified chant: “There is only one god, he begets not and I bear witness that Muhammad is His only servant and apostle."<br />
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This will be scene on Friday at the National Cathedral in Washington, where orthodox Muslim clerics have been invited to lead an Islamic prayer service yet we must consider that Muslims would never allow a Christian to preach the Gospel in a mosque. In fact, as shown in this commentary they cause desolation of prayer in their version of "status quo", prohibiting all Jews and Christians from praying at the Temple Mount, the House of Prayer in Jerusalem. <br />
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<a href="http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/National-Cathedral-to-Host-First-Muslim-Prayer-282303401.html" target="_blank">National Cathedral to Host First Muslim Prayer</a><br />
<blockquote>
Washington National Cathedral is hosting a Muslim prayer service for the first time on Friday.<br />
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Planners say they hope Friday's service at the historic cathedral will foster more understanding and acceptance between Christians and Muslims around the world.<br />
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The prominent Episcopal cathedral often hosts national events, such as presidential funerals, and has hosted Muslims at various interfaith services in the past. But planners say this is the first time the cathedral has invited Muslims to lead their own prayers there, which they call a "powerful symbolic gesture.''</blockquote>
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<b>Prayer Alert November 10, 2014: </b> I am very sad to read and to pass this along but we must be praying...<br />
<blockquote>
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure: May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels. For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, "Peace be within you." For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity. Psalm 122:6-9</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2c7340%2cL-4590499%2c00.html" target="_blank">Soldier hurt Tel Aviv stabbing attack succumbs to wounds</a><br />
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Two Israelis were stabbed to death by Palestinian terrorists in attacks in Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion on Monday. Sergeant Almog Shiloni, age 20 from Modi'in, who was stabbed on Monday afternoon after a struggle with a Palestinian who attempted to grab his weapon at the Haganah Train Station in Tel Aviv, succumbed to his wounds on Monday night at the Tel HaShomer Medical Center in Ramat Gan.<br />
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<a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/two-stabbed-in-west-bank-in-possible-terror-attack/#ixzz3IinpbTE9%20" target="_blank">Young woman killed in West Bank stabbing attack</a><br />
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A woman was killed and two people were injured in a stabbing attack at the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut Monday afternoon, in the second terrorist attack of its kind in a day.<br />
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Police said the attack occurred at a bus stop at the entrance to the Etzion bloc settlement south of Jerusalem around 4:45 p.m.<br />
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Despite this horrific violence today in Israel, and what God warns about the valley of Jehoshaphat, Joe Biden says... “We disagree with one another, we love one another, and we drive one another crazy.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Biden, declared that as he called for a two state solution in Israel. <br />
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<b>What does this all mean? </b><div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div></div><div><br /></div>
Shalom.</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-90774306692862721942014-07-08T08:29:00.017-05:002024-01-21T11:27:01.470-06:00The Burden of Nineveh<b><a href="#choose_name">Lastest Nineveh Alert:</a></b> December 9, 2019<br />
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In previous commentaries we have looked separately at the prophetic issues facing today's <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2011/02/oracle-concerning-egypt.html" target="_blank">Egypt</a> as well as <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2012/02/oracle-of-damascus.html" target="_blank">Syria</a>. Two years ago I began to look at a prophetic connection <a blank="" href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2012/02/oracle-of-damascus.html#heading2" target="_">The Oracle of Damascus</a>. So now it is time to turn our attention to Iraq and the land of Nineveh and Mesopotamia the "so-called" cradle of civilization. <br />
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<center>
"From you, Nineveh, has one come forth<br />
who plots evil against the LORD<br />
and devises wicked plans."</center>
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In my Scripture studies I found the prophet Nahum the Elkoshite wrote those words and they describe the evil coming forth in Iraq, specifically the land of ancient Nineveh in the northern plains. <br />
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I encourage you to read and carefully study Nahum's words on the evil plots and wicked plans facing Nineveh before you read on: <br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Nah&c=1&t=NIV&p=1" target="_blank">Nahum Chapter 1</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Nah&c=2&p=1&t=NIV" target="_blank">Nahum Chapter 2</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Nah&c=3&p=1&t=NIV" target="_blank">Nahum Chapter 3</a></li>
</ul>
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Until recently, in fact, only within the last 50 years, archeologists have uncovered evidence documenting the history of the Babylonians of the ancient Nineveh Province. This is significant. According to the <a href="http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11291-nahum-book-of" target="_blank">Jewish Encyclopedia</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
"Of all the Minor Prophets the Book of Nahum has received the greatest and strongest light from the discoveries of the last half-century. The exact location of Nineveh, its fortifications, some of its palaces, its means of defense, its invincible kings, its armies, its amusements, its libraries, and its indescribable cruelty are now known."</blockquote>
Today, the vision of Nahum <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=nineveh&oq=nineveh&aqs=chrome.0.0l6.1438j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#tbm=nws&q=isis" target="_blank"> is seen in the headlines</a> of every newspaper on the planet. Jonah, the book of the prophet to Nineveh says: "And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Jonah 3:4<br />
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The modern battle for the ancient land of Nineveh along the Euphrates River arrived in the headlines in December 2013 when clashes began between the extreme terror militias of the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) with Iraq's government security forces in the ancient plain where Jonah journeyed at God's command to preach repentance in Nineveh, the home of the ruthless Assyrians.<br />
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The virulent story if ISIS also follows the message of Jeremiah 51 like a flashback to the Biblical description of the Euphrates as a destroying wind we now call ISIS. In January 2014, radical ISIS' Sunni militants captured the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. The city of Fallujah is the site of one of America’s bloodiest battles in the Middle East just ten years ago at the <a blank="" href="http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,NI_0105_Fallujah-P2,00.html" target="_">Battle in Fallujah</a>.<br />
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ISIS has now brought the Anbar Province under their black flag of death. Nineveh remained safe in Jonah's day when God saw how they listened to Jonah and turned from their evil ways, in His mercy, God relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened, but now unrelenting evil has come back to the area and Jonah is missing.<br />
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<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
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<big>A Radical Jihadist blood letting nightmare has begun. </big></center>
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<big>The black flag Sunni terror group is beheading </big></center>
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<big>Shiites, Jews and Christians in Nineveh.</big></center>
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
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The ISIS leadership wants to regenerate the Caliphate from the Ottoman abyss and establish their own devil's brand of Sharia Law that opposes the mercy and lovingkindness of our Creator.<br />
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ISIS seeks to accomplish this in the same way the ancient Assyrians attacked and captured the northern tribes of Israel cutting them out of the Promised Land and scattered them across the planet. The Assyrians attacked Jerusalem too, but they failed as king Sennacherib attacked king Hezekiah of Judah and lay siege to Jerusalem, but failed according to Isaiah, 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.<br />
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Archeological evidence of the attack remains today as the stones still cry out about the siege as shown by the archeology of Sennacherib's Stele, Hezekiah's Tunnel and the Siloam inscription beneath the ancient city of David next to the Temple Mount:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook." 2Chronicles 32:30</blockquote>
Today, ISIS is a ruthless, savage beast led by a harlot religion opposing the God of Israel in an unthinkable dark Jezebel spirit carrying out acts of terror, violence, rape, mutilation, destruction, death and beheading against the many different people groups in the wilderness of Nineveh much like the words of Revelation portray. Take a careful look at this passage from Revelation 17:1-6:<br />
<blockquote>
"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me,“Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, With whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”<br />
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So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written:<br />
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MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.<br />
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I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement."</blockquote>
The ISIS abomination attacked Nineveh like a seven-headed beast a month ago on June 4th led by the Jezebel spirit of death as they had murdered, ravaged and robbed. It just so happens that the first ISIS attack occurred on Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, the day many in the West know as Pentecost putting the golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of their fornication in full view of the planet opposing the ten words of God's covenant given at Mount Sinai: "Thy shall not kill."<br />
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Two days later, the U.S. military started our bombings alongside the nations of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.<br />
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Who is this evil beast we call ISIL or ISIS with radical Islamic jihad guiding their rampage?<br />
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ISIS stands for The Islamic group of Iraq and Syria. In the Middle East they are known as Da’ish or Daesh. Some call them ISIL which is the acronym for “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant." The Levant goes back the the caliphate that existed in 1200 AD, but if we look back to Genesis 15:16 we see a group called the Amorites and an iniquity time frame is given. <br />
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Here God tells Abraham something few Biblical scholars seem to address: "And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”<br />
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Consider this: why did God tell Abraham that his descendants must return to the land? Because of the depravity of the Amorites. Yet, here's the thing, the King James translation does not give the full depth of the Hebrew word meaning. <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/15/16/t_conc_15016" target="_blank">Verse 16 with the Hebrew words says this</a>: <br />
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"But in the "fourth generation" [ rĕbiy`iy רְבִיעִי dowr דּוֹר] they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full [shalem שָׁלֵם]."<br />
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According to Strong's Lexicon "Rĕbiy`iy" means fourth, "dowr" means period of time and shalem means complete. The words were given to Abraham 4,000 years ago. Is that the message?<br />
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I do not know, but according to the <a href="http://www.ancient.eu/amorite/" target="_blank">Ancient History Encyclopedia</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
"The Amorites were a Semitic people who seem to have emerged from western Mesopotamia (modern day Syria) at some point prior to the 3rd millennium BCE." <br />
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"The Amorites first appear in history as nomads who regularly made incursions from the west into established territories and kingdoms. The historian Marc Van de Mieroop writes:<br />
<br />
The Amorites were semi-nomadic groups from northern Syria, whom Babylonian literature described in extremely negative terms:<br />
<blockquote>
The Amorite, he is dressed in sheep’s skins;<br />
He lives in tents in wind and rain;<br />
He doesn’t offer sacrifices.<br />
Armed vagabond in the steppe,<br />
He digs up truffles and is restless.<br />
He eats raw meat,<br />
Lives his life without a home,<br />
And, when he dies, he is not buried according to proper rituals.</blockquote>
Van de Mieroop and others point out that 'Amorite’ may not have originally referred to a specific ethnic group but to any nomadic people who threatened the stability of established communities. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Even if this is so, at some point, 'Amorite’ came to designate a certain tribe of people with a specific culture based on a nomadic lifestyle of living off the land and taking what was needed from the communities they encountered. They grew more powerful as they acquired more land until finally they directly threatened the stability of those in the established cities of the region."<br />
<br />
"According to the Jewish Encyclopedia:<br />
<br />
To the apocryphal writers of the first and second pre-Christian century [the Amorites] are the main representatives of heathen superstition, loathed as idolaters, in whose ordinances Israelites may not walk (Lev. xviii. 3). A special section of the Talmud (Tosef., Shab. vi.-vii. [vii.-viii.]; Bab. Shab. 67a et seq.) is devoted to the various superstitions called "The Ways of the Amorites." According to the Book of Jubilees (xxix. [9] 11), "the former terrible giants, the Rephaim, gave way to the Amorites, an evil and sinful people whose wickedness surpasses that of any other, and whose life will be cut short on earth." In the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (lx.) they are symbolized by "black water" on account of "their black art, their witchcraft and impure mysteries, by which they contaminated Israel in the time of the Judges"."</blockquote>
Sounds eerily familiar to today's headlines doesn't it?<br />
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The Amorites were from Syria, they were "an evil and sinful people whose wickedness surpasses that of any other."<br />
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Black flag ISIS is led by a beast-like man by the name of Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarra, but that is not his real name, he is a deceiver. Al-Baghdadi was arrested by U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq ten years ago and held at the Camp Bucca detention center under the name Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badry. He was released in December 2004 and took on the name Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, The first Abu Bakr was Muhammad’s father-in-law and he was the first Caliph of Islam, that's the name Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarra took as his own. The first Abu Bakr was deceiver as well and had another name, it was was Abdullah or Abul-Kaaba. Abul-Kaaba as in the Kaaba, the black stone that pre-dates Islam.<br />
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The Kaaba was the site of the pilgrimage of the Nabateans, the Kaaba held the 360 idols of the Meccan false-gods that were adopted into Greco-Roman culture. Dushara, the chief god of the Nabataeans can still be seen today carved in stone at Petra formerly known as Raqmu the 4th century BC capital city of the Nabataean Kingdom.<br />
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Since the black flags of ISIS began to fly along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, the locust swarm of evil now called ISIS or ISIL have germinated death and destruction first in Baghdad and then they moved into in Syria in 2013 destroying everyday life in the Levant. In January, ISIL turned against al-Qaeda and expelled Jabhat al-Nusra from the Syrian city of Ar-Raqqah.<br />
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Three weeks ago Al Jazeera released this headline: <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/06/isil-declares-new-islamic-caliphate-201462917326669749.html" target="_blank">Sunni rebels declare new 'Islamic caliphate'</a>: <br />
<blockquote>
"In an audio recording released on Sunday, the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declared its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, "the caliph" and "leader for Muslims everywhere".<br />
<br />
"The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organisations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph's authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas," said the group's spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani. "Listen to your caliph and obey him. Support your state, which grows every day.''<br />
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The group announced that it was now called the "Islamic State". According to the statement, the new caliphate stretches from Iraq's Diyala province to Syria's Aleppo.<br />
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"The Shura [council] of the Islamic State met and discussed this issue [of the caliphate] ... the Islamic State decided to establish an Islamic caliphate and to designate a caliph for the state of the Muslims, said Adani.<br />
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"The words 'Iraq' and 'the Levant' have been removed from the name of the Islamic State in official papers and documents."<br />
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An <a href="https://ia902505.us.archive.org/28/items/poa_25984/EN.pdf" target="_blank">official document</a> was also released, in English and several other languages.<br />
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It describes Baghdadi as "the sheikh, the fighter, the scholar who practices what he preaches, the worshipper, the leader, the warrior, the reviver, descendant from the family of the Prophet, the slave of God".<br />
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It urges Muslims to "gather around your caliph, so that you may return as you once were for ages, kings of the earth and knights of war."<br />
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Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said that a caliphate was effectively an Islamic republic led by one leader, regardless of national boundaries."</blockquote>
Al-Baghdadi now wants to be known as "Caliph Ibrāhīm." Al-Baghdadi promotes ISIL's radical butchery, torture and enslavement in a demonic-like manifestation of darkness that mirrors the spirit of the Amorites of Nineveh. <br />
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Daniel 7:23-25 warns of ten horns and that one much different will arise as a fourth generation that will subdue. Could this be the fourth generation?<br />
<blockquote>
"Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. 'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. 'He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time."</blockquote>
From what we have seen today in Nineveh, there are three persecutions in Babylon: Jew, Christian and peaceful Shiites as both men and animals flee in the north from destruction.<br />
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Genesis 15:19-21 gives us a list of ten names tied to Euphrates River and the Amorites show up at the end of the list...<br />
<blockquote>
"In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." Genesis 15:19-21</blockquote>
It's as if the ancient Amorites have morphed into Al-Baghdadi's warriors.<br />
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The headlines have been full of the news of four blood moons appearing at Passover and Tabernacles.<br />
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Should we take note that the evil and Amorite-like horrors seen in Nineveh, Iraq have emerged in the headlines IMMEDIATELY after the April 14th Passover red moon eclipse in April 2014? I don't know. <br />
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The may be no connection, but it seems that truth is stranger than fiction, check the initial news sources for yourself and look at the timelines as ISIS seized large swathes of territory in Nineveh, Iraq. And just of three days ago, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared around the world's news sources as a self declared Caliph as he leads a group of young locusts that seeks to destroy just 60 days after the first Passover eclipse. <br />
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Could this just be a coincidence or should we ask, is it possible that ISIS may play an Amorite like role in a 4,000 year old message given 80 Jubilees ago regarding the incomplete iniquity of the Amorites? Like I said, I don't know,but they seem to give us a shadow picture of God's prophetic word to Abraham and a tie to the fourth generation of Daniel 7:23:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Genesis 15:16 </blockquote><div>Now, ISIS seeks to engage the West's <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/gen.bush.transcript/" target="_blank">"War Against Terror"</a> that was declared by President George Bush in his address to a joint session of Congress and the American people on September 20, 2001. By the way, that message was delivered 7 days before Yom Kippur that year. In that speech, <a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?166196-1/presidential-address" target="_blank">President Bush said</a>:</div><div>
<blockquote>
"The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics; a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam.<br />
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"The terrorists' directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans and make no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children."<br />
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"Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated."</blockquote>
ISIS has been born out of al Qaeda's radical jihadist Islam that looks like the evil of the ancient Amorites.<br />
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Like Bush said, the terrorist agenda does not end with the Taliban. Today, over 70% percent of all global terror events and deaths occur in Taliban strongholds like Pakistan and Afghanistan but terror now extends into Iraq and Syria as well as northern Nigeria where Boko Haram ravages Christians in grave tribulation.<br />
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The depravity of the Amorites is seen in the jihad evil of Islam and a self-proclaimed Caliphate now beheads people in Nineveh. </div><div><br /></div><div>For years we have seen the headlines of the nations that seek the destruction of Israel. The most vocal is Iran. This evil will ultimately seek to wipe Israel off the map - while engaging in horror against any that oppose them along the road to Jerusalem.<br />
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Jeremiah, another ancient prophet like Nahum, wrote of how a nation would attack the ancient land of Babylon: <br />
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This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians: A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both men and animals will flee away. For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured.<br />
<blockquote>
“Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,” declares the LORD. “Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon” Jeremiah 51:48-49</blockquote>
Did you see that? <br />
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Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon... That is something we have to stop and consider in light of the Amorites. And we need to watch the words of Jeremiah as ISIS destroys:<br />
<blockquote>
"Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her." Jeremiah 51:37</blockquote>
In the Septuagint, the original Greek translation of the Hebrew Tanakh, there is a reference to one called Gog in Amos. There Amos says that Gog will be leading a young, devastating swarm of "locusts”:<br />
<blockquote>
"Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, He was forming a locust-swarm when the spring crop began to sprout..." Amos 7:1</blockquote>
This is referring to a host that will arise in "the Spring", an army of evil as shown in Ezekiel’s prophecy. An army that seems to come up out of nowhere to destroy. An army full of young men mysteriously motivated by Satan as if they are demon possessed. <br />
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Revelation teaches us with a lot by symbols, like these. <br />
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One is a swarm of locusts that are seen to coming of an abyss during the fifth trumpet judgment (Revelation 9:1-3). Verse 9/11 says the angel or leader if you will over them is called Abaddon (the Destroyer). He too is described as a king. Abaddon the king angel of the Abyss in command.<br />
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ISIS has become possessed by a deadly, demonic spirit.There's one "like" Gog as their leader Bakr al-Baghdadi heads a youthful group of demonic infested locust-like armies. ISIS is filled with the dark spirits of evil manifested in their destruction and death as they pride in beheading people. <br />
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The word of God seen in Ezekiel 38:15-16 tells us that the youth of many other nations will join the armies of Gog and Magog, and altogether they will come from the north to eventually invade Israel. <br />
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Without question, we are now approaching the end of the age noted by the prophets as the sun is setting some 6,000 years from Adam's time in the garden. HaSatan knows that his time is short (Revelation 12:12), and the evil factions of the black flag of the demonic realm know that the time of Yeshua's return as King is near for Israel. </div><div>
<br />Sunni and Shi’a attack each other as they struggle against each other. Their focus for control is to the East over Babylon, the home of Nimrod. A Gog-Magog spirit is spreading in Syria to the North and Gaza in the South.<br />
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Ultimately, they will attempt to oppose the Anointed One, Yeshua and His sword of truth. <br />
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Despite the words of the Koran and the Hadiths, the one Islam calls "Isa" in Arabic will NOT come to destroy the Jewish people as the executioner of the Mahdi. He will come to save them. The heavenly reality of fiery judgment will eventually fall on Gog-Magog and the armies with him as shown in Ezekiel 38:22-23 and in Revelation 16:14-21. <br />
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Radical Islam will then come to learn that the Elohim God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel is not Allah:<br />
<blockquote>
"And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that <b>I AM Y-H-V-H</b>."</blockquote>
But before this revealing to many nations, Revelation tells us about Jerusalem: "the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell".<br />
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Here, it is very possible Revelation 16 is referencing the facts on the ground today that the city of Jerusalem is divided by three religions with conflict over Messiah: Judaism, Islam and Christianity. <br />
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Not only that, the UN seeks to make Jerusalem an international city and separate it from Israel dividing. The division of Jerusalem has a global impact in Revelation 16:19... "the cities of the nations fell."<br />
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This is epic. </div><div><br /></div><div>As the world seeks to divide Israel, they unwittingly are bringing crisis on themselves leading us to the future of Daniel's vision seen thousands of years ago:<br />
<blockquote>
"In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.<br />
<br />
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.<br />
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I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless." Daniel 10:1-8 (NIV)<br />
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"Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” Daniel 10:14 (NIV)</blockquote>
"I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future," perhaps Habakkuk wrote of this sweeping ruthlessness as well. The prophet's name literally means to “wrestle.” We see the warning seen in Habakkuk 1:1-7:<br />
<blockquote>
“Look at the nations and watch<br />
and be utterly amazed.<br />
For I am going to do something in your days<br />
that you would not believe,<br />
even if you were told.<br />
I am raising up the Babylonians,<br />
that ruthless and impetuous people,<br />
who sweep across the breath of land<br />
to seize dwellings not their own.<br />
They are a feared and dreaded people;<br />
they are a law to themselves<br />
and promote their own honor."</blockquote>
As a watchman we have to be aware. Over the last 100 years, seminary teaching has led to pulpit preaching of replacement theologies laced with a rapture escape hatch. Yet, when you look at the Scriptures and the words of Yeshua, we find a different story. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many declare that the fulfilment of the storyline of Daniel 8 was wrapped up by Antiochus Epiphanes despite the fact that Daniel was told it is a prophecy for the "end days".<br />
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The end days description means we can know that the conflicts of Antiochus IV was a prototype in the last cycle of prophecy. To look forward we need to look back, after all, God declares the end from the beginning in Isaiah 46:10. Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a Greek king of the Seleucid Empire but that was not always his name. His original name was Mithradates. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mithra was the ancient Persian pagan sun god identified with Sol Invictus, the false light god of the world. According to <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/386025/Mithra" target="_blank">Encyclopedia Britannica</a>, "The first written mention of the Vedic Mitra dates to 1400 BC. His worship spread to Persia and after the defeat of the Persians by Alexander the Great, throughout the Hellenic world. In the 3rd and 4th centuries ad, the cult of Mithra, carried and supported by the soldiers of the Roman Empire, was the chief rival to the newly developing religion of Christianity."</div><div>
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Antiochus outlawed Torah observance, burned the scrolls and ordered the worship of Zeus. According to 2 Maccabees 6:1–11, "A man could not keep the sabbath or celebrate the traditional feasts, nor even admit that he was a Jew."<br />
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It seems that Antiochus Epiphanes strangely aligns with what we see happening today with the ISIS bloodlust which is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who took radical leadership of the Da’ish group not long after U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq. It seems we've never withdrawn troops from a post war conflict protection until Iraq. </div><div><br /></div><div>We still have bases in Germany, Japan, Italy, Guam, South Korea, Bulgaria, even Cuba and others. Why Iraq? <a href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/122074.pdf" target="_blank">Here's the withdrawal agreement</a> posted at the State Department. Its says it is for contributing to world peace and stability, strengthening security, combating terrorism and deterring aggression. That means Afghanistan will be next as the President Bush era declared trillion dollar "<a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6045035" target="_blank">war on terror</a>" fades into post 9/11 American history.<br />
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For now the horrific terror of the crisis of ISIS is that they are different. They are more aggressive than we have seen or imagined from groups like al-Qaeda because ISIS attacks its own in a demonic movement east of Israel near the Euphrates. They look like a manifestation of the spiritual darkness of pure evil in the Levant, an area which was first recorded to apply to the whole region including none other than Canaan. <br />
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You might brush this off, but demonic engagement is a part of the reality before us. We need to take note that after landing on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on water, the disciples found themselves in “the country of the Gadarenes,” the area east of Israel and the Jordan River where people were foreigners to God’s covenant with Israel (Matthew 8:28). We can know this to be the case because pigs were raised there and no Torah keeping Jew would be associated with swine (Leviticus 11:7–8). <br />
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Today, areas east of Israel are now threatened by the demon-like ISIS that have arisen after Arab strongmen have fallen following the Arab Spring. </div><div><br /></div><div>Let's look at the account of Matthew 8:28-24: <br />
<blockquote>
"And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” </blockquote><blockquote>Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. </blockquote><blockquote>The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, <u>they begged him to leave</u> their region."</blockquote>
ISIS are not just fierce medieval terrorists, they are like the demon laden herdsmen of the Gadarenes. </div><div><br /></div><div>The account of Matthew shows us that demons were driving the men of Gadar to violence (Matthew 8:28). Incredibly, these dark spirits revealed Yeshua's identity to the disciples when they begged the “Son of God” not to torment them before their "time" (Matthew 8:28). These demons knew that another "time" was coming, perhaps to again possess men and believe it or not, the word Gardarenes means: "<a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1046&t=KJV">reward at the end</a>". <br />
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Precisely as ISIS of Syria and Nineveh reject Jesus today, the men of Gadar rejected the healing of Messiah.<br />
<br />Ignore or even poke fun if you want, but untold horrors foretold in Revelation 20:4 are in the headlines after ISIS attacked Mosul and began a campaign to behead and exterminate people living in the regions east of Israel while seeking to establish a Caliphate (kingdom) ruled by Shariah Law to devour and crush the ancient Christians of Nineveh in Northern Iraq, but:<br />
<blockquote>
"The great day of the Lord is near,<br />
near and hastening fast;<br />
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;<br />
the mighty man cries aloud there.<br />
<br />
A day of wrath is that day,<br />
a day of distress and anguish,<br />
a day of ruin and devastation,<br />
a day of darkness and gloom,<br />
a day of clouds and thick darkness,<br />
a day of trumpet blast and battle cry<br />
against the fortified cities<br />
and against the lofty battlements."<br />
Zephaniah 1:14–16 </blockquote>
The burden of Nineveh looks like the vision of the fourth beast noted in Daniel 7. The Islamic State is a radical militant Muslim beast that declares “the Prophetic methodology,” a beast which follows medieval Islamic prophecy that is committed to purifying the world by killing "apostate infidels" and strictly following the Koran which specifies crucifixion as a punishment for the enemies of Islam. If you doubt this, read the message from the Quran for yourself, Sura 5:33 says:<br />
<blockquote>
Those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land should be punished by death, crucifixion, the amputation of an alternate hand and foot or banishment from the land: a disgrace for them in this world, and then a terrible punishment in the Hereafter . . . . (MAS Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an, Oxford UP, 2004)</blockquote>
The Quran in Sura 7:124 says:<br />
<blockquote>
"Be sure I will cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the cross."</blockquote>
Daniel described a beast as does Revelation, and Daniel tells us who gave meaning to his dream:<br />
<blockquote>
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was <b>one like a son of man</b>, coming with <b>the clouds of heaven</b>. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. </blockquote><blockquote><b>He was given authority, glory and sovereign power</b>; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and <b>his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed</b>."</blockquote>
The beast will meet its end with Messiah King. </div><div><br /></div><div>Daniel 7:13 records an explanation of the "one like a son of man" who is given sovereign power over His kingdom by the Ancient of Days just like the descriptions Messiah's return shown in Matthew 24:30 and Mark 13:26. </div><div><br /></div><div>Daniel continues on about a "horn" government power:<br />
<blockquote>
“Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, which was <b>different from all the others and most terrifying</b>, with its iron teeth and bronze claws — <b>the beast that crushed and devoured its victims</b> and trampled underfoot whatever was left. I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. As I watched, <b>this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them</b>, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. He gave me this explanation: ‘The <b>fourth beast</b> is a fourth kingdom that <b>will appear on earth</b>. It will <b>be different</b> from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The <b>ten horns</b> are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. <b>After them another king will arise</b>, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time" Daniel 7:19-25</blockquote>
It is as if ISIS is a prelude to the ten horns and another, a different king that will also speak against the Most High and also oppress his holy people much like <a blank="" href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/28361/Antiochus-III" target="_">Antiochus III the Great</a>, the Seleucid king born near Suza, Iran. </div><div><br /></div><div>He was the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire. His son Antiochus IV Epiphanes was like ISIS, a ruler in terror. <br />
<br />Antiochus IV Epiphanes conquest of the Middle East included today's Israel. We can read <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/2-maccabees/passage.aspx?q=2-maccabees+5:11-27" target="_blank">2 Maccabees 5:11–14</a> which tells us he massacred young and old, women and children, virgins and infants. In the space of three days, eighty thousand were lost, forty thousand meeting a violent death, and the same number being sold into slavery. <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/2-maccabees/passage.aspx?q=2-maccabees+6:1-11" target="_blank">2 Maccabees 6:1–11</a> states:<br />
<blockquote>
"Not long after this the king sent an Athenian senator to force the Jews to abandon the customs of their ancestors and live no longer by the laws of God; also to profane the temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and that on Mount Gerizim to Zeus the Hospitable, as the inhabitants of the place requested...They also brought into the temple things that were forbidden, so that the altar was covered with abominable offerings prohibited by the laws. A man could not keep the sabbath or celebrate the traditional feasts, nor even admit that he was a Jew. At the suggestion of the citizens of Ptolemais, a decree was issued ordering the neighboring Greek cities to act in the same way against the Jews: oblige them to partake of the sacrifices, and put to death those who would not consent to adopt the customs of the Greeks. It was obvious, therefore, that disaster impended. Thus, two women who were arrested for having circumcised their children were publicly paraded about the city with their babies hanging at their breasts and then thrown down from the top of the city wall. Others, who had assembled in nearby caves to observe the sabbath in secret, were betrayed to Philip and all burned to death."</blockquote>
Antiochus III was defeated by the Romans. Like him, perhaps the one that follows Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi will be defeated because Antiochus III's conquests were assumed by his son <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/28380/Antiochus-IV-Epiphanes" target="_blank">Antiochus IV Epiphanes</a>, the next ruler of the Seleucid Empire. </div><div><br /></div><div>He eventually ruled Judea from 175 to 164 BC. His original name was Mithradates. He was named after the false god Mithra. <br />
<br />
Daniel 11:40-45 is considered non-historical by some Bible scholars, who generally agree that the verses are genuine predictions as they do not accurately describe the events of Antiochus and his son. After describing the "desecration of the Temple (Daniel 11:31) and the Maccabean revolt, Daniel predicts another attack which will include the entire Levant along with Libya and Ethiopia (Daniel 11:40-43). If this is so, terror in Libya will follow by the words of Daniel. We must now watch and pray without ceasing for the Middle East and the Peace of Jerusalem so that you may be accounted worthy.<br />
<blockquote>
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12 ESV</blockquote>
This map is foreboding when we consider what started in Syria is now unfolding before us today in Iraq as if history is repeating itself in the <a blank="" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=isis+headlines&oq=isis+headlines&aqs=chrome..69i57j0j69i60.3353j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#q=isis&tbm=nws" target="_"><u>ISIS headlines</u></a>:<br />
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<b>NBC News Updates:</b> <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror" target="_blank">ISIS TERROR</a> - Continuing coverage of the ISIS terror threat in Iraq and Syria.<br />
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<b>Global Terror Database:</b> The <a href="https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/" target="_blank">Global Terrorism Database (GTD)</a> is an open-source database including information on terrorist events around the world. Statistical information contained in the Global Terrorism Database is based on reports from a variety of open media sources.<br />
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<b>December 9, 2019:</b> Christmas is cancelled in Nineveh. The Arab Spring has resurged this winter in Iraq.<br />
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<a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/december/iraq-protests-christmas-canceled-chaldeans-sako-baghdad.html" target="_blank">Christmas Celebrations Canceled in Iraq After Deaths of 400 Protesters</a><br />
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"Distributing food to protesters with 40 fellow church members under the Jumariyah bridge near Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Ara Badalian made a poignant observation.<br />
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“This movement is a flood, occupying the hearts of the youth and the poor, without any religious discrimination,” the pastor of National Baptist Church recalled to CT. “It has broken down all the walls that divided Iraqis.”<br />
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It is at the bridges—about a dozen span the Tigris River, which bifurcates the Iraqi capital—where most violence has taken place. The protest movement, which began in October, has resulted in more than 400 deaths, around a dozen of them security personnel. Over 17,000 people have been injured.<br />
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In response, the Chaldean Catholic Church decided last week to refrain from holding public celebrations of Christmas, trading tree decorations and holiday receptions for prayers of intercession.<br />
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“Instead of bringing hope and prosperity, the current government structure has brought continued corruption and despair,” Bashar Warda, the Chaldean archbishop of Erbil, told the United Nations Security Council last week."<br />
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<b>May 23, 2019: </b>It's been five years since ISIS attacked Nineveh in northern Iraq.<br />
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<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48333923" target="_blank">Iraq's Christians 'close to extinction' </a><br />
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"The Archbishop of Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, has accused Britain's Christian leaders of failing to do enough in defence of the vanishing Christian community in Iraq.<br />
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In an impassioned address in London, the Rt Rev Bashar Warda said Iraq's Christians now faced extinction after 1,400 years of persecution.<br />
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Since the US-led invasion toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003, he said, the Christian community had dwindled by 83%, from around 1.5 million to just 250,000.<br />
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"Christianity in Iraq," he said, "one of the oldest Churches, if not the oldest Church in the world, is perilously close to extinction. Those of us who remain must be ready to face martyrdom."<br />
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He referred to the current, pressing threat from Islamic State (IS) jihadists as a "final, existential struggle", following the group's initial assault in 2014 that displaced more than 125,000 Christians from their historic homelands."<br />
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"Elsewhere in the Middle East it is a mixed picture for Christians in 2019.<br />
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Egypt's Copts, who constitute at least 10% of the country's 100 million-plus population, have come under sustained attack from jihadists who have bombed their churches and attempted to drive them out of northern Sinai."<br />
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<b>December 1, 2016:</b> Mosul appears to be a mirror image of today's horrors of Aleppo. What happens in Mosul and Aleppo is important to the future of the planet.<br />
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<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38173574" target="_blank">IS conflict: 1,950 Iraq security forces killed in November</a><br />
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"At least 1,959 members of the Iraqi security forces were killed across the country in November, the UN says.<br />
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It is almost three times the figure for October, when the government launched a major offensive to retake the city of Mosul from so-called Islamic State.<br />
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The number of civilians killed in November was 926, while 930 others were injured.<br />
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The UN special representative for Iraq, Jan Kubis, said the casualty figures were "staggering".<br />
"In its desperate attempt to cling on to territory it controls in Mosul and Nineveh areas, [IS] has been employing the most vicious tactics, using civilians' homes as firing positions as well as abducting and forcibly moving civilians, effectively using them as human shields," he added."<br />
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<b>November 20, 2016:</b> As battles deluge Aleppo and Mosul, we have to remember Genesis 10 because this area accounts for Noah's sons that spread out over the land after the devastation of the flood destroyed humanity except for Noah, his sons, and their wives. Here is the introductory verse of the chapter:<br />
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This is the account of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood. Genesis 10:1 </blockquote>
These names are the genesis of the nations of the ancient Biblical world and they figure prominently in the Bible storyline, such as Egypt and Canaan in the genealogy of Ham, and Ashur (Assyria) and Eber (the ancestor of Abraham) in the genealogy of Shem. Today, we see this land at the forefront of disaster once again.<br />
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So we must ask, is there a prophetic link in Genesis 10 that will take conflict along the journey of Abraham toward Jerusalem?<br />
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The Times of Israel reports... <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/paris-peace-parley-proceeding-as-planned-france-insists/" target="_blank">Paris peace parley proceeding as planned, France insists</a><br />
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"France will hold an international peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict next month, French officials said over the weekend, rebuffing several reports claiming that Paris had decided to shelve the planned summit.<br />
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The reports had quoted French President Francois Hollande as saying that he was facing difficulties convening the summit due to heavy international opposition, particularly from Israel but also from the United States.<br />
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French diplomats over weekend said the reports were “erroneous.” Hollande never said the confab was scrapped, merely that it was subject to “incertitude” that bears clarification after the US election, they said.<br />
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“As President Hollande reaffirmed in his speech to the UN General Assembly on September 20, our goal is to convene an international conference in order to help relaunch the Middle East peace process,” a spokesperson from the French Foreign Ministry said Thursday. “We are working closely with our partners and in collaboration with the parties to that end.”"<br />
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<b>November 1, 2016:</b> Aleppo and Mosul exist on the same plane separated by 383 miles. Today, battles rage in the tale of two cities, as only an 8 1/2 hour drive separates their devastation. Before ISIS, some 300,000 Christians lived in Iraq and abut 35,000 lived in Mosul, today there are about 25 or so according to reports.<br />
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According to <a href="https://www.barnabasfund.org/news/Christians-in-Aleppo-face-death-on-all-sides" target="_blank">Barnabasaid</a> on Aleppo: "An estimated 40,000 Christians are amongst the remaining residents." <br />
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The firepower against ISIS is led by Russia to the West in Syria and the United States to the East in Iraq as Moscow and Washington accuse each other of war crimes as civilians hide from the crossfire and the question remains, what will be the end of the conflict and crisis in the Levant?<br />
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The future of the Shia-Sunni <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LFtjaYXrw846cavQ8Ro2B_uVdEw&usp=sharing" target="_blank">conflict may point toward Jerusalem</a>. What happens in Mosul and Aleppo is important to the future of the planet.<br />
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<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/iraq-troops-enter-isis-seized-mosul-1st-time-2-years-n676116" target="_blank">Iraq Troops Enter ISIS-Seized Mosul for 1st Time in 2 Years</a><br />
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"BAZWAYA, Iraq — Iraq's special forces entered the outskirts of Mosul on Tuesday and were advancing toward its more urban center despite fierce resistance by ISIS fighters who hold the city, an Iraqi general said.<br />
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Troops have entered Gogjali, a neighborhood inside Mosul's city limits, and were only 800 yards from the more central Karama district, according to Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces.<br />
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"The special forces have stormed in," he said. "Daesh is fighting back and have set up concrete blast walls to block off the Karama neighborhood and our troops' advance," he said, using the Arabic acronym ISIS. Bombs have been laid along the road into the city, he added.<br />
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It was the first time Iraqi troops have set foot in Mosul in over two years, after they were driven out by a much smaller group of ISIS extremists in 2014. Mosul is the final ISIS bastion in Iraq, the city from which it declared a "caliphate" stretching into Syria, and its loss would be a major defeat for the jihadis."<br />
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<b>October 5, 2016:</b> The Bible is a storyline of the history and future of the world with the focus on the Middle East. In Matthew 24:6 Jesus warned of wars and rumors of war. We have both birth pains increasing in the Middle East.<br />
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As Russia sends its <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/10/05/russia-aircraft-syria/91605608/" target="_blank">S300 Missile battery</a> to Syria to support Assad and <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-10-03/u-s-russian-ties-crumble-under-weight-of-syria-nuclear-pact" target="_blank">suspends its plutonium</a> agreement as agitation grows deep between Russia and the United States, we must recognize that we now face the grave possibility of engagement in two conflicts: one with Russia and one with the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. <br />
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Reuters has just reported on another huge burden in Nineveh: <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-turkey-idUSKCN1250H9?il=0" target="_blank">Baghdad bridles at Turkey's military presence, warns of 'regional war'</a><br />
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"Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has warned Turkey that it risks triggering a regional war by keeping troops in Iraq, as each summoned the other's ambassador in a growing row.<br />
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Relations between the two regional powers are already broadly strained by the Syrian civil war and the rise of the Islamic State militant group.<br />
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Turkey's parliament voted last week to extend its military presence in Iraq for a further year to take on what it called "terrorist organisations" - a likely reference to Kurdish rebels as well as Islamic State.<br />
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Iraq's parliament responded on Tuesday night by condemning the vote and calling for Turkey to pull its estimated 2,000 troops out of areas across northern Iraq.<br />
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"We have asked the Turkish side more than once not to intervene in Iraqi matters and I fear the Turkish adventure could turn into a regional war," Abadi warned in comments broadcast on state TV on Wednesday."<br />
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<b>August 8, 2016:</b> Two years ago ISIS attacked Qaraqosh and Mosul on the ancient Nineveh plains where 2,800 years ago Jonah arrived to preach by the direct order of YHVH Elohim to "cry against it". Jonah walked through the city crying out and warning: “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” But Nineveh listened to the message and repented long ago.<br />
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Regrettably, radical Islamic terrorists have brought tribulation direct to the oldest and largest Christian community in Iraq. They did so without warning in April 2014. Then, weeks later on July 2nd, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the new Islamic State called on Muslims the world over to unite behind him as their leader. The next day, ISIS captured Syria's largest oilfield from rival Islamist fighters, the al-Nusra Front.<br />
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The United Nations Security Council issued a resolution which "deplores and condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist acts of ISIL and its violent extremist ideology, and its continued gross, systematic and widespread abuses of human rights.<br />
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<a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2016/08/4581206/" target="_blank">Iraq: 2 years since Nineveh fell to IS, displaced Christians pray for ‘liberation’</a><br />
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"It’s been two years since thousands of Christians fled their homes in Mosul and the Nineveh Plains to run away from the advancing armies of the so-called Islamic State. But now, as Iraqi forces plan to retake Mosul, the Christians are praying they will soon be able to return home.<br />
Iraqi Christians in Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps across the country held prayer services and other memorial events throughout the weekend to mark the “Black Day” on 6-7 August, 2014, when IS took several towns surrounding Mosul, such as Qaraqosh.<br />
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In the Karamles camp (named after a village still occupied by IS) in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, just 50 miles from Mosul, the central square was filled with people carrying candles, symbolising the light of Christ. The flames lit the words on the posters they were holding: “Liberate Mosul!”"</blockquote>
<b>February 5, 2016:</b> <a href="http://www.worldmag.com/2016/02/eu_declares_isis_actions_genocide" target="_blank"><b>EU declares ISIS actions genocide</b></a><br />
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"The <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20160129IPR11938/MEPs-call-for-urgent-action-to-protect-religious-minorities-against-ISIS" target="_blank">European Parliament</a> on Thursday <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2f%2fEP%2f%2fTEXT%2bTA%2bP8-TA-2016-0051%2b0%2bDOC%2bXML%2bV0%2f%2fEN&language=EN" target="_blank">passed a resolution declaring Islamic State violence against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities genocide and punishable under the 1948 convention on genocide.</a><br />
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By show of hands in the 751-member parliament, the elected representatives of the 28-nation EU became the largest international body to subject to unified condemnation and legal punishment the two-year reign of terror by Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh).<br />
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In strikingly forceful and detailed language, the resolution condemns the terrorist organization’s “deliberate targeting” of religious groups. It cites ISIS driving more than 150,000 Christians from Nineveh Plains on the night of Aug. 6, 2014, and it calls attention to the ISIS kidnapping of more than 200 Assyrian Christians from Syria’s Khabur River region in February 2015. The resolution also highlights the killing of an estimated 5,000 Yazidis in Iraq, and the enslavement and trafficking of at least 2,000 Yazidi women—all by ISIS. <br />
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“The persecution, atrocities, and international crimes amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the resolution states, declaring the terrorist group “is committing genocide against Christians and Yazidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities, who do not agree with the so-called ISIS/Daesh interpretation of Islam.”<br />
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The EU action came eight days after the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly—a nonbinding human rights body that’s nevertheless larger than the EU with 47 members states—overwhelmingly passed a similar resolution, 117-1. The European genocide rulings put added—and human rights advocates say, needed—pressure on the Obama administration and Congress to do the same. <br />
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Last October, the world’s largest organization of genocide experts, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, called on Congress to declare the crimes committed by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria genocide. But U.S. officials have been notably reluctant to act.<br />
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A bipartisan resolution whose language mirrors the EU resolution has languished in the House since last year, even though it has 178 co-sponsors. President Barack Obama and the U.S. State Department have refused to apply the term genocide to ISIS-targeted violence. The president last month referred to the atrocities instead as “unspeakable violence and persecution.”<br />
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In December, journalist Michael Isikoff reported the administration was preparing to declare ISIS attacks on Yazidis genocide but would exclude Christians and others from the declaration."</blockquote>
<b>January 13, 2016:</b> <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/open-doors-world-watch-list-2015-deadliest-year-christians-killed-for-faith-jesus-christ-154875/" target="_blank"><b>2015 Deadliest Year for Christians Worldwide, Open Doors' World Watch List Finds</b></a><br />
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"The Christian persecution watchdog group <a href="https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/" target="_blank"><b>Open Doors</b></a> has released its annual list of countries where Christians face the greatest persecution and found that it has reached unprecedented levels worldwide as over 7,000 Christians were killed for their faith between Nov. 1, 2014, and Oct. 31, 2015.<br />
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Although the California-based ministry, which works in over 60 countries, stated last January that 2014 was the worst year for Christian persecution than any other time in modern history, the organization said during the rollout of its 2016 World Watch List that 2015 surpassed 2014 as the deadliest year for Christians worldwide.<br />
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Open Doors found that over 3,000 more Christians were killed for faith-related reasons during its reporting period for the 2016 World Watch List than it found during the reporting period for the 2015 report. Additionally, over 2,400 churches were attacked, damaged or destroyed during the reporting period, which is more than double the number from last year."</blockquote>
<b>December 27, 2015:</b> Jeremiah tells us he saw a "cauldron" coming from the "north" of Israel. <br />
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"The word of YHWH came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot [caldron], facing away from the north.” Then YHWH said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares YHWH, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah."" Jeremiah 1:13-15</blockquote>
In 70 AD, the <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2011/09/who-were-legions-of-rome.html" target="_blank">Roman Legions, comprised of soldiers recruited from none other than Syria</a> came against Jerusalem, but should we consider it possible this vision may repeat?<br />
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I pray not, instead I pray that vision was reserved only for a day past, but we MUST SEE today's headlines show us that Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is warning Israel to prepare to meet ISIS. <br />
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NBC News has reported: <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-leader-says-group-getting-stronger-purported-new-message-n486201" target="_blank"><b><b>ISIS Leader Says Group Is Getting Stronger in Purported New Message</b></b></a><br />
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"ISIS released a new audio message Saturday purportedly from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, mocking the U.S. for not putting combat boots on the ground and criticizing the recently declared Saudi-led Islamic military coalition against terrorism.<br />
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Flashpoint Intelligence, a security firm and NBC News partner, verified that the message was released by the group's main media arm via official channels online. NBC News, however, cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the audio.<br />
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The terror group's top leader said in the 24-minute clip that ISIS was thriving and that airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition and Russia in Syria are failing, despite destroying Syrian oil facilities and killing several ISIS leaders in recent weeks."</blockquote>
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Everyone knows that ISIS threatens everyone in Syria and Iraq and now YNet News has posted a headline about <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/nah/1/1/t_conc_901011" target="_blank">the worthless counselor</a> Al-Baghdadi who also has a terror support group in the south that seek to ultimately attack Israel form the Sinai <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25882504" target="_blank">formerly called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis</a>. After aligning with ISIS they call themselves "Sinai Province" but their former name reveals their intent. They called themselves "Supporters of the Holy House" or "Supporters of Jerusalem". In Libya, the local Salafist ISIS support group calls themselves <a href="http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/ansar_al_sharia.html" target="_blank">Ansar Al Sharia</a> which means "Supporters of Islamic Law". <br />
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There are many more terror groups in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and SE Asia listed at <a href="http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups.html" target="_blank">The National Counterterrorism Center</a>. Just a week before the last blood moon at Tabernacles, random stabbings and shootings known in Israel as "The Wave of Terror" have swept across Israel since Yom Kippur. </div><div><br /></div><div>It started at the plaza outside al-Aqsa mosque regarding the status of the Temple Mount. The goal of the "terror" is to liberate Palestine as attacking Palestinians believe that the terror will lead to the destruction of Israel and a Palestinian state. In their own insane evil, they do not realize that their murder murders of innocents will lead to rule not by Hamas, but to the chaos of the Islamic State. These radical Palestinians seek to destroy Israel, but little do they know, they will destroy themselves in the end.<br />
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The jihadist Muslim world repeatedly portrays the murderers of innocent Jewish civilians as heroes, as the Western media refuses to brand these devils as evil.<br />
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The YNet headline gives an apocalyptic message that states their goal, and I can't help but wonder if the Assyrians sent messages before they attacked Israel 70 years before Jeremaiah's visons?: <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4744424,00.html" target="_blank">ISIS leader to Israel: Palestine will be your graveyard</a><br />
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"Al-Baghdadi asserts that the terrorist group has not forgotten the Palestinians and is getting closer by the day to a showdown with Israel."<br />
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"If the Islamic coalition against ISIS were truly Islamic, it would declare that it was cutting ties with its Jewish and crusader masters and that its goal was to kill the Jews and liberate Palestine," said al-Baghdadi in the tape."<br />
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"The Jews thought we forgot Palestine and that they had distracted us from it," he continued. "Not at all, Jews. We did not forget Palestine for a moment. With the help of Allah, we will not forget it… The pioneers of the jihadist fighters will surround you on a day that you think is distant and we know is close. We are getting closer every day."<br />
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"You will never find comfort in Palestine, Jews," continued the terrorist leader. "Palestine will not be your land or your home, but it will be a graveyard for you."<br />
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"Allah assembled you in Palestine so that the Muslims kill you, so that you may hide behind stones and trees (a Muslim tradition regarding the killing of Jews)," declared the head of the self-styled caliphate."<br />
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"In October, a branch of ISIS in Damascus released a Hebrew-language video. "We will enter Al-Aqsa mosque as conquerors and our car bombs will strike the ramparts of the Jews," said an ISIS member in the video."</blockquote>
Allah NEVER assembled the Jewish people in Palestine. YHVH Elohim brought them to Israel. Ironically, this CBS News article reports about the "north": <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-surfaces-in-new-audio-recording/" target="_blank">ISIS leader surfaces in new audio recording</a><br />
<blockquote>
"Baghdadi brought up the idea of this epic final battle which based on a 1,400-year old prophecy about "Crusader forces" attempting to conquer Muslim land in a place called "Dabiq," but Muslim armies fight them and emerge victorious. They then conquer Rome and end up ruling the entire world. According to the prophecy, this battle in "Dabiq" would be a sign marking the beginning of the end of the world."<br />
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"ISIS has been promoting the idea that Dabiq exists for real near Azaz, north of the Syrian city of Aleppo."</blockquote>
Muhammad is believed to have said that "the last hour will not come" until Muslims vanquish the Romans at "Dabiq" and for the past 18 months, notably since the first of the four feast day "blood moons" ISIS has been seeking to bring on that battle and now the international coalition is there including the U.S. France, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia's Arab coalition. <br />
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They are all there to fight ISIS, but Jeremiah's vision of the “almond” branch carries the truth to Israel, not Muhammad. <br />
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<big><big>People of Jerusalem, shama`. <br />
Seek Yeshua the pierced One!!</big></big></center>
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The good news, the "basar" or the gospel as many call it is this: The humble feet of the one called Salvation (Yeshua) have already walked your mountains. Nahum (1:15) told you this as he spoke of fighters from Nineveh: <br />
<blockquote>
"Behold, upon the mountains, <br />
the feet of him who brings good news, <br />
who publishes peace!" </blockquote>
And Nahum has the Torah's required second witness in Isaiah 52:7. Listen to (shama`) Isaiah. He gives you His name Yeshua יְשׁוּעָה<br />
<blockquote>
"How beautiful upon the mountains<br />
are the feet of him who brings good news,<br />
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,<br />
who listens to salvation יְשׁוּעָה<br />
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”"</blockquote>
Zechariah is telling you about another miraculous day ahead, it is greater than what you have ever seen in your restoration to the land. It speaks of Yeshua, the pierced one's return as your King: <br />
<blockquote>
"And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. Zechariah 12:9-10</blockquote>
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Psalm 122:6 <br />
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<b>November 17, 2015</b> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/12000148/Islamic-State-sex-slaves-Sinjar-mass-graves-show-what-were-fighting.html">Mass graves of women 'too old to be Isil sex slaves' - this is what we're up against</a><br />
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In the desert dust of Sinjar, in north west Iraq, a walking stick lies on the ground.<br />
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Strewn casually alongside it are a couple of pairs of scissors, some household keys and a shoe.<br />
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Bank notes flutter in the dirt.<br />
<br />
But, if you look a little closer, the scene becomes a horror show. Clumps of hair and fragments of bone poke grotesquely out of the ditch. It is estimated that almost 80 women are buried in this mass grave, aged between 40 and 80-years-old. The bodies are of Yazidi women, murdered by Islamic State butchers.<br />
<br />
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<center>
<big>As the world prayed for Paris, more than three thousand miles east another atrocity was being uncovered.</big></center>
</blockquote>
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<br />
Last week Kurdish forces – backed by British and American air strikes – liberated Sinjar from Islamic State militants, along with 28 other villages.<br />
<br />
They discovered two graves. The first – containing the corpses of older women – was found west of the city’s centre, near the Sinjar Technical Institute. The second was ten miles west, and is believed to contain men, women and children. It is rigged with explosives and deliberately difficult to access.<br />
<br />
The Kurdish government team will analyse the bodies in an attempt to uncover the grim story of what happened here.<br />
<br />
But let’s be frank: it is not difficult to guess.<br />
<br />
Over the past year, Islamic State forces have kidnapped thousands of young Yazidi women to use as sex slaves. Now we know what happened to those not deemed ‘attractive enough’ for them.<br />
<br />
French President Francois Hollande has called the sickening atrocities carried out in Paris “an act of war” committed by Isil.<br />
<br />
But for the Yazidis, persecuted in Iraq, this is not just a war. It has all the marks of genocide.<br />
Reading about what happened to the Yazidis is difficult. At a time when the west is still mourning the victims of the co-ordinated terror attacks in Paris, more horrific news can seem too much to bear.<br />
<br />
But the massacre of the Yazidis cannot be ignored if the true nature of the enemy in Hollande’s ‘war’ is to be understood.<br /><br />
<b>October 2, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/grand-ayatollah-ali-al-sistani-urges-global-war-against-isis-n437421" target="_blank">Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Urges Global War Against ISIS</a><br />
<blockquote>
"BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric called for a global war against ISIS on Friday, a day after the prime minister said he would welcome Russian airstrikes against the group on his country's soil.<br />
<br />
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has a huge following and can often influence government thinking, was speaking through an aide after nationally televised Friday prayers.<br />
<br />
"Battle with Daesh is destined for all Iraqis," said Sistani, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. "But it's not their battle alone but the whole world, because terrorists target with their dark ideology all humanity, its culture and morals."<br />
<br />
He added: "It's essential to join together all efforts and expand the parameters of countering this movement.""</blockquote>
CBN News reports: <b>ISIS's First Step: Conquer Rome, Defeat Christianity</b><br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/28fvSS0J6xg?rel=0&controls=0" width="400"></iframe></center>
<br />
<b>September 30, 2015:</b> The Associated Press reports: <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/vladimir-putin-gets-unanimous-green-light-use-troops-syria-n436026" target="_blank">Vladimir Putin Gets Unanimous Green Light to Use Troops in Syria</a><br />
<blockquote>
"Russian lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday to let President Vladimir Putin send Russian troops to Syria. The Kremlin sought to play down the decision, saying it will only use its air force there, not ground troops."</blockquote>
<b>July 18, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-kills-115-eid-one-iraqs-deadliest-attacks-decade-n394351" target="_blank">ISIS Kills 115 on Eid in one of Iraq's Deadliest Attacks in a Decade</a><br />
<blockquote>
"An attack by ISIS on a crowded marketplace in Iraq killed 115 people, including women and children, in one of the deadliest single attacks in the country in the past decade.<br />
<br />
The mostly-Shiite victims were gathered to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ended Friday for Iraqi Shiites and a day earlier for Iraqi Sunni Muslims.<br />
<br />
Police said a small truck detonated in a crowded marketplace in the town of Khan Beni Saad Friday night in what quickly turned celebrations into a scene of horror, with body parts scattered across the market. At least 170 people were injured."</blockquote>
<b>Update: July 13, 2015:</b> The Hill reports from Jerusalem: <a blank="" href="http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/247709-isis-has-threatening-words-for-christian-jerusalem" target="">ISIS has threatening words for Christian Jerusalem</a><br />
<blockquote>
"Since Friday, June 27, leaflets have appeared in and around Arab East Jerusalem, signed by the Islamic State. On July 3, Israeli television Channel One reported on a leaflet that read:<br />
<br />
The Armed Forces of the Decisive Swords will purify the Islamic neighborhoods of Christians so that on Eid al[-]Fitr, these neighborhoods will be completely clean. We will start in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina and move on to Shuafat and then all the neighborhoods of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We say to the Christian unbelievers, you must leave immediately so that you will not be slaughtered like lambs with the dawning of Eid al[-]Fitr.<br />
<br />
The pamphlets were signed "The Islamic State, Emirate of Jerusalem."<br />
<br />
Eid al-Fitr is the last day of holy month of Ramadan, the joyous breaking of the Muslim fast. On the Gregorian calendar, Eid begins at sunset on Thursday, July 16.<br />
<br />
It is no secret that the Islamic State, or ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) has had its eye on Jerusalem, the third holiest city in the Islamic faith after Mecca and Medina. ISIS often legitimizes its atrocities and attracts followers by promising to "liberate" Jerusalem. For example, the Islamic State in the Sinai, responsible for the bloody attacks on July 1 that killed dozens of Egyptians, released a propaganda video of a captured Egyptian soldier, later executed, saying: "They want to liberate Jerusalem, and soldiers like me are preventing them. I am a soldier that prevents them from liberating Jerusalem because we [Egypt] support Israel."<br />
<br />
The leaflets in Jerusalem similarly accused Christians of serving as agents of Israel and the West, spreading evil by encouraging Muslims to become more secular. The leaflets also charged that the Christians have violated the Pact of Umar, made over 1,000 years ago after Muslims conquered the Holy Land. The pact forbade Christians from displaying crosses on churches, chanting prayers in a loud voice when a Muslim is present, proselytizing, erecting new monasteries or repairing churches when they fall into ruin.<br />
<br />
The Islamic State in Gaza has also recently accused Hamas of being too lenient in enforcing Islamic law. In fact, the Islamic State in Gaza is so irate that it has now sworn to overthrow Hamas.<br />
<br />
But, just to be clear, the Islamic State cells that plan to attack Jerusalem's Christians are coming not from Gaza or the Sinai. No. The cells are coming from the West Bank. The route specified by the leaflet proceeds from north to south, not south to north. To reach Beit Hanina, the cells would need to pass first through the Qalandia checkpoint. They would then proceed south to Shuafat, pass another checkpoint, and from there go on to the Old City of Jerusalem where they would eventually run into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.<br />
<br />
I know. It's confusing."</blockquote>
<b>July 6, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/how-do-you-keep-isis-out-israel-building-fence-along-n386366" target="_blank">Israel Is Building an Anti-ISIS Fence Along Border With Jordan</a><br />
<blockquote>
"TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel has taken one more step to walling itself off from its neighbors.<br />
<br />
The border with Jordan is the last Israeli frontier that is totally open to a neighboring country; the borders with Egypt, Syria and Lebanon are all fenced off.<br />
<br />
But the nation's Security Cabinet adopted a proposal last month to build an approximately 18-mile-long fence along Israel's eastern border with Jordan."</blockquote>
While many of us were watching the headlines and grieving about the Supreme Court decision here in America, in the Middle East, it seems all eyes were on ISIS as they are aligning with Hamas as their eyes are on Jerusalem.<br />
<br />
If we check out Numbers 24 in the Balak Torah portion last week, it had this to say hidden in plain sight: <br />
<blockquote>
"I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth." Numbers 24:17</blockquote>
It is amazing to see that verse this week since many reports came out of Israel last week that ISIS, a Balak nation with sights on Jerusalem, is now encroaching on Israel. An affiliate of <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/271621-sinai-egypt-rockets-israel/" target="_blank">ISIS has fired rockets</a> from the Sinai and are telling the world they have infiltrated Gaza. Israel recently approved the <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/israel-approves-extending-fortified-fence-jordan-border-094016915.html" target="_blank">construction of a new high-tech security fence near the Jordan border</a> designed to stop Jihadi infitratration from Jordan. <br />
<br />
We must consider the words that have remained unchanged between Numbers 24:14-19 for some 3,500 years.<br />
<br />
Here's the rest of the Exodus account as Balaam heard the words of God and saw the vision of the Almighty in a trance with his eyes wide open:<br />
<blockquote>
"And now, behold, I am going to my people. <br />
Come, I will let you know what this people <br />
will do to your people in the latter days.” <br />
<br />
And he took up his discourse and said,<br />
<br />
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,<br />
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,<br />
the oracle of him who hears the words of God,<br />
and knows the knowledge of the Most High,<br />
who sees the vision of the Almighty,<br />
falling down with his eyes uncovered:<br />
<br />
I see him, but not now;<br />
I behold him, but not near:<br />
a star shall come out of Jacob,<br />
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;<br />
it shall crush the forehead of Moab<br />
and break down all the sons of Sheth.<br />
Edom shall be dispossessed;<br />
Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.<br />
<br />
Israel is doing valiantly.<br />
<br />
Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, <br />
and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city."<br />
Exodus 24:14-18</blockquote>
A people God calls Israel will do valiantly. <br />
<br />
<b>June 1, 2015:</b> Debka file reports <a href="http://www.debka.com/article/24637/ISIS-arrives-in-Gaza-Supporters-of-the-%E2%80%9CIslamic-State-of-Jerusalem%E2%80%9D-sighted-on-Israeli-border" target="_blank">ISIS arrives in Gaza: Supporters of the “Islamic State of Jerusalem” sighted on Israeli border</a><br />
<blockquote>
"Followers of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant were spotted for the first time in the Gaza Strip this week, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. Their arrival on Israel's border was confirmed as a division-strength IDF force launched its large-scale “Turning Point 2015” exercise for repelling Islamist cross-border incursions. The Islamist group which has established a substantial anti-Hamas presence in the Gaza Strip is Ansar al Dawa al-Islamia, renamed “Supporters of the Islamic State of Jerusalem.”"</blockquote>
<b>April 20, 2015:</b> The Islamic militants that have joined the "Islamic State" call Christians 'worshipers of the cross'. This is a subtle lie. After all, Christians of course are not worshipers of the cross, they are followers of Yeshua-Jesus of Nazareth. Like Him, they are willing to give their lives for their faith in a time when the fire of persecution of Christians in the Middle East is exploding. The flame seems to be inadvertently fanned by failed policies that endorsed and promoted the Arab Spring as the rise of democracy, the will of the people while U.S. troops withdrew their protection from Iraq and our commander in chief turned his back to the oblivion in Syria.<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/04/19/isil-ethiopian-christians/26026769/" target="_blank">ISIL video purports to show killing of Ethiopian Christians</a><br />
<br />
"A video purporting to show the killing of Ethiopian Christians by Islamic State-affiliated militants in Libya has been released online.<br />
<br />
The 29-minute video appears to show militants holding two groups of captives, one by an affiliate in eastern Libya known as Barka Province and the other by the Fazzan Province, an affiliate in the south.<br />
<br />
A masked fighter wielding a pistol says Christians must convert to Islam or pay a special tax prescribed by the Quran, before the captives in the south are shown being shot dead and the captives in the east are beheaded on a beach."</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/04/19/more-than-0000-people-have-fled-islamic-state-advance-in-iraq-anbar-province/" target="_blank">More than 90,000 people have fled Islamic State advance in Iraq's Anbar province</a><br />
<blockquote>
"BAGHDAD – A United Nations humanitarian agency says more than 90,000 people have fled the Islamic State group's advance in Iraq's western Anbar province, which has set off fierce fighting in and around the provincial capital Ramadi.<br />
<br />
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Sunday that civilians are fleeing Ramadi as well as three nearby villages captured by the IS group a few days ago.<br />
<br />
OCHA says in a statement that humanitarian agencies have moved quickly to provide assistance, including food, water and shelter.<br />
<br />
Iraqi troops backed by Shiite militias and U.S.-led airstrikes managed to dislodge the IS group from the northern city of Tikrit earlier this month.<br />
<br />
But troops have struggled against the militants in Anbar, which saw some of the heaviest fighting of the eight-year U.S. military intervention."</blockquote>
<b>April 4, 2015:</b> If you are like me and you have been scratching your head trying to figure out where on earth the evil of ISIS came from, it's critical that you read this report from Liz Sly which is part of a series from the Washington Post. <br />
<br />
This is huge, it will open you eyes as to why ISIS is plotting to bring back the U.S. led "Coalition of the Willing" into a 'final battle' in the Middle East. All non-U.S. coalition members had withdrawn from Iraq by August 2009 and the last 500 U.S. soldiers left Iraq on December 18, 2011. You need to READ ALL of this report:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-hidden-hand-behind-the-islamic-state-militants-saddam-husseins/2015/04/04/aa97676c-cc32-11e4-8730-4f473416e759_story.html" target="_blank"><b>The hidden hand behind the Islamic State militants? Saddam Hussein’s.</b></a><br />
<blockquote>
CONFRONTING THE ‘CALIPHATE’| This is part of an occasional series about the militant group Islamic State and its violent collision with the United States and others intent on halting the group’s rapid rise.<br />
<br />
"The raw cruelty of Hussein’s Baathist regime, <a href="https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Report-Iraq-De-Baathification-2013-ENG.pdf" target="_blank">the disbandment of the Iraqi army</a> after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the subsequent insurgency and the marginalization of Sunni Iraqis by the Shiite-dominated government all are intertwined with the Islamic State’s ascent, said Hassan Hassan, a Dubai-based analyst and co-author of the book “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror.”<br />
<br />
“A lot of people think of the Islamic State as a terrorist group, and it’s not useful,” Hassan said. “It is a terrorist group, but it is more than that. It is a homegrown Iraqi insurgency, and it is organic to Iraq.”<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/analysis/fuel.html" target="_blank">de-Baathification law</a> promulgated by L. Paul Bremer, Iraq’s American ruler in 2003, has long been identified as one of the contributors to the original insurgency. At a stroke, 400,000 members of the defeated Iraqi army were barred from government employment, denied pensions — and also allowed to keep their guns.<br />
<br />
The U.S. military failed in the early years to recognize the role the disbanded Baathist officers would eventually come to play in the extremist group, eclipsing the foreign fighters whom American officials preferred to blame, said Col. Joel Rayburn, a senior fellow at the National Defense University who served as an adviser to top generals in Iraq and describes the links between Baathists and the Islamic State in his book, “Iraq After America.”<br />
<br />
The U.S. military always knew that the former Baathist officers had joined other insurgent groups and were giving tactical support to the Al Qaeda in Iraq affiliate, the precursor to the Islamic State, he said. But American officials didn’t anticipate that they would become not only adjuncts to al-Qaeda, but core members of the jihadist group.<br />
<br />
“We might have been able to come up with ways to head off the fusion, the completion of the Iraqization process,” he said. The former officers were probably not reconcilable, “but it was the labeling of them as irrelevant that was the mistake.”<br />
<br />
Under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliph, the former officers became more than relevant. They were instrumental in the group’s rebirth from the defeats inflicted on insurgents by the U.S. military, which is now back in Iraq bombing many of the same men it had already fought twice before." </blockquote>
<b>April 2, 2015:</b> Today is the 13th day of Nisan. It is the day noted in in Esther 3:12-13:<br />
<blockquote>
"Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey."</blockquote>
Today is the day that Haman convinced king Ahasuerus to sign a decree to destroy the Jewish people on Adar 13. The next Adar 13 will occur on the Day of Purim March 24, 2016, one month before Passover. Today, this word was spoken:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/04/02/statement-president-framework-prevent-iran-obtaining-nuclear-weapon" target="_blank">Statement by the President on the Framework to Prevent Iran from Obtaining a Nuclear Weapon</a><br />
<blockquote>
Rose Garden 2:25 P.M. EDT<br />
<br />
"THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Today, the United States -- together with our allies and partners -- has reached a historic understanding with Iran, which, if fully implemented, will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. <br />
<br />
As President and Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater responsibility than the security of the American people. And I am convinced that if this framework leads to a final, comprehensive deal, it will make our country, our allies, and our world safer."<br />
<br />
"Today, after many months of tough, principled diplomacy, we have achieved the framework for that deal. And it is a good deal, a deal that meets our core objectives. This framework would cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran will face strict limitations on its program, and Iran has also agreed to the most robust and intrusive inspections and transparency regime ever negotiated for any nuclear program in history. So this deal is not based on trust, it’s based on unprecedented verification. <br />
<br />
Many key details will be finalized over the next three months, and nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed. But here are the basic outlines of the deal that we are working to finalize.<br />
<br />
First, Iran will not be able to pursue a bomb using plutonium, because it will not develop weapons-grade plutonium. The core of its reactor at Arak will be dismantled and replaced. The spent fuel from that facility will be shipped out of Iran for the life of the reactor. Iran will not build a new heavy-water reactor. And Iran will not reprocess fuel from its existing reactors -- ever.<br />
<br />
Second, this deal shuts down Iran’s path to a bomb using enriched uranium. Iran has agreed that its installed centrifuges will be reduced by two-thirds. Iran will no longer enrich uranium at its Fordow facility. Iran will not enrich uranium with its advanced centrifuges for at least the next 10 years. The vast majority of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium will be neutralized.<br />
<br />
Today, estimates indicate that Iran is only two or three months away from potentially acquiring the raw materials that could be used for a single nuclear bomb. Under this deal, Iran has agreed that it will not stockpile the materials needed to build a weapon. Even if it violated the deal, for the next decade at least, Iran would be a minimum of a year away from acquiring enough material for a bomb. And the strict limitations on Iran’s stockpile will last for 15 years.<br />
<br />
Third, this deal provides the best possible defense against Iran’s ability to pursue a nuclear weapon covertly -- that is, in secret. International inspectors will have unprecedented access not only to Iranian nuclear facilities, but to the entire supply chain that supports Iran’s nuclear program -- from uranium mills that provide the raw materials, to the centrifuge production and storage facilities that support the program. If Iran cheats, the world will know it. If we see something suspicious, we will inspect it. Iran’s past efforts to weaponize its program will be addressed. With this deal, Iran will face more inspections than any other country in the world.<br />
<br />
So this will be a long-term deal that addresses each path to a potential Iranian nuclear bomb. There will be strict limits on Iran’s program for a decade. Additional restrictions on building new facilities or stockpiling materials will last for 15 years. The unprecedented transparency measures will last for 20 years or more. Indeed, some will be permanent. And as a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran will never be permitted to develop a nuclear weapon.<br />
<br />
In return for Iran’s actions, the international community has agreed to provide Iran with relief from certain sanctions -- our own sanctions, and international sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council. This relief will be phased as Iran takes steps to adhere to the deal. If Iran violates the deal, sanctions can be snapped back into place. Meanwhile, other American sanctions on Iran for its support of terrorism, its human rights abuses, its ballistic missile program, will continue to be fully enforced.<br />
<br />
Now, let me reemphasize, our work is not yet done. The deal has not been signed."</blockquote>
Now, let me reemphasize: these are the words from the 44th President that <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/james-franklin-jeffrey-behind-the-u-s-withdrawal-from-iraq-1414972705" target="_blank">prematurely withdrew from Iraq</a>, the President that <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-wont-meet-with-israels-netanyahu-during-u-s-visit-1421950429" target="_blank">refused to meet with Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu</a> as he <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/03/03/full-text-netanyahus-address-to-congress/" target="_blank">warned Congress</a> of a bad deal, the same President that ignores the chants of "<a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-iranian-supreme-leader-backs-his-governments-nuclear-deal-efforts-20150321-story.html#page=1" target="_blank">Death to America</a>," the President that declared <a href="http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/obama-2011-no-question-libya-would-be-better-gaddafi-out-power" target="_blank">'No Question That Libya ...Would Be Better Off With Gaddafi Out of Power'</a>, the President that <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/09/03/spinning-obamas-reference-to-isis-as-a-jv-team/" target="_blank">called ISIS the "JV team"</a>, the President that said <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-continues-back-yemen-model-successful-counterterrorism/story?id=29901029" target="_blank">Yemen was a counterterrorism success.</a><br />
<br />
We must consider the world today, it points to prophecy. When we do, <a href="http://zechariahspatrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-Ram-and-Goat-Daniel-8.pdf" target="_blank">the "latter day" ram and goat conflict</a> described in Daniel 8 appears to be coming into focus that made Daniel sick for days.<br />
<br />
Should we possibly consider, when "the deal" runs out, it will be 2030? That coming year may well mark two days (2,000 years) since Yeshua's crucifixion and perhaps a time of <a href="http://zechariahspatrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-Ram-and-Goat-Daniel-8.pdf" target="_blank">the ultimate ram and goat conflict</a>. <br />
<br />
Hosea 6:2 says:<br />
<blockquote>
"After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight."</blockquote>
2Peter 3:7-8 says:<br />
<blockquote>
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."</blockquote>
<b>March 27, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/former-lebanon-president-gemayel-start-thinking-the-unthinkable-300056816.html" target="_blank">Former Lebanon President Gemayel: "Start Thinking the Unthinkable"</a> Middle East Christians face "the Specter of Genocide" on eve of UN Security Council deliberations<br />
<blockquote>
"BOSTON, March 26, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "I have never in my life witnessed Middle East Christians in such extreme danger," Amine Gemayel warned on Wednesday. Speaking at a public lecture at Boston College, the former president of Lebanon called 2014 "a year of existential crisis" for Middle East Christians. He raised "the specter of genocide," in the context of atrocities suffered by Christians and other religious minorities in the region at the hands of the Islamic State and other extremists.<br />
<br />
"If present negative trends continue to intensify," Gemayel said, "we must start thinking about the unthinkable: the extinction of Christianity" in the region. In addition to an enormous human toll, the former president claimed that the end of Middle East Christianity would "destabilize the region for generations.""</blockquote>
<br />
<b>PRAYER ALERT March 26, 2015:</b> Are the ten kings reminiscent of Daniel and Revelation arising before our eyes?<br />
<blockquote>
"As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings." Daniel 7:24<br />
<br />
"And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast." Revelation 17:12-13</blockquote>
You remember "Desert Storm", now there is "<a href="http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=398692" target="_blank">Decisive Storm</a>" and the Muslim Sunni participants include: 1) Saudi Arabia, 2) United Arab Emirates, 3) Qatar, 4) Kuwait, 5) Bahrain, 6) Jordan, 7) Morocco, 8) Sudan, 8) Egypt and 10) Pakistan:<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/27/-Decisive-Storm-targets-Houthi-camps-in-Sanaa-.html" target="_blank">· Decisive Storm targets Houthi camps in Sanaa</a><br />
<a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/26/Egypt-air-force-Navy-join-Decisive-Storm-presidency.html" target="_blank">· Egypt air force, Navy join Decisive Storm</a><br />
<a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/26/King-Salman-orders-military-action-against-Houthis.html" target="_blank">· King Salman orders airstrikes against Houthis</a><br />
<a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/26/World-powers-react-to-Decisive-Storm-in-Yemen.html" target="_blank">· World powers react to ‘Decisive Storm’ in Yemen</a><br />
<a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/26/Saudi-Arabia-30-UAE-fighter-jets-deployed-for-Yemen-campaign-.html" target="_blank">· UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan deploy warplanes against Houthis</a></blockquote>
You will notice that Iraq is notably missing from the league of Arab nations. True, they have their hands full fighting off ISIS, but the reality is that the Muslim population of Iraq is not really Arab, they are approximately 60-70% Shi'a and only 20-30% Sunni which is unlike the other nations engaged in Yemen which are predominately Sunni. <br />
<br />
I am very surprised at the move by Pakistan in this Iran proxy fight. <br />
<br />
Ethnically, this nation is not really a part of the "Arab" gulf nations and Pakistan maintains close cultural and political relations with Iran. Pakistan is majority Sunni, but the nation also has the second largest population of Shi'a Islam "twelver" followers behind Iran and they have Muslim traditions that are very distinct from those of the Arab nations.<br />
<br />
Pakistan maintains close political and military relations with Iran. Pakistan has the seventh largest military in the world and the nation is the only Muslim nuclear weapons state in the world joining the United States, the Soviet Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, North Korea and Israel.<br />
<br />
Iran has nuclear power. Iran has nuclear enrichment centrifuges. What they lack today is the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. <br />
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The Lausanne Agreement is a framework agreement sought between the United Nations “5 plus 1″ group (the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran to delay the advent of Iranian nuclear weaponry that would make the Persian nation the world's tenth known nuclear weapons state. <br />
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The Lausanne Agreement is championing nuclear disaster in the Middle East, but not only that, Shi'a nuclear weapons may be used against the Sunni Arab League nations as well as Israel and America. The democratic Jewish state of Israel sees nuclear Iran as a major threat to it's survival and the wider world as does the Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is the world's <a href="http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=495" target="_blank">second largest arms importer</a> behind India. This is important because Saudi Arabia is Sunni-ruled and an intense rival to Shi’a Iran. <br />
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Like Israel, the Saudi's fear that a framework deal will not stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. Saudi Arabia also worries that Washington is putting Iran before their security needs and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned our Congress that the deal poses a grave danger to the world. He has also warned that the framework could fuel a nuclear arms race with nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia seeking nuclear weapons to counter Iran.<br />
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I could be wrong but it appears to be very possible that the six nations that seek the Lausanne Agreement may be engaging the terror of the death covenant given in Isaiah 28:18-19 (NASB)... <br />
<blockquote>
"Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place. As often as it passes through, it will seize you; For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night, And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means." </blockquote>
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I also believe that it is quite possible that we might consider the "ten nations" found in four prophetic Scripture passages (Daniel 2:31-45; Daniel 7:7-24; Revelation 13:1-2; Revelation 17:3-16) may possibly be 10 end-time nuclear powers. These passages either directly or by implication prophesy of a ten-kingdom confederation that may be account for the terror of an end-time plutonium fire. <br />
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Perhaps this horrific scenario before us today is what caused Jesus to declare a warning to the world that may have begun in 1945 with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dfK9G7UDok" target="_blank">Trinity Test</a> that took place 70 years ago exactly 3 days before <a href="http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/158/jewish/Tisha-BAv-Fast.htm" target="_blank">Tisha B'Av</a> on July 16, 1945:<br />
<blockquote>
"<b>For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short</b>." Matthew 24:21-22</blockquote>
Many people may have not even noticed, but since South Africa voluntarily dismantled its nuclear weapon capabilities in 1989, there currently remain "nine" known nuclear weapons states and Iran could make the 10th by a horrifically flawed agreement with the nuclear-seeking, death to America chanting Twelver Shi'a Mullahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its "Supreme Leader" who also declare that Israel should not exist. <br />
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<b>It's time to wake up!</b><br />
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Many don't notice, but with a couple of post World War I name changes, the nations of Egypt, Libya, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Arabia and Yemen are all described in various end-time prophecies. Further, each of these nations is a member of the <a href="http://www.arableagueonline.org/" target="_blank">Arab League</a> and joined in pacts of mutual defense such as the <a href="http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/arableag.asp" target="_blank">Arab League Charter of 1945</a>, the <a href="http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/arabjoin.asp" target="_blank">Joint Arab Defense Pact of 1950</a> and the <a href="https://www.oic-oci.org/home/?lan=en" target="_blank">Organization of Islamic Cooperation</a>. <br />
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Here's one example of prophecy that seems to point to these Arab Leagues:<br />
<blockquote>
"The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:<br />
<br />
“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ For the day is near,<br />
the day of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds,<br />
a time of doom for the nations.<br />
<br />
A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush,<br />
when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away,<br />
and her foundations are torn down.<br />
<br />
Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, <br />
and the people of the land that is <u>in league</u>, <br />
shall fall with them by the sword." Ezekiel 30:1-5</blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT March 21, 2015:</b> We need to pray about a Yemen withdrawal by U.S. troops as Houthis extremists move in. As we move out others will move in as Yemen will join the abyss of chaos in Syria northern Iraq and Libya but this time things are different as the Shiite Houthis are 100% backed by Iran just like Syria's Bashar Assad. In the Middle East, conflict is generally about land and religion and Yemen sits baked in the desert sun at the southern foot of ancient Mesopotamia, today's Sunni dominated <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Arabian+peninsula&espv=2&biw=1151&bih=628&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ZPoTVfjgNoefggTy1oFY&ved=0CCkQsAQ&dpr=1.1" target="_blank">Arabian Peninsula</a>. <br />
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And we must remember that <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Dan&c=2&t=NIV#s=852043" target="_blank">clay and iron</a> toes do not mix. Because of that ancient truth of prophecy from the book of Daniel, rest assured that the Sunni toes led by the Saudis will not permit a Shiite Iran proxy state to be set up at the foot of their southern border. But Iran will seek a final death blow.<br />
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USA Today Reports: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/03/21/yemen-us-military/25138325/" target="_blank">U.S. forces evacuating Yemen air base</a><br />
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"U.S. troops were evacuating a southern Yemen air base Saturday after al-Qaeda seized a nearby town amid growing violence in the war-torn nation, multiple media outlets reported. Military forces, including commandos, were leaving the Al Anad air base near the southern city of al-Houta, the Associated Press, NBC News and CNN reported, citing unnamed officials. About 100 American troops and special forces units are stationed there. The troops are the last American forces stationed in Yemen, CNN reported. Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch — considered the terror organization's most dangerous — seized al-Houta on Friday." <br />
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<b>PRAYER ALERT March 19, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/world/africa/miltants-isis-included-claim-tunisia-museum-attack.html?_r=1" target="_blank">Militants, ISIS Included, Claim Tunisia Museum Attack</a> <br />
<blockquote>
"CAIRO — The Islamic State and other extremists on Thursday sought to claim responsibility for the deadly attack that killed at least 21 people at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis. The authorities there arrested at least nine people suspected of being accomplices as major cruise lines indefinitely suspended stops in Tunisia, a sign of the looming toll on the crucial tourist industry. The assault was the latest evidence that the extremist victories and cruelties in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere are emboldening like-minded militants to acts of violence around the world — including recent attacks in Paris, Ottawa and Sydney, Australia." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT March 4, 2015:</b> The most serious threat of tribulation is not from radical Islam but apocalyptic Islam. The Atlantic is privileged to have <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/graeme-wood/" target="_blank">Graeme Wood</a> as a contributor who like Benjamin Netanyahu understands this and writes perhaps the most insightful message we must know: <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/" target="_blank">What ISIS Really Wants</a> <br />
<blockquote>
"The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it." </blockquote>
He writes: <br />
<blockquote>
"Our ignorance of the Islamic State is in some ways understandable: It is a hermit kingdom; few have gone there and returned. Baghdadi has spoken on camera only once. But his address, and the Islamic State’s countless other propaganda videos and encyclicals, are online, and the caliphate’s supporters have toiled mightily to make their project knowable. We can gather that their state rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger of—and headline player in—the imminent end of the world." </blockquote>
He continues... <br />
<blockquote>
"To take one example: In September, Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the Islamic State’s chief spokesman, called on Muslims in Western countries such as France and Canada to find an infidel and “smash his head with a rock,” poison him, run him over with a car, or “destroy his crops.” To Western ears, the biblical-sounding punishments—the stoning and crop destruction—juxtaposed strangely with his more modern-sounding call to vehicular homicide. (As if to show that he could terrorize by imagery alone, Adnani also referred to Secretary of State John Kerry as an “uncircumcised geezer.”) But Adnani was not merely talking trash. </blockquote><blockquote>His speech was laced with theological and legal discussion, and his exhortation to attack crops directly echoed orders from Muhammad to leave well water and crops alone—unless the armies of Islam were in a defensive position, in which case Muslims in the lands of kuffar, or infidels, should be unmerciful, and poison away. The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam. </blockquote><blockquote> Virtually every major decision and law promulgated by the Islamic State adheres to what it calls, in its press and pronouncements, and on its billboards, license plates, stationery, and coins, “the Prophetic methodology,” which means following the prophecy and example of Muhammad, in punctilious detail. Muslims can reject the Islamic State; nearly all do. But pretending that it isn’t actually a religious, millenarian group, with theology that must be understood to be combatted, has already led the United States to underestimate it and back foolish schemes to counter it. We’ll need to get acquainted with the Islamic State’s intellectual genealogy if we are to react in a way that will not strengthen it, but instead help it self-immolate in its own excessive zeal." </blockquote>
He refers to the Bible just once, but this is a must read. This cover story is vitally important if you want to know the nature of the beast and the power of the dragon. Know the enemy, read it all at <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/" target="_blank">The Atlantic</a>. I can only offer this appendix in regard to this people with the spirit of antichrist and suggest the fearful concept that while Obama is leaning on the wrong side of history, believe it or not, he may have been correct by calling ISIL the JV team. There is a greater, a more grave threat looming, it's called nuclear Iran and Iran’s deal with Barack Hussein Obama will provide a 10 year pause to prepare for an apocalypse based on radical Shiite Islamic belief. <br />
<blockquote>
"Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Ecclesiastes 3:21 "And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid." Ezekiel 34:28 "After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." Daniel 7:6 "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." Revelation 13:2-3 </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT February 24, 2015:</b> ABC News tell us: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/american-soldier-christ-fighting-isis-iraq/story?id=29171878" target="_blank">Why This American 'Soldier of Christ' Is Fighting ISIS in Iraq</a> <br />
<blockquote>
"He is 28 years old. Detroit born and bred. An Army veteran. And now he is a self-described "Soldier of Christ" back in Iraq, fighting ISIS on the front lines. "People ask me, 'Why you?' I come back and I say, 'Why not? Why just me? Where's everyone else at?" said Brett, who requested that ABC News not use his last name to protect his family back home. "Jesus says, you know, 'What you do unto the least of them, you do unto me,'" he added. "I take that very seriously." Brett returned to Iraq six months ago. In 2006-07, he served in the infamous "Triangle of Death," where he said he was badly wounded in an IED attack on his Humvee. He came here, he told ABC News, to defend the defenseless -- to protect the Christians and others in this part of Iraq who have been terrorized by the ISIS onslaught: driven from their homes, massacred, their women and girls raped and sold into slavery. He is of Irish and Polish descent, raised Roman Catholic and now describes himself simply as a Christian. Brett fights alongside a small, local Christian militia -- the Dweikh Nawsha. They are under the command of Kurdish peshmerga forces in this part of Iraq. From Brett's forward position, in the deserted Christian village of Bakufa, about eight miles from the outskirts of the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, you can see the black flags of ISIS whipping against the sky in a stiff winter wind. We joined him there to hear his story." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT February 18, 2015:</b> <a href="http://jimdaly.focusonthefamily.com/what-the-media-isnt-reporting-on-isis-beheading-of-21-christian-men/?utm_source=fb_focus&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=21men_blog" target="_blank">What the Media Isn’t Reporting on ISIS’ Beheading of 21 Christian Men</a> <br />
<blockquote>
• In the days and weeks leading up to their deaths, their ISIS captors tortured them and attempted to persuade them to deny Jesus in return for living. • All 21 Coptic Christian men refused to deny Christ. • They all died on that beach singing songs to Jesus and ISIS provided their witness to the world. </blockquote>
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"Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, <b>until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete</b>, who were to be killed as they themselves had been." Revelation 6:11 <b>PRAYER ALERT February 16, 2015:</b> Dwekh Nawsha Aramaic for "self sacrifice". <br />
<blockquote>
"I am here out of love to protect the innocent at all costs. It out of love and concern and respect for these people here"</blockquote>
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 This is important: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/westerners-join-iraqi-christian-militia-fight-islamic-state-132145016.html" target="_blank">Westerners join Iraqi Christian militia to fight Islamic State</a> <b>PRAYER ALERT February 15, 2015:</b> Revelation 6:6-11 tells us that the pale, putrid green horse of Radical Jihad held by ISIS is shown in the prophecy of the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians. These orange jumpsuits will exchanged for pure white robes. An earthquake is coming and Revelation 20:4 declares judgment is coming. I am posting this picture so that you can see the faces of men that will reign with Yeshua in His Kingdom: <br />
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<b>PRAYER ALERT February 7, 2015:</b> NPR reports today that: <a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/02/07/384589750/jordanians-seek-retribution-after-isis-burning-of-captured-pilot">Jordanians Seek Retribution After ISIS' Burning Of Captured Pilot</a> Perhaps King Abdullah II of Jordan may no longer be blind to reality. The so called Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a core issue in the Middle East. It is a fabrication of his imagination, a lie that will lead many men to the curse of perdition. The goal of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is to unwind the Sykes–Picot Agreement which means Jordan will be no more. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's speech aired across the world in July 2014 at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul makes it clear: "this blessed advance will not stop until we hit the last nail in the coffin of the Sykes–Picot conspiracy". <b>PRAYER ALERT February 4, 2015:</b> Newsweek reports: <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/4000-strong-christian-militia-formed-fight-isis-northern-iraq-304371" target="_blank">4,000-Strong Christian Militia Formed to Fight ISIS in Northern Iraq</a> <br />
<blockquote>
"Thousands of Iraqi Christians have established their own militia and are training to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq. The Nineveh Plains Protection Units (NPU) has 3,000 Christian men registered to be trained, while another 500 are already training for combat. The militia was founded by the Iraqi political party, the Assyrian Democratic Movement. <br />
<br />
Another 500 volunteers from the group are already situated in Assyrian villages in northern Iraq, the majority of which were captured by ISIS when they marched across the country last summer. Approximately 30,000 Christians have since fled the Nineveh Plains for fear of falling into the hands of the radical Islamists. Last November the American Mesopotamian Organisation, whose aim is to support the NPU, said that the primary mission of the militia is to “protect the remaining Assyrian lands from further attacks by ISIS” and then “liberate the Assyrian homeland of the Nineveh Plain” from the grasp of the radical Islamists. John Michael, a British-Assyrian in Iraq, told the Catholic Herald: “This is our last stand, if this fails then Christianity will be finished in Iraq.” The religious outlet reported that the militia are receiving funds from the Assyrian diaspora in countries such as United States, Australia and Sweden and are also receiving training from an American security company." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT January 29, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/29/africa/egypt-north-sinai-attack/?iid=ob_article_footer_expansion&iref=obnetwork" target="_blank">Sources: At least 26 killed in North Sinai attack</a> <br />
<blockquote>
"(CNN) At least 26 people were killed and dozens more wounded, including civilians, during a series of militant attacks on army and police positions in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula, medical and security sources told Aswat Masriya, a news website that deals with Egyptian issues. At least 36 people were wounded in the assaults, which involved car bombs and mortar rounds in the town of Al-Arish, in North Sinai, the sources told the Egyptian website. The army is battling an Islamist insurgency in North Sinai that has spiked since the 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsy." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT December 23, 2014:</b> <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/isis-western-journalist-embedded-group-contact-americans/story?id=27770339" target="_blank">ISIS: Western Journalist Embedded With Group Says He Came Into Contact With Americans</a> <br />
<blockquote>
"The first Western journalist to spend time with ISIS since the launch of U.S. airstrikes in August says he has spent time with upwards of 14 Americans -- including one from New Jersey -- during the 10 days he spent inside the group's self-styled “Caliphate." In an interview with ABC News, German journalist Jürgen Todenhöfer said the U.S. fighters were from different backgrounds -- both American born and Arab-Americans as well as white. "I have seen many wars. That’s the strongest group I ever met. Very strong, very clever, very enthusiastic. They are extremely brutal. Not just head-cutting. I’m talking about the strategy of religious cleansing. That’s their official philosophy. They are talking about 500 million people who have to die," he said." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT December 5, 2014:</b> Jordan's King talks to Charlie Rose saying ISIS does not represent Islam. This is a video report from CBS and incredibly the Hashemite King says... <b>The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the core issue in the Middle East not ISIS</b>. This is absolutely mind boggling and I am afraid his bizarre statement will come home to haunt him, especially with ISIS black flag of evil aggression surrounding Jordan toward the east in Iraq and to the north in Syria. King Abdullah II of Jordan is blind to reality. ISIS may very well attempt a takeover in Jordan. Doesn't he know the simple truth that his Hashemite constitutional monarchy does not fit into the medieval interpretation of the Sharia Law of ISIS. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jordan-king-abdullah-on-isis-middle-east-conflict/" target="_blank">Jordan's king: Fight on ISIS "a third world war"</a> <br />
<blockquote>
"He said he is not working alone in the fight. Arab and Muslim leaders around the world are beginning to work together, but he was unwilling to give details. The world leader believes the battle against extremism can be won. "This is a war inside of Islam. So we have to own up to it. We have to take the lead. And we have to start fighting back. And all of us have to make that decision and stand up to the plate and take our responsibilities." But even with the threat of ISIS, he still considers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the core issue in the Middle East. "You know, whether it's true or not, that argument is still being used by the extremists. And countries around the world realize that they have to solve the problem for their benefit."" </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT November 29, 2014:</b> <a href="http://myocn.net/before-being-killed-children-told-isis-no-we-love-jesus/" target="_blank">Andrew White tells the story</a> of the Iraqi children who said 'No, we love Yasua. We have always loved Yasua. We have always followed Yasua.' They are now at the throne serving God. They hunger no more, neither thirst any more... For the Lamb feeds them, and leads them unto living fountains of waters: and God is wiping away all tears from their eyes. <br />
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Luke 20:36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. <br />
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<b>PRAYER ALERT October 9, 2014:</b> <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/10/09/words-matter-isis-war-use-daesh/V85GYEuasEEJgrUun0dMUP/story.html" target="_blank">Words matter in ‘ISIS’ war, so use ‘Daesh’</a><br />
<blockquote>
"THE MILITANTS who are killing civilians, raping and forcing captured women into sexual slavery, and beheading foreigners in Iraq and Syria are known by several names: the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS; the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL; and, more recently, the Islamic State, or IS. French officials recently declared that that country would stop using any of those names and instead refer to the group as “Daesh.”"<br />
<br />
"The term “Daesh” is strategically a better choice because it is still accurate in that it spells out the acronym of the group’s full Arabic name, al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham. Yet, at the same time, “Daesh” can also be understood as a play on words — and an insult. Depending on how it is conjugated in Arabic, it can mean anything from “to trample down and crush” to “a bigot who imposes his view on others.” Already, the group has reportedly threatened to cut out the tongues of anyone who uses the term.<br />
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Why do they care so much? The same reason the United States should. Language matters."</blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT September 30, 2014:</b> David McCandless of Information Is Beautiful, has built <a href="http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-middle-east-key-players-notable-relationships/" target="_blank">an interactive geopolitical visualization map</a> of the Middle East showing the relationship lines between extremist groups like ISIS and others. <br />
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<b>PRAYER ALERT September 22, 2015:</b> Here we are, right before the Day of Trumpets. We have attacked ISIS in Syria in Raqqa, the so-called capital of their Islamic state before the eve of Yom Teruah. Some say the shofar blown on the Day pf Trumpets is for joy, others say for war. <br />
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/world/middleeast/us-and-allies-hit-isis-targets-in-syria.html?_r=0" target="_blank">Airstrikes by U.S. and Allies Hit ISIS Targets in Syria</a><br />
<blockquote>
"WASHINGTON — The United States and allies launched airstrikes against Sunni militants in Syria early Tuesday, unleashing a torrent of cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs from the air and sea on the militants’ de facto capital of Raqqa and along the porous Iraq border.<br />
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American fighter jets and armed Predator and Reaper drones, flying alongside warplanes from several Arab allies, struck a broad array of targets in territory controlled by the militants, known as the Islamic State. American defense officials said the targets included weapons supplies, depots, barracks and buildings the militants use for command and control. Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from United States Navy ships in the region.<br />
<br />
The strikes are a major turning point in President Obama’s war against the Islamic State and open up a risky new stage of the American military campaign. Until now, the administration had bombed Islamic State targets only in Iraq, and had suggested it would be weeks if not months before the start of a bombing campaign against Islamic State targets in Syria.<br />
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Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates took part in the strikes, American officials said, although the Arab governments were not expected to announce their participation until later Tuesday. The new coalition’s makeup is significant because the United States was able to recruit Sunni governments to take action against the Sunni militants of the Islamic State. The operation also unites the squabbling states of the Persian Gulf.<br />
<br />
The strikes came less than two weeks after Mr. Obama announced in an address to the nation that he was authorizing an expansion of the military campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.<br />
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Unlike American strikes in Iraq over the past month, which have been small-bore bombings of mostly individual Islamic State targets — patrol boats and trucks — the salvo on Tuesday in Syria was the beginning of what was expected to be a sustained, hours long bombardment at targets in the militant headquarters in Raqqa and on the border.<br />
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The strikes began after years of debate within the Obama administration about whether the United States should intervene militarily or should avoid another entanglement in a complex war in the Middle East. But the Islamic State controls a broad swath of land across both Iraq and Syria."</blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT September 11, 2014:</b> Yesterday, speaking from the State Floor in the White House on September 10, 2014, President Obama addressed the nation saying no boots on the ground but as of July 1st, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-many-u-s-troops-are-currently-in-iraq/" target="_blank">The Pentagon differs on that statement</a>. Obama also said: "ISIL is not Islamic..." Barak Hussein... are you kidding me?<br />
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Statements from local Muslims in Israel differ as reported by <a href="http://www.israeltoday.co.il/Newsheadlineslist.aspx" target="_blank">Israel Today</a>: <br />
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“ISIS is on the right path,” an imam at a mosque in northern Israel preached last week. At another mosque in the area, a congregant publicly declared, “The Islamic State is the only one that can establish an Islamic state, and it is good they are punishing people. I hope they make it to Israel.” “When the picture becomes clear, everyone will understand that the Islamic State is the only solution for everyone. Jews should also support the state and convert to Islam,” another imam told Ynet." </blockquote>
A former Muslim, now Christian, Brother Rachid is a Moroccan Christian convert from Islam whose father is a well-known Imam has something to say to President Obama. He is one of the most outspoken converts in the world, he hosts a weekly live call-in show on Al hayat TV where he compares Islam and Christianity as well as debates Islamic scholars. Brother Rachid gave this message earlier this month: <br />
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Rashid converted from Islam to Christianity after studying the differences between the two faiths with the original intent to defend Islam. In this video called “A Message to President Obama From a Former Muslim”, he asserts that the actions of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) do speak for the religion of Islam despite assertions to the contrary and asserts that terrorism begins in Muslim schools and mosques. <br />
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<b>PRAYER ALERT August 31, 2014:</b> Is the Greece of Daniel 10:20 making a move? Stars and Stripes reports: <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/hagel-going-to-turkey-as-us-tries-to-build-coalition-of-the-willing-against-the-islamic-state-1.300658" target="_blank">Hagel going to Turkey as US tries to build ‘coalition of the willing’ against the Islamic State</a> <br />
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"Turkey is a key NATO ally. And given its border with Syria and Iraq, they share our deep concerns with … the regional threat posed by ISIL,” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters. “We want a coalition of the willing. We want to seek partners in this effort,” Kirby said. Hagel’s stop in Turkey will come near the end of a six-day international trip which begins Wednesday. “Secretary Hagel has longstanding relationships with Turkey’s leaders, including the newly-inaugurated President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, and he views this visit as an important opportunity to advance our critical relationship,” Kirby said. </blockquote>
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't The Great Altar of Pergamon or Satan's Throne as John called it from <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rev&c=2&v=12&t=KJV#s=1169012" target="_blank">Pergamos</a>, near today's Bergama, Turkey? Didn't Mohamed Elibiary, a senior fellow of Obama’s Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council say <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/1/dhs-adviser-america-islamic-country/" target="_blank">America is an Islamic Country</a>? What is it about the Home of the Ottoman Empire... Turkey? Yusuf al-Qaradawi,an Egyptian Muslim Cleric who has is widely, including "Islam: The Future Civilization" and broadcasts his show "Shariah and Life" on Al Jazeera, which has an estimated audience of 60 million worldwide says... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gcqAqF9CCk#t=23" target="_blank">All Muslim Nations Must Give Allegiance To Turkey.</a> <br />
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"Daniel 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." </blockquote>
The Aramaic word here translated as 'subdue' in the King James is shĕphal. It means 'cast down'. Will the Islamic State end up tossing off of moving away from three (Iraq breakup) and end up focused on the ten from the seat of Turkey? <a href="http://www.alnashernews.com/news/news.php?action=view&id=15544" target="_blank">ISIS posts Caliphate map of states</a>. Use Google Chrome if you want to translate, here's what you will see... <br />
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"So is The Caliphate State, three and ten Aahngti toward the hemisphere"</blockquote>
The words "three and ten" coming out of the translation jumped of the page and seem to point to the fourth beast, the fourth empire of Daniel 7. </div><div><br /></div><div> Incredibly, other than sending Hagel to Turkey, ABC News has reported: "The President has No Strategy on ISIS". This seems incoherent, but as it is seen on the map, the Islamic State has a strategy of Biblical proportions. While Hagel says ISIS, the President says ISIL which means the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant. As you can see by the map, the Levant is a larger geographic area that includes not only Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Turkey at its core but the entire Middle East including Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as all of Northern Africa including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and the Sudan. </div><div><br /></div><div>The area also includes all of the seven former Soviet Union's Islamic "stan" nations of West Central Asia. These include Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The "stan" in each is actually from an ancient Persian word meaning homeland so, Afghanistan means "homeland" of the Afghans. Perhaps the reason the Commander in Chief has no admitted strategy against this rebirth of the Ottoman Empire short of a full ground invasion, is that the U.S. or a coalition would in the end, need to enlist Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as an ally of sorts which would be an gross indictment of President Obama's foreign policies. If you think that is absolutely crazy, consider the concept of enlisting Iran's help. CNN reported on <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/16/world/meast/iraq-unrest/" target="_blank">Secretary of State John Kerry suggesting this</a> on June 17th. Wake up 'Watchman'!! David Cameron <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/video/brits-sound-isis-alarm-raise-232628377.html" target="_blank">has raised the alert for terror</a> in Britain. Meanwhile, Obama, the golfaholic democrat has no strategy.<center></center><center><br /></center>
Fox News reports chatter that the Texas Department of Public Safety has <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/29/online-posts-show-isis-eyeing-mexican-border-says-law-enforcment-bulletin/" target="_blank">put out a border alert on ISIS</a> warning of domestic disaster: <br />
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“A review of ISIS social media messaging during the week ending August 26 shows that militants are expressing an increased interest in the notion that they could clandestinely infiltrate the southwest border of US, for terror attack,” warns the Texas Department of Public Safety "situational awareness" bulletin, obtained by FoxNews.com. The three-page bulletin, entitled “ISIS Interest on the US Southwest Border” and dated Aug. 28 was released to law enforcement on Thursday." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT August 30, 2014:</b> Today, AFP reports on what appears like a possible proxy request by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. I say proxy because the Saudi military consists of the Saudi Arabian Army, the Royal Saudi Air Force, the Royal Saudi Navy, the Royal Saudi Air Defense and paramilitary forces totaling some 200,000 active-duty personnel and 300 combat aircraft including Eurofighter Typhoons, upgraded Tornado IDS, F-15 Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle fighter planes. With a $67 billion budget, Saudi Arabia ranks among the top 5 nations in the world in military spending. They are next door to Iraq, why haven't they engaged the terror threat headed South? The headline reads: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-king-warns-west-jihadists-next-target-093701543.html" target="_blank">Saudi king warns West will be jihadists' next target</a> <br />
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"Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) - King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has warned that the West will be the next target of the jihadists sweeping through Syria and Iraq, unless there is "rapid" action. "If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month," he said in remarks quoted on Saturday by Asharq al-Awsat daily and Saudi-backed Al-Arabiya television station. "Terrorism knows no border and its danger could affect several countries outside the Middle East," said the king who was speaking at a welcoming ceremony on Friday for new ambassadors, including a new envoy from Saudi ally the United States. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has prompted widespread concern as it advances in both Syria and Iraq, killing hundreds of people, including in gruesome beheadings and mass executions. Lack of action would be "unacceptable" in the face of the phenomenon, King Abdullah said.<br />
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"You see how they (jihadists) carry out beheadings and make children show the severed heads in the street," he said, condemning the "cruelty" of such acts. "It is no secret to you, what they have done and what they have yet to do. I ask you to transmit this message to your leaders: 'Fight terrorism with force, reason and (necessary) speed'." President Barack Obama has yet to decide whether the United States should launch raids against positions held by the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria to follow US air strikes on IS activities in Iraq. US Secretary of State John Kerry called Friday for a global coalition to combat Islamic State fighters' "genocidal agenda". Writing in the New York Times, Kerry said he and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will meet European counterparts on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Wales next week, to enlist assistance. <br />
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They will then travel on to the Middle East to build support "among the countries that are most directly threatened". <br />
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"With a united response led by the United States and the broadest possible coalition of nations, the cancer of ISIS will not be allowed to spread to other countries," Kerry said in Friday's op-ed piece. Asharq Al-Awsat said the king urged other countries to join the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre, set up in 2011 to respond to new threats, and to which Saudi Arabia has made a grant of $100 million." </blockquote>
Reading the words of John Kerry above... ISIS must no longer be a 'JV' team to our President who has been unable or perhaps unwilling due to his own Muslim training, to define the enormity of the threat of militant Islamic jihad to America, our European allies, Israel or the Middle East. <a blank="" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11065609/To-fight-Isil-and-its-genocidal-agenda-we-need-a-global-coalition-says-John-Kerry.html" target="">The Telegraph</a> says "Such a coalition would likely have to include Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries, which, plagued by diplomatic rivalries between themselves, make unlikely bedfellows."</div><div> <br />
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French news broadcaster <a href="http://www.i24news.tv/app.php/en/" target="_blank">i24 News</a> today posted this report: <a href="http://www.i24news.tv/app.php/en/news/international/middle-east/41941-140830-kerry-west-must-join-to-battle-islamic-state-s-genocidal-agenda" target="_blank">Kerry: The cancer of ISIS will not be allowed to spread</a> Pay attention 'Watchman', i24 reveals the ultimate goal of the bloodthirsty brutality of the Islamic State "on its path towards Palestine": <br />
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"Meanwhile, Islamic State declared, via its English language publication Dabiq, that its goal is to "continue striking every apostate who stands as an obstacle on its path towards Palestine… it is only a matter of time and patience before (IS) reaches Palestine to fight the barbaric Jews and kill those of them hiding behind the gharqad trees – the trees of the Jews." That is a partial change of rhetoric from Islamic State's earlier focus on first establishing an Islamic caliphate by concentrating on fighting insurrection campaigns in Arab countries. So far, Islamic State seldom focused on Israel or other Western countries, such as the United States – though they have recently threatened retaliation on the US after the latter bombed IS positions in Iraq and said it was considering to do in Syria, as well."</blockquote>
i24 also reports today that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared: <a href="http://www.i24news.tv/app.php/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/42049-140830-we-ended-gaza-op-due-to-other-regional-threats" target="_blank">'We ended Gaza op due to other regional threats'</a> <br />
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"Netanyahu says with IS knocking on Jordan's door, militants on Golan heights, he chose to conserve firepower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday stated he has decided to end the latest round of warfare against Gaza-based militants to preserve military resources in view of other regional threats. <br />
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"We have fought 50 days and we could gone for 500 days, but we are in a situation where we have the Islamic State knocking on Jordan's door, al-Qaida on the Golan Heights and at the Lebanese border," Netanyahu told Israel's Channel 2." </blockquote>
Earlier today, <a href="http://vaviper.blogspot.com/2014/08/isiss-new-video-breaking-american-cross.html" target="_blank">J.E. Dyer at Liberty Unyielding... posted the video noted in a August 19th Reuters report. The video has been withdraw from YouTube:</a><br />
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Four days ago, Reuters reported that ISIS had released a new video, in the wake of the video showing the beheading of journalist James Foley. ISIS called this new video “Breaking the American cross.” Said Reuters: The video with the theme “<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/19/us-iraq-security-islamicstate-idUSKBN0GJ22W20140819" target="_blank">breaking of the American cross</a>” boasts Islamic State will emerge victorious over “crusader” America. It follows a video posted on Monday warning of attacks on American targets if Washington struck against its fighters in Iraq and Syria. The video showed footage of President Barack Obama as well as strategic U.S. ally King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and attacks on American soldiers. </blockquote>
The ISIS video hatefully plays 'Amazing Grace' and shows ISIS soldiers on horseback. With today's modern equipment and modern tank warfare, I've often wondered about the prophecy of Zechariah 12:4 but the words seemed to jump off the screen as I reluctantly watched the video: <br />
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"On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness," declares the LORD. "I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT August 28, 2014:</b> A report from ANTAKYA, Turkey <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/08/28/found_the_islamic_state_terror_laptop_of_doom_bubonic_plague_weapons_of_mass_destruction_exclusive" target="_blank">Found: The Islamic State's Terror Laptop of Doom</a> Buried in a Dell computer captured in Syria are lessons for making bubonic plague bombs and missives on using weapons of mass destruction. <br />
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Abu Ali, a commander of a moderate Syrian rebel group in northern Syria, proudly shows a black laptop partly covered in dust. "We took it this year from an ISIS hideout," he says." </blockquote>
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<b>PRAYER ALERT August 27, 2014: </b>The words of Nahum 3:18 "Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them."<br />
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On Mount Sinjar Iraq the prophetic words of Nahum are before us as the Guardian reports: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/27/-sp-yazidis-mount-sinjar-isis-satellite-images" target="_blank">Yazidis still stranded on Mount Sinjar: 'We need weapons now more than food or water'</a><br />
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"For the US and its allies, Mount Sinjar is a success story: a humanitarian disaster alleviated by US air power. But hundreds, if not thousands, of Iraqis – mostly sick and old – remain atop the mountain, with no relief on its way.<br />
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Satellite images taken on 21 August by the firm ImageSat International and interviews with members of the Yazidi religious minority still on the mountain indicate a humanitarian emergency continuing to unfold. While thousands have fled down the mountain’s north face, making a dangerous trek into Iraqi Kurdistan through Syria, those on the southern side remain in crisis.<br />
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There has not been a US airdrop of food, water or medicine since 13 August, after a reconnaissance team of US special operations forces that had briefly been on the mountain reported that conditions were not as dire as Washington initially thought.<br />
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Survivors of the Islamic State (Isis) siege describe leaving behind their elderly and infirm relatives. The younger Yazidis who have stayed behind talk of fighting Isis until they either liberate Sinjar city below or they die.<br />
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One Yazidi man, Abu Sulaiman, described the situation on the mountain now as “heartbreaking”.</blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT August 25, 2014:</b> Yesterday, AFP published a report that sounded almost as if it had been scripted from the apocalyptic pages of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation. It concluded with a hint at the words of Isaiah: <br />
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<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-must-defeated-syria-well-iraq-201552159.html" target="_blank">Islamic State 'beyond anything we've seen': US</a> Washington (AFP) - The Islamic State poses a greater danger than a conventional "terrorist group" and is pursuing a vision that could radically alter the face of the Middle East, US defense leaders said Thursday. The IS jihadists could be contained and eventually defeated by local forces backed by the United States, but the Sunni population in both Syria and Iraq would need to reject the group, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey told reporters. <br />
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Hagel warned that the Islamic State is better armed, trained and funded than any recent militant threat. <br />
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"They marry ideology and a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well funded. This is beyond anything we have seen," Hagel told a news conference. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the group adheres to a fanatical ideology and has "a long-term vision" to take over Lebanon, Israel and Kuwait. <br />
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"If they achieve that vision, it would fundamentally alter the face of the Middle East and create a security environment that would certainly threaten us in many ways," he said. </blockquote>
Concluding his remarks, potential conflict near Damascus is seen: <br />
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""Can they be defeated without addressing that part of the organization that resides in Syria? The answer is no," the general said." </blockquote>
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/dempsey-hits-islamic-militant-end-days-vision-115651822--politics.html" target="_blank">This Associated Press report</a> gave more details from Four Star Army General Martin Dempsey on the Islamic State's "apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision". Please read the AP report. Then, ask yourself something. Other than from a Hollywood script, have you ever heard words like "apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision" from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, America's top-ranked military officer? I know I haven't and here's the thing, ISIS controls more land and people than any terror organization in modern history where they have declared an Islamic Caliphate with the goal to occupy the Middle East in order to destroy Israel, and then to extend their Caliphate from Jerusalem across the Levant and the world, now you know why YHVH of Hosts [Warriors] says: <br />
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Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. Zechariah 8:1-3 </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT August 23, 2014:</b> <a href="http://beittikvah.us/media/sermons/Details?id=1825" target="_blank">Be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. How should we respond to the Islamic threat</a>? This important sermon is from a small congregation in Seattle including Jewish believers and followers of King Messiah. The bold message from fellowship leader Hylan Slobodkin focuses on the weighty times, the Middle East and the need for our prayer as a real and valid spiritual weapon. <br />
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It warns against slumbering blind watchmen as we all must be informed, asks for prayers warriors and spread the message of the Kingdom. (Less than 40 minutes, some brief audio glitches in the beginning.) Pass it along. <br />
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"Christians are being persecuted all over the world. However, the Islamic State persecution is different because they want to take over the world, literally, and reestablish the caliphate, an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader known as a caliph, or successor to Mohammad, ruled by Islamic sharia law. We need to be informed, with the goal of encouraging focused, unified prayer as a spiritual weapon, in cooperation with God's purposes." </blockquote>
<b>Audio:</b> <a href="http://beittikvah.us/media/sermons/Details?id=1825" target="_blank">http://beittikvah.us/media/sermons/Details?id=1825</a> <b>UStream Video:</b> <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/51751378" target="_blank">http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/51751378</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><b>PRAYER ALERT August 7, 2014:</b> I am sickened to share this. To begin, yesterday, <a href="http://www.trunews.com/Audio/8_7_14_thursday_trunews2.mp3" target="_blank">Rick Wiles of TruNews Radio</a> interviewed Canon Andrew White, chaplain of the St. George’s Anglican Church in Iraq who recently warned that Christianity may be wiped out in the next few days in Iraq, but he has refused to flee. <a href="http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=14344" target="_blank">Breaking Christian News</a> has reported on his plea: <br />
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"Just this week, Canon Andrew Wright sent out a global call for prayer, saying the world was so focused on blaming Israel for the Gaza conflict that they were ignoring the horrors being inflicted on Iraqi Christians by the same terrorist mindset working against Israel." </blockquote>
During the radio broadcast, Reverend White sounds desperately sad in the 20 minute telephone interview, weeping as he says he cannot adequately describe the tribulation in Iraq. <a href="http://www.trunews.com/Audio/8_7_14_thursday_trunews2.mp3" target="_blank">This critically important interview begins @ minute 13:50</a>. So you can fast forward if you like. PLEASE listen to it, pray and consider helping. Details are given toward the end of the 20 minute interview or you can donate directly to the <a href="http://frrme.org/what-we-do/st-georges-church-baghdad/" target="_blank">church</a> or <a href="http://frrme.org/frrme-usa-donations/" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also view his comments in this August 7th report from BBC NewsNight. <br />
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Barbara Bolan of <a href="http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/barbara-boland/leader-isis-systematically-beheading-children-christian-genocide" target="_blank">CNS News reports</a>: "Christianity in Mosul is dead, and a Christian holocaust is in our midst," said Mark Arabo, a Californian businessman and Chaldean-American leader. In an interview with CNN's Jonathan Mann, he called what's happening in Iraq a "Christian genocide" and said "children are being beheaded, mothers are being raped and killed, and fathers are being hung." <br />
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My prayer is that the words of Jeremiah 32:36-41 are also given for these people of Mosul: <br />
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"You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul." </blockquote>
The nation of <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/iraqs-beleaguered-christian-community-offered-asylum-france-n166631" target="_blank">France has offered asylum</a>, "We are ready, if they wish, to facilitate their asylum on our soil." <br />
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I earnestly pray that Israel will do the same. I have written Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu imploring he can do a great mitzveh, a great deed of kindness not unlike the favor shown by Arthur James Balfour. <a href="http://www.netanyahu.org.il/en/" target="_blank">You can too.</a> After all, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/has-last-christian-left-iraqi-city-mosul-after-2-000-n164856" target="_blank">the last Christian of Mosul</a>, a 70 year old man named Yacob was spared by ISIS. <br />
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The Bible tells us that the Angel of God gave Yacob a blessing, He gave him the name Israel. Prime Minister, you too can share a blessing in the land whose very name means "God Prevails". <br />
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He said, "Your name will no longer be called 'Ya`akov,' but, 'Yisra'el,' for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed." Genesis 32:28 HNV </blockquote>
<a blank="" href="http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/19668/isis-captures-city-lebanon-threat-moves-closer-israel/#LHHzMWyhc7W4GQBm.99" target="_">ISIS Captures City in Lebanon as Threat Moves Closer to Israel</a> <br />
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"The radical Islamic terror organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has gained a larger foothold in Lebanon as it faces off against the Lebanese army. Hezbollah announced on Wednesday that for the moment, it has no plans to confront ISIS. Hezbollah leaders told the Lebanese Daily Star that it has only agreed to provide logistical support to the Lebanese army. However, should ISIS capture significant territory, Hezbollah leadership implied that it would enter the fray. <br />
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Since Monday, Lebanese forces and members of ISIS have been squaring off in northern Lebanon. According to reports, ISIS has captured the city of Arsal. <br />
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The Telegraph reported that the Syrian terror group set up check-points throughout the city, which has some 40,000 residents and approximately 120,000 Syrian refugees." </blockquote>
France has offered Iraqi Christians asylum, what will you do? <b>PRAYER ALERT August 4, 2014:</b> If true, this might just kick start a Revelation 18 nightmare... <a blank="" href="http://en.ria.ru/world/20140804/191716849/Saudi-Arabia-Seeks-to-Protect-Mecca-after-ISIS-Destroys-Iraqi.html" target="">Saudi Arabia Seeks to Protect Mecca after ISIS Destroys Iraqi Religious Sites - Reports</a> <br />
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"MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - Saudi Arabia is seeking help from Pakistan and Egypt to protect its borders and religious sites from attacks by the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), the International Business Times reported. <br />
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"The kingdom is calling in favors from Egypt and Pakistan. No one is certain what ISIS has planned, but it's clear a group like this will target Mecca if it can. We expect them to run out of steam, but no one is taking any chances," the International Business Times wrote Sunday citing an adviser to the Saudi government." </blockquote>
In addition to this, the Islamic State militants fight for Iraq's two biggest dams. <br />
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<b>PRAYER ALERT July 29, 2014:</b> <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/jonah-tomb-destroyed-christians/2014/07/29/id/585610/" target="_blank">Historian: Destruction of Jonah's Tomb Ignored by West</a> <br />
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"The recent destruction of the tomb of the Biblical figure Jonah has been met with a disturbing silence by the West, according to historian Timothy Stanley, a former professor at Oxford and Harvard Universities. "We're witnessing the destruction of an entire civilization — of a society. "That's a remarkable war crime obviously without any justification,'' Stanley said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV. <br />
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Eyewitnesses say the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — the al-Qaida-related terror group that has captured city after city in Iraq — purposely destroyed the sacred shrine, which is located east of Mosul. ISIL has also been called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Syria or ISIS. Stanley said the lack of outrage by the West over the sickening desecration is stunning. "[We] have a duty to ask ourselves why our society chooses not to speak about what's happening there. It says something about our lack of confidence as a Judeo-Christian western culture that we don't like commenting upon a lot of what goes on in the Middle East,'' Stanley said. <br />
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"By ignoring it, we are essentially facilitating it and it's just absolutely horrendous. It's so sad to see the destruction of Jonah's tomb. This is a holy prophet and the West has nothing to say about it whatsoever. "Of course, it's not just relics being destroyed, it's also people being killed, being driven out their homes, being raped, being treated in a dreadful, dreadful manner and the West is shamefully silent.''" </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT July 28, 2014:</b> USA Today reports...<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/07/28/iraq-divided-into-three-states/13165519/" target="_blank">Iraq is already splitting into three states</a> For all you Bible prophecy students out there that have studied the Scriptures including the book of Daniel, you are probably familiar with the passage found in Daniel 7 and Daniel 11 that describes <a href="http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/6/state8081.htm" target="_blank">three states</a> as none other than that which <a href="http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=379871" target="_blank">Joe Biden proposed in 2006 dividing Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds</a>... <br />
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"After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast--terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. Daniel 7:7-8 <br />
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“And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these." Daniel 11:2-4 </blockquote>
Do you now think the beast might be the radical jihadists of Islam? Dare we consider the Kingdom of Greece represents "the West" and the ideologies that ISIS jihadists detest and seek to destroy? Dare we consider Iraq could soon become a three-headed kingdom? Dare we consider how ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may arise to become a mighty king who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills? If we step back, today it seems feasible that Iraq may very well split into three warring states: 1) an ISIS Sunni terrorist state in the northwest extending into Syria, 2) a Kurdish territory in the northeast bordering Iran and 3) a Shi'ite territory in the south. <a href="http://time.com/2865877/iraq-on-the-brink-of-fracture/" target="_blank">Time Magazine</a> has been reporting on this for quite some time. <br />
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<a href="http://www.vox.com/a/maps-explain-crisis-iraq" target="_blank">Zack Beauchamp, Max Fisher and Dylan Matthews of Vox</a> provide a look at 27 maps that are very helpful in explaining the complications of the crisis in Iraq. As you look at the maps, remember the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 was the secret agreement between the United Kingdom, France and Russia that defined the borders of Syria and Iraq as part of the plan to break up the Ottoman Empire. Now, just 100 years later, that plan is being pillaged by the conflict of Sunni and Shi'ite as the map of The Middle East is being morphed back in time. With ISIS, there is no border between Syria and Iraq, and perhaps soon there will be no border between Lebanon and Iran. <br />
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It now seems possible that the king of the north described by Daniel is Sunni and the king of the south is Shi'ite. We already know by the horrific violence infesting Northern Iraq, that ISIS has 'abundant supplies' and they are headed for Baghdad, a 'well fortified city' with the 'best troops' that have been armed and trained by the West. We also know the end-game if ISIS is to come against 'the glorious land'... Israel: <br />
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"Then the king of the south, moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north. And he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand. And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, greater than the first. And after some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies. n those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail. Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. But he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, with destruction in his hand." Daniel 11:11-16 </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT July 22, 2014:</b> <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/isis-torches-1800-year-old-church-in-mosul-priest-says-city-is-now-empty-of-christians-123632/" target="_blank">ISIS Torches 1,800-Year-Old Church in Mosul; Priest Says City Is 'Now Empty of Christians'</a> <br />
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"The torching of the church comes on the heels of the destruction of a number of other Christian monuments in Iraq in recent months including the tomb of biblical prophet Jonah, which was dug up by ISIL militants in the east of Mosul." </blockquote>
<a href="http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2014/s14070082.htm" target="_blank">ISIS Forces Last Iraqi Christians to Flee Mosul</a> <br />
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"Since 2003, when Saddam Hussein was ousted, Mosul’s Christians, one of the oldest communities of its kind in the world, had seen their numbers dwindle from over 30,000 to just a few thousand. However, once ISIS swept into the city in early June, there were reports that the remaining Christians had fled. The NYT report said that interviews on Friday with Christian elders and leaders suggested that in fact many had hung on, hoping for a way to continue the quiet practice of their faith in the city that had been their home for more than 1,700 years. Friday’s edict was probably the real end. While a few may still find a way to stay in secret, the community will be gone." <br />
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"For the Christians displaced from Mosul, the NYT said, sudden departure has meant a series of treks—first to nearby Christian villages like Bartella and Hamdaniya, already badly overcrowded, then to Kurdistan, a semiautonomous region of Iraq where there is more tolerance for Christians. <br />
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As the Christians leave Mosul, ISIS has painted the Arabic letter that means "Nasrani," from Nazarene, a word often used to refer to Christians, on their homes. Next to the letter, in black, are the words, "Property of the Islamic State of Iraq."" </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT July 10, 2014:</b> Fox News reports: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/10/isis-destroys-shrines-and-mosques-sets-sights-on-mecca/" target="_blank">ISIS destroys shrines and mosques, may be targeting Mecca</a> <br />
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"ISIS is leaving a path of destroyed churches, shrines and mosques in its wake as it storms across Syria and Iraq, and has even set its sights on Mecca -- Islam's holiest site. The nihilistic jihadis, led by self-proclaimed descendant of Prophet Muhammad Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, have already bulldozed or blown up some of the most sacred places in Iraq, and seem bent on killing and destroying anyone or anything that does not measure up to their vision of Islam. Experts say the group, which originally stood for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, but now simply calls itself "Islamic State," has appointed itself the leading proponent of the Muslim faith. <br />
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“They see themselves as the last defenders of Islamic civilization and want to eradicate anything that they see as the enemy of Islam, and any Muslim they perceive as compromising with the West,” Yvonne Haddad, a professor at Georgetown University who specializes in the history of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations, told FoxNews.com." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT July 6, 2014:</b> The events we see in Syria and Iraq today are described in this NY Times article: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/world/middleeast/power-struggles-in-middle-east-exploit-islams-ancient-sectarian-rift.html" target="_blank">Power Struggles in Middle East Exploit Islam’s Ancient Sectarian Rift</a> <br />
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<b><div><b><br /></b></div>PRAYER ALERT June 30, 2014:</b> As the jihadist group ISIS on Sunday <a blank="" href="http://www.france24.com/en/20140629-jihadist-group-isis-declares-islamic-caliphate-iraq-syria/" target="">declared the establishment</a> of a “Caliphate”, or Islamic state spanning parts of both Iraq and Syria with the group’s leader as the ruling “Caliph”... ISIS fanatics <a blank="" href="http://www.news.com.au/world/isis-fanatics-publicly-crucify-nine-men-in-syria-as-rival-militias-in-iraq-prove-just-as-brutal/story-fndir2ev-1226971690908" target="">publicly crucify nine men in Syria as rival militias in Iraq prove just as brutal</a> <br />
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"Is there no end to their depraved brutality? The fanatical jihadists waging war across Syria and Iraq have already horrified the world with their mass shootings and the discovery of a “death pit” where they hurl victims’ bodies. Now, they have employed a cruelty many centuries old — crucifixion. The fiends of ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIL) publicly hung nine men on crosses at the weekend in Syria." </blockquote>
As jihadist forces horrified... <br />
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"Jordan’s king told a delegation of US congressmen Sunday that he fears the turmoil in Iraq could spill over into the entire region." Read more: Jordan's king: <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/jordans-king-we-fear-spread-of-iraq-chaos/" target="_blank">We fear spread of Iraq chaos</a> | The Times of Israel.</div><div><br />
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<script src="http://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=3645290711001&w=420&h=237" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Video at <a href="http://video.foxnews.com">video.foxnews.com</a></noscript></center>
<b>PRAYER ALERT June 22, 2014:</b> Again I ask, does Jeremiah 5:6, Daniel 7:6 and Revelation 13:2 speak of the speed of the devouring ISIS leopard beast that goes out to tear in pieces? Today from The National Post: <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/22/iraqi-christians-flee-cities-captured-by-extremists-known-to-kill-non-muslims/" target="_blank">Convert to Islam or face the sword: Iraqi Christians flee cities captured by extremists known to kill non-Muslims</a> <br />
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"There have been Christians in Iraq since the first century when two disciples of Jesus are said to have brought the Gospel here. As recently as 2003, Iraq had 1.5 million Christians. But since then there have been more than 70 attacks on churches, several priests have been murdered and the number of Christians has plummeted to less than 500,000. This latest spasm of sectarian violence will probably lead to another mass exodus." </blockquote>
CBN News provides this request for prayer: <a href="http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/June/ISIS-to-Iraqi-Christians-Obey-Pay-or-Leave/" target="_blank">ISIS to Iraqi Christians: 'Obey, Pay, or Leave'</a> <br />
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"About 25,000 Christians have fled to Bartilla, but CBN News couldn't find one who would talk on camera out of fear of retribution. The conditions in Bartilla are abysmal. There's no water because ISIS turned it off. And there's no electricity because Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's government turned that off. People here are protected by the Peshmerga, who have set up a perimeter around the town and a few other towns in the area. These people know that ISIS could come in and kill most of the people here. <br />
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They're asking for prayer from Christians around the world. One Christian leader said they're asking for prayer just as the Apostle Paul did, praying that God will protect the town and the region." <br />
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"In the midst of this cauldron surrounding Iraq's Christians, Majeed sent out a prayer S.O.S. "So please raise up prayer for us. This is what we need," he said. "We do believe that prayer is very important because we hear when man is work[ing], man is working. But when man is praying, God is working." "So it is important for the churches outside Iraq to raise up prayers and also to fast for the sake of the people of Iraq," he continued. "It's important for the other churches to pray for them to be protected," he admonished. "Please pray for us -- this is the only thing for the right time. We have nothing to do. People outside can do nothing for us except praying.""</blockquote>
CBN provides this video from Tom Doyle, author of <a href="http://shop.cbn.com/advSearch2.asp?mode=search&selQuickSearch=quicksearch&txtTitle=Dreams+and+Visions%3A++Is+Jesus+Awakening+the+Muslim+World&x=0&y=0" target="_blank">Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World</a>, offers a unique insight into what's happening in the Middle East right now and how Christians can respond. <br />
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The radical destructive events we see in Northern Iraq are in and around the ancient area of Elam. Is there a tie to these events in what we see written in Jeremiah as part of a 2,600 year old judgment brought on by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar? According to Strong's Concordance, Elam is a province east of Babylon and northeast of the lower Tigris. Sounds like the area around Mosul to me... <br />
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"For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD. But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD." Jeremiah 49:37-39 </blockquote>
God tells Jeremiah what is next in Jeremiah 50 and Jeremiah 51. Notice "the least of the flocks shall draw them out". Could ISIS be the least of the flock? There will be a cry among the nations... <br />
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"Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations." Jeremiah 50:45-46 </blockquote>
The conclusion of chapter 51 states... <br />
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"So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, [that] thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far [are] the words of Jeremiah." Jeremiah 51:60-64 </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT June 19, 2014:</b> I think that this is an important report today from JNS and a must read that provides a thoughtful and unique view beyond the headline. It very well may address prophetic events tied to Jacob's trouble and tribulation for Ephraim possibly tying people and events beginning in 740 BC to 2014. <br />
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The Assyrian invasions of Northern Israel recorded in Assyrian cuneiform states that captives were taken from Samaria. This lasted 18 years until 722 BC. Interestingly, 18 years from now will mark what many believe to be 2,000 years (2 days) or 40 Jubilees from the Passover cross. <a href="http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2014/6/19/like-jews-before-them-iraqs-christians-may-face-extinction-after-jihadist-invasion#.U6U3D6mWTFI=" target="_blank">Christianity Like Jews before them, Iraq’s Christians may face extinction after jihadist invasion</a> <br />
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"For most Westerners, Iraq is a foreboding and dangerous place that is filled with extremists and daily violence. Yet as little as 75 years ago Iraq was a vibrant country that was home to many different ethnic and religious minorities, including large Jewish and Christian populations. But the latest round of violence spearheaded by the jihadist terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), which is driving through the heart of Iraq to the capital of Baghdad and inflicting medieval-style Islamic justice on anyone in its path, might be the last gasp of Iraq’s ancient Christian community, which faces extinction like Iraq’s Jewish community before it. “Iraq used to be a beautiful mosaic made of many different faiths, including Judaism,” Juliana Taimoorazy, founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, told JNS.org. <br />
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Like the Jewish people, the Christians of Iraq have a long and storied history that can be traced back to the very foundations of human civilization. Most Iraqi Christians belong to an ethnic group known as the Assyrians. The Assyrian people consider themselves to be direct descendants of the numerous ancient Mesopotamian civilizations such as the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. “The Assyrians, also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs are the children of Sumerians, the original people of Iraq,” Taimoorazy said. Mentioned numerous times in the bible from Genesis and onward, the peoples of Mesopotamia were key in formation of Judeo-Christian history. It is the land where the biblical patriarch Abraham hailed from." </blockquote>
If your read the report, you will notice the reporter errs just a bit stating that the Northern tribes of Israel who were expelled to Mesopotamia by the ancient Assyrians were "Jewish". The Bible clearly describes something different. Most miss it but the Bible calls these people of the northern hill-country cities of Ephraim and Manasseh by the name "Ephraim". <br />
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The Jewish people, the people of Judah and Benjamin lived in the southern kingdom in and around Jerusalem, the Assyrians did not overtake the Southern Kingdom, but the Ottoman Muslims did and they were forced to give it up in 1920 and they are fighting to get it back. <br />
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<b>PRAYER ALERT August 4, 2014:</b> <a href="http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2014/08/01/gaza-crisis-isis-pledge-to-join-the-palestinian-fight-against-barbaric-jews/" target="_blank">Gaza Crisis: Isis Pledge to Join the Palestinian Fight Against ‘Barbaric Jews’</a> <br />
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"The Islamic militant group, who last month announced a “Caliphate” straddling the Iraqi-Syrian border and renamed themselves the Islamic State, released the provocative statement on an Isis-affiliated Twitter account. “It is only matter of time and patience before it [Islamic State] reaches Palestine to fight the barbaric Jews and kill those of them hiding behind the gharqad trees – the trees of the Jews,” the statement read. The group said it would do “everything within its means” to continue the fight against any obstacleon the way to “Palestine”, alluding to the Middle Eastern territory before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. <br />
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“As for the massacres taking place in Gaza against the Muslim men, women and children, then the Islamic State will do everything within its means to continue striking down every apostate who stands as an obstacle on its paths towards Palestine,” the group said." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT June 16, 2014:</b> If you care about America, you need to understand the mind of Homeland Security official Mohamed Elibiary. His remarks on Twitter should make your skin crawl when you realize that he is a leader at the Department of Homeland Security. You'll want to read the full article. <a blank="" href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/senior-dhs-adviser-brags-inevitable-that-caliphate-returns/" target="">Senior DHS Adviser: ‘Inevitable that ‘Caliphate’ Returns’</a> <br />
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"A controversial senior adviser to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is receiving criticism for tweeting that the recent takeover of Iraqi cities by a violent terror group is proof that a Muslim “caliphate” is making an “inevitable” return. Mohamed Elibiary, a controversial figure and member of DHS’s Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), discussed what he described as the “inevitable” return of a Muslim caliphate Friday on Twitter." </blockquote>
You now know what Mohamed Elibiary says. Here's what Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Caliph says: <br />
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"Our Last Message Is To The Americans. Soon We Will Be In Direct Confrontation, And The Sons Of Islam Have Prepared For Such A Day. So Watch, For We Are With You." </blockquote>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/world/middleeast/embassy.html?smid=tw-bna&_r=1" target="_blank">U.S. Plans to Evacuate Many Embassy Workers</a> "ERBIL, Iraq — The American Embassy in Baghdad plans to evacuate a substantial number of its personnel this week in the face of a militant advance that rapidly swept from the north toward the capital, the State Department announced on Sunday. <br />
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The embassy, a beige fortress on the banks of the Tigris River within the heavily secured Green Zone, where Iraqi government buildings are also situated, has the largest staff of any United States Embassy. The exact number of people being evacuated from Baghdad — the American government prefers to say they are being “relocated” — was not disclosed. But the embassy will remain open, and most of its staff will remain, according to the State Department." <br />
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News.com.au reports: <a href="http://www.news.com.au/world/iraq-is-a-tangled-web-of-religious-racial-and-political-conflict-heres-where-the-key-players-fit/story-fndir2ev-1226955671616" target="_blank">Iraq is a tangled web of religious, racial and political conflict. Here’s where the key players fit</a> <br />
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"IRAQ is imploding as a brutal force of jihadist extremists — almost medieval in their beliefs — storms over dispirited defenders. The world has been forced to take notice as the insurgents brutally massacre government soldiers, even posting pictures of the mass slayings on social media. Meanwhile confused reports emerge of the blood-soaked fanatics closing in on the capital Baghdad as Westerners prepare to flee." <br />
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"SUNNI MUSLIMS: At the core of Iraq’s turmoil is a religious divide that reaches back almost 1500 years — the Sunni and Shiite factions who, essentially, disagreed over who the Prophet Muhammad’s true successor was. Like most religious movements, the Sunnis are made up of hundreds of different factions and groups — all with their own interpretation of how to enact God’s will. Once the faction of dictator Saddam Hussein, the overthrow of the old power structure by the Coalition of the Willing in 2003 opened up the opportunity for the opposing Shiite Muslims to take control — and revenge. There are believed to be almost twice as many Shiites as Sunnis in Iraq. However with the well-organised insurgency mainly led by radical Sunnis, the balance is swinging once more. <br />
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SHIITE MUSLIMS: This Islamic faction with its powerbase in Iran has seen the recent Western occupation as a golden opportunity to entrench itself as the new power base in Iraq. Controversially, the US-backed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been one of the prime movers behind this push — though the US has turned a blind eye. The result is a divided nation that saw its people come to regard the government as an instrument of religious oppression, not an impartial mediator and source of justice. <br />
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BAGHDAD GOVERNMENT: Under the figurehead of President Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish politician who helped establish his people’s semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq, the true power behind the Iraqi flag is Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The leader of a prominent Shiite political-religious group, he rose to the top job in 2006 and has since set about strengthening his own religious faction’s position at the cost of others. He ousted Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, the top Sunni religious faction politician, as soon as the US withdrew its last troops in 2012. </blockquote><blockquote>Sentenced to death in absentia for crimes of terrorism, the whereabouts of Hashemi is unknown. ISIS: The well-armed, well organised and highly motivated alliance of jihadist groups that is sweeping aside all signs of resistance in Iraq has ties to militant Islamic organisations throughout the Middle East. At the head of the predominantly Sunni Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) (also known as ISIL — Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi-born militant some hail as “the new bin Laden”. Baghdadi — who regards himself to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad — wants to erase “Western imposed borders” and create a “new Caliphate”. <br />
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With a $10 million bounty on his head, he is known for extreme views that even al Qaeda’s hierarchy find uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he has assembled a coalition of some 10,000 warriors — mostly from US-backed Islamic militant groups fighting against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria." </blockquote>
Here's a mindblowing report from Reuters: <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/16/us-iraq-security-usa-iran-idUSKBN0EQ1BB20140616" target="_blank">U.S. preparing for dialogue with Iran on Iraq security -official</a> <b>PRAYER ALERT June 14, 2014:</b> For futher study, consider: <a href="http://www.joelstrumpet.com/?p=6742" target="_blank"><u><b>Is the Vision of Daniel 8 Being Fulfilled Right Now in Iraq and Iran?</b></u></a> <b>PRAYER ALERT June 13, 2014:</b> ISIS calls America to battle that strangely sounds like Revelation 16:14... <a blank="" href="http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/isis-leader-usa-soon-we-will-be-direct-confrontation" target="">ISIS Leader to USA: ‘Soon We Will be in Direct Confrontation’</a> <br />
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"(CNSNews.com) - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), issued a rare audio message back on January 21 in which he flatly stated his group’s intention to march on Baghdad and move into “direct confrontation” with the United States. “Our last message is to the Americans. Soon we will be in direct confrontation, and the sons of Islam have prepared for such a day,” Baghdadi said. “So watch, for we are with you, watching.”" <br />
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Tim Lister of CNN reports on <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/12/world/meast/who-is-the-isis/" target="_blank">ISIS: The first terror group to build an Islamic state?</a> <br />
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"The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has thrived and mutated during the ongoing civil war in Syria and in the security vacuum that followed the departure of the last American forces from Iraq. The aim of ISIS is to create an Islamic state across Sunni areas of Iraq and in Syria. With the seizure of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and advances on others, that aim appears within reach. ISIS controls hundreds of square miles where state authority has evaporated. It ignores international borders and has a presence all the way from Syria's Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad." </blockquote>
<b>PRAYER ALERT June 11, 2014:</b> Business Insider reports on the black flag group ISIS, the shock and awe terrorists that use crucifixions and beheadings to spread their horror from Syria into Iraq. They morph their name from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). By any name, they remind me of the sons of darkness from the <a href="http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/war" target="blank">War Scroll</a> and Habakkuk 1. From Nineveh, ISIS may target Baghdad: <br />
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"For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves." Habakkuk 1:6-7 </blockquote>
Other Bible translations use the word Babylonians instead of Chaldeans. I'm no prophet, but if you have spent any time on this website, you know we need to study the Scriptures of the Prophets. Amos 3:7 tells us: <br />
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"Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." </blockquote>
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The report is an eerie reminder of the prophetic warning of the sixth bowl plague in Revelation 16:12-16 which warns of <b>three unclean spirits described as frogs </b>that come out of the beast. The description is much like the three extreme terror groups that have broken from the jihadi terror roots of Al Qaida: <br />
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<b>1. <a href="http://www.bing.com/news/search?q=Ahrar+Al+Sham&go=Submit&qs=n&form=QBNT&pq=ahrar+al+sham&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=" target="_blank">Ahrar Al Sham</a> 2. <a href="http://www.bing.com/news/search?q=Islamic+state+of+Iraq+and+Levant&go=Submit&qs=n&form=QBNT&pq=islamic+state+of+iraq+and+levant&sc=1-32&sp=-1&sk=" target="_blank">Islamic state of Iraq and Levant</a></b> 3. <a href="http://www.bing.com/news/search?q=jabhat+al-nusra&FORM=HDRSC6" target="_blank"><b>Jabhat al-Nusra</b></a> and its al-Qaeda affiliate the other black flag <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDv_aN-ml_U" target="_blank"><b>the Khorasan group</b></a> that has moved into Syria from Afghanistan.</blockquote>
They remind me of the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites that were linked to the Amalekites. And their swift terror attacks are like the leopard of Jeremiah 5:6, Daniel 7:6 and Revelation 13:2.<br />
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Today, these groups a the focal point of the divide between Sunni and Shi'a. The divide is none other than the ancient argument of DNA vs. religion. The tradition of the Shiite is to believe that only a blood relative of Mohammed can succeed the prophet as the leader of Islam, while the Sunni believe any devout, faithful follower of Mohammed can be the Caliphate leader. <br />
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If you think about that, it sounds eerily familiar, as to the conflicts of other religious beliefs. You might want to let that soak it.<br />
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Shi'a Muslims are a minority except in Iran and Iraq where they are the majority, These are the ancient lands represented by the gold and silver of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2 interpreted by Daniel after God gave him the vision and its meaning to deliver to the king. <br />
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"The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth." </blockquote>
It seems that ISIS may at least for now, be representative of the iron breaking and smashing everything, even the baked clay of Shi'a in Iraq, the land of Nebuchadnezzar. After all, through its violence, ISIS wants to create an Islamic Caliphate state ruled by strict Shariah law in Iraq and expand it to Syria and down to Egypt and north Africa. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/al-qaeda-offshoot-now-effectively-controls-iraqs-water-supply-2014-6#ixzz34KOlSlli" target="_blank">A Jihadist Group That's Too Radical For Al Qaeda Is Threatening Iraq's Water Supply</a> <br />
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"Extremists fighters from the al Qaeda offshoot the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) are now able to control, or at least seriously damage, Iraq's water supply. <br />
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Earlier today, fighters from ISIS, which was actually expelled from Al Qaeda's global network in February, captured Mosul, the capital of northern Iraq and the country's second largest city. The entirety of the city is reported to be in ISIS's hands since government troops and police officers abandoned their posts before the offensive. ISIS's control of Mosul places it in a prime position to launch an attack against the Mosul Dam, the largest in the country. The dam impedes the Tigris River, which, along with the Euphrates River, is the main source of water for the vast majority of Iraq's 32 million citizens. ISIS has previously shown a desire to take control of dams as a means of inflicting strategic damage to southern and central Iraq. In January 2014, ISIS took control of the Fallujah Dam along the Euphrates. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) was not able to retake control of the dam until April. During their months in control of the dam, ISIS managed to block the Euphrates, flooding the area around Fallujah while cutting off water to the southern and central districts of Iraq." </blockquote>
This report on Nineveh is from AFP: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/iraqs-nineveh-province-falls-militants-093232998.html" target="_blank">Jihadists seize Iraq's second city, Nineveh province </a> "Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - Jihadists overran Iraq's second city of Mosul, the surrounding Nineveh province and parts of Kirkuk on Tuesday, in a major blow to a government apparently incapable of stopping militant advances. <br />
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Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki responded by asking parliament to declare a state of emergency and announcing the government would arm citizens to fight the militants. "All of Nineveh province fell into the hands of militants," parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi told journalists in Baghdad, adding the gunmen were heading south towards neighbouring Salaheddin province. An army brigadier general told AFP hundreds of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched a major assault on the security forces late on Monday." And the extremists ISIL or ISIS as there militant name morphs are rich from their crimes in Iraq... <br />
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<a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mosul-seized-jihadis-loot-429m-citys-central-bank-make-isis-worlds-richest-terror-force-1452190" target="_blank">Mosul Seized: Jihadis Loot $429m from City's Central Bank to Make Isis World's Richest Terror Force</a> <br />
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"The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (Isis) has become the richest terror group ever after looting 500 billion Iraqi dinars - the equivalent of $429m (£256m) - from Mosul's central bank, according to the regional governor. Nineveh governor Atheel al-Nujaifi confirmed Kurdish television reports that Isis militants had stolen millions from numerous banks across Mosul. A large quantity of gold bullion is also believed to have been stolen. Following the siege of the country's second city, the bounty collected by the group has left it richer than al-Qaeda itself and as wealthy as small nations such as Tonga, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Falkland Islands. The financial assets that the group now possess are likely to worsen the Iraqi government's struggle to defeat the insurgency, which is aimed at creating an Islamic state across the Syrian-Iraqi border. <br />
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The Islamist militants took control of Mosul after hundreds of its fighters overwhelmed government military forces in a lightening attack on Monday, forcing up to 500,000 people to flee the city and Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to call a national state of emergency. <br />
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The militants freed up to 1,000 inmates from Mosul's central prison, according to senior police officials. They are also in control of Mosul airport and local television stations. They also seized considerable amounts of US-supplied military hardware. Photos have already emerged of Isis parading captured Humvees in neighbouring Syria where they are also waging war against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. <br />
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In a televised news conference, Maliki said "Iraq is undergoing a difficult stage" and urged the public and government to unite "to confront this vicious attack, which will spare no Iraqi."" </blockquote>
Fox News gives a video report today on the events in Iraq and a warning of the goal of a Caliphate: <a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/3618304357001/gen-jack-keane-on-new-threat-for-us-from-al-qaeda-offshoot/#sp=show-clips" target="_blank">Gen. Jack Keane on new threat for US from Al Qaeda offshoot</a>. <br />
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<script src="http://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=3618304357001&w=420&h=237" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Watch the latest video at <a href="http://video.foxnews.com">video.foxnews.com</a></noscript></center>
UPI reports that the State Department has finally given notice: <a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/06/11/Violence-in-Iraq-at-levels-unseen-since-2007-warns-State-Department/7191402527825/?spt=sec&or=tn" target="_blank">Violence in Iraq 'at levels unseen since 2007,' warns State Department</a> <br />
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"As Iraqi militants lay siege to Mosul, Tikrit, and Baijia, the U.S. Department of State issued a new travel warning on Wednesday to caution Americans against unnecessary travel to Iraq." </blockquote>
Terror groups across the Eastern globe have become prolific and they include many names according to the <a href="http://www.nctc.gov/site/map/index.html" target="_blank">National Counterterrorism Center</a>.<br />
<br /><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div><div><br /></div>
Shalom.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-21611413387613349582014-03-30T09:28:00.015-05:002024-01-21T14:20:44.021-06:00The Teacher is Asking for You...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I am the resurrection and the life. <br />Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, <br />and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. <br />Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26</td></tr>
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<br />"Yes, Lord," she replied, "I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you."<div><br /><div>Many Christians meet Jesus at the cross, but in my Scripture studies I found He is not there! <div><br /></div><div>He is Risen and the Teacher is asking for you!<br />
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Forty days after He arose in resurrection glory on the day of First Fruits after Passover nearly 2,000 years ago, Yeshua ascended to The Father.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The cross was not the end.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we think the Torah was hung on the cross we miss the Gospel message in Leviticus. There we learn that sacrifice is not the death. The sacrifice is the blood offering before the presence of The LORD, the death is before the offering of atonement outside the Tabernacle.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the quickening miracle life giving power of our Creator God, Yeshua lives in resurrection power and He has overcome the death of Adam and lives interceding as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek just as the book of Hebrews describes. </div><div><br /></div><div>He kept and is keeping the Torah of God, in the High Priestly duty and privilege to enter the Holy of Holies of Heaven to expiate sins of the people of Israel wearing only white linen garments, forgoing the the elaborate priestly vestments just as Stephen saw him as Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies in the Sanctuary on High standing before the very Divine Throne of Glory:</div><div><blockquote>"But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55-56</blockquote></div><div>Nothing in His life was or is Torah-less. His death by Rome's guard occurred just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem, but the enemy's death plot failed in God's perfect plan carried out in the First Fruits' power of resurrection to eternal life given to Messiah Yeshua by Almighty God on the 3rd day. On the 40th day of the Omer count He ascended to the Heavenly throne room of the most Holy of Holies as High Priest King in the order of Melchizedek and he will return just as David declared in Psalm 110 as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Ten days later, on the 50th day of The Lord's appointed Omer Count up to Shavuot (Pentecost) the Spirit if God poured on the disciples like fire.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was the day after the 7th Sabbath arrived exactly as The LORD proclaimed in Leviticus 23:1-3 when The Spirit of The LORD descended in Jerusalem. </div><div><br /></div><div>That day, the same "Kadosh" Holy Spirit of God, the divine presence that gave life to Adam, restored the confusion that began at the Tower of Babel as the gift of speech in many languages (tongues) was granted to the disciples of Yeshua.</div><div><br /></div><div>The gift of tongues or language of other nations was granted to the disciples so that the good news of Messiah could spread the message of repentance and the gospel of the Kingdom of God to all nations around the world that would hear it.<br />
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In the beginning, in Genesis 2:7 we are shown how the Spirit, the "Ruach" of Almighty God gave life to Adam as he arose from the dust. Matthew 28:1-10 shows us how the Ruach Spirit in Yeshua quickened resurrection life in Yeshua as He lay in the dusty tomb. </div><div><br /></div><div>Life is God's miracle that only He can give.</div><div><br />
Messiah Yeshua's resurrection occurred during the Unleavened Bread week on the appointed day found in the Torah. It was the Day of First Fruits fulfilling the sign of Jonah because that special day was the 3rd day that followed the crucifixion on Passover and three days of Unleavened Bread in the grave. <br />
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In the end, that same Spirit of Almighty God of Hosts will restore life as it was in Eden with the gift of resurrection from the dust. That's what salvation is. On that end day, rebirth to a transformed life will be granted so that mankind may again know The LORD and walk in first hand relationship with our Creator and Savior God. </div><div><br /></div><div>When The Father promised Abraham that his seed (descendant) would be a blessing to all the world, He meant it. When Abraham told Issac The LORD will provide the sacrifice, he meant it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The reason, in the end, the Kingdom of God will be made up of “all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues” ( see Revelation 7:9).<br />
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<big>Yeshua is the "One" calling for you now and... He is risen!</big></center>
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<br />But don't just believe, do something. God tells what to do through the prophet Zechariah.</div><div><blockquote>Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 1:3</blockquote></div><div>This return to The LORD message is why Jesus (Yeshua) preached: "Repent for the Kingdom is near."</div><div><br /></div><div>We return to God in repentance, (in Hebrew teshuva) it means we do something in faith, we and stop turn back to God. </div><div><br /></div><div>The LORD of hosts' promise is if we do that He will return. </div><div><br /></div><div>Without repentance, He's not coming and the Kingdom of God is far from us. That was the message in Yeshua's preaching in the Galilee. His gospel of God sermons were not about a beating, a Roman crucifixion cross. They were about teshuva!</div><div> <br />By our repentance, another miracle of God's power will pour out over the earth again one day. </div><div><br /></div><div>Repentant children of God will be blessed in grace to receive the gift of salvation and eternal life by God's Spirit, the Ruach, the wind and breath of God for those saved in resurrection life under King Messiah!</div><div><br /></div><div>The glory road started and ends in Jerusalem with the Passover lamb of God, not an Easter ham. <br />
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<b>Luke gives us the Passover account of Yeshua of Natzeret</b>:<br />
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"Then came the day of <b>unleavened bread</b>, when the <b>passover </b>must be killed. <br />
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And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and <b>prepare us the passover</b>, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? <br />
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And he said unto them, <b>Behold, when you enter into the city</b>, there a man shall meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he enters in. And you shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guest chamber, where I shall <b>eat the passover with my disciples</b>? <br />
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And he shall show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready <b>the passover;</b> <br />
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And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire <b>I have desired to eat this passover with you</b> before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, <b>until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. </b><br />
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And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide [it] among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, <b>until the kingdom of God shall come. </b></blockquote><blockquote>And he took bread, and gave thanks, and broke [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: <b>this do in remembrance of me. </b><br />
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Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup [is] the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." Luke 22:7-20</blockquote>
Passover is the first appointment of The LORD, it on God's calendar, so don't ignore it </div><div><br /></div><div>It represents the promise of redemption and resurrection life in the Kingdom of God, whether for ancient Israel enslaved by Pharaoh, or for Jew or non-Jew today that have been enslaved to sin. </div><div><br /></div><div>Salvation into new life's the incredible gift in the Kingdom that God promises and it all begins with the Passover for everyone. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua is the Passover Lamb of God promised to Abraham (see Genesis 22:13-14). </div><div><br /></div><div>The binding of Isaac known in Hebrew as "the Akedah," is one of the most misunderstood prophetic mysteries of the in the Bible. The test given to Abraham had a big purpose, God showed Abraham a prophetic shadow picture of Messiah and resurrection. </div><div><br /></div><div>Abraham was blessed, he had bound up Isaac for death, yet Isaac lived after laying willingly on that wood, but Isaac was spared.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's why Yeshua said:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.” John 8:56 </div></blockquote><div></div><div>Yeshua lives and is our High Priest Messiah King to come, but He is looking for disciples.</div><div><br /></div><div>The disciples of Yeshua were not a new idea, they are from the backstage of the Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus told them so, but unless you study and believe God's teaching and instruction known as The Torah, <u>you may have missed it</u>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua promised the disciples that in God's kingdom they will sit on twelve thrones and judge the tribes of Israel. That promise is first seen in the book of Matthew from the teaching about salvation and the parable of a camel passing through the eye of the needle. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can read it in Matthew 19:28:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." </div><div><br /></div><div>Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matthew 19:24-28 NIV</div></blockquote><div></div><div>That disciple judgement to come is not condemnation. It's to govern and preside over "all Israel" with the power of making decisions with explanation from Almighty God's Torah. The disciple system goes back to the Torah portion called "Yithro" starting in Numbers 18. </div><div><br /></div><div>There we see Moses' father in law setting the stage for Yeshua's prophetic promise.</div><div><br /></div><div>When Jethro observed Moses serving the people, he asked, “Why do you alone sit as judge?”</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses answered, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Jethro pointed out that Moses was preventing everyone from knowing God's will. He suggested Moses delegate his responsibilities to the leaders of the families of Israel. Jethro's advice explained how to properly administer and teach God’s Torah principles among people. Moses was then able to take on difficult cases if they occurred and it provided encouragement for everyone else (see Exodus 18:19-27).</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the story you may have never connected to the reason Yeshua called out His disciples. The account of Jethro wraps up as shown below and it provides the Torah outline for the very reason Yeshua taught His disciples Torah principles:</div><div><blockquote>Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. </blockquote><blockquote>But select capable men from all the people--men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain--and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. </blockquote><blockquote>Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. </blockquote><blockquote>If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied." </blockquote><blockquote>Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Exodus 18:20-25 NIV</blockquote></div><div>Paul detailed the requirements for leadership to his understudy Timothy, and it's the message shown above. You can find that in 1Timothy 3.</div><div><br /></div><div>No need to believe me if you doubt the disciple connection to Jethro's advice, believe Jesus:</div><div><blockquote>"For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me." John 5:46</blockquote></div><div><b>Yeshua, the teacher is calling you too.</b></div><blockquote><div>If you'd like to learn more about God's restoration plan, both fulfilled and to come through God's ordained appointments with Messiah, you need to know The Father's seven appointed and Holy Feast Day's and take part in them. Each is a repentant turn in a great rehearsal for the Kingdom of God to come.</div></blockquote><div>Believe me, you do not want to might miss your appointment on God's calendar! </div><div><br /></div><div>Thank God the Torah, the Sabbaths and Feasts of The LORD are not old and done away with. If they were, we could not count on Messiah to share again in the Passover to come that He promised His disciples.</div><div>
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<b>Matthew gives us a second witness to the Day of First Fruits:</b><br />
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"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, 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 upon it.<br />
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His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead [men]. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not: for I know that you seek Yeshua, which was crucified. </blockquote><blockquote>He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.<br />
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And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there shall you see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.<br />
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And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Yeshua met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him. </blockquote><blockquote>Then said Yeshua unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.<br />
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Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him [away] while we slept.<br />
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And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.<br />
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Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Yeshua had appointed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.<br />
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And Yeshua came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world." Amen. Matthew 28:1-20</blockquote>
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<b>What does this all mean?</b> <br />
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The Teacher is Calling for You! It means that it is now time for all of us to repent and return to God's covenant, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. <br />
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God is a sovereign God. He is a loving God, a Holy God and He has provided a way to offer you salvation. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">God's lovingkindness and grace extends from one end of the Bible to the other. There is a name by which you can be saved. It was declared by Yeshua in His priestly prayer:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">“I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.” John 17:6</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div>“And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it:] that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:27</div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
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You can accept God's gift of life. Believe on Yeshua, believe on His name, it is your salvation. <br />
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Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask His forgiveness and accept His gift of love through Messiah Yeshua. You can do it now!<br />
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"<strong>The Teacher is here and is calling for you.</strong>" John 11:28 </div>
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To learn more about "The Teacher" that is calling for you consider this study: <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/who-is-jesus.html">Who is the One Called Jesus?</a><br />
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And to learn more about the season of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits watch the awesome video below and consider reading these studies: <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/09/three-fall-feasts-of-lord.html" target="_blank">The Feasts of The Lord</a> and <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2010/04/do-as-disciples-did-count-omer.html">Do As The Disciples Did - Count the Omer</a>.<br />
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These days are the Feasts of The Lord, so we should not let the Feast Days of YHVH suffer from neglect, let's celebrate them!<br />
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With God there is always a second chance. To prove it God even commanded a second Passover.<br />
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<b>Yeshua is "The One" that is risen!</b><br />
<blockquote>
"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, 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 upon it. <br />
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His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead [men]. <br />
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And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. <br />
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And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me." Matthew 28:1-10</blockquote>
<b>What does this all mean?</b> <div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to hear the teacher. Time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div></div><div><br /></div>
Shalom.</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-40015950877488717842013-12-21T15:33:00.003-06:002024-01-21T11:29:01.169-06:00A Message to Benghazi and the World<br />
How can we show the lovingkindness and forgiveness of God?<br />
<br />
Anita Smith shows the world how the cry of Stephen recorded in Acts 7: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" as she says she forgives the attackers.<br />
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Her husband, Ronnie Smith at age 33 was shot and killed two weeks ago in Benghazi while jogging in the morning near the American Consulate where the American diplomatic mission was attacked a year earlier on September 11, 2012 when U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans (Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty) were killed in a terrorist mob attack against the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.<br />
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Ronnie had been there in Benghazi providing a heroic ministry of teaching Libyan students at the International School for the last 18 months.<br />
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For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Messiah 2Corinthians 10:1</blockquote>
Thanks to my sister in The Lord, Misha for sharing this unbelievable story today of Ronnie's incredible wife Anita who wants this message to go out to the attackers in Benghazi:<br />
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"I just really want them to know that I do love them and I forgive them, and Ronnie would want this, and I hope and pray that our son, Hosea, would believe this".<br />
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"I pray with all my heart that the attackers, that maybe this incident would call them to know the love and the forgiveness that's found in Jesus, I really do."</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/20/us/libya-widow-teacher-forgives-attackers/index.html?hpt=hp_t1" target="_blank">CNN reports</a>:<br />
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To the attackers, she wrote: "<b>I love you and I forgive you</b>."<br />
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To the Libyan people, she said, "We came to bless you, but you have blessed us much more. Thank you."<br />
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Benghazi was the cradle of Libya's 2011 revolution that ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime but since then, the new government is struggling to control armed groups in the country.<br />
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Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi also is where militants attacked a U.S. diplomatic mission in September 2012, killing four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The United States blames the Islamist militant group Ansar al-Sharia for the attack.<br />
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"I hear people speaking with hate, anger and blame over Ronnie's death, but that's not what Ronnie would want," Smith wrote of her husband. "I want all of you -- all of the people of Libya -- to know I am praying for the peace and prosperity of Libya. May Ronnie's blood, shed on Libyan soil, encourage peace and reconciliation between the Libyan people and God."</blockquote>
From the <a href="http://austinstone.org/ronnie" target="_blank">Austin Stone</a> church here in Austin...<br />
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For right now, we ask you to:<br />
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Pray for Anita, Hosea, and the rest of Anita and Ronnie’s family<br />
Grieve for the loss of our brother with the hope of Christ<br />
Trust that God’s will is perfect and His purposes are good<br />
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The Austin Stone will be assisting Ronnie's wife, Anita, financially. If you would like to make a gift in memory of Ronnie Smith, please follow <a href="https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=5ad430" target="_blank">this link</a>.<br />
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Proceeds from the sale of The History of Redemption, an illustrated collection of scriptures edited by Ronnie Smith, will support the Smith family. <a href="http://www.historyofredemption.org/" target="_blank">You can purchase a copy of the book here.</a></blockquote>
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<big>Is it any wonder that Ronnie Smith edited "<a href="http://www.historyofredemption.org/" target="_blank">The History of Redemption</a>"?</big></center>
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Is it any wonder <a href="http://austinstone.org/resources/sermons/469--the-history-of-redemption" target="_blank">Ronnie Smith taught its message</a>? <br />
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No. And you will know why when you read the glorious open letter 'To the Libyan people' his wife Anita Smith has written:<br />
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"My husband and best friend Ronnie Smith loved the Libyan people. For more than a year, Ronnie served as a chemistry teacher in a school in Benghazi, and he would gladly have given more years to Libya if unknown gunmen had not cut his life short on December 5, 2013.<br />
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Ronnie and I came to Libya because we saw the suffering of the Libyan people, but we also saw your hope, and we wanted to partner with you to build a better future. Libya was very different from what we had experienced before, but we were excited to learn about Libyan culture. Ronnie grew to love you and your way of life, as did I. Ronnie really was "Libya’s best friend".<br />
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Friends and family from home were concerned about our safety, as were some of you. We talked about this more times than I can count. But we stayed because we believed the Libyan people were worth the risk. Even knowing what I know now, I have no doubt that we would both make the same decision all over again. <br />
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Ronnie loved you all so much, especially his students. He loved to joke with you, tell stories about you, help you with your lives and challenge you to be all that you could be. He did his best to live out his faith humbly and respectfully within a community of people with a different faith. <br />
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To his attackers: I love you and I forgive you. <br />
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How could I not? For Jesus taught us to “Love our enemies” -- not to kill them or seek revenge. Jesus sacrificed His life out of love for the very people who killed him, as well as for us today. His death and resurrection opened the door for us to walk on the straight path to God in peace and forgiveness. Because of what Jesus did, Ronnie is with Jesus in paradise now. Jesus did not come only to take us to paradise when we die, but also to bring peace and healing on this earth. Ronnie loved you because God loves you. Ronnie loved you because God loved him - not because Ronnie was so great, but because God is so great. <br />
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To the Libyan people: I always expected that God would give us a heart to love you, but I never expected you to love us so much. We came to bless you, but you have blessed us much more. Thank you. Thank you for your support and love for Ronnie and our son Hosea and me. Since Ronnie’s death my love for you has increased in ways that I never imagined. I feel closer to you now than ever before. <br />
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I hear people speaking with hate, anger and blame over Ronnie’s death, but that's not what Ronnie would want. Ronnie would want his death to be an opportunity for us to show one another love and forgiveness, because that’s what God has shown us. <br />
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I want all of you - all of the people of Libya - to know I am praying for the peace and prosperity of Libya. May Ronnie's blood, shed on Libyan soil, encourage peace and reconciliation between the Libyan people and God."</blockquote>
With her incredible message of love to Benghazi and the world, Anita is living out the teaching and instruction, the Torah that was expounded by Messiah Yeshua:<br />
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You have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate your enemy.<br />
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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; That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:43-45</blockquote>
The Austin Stone church will be assisting Ronnie's wife, Anita financially. If you would like to participate just make a gift in memory of Ronnie Smith, <a href="https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=5ad430" target="_blank">please click here</a>.<br />
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But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 2Corinthians 10:17</blockquote>
Back in February 2011, <a href="https://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/bible-prophecy-and-the-future-of-libya/" target="_blank">Joel Rosenberg posted this on his blog</a>...<br />
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"Libya is referred to numerous times in the Scriptures, both directly and indirectly.<br />
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In Matthew 27, for example, we learn that it was a Libyan man — Simon of Cyrene (a part of ancient Libya) — who carried the cross for our Lord Jesus.<br />
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In Acts chapter 2, we learn that God-fearing men from Libya were present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost and heard the Apostle Peter preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Some 3,000 people that days repented of their sins and became fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. It is likely that Libyans were among them since they are mentioned in the text.<br />
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In Acts 11, we learn that Libyan (Cyrene) followers of Jesus Christ helped bring the gospel to Antioch, Syria, and made disciples for Jesus there.<br />
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In Acts 13 we learn that a Libyan man — Lucius of Cyrene — becomes one of the leaders of the church at Antioch, helping send out Barnabus and Paul to take the gospel to Asia and Europe.<br />
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Again and again in the Scriptures we see that the Lord loves the people of Libya. He wants them to know Him and receive His free gift of salvation.<br />
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That said, Bible prophecy also tells us the government and many of the people of Libya will be engaged in great evil in the End of Days.<br />
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In Ezekiel 38-39, we learn that Libya is one of the nations that joins the Russian-Iranian alliance against Israel in “the last days.” In this prophecy, Ezekiel uses the name “Put.” <br />
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The first century historian Flavius Josephus wrote in his famous book, The Antiquities of the Jews, that “Put” or “Phut” is “ancient Libyos.” Ancient Libyos, we know, certainly included the territory of the modern nation state we refer to today as Libya, but also included Algeria and possibly Tunisia. This tells us the no matter what the near term outcomes of the revolutions underway in North Africa are, in the not-too-distant future Libya for certain and her neighbors will have virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Israel leadership who will eagerly join a coalition bent on destroying the Jews and occupy the land of Israel."</blockquote>
Rosenberg went on stating:<br />
<blockquote>
"In Daniel 11, we learn that Libya is one of the countries that will be under the control and direction of the Antichrist in “the last days.” The Hebrew Prophet Daniel tells us that “a despicable person will arise” during “a time of tranquility” and will seize global power “by intrigue” and by “overflowing forces” in the End Times. <br />
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This person, known in Christian theology as the Antichrist, “will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.” The Bible tells us the Antichrist “will enter the Beautiful Land” — that is, Israel — and “will stretch out his hand against other countries.” Eventually, the Antichrist will gain control of the entire world and force all people who haven’t received Christ as Savior and Lord to bow and worship him or be beheaded. But the Bible specifically notes that the Antichrist “will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians [the people of “Cush,” which includes modern Sudan, Ethiopia and possible Eritrea] will follow at his heels.” It is not entirely clear why the Bible points specifically to “Libyans” and “Ethiopians” as among those who will follow and serve the Antichrist, but this is what the Lord tells us in advance will happen.<br />
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This is all the more reason the Church must seek to reach all of North Africa with the gospel of Jesus Christ before it is too late. Please be praying faithfully for Libya and all of North Africa at this critical hour."</blockquote>
Joel Rosenberg is a gifted writer, he is recognized by The New York Times as a Best Selling" author and he studies the Bible. He is concerned about an anti-christ person, a deceptive, demon possessed evil world leader, that may be accurate but I am gravely concerned about an antichrist movement, a Shariah beast system of terror rule led by false prophets, the Imams, Muftis and Clerics teaching deception from the Hadith's and the Qu'ran. I am deeply concerned about an antichrist spirit of oppression that declares Jesus is not the Son of God and ultimately brings terror and death to innocents like Ronnie Smith and tens of thousands of others whether in Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Beirut, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Nigeria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Entebbe, Glasgow, London, Bali, Somalia, Indonesia, Islamabad, Casablanca, Istanbul, Ankara, Madrid, the Twin Towers, Fort Hood or Benghazi. <br />
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I hate to say it, but there will be <a blank="" href="http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/" target="_"><b>many more global casualties from terrorism to be recorded</b></a> abroad and at home, many more places to name, many fatalities and injuries to grieve over and never forget, yet our focus must be on Israel and Jerusalem.<br />
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Strangely, the waves of Islamic terrorism began shortly<br />
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The letter of 1 John 4 describes that this deadly "spirit" was alive and well almost 2,000 years ago there in the Promised Land:<br />
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"Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Yeshua the Messiah has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit who doesn't confess that Yeshua the Messiah has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the anti-messiah, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already." 1John 4:1-3 HNV</blockquote>
<b>Update February 16, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sisi-warns-of-response-after-islamic-state-kills-21-egyptians-in-libya/ar-BBhBTJq?ocid=mailsignout" target="_blank">Sisi warns of response after Islamic State kills 21 Egyptians in Libya</a><br />
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"CAIRO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Islamic State released a video on Sunday that appeared to show the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned that his country would respond to the deaths as it saw fit.<br />
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Speaking on national television hours after the release of the video, Sisi said Cairo would choose the "necessary means and timing to avenge the criminal killings".<br />
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Egypt's state news agency MENA quoted the spokesman for the Coptic Church as confirming that 21 Egyptian Christians believed to be held by Islamic State were dead.<br />
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The beheadings could stiffen Sisi's resolve in dealing with security threats from militants thriving in neighbouring Libya's chaos who want to topple his U.S.-backed government.<br />
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Egypt has denied reports in the past that it had taken part, along with its close ally the United Arab Emirates, in air strikes against militants based in Libya.<br />
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The footage showing the deaths of the Egyptians appeared on the Twitter feed of a website that supports Islamic State, which has seized parts of Iraq and Syria and has also beheaded Western hostages.<br />
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In the video, militants in black marched the captives, dressed in orange jump suits, to a beach the group said was near Tripoli. They were forced down onto their knees, then beheaded.<br />
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A caption on the five-minute video read: "The people of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian church." Before the killings, one of the militants stood with a knife in his hand and said: "Safety for you crusaders is something you can only wish for."<br />
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Thousands of Egyptians desperate for work have travelled to Libya since an uprising at home in 2011, despite advice from their government not to go to a country sliding into lawlessness."</blockquote>
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<b>Update January 13, 2015: </b>This horrific new report comes today: <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-libya-affiliate-claims-to-kidnap-christians/" target="_blank">Libya ISIS Libya affiliate claims to kidnap Christians</a><br />
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"CAIRO - A Libyan affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed the abduction of 21 Coptic Christians and released pictures of the captives.<br />
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The claim and photos were posted Monday on jihadi forums used by ISIS supporters. The Egyptian workers were seized last month in the central Libyan city of Sirte.<br />
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"The soldiers of the Islamic State in the province of Tripoli hold captive 21 Christian crusaders," the photo caption read, using a the name the group uses for itself."</blockquote>
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<b>Update November 29, 2014:</b> This audio update is from <a href="https://www.crescentproject.org/" target="_blank">Crescent Project</a>. <br />
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Crescent Project's mission is to inspire, equip and serve people to reach out Muslims with the Gospel of Christ for the Glory of God. The audio was recorded on Revival Radio WROL 950, a Christian radio station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is titled: <a href="https://www.crescentproject.org/files/podcasts/InterviewwithAnitaSmithPart1.mp3" target="_blank"><b>Speaking life into the darkest night - Part 1</b></a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.crescentproject.org/" target="_blank">Crescent Project</a> interviews Anita Smith, widow of Ronnie Smith, chemistry teacher slain in Benghazi, Libya. Approaching the one year anniversary of this dark event, Anita shares their story and her remarkable response, a Gospel light shone into a dark world.<div><br /></div><div><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div>
<br />
Shalom.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-12895690152668147092013-11-30T14:50:00.037-06:002024-01-21T14:19:34.672-06:00Miketz... "At the End"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Genesis 41:1–44:17 is the Torah portion called Miketz מִקֵּץ and in Hebrew it means: "At the End." <div><br /></div><div>The scroll unrolls in Miketz to Pharaoh’s dream that Joseph deciphered for him. </div><div><br /></div><div>Miketz wraps up the portion telling us that Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house in Egypt not knowing who he really was. They discovered their long lost brother. </div><div><br /></div><div>Joseph was alive, and they fell to the ground before him. </div><div><br /></div><div>In my Scripture studies I've learned this story is prophetic. The book of Ezekiel paints the picture. Ezekiel 37 promises Judah will see the latter day Joseph for who he is and they will be reunited in Messiah as one new man. </div><div>
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The story of Joseph is a Bible big deal, ir begins in Vayeshev וישב "He Settled" (Genesis 37:1 - 40:23) and continues through the Torah portions of Miketz מקץ "At the End" on to Vayigash ויגש "He Drew Near" (Genesis 44:18 - 47:27). It concludes the book of Genesis with Vayechi ויחי "And He Lived" (Genesis 47:28 - 50:26). </div><div><br /></div><div>Joseph is the longest story in Genesis for God reason. At first glance it's about the life story of Joseph, what he did to save people and the restoration of his family. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we step back though, we might see the names of the Torah portions point to a glorious reunion through Messiah:</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The Joseph parshas reveal the end from the beginning just like God promises in Isaiah 46:9-10:</div><div><blockquote>"Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.'"</blockquote></div><div>Praise God, the first trip second trip dispute on who Messiah is will be resolved and Joseph's story is a big clue. The dividing wall of Jew and Christian will be healed because these prophetic portions provide the answer for the world to come that is summed up by the Genesis Torah portions Vayeshev וישב Miketz מקץ Vayigash ויגש Vayechi ויחי :</div><div><br /></div><div><b>He settled (it) in the end, he drew near … and he lived.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>What a great blessing as the 12th Torah portion teaching in Genesis wraps up Joseph’s last words to his brothers and they finally recognize him: </div><div><blockquote>“So have no fear; <u>I myself will provide for you and your little ones</u>. “In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.” Genesis 50:21</blockquote></div></div><div>At first glance, the conclusion of the Genesis Torah teaching looks to be only a story about Joseph and his brothers, but I pray you will see there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, let's dig into some of the Torah treasures we can find and let's start with the name Joseph. In Hebrew, Yosef יוֹסֵף means "he has added"... </div><div>
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Added what?</div><div>
<br />It's important to know Joseph was the firstborn son of Rachel and Jacob. </div><div><br /></div><div>Rachel was Jacob's first love, but she did not conceive life in childbirth for many years. When Joseph was born, she named her precious newborn and prophetically declared God would add another son. </div><div><br /></div><div>She was blessed and Benjamin was Rachel's second son, but sadly she lost her life at his birth.</div><div><br /></div><div>Years later, while in Egypt due to a famine, Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons and incredibly gave Joseph's second born son Ephraim the firstborn title and inheritance rights that Reuben had lost due to his adultery against his father Jacob. </div><div><br /></div><div>Joseph couldn't believe what was happening. </div><div><br /></div><div>Fast forward to the Exodus story, and we can see it shows us that Elohim God kept his promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, a multitude. The Exodus account reveals the sojourner nations that left Egypt with Jacob's family that would enter together into the Promised Land. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we open our eyes, we can see Paul was writing about Abraham's promise in Romans 11 as he described the grafting by faith of wild branch nations that could enter together into the Kingdom of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob kept His word.</div><div><br /></div><div>He brought everyone that would follow Him out of Egypt whether they were direct descendants of Jacob, adopted to stranger sojourners that made the right choice to follow the God of Israel.</div><div><br /></div><div>All of them came into the covenant blessing we call the Ten Commandments. The mixed multitude included the wild branch adopted sons of Joseph. Practically on his death bed, Jacob's crossed his right hand and passed over Manasseh to Ephraim. </div><div><br /></div><div>The boys were much like Ishmael whose mother Hagar was an Egyptian. Both Manasseh and Ephraim were the sons of Asenath their Egyptian mother whose name declares she was dedicated to the false goddess "Neith" that Egypt's Pharaoh gave in marriage to Joseph as his wife. </div><div><br /></div><div>Her dad Potipherah was a pagan priest of On (that's Heliopolis), his name means "he whom the Ra gave" (Genesis 41:45). Neith was the goddess of childbirth and the cosmos and the mother of Ra. Ra was was the ancient Egyptian fake-god deity of the sun that Egyptians regarded Ra as creator of the universe and the source of life. </div><div><br /></div><div>Asenath and Potipherah literal carried the names of their Egyptian cult idols. Their family was dedicated to worshiping the oldest deities of ancient Egypt that you can still carved on remaining hieroglyphs. Not only that, the obelisk of the Temple of Ra-Atum placed there by Senusret I, the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt that most think ruled c. 1971 BC to 1926 BC stills stands today in the Cairo Governorate in Heliopolis ("City of the Sun").</div><div><br /></div><div>As you can see, their mother was not Jewish, not even close, but the boys were adopted, grafted by Jacob into the family of Israel in keeping with the great promise given to his grandfather. When God promised Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing to all the world, He meant it, and He will continue to keep and add others to His great promise as He continues to turn what looks cursed into blessing!</div><div>
<br />Our Almighty God blessed Joseph in Egypt and beyond. In the end, he not only saved his brothers, he saved his family, and the mixed multitude of nations of people in Egypt that wanted to join Israel and leave Egypt. They were there at Sinai and 40 years later they all crossed the Jordan together. </div><div>
<br />How do we know? </div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, the prophet Isaiah tells us The Lord's House of Prayer (Isaiah 56:7) will be front and center in the Kingdom of God and that it will be a house of prayers for all nations. The book of Revelation agrees with a census noting Manasseh among the 12 tribes with “all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues” surround God's throne (Revelation 7:9).</div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that Joshua 16:4 declares: "The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance" but Ephraim departed Judah (Isaiah 7:17) just like Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis many years later also rejected the Jewish people (more on that in a moment).</div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God reveals the "at the end" restoration. The summary is found in <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/jer/30/1/p1/s_775001" target="_blank">Jeremiah chapter 30</a> and it continues on throughout <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/jer/31/9/p1/s_776009" target="_blank">Jeremiah chapter 31</a>, but it you can't grasp the big if you just read two to three verses declared at the end of chapter 31 as so many insist on doing.</div><div>
<br />The foundation begins in Genesis with Joseph's family story and Yeshua gives the following declaration for good reason and it ties back to Isaiah and Jeremiah linking the big story of Joseph with the mixed multitude today: </div><div><blockquote>"For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me." John 5:6</blockquote></div><div>Can you imagine the look on the faces of the two men walking on the road to Emmaus as Yeshua likely included bits and parts of Joseph's story to underscore their understanding of Messiah's first mission. </div><div><br /></div><div>Think about this. It would be unusual to omit any Torah portions about Joseph. After all, Joseph's story is the longest account in the writings of Moses. Here's an account of what was said on the road to Emmaus:</div><div>
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And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:27</blockquote>
Joseph's story points to Messiah's first trip and second. If we take a look at Joseph's two dreams, we can see they are prophetic shadow pictures that point to Yeshua's first and second trip. In the first dream, Joseph saw his family as a grain harvest, his grain sheaf arose and stood upright. Joseph told his brothers: </div><div><br /></div><div>"And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf."</div><div><br /></div><div>That's a prophetic shadow picture of the cross as well as the ascension described in Luke 24:50-53. The beginning of Joseph's story reveals how the family of Israel was driven out of Canaan because of famine and it outlines the betrayal of Joseph, but Judah stepped up and saved his little brother. </div><div><br /></div><div>Forty years after Yeshua's Passover, a remnant of Israel that included the descendant of brothers Judah and Benjamin were driven out of their homeland into exile by Roman assault.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today, Yeshua is just like Joseph. He remains disguised, unknown to the vast large majority of His Jewish brothers just as Jacob's sons including Judah and Benjamin did not recognize Joseph as the one that saved them from famine's certain death. And one day, like Joseph, Yeshua will be seen for who He is as Yeshua Hamashiach. I think He may very well repeat Joseph's words to his brothers:</div><div><blockquote>So Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." And they came near. And he said, "I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. Genesis 45:4-5 </blockquote></div><div>About 2,000 years ago, the Emmaus road trip pointed back to parallels in the Torah. </div><div><br /></div><div>When I started writing about my Scripture studies I noted that the Joseph story points to Yeshua's return in glory in a study titled <a href="https://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/lost-sheep-scriptures.html" target="_blank">The Lost Sheep Scriptures</a> and pointed to Joseph's second dream asking;</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you ever considered Jesus was first known only to the Jewish people 2,000 years ago? </div><div><br /></div><div>His family was Jewish, the disciples were Jewish, the multitudes were Jewish, but over time, a disguise arose in the Torah famine of replacement theology. In Greek thinking, Christians were taught by second century antisemitic church leaders like Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis to reject their brothers saying the Jews hung Jesus on the cross. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Council of Trent adopted that lie ignoring the fact that Roman centurions slapped and whipped Him and the relentless beating only stopped when they nailed Him on a Roman torture stake with two criminals. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua lives today because of the power of God in resurrection and God's plan for the restoration of His Kingdom includes the Jewish people. No matter what the Council of Trent says, the Jewish people are front and center. </div><div><br /></div><div>Joseph's bones were returned to the Promised Land in Shechem where he started searching for his brothers. In the end, the Jewish Messiah of Israel will return to Jerusalem alive and well and He will by God's power, bring Joseph's bones back to life just like Lazarus. Perhaps Joseph knew that. That's not in the Bible, but Joseph will awaken to new life back home to welcome his Messiah King. That's the vision given in Joseph's second dream with a clue from Jacob. </div><div><br /></div><div>We can know because Rachel had already died after giving birth to Benjamin on the road home after Labin finally released the family, yet Jacob spoke of Joseph's beloved mother as if she were alive and well:</div><div><blockquote>“Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” </blockquote><blockquote>But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” Genesis 37:9-10</blockquote>The word "behold" is found in Joseph's description of both dreams. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Hebrew, "behold" is הִנֵּה "hinnêh" and it's a Torah treasure <a href="https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/eng/hebrew/02009.html" target="_blank">found throughout the Hebrew Bible</a> as an embedded promise for Messiah to come. It means "to see" and an Ancient Hebrew Lexicon Dictionary says: "The pictograph נֵּ represents the idea of looking toward something of interest. The הִ is a seed representing continuation. Combined these pictures mean "a looking toward something continually."" </div><div><br /></div><div>Miketz is the start of the "behold" Torah treasure "at the end." There are many amazing parallels in Genesis that we can behold for Yosef and Yeshua. Both were:<br />
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• Born through a womb blessed by God. <br />
• Loved by their father.<br />
• Obeyed their father.<br />
• Of the family of Israel.<br />
• A shepherd of their father’s sheep.<br />
• Recipients of prophecy from God.<br />
• Sent to seek and find their brothers.<br />
• Plotted against.<br />
• Hated for their words by brothers.<br />
• Had garments dipped in blood.<br />
• Robbed of their robes.<br />
• Sold for silver.<br />
• Taken to Egypt as part of God's redemption plan.<br />
• Stripped and put in a pit.<br />
• Lied about concerning coming out of the pit.<br />
• Rose up to glory on earth.<br />
• Given a new life. <br />
• A salvation blessing to others.<br />
• Righteously refused temptation.<br />
• About 30 years old at the beginning of their ministry.<br />
• Falsely accused. <br />
• Condemned with two prisoners. <br />
• Linked with bread and wine.<br />
• Suffered for the sake of saving multitudes.<br />
• Exalted to power.<br />
• Provided food for the hungry.<br />
• Forgave transgression against them.<br />
• Servant that became highly exalted. <br />
• Did something to provide salvation to the world.<br />
• Bowed to in honor.<br />
• Purposeful in keeping identity hidden.<br />
• Not recognized by their brothers.<br />
• Offering love and reconciliation.<br />
• Taken up out of Egypt. <br />
• Exalted to rule.<br />
• Promised Israel's return to the Promised Land.<br />
• Returned to their father. <br />
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Beginning in Genesis 42:24 we see that Joseph cried out weeping seven times for his brothers and father. He wept loudest when he revealed his identity to his brothers (see Genesis 45:1-2). After Jacob was buried they asked for forgiveness it was granted in love.<br /><blockquote>
"So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this command before he died: 'Say to Joseph, "Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you."' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." </blockquote><blockquote>Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your servants." But Joseph said to them, "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones." Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them." Genesis 50:16-21<br /></blockquote>
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<big>Like Joseph, Jesus wept too. </big></center><center><big>The good news is the weeping is not over. </big></center><center><big>Our Savior will be seen again.</big></center><center><big> Judah will say forgive, the trespass of your brothers.</big></center>
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Deep weeping is a physical and glorious gift from our Creator. He will pour out the water of life like tears for everyone asking for forgiveness.<br />
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The Genesis portion known as "VaYechi" concludes Joseph's story for now. </div><div><br /></div><div>Believe it or now, VaYechi is Hebrew for "and he lived. So we must know the whole story of Joseph "speaks" of our living Savior in many ways as his brothers turned against him and did not recognize him. Joseph was put in a pit, hated for the truth, falsely accused and even condemned with two prisoners, the wine maker and bread baker. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, Joseph was restored to his brothers. Yeshua's story will be the same.<br />
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If we dig for the redemptive silver in Joseph story, there's much more to "see" at the end of Genesis.<br />
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We should know God declares the end from the beginning. Isaiah tells us that (see Isaiah 46:10).<br />
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The beginning is Genesis and its end can be found if we look for the glory of our Messiah King. Joseph is well known for his dreams and vision and another is hidden in Genesis 50 after we are told of Joseph's weeping.<br />
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"Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.” Genesis 50:23-25 </blockquote>
To find the name of the 3rd generation of Ephraim's sons... we only need to fast forward to 1Chronicles 7:20-21 "The descendants of Ephraim: Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son..."<br />
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Tahath תַחַת in Hebrew is spelled with three Hebrew letters "Tav-Hey-Tav." Their ancient Paleo-Hebrew picture symbols show us:<br />
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Tav appears as a cross, and represents covenant,<br />
Hey is a picture of behold.</blockquote>
If we look at any Hebrew Torah scroll, we can see that the vav, a "stake' that appears just before the name "Tahath" in Chronicles. Joseph's great grandson is Tahath. Joseph knew him.<br />
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When inscribed in the ancient Hebrew script Tahath looks like this:<br />
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Joseph saw Tahath... Yeshua saw the cross and there were two prisoners on either side, yet He lives !!<br />
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"Then crucified with him are two robbers, one on the right hand, and one on the left" Matthew 27:38</blockquote></div><div>Please take the time to study Matthew 4:4-10. Study chapters 11, 21 and 26 too. Check out Joshua 8:31, 1Kings 2:3 and Psalms 40:7 which and remember: </div><div>
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"It is written..."<br />
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On the road to Emmaus we all need to know in our heart of hearts just "<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/who-is-jesus.html" target="_blank">Who is the One Called Jesus</a>." A big part of that is to follow His Torah teaching and explanation of God's Word. The advice is endurance in old truth, it the message in Revelation:</div><div><blockquote>"Here is the patience of the holy ones, those who keep the mitzvot of God, and the faith of Yeshua." Revelation 14:12 HNV</blockquote></div><div>
If you think He did away with it or shifted time with a new religion, you may not know it, but your Messiah is disguised like an Egyptian. That means it is time to repent and return in faith as believers and doers in line with God's covenant voice. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many are called by God's Spirit to be set apart for His service. Do you hear it?<br />
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Take a stand. Today is the time. If you know you need to get your life right with God, don’t wait for tomorrow or a disaster, get it right with Him now!</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's end time. The time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're in spiritual famine, dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div>
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Shalom.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-69542106704991644172013-09-21T15:17:00.013-05:002024-01-27T11:31:46.027-06:00The Little Known Prophecies of Asaph<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Tomorrow is Yom Kippurim, it's the day of atonements now called Judgment Day. <br />
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Perhaps it's time we turned to listen to the cymbals of the prophecies of Asaph. They can be heard if we will just listen and we can be inspired with courage, spirit and hope.<br />
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In my Scripture studies I found Asaph means "gatherer."<br />
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1Chronicles 16:4-5 tells us Asaph was the chief Levite musician appointed by King David to minister before the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. He led with the music with cymbals. That tells us his assignment from David was to get the attention of all worshipers before the throne.<br />
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Before the Ark of the Covenant arrived in Jerusalem, it was located out in the hills of Gibeon, the same place The Lord asked Solomon was blessing he would ask and the answer was wisdom.<br />
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<big>Today, Gibeon is also called al-Jib.</big></center><center><big>It's located a few miles due north of the Temple Mount </big></center><center><big>in the 'so called' Palestinian territory. </big></center>
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If you'll take a moment to look at the satellite image <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@31.8496762,35.1855277,378m/data=!3m1!1e3" target="_blank">[Google Maps]</a> you will see what appears to be a small round, flat topped hill in the center of Gibeon. Perhaps, it is a spot the Tabernacle once stood.<div><br /></div><div>When the Tabernacle arrived in Jerusalem, the Ark was placed in it. Benaiah and Jahaziel were the two priests with trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God and David <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/1ch/16/1/s_354001" target="_blank">delivered a psalm</a> to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.<br />
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In the book of Joshua, we learn that was Gibeon was the very place where the sun stood still. When the Ark arrived in Jerusalem it remains the place where we can learn from Asaph the chief Levite:<br />
<blockquote>
"And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel: Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals" 1 Chronicles 16:4-5</blockquote>
The cymbals are important, and Asaph's assigned Levite duty to record, to be a scribe. That word for cymbal is the Hebrew word 'zakar," it means to be brought to remembrance, to recall. </div><div><br /></div><div>2 Chronicles 29:30 also tells us that in addition to his scribal duties, his assignment was to thank and praise Y-H-V-H, the God (Elohim) of Israel and that Asaph was a visionary and a prophet. <br />
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Let's look and consider some of the prophecies of Asaph's 12 psalms. The first records a promise about the day of trouble, it is seen in Psalms 50... <br />
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"Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me." </blockquote>This is a cymbal warning. Asaph used cymbals, he does not play a harp or flute when he gives a warning from God to those that say... God did away with His instruction and teaching, it no longer applies. <div><br /></div><div>If we believe this about His instruction, Almighty God, Asaph tells us God calls us guilty:<br />
<blockquote>
But to the guilty God says, "What right do you have to declare my statutes, That you have taken my covenant on your lips, Seeing you hate instruction, And throw my words behind you? </blockquote>
To those that point a finger at the Torah instruction calling it old and done away with, Asaph records this...<br />
<blockquote>
"You give your mouth to evil. You harnesses your tongue for deceit. You sit and speak against your brother."<br />
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"You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that the "I AM" was just like you." <br />
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I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes." </blockquote>
This is serious folks... READ IT AGAIN: <br />
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"You thought that the "I AM" was just like you." </blockquote><p></p><blockquote>"I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes." </blockquote><p></p>
Many have thought Jesus that came as Messiah, hung the law of God, recorded by Moses on the cross. Yet, in Psalms 73, Asaph warns of the future lament of those that got lost in their church life journey and slipped as they 'thought' they were following the walk of Messiah when instead they were innocently lured by the teaching of wolves in sheep's clothing yet we are not to cast stones.<br />
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A remnant of believers are now awakening to the sound of Asaph's cymbals sounded near the Ark of the Covenant under the Mercy Seat at Jerusalem. They are being trimmed by the vinedresser.</div><div><br /></div><div>They realize now that the Spirit of Almighty God is at work in the restoration of truth. They know because they sense it. They know in their hearts that despite the protests of a pastor even family or friends, the Word of God stands true, but they are troubled and sometimes overwhelmed at first as they consider the days of old, the years of ancient times. </div><div><br /></div><div>In their hearts they now know that the Sabbath, the Feasts and even God's instruction for a healthy menu are important to their Creator. They know because God said so and that the Bible, all of it is the walk of Messiah Yeshua, the way of the sanctuary.</div><div>
<br />Almighty God is changing hearts, He is pruning the olive tree as the vinedresser Yeshua spoke of in John 15:1-10. Please read it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The vinedresser Holy Spirit of "I AM." We are not the vinedresser! The Lord God is and He is calling people by their heart stings and guiding people through the light of Scripture to repent so that they can return to His instruction for life near Him. They are the generation to come that Asaph wrote of realizing why Jesus said not <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/mat/5/18/s_934018" target="_blank">one jot or tittle has passed</a> from the Torah and whether they have read Asaph's prophecies or not, these words are true:</div><div>
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"Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped." Psalm 73:1-2<br />
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"For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart. I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand. You will guide me with your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory." Psalm 73:21-24</blockquote>
Asaph even tells us in Psalm 74 about the cup of redemption at Passover:<br />
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"For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth." <br />
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"For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red... in Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel." </blockquote>
The thing about the 74th Psalm that is so striking is the fact that Yeshua's earthly heritage was of the line of Judah. Simply put Jesus was a Jew. </div><div><br /></div><div>Asaph served in David's court when the Beit HaMikdash was constructed in Jerusalem before the Temple was built. Yet his prophecy was that it would be destroyed by fire. This happened twice, once in 586BC at the hands of the Babylonians and again in 70AD by the Roman Legions, after Yeshua taught there.<br />
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Asaph records the future inspired by the Holy Spirit:<br />
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"They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground." Psalm 74:7</blockquote>
Psalms 77 contains Asaph's prophecy of the incredible awakening to truth that many are experiencing today around the world. That global remnant awakening is that God's words stand forever, unchanged since the beginning and because of that people are returning to the ancient root of the tree of life, the Torah and connecting it to the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation.<br />
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People are coming to realize Yeshua wants us to remember His ways if we want to be like Him as a redeemed people. Bottomline, we need to do what Jesus did and walk like Him if we want to be like Him. Jesus aka Yeshua led and taught His disciples from the Torah, he never started a new religion. Instead, He taught the meaning of mountain top messages recorded by Moses. <br />
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Asaph's prophecy also says:<br />
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"I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times." <br />
<br />
"And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. </blockquote><blockquote>Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph." <br />
<br />
"Thou lead thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." </blockquote>
Asaph bangs his cymbals again in Psalms 78 as Ephraim, "the generation to come" to arise and not be a stubborn and rebellious generation any longer, but one that steadfastly turns back and repents 'before' the battle comes!! <br />
<br />
We are not to be like the old Ephraim that turned away from the Torah and chose his own ways. We must not make the same mistake and refuse to walk in God's teaching and instruction...<br />
<blockquote>
"Give ear, O my people, to my law (Torah): incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. </blockquote><blockquote> We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know [them, even] the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: </blockquote><blockquote>That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: <br />
<br />
And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his Torah..." </blockquote>
In Psalm 79, Asaph turns his prophetic words toward Jerusalem as he points to the disaster John recorded in the book of the Revelation of Yeshua:<br />
<blockquote>
"O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.<br />
<br />
We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire? <br />
<br />
Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place. O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake."</blockquote>
We see the plea for salvation and forgiveness too:<br />
<blockquote>
"Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake."</blockquote>
As we turn the page on to Psalms 80, we can see Asaph's cry for our Savior's return, "the man of the right hand" that is also described in Mark 16:19, Acts 7:55-56, Romans 8:34, Hebrew 10:12 and Revelation 5:7: <br />
<blockquote>
"Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us. Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. <br />
<br />
Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts...<br />
<br />
Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou made strong for thyself. So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved."</blockquote>
Asaph declares the 'Day of Trumpets' in Psalm 81. It's the shofar day of the Lord's return. <br />
<br />
It is a day, an appointment with God that has been re-discovered today by a remnant, but Asaph also laments of those that still walk in their own ways:<br />
<blockquote>
"Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony...<br />
<br />
Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god. I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. </blockquote><blockquote>So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!"</blockquote>
Asaph continues the lament we share if we hearken unto God as described in Psalms 82. It is for those that still walk in confusion. Asaph hints that it is this latter day walk in darkness that brings the shaking of the earth prophesied in Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8 and Luke 21:11:</div><div>
<blockquote>
"They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course." </blockquote>
Finally, in Psalms 83 Asaph gives us the headlines that we all read today. <br />
<br />
Our news stories tell us Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map. The U.N. wants to divide the land, and the Palestinians fire rockets from Gaza all while the hate filled radical Islamic world leagues against the Jewish people:<br />
<blockquote>
"Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. </blockquote><blockquote>They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. </blockquote><blockquote>For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah."</blockquote>
Asaph calls on God "to return" as when He journeyed as the fearful whirlwind pillar of fire in the wilderness exodus with Israel and the sojourners with them. Incredibly, Asaph calls for judgment so all will know His name is Y-H-V-H. <br />
<blockquote>
"O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Y-H-V-H."</blockquote>
It is time to hear the call of repentance and heed the Spirit of God. We need to be like Messiah and learn the Scriptures given to us by our Heavenly Father. Just look at Matthew 4:4-10. Study Matthew chapters 5, 11, 21 and 26 too. Messiah's response was like that in Joshua 8:31, 1Kings 2:3 and Psalms 40:7: <br />
<br />
"It is written..."<br />
<br />
It's time to know "<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/who-is-jesus.html" target="_blank">The One Called Jesus."</a> Really know Him and His teaching which is the whole Bible, not just the back of it. </div><div><br /></div><div>It means that it is now time for all of us to repent and return as disciples, united in unison with God's covenant word. It means we must repent, return to hear and do His word if we are to walk in the faith of His Kingdom path before the day of The LORD, called by His Spirit to be set apart in His service. <br />
<br />
God is a sovereign God. He is a loving, unchanging God and He has provided a way to offer you His salvation though grace. You can accept His gift of life and walk in Messiah's ways because you love Almighty God, not because you have to to earn redemption.</div><div><br /></div><div>Consider carefully what your own life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask God's forgiveness and ask others. Accept His gift of love through Messiah Yeshua. Do it now and open His instruction manual for living life His way! <br />
<br /><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Because it's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div>
<br />
May God Bless as you seek your oil to light a fire pleasing to Him! <br />
<br />Shalom.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-13683015735880454282013-08-25T11:56:00.023-05:002024-03-02T09:23:58.171-06:00What is it about the Jots and Tittles?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BGXESErMfyo/Uho2RBPA8qI/AAAAAAAABdE/E6y_zlAfsXs/s1600/Torah-Scroll-text-silver-yad.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BGXESErMfyo/Uho2RBPA8qI/AAAAAAAABdE/E6y_zlAfsXs/s200/Torah-Scroll-text-silver-yad.jpg" /></a></div>
<figcaption><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BGXESErMfyo/Uho2RBPA8qI/AAAAAAAABdE/E6y_zlAfsXs/s1600/Torah-Scroll-text-silver-yad.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"But if you don’t believe his writings,<br />
how will you believe My words?”</span></a></figcaption><div>
<br />
In my Scripture studies, I found the Bible tells us creation was spoken by The LORD God, so words are important. </div><div><br /></div><div>That is the first account in the beginning of the Torah teaching and instruction from our Creator. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, many today teach and preach that the Torah of God is a law that has been done away with... hung on the cross, abolished and set aside by Paul.<br />
<br />Yett Paul ask this in Romans 3:31:<br />
<br />
"Do we then nullify the Torah through faithfulness? <u>May it never be</u>! On the contrary, we uphold the Torah."<br />
<br />
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<big></big><br />
<center>
<big>Praise God the Torah has not been done away with, </big></center>
<center>
<big>Otherwise creation would cease to exist according to Jesus.</big></center>
<br />
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<br />
Here's that solemn promise from Yeshua's first sermon: <br />
<blockquote>
"<u>Do not think</u> that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; <u>I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill</u>. For truly I say to you, <u>until heaven and earth pass away</u>, <b>not the smallest jot or tittle shall pass away</b> from the Law [Torah], until all is accomplished. <br />
<br />
<u>Whoever then annuls</u> one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but <u>whoever keeps and teaches</u> {them,} he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. </blockquote><blockquote>For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses {that} of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17-20</blockquote>Guess what.... Heaven and Earth are still here!!<br />
<br />
Creation has not passed away, the universe remains. The earth, sun, moon and stars are the witness proof of even the smallest jots and tittles that record God's unchanging voice. <div><br /></div><div>The witness of truth that Jesus loved, lived out and taught is the Torah of The Father. He kept the instruction of Father God out of love to show us all we can do the same! <div><br /></div><div>There's not one book, chapter or verse from the Apostles that ever says - He kept the law so you don't have to.<br />
<br />
Yet, that's the idea promoted in some misguided pulpits.<div><br /></div><div>My reply: if you say you believe in God, you must believe what He says. If you don't, what do you believe?<br />
<br />
Jesus aka Yeshua delivered a message straight from Heaven that 'the law' or rather the Torah, the teaching and instruction of God, has a never-ending purpose to reveal the redemptive plan of God for mankind AND it has a great purpose as the guide map for life in the Kingdom of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>The disciple John credits Yeshua with these words:<div><br /></div><div>"If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me."</div></div><div><br /></div><div>You can ignore this message, but the choice is yours.<br />
<br />
The documentation of God's Torah message started at Mount Sinai. You can find it in Exodus 24:3-11 and Almighty God is still looking for people that will respond to Him with one voice out of respect, awe and love to say: </div><div><br /></div><div>“Everything the LORD has said we will listen to do.”<br />
<br />
If you have read the Newer Testament you've likely read this: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" — Mark 9:7<br />
<br />
Many people debate Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>They argue that Jesus taught a new way found in a new Bible with a dividing page. </div><div><br /></div><div>The debate is over... <u>Do not think</u> that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; <u>I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill</u>. For truly I say to you, <u>until heaven and earth pass away</u>, <b>not the smallest jot or tittle shall pass away</b> from the Law [Torah], until all is accomplished." </div><div><br /></div><div>We know that because there's no jot or tittle in Greek.<br />
<br />
So just what is a jot and a tittle?<br />
<br />
In Hebrew, the jot is a small marker the guide pronunciation and the tittles are the smallest markings, the crown points on top of many Hebrew letters that are essential for distinguishing Hebrew letters that look the same, except by the tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>Understanding this can open the Hebrew Bible to a deeper understanding that salvation is by God's grace. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Hebrew Bible points us to Messiah and His way of repentant Kingdom living. We can never turn our back and “abolish” the Torah if our goal is to be like Jesus and be a part of The Kingdom.</div><div>
<br />
Yeshua came and gave explanation and purpose to the meaning of the spirit of the Torah. He lived it out and revealed its ultimate purpose is to show us we need to repent, we need to live, walk and honor Almighty God. </div><div><br /></div><div>In other words we are to live in the image of God and share in the redemptive work of Yeshua to do that. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>The transformation back to the image of God is what Paul wrote about when he penned this referencing the veil Moses wore only after he stood in the presence of The LORD. In the tent of meeting, in freedom from sin he never wore the veil:</div><div><blockquote>But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 </blockquote></div></div><div>The jots and tittles of the Torah of God connect heaven to planet earth.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Torah is the written record of the voice of the Sovereign Creator of the Universe given for His Kingdom. </div><div><br /></div><div>Being a citizen of the Kingdom of God makes us responsible and liable to the King. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Kingdom of God citizenship grant of grace is not a vaccine, it does not make a person immune to God's sovereignty or His word. On the contrary, it makes a child of God <u>accountable to the constitution</u> of the Holy King of the Universe. </div><div>
<br />
Yeshua taught that the Spirit of God will help us in our Torah walk down the Kingdom path. Not only that, He taught that we can teach others (disciple them) in the ways of Godly living that leads to “great" reward in the Kingdom of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua kept the Torah perfectly, He is the living Torah, the greatest in the Kingdom! Just take a closer look at Matthew 5:19 to see this truth from the Master Rabbi.<br />
<br />
Incredibly, Yeshua also teaches us to focus on the spiritual reality of the commandments because He taught that true righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees. (Read Matthew 5:20)<br />
<br />
WHOA... wait a minute, what's up with that statement from Jesus??<br />
<br />
The hidden message here from the Master Rabbi is that the commandments of God, are Yeshua's commandments because He is Son of God, <u>lived out as a love offering </u>to The Father, not a religious obligation. </div><div><br /></div><div>Keeping God's teaching as a "love offering" should be the goal of every disciple of Yeshua, simply put:<br />
<br /><u>
“Everything the LORD has said we will listen to do.”</u><br />
<br />
Have you ever considered that as a child of God, we "GET TO DO" what God The Father asks us to do because we love Him.<br />
<br />
It's an honor to keep His heavenly teaching and instruction for life and blessing!<br />
<br />
Yeshua wants us to enter into The Father's tree of life Kingdom lifestyle and follow in the Father's instruction from the Heavenly advantage of grace, mercy and blessing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua is not asking us to earn merit badges or bonus points from religious obligations or duty.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus wasn't Catholic or Protestant.</div><div><br /></div><div>He didn't teach in a church or at Sunday School, He taught on the Sabbath in synagogues. </div><div><br /></div><div>He never said a word about a new religion or replacement theology. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua was Torah observant and wore a tallit as prescribed in Numbers 15 and Deuteronomy 22. If you doubt that, you're missing the story within the story of the woman that was healed touching His garment described in Matthew 9. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua instructed His disciples to follow the instruction in Leviticus 23:15-17. </div><div><br /></div><div>That Torah truth is embedded in Acts 1-2. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua also celebrated wonderful Jewish traditions including Hanukkah which is shown plain as day in John 10.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua cherished the traditional Passover seder, it's not the last supper until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. We know because Luke 22 tells us Yeshua said so: "For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." ... For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua never stopped being Jewish, He lived out the Torah in faith and taught others to do the same just as Matthew 19:17 declares.<br />
<br />Almighty God is looking for friends. Like Abraham, we can be a friend of God in a walk in faith. And as a friend of God, <u>we get to walk in His instruction.</u> It's a blessing, an offering of love not a scorecard for salvation in eternal life with resurrection as the reward.<br />
<br />
As a friend, we get to walk in the word of God as a joy and blessing, not look at the Torah as a heavy stone or yoke to carry with a legalistic burden of performance for redemption with religious add-ins or take aways. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's the Jesus message. His way of describing it is: “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” You'll find that in Matthew 11:28–30. </div><div><br /></div><div>There, Jesus tells all who are weary and burdened by manmade religion to come to Him for rest. <br />
<br />
The true Torah of God provides rest and freedom because God's instruction shows us we must all rely on Almighty God for His provision and not ourselves. We can keep His word with the Spirit writing God's Torah of love on our hearts.</div><div><br /></div><div>That is the definition of the new covenant found in Jeremiah 31:31-34. </div><div><br /></div><div>We can't claim the new covenant is verse 31 alone. We can never be found righteous in Torah observance. Yet it is filled with wisdom, understanding and knowledge, to point us toward a pure and holy life "near" the mercy seat and the Most Holy place.</div><div><br /></div><div>That perspective points to Yeshua's set apart life in the image of God as it was meant to be from the beginning. </div><div>
<br />
Salvation is new life, it cannot come from keeping the law because we cannot keep it perfectly, but the good news is Yeshua did. All others have sinned, we are like Adam and Eve. We are human and God knows that about each of us! </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, we can be justified in faith, that's why the letter writer we call Paul wrote this:<br />
<blockquote>
“Therefore the law (Torah) has become our tutor to lead us to Messiah, that we may be justified by faith.” Galatians 3:24 </blockquote>
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says his purpose was to boldly proclaim the 'mystery' of the gospel (Ephesians 6:19). </div><div><br /></div><div>That mystery is revealed among those jots and tittles of the Torah and all we need to do is open our eyes to see it: the jot and tittle connection is the Torah inscribed by God's servant Moses written on our hearts by Almighty God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our response can be faith just like God's friend Abraham.<br />
<br />
The covenant given to Abraham provides the foundation to reveal God's gospel plan to establish a people with a blessing. <br />
<br />
When the families of Israel and the strangers and sojourners with them left the slavery of Egypt behind they reached Mount Sinai. There Almighty God betrothed them in covenant as He spoke the ten words, the wedding vows of His Kingdom we call the Ten Commandments.</div><div><br /></div><div>That I do vow is the beginning of covenant with Almighty God and with other people. Yet, all have sinned, they broke the covenant, so in great mercy Almighty God promised the prophet like Moses. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can read that promise in Deuteronomy 18:15-19.<br />
<br />Those Ten Commandments were rewritten in stone by our Creator God and after that incredible event, Moses then began to inscribe the details of The LORD's instruction as the Kingdom constitution on a scroll called the Torah. </div><div><br /></div><div>It includes The Father's plan of redemption outlined in The Feasts of The Lord.<br />
<br />On the first trip down the mountain, Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the precious gift of God's covenant for His people. As, Moses climbed down, He and Joshua found 3,000 people in an act of idolatry prostitution worshipping an Egyptian idol, the golden calf.<br />
<br />
Just 40 days earlier, those same people had vowed to walk in covenant with Almighty God as their King, but just like Adam and Eve, they fell willfully ignored God's voice and broke their promise to keep the covenant of Almighty God. <br />
<br />There is a backstory too. It began with the blood of five sacrifices that bound Abraham to God's covenant that was re-affirmed by the blood of lambs sprinkled by hyssop on their doorposts in Egypt (Exodus 12:22). </div><div><br /></div><div>God chose blood to legally bind Abraham's covenant, so life blood would again be required for the restoration and binding of the broken covenant at Sinai. <br />
<br />
In God's mystery, without the gift of lifeblood, there can be no redemption from broken covenant. Therefore, the son of man, the son of God - Yeshua offered His own lifeblood to renew and restore the broken covenants and defeat the power the deceiver claimed in Eden, which is death.<br />
<br />The good news is we can all respond with a heart of faith. We can choose to walk as Yeshua walked, and the time is now. </div><div><br /></div><div>While we have no human ability to walk in all of the commandments of God at all times as Yeshua did, we can try out of love and accept the free will sacrifice of Yeshua Messiah to cover and atone for our transgressions and sin against God and each other. <br />
<br />
When we do, we will see that the goal of the Torah is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us just as the pillar of fire led Israel and the sojourners with them through the wilderness. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we want to walk in covenant, we get to choose to follow what The Father asks us to do in loving obedience and live in the promise of His eternal blessings though Messiah.<br />
<br />
It is this Spirit-filled heart of obedience that Yeshua is seeking to magnify His teaching on the jots and tittles of the Torah when He speaks of “surpassing” the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). </div><div><br /></div><div>That message in Matthew is amazing and it's one we can easily miss unless we know that as God’s children, we will be richly blessed by our walk in God's "teaching and instruction" (Torah). <br />
<br />
It's our honor as God's children to choose to walk in God's teaching yet, it is NOT a means to achieve His gift of salvation. The Torah is NOT a religious checklist of do's or don'ts as a means to earn redemption or salvation in resurrection. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Torah is the God given opportunity to choose to walk in God's image as it was meant from the beginning and return our love in reverent worship because our hearts are overwhelmed in joy and thanksgiving to give our love to "The One" who redeems us. <br />
<br />
Think of it this way: the Ten Commandments are the outline of Almighty God’s marriage covenant for life and relationship. The two tablets of stone are the table of contents of the Torah teaching of God on how to live near Him. <br />
<br />
On one tablet are the principles of how we are to honor God and on the other are the principles of how we are to honor our neighbors sojourning with us in God's world.<br />
<br />
This is why Matthew reveals the story of a lawyer. Do you suppose that he was a man that studied and taught Roman law? Nah, no way, he was a Yeshiva teacher, a teacher of the Torah. He asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment in the law as a witness of Torah described in Matthew 22:35-40. <br />
<br />
The response from Yeshua referenced the very heart of the message of the two tablets inscribed at Sinai as the two witnesses that sum up the whole of the Torah as the way of life.<br />
<br />
Yeshua said that to love God is the first and greatest commandment. He spoke of the 'Shema" of the sermon of Moses shown in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. It is first and greatest command in that it represents the heartbeat of every command. But also remember Yeshua said, “If you love me, keep my Commandments” John 14:15 and He said: "I and [my] Father are one" John 10:30. <br />
<br />
There's a reason Yeshua went on to answer the man: "And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets.”"<br />
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The two tablets were given at the smoking, fiery pinnacle of Sinai and they remain as our covenant in how we are to honor God and walk in the ways and teaching of Messiah Yeshua. God's commandments were Yeshua's and they can be yours too, you can be one with Yeshua if you love Him as He was one with The Father, Yeshua say how: “If you love me, keep my Commandments.”<br />
<br />
By God's mystery design, His desire is to have us rely on Him as we diminish ourselves, and so many aspects of the Torah are impossible for anyone to keep or understand without His presence. It seems as if we are in a two-thousand year half time if you will between the appearances of Messiah, yet the ten commandments remain, not only etched in stone but in our hearts. <br />
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Those that wait for His presence also wait for the Tabernacle's Feast worship service which the Prophets say will be reinstated in the millennial reign of Messiah. <br />
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The two days are ending soon, but halftime never ends a game and 2,000 years does not do away with God's covenant instruction.<br />
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Somehow in a great mystery this is a part of God's master plan. Just as there is a long wait between the Spring Feasts that show us Yeshua's first coming and the Fall Feasts that will engage at His second coming, God’s declaration for the restoration of Heaven on Earth is right on His schedule.<br />
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When we dig into it, we see that a huge part of the Torah's instruction provides detailed worship service protocols for the Levites as they were chosen as a gift by God to tend to the keeping of the Tabernacle and its altar services in the physical presence of the consuming fire of God Almighty God.<br />
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That Shekinah is not seen right now on Earth, that's easy to understand. Yet, that in no way takes away from the resurrection life of Yeshua as our Savior and mediator between God and mankind.<br />
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We tend to freak out a bit or shut down when we consider that the altar offerings will be seen again in the Kingdom of our Lord, but we need to realize that they will fulfill the same function they did long ago before the Pillar of Fire of the God of Israel. They will continue to give us all a very graphic and physical representation of the ultimate sacrifice offering of Yeshua and the atonement that is provided to cover sin by His blood.<br />
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The gift of the Levites and their services clearly points all of mankind 'forward to' the coming of Messiah and His Passover miracle of atonement death and the First Fruits resurrection in redemption.<br />
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That's why Ezekiel shows us the design of the Temple that will direct our hearts 'back to' what Messiah Yeshua has accomplished for the redemption of all.<br />
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We need to know that the word Torah means teaching, so we can see that the gift of the Levites is a teaching for both the natural and the adopted family of Israel.<br />
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We must remember Yeshua’s words that teach that righteousness is the work of the heart for our love for God and each other. That focus enables us to understand the commandments as a blessing so we be empowered to walk as Yeshua intended and show the world we love the Father.<br />
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John 14:31 shows us that Jesus summed this up for His disciples at the Passover as the twelve gathered: "I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father."<br />
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<big>"I do as the Father has commanded me, so that <br />
the world may know that I love the Father."</big></center>
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Jesus also says...<br />
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“Not every one who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father, who is in heaven.”<br />
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Out of cultural context, its hard to understand, but the grief and admonishment that Yeshua gave the whitewashed men He called graves was only because some of those rabbis had lost sight of the spirited heart of God's Torah and they became entangled in the barbed wire of their words, so much so that their traditions became greater than the Torah in their own hearts.<br />
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For them, the 'to do' and 'not to do' list became a weighty burden that they added to. They were fenced in under their own traditions because they ignored Moses' admonition and added to God's Word and built a wall.<br />
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The Torah never described a dividing wall between Israel and the nations. The people God calls to Himself as children of Israel were call to be priests to the nations. They were call to be distinct and set apart by Torah, but as Yeshua taught His disciples in Matthew 5, this was so they could be seen as a lamp, a light to the world.<br />
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After all, if you blend in with the crowd no one will notice the menorah. The lights are called to be a bright fire because the flames represent the manifest presence and Spirit of God.<br />
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Isaiah 11:2 tells us of them: "And the (1) spirit of YHVH shall rest upon him, the spirit of (2) wisdom and (3) understanding, the spirit of (4) counsel and (5) might, the spirit of (6) knowledge and of the (7) fear of YHVH."<br />
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The book of Revelation show us this at least four times it is VERY important. I pray they are a revelation to you:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Revelation 1:4 "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Revelation 3:1 "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Revelation 4:5 "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Revelation 5:6 "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." </blockquote>
I pray we will be a bright light to the lost and show others how to walk in the light of Messiah, the living Torah as we accept the assignment to be a priest to the nations teaching others of redemption just like Paul taught:<br />
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"But of him are ye in Messiah Yeshua, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" 1Corinthians 1:30 <br />
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Paul learned this from Isaiah's words:<br /><blockquote>“The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will MAGNIFY the Torah, and make it honourable.” Isaiah 42:21</blockquote><div>Like Paul, be like Messiah and know the Scriptures. Just look at Matthew 4:4-10. Look at chapters 11,21 and 26 too. His response was like that in Joshua 8:31, 1Kings 2:3 and Psalms 40:7:</div>
<blockquote>
"It is written"</blockquote>The jot and tittles declare "<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/messiahs-bible_31.html" target="_blank">Who is the One Called Jesus</a>." I'd time for all of us to repent and return to them as Believers, united in unison with God's covenant word. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent, return to hear and do His word if we are to walk in the faith of His Kingdom path to be set apart for God's service. <br />
<br />Almighty God is a sovereign God. He is a loving, unchanging God and He has provided a way to offer you His salvation though grace. You can accept His gift of life. Consider carefully what your own life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask His forgiveness and accept His gift of love through Messiah Yeshua - Jesus Christ. Do it now and open His instruction manual for living life His way! <br />
<br /><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's jot and tittle time. Torah time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div><div></div></blockquote><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div><div><br /></div>Shalom ya'll.</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-63242487362496564912013-07-20T11:16:00.007-05:002024-01-21T14:17:30.311-06:00The Mountain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lvnxMfl-Vn4/Uc8B_-VQWQI/AAAAAAAABYM/9FZ5zkZNmr8/s242/Mount+Nebo.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lvnxMfl-Vn4/Uc8B_-VQWQI/AAAAAAAABYM/9FZ5zkZNmr8/s242/Mount+Nebo.JPG" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lvnxMfl-Vn4/Uc8B_-VQWQI/AAAAAAAABYM/9FZ5zkZNmr8/s242/Mount+Nebo.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">Mount Nebo, Jordan</a></center>
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The Torah portion for the Sabbath today is Va'etchanan ואתחנן "I pleaded."<br />
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The readings are:<br />
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Torah: Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11<br />
Prophets: Isaiah 40:1-26 <br />
Gospels: Luke 22:13-38 <br />
Matthew 4:1-11 <br />
Mark 12:1-44 <br />
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In my Scripture studies I found Moses pleads with The Lord when he says:<br />
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<blockquote>
"<i><b>Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan that good hill country and Lebanon.</b></i>"</blockquote>
It is encouraging to learn time and again in my Scripture studies that there are great discoveries for us to be found within the Bible. <br />
<br />Beneath the surface of the words are hidden treasures and themes that reveal truth beyond the story as the Bible demonstrates its heavenly design from the voice of God. <br />
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It 's just as the Proverb declares, the honor of a King is to search them out. <br />
<blockquote>
"[It is] the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings [is] to search out a matter." Proverbs 25:2 </blockquote>
Many of God's deep messages are often missed in the narrative of God's word, yet it encourages al God believers to "search out a matter" because we can't just read the Bible, we have to study it, search it out and ask our Father to reveal His glory within.<br />
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This is the “requirement” for every one seeking truth and the light of God's message of life.<br />
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<big>Yet, if we're not diligent in our walk of life, </big></center>
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<big>we will not allow God's word to give the life He intended</big></center>
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If I may, I must stray off topic for a second, that's what happened to the extreme on June 27th as our nation's Supreme Court ruled (5-4) to wipe away a part of DOMA, our nation's <u>D</u>efense <u>O</u>f <u>M</u>arriage <u>A</u>ct. <div><br /></div><div>Our judges forgot about God’s rule. <br />
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Now, more than ever, our nation continues to move away from God's instruction, so it's important to consider God's wisdom and lift Him up in praise, not our court acting like the Daughter of Babylon. The God of Israel has given wisdom hidden in a scroll that only Yeshua is worthy to unseal and reveal at the throne of God. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRtGW5LsTL8/Uc8Gw4Z1sJI/AAAAAAAABYk/DfNx2rOqubA/s151/Torah+scroll+Vav.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRtGW5LsTL8/Uc8Gw4Z1sJI/AAAAAAAABYk/DfNx2rOqubA/s151/Torah+scroll+Vav.JPG" /></a></div>
If we will just unroll the scroll this Sabbath day that is made for us (Mark 2:27), we will see there on the lamb's skin the scribes placed a Vav on each corner of the column nailing the word of God.<br />
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This reminds us that Moses wrote of Messiah Yeshua (John 5:45).<br />
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He is the lamb of God, the living Torah whose name reveals the gift of salvation as the stakes driven in the outstretched hands of Yeshua joined heaven and earth through His blood on the wood almost 2,000 years ago.<br />
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It was Moses whose likeness is carved and chiseled in marble above the Supreme Court entrance that wrote these words:<br />
<blockquote>
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24</blockquote>
The Bible gives us these words from the beginning yet the <a blank="" href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-307_6j37.pdf" target="_">U.S. Supreme Court order and judgment</a> states:<br />
<blockquote>
"What has been explained to this point should more than suffice to establish that the principal purpose and the necessary effect of this law are to demean those persons who are in a lawful same-sex marriage. This requires the Court to hold, as it now does, that DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution."<br />
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"It imposes adisability on the class by refusing to acknowledge a status the State finds to be dignified and proper."<br />
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"The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity. By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment. This opinion and its holding are confined to those lawful marriages."<br />
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"The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is affirmed. It is so ordered."</blockquote>
The U.S. Supreme Court re-ordered the federal Defense of Marriage Act, when in a majority passed up Congress and was signed into United States law in 1996.<br />
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<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/scalia-high-handed-kennedy-demeans-institution-101636785.html" target="_blank">The Nation Journal's Tim Grieve reports</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
"Dissenting from this morning's opinion on the Defense of Marriage Act, Justice Antonin Scalia – as expected – holds nothing back.<br />
<br />
In a ripping dissent, Scalia says that Justice Anthony Kennedy and his colleagues in the majority have resorted to calling opponents of gay marriage "enemies of the human race.""</blockquote>
Read <a blank="" href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-307_6j37.pdf" target="_">the court's opinion</a>, the 5-4 majority says that the supporters of the Marriage Act make an attack and act on malice to demean, disparage, humiliate and injure same-sex couples. It says that DOMA imposed inequality, branded gay people as ‘unworthy’ and ‘humiliated’ their children. <br />
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<b>Whose word do you choose?</b><br />
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Do you know <a href="http://www.worldmag.com/2013/06/what_the_supreme_court_decision_means" target="_blank">What the Supreme Court's decision means</a>... ?<br />
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We know from the Exodus account that the children of the God of Israel were there in the wilderness 40 years just as we too now live in the diaspora of the world 40 Jubilee years after Messiah's ministry. <br />
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And today, just like Israel, many chose to refuse to enter the promised Kingdom. <br />
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In fact, we prove in our own manmade laws that we too want to turn away from the Kingdom's constitution, God's life teaching - the Torah. <br />
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The Bible's narrative tells us that Moses died and did not lead the host into the Promised Land, yet if we quietly dig deep into the word, we can see the incredible imagery that Moses death is really a blessing for Israel because it foreshadows Messiah who too died before the role of King was fulfilled.<br />
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Yet, Messiah's death and resurrection is God's gift of life. He is the Priest King and He is coming to restore the Kingdom of God on earth. His rule will be God's teaching and instruction.<br />
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Yet, at first it seemed, that Yeshua's death was meaningless to the disciples and the multitudes that believed on Him as King Messiah. It seemed that way as well to the crippled, sick and blind that He healed as they mourned over the cross. They were utterly distraught because they had not yet seen the pattern of God's glorious plan in His appointment days with mankind. <br />
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And like many of us today, they were not looking to the meaning of the wave offering of the barley sheaf harvest at First Fruits three days later, so they did not realize God's plan through Messiah's tribulation was restoration and resurrection by God's quickening even though Yeshua repeatedly taught them this. <br />
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They were not listening... they may have heard the words but they were still deaf to the quiet voice of God, but only for a little while. He did heal them, but they had to first see Him in resurrection to believe. They became open and available, like Peter (Simon Barjona) to the teaching direct from heaven and not from mortal man (see Matthew 16:17). <br />
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The problem was that they could not perceive that the story of Moses' death on the mountain had been in the Torah for 1,500 years prophesying of the suffering of our Messiah and the timing of God's restoration plan that the Kingdom of Heaven was not to be fully established on Earth at His first coming.<br />
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The honor for Moses was greater than they perceived as well. While Moses was not to enter the promised land before his time, he would receive the mind bending honor to be resurrected and restored to see Messiah on the mountain during the appointed time on God's personal calendar. <br />
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We can see this in the account described in Matthew 17 if we just turn the pages and seek God's revelation there. This story is real, not a vision or dream: <br />
<blockquote>
"And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.<br />
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Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. <br />
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And when the disciples heard [it], they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. <br />
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And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead." Matthew 17:1-9 </blockquote>
<b>Do you see it?</b> <br />
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Our Savior brought Moses home, He brought him in and gave him a great reward acknowledging him before three witnesses and The Father! Moses entered through the mercy and grace of our Messiah. The words of Matthew point us to this happening after six days, it seems on the day Hoshana Rabah, the 7th day of Tabernacles, the 21st of Tishri. That's less than two weeks away. <br />
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It's a holy day, a Sabbath, here's why:<br />
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Hoshana Rabah means "the great salvation." Another way of saying it is Hosanna. In Hebrew, “Hoshiah Na! Save now! It's what the crowds were shouting when Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt. Matthew's account points us to Hoshana Rabah as the day that the atonement for Moses was delivered. It was after the 6th day that Moses received deliverance and victory from his grave 'outside' the land to be seen by Peter, James and John as witnesses with Messiah Yeshua on the mountain 'in' the Promised Land. <br />
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This after the 6th day points to Hoshana Rabah as "the Great Salvation" day. It was the day of the good verdict for Moses and it will be the same for those inscribed in the book of life acknowledged by the Lamb of God shown in Revelation: "The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels (messengers)." Revelation 3:5<br />
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Check out the story in Matthew, look at the themes. Jesus showed Moses he too would enter in and be acknowledged before His Father and his messengers (disciples) because his judgment was only until the Glory of Jesus was witnessed.<br />
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The Spirit is moving today and teaching us that if we just connect the dots and jots from Torah to Revelation, we can see the deep meaning that God reveals Messiah from cover to cover. But we need His Spirit to see it.<br />
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Matthew's witness of words tells us that "<u>after</u> six days" Yeshua privately took Peter, James and John to "a mountain apart" and Moses, along with Elijah came and appeared right before them. And today, here we are at the 6th day, 6,000 years from Adam and two days (2,000 years) after Messiah standing and looking up just before the millennium day of Messiah King on Mount Zion.<br />
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In the theme of the entire Bible, even the names we are given within "the mountain" story of Matthew are important if we just look at them. Did you notice for example that James, the half brother of Jesus is actually the Hebrew name Jacob or Yaakov? His namesake became "Israel" when God blessed him with his new name which means "God prevails." You have received this blessing too if you have the faith of Abraham who "looked forward" to Messiah, but to see its importance <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2011/01/identity-is-important.html" target="_blank">you must know your identity</a> in God's eyes as you "look back" to the work of Messiah Yeshua. <br />
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When you do you will realize its stories are there for you. <br />
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I'm not sure, but perhaps Shakespeare understood this blessing in the true identity of God's children when he wrote that: "there is a history is all men's lives."<br />
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But this we can know, Jesus’ true Hebrew name is “Yeshua.” It means “salvation.” John's Hebrew name is Yochanan and this name means "Yahovah is a gracious giver" and Simon Peter is Shimown Kepah or "heard the rock." Interestingly, Shimeon or Simeon is the origin of the name Simon and he was the second son of Jacob, none other than the man God called Israel. Finally, Moses or Mosheh means "drawn" and Elijah's name gives us the clarion message that "Yah is God."<br />
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There were five there on the mountain top that day. It just so happens that five is a cardinal number, it is the property of a number that a mathematical set has in common with all sets that can be put in one-to-one correspondence with it. If you are wondering what that has to do with the names of those on the mountain, consider this about the poetry of their names:<br />
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The five at the mountain top where there as Moses was "drawn" from death when he "heard the rock" of "Salvation" because "God prevails" and not only is "Yahovah a gracious giver" of life but indeed "Yah is God" our covenant redeemer. <br />
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This is the story line of the names of these five on the mountain where God's light shown from His cloud of Glory on the seventh day, a Sabbath. After all, the record tells us they were there after the sixth day and throughout time, before Rome skewed our calendar keeping by naming each day to the planets according to the mythology of their false worship, the days of the week had always been tied to a countdown to the Sabbath rest by a people God called Israel despite the fact that those around them insisted on dividing the days of the week in honor of the seven planets. Perhaps that is why we see this Jewish man, Matthew describe the event as "on the day after the sixth day."<br />
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And if we connect a few more jots and tittles from the Torah, we can see that Simon Peter wanted to make Yeshua, Moshe and Elijah none other than a tabernacle booth, a sukkah. Does this remind you of the Feast of Tabernacles?<br />
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It should.<br />
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Does the story now remind you of the mountain of Moses?<br />
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It will if we just look, because we know that God told Moses to go up on the mountain where he would be buried and hidden by none other than God for a reason revealed by the glorious light of Messiah. You see, even this is tied to Moses as his face shone whenever he approached near to God on Mount Sinai.<br />
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Don't you suppose that Yeshua knew that exact mountain top place in the mountainous strip of land just west of the river in Jordan?<br />
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Mount Nebo, the mountain of Moses is about 75 miles from the Galilee. In the book of Jude, we learn that Michael ("who is like God") argues with haSatan about where Moses is buried. Have you ever wondered what the deceptive interest in Moses’ burial spot was all about? </div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps he wanted to prevent his appointed meeting with Messiah just as he wants to stop yours.<br />
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We know the Bible tells us that Moses was given the right to view the Promised land from atop Mount Nebo. Even today on a clear day you can see Jerusalem out to the west from its peak. So might we connect the dots, or rather the jots? If we do, we can just imagine that the deceiver wanted to defile the grave and steal Moses away so that he would not meet Yeshua for his appointed time - - to be drawn to arise on the glorious day of Messiah's transformation in light. But the fact is, Moses did meet Messiah at the appointed time, he meet the King just as God planned. What an honor it will be to be there in a future 7th Day of Tabernacles to hear the story from:<br />
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Yeshua, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James and John!!<br />
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The Sabbath and Feast days are the appointments of God and we can and must learn something very valuable about their purpose as they reveal the plan of God, but we need to take an active part and participate in them week after week, season after season and year after year. Yes, it is critical that we learn of others who served near God and our Savior, but what is critical to understand is how we are serving Him today. Scripture is not just written to give us a view of history, but it is there to give us wisdom and understanding, to give us the water of life. <br />
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The appointments of God, the "moedim", are Gods Feasts and they give us an ongoing lesson to be applied in lives today. They help keep us on His path and His calendar because we don't want to miss an appointment with God. Like Moses, we need to be in the right place at the right time if we want to meet up with our Savior in His Glory face to face.<br />
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The Torah repeatedly tells us that God wants us observe His appointed times. The <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/09/three-fall-feasts-of-lord.html" target="_blank">Fall Feast Days</a> of The Lord are coming our way and we need to be planning and preparing for them. Praise God for the fact that He is calling people to Him, to be apart from the ways of the world at this time.<br />
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If you are a lost sheep, it's time to be found in Messiah because keeping and honoring the seven Feasts has lost its meaning for many Believers, so it's time to adjust our attitude and synchronize our calendar with God's 7 point plan that are seen in the seven seals of the scroll. (Look again at Revelation 5:1-7) <br />
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God's teaching and instruction (Torah) is for our direct benefit and His word is alive and well today, all of it - no matter what our highest court says. His Sabbath and His Sabbath Feasts are important to us as holy convocations because they are very important to God. He tells us this <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?criteria=feasts&sstr=0&t=KJV" target="_blank">time and time again</a> throughout the Torah scroll, <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/messiahs-bible_31.html" target="_blank">Messiah's Bible</a>. And Messiah's life on Earth proved it as He literally lived out the Spring Feasts as the humble suffering servant... and He is returning soon during a future Fall Feast appointment as King with the scepter of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.<br />
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Before His resurrection, Yeshua's body was the tent, the temporary flesh dwelling of YHVH on Earth described by John 1:14 (NIV) "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."<br />
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Yet, 40 days after His resurrection, when He ascended in the majesty cloud next to the two witnesses, His earthly physical presence was transfigured radiant within in the cloud, the shechinah glory presence of YHVH.<br />
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This was the reality that Peter, James and John saw in a preview described three times in the Gospels (see Matthew 17:1–9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28–36). Also, 2 Peter 1:16–18 refers to it.<br />
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Although they are not named, do you suppose that Moses, and Elijah were not only on the mountain of transfiguration but perhaps they were the two men in white described in Acts?<br />
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Acts 1:6-11 And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. “ <br />
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And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” </blockquote>
<b>Get ready. Time is running out.</b><br />
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And if you have not done this, ask God in faith to send His baptism of the Holy Spirit on you so that your life will spiritually shine as a witness to others with the love and light of Messiah as dark days ahead stare our nation in the face. </div><div><br /></div><div>Take a stand. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's mountain time. Time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete. <br />
<br />Shalom.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-1292097510542418002013-07-17T17:40:00.007-05:002024-01-21T14:17:03.481-06:00The Tenth of Av<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8vKVItL5qow/UlxyNZj7QNI/AAAAAAAABgY/sRXE3d88YEw/s1600/The+Temple.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8vKVItL5qow/UlxyNZj7QNI/AAAAAAAABgY/sRXE3d88YEw/s200/The+Temple.JPG" /></a></div>
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In my Scripture studies I found the Hebrew month of Av is the 5th month on the Biblical calendar.<br />
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The 9th of Av (Tisha B'Av) is known around the world as a historical time of great tragedy for the Jewish people. It was the day ten men gave a bad report to Moses and Almighty God delayed entry to the Promised Land for 40 years.<br />
<br />Not only that, Tisha B'Av is the day that marks the Babylonian destruction of the Temple that Solomon built and it's the day that the Romans' led by Titus burned and destroyed the restored Temple 500 years later. <br />
<br />Believe it or not, seventy-two years ago on the 9th of Av (August 2, 1941) the Nazi Party declared and unleashed evil calling it the final solution through SS commander Heinrich Himmler as Hitler's Holocaust began, but in Almighty God's incredible providence, blessing came after unspeakable tragedy.<br />
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A tiny nation called Israel was reborn in a day after horrible labor and pain that answered Isaiah's 2,700 year old prophetic question:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children." Isaiah 66:8 NIV</blockquote>
That blessed moment was May 14, 1948 after horrific tragedy and mourning.<br />
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Yeshua prophesied of the day when He declared: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4<br />
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During the forty years of wandering that followed the bad report, Joshua, led the families of Israel and the sojourners with them into the Promised Land. Only two men survived since Egypt's exodus. There were Joshua whose Hebrew name Yehoshua given to him by Moses means (The Lord is Salvation). He was a descendant of the family tribe of Ephraim and Caleb, a descendant of the royal family of Judah.<br />
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Leading up to the 9th of Av, are the "weeks of mourning" that end with a fast of mourning on Tisha B’av, but the 10th day of Av follows that day.<br />
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According to the tradition stated in the Talmud in Taanit 29a the Temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av, and according to the historian Josephus in his account the "War of the Jews" that destruction ended on the 10th of Av.<br />
<br />As Titus marched against Jerusalem, the mayhem of destruction began on the 7th day of Av as the Old City walls were torn down and Jerusalem was set on fire by the <a href="https://www.myscripturestudies.com/search?q=legions+of+titus" target="_blank">Legions of Rome</a>.<br />
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The Temple's three days of fire and destruction ended. It was the 10th of Av.<br />
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It's an incomprehensible mystery, but the time following grave tragedy will become a time of comfort. <div><br /></div><div>Modern Israel is the proof.<br />
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In fact, the weekly Sabbath immediately following Tisha B'Av is called "The Sabbath of Comfort."<br />
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Ezekiel has something to say about this as the prophet recounts what he was told on the 10th day of Av.<br />
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It was on this very day...<br />
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In the seventh year, in the <b>fifth month</b>, on the <b>tenth day of the month</b>, certain of the<b> elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD</b>, and sat before me. </blockquote>
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And the word of the LORD came to me: <br />
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Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Is it to inquire of me that you come? <b>As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you</b>. <br />
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Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; <b>I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God</b>. On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. <br />
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And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and <b>do not defile yourselves</b> with the idols of Egypt;<b> I am the LORD your God</b>. But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. <br />
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Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But <b>I acted for the sake of my name</b>, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. <br />
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<b>So I led them out</b> of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. <br />
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I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. Moreover, <b>I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them</b>, that they might know that <b>I am the LORD who sanctifies them</b>. <br />
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But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.<br />
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Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. <b>But I acted for the sake of my name</b>, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, <b>because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths</b>; for their heart went after their idols. <br />
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<b>Nevertheless, my eye spared them</b>, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness. And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I<b> am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you</b>, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. <br />
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<b>But the children rebelled against me.</b> They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths. <br />
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Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. <b>But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name</b>, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. <br />
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Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers' idols. <br />
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Moreover, <b>I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life</b>, and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the LORD. <br />
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Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me. For when I had brought them into the land that I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. I said to them, What is the high place to which you go? So its name is called Bamah to this day. <br />
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Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things? When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? <br />
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<b>As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. </b><br />
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What is in your mind shall never happen -- the thought, 'Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.' <br />
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As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you. <br />
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<b>I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you</b> out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. <br />
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And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. <b>As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD.</b> I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. <br />
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<b>I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. </b><br />
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Then you will know that I am the LORD. <br />
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As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols. <br />
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For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there <b>I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings</b>. As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And <b>I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations</b>. <br />
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<b>And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers. </b><br />
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And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD. <br />
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And the word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, set your face toward the southland; preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. Say to the forest of the Negeb, <b>Hear the word of the LORD</b>: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, <b>I will kindle a fire in you</b>, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and <b>all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it</b>. All flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not be quenched. Ezekiel 20:1-48 ESV</blockquote>
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<big>The 10th of Av message is pretty clear. </big></center>
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<big>The rod is headed our way if we don't repent. </big></center>
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<b>Do you reject God's rules and not walk in His statutes, and profane His Sabbaths?</b><br />
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But there is comfort in the message from Ezekiel if you know that after the 9th of Av: <br />
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"And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers."</blockquote>
Isaiah confirms this message as a second witness:<br />
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Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. </blockquote>
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The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: </blockquote>
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And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. Isaiah 40:1-5</blockquote><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for you to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. </div>
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It means we need to know "<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/who-is-jesus.html" target="_blank">Who is the One Called Jesus</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div><div><br /></div>Shalom.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-7358852088837583852013-06-05T07:15:00.014-05:002024-01-21T14:16:47.905-06:00In the Shadow of the Cross<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6G6_sP5JKrY/Ua6rHtvC3DI/AAAAAAAABW8/Qnr-7F097c0/s1600/In+the+Shadow+of+the+Cross.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6G6_sP5JKrY/Ua6rHtvC3DI/AAAAAAAABW8/Qnr-7F097c0/s200/In+the+Shadow+of+the+Cross.JPG" title="The Shadow of the Cross" width="140" /></a> <br />
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In my Scripture studies, I found these words in Psalms: <div><br /></div><div>"Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings. Because thou has been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings I shall rejoice." Psalms 17:8<br />
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How excellent [is] thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. Psalms 36:7 <br />
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Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until [these] calamities be overpast. Psalms 57:1<br />
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Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. Psalms 63:7 <br />
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He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalms 91:1<br />
<br />These from the Prophets:<br /><br />
And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. Isaiah 4:6 <br />
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And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou [art] my people. Isaiah 51:16<br />
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They that dwell under His shadow shall return, they shall revive... Hosea 14:7<br />
<br />And these from the Newer Testament:</div><div><br />
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath [days]: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Messiah. Colossians 2:16-17<br />
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Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. Hebrews 8:5 <br />
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For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. Hebrews 10:1<br />
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"I am the Aleph and the Tav" <big>אֵת </big>says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, saith Shaddai." I Yochanan, your brother and partner with you in oppression, kingdom, and perseverance in Messiah Yeshua, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God's Word and the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a shofar saying, </div><div><br /></div><div>"What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden menorot. Revelation 1:8-12 (HNV)</div><div>
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In modern Hebrew, Aleph <span style="font-size: 19.200001px;">אֵ </span>means strength and and the Tav<span style="font-size: 19.200001px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 19.200001px;">ת </span>means "covenant." </div><div><br /></div><div>In ancient Hebrew script, the Tav looks like two sticks joined together that Ezekiel was told to write of:</div><div>
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“Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ </blockquote><blockquote>And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ say to them, Thus says the Lord God: </blockquote><blockquote>Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand." Ezekiel 37:16-19 </blockquote>
<div>The cross was not the end.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we think the Torah was hung on the cross we miss the Gospel message in Leviticus and the Sermon on the Mount. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Leviticus we learn that sacrifice is not the death. The sacrifice is the blood offering before the presence of The LORD, the death is before the offering of atonement outside the Tabernacle.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the quickening miracle life giving power of our Creator God, Yeshua lives in resurrection power and He has overcome the death of Adam and lives interceding as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek just as the book of Hebrews describes. </div><div><br /></div><div>He kept and is keeping the Torah of God, in the High Priestly duty and privilege to enter the Holy of Holies of Heaven to expiate sins of the people of Israel wearing only white linen garments, forgoing the the elaborate priestly vestments just as Stephen saw him as Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies in the Sanctuary on High standing before the very Divine Throne of Glory:</div><div><blockquote>"But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55-56</blockquote></div><div>Nothing in His life was or is Torah-less. </div><div><br /></div><div>His death by Rome's guard occurred just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem, but the enemy's death plot failed in God's perfect plan carried out in the First Fruits' power of resurrection to eternal life given to Messiah Yeshua by Almighty God on the 3rd day. On the 40th day of the Omer count He ascended to the Heavenly throne room of the most Holy of Holies as High Priest King in the order of Melchizedek and he will return just as David declared in Psalm 110 as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>God is a sovereign God. He is a loving God and He has provided a way to offer you His salvation. You can accept His gift of life. Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask His forgiveness and accept His gift of love through Messiah Yeshua.<br />
<br />You can do it now!<br />
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Today is the time. If you know you need to get your life right with God, don’t wait for tomorrow, get it right with Him now and join the House of God!</div><div><br /><div>That House of God promise was given to Abraham as a blessing for all nations, more details on the kingdom promise was revealed to king David by Nathan. </div><div><div><br /></div><div><div>When Nathan spoke to David, it was after Almighty God told Nathan revealed His big plan about the Gospel of God. The Creator of the Universe told Nathan it was not His restoration plan for the blessing of the planet for David to build The LORD a house. </div><div><br /></div><div>Instead, God told Nathan to reveal to David and The LORD would build him a house at the end of days. It is the prophecy of the little boy that was at The Temple Mount talking Torah:</div><div></div><blockquote>“But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan,'Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. </blockquote><blockquote>In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar? </blockquote><blockquote>Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince[fn] over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. </blockquote><blockquote>And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. </blockquote><blockquote>And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. </blockquote><blockquote>He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. </blockquote><blockquote>I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. </blockquote><blockquote>When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ </blockquote><blockquote><div>In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, 'Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and <u>this is instruction for mankind,</u> O Lord GOD! </div></blockquote><blockquote>And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. </blockquote><blockquote>And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? </blockquote><blockquote>And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God. And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ </blockquote><blockquote>Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.'” 2 Samuel 7:11-29.</blockquote><div></div></div><div>If you read that translation, you might ask what did God mean when he said: "When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men." </div><div><br /></div><div>It points back to Leviticus 14:52 "cleanse the house," Numbers 8:7 "water of purification," and Ezekiel 45:18 "cleanse the sanctuary."</div><div><br /></div><div>If you believe Jesus carried no iniquity, your view of taking on the sin of the world may be different from The LORD's view of what He spoke to Isaiah about His ways (see Isaiah 55:6-9) and what happened at the Passover cross to the lamb of God.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Many believe what happened in the shadow of the cross was that the Law, the Old Covenant and the Prophets of the Jews was done away with at the cross, but thank God not one jot or tittle, one iota or dot was erased (see Matthew 5:18) or the Gospel of God Jesus spoke about in Mark 1:14 would have vanished and Nathan's words would fallen away into the abyss.</div><div><br /></div><div>Halleluyah, God does not change:</div><div><br /></div><div>For I, The LORD do not change... Malachi 3:6.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for you to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. </div><br />It means we need to know "<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/who-is-jesus.html" target="_blank">Who is the One Called Jesus</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div><div><br /></div>Shalom.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-80898234547504122232013-02-27T23:01:00.033-06:002024-01-21T14:16:25.035-06:00More or Mega?<b><a href="#choose_name">Lastest Mega Update:</a></b> February 11, 2022<br />
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This website is dedicated to the truth of Scripture from Almighty God's voice. All of it, in full context.<br />
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In my Scripture studies, I found when asked about the latter days Jesus said there would be fearful sights and signs in the sun, <div>moon and stars and on earth, some big earth movement as nations </div><div>will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring of the sea.<br />
<br />Why the roaring of the sea?<br />
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That pretty much sums up the definition of an earthquake tsunami. <div><br /></div><div>Not only that, but in prophetic Scripture, the sea is often used as a metaphor for a multitude, a sea of people. That shadow picture starts out in Genesis 32:12. The sea symbolizes "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues" representing the mass of humanity across the globe. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's not my idea, the metaphor continues on to Revelation 17:15. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus aka Yeshua connected with the water imagery in the Bible. For example, He told His disciples in Matthew 4:18-20 "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." </div><div><br /></div><div>At Sukkot, the last Feast of Tabernacles Yeshua attended in Jerusalem, He declared to the crowd gathered there:<div><blockquote>On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" John 7:37-38</blockquote>Everyone knows we've always had eclipses, super novas, pestilence, earthquakes and <a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/#%7B%22feed%22%3A%2230day_m25%22%2C%22search%22%3Anull%2C%22sort%22%3A%22newest%22%2C%22basemap%22%3A%22terrain%22%2C%22autoUpdate%22%3Atrue%2C%22restrictListToMap%22%3Atrue%2C%22timeZone%22%3A%22local%22%2C%22mapposition%22%3A%5B%5B-87.62896162809474%2C-143.4375%5D%2C%5B87.62896162809475%2C544.21875%5D%5D%2C%22overlays%22%3A%7B%22plates%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22viewModes%22%3A%7B%22map%22%3Atrue%2C%22list%22%3Atrue%2C%22settings%22%3Afalse%2C%22help%22%3Afalse%7D%7D" target="_blank">shaking in the sea and around the globe</a>, but Yeshua spoke of a great, a "mega" shaking. I think its purpose is wake people up, to bring them out out their sleepy stupor, forgetting about their Creator. <br />
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And <big><b>great</b></big> earthquakes shall be in <big><b>divers</b></big> places, and famines, and <b><span style="font-size: medium;">pestilences</span></b>; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. Luke 21:11</blockquote>The Greek word used here for "great" is "<a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3173&t=KJV" target="_blank">megas</a>."</div><div><br /></div><div>Many misinterpret the old English word "divers." The Greek word is "<a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5117&t=KJV" target="_blank">topos</a>" and it means "separated place."<div><br /></div><div><div>In Luke 21:10-11 the warning reads alike this: </div><div><blockquote>"Then he said to them, 'Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be <b>great earthquakes</b>, and in various places famines and <b>pestilences</b>. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven."</blockquote></div><div>The Greek words are μέγας σεισμός or megas seismós.</div><div><br /></div><div>Megas is great, but σεισμός "seismós" has more context according to Strong's Lexicon as well as Thayer's and Smith's Bible Dictionary. There are two meanings in Greek: a commotion (of the air) like a storm or tempest or an earthquake shaking (of the ground).</div><div><br /></div><div>The tempest storm is the first used in Matthew. We can see it in Matthew 8:23-26 with the short story of Jesus calming the storm on the sea that swamped the boat:</div><div><blockquote>"And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose <b>a great storm</b> [seismós] on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. </blockquote><blockquote>And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm." Matthew 8:23-26</blockquote></div><div>Tornadoes, hurricanes and typhoons are great commotions (of the air). So is pestilence. </div><div><br /></div><div>Pestilence is likely the bigger problem. In the past 1,900 years since Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus and his Legions, some 600 million people have died in global pandemics and modern medicine can't manage the unknown. </div><div><br /></div><div>The worst pandemic in that time line have been the plagues of Justinian, HIV, Smallpox, the Black Death and the Spanish Flu.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>That points to another problem with big city life, there's potential for pestilence. Infection can be easily and quickly spread by close proximity. A crowd is a bad place with disease in the air. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Regarding the risk in earthquake shaking (of the ground), as well as hurricanes (of the air) we do know damage and injury is greatly magnified today with increased location risk, it's the same for pandemics. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we look at a map, we can all see the mega population growth in cities full of people that ignore fault lines and hurricane patterns. </div><div><br /></div><div>Check out the ring of fire. There are many large and densely populated cities around the ring.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which is worse... you choose, earthquakes, hurricanes or pandemics? None of them discriminate, the only real protection is to be in the right place at the right time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thing about that for a minute. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was a big part of the job description of a Levite, to teach people to do the right thing. The Levites are gone and today our morals are in a state of decay and entropy. </div><div><br /></div><div>The important thing is there's an answer. We need to repent, to return to honor God's word and heed the warnings if we don't.</div><div><br /></div><div>A great shaking will come one way or another, but for now, let's zero in on the earth shaking side of "seismós" but that does NOT mean we should ever take our eyes off great commotions (of the air) and don't forget about the pestilence.</div><div><br /></div><div>Millions of people are now living along some very serious fault lines. Those areas are rife with continental plate stress, and we ignore the clear and present danger of those fault lines as if they didn't exist. </div><div><br /></div><div>The globe's plates are generally separated by extreme distance. The ring of fire iscattered around the coastal outline of the Pacific Ocean and some pretty remote geography. Oddly, around that ring, if we just look we'll find... idol-like religions. </div><div>
<br />Deadly earthquake zones include Sumatra (Islam), Haiti (Voodoo) and Japan (Buddhism).</div><div>
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<big>The Earth is shaking like Paul wrote in Romans 8:19-23</big></center>
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Paul didn't come up with that on his own. As usual, whether you know it or not, he was connecting with the Hebrew Bible (aka the Tanach). He was an expert on the Bible and his warning reflects the voice of the prophet Haggai, and it's not just about the earth shaking:</div><div>
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"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty." Haggai 2:6-7 </blockquote>
In the past ten years, the earth has shaken violently at land and in sea. We've all seen the headlines:<br />
<ol>
<li>Iran, 2003: More than 26,000 people killed in 6.6 earthquake</li>
<li>Indonesia, 2004: A devastating 9.1 earthquake and its nsuing tsunami off the Sumatra killed more than 230,000 people in a matter of hours</li>
<li>Kashmir, 2005: A 7.6 earthquake near Muzafferabad killed an estimated 100,000 souls</li>
<li>China, 2008: Nearly 69,000 people were killed in 7.9 earthquake in the Sichuan province</li>
<li>Haiti, 2010: More than 45,000 people were killed in 7.0 magnitude earthquake</li>
<li>Japan, 2011: Some 19,000 are dead and missing as a result of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began leaking radioactive water and it continues today with no permananet solution</li>
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In ten last decade almost 400,000 people have been lost in just six mega quakes. </div><div><br /></div><div>The worst known earthquake year was 1556. The problem was a Chinese earthquake, it's recorded in Chinese imperial records that some 830,000 people lost their lives.</div><div>
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The Smithsonian Institute provides a graphic and amazing time-lapse animation of all global earthquakes and volcanic eruptions since 1961. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions are provided since 1978. Sulfur dioxide emissions are a precursor to acid rain and its the same atmosphere that surrounds the dead planet Venus.<br />
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<a href="http://volcano.si.axismaps.io/" target="_blank">The Smithsonian graphc is worth a closer look</a>. <br />
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Another view of earthquake activity is available at <a href="http://www.earthquake3d.com/" target="_blank">Earthquake 3D</a> and it features live feeds visually on a globe in realtime. <br />
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In March of 2010, one year before the devastating earthquake and resulting tsunami struck northern Japan, an article from <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/7365076/Oarfish-omen-spells-earthquake-disaster-for-Japan.html" target="_blank">BBC News</a> reported on the unusual sightings of multiple deaths of giant oarfish found on the shores of Japan:<br />
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"In recent weeks, 10 specimens have been found either washed ashore or in fishing nets off Ishikawa Prefecture, half-a-dozen have been caught in nets off Toyama Prefecture an<span style="font-family: inherit;">d others have been reported in Kyoto, Shimane and Nagasaki prefectures, all on the northern coast."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">While only ten in number, this was very strange and many people in Japan felt that the appearance of the dead oarfish mean't that an earthquake disaster was coming. Perhaps, the oarfish are significant. In that area little <span style="font-family: inherit;">is known of the great sea creatures other than they are thought to be the stuff of the legends of giant sea serpents that sailors have described for hundreds of years. </span></span>Unusual too, because in Japanese lore, oarfish, which can actually grow up to 50 feet in length normally live at ocean depths of 3/4 of a mile and deeper so they are very rarely ever seen, but when they are found, it is believed that they are the harbinger of an oncoming earthquake.<br />
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Today, many marine biologists believe that those ten Japanese oarfish sensed the coming changes in tectonic plates in the Earth's crust and sought safety.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which suffered a level 7 nuclear meltdown during the quake is still poisoning the Pacific and there is no way to stop the nuclear decay that is seeping into the sea. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today, we know that the 2004 massive 9.1 Sumatra quake was preceded by an 8.6 quake in 2005 and it has been followed by </span>another 8.6 mega quake in 2012. Its resulting tsunami showed the power of destruction from the sea the day after Christmas in 2004 as tragedy stuck from the sea.</span><br />
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On January 4, 2013, a movie about that was released titled "<a href="http://theimpossible-movie.com/theatrical.php" target="_blank">The Impossible</a>," it is a true-life movie about the heroic Belon family that was engulfed in the tragedy of the Indonesian mega quake and it's ens</span>uing horror wave tsunami. <br />
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We were reminded of this just three weeks ago as a massive 8.0 undersea quake struck the "Solomon" Islands on February 6, 2013 when the "Santa Cruz" Islands were identified to be at risk by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. <br />
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According to NASA, and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tal.673/full" target="_blank">other scientific sources</a>, the February 2010 8.8 Chile mega earthquake that stuck "Conception" altered the tilt of the Earth's axis and <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100302-chile-earthquake-earth-axis-shortened-day/" target="_blank">shortened the length of a day</a> by speeding up our planetary rotation. The Chilean quake which is the <a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/mag8/magnitude8_1900_date.php" target="_blank">5th largest to ever be recorded</a> within the USGS list that includes the 9.5 1960 Valdivia, Chile mega quake as well as the 9.0 Kamchatka, Russia mega quake of 1952 and the 9.2 Prince William Sound, Alaska mega quake of 1964.<br />
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The coastal city of <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1256597/Chile-earthquake-moved-Concepcion-city-10ft-west.html" target="_blank">Conception, Chile was moved by some 10 feet</a> toward the Pacific. <br />
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All buildings in that disaster zone were either badly damaged or destroyed. One report stated: "It was if a giant hand had stretched the land along an almost directly westward line (slightly downward) for ten feet at Conception, while adjacent ground moved only a tenth that distance - indicating considerable "shearing" of the land mass both north and south of Conception." Like a mirror to North America, the quake occurred just above Los Angeles, Chile.<br />
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Another axis shift <a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/natural-disasters/how-the-japan-earthquake-made-the-day-shorter" target="_blank">occurred in the Tōhoku region of Japan</a> as the 9.0 Richter magnitude scale mega quake that caused $235 billion in property damage and untold future nuclear damage shifted the planet's axis and <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-205_162-20042590.html" target="_blank">sped up the Earth's rotation</a>. That <a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/quake-shifted-island-sped-up-earth-s-rotation-1.617892" target="_blank">shaking moved the Earth's axis </a>by an estimated 10 centimeters and according to Kenneth Hudnut of the U.S. Geological Survey, the island of Japan shifted about 2.4 meters (that's 8 feet). <br />
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Pakistan's last mega quake hit in 2005 and in 2008 a mega quake hit Eastern Sichuan, China as <a href="http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=28026" target="blank">churches were damaged and destroyed</a>. Oddly only a cross was left standing at Sacred Heart Church in downtown Port au Prince, Haiti in 2010 in which thousands lost their lives. <br />
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Soon, we may see a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiDlGW-cj3I" target="_blank">West Coast arrival</a> of the 1,000 mile wide by 2,000 mile long mass of <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/169820/up-to-20m-tons-of-japan-tsunami-debris-could-reach-b-c-coast-by-2014-2/" target="_blank">debris to be delivered</a> by ocean currents from the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foxww-tMoNg" target="_blank">Sendai Bay area of Honshu</a>. Japan's horrific mega quake and wave roaring tsunami that the world witnessed in 2011, left 19,000 dead that have been identified. Due to the impending nuclear death toll from Fukushima, sadly we will see many more deaths as the tragedy continues to release radioactive cesium that is headed to the USA. <br />
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Scientific studies state that the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVjCqhnZp50" target="_blank">floating debris</a> will likely be carried by back in a never ending cycle of circular currents from Washington, Oregon and California before turning back toward Hawaii and again toward Asia, circulating in the <a href="http://coastalcare.org/2009/11/plastic-pollution/" target="_blank">North Pacific Gyre</a> which is now infamously called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The California Coastal Commission has already issued <a href="http://www.calepa.ca.gov/Disaster/Documents/Tsunami/JapanRemoval.pdf" target="_blank">hazardous material handling</a> guidelines. It seems that anyone with a television has seen the roaring of the great waves that perhaps caused the greatest known wave destruction since Noah's flood. The Pacific tsunami even caused significant damage in Crescent City and Santa Cruz, California above Los Angeles, the home of earthquakes here in the United States.<br />
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We have seen earthquakes cause distress around the world that also shake the headline news. The locations must be considered. Did you notice the names of these places?<br />
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What is it with earthquakes and these cities? <br />
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It seems that across the globe places like Santa Cruz, which means "holy cross" are stuck by earthquakes. The horrible 1971 earthquake in Bolivia is just one example. The USGS earthquake map for Santa Cruz, California has so many epicenter markers, it looks like a pin pillow. Six died there in the 1989 quake that flattened many downtown areas. The same is true for Santa Cruz, Chile.<br />
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Columbus reached Haiti in 1492 and just a year and a half after the magnitude 7.0 Haiti destruction, in our own Federal "District of Columbia" (named after the discoverer), the <a href="http://www.nationalcathedral.org/dcquake/" target="_blank">Washington National Cathedral</a>, which is an Episcopal Church landmark in Washington DC, experienced significant damage including fallen broken angels from the church's roof when disaster struck in August 2011. The spire of the National Cathedral "crashed onto the steps" as the 5.8 quake cracked the church's foundation as it shook the Capitol area. The earthquake badly damaged the steeple and bell tower at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in nearby Fells Point. <br />
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A spokesman for the Archdiocese there said the church was unsafe to occupy as building inspectors condemned the building... Earlier, in February, a 6.3 quake devastated Christchurch, New Zealand and destroyed the Christchurch Cathedral and according to the <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/cathedral-no-stranger-to-quake-damage-20110222-1b3lk.html" target="_blank">Brisbane Times</a> "the crumbling spire at Christchurch Cathedral is one of the starkest images to emerge from today's devastating earthquake." Police in Christchurch reported that the bodies of some victims may never be recovered because they were pulverized by the buildings that collapsed around them. <br />
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I just can't help but be reminded of that warning from Messiah recorded almost 2,000 years ago: <br />
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And <b>there shall be signs</b> in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth <b>distress of nations</b>, with perplexity; the sea and the <b>waves roaring</b> Luke 21:25</blockquote>
The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) is a 150+ station, globally distributed, state-of-the-art digital seismic network providing free, realtime, open access data. The Network is a cooperative partnership between IRIS and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), they offer <a href="http://www.iris.edu/seismon/" target="_blank">an interactive map that not only shows the latest earthquakes</a> but allows you to display thousands of quakes from an archive of 3.4 million spanning from 1970 to minutes ago through the <a href="http://www.iris.edu/ieb/index.html?format=text&nodata=404&starttime=1970-01-01&endtime=2025-01-01&minmag=0&maxmag=10&mindepth=0&maxdepth=900&orderby=time-desc&limit=200&maxlat=87.43&minlat=-87.43&maxlon=180.00&minlon=-180.00&zm=1&mt=ter" target="_blank">IRIS Earthquake Browser</a>, and one of many features is that you can <a href="http://www.iris.edu/3dv/index.html?caller=IEB&st=1970-01-01&et=2025-01-01&nma=0&xma=10&nde=0&xde=900&ob=time-desc&li=200&xla=87.43&nla=-87.43&xlo=180.00&nlo=-180.00&zm=1&mt=ter&sz=enormous" target="_blank">view and rotate earth quakes in 3D</a>! You can vary the 3-D view. <a href="http://www.iris.edu/3dv/index.html?caller=sm&st=1970-01-01&et=2025-01-01&nma=0&xma=10&nde=0&xde=900&ob=time-desc&li=1000&xla=-11.955&nla=-32.324&xlo=-163.213&nlo=170.070&sbl=1&pbl=1&sz=med" target="_blank">I like this version</a>.<br />
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A new report on mega quake activity leads me to believe that perhaps geologists from Menlo Park, California have unwittingly discovered what the Savior of the world is talking about in Luke 21:11. <br />
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It certainly appears that the Scriptures are warning us of mega quakes.<br />
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If we just look at what we already know today we can interpolate that 'The Ring of Fire' is the area where a global quake could occur in alignment with a series volcanic eruptions along the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean. 'The Ring of Fire' is associated with a host of oceanic trenches and volcanic belts and continental plates. The 'Ring of Fire' has 452 volcanoes and is home to over 75% of the world's volcanoes. Some 90% of the world's earthquakes occur along the "Ring of Fire."<br />
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You can view new and existing volcanic activity at the <a href="http://volcano.si.edu/weekly_report.cfm" target="_blank">Smithsonian Institution USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report</a>. If you have visited this important website, you should.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fpzwN91Bj2Q/Ujw4EBBBPgI/AAAAAAAABeg/2xGE8J67VGM/s1600/Ring+of+Fire.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fpzwN91Bj2Q/Ujw4EBBBPgI/AAAAAAAABeg/2xGE8J67VGM/s400/Ring+of+Fire.JPG" /></a></div>
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A "great" earthquake is defined globally by scientists as one in which fifty thousand or more people are killed. This is what they have said this month, that they expect <u>three times more</u> mega quakes in the 21st century than occurred in the last 100 years of the 20th century. When you think about it, outside the devastation of a following tsunami from the roaring of waves from the sea, the way so many die is the fact they live in a city. This is exactly what happened in Port au Prince, Haiti.<br />
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Here's an excerpt of the February 2013 professional journal of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute: <br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3513&from=news_side" target="_blank">MENLO PARK, Calif. </a>— "Predicted population increases in this century can be expected to translate into more people dying from earthquakes. There will be more individual earthquakes with very large death tolls as well as more people dying during earthquakes than ever before, according to a newly published study led by U.S. Geological Survey engineering geologist Thomas L. Holzer." <br />
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Holzer and his USGS co-author James Savage studied earthquakes with death tolls of more than 50,000, which they define as catastrophic, and reported global death tolls from roughly 1500 A.D. to the present. Comparing those events to estimates of world population, they found that the number of catastrophic earthquakes has increased as population has grown. After statistically correlating the number of catastrophic earthquakes in each century with world population, they were able to use new (2011) 21st-century population projections by the United Nations to project that approximately 21 catastrophic earthquakes will occur in the 21st century, a tripling of the seven that occurred in the 20th century. They also predict that total deaths in the century could more than double to approximately 3.5 million people if world population grows to 10.1 billion by 2100 from 6.1 billion in 2000.<br />
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Four catastrophic mega quakes have already struck since the beginning of the 21st century, including the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (and tsunami) and 2010 Haiti earthquake that each may have killed over 200,000 people. </blockquote>
The study explains the population risk increase in lethal earthquake areas and in my view, this is the focus of the prophecy from Jesus. I hope this commentary gives you some insight as to why you need to dig into the meaning of the words that you read in your Bible. You have to go back to the original language to get a clearer picture. <br />
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In the United States, we have all been concerned about a potential devastating mega quake in the greater Los Angeles area as well as the Pacific Northwest. Hollywood producers have made a number of movies about it this that have momentarily grabbed our attention.<br />
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In March 2011, following the Japan quake, ABC News reported about the New Madrid fault: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-fault-lines-siesmic-concern/story?id=13140354" target="_blank">Little-known U.S. Fault Lines Cause For Seismic Concern About Potential Earthquakes</a> and that report states:<br />
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"There are 15 nuclear power plants in the New Madrid fault zone -- three reactors in Alabama -- that are of the same or similar design as the site in Japan experiencing problems.<br />
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The USGS report predicts that a major quake would create horrific scenes like something out of a science fiction movie, potentially cutting the Eastern part of the country off from the West in terms of vehicular traffic and road commerce."<br />
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Not only that, but most people think that the present danger on the west coast is related to the San Andreas fault but perhaps the truth is that the fault that poses the greatest danger to Los Angeles is the Puente Hills fault zone. Check out this March 20, 2010 report from the Los Angeles Times... <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/03/puente-hills-fault-focuses-shaking-toward-downtown-los-angeles.html" target="_blank">Puente Hills fault focuses shaking toward downtown Los Angeles</a>:<br />
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"Seismologists say one reason why the Puente Hills thrustfault is so dangerous is that it focuses shaking toward downtown Los Angeles, rather than away from it."</blockquote>
Below is a Puente Hills Earthquake Visualization of ground motion during a simulated magnitude 7.4 earthquake along the Puente Hills fault:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8kfbhVHBq1A?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></center>
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It seems that we are not having more earthquakes; but quakes are getting bigger and more people are living in seismically active areas within vulnerable buildings in the world's earthquake zones. You can search any geographic region on earth for yourself at the <a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search/" target="_blank">USGS Search Earthquake Archives</a>. <br />
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Mega quakes are exponential. To get a better handle on them check out the <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/calculator.php" target="_blank">USGS "How Much Bigger Calculator</a>.<br />
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A magnitude 7 earthquake produces 32 times more energy — or is 32 times stronger — than a magnitude 6. A magnitude 8 releases 1,000 times more energy than a magnitude 6, and it releases that energy over a larger area and for a longer time and it goes witout saying that is not good for highly populated areas in quake zones.<br />
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Take a look at the new report <a href="http://earthquakespectra.org/doi/abs/10.1193/1.4000106" target="_blank">"Global Earthquake Fatalities and Population"</a> it can be purchased online. It appeared in "Earthquake Spectra", Volume 29, Issue 1 (February 2013).<br />
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Scripture warns of <a href="https://earthquakes.volcanodiscovery.com/?maxAge=1w" target="_blank">global volcanic activity</a> in Joel 2:20.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke."</blockquote>
Could the word of God be this simple?<br />
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The answer is yes and the reason is that God is about life, so He gave warnings to the prophets to preserve life.<br />
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If you consider it, the instruction hidden in the Feast of Tabernacles may be an elegant, mysterious instruction that God gives to protect and preserve those that patiently honor His words of instruction in the latter days. Here's the interesting thing about Tabernacles... during the week long fall Feast there can be no doubt God's instruction is to stay outside in a Sukkah. Is it a heavenly advice for life?<br />
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Do you think a crumbling building can fall on you if your not in it?<br />
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The prophet Zechariah describes that an earthquake will one day split the Mount of Olives in two parts, south and north, and the prophet also describes the horrors of another earthquake:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Zechariah 14): "...and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee ... like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee".</blockquote>
The book of Revelation also gives us a warning of a coming Mid East megaquake that will awaken many to recognize the signs of the times by a seal, a token of proof:<br />
<blockquote>
Revelation 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.<br />
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Revelation 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.<br />
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Revelation 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. </blockquote>
What does all this mean?<br />
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If you do not know your Messiah, it is now time for you to return to God's covenant, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp and teach others to do the same.<br />
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God is a sovereign God. He is a loving God and He has provided a way to offer His salvation and eternal life to you and those that you know. You can accept His gift of eternal life now. Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent of any known willful sin. Ask for God's forgiveness and He will grant it. Then accept His gift of love and eternal life through Jesus, Messiah Yeshua - King of the Universe.<br />
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<b>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></center><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a name="choose_name">Mega Updates</a> </span></b></center><center><b>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></center>
<div><br /></div><div><b>February 11, 2023: </b>The earthquake loss of life is heartbreaking in southern Turkey and northern Syria. </div><div><br /></div><div>I took a look at the USGS map of them. Oddly, what jumped out is the big ones are centered around ancient Haran and the 30 day quake pattern shown below outlines Abraham’s foot steps from Ur of the Chaldees in the botom right of the image and in Egypt in the bottom left.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqgnREc9371iC8twLBaZnhxq4r34bqtjmc39CIEYNefUPKq4CgV5_QrNalPEIGKmYMnTPWc71neYOR94ruoDHh4XKigPONA5X6h4sObi7HQoeETuwv8cC727ksKXRf6lcwMBM7weodBTs7EBqXfEPAw-LRadAT7NQocIaiQlk_r6myVy7_nuN9d_C/s1290/IMG_6300.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1290" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqgnREc9371iC8twLBaZnhxq4r34bqtjmc39CIEYNefUPKq4CgV5_QrNalPEIGKmYMnTPWc71neYOR94ruoDHh4XKigPONA5X6h4sObi7HQoeETuwv8cC727ksKXRf6lcwMBM7weodBTs7EBqXfEPAw-LRadAT7NQocIaiQlk_r6myVy7_nuN9d_C/w400-h297/IMG_6300.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">USGS Earthquake Map February 11, 2023</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>December 23, 2020:</b> Hurricanes and typhoons are great commotions (of the air). So are pestilence and plagues as wind gales and airplanes carry them, but the inner storm of respiratory disease is carried by a sea of people when a sick person talks, coughs or sneezes. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's why your mother always said, cover your mouth when you cough. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>I'm no prophet, not even close, <u>but</u> the fact is that the disease death toll of just one viral pandemic can far out weigh all recorded earthquakes and hurricanes. </div><div><br /></div><div>Do you remember the one earthquake in the exodus that swallowed up Korah and his 250 leaders, but in the wilderness many plagues broke out and tens of thousands lost their lives when they stood in defiance in front of Almighty God's pillar of fire opposing Him and forgetting His glory is a consuming fire.</div><div><br /></div><div>The problem, they defiled themselves in His presence and opened the door, bringing holy disaster on themselves. </div><div><br /></div><div>We have to remember something critically important, God said the purpose of the Levites was a gift of protection against plague:</div><div><blockquote>"And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary." Numbers 8:19</blockquote></div></div><div><div>Everyone is talking about a pandemic. According to Merriam Webster a pandemic is a disease that spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area, even throughout the world. </div><div><br /></div><div>Earthquakes and hurricanes are local.</div><div><br /></div><div>A pandemic is a health shaking commotion - usually a respiratory tempest of the air infecting one's lungs, and in the Bible <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=pestilence&t=ESV#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">pestilence always comes after a warning</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>For now, earthquakes have no warning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which is worse... you choose, earthquake, hurricane or now pandemic? </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps the warnings repeated in Matthew, Mark and Luke point to another great pandemic as people again make the error of standing in defiance against God's voice. In America we have false idols, ourselves. Our Supreme Court has tossed prayer out of public schools, we've legalized death in the womb, we sanitize it with the word abortion calling if family planning.</div><div><br /></div><div>The problem, we are falling away, falling away from grace and judgement is near our highest courtroom steps.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Luke 21 is real and it ties to "great signs" from heaven. Like I said, I'm no prophet, I do not know what those signs are. However, if you'll just use a Bible word search for "<a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=great+sign&t=ESV#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">great sign</a>" you'll find same exact match that I've have.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's in Revelation 12:1 followed by another sign at a later date in Revelation 12:3 marked by war that arose in heaven. Then in Revelation 15:1 we see a series of plague connections with details described as vials in chapter 16. The last is listed as a great earthquake followed by a massive hailstorm, perhaps a metaphor for asteroids, perhaps not.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Interesting too, mass quarantines began during the 14th century, in an effort to protect coastal cities from plagues along the ring of fire.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pharmacy Times reports... <a href="https://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/pfizer-biontech-agree-to-supply-an-additional-100m-doses-of-covid-19-vaccine-to-us" target="_blank">Pfizer, BioNTech Agree to Supply an Additional 100M doses of COVID-19 Vaccine to US</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Kristen Coppock, MA, Managing Editor</div><div><br /></div><div>"Pfizer and BioNTech have announced a second agreement with the US government to supply 100 million doses of BNT162b2 (Comirnaty), the companies’ vaccine against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), from domestic production facilities. This agreement brings the total number of doses to be delivered to the Unite<b>d </b>States to 200 million."</div><div><br /></div><div>“With these 100 million additional doses, the United States will be able to protect more individuals and hopefully end this devastating pandemic more quickly,” Albert Bourla, CEO and chairman of Pfizer, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our work with the U.S. government and health care providers around the country.”"</div><div><br /></div><div><b>December 21, 2020: </b>From Reuters - <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vaccine-breakingvi-idUSKBN28V2MB" target="_blank">Breakingviews - MRNA is a $120 billion bet on platform, not vaccines</a></div><div><br /></div><div>"NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Biotech firms Moderna and BioNTech used a biotechnology known as messenger RNA, or mRNA, to produce vaccines effective against Covid-19 with miraculous speed. That has pushed the combined worth of specialists in this emerging field to more than $120 billion. That’s a glimpse of what’s possible if it can be applied post-pandemic to treat cancer or rare diseases.</div><div><br /></div><div>The technology is the closest thing yet to making medicine digital. MRNA vaccines essentially inject genetic code that instructs a recipients’ cells to construct a part of the virus. The body recognizes the produced protein as foreign and mounts a future immune response when exposed. Moderna and BioNTech’s vaccines show the technology works fast. Vaccines typically take a decade to develop. They took less than a year."</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>December 20, 2020: </b>60 Minutes - <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/60minutes-2020-december-20/" target="_blank">How the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was developed</a></div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="336" id="cbsNewsVideo" src="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/60minutes-2020-december-20/" width="420"></iframe></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div><b>December 19, 2020:</b> <a href="https://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/fda-grants-emergency-use-to-moderna-covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank">FDA Grants Emergency Use Authorization to Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine</a></div><div><div><br /></div><div>Kristen Coppock, MA, Managing Editor</div><div><br /></div><div>"Moderna’s new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, mRNA-1273, has been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the FDA,1,2 only 1 day after the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) publicly expressed support for the action.3 Administration of mRNA-1273 is indicated for individuals aged 18 years and older.2</div><div><br /></div><div>The FDA's action marks the second EUA for a vaccine targeting COVID-19, which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On December 11, 2020, the FDA approved an EUA application for the first COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, BNT162b2, which was jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.1,4</div><div><br /></div><div>According to FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, MD, the availability of 2 COVID-19 vaccines is a crucial step in combating the global pandemic, which has caused a vast number of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States."</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>December 2, 2020:</b> There's another panic <a href="https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/news/news/2020/3/who-announces-covid-19-outbreak-a-pandemic" target="_blank">WHO announces COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>"Today, as WHO/Europe’s Standing Committee of the Regional Committee met, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, briefed the group on the rapid escalation of COVID-19 in the WHO European Region, now placing it at the centre of this pandemic."</div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://www.ibtimes.com/britain-oks-vaccine-global-covid-death-toll-nears-15-million-3092884" target="_blank">Britain OKs Vaccine As Global Covid Death Toll Nears 1.5 Million</a></div><div><br /></div><div>"Britain on Wednesday became the first western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine for general use, while Italy and Japan promised free inoculations for all even as the global death toll ticked towards 1.5 million.</div><div><br /></div><div>A mere 12 months after the pandemic began in China, the UK's independent medicines regulator gave its green light to the BioNTech-Pfizer drug in double-quick time but insisted safety had come first.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Everybody can be confident that no corners whatsoever have been cut," said Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) chief executive June Raine. "The public deserve nothing less.""</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>November 29, 2020:</b> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blog/covid-live-updates-global-deaths-inch-towards-1-5-million-n1249262" target="_blank">Global deaths inch towards 1.5 million as U.S. cities increase restrictions</a></div><div><br /></div><div>"As the world inches towards 1.5 million Covid-19 deaths, the U.S. continues to lead the toll, passing 13 million confirmed cases on Saturday."</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>November 15, 2020:</b> I wonder if David Beasley has read this: </div><div><blockquote>There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. Luke 21:11 ESV</blockquote></div><div><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nobel-agency-warns-2021-worse-2020-74210831" target="_blank">Nobel UN food agency warns 2021 will be worse than 2020</a></div><div> </div><div>"UNITED NATIONS -- The head of the World Food Program says the Nobel Peace Prize has given the U.N. agency a spotlight and megaphone to warn world leaders that next year is going to be worse than this year, and without billions of dollars “we are going to have famines of biblical proportions in 2021.</div><div><br /></div><div>David Beasley said in an interview with The Associated Press that the Norwegian Nobel Committee was looking at the work the agency does every day in conflicts, disasters and refugee camps, often putting staffers’ lives at risk to feed millions of hungry people -- but also to send “a message to the world that it’s getting worse out there ... (and) that our hardest work is yet to come.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“It was so timely because we’ve been fighting to get above the choir,” Beasley said of last month's award, pointing to the news being dominated by the U.S. elections and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the difficulty of getting global attention focused on “the travesty that we’re facing around the world.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“So this was really a gift from above,” Beasley said, recalling the surprise and delight of WFP's 20,000 staffers worldwide, and his own shock at being interrupted during a meeting in Niger in Africa's Sahel region with the news.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beasley recalled his warning to the U.N. Security Council in April that as the world was dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, it was also “on the brink of a hunger pandemic” that could lead to “multiple famines of biblical proportions” within a few months if immediate action wasn’t taken.</div><div><br /></div><div>“We were able to avert it in 2020 ... because the world leaders responded with money, stimulus packages, deferral of debt,” he said." </div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>November 5, 2020:</b> <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/global-covid-19/index.html" target="_blank">Global COVID-19</a></div><div><br /></div><div>"The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global health threat, and CDC is committed to stopping its spread. CDC has a long history of strengthening public health capacity throughout the world to contain outbreaks at their source and minimize their impact.</div><div><br /></div><div>CDC is working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners to assist countries to prepare for and respond to COVID-19. CDC routinely provides technical assistance to ministries of health and subnational and international partners to improve our collective response to infectious disease threats like COVID-19."</div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 5, 2020: </b><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/global-covid-19/global-response.html" target="_blank">CDC COVID-19 Global Response</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Response Goals and Objectives</div><div><br /></div><div>The goals of CDC’s global response to COVID-19 are to limit human-to-human transmission, minimize the impact of COVID-19 in vulnerable countries with limited preparedness capacity, and reduce specific threats that pose current and future risk to the United States.</div><div><br /></div><div>CDC’s global COVID-19 response works toward these goals by meeting the following objectives:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Strengthen capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to local COVID-19 cases, including getting timelier and more accurate data to inform public health decision-making and strengthening the public health workforce globally</li><li>Mitigate COVID-19 transmission in the community, across borders, and in healthcare facilities; prevent transmission of COVID-19 in healthcare facilities, among healthcare workers and public health personnel and minimize disruptions to essential health services</li><li>Contribute to the scientific understanding of COVID-19 and address crucial unknowns regarding clinical severity, extent and pathways of transmission, and infection with support for special investigations</li><li>Ensure readiness to implement and evaluate vaccination programs and use therapeutics when available</li></ul></div><div>CDC’s technical support is delivered in coordination with other U.S. government agencies and other stakeholders including multilateral organizations.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>March 11, 2020: </b><a href="https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020" target="_blank">WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19</a></div><div><br /></div><div>"Good afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thousands more are fighting for their lives in hospitals.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher.</div><div><br /></div><div>WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. </div><div><br /></div><div>Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.</div><div><br /></div><div>Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by this virus. It doesn’t change what WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do."</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>My note:</b> Maps like the one I inserted at the beginning of this post are usually used to track earthquakes, but in February 2020 <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">John Hopkins University</a> has rolled out a global map of the pandemic shaking the planet. Their <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">Coronavirus Resource Center </a>website says:</div><div><div><br /></div><div>"Johns Hopkins experts in global public health, infectious disease, and emergency preparedness have been at the forefront of the international response to COVID-19.</div><div><br /></div><div>This website is a resource to help advance the understanding of the virus, inform the public, and brief policymakers in order to guide a response, improve care, and save lives."</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/product/mapping/mapping-coronavirus-responsibly/" target="_blank">Mapping coronavirus, responsibly</a></div><div><br />"Coronavirus (Covid-19) has, to date (February 25th 2020) infected over 77,000 Chinese citizens, mostly in Hubei Province, since it was first identified in December 2019. It has so far spread to more than 30 countries. It has claimed more than 2,600 lives and been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO)."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/redmap.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/redmap.png" width="320" /></a></div></div></div><br />
<b>July 5, 2019:</b> <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/magnitude-6-9-earthquake-hits-southern-california-1-day-after-largest-in-decades" target="_blank">New 7.1 earthquake hits Southern California -- 1 day after largest temblor in decades</a><br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>"</b>A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Kern County in California on Friday evening -- just a day after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that was the largest temblor in the region in two decades, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed.<br />
<br />
Shaking on Friday evening was felt as far away as Las Vegas and Los Angeles and into northern Mexico. The USGS said there was a 5 percent chance a larger quake could still follow.<b>"</b><br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>July 4, 2019: </b>Today is the first day of Tammuz and a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/earthquake-california-today-ridgecrest-strikes-near-los-angeles-2019-07-04-live-updates/" target="_blank">6.4 magnitude earthquake strikes Southern California</a><br />
<br />
"A 6.4 magnitude earthquake rattled Southern California on Thursday and officials said it was the largest to hit the region in 20 years. The quake struck near the city of Ridgecrest, which is located about 160 miles northeast of Los Angeles.<br />
<br />
Some injuries were reported in Ridgecrest, authorities said, but the extent is currently unclear. A city in the hospital was evacuated and officials are assessing structural damage to the building.<br />
The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck at 10:33 a.m. PT. The earthquake was initially given a magnitude of 6.6, but was later revised to 6.4. The quake was felt more than 150 miles away in Los Angeles, but no damage was reported."<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>June 4, 2019: </b>Today is the first day of Sivan. <a href="https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nation-world/national/article231151893.html" target="_blank">Quake swarm unleashes 400 tiny temblors on Southern California. What does it mean?</a><br />
<br />
More than <a href="https://laist.com/2019/06/03/should_you_freak_out_about_the_earthquake_swarm_near_the_san_andreas_fault.php" target="_blank">430 tiny temblors</a> have rattled Southern California in the past 10 days or so, some just strong enough to be felt by residents, LAist reports.<br />
<br />
But the <a href="https://ktla.com/2019/06/03/dozens-of-new-quakes-hit-inland-empire-monday-as-quake-swarm-continues-to-rattle-the-area/" target="_blank">swarm of earthquakes</a> hitting the Inland Empire, stretching from eastern Los Angeles to the Mojave Desert, probably doesn’t indicate a major quake’s on the way, KTLA reported.<br />
<br />
“This is just a place where the <a href="https://twitter.com/DrLucyJones/status/1134681781750231042" target="_blank">earth sputters along</a> instead of letting go all at once,” seismologist Lucy Jones wrote on Twitter."<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>September 29, 2018: </b> <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/indonesian-earthquake-18-ft-tsunami-sweeps-across-beach-killing-hundreds-and-1144973">INDONESIAN EARTHQUAKE: 18 FT TSUNAMI SWEEPS ACROSS PALU, KILLING HUNDREDS AND DEVASTATING TOWN</a><br />
<br />
Video report from CBS This Morning.<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PCw7kgOdP88?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></center>
<br />
This follows a series of major quakes that killed hundreds since July in the Indonesian island of Lombok.<br />
<br />
<b>August 23, 2018: </b>According to Earthquaketrack.com, M1.5 or greater:<br />
<ul>
<li>163 earthquakes in the past 24 hours</li>
<li>1,209 earthquakes in the past 7 days</li>
<li>10,843 earthquakes in the past 30 days</li>
<li>82,856 earthquakes in the past 365 days</li>
</ul>
Do the math for yourself, the 30-day average over the past year divides to 6,810, but that number is up more than 59% in the last 30 days with the count at 10,843 as of 10PM CST.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="440" height="302" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hO_eAaA4XaM/W3-CxTuNmVI/AAAAAAAACaw/oEWVWwdgP4k9DJvsnnvZttbjU9-3-BlYACLcBGAs/s400/30%2Bdays.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/#%7B%22autoUpdate%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22basemap%22%3A%22grayscale%22%2C%22feed%22%3A%221535083018515%22%2C%22listFormat%22%3A%22default%22%2C%22mapposition%22%3A%5B%5B-88.51251855308419%2C-241.17187499999997%5D%2C%5B88.49415404524966%2C601.171875%5D%5D%2C%22overlays%22%3A%5B%22plates%22%5D%2C%22restrictListToMap%22%3A%5B%22restrictListToMap%22%5D%2C%22search%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%221535083018515%22%2C%22name%22%3A%22Search%20Results%22%2C%22isSearch%22%3Atrue%2C%22params%22%3A%7B%22starttime%22%3A%222018-07-25%2000%3A00%3A00%22%2C%22endtime%22%3A%222018-08-24%2023%3A59%3A59%22%2C%22minmagnitude%22%3A1.5%2C%22orderby%22%3A%22time%22%7D%7D%2C%22sort%22%3A%22newest%22%2C%22timezone%22%3A%22utc%22%2C%22viewModes%22%3A%5B%22list%22%2C%22map%22%5D%2C%22event%22%3Anull%7D" target="_blank">Last 30 days 10,843 as of August 23, 2018</a></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Of the 10,843 earthquakes in the past 30 days, 8 have been magnitude 6.5 or greater, That's 40% percent of the major quakes in the eight months of 2018 in just 30 days.<br />
<br />
Remember the 9.0 magnitude seven years ago in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan?<br />
<br />
What about tomorrow?<br />
<br />
<b>August 5, 2018:</b> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earthquake-today-lombok-island-indonesia-near-bali-7-0-magnitude-tsunami-warning-over-2018-08-05/">Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Indonesia, killing 91</a><br />
<br />
"MATARAM, Indonesia -- A powerful earthquake struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok on Sunday, killing at least 91 people and shaking neighboring Bali, one week after another quake killed more than a dozen on the island. Authorities said Monday thousands of houses were damaged and the death toll is likely to climb. Rescuers haven't reached some of the worst affected areas in the north of the island."<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>July 30, 2018: </b><a href="http://scienceglobalnews.com/uncategorized/second-earthquake-swarm-in-one-week-hits-off-oregon-on-the-cascadia-subduction-zone/" target="_blank">Second earthquake swarm in one week hits off Oregon on the Cascadia Subduction Zone</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://strangesounds.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/M5.3-earthquake-and-aftershocks-oregon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="800" height="263" src="http://strangesounds.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/M5.3-earthquake-and-aftershocks-oregon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
"A swarm of earthquakes shook the Cascadia Subduction Zone off of the Oregon coast on Sunday morning shortly after 9:00 a.m., according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The swarm marks the second in just a 5-day span giving fair warning to coastal residents that the Big One could hit anytime.<br />
<br />
M5.3 earthquake hits the Cascadia subduction zone off Oregon coast on July 29 2018.<br />
After a string of almost a dozen minor quakes last week, the waters off the southern Oregon coast – approximately 280 miles west of Florence, Oregon – rumbled with yet another M5.3 quake on Sunday morning, at 9:10 a.m. and was followed by a series of 4 aftershocks:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>M 5.3 – Off the coast of Oregon</li>
<li>M 3.2 – Off the coast of Oregon</li>
<li>M 3.0 – Off the coast of Oregon</li>
<li>M 3.8 – Off the coast of Oregon</li>
<li>M 4.4 – Off the coast of Oregon</li>
</ul>
<br />
There was no tsunami alert issued, and there are only 10 reports of it being felt on land. The quake was about seven miles beneath the sea floor."<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>July 18, 2018: </b>"The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; <b>seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake,</b> and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven." Revelation 11:13<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/249143" target="_blank">'Major earthquake would kill 7,000, destroy bridges'</a><br />
<br />
"State Comptroller finds Israel only partially prepared for major earthquake, which would have devastating consequences.<br />
<br />
<b>Israel - Arutz Sheva: </b>"The State Comptroller, retired judge Yosef Shapira, published the report on "State Preparedness for an Earthquake" on Wednesday afternoon, which examines the preparedness of national infrastructures and buildings in the State of Israel.<br />
<br />
In light of recent earthquakes in the north, the State Comptroller instructed the publication of the report, which presents an up-to-date picture of the deficiencies in earthquake assessments.<br />
<br />
Experts in the field believe that the occurrence of a strong earthquake, with all its severe consequences, is almost certain. Its impact on different regions of the country will be enormous. According to the government-approved preparedness examination, in the event of a major earthquake, Israel could expect 7,000 fatalities, 8,600 people seriously injured, 37,000 people lightly injured, 9,500 people trapped in rubble and 170,000 made homeless."<br />
<br />
<b>BBC - London:</b> Earthquakes are rare in the UK, but recently scientists discovered an ancient fault line directly under London.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article12942944.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Second-more-powerful-earthquake-hits-Gatwick-Airport-in-space-of-just-12-hours-leaving-homes-shaking.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="615" height="347" src="https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article12942944.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Second-more-powerful-earthquake-hits-Gatwick-Airport-in-space-of-just-12-hours-leaving-homes-shaking.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44870982" target="_blank">Another earthquake in 'Surrey swarm' near Newdigate</a><br />
<b><br />
</b> "Another earthquake has been confirmed in Surrey - the latest in a series of tremors to be felt since April.<br />
<br />
The 1.7 magnitude quake struck at about 04:00 BST just north of Russ Hill near Newdigate at a depth of 1km, the British Geological Survey (BGS) said.<br />
<br />
It was picked up by two new seismic stations built last week to record the earth's movements in Surrey after the recent spate of tremors.<br />
<br />
The quake was like "a weak thud" lasting a few seconds, the BGS said.<br />
<br />
It is thought to be ninth tremor in the earthquake "swarm"."<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/second-more-powerful-earthquake-strikes-12942978" target="_blank">Second 'more powerful' earthquake strikes near Gatwick Airport in space of 12 hours leaving homes shaking</a><br />
<br />
"Another earthquake has hit an area near Gatwick Airport in Surrey - the second recorded in just 12 hours.<br />
<br />
The first was recorded in Newdigate, Dorking at 4.59am this morning with a magnitude of 1.7.<br />
<br />
This was later raised to a magnitude of 2.0 by the British Geological Survey (BGS).<br />
<br />
Just hours later a second earthquake measuring 11 times the strength of the first hit the same location.<br />
<br />
A a magnitude of 2.7 was recorded at 1.33pm this afternoon, the BGS confirmed."<br />
<br />
"It comes less than two weeks after a magnitude of 3.0 was recorded in the same area.<br />
<br />
It makes it the sixth earthquake in four weeks in the Dorking and Gatwick Airport area.<br />
<br />
A spokesman from the British Geological Survey said: "We can confirm that there has been another earthquake today. Provisional indications are that it was approx. mag 2.7, about 11x bigger than the one that occurred earlier today, which is now a mag 2 earthquake.""<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>November 13, 2017:</b> <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/powerful-earthquake-iran-iraq-border-kills-140-51106812" target="_blank">Over 400 dead from earthquake in Iran-Iraq border area</a><br />
<br />
"Rescuers dug with their bare hands Monday through the debris of buildings brought down by a powerful earthquake that killed more than 400 people in the once-contested mountainous border region between Iraq and Iran, with nearly all of the victims in an area rebuilt since the end of the ruinous 1980s war.<br />
<br />
Sunday night's magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck about 19 miles (31 kilometers) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey. It hit at 9:48 p.m. Iran time, just as people were going to bed.<br />
<br />
The worst damage appeared to be in the Kurdish town of Sarpol-e-Zahab in the western Iranian province of Kermanshah, which sits in the Zagros Mountains that divide Iran and Iraq.<br />
<br />
Residents fled into the streets as the quake struck, without time to grab their possessions, as apartment complexes collapsed into rubble. Outside walls of some complexes were sheared off by the quake, power and water lines were severed, and telephone service was disrupted.<br />
<br />
Residents dug frantically through wrecked buildings for survivors as they wailed. Firefighters from Tehran joined other rescuers in the desperate search, using dogs to inspect the rubble.<br />
<br />
The hospital in Sarpol-e-Zahab was heavily damaged, and the army set up field hospitals, although many of the injured were moved to other cities, including Tehran.<br />
<br />
It also damaged an army garrison and buildings in the border city and killed an unspecified number of soldiers, according to reports.<br />
<br />
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei immediately dispatched all government and military forces to aid those affected.<br />
<br />
Many of the heavily damaged complexes in Sarpol-e-Zahab were part of construction projects under former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The newly homeless slept outside in cold, huddled around makeshift fires for warmth, wrapped in blankets — as were the dead.<br />
<br />
The quake killed 407 people in Iran and injured 7,156 others, Iran's crisis management headquarters spokesman Behnam Saeedi told state TV. Most of the injuries were minor, he said, with fewer than 1,000 still hospitalized.<br />
<br />
The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported 445 dead and 7,370 injured. There was no immediate explanation of the discrepancy, although double-counting of victims is common during such disasters in Iran."<br />
<br />
<b>October 26, 2017:</b> <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/really-big-earthquake-coming-striking-123702563.html" target="_blank">‘Really Big’ Earthquake Is Coming, Striking 7 Million People in the Worst Natural Disaster in North American History</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/1dABaiw17CqW.4O9_P9s9w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en-GB/homerun/newsweek_europe_news_328/781a571cb4d41fba49dce9b237224408" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/1dABaiw17CqW.4O9_P9s9w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en-GB/homerun/newsweek_europe_news_328/781a571cb4d41fba49dce9b237224408" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
"The last time the Juan de Fuca oceanic plate jolted under the North American plate, unleashing a 9.0 earthquake, was in 1700. With the event scheduled to happen once every 500 years or so, we are due for another any day now. Although it's not clear what will happen when this mega quake does hit, researchers at the University of Washington recently presented 50 possible scenarios of how the event might unfold."<br />
<br />
<b>October 4, 2017:</b> <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/yellowstone-supervolcano-earthquake-swarm-longest-ever-recorded-677387?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=yahoo_news&utm_campaign=rss-related&utm_content=/rss/yahoous/news" target="_blank">EARTHQUAKE SWARM AT YELLOWSTONE SUPERVOLCANO NOW ONE OF THE LONGEST EVER RECORDED</a><br />
<br />
"Updated - The ongoing earthquake swarm at the Yellowstone National Park supervolcano is now one of the longest ever recorded, having started on June 12. Over the past three and a half months, almost 2,500 earthquakes have been recorded in the western part of the national park. This puts it on a par with the biggest swarm ever recorded, where more than 3,000 earthquakes took place over three months.<br />
<br />
The swarm in no way signals an impending eruption, and it appears now to be coming to an end. However, experts at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) say it has been “fascinating” to monitor and are eager to learn more about it in their analysis of the event.<br />
<br />
In a monthly update about activity at Yellowstone, the USGS said 115 earthquakes had been reported in the park during September. Of these, 78 were part of the ongoing swarm 6 miles north of West Yellowstone. The biggest event in the swarm last month was magnitude 2.3."<br />
<br />
<b>September 10, 2017:</b> <a href="http://idahostatejournal.com/news/local/usgs-says-earthquakes-have-struck-southeast-idaho-since-sept-swarm/article_31a21d89-284c-596f-b7ec-5c3bc590b4e6.html" target="_blank">USGS says 260 earthquakes have struck Southeast Idaho since Sept. 2</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/idahostatejournal.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/d8/2d89feaf-6a76-505c-91dc-dbe75ad0e346/59b5f5c3a2bab.image.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="800" height="208" src="https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/idahostatejournal.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/d8/2d89feaf-6a76-505c-91dc-dbe75ad0e346/59b5f5c3a2bab.image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
"Both USGS and University of Utah reported that the most powerful quake in the swarm was a 5.3 magnitude temblor that occurred at 5:56 p.m. on Sept. 2. It's been years since Southeast Idaho has experienced a 5.0 or greater magnitude quake. Such temblors can cause damage to buildings.<br />
<br />
Authorities have not reported any damage to structures or injuries to people as a result of any of the recent quakes.<br />
<br />
Authorities said that Southeast Idaho has never experienced so many quakes in such a short time frame, though the region does experience some seismic activity especially in the Caribou County area."<br />
<br />
<b>December 9, 2016:</b> <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/radiation-from-japans-fukushima-nuclear-disaster-detected-on-oregon-shores/" target="_blank">Radiation from Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster detected on Oregon shores</a><br />
<br />
"SALEM, Ore. - Seaborne radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster has been detected on Oregon shores, researchers say.<br />
<br />
Seawater samples from Tillamook Bay and Gold Beach indicate radiation from the nuclear disaster but at extremely low levels not harmful to humans or the environment.<br />
<br />
Citing the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, <a href="http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2016/12/07/fukushima-radiation-has-reached-us-shores/95045692/" target="_blank">the Statesman Journal newspaper</a> reports the samples were taken last winter and later analyzed.<br />
<br />
Massive amounts of contaminated water were released from the crippled Japan nuclear plant following a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.<br />
<br />
Woods Hole chemical oceanographer Ken Buesseler runs a crowdfunded, citizen-science seawater sampling project that has tracked the radiation plume as it makes its way across the Pacific Ocean."<br />
<br />
<b>November 20, 2016:</b> <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-andreas-fault-earthquake-20160504-story.html" target="_blank">San Andreas fault 'locked, loaded and ready to roll' with big earthquake, expert says</a><br />
<br />
<b>November 1, 2016:</b> This morning from the LA Times... <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-salton-sea-quakes-20161031-story.html" target="_blank">Nearly 20 'micro-quakes' hit near the Salton Sea</a><br />
<br />
"A series of small earthquakes struck near the Salton Sea area overnight.<br />
<br />
Nearly 20 micro-quakes — the strongest measuring magnitude 3.3, with others much smaller — struck the town of Niland near the eastern shore of the Salton Sea, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A magnitude 3.6 quake was recorded near Salton City on the west side of the Salton Sea.<br />
<br />
In September, a series of more than 200 small quakes hit the area. That prompted scientists to say for several days that there was an elevated risk for a big San Andreas fault earthquake. Many of the minor quakes were located under the sea itself.<br />
<br />
The Salton Sea is one of California’s most seismically complex areas. It is located on a web of faults that scientists fear could one day wake up the nearby San Andreas from its long slumber."<br />
<br />
<b>Update October 30, 2016:</b> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/30/europe/italy-earthquake/" target="_blank">Italy earthquake: 6.6-magnitude tremor rocks nation's center</a><br />
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"(CNN)A powerful 6.6-magnitude earthquake rocked central Italy on Sunday morning, injuring at least 20 people, in the strongest tremor to hit the country in more than three decades.<br />
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<br />
The earthquake follows tremors last week and comes on off the heels of a devastating quake in August, which killed nearly 300 people and flattened entire villages.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The quake struck 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of Norcia, the US Geological Survey reported.</li>
<li>Fire and rescue services said six people had been pulled from rubble in Norcia.</li>
<li>There were no immediate reports of deaths -- many residents had not returned since a devastating quake in August.</li>
<li>Some villages are cut off, so the impact there has not been assessed, said Fabrizio Curcio, the civil protection chief.</li>
<li>Some 15,000 people are without electricity, according to Curcio.</li>
<li>Much of the Basilica of San Benedetto in Norcia collapsed."</li>
</ul>
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<b>Update October 26, 2016:</b> So very sad and praying for those in Italy:<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/10/26/quake-shakes-central-italy-near-devastated-quake-zone/92778836/" target="_blank"> 2 powerful earthquakes rattle central Italy 2 hours apart</a> <br />
<br />
“It was a very strong earthquake, apocalyptic,” Marco Rinaldi, mayor of the small town of Ussita, told the ANSA news agency. “People are screaming on the street and now we are without lights.”<br />
<br />
Rinaldi added, "Many houses have collapsed. Our town is finished."<br />
<br />
<b>Update October 2, 2016:</b> Today, is the eve of the Fall Feast "Day of Trumpets" (<a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/lev/23/24/p1/s_113024" target="_blank">Yom Teruah</a>) begins at sunset as the 7th Biblical month new moon appears above. <br />
<br />
It is the day of the shofar blast, a day of shouting and we might take note that rumors of war are raging as <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/01/middleeast/syria-aleppo-bombing/index.html" target="_blank">Russia warns US not to attack Syrian regime</a> while <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/#MATTHEW" target="_blank">Hurricane Matthew</a> rages in the Caribbean Sea potentially threatening the U.S. Atlantic east coast with roaring seas and on the Pacific west coast an <a href="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/09/30/earthquake-advisory-issued-for-southern-california-after-salton-sea-quake-swarm/" target="_blank">Earthquake Advisory Issued For Southern California After Salton Sea Quake Swarm</a><br />
<br />
"LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A swarm of earthquakes that rattled the Salton Sea area earlier this week has increased the probability of a major quake hitting Southern California.<br />
<br />
The California Office of Emergency Services (OES) issued <a href="http://www.oesnews.com/governors-director-emergency-services-reminds-californians-prepared-earthquakes/" target="_blank">an earthquake advisory</a> warning residents and officials in Ventura, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Kern and Imperial counties that there was a greater possibility of a major earthquake through Oct. 4.<br />
<br />
More than <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/misc/2016-09-27.php" target="_blank">140 seismic events have been recorded</a> near Bombay Beach beginning Monday ranging from magnitude 1.4 to 4.3, according to U.S. Geological Services (USGS) seismologists.<br />
<br />
“California is earthquake country. We must always be prepared and not let our guard down,” said OES Director Mark Ghilarducci. “The threat of an earthquake on the San Andreas Fault hasn’t gone away, so this is another important opportunity for us to revisit our emergency plans and learn what steps you need to take if a significant earthquake hits.”<br />
<br />
The swarm occurred in a region known as the Brawley seismic zone, which is located near a fault network that connects the southernmost end of the San Andreas fault with the Imperial fault."<br />
<br />
Seismologists at the Southern California Earthquake Center are nervous about <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-earthquake-swarm-20160930-snap-story.html" target="_blank">a big domino effect along the San Andreas Fault.</a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8674866410432004615#September">Interestingly, two years ago at this same time around the Fall Feasts that year...</a> an earthquake swarm hit the Mommoth Lakes region, far from the San Andreas fault in central California along the Nevada border.<br />
<a href="http://www.wgcep.org/ucerf3" target="_blank"></a><br />
<center>
<a href="http://www.wgcep.org/ucerf3" target="_blank"><small><b>The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast Map</b></small></a></center>
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<b>Update September 10, 2016 </b> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/11/more-than-200-injured-in-bukoba-tanzania-earthquake" target="_blank">Thirteen dead and more than 200 injured in 5.7 Tanzania earthquake</a><br />
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"Tremors felt as far away as Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya after quake strikes near north-western town of Bukoba on Saturday.<br />
<br />
At least 13 people have been killed and 203 injured in north-west Tanzania in a 5.7 magnitude earthquake, local authorities said.<br />
<br />
“The toll has climbed from 11 people dead to 13 and from 192 injured to 203,” said Deodatus Kinawilo, district commissioner for Bukoba, the town close to the epicentre of the quake that struck on Saturday."<br />
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<b>Update April 8, 2016:</b> A new report published in <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/4/e1501693.full" target="_blank">Science Advances Vol. 2, no. 4, e1501693 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501693</a> today notes that the earth's rotational spin axis has been affected by ice melts in "southern Greenland, where pervasive thinning occurs" ... "explained by global-scale continent-ocean mass transport, with robust changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) playing an unexpectedly large role." <br />
<br />
The ice sheet mass changes are noted in a previous study <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6111/1183.full" target="_blank">A Reconciled Estimate of Ice-Sheet Mass Balance</a> released in Science 30 Nov 2012: Vol. 338, Issue 6111, pp. 1183-1189 DOI: 10.1126/science.1228102.<br />
<br />
These changes impact oceanic weight redistribution and may cause global scale tectonic shifts due to the earth's change in angular momentum and torque. This is fairly easy to conceptualize, just think of a spinning top that would be disturbed by weight redistribution that would affect torque acting on it.<br />
<br />
A spinning top falls sideways. The effect is described as precession. A spinning top precesses slowly around a vertical axis through its point of support while it spins on its axis. The change in angular momentum is always affected by weight redistribution as its center of mass is changed. <br />
<br />
No question our Creator has always known that this change in the earth's angular momentum and torque from global-scale continent-ocean mass transport would occur. Perhaps Jesus referred to this when He said, "there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring sea and waves." Luke 21:25<br />
<br />
We can't doubt the Word of God even if we do not understand it. If God has said it, it will happen.<br />
<blockquote>
Abstract<br />
<br />
"Earth’s spin axis has been wandering along the Greenwich meridian since about 2000, representing a 75° eastward shift from its long-term drift direction. The past 115 years have seen unequivocal evidence for a quasi-decadal periodicity, and these motions persist throughout the recent record of pole position, in spite of the new drift direction. We analyze space geodetic and satellite gravimetric data for the period 2003–2015 to show that all of the main features of polar motion are explained by global-scale continent-ocean mass transport. <br />
<br />
The changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) and global cryosphere together explain nearly the entire amplitude (83 ± 23%) and mean directional shift (within 5.9° ± 7.6°) of the observed motion. We also find that the TWS variability fully explains the decadal-like changes in polar motion observed during the study period, thus offering a clue to resolving the long-standing quest for determining the origins of decadal oscillations. This newly discovered link between polar motion and global-scale TWS variability has broad implications for the study of past and future climate."</blockquote>
<b>Update October 2, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3258041/Watch-MEGATSUNAMI-Scientists-evidence-800ft-wave-caused-collapsing-volcano-say-happen-again.html#ixzz3nRxOZsqx" target="_blank">Watch out for the MEGATSUNAMI</a><br />
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<blockquote>
"The study appears today in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/9/e1500456.full" target="_blank"><b>Science Advances</b></a>, and revives the debate over whether sudden giant collapses present a realistic hazard today around volcanic islands or distant continental coasts.<br />
<br />
'Our point is that flank collapses can happen extremely fast and catastrophically, and therefore are capable of triggering giant tsunamis,' said lead author Ricardo Ramalho, who did the research as a postdoctoral associate at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory."</blockquote>
<br />
<b>Update July 15, 2015: </b> Fox News Report: <a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/4356513070001/report-mega-quake-could-kill-13000-in-pacific-northwest/?#sp=show-clips" target="_blank">Mega-quake could kill 13,000 in Pacific Northwest</a> <br />
<br />
<b>Update April 25, 2015:</b> <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32461019" target="_blank">The BBC reports from Asia</a>: <br />
<blockquote>
"Nearly 1,000 are known to have died in a powerful earthquake in Nepal, with many more feared trapped under rubble, officials say.<br />
<br />
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck an area between the capital, Kathmandu, and the city of Pokhara, the US Geological Survey said.<br />
Tremors were felt across the region, with further loss of life in India, Bangladesh, Tibet and on Mount Everest.<br />
<br />
The government has declared a state of emergency in the affected areas."<br />
<br />
"Major historic monuments in the Nepalese capital have been destroyed in the powerful earthquake, eyewitnesses and officials have said.<br />
These include a nine-storey tower, temples and some parts of what was once a royal palace, all listed as Unesco world heritage sites.<br />
Pictures posted on social media show some of the monuments have been reduced to rubble.<br />
Eyewitnesses say several others now have cracks and could collapse."</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/number13.htm" target="_blank">According to EW Bullinger</a>: The number nine is a most remarkable number in many respects. It is held in great reverence by all who study the occult sciences; and in mathematical science it possesses properties and powers which are found in no other number.<br />
<br />
Nine is, therefore, THE NUMBER OF FINALITY OR JUDGMENT.<br />
<br />
Yet, I received this text from a sister in Christ:<br />
<blockquote>
"Sharing this praise: Dawa sent me this text message, please read: <br />
<br />
We were in the church this morning, When the massive quake came at 12 noon. At Bhaktapur Newari church. The building was so huge seven story. If it would have collapsed we all have died under that huge buildings. But we were given the enough time the lord to escape. <br />
God saved us!"</blockquote>
<br />
In Nepalese, Bhaktapur means "city of devotees" newari means "a thought". The devoted Christians thought only of God's salvation today!<br />
<br />
Seven is the number of perfection, the number of the Spirit of God.<br />
<blockquote>
"John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." Revelation 1:4 referencing Isaiah 11:2</blockquote>
<b>Update September 26, 2014:</b> <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-mammoth-earthquake-swarm-largest-in-a-decade-20140926-story.html" target="_blank">Mammoth earthquake swarm is the largest in nearly a decade</a><br />
<br />
"More than 600 small earthquakes have rattled the Mammoth Lakes region in less than 36 hours as ripple effects continued across one of the most seismically active volcanic regions in California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.<br />
<br />
The swarm of quakes — ranging from magnitude 1.0 to 3.8 — began just before 5 a.m. Thursday, according to the USGS."<br />
<br />
<b>Update September 16, 2014:</b> NBC News says... Expect the Unexpected: <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102005731#." target="_blank">More 9.0 Megaquakes Are Coming, Study Says</a><br />
<blockquote>
"No one should be surprised if a magnitude-9 megaquake erupts off America's West Coast — or anywhere else around the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire," for that matter.<br />
<br />
That's the upshot of a study in October's issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America: Researchers say that computer models of future seismic activity, plus a check of past activity going back thousand of years, suggest most of the Pacific's earthquake zones are capable of generating shocks at least as strong as magnitude 9 every 10,000 years on average."</blockquote>
<b>Update April 19, 2014:</b> IRIS is a consortium of over 100 U.S. universities dedicated to the operation of science facilities for the acquisition, management, and distribution of seismological data. The <a href="http://www.iris.edu/wilber3/find_event" target="_blank">IRIS Data Management Center maintains an event datamap (Wilber)</a> that tracks earthquake activity globally. It allows you to compare events by size and date range.<br />
<br />
<b>Update April 8, 2014:</b> According the Smithsonian Institution's volcanic monitoring, volcanic activity is up. This is not a comprehensive list of all of Earth's volcanoes erupting during the week, but rather a summary of new activity and unrest:<br />
<br />
<b>Volcano Name & Its Location</b>:<br />
<br />
1. Copahue Central Chile-Argentina border <br />
2. Karkar Papua New Guinea <br />
3. Krakatau Indonesia <br />
4. Merapi Central Java Indonesia<br />
5. Poás Costa Rica <br />
6. Reventador Ecuador<br />
7. Shishaldin Fox Islands (USA) <br />
8. Slamet Central Java Indonesia<br />
9. Ubinas Peru<br />
<br />
<b>Update March 29, 2014:</b> <a blank="" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592848/Yellowstone-National-Park-hit-4-8-magnitude-earthquake-California-shaken-major-tremor.html" target="">Yellowstone National Park hit by 4.8-magnitude earthquake after California is shaken by major tremor</a><br />
<br />
"A magnitude 4.8 earthquake has shaken Yellowstone National Park and rattled observers of one of the world’s deadliest super volcanoes. The quake — the most powerful in 30 years — struck near the Wyoming border with Montana yesterday, almost in the center of the United States’ most famous national park. Since Thursday, there have been at least 25 recorded in the nation's first national park."<br />
<br />
Late last year, a study into the super volcano found the underground magma chamber to be 2.5 times larger than previously thought, with the cavern spanning a 90km by 30km area and capable of holding tons of molten rock.<br />
<br />
If the volcano were ever to erupt, observers say the outflow of lava, ash and smoke would likely devastate the United States and affect the entire world."<br />
<br />
<b>Update September 24, 2013:</b> <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/science/pakistan-earthquake-creates-new-island-mud-volcano-blame-4B11248003" target="_BLANK">Pakistan earthquake creates new island, 'mud volcano' to blame</a><br />
<br />
"Mud houses in the mountains crumbled as a 7.7-magnitude earthquake shook western Pakistan early on Tuesday. Meanwhile, on the coast, residents of Gwadar saw a solitary island rise from the sea."<br />
<br />
<b>Update: May 24, 2013:</b> If you are wondering just how a worldwide quake might occur just take a look at the story below from LiveScience.com: <a href="http://www.livescience.com/34671-russian-earthquake-deepest-ever.html" target="_blank">Russian Earthquake Could Be Deepest Ever </a><br />
<blockquote>
"The massive, magnitude-8.3 temblor that struck today (May 24) near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula could turn out be the deepest earthquake ever recorded.<br />
<br />
At 378 miles (609 kilometers) below the seafloor, the quake could best the previous record set in Bolivia, in 1994. The initial depth may be revised as scientists collect more data. The Bolivian quake was a magnitude-8.2, and 392 miles deep (631 km), Nature News reported.<br />
<br />
Why so deep? The Sea of Okhotsk sits above a subduction zone, where the Pacific Plate dives beneath the North America Plate. (Though some scientists think there is also a microplate, a small tectonic plate, beneath the sea.) The northwest Pacific crust is some of oldest, coldest oceanic crust subducting on Earth. It's also quickly rolling into the subduction zone, like a speedy conveyor belt, so the cold crust reaches deep into Earth's mantle before warming up. <br />
<br />
This setting makes for deep earthquakes in the subducted Pacific plate crust. The extraordinary depth of today's earthquake also means the shaking traveled far across Russia, reaching Moscow and rattling the Kremlin 4,000 miles (6,400 km) away. The waves also crossed the United States, as seen in this video from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology."</blockquote>
The <a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/poster/2013/20130524.php" target="_blank">USGS Earthquake Center</a> says: "This deep section of the Pacific slab beneath the Sea of Okhotsk has hosted several large earthquakes in the past - four above M 6 within 200 km of the May 24 event since 1988."<br />
<br />
<b>What does this all mean? </b><div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for you to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. </div><br />It means we need to know "<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/who-is-jesus.html" target="_blank">Who is the One Called Jesus</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-74951926308026696132013-01-27T12:47:00.061-06:002024-03-02T09:26:05.536-06:00Who-What-Where is the Church?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9IScMq6wJW0/UQV0e2OXezI/AAAAAAAABOE/ytv-dbhMTIw/s1600/ekklesia.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9IScMq6wJW0/UQV0e2OXezI/AAAAAAAABOE/ytv-dbhMTIw/s200/ekklesia.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Depending on the translation of the Bible that you may have, there are some 70 verses in the Newer Testament that uses this phrase: "<a a="" href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=the+church&t=KJV&sf=5" target="_blank">the church</a>."<br /><div><div>
<br />Did you know that the word "church" is translated in English Bibles from the Greek word ἐκκλησία which is "ekklēsia" and that word best translates as assembly or congregation. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bottom line, ekklēsia is about people not a building, but people. </div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that, believe it or not, ekklēsia its not a religious word as most think of religion.</div><div><br /></div><div>Did you know that this fairly new word "church" is actually not derived from that Greek word? </div><div><br /></div><div>The reality zone is that the church word origin is kȳriakón not ekklēsia.</div><div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/church" target="_blank">Dictionary.com</a> gives a short history lesson on the word church, but there's more:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Origin of church -before 900; Middle English chir(i)che, Old English cir(i)ce ≪ Greek kȳri(a)kón (dôm) the Lord's (house), neuter of kȳriakós of the master, equivalent to kȳ́ri(o) master ( kŷr(o) power + -ios noun suffix) + -akos, variant of -ikos -ic; akin to Dutch kerk, German Kirche, Old Norse kirkja."</blockquote>In this example. church sounds like a building, so it's time to take a longer journey to uncover what has gotten lost in transliteration, translation, church tradition and the dictionary.</div><div><br /></div><div>First things first, we've already seen the Greek word ekklēsia is best translated as a congregation or assembly of people, but doing what? </div><div><br /></div><div>It's about Kingdom people under the sovereign rule of Almighty God doing life God's way, in His image. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>The transformation back to the image of God is what Paul wrote about when he penned this referencing the veil Moses wore only after he stood in the presence of The LORD. In the tent of meeting, in freedom from sin he never wore the veil:</div><div></div></div><blockquote><div><div>But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 </div></div><div></div></blockquote><div>How do we know what the ekklēsia image is?</div><div><br /></div><div><div>For one, we can know from the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible that was complied c. 3rd century BC. The Septuagint is known as the translation of the seventy (70) and it's referenced by the Roman numerals LXX because it's thought that 70 Jewish men translated it from Hebrew for the Greek speaking planet of the day some 2,300 years ago.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take a look at a copy of the Septuagint and you find that whenever ekklēsia ἐκκλησία is found in the text, it is translated to English as the set apart "assembly" or “congregation” that chooses to return, "to follow" the voice of The LORD. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, the odd thing is when you turn past the blank page division in most any modern Christian Bible translation, you'll find “the church” inserted in the text with the rare exceptions of Acts 7:35-38 and Hebrews 2:10-14.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps the first English translation of the Newer Testament was complied by the Biblical scholar and linguist William Tyndale, and get this Tyndale never used the word "church." </div><div><br /></div><div>Tyndale was precise in his English translation and he used the word “congregation” in 1522 as did the Bishop's Bible that was put out in 1568. That agitated some bishops of the day. So much so, Tyndale voice was eliminated, but not really. He was strangled, choked to death prior to being burnt at the stake, but his voice, his writings live on.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Fast forward to today and we see much of Tyndale's translation is still muted because the Greek word ekklēsia is now found in most modern Bible editions as church. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet if we go back before the Septuagint, we find the Hebrew the word for congregation לקהל is qāhēl.</div><div><br /></div><div>The New Strong's Concordance gives a powerful definition of Greek worth knowing. Ekklēsia in that concordance defines this word as:<br />
<blockquote>
"a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly<br />
<br />
a) an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating<br />
<br />
b) the assembly of the Israelites..."</blockquote><p></p>
<center>
<big>The assembly of the Israelites... </big></center>
<center>
<big>Wait... are you serious??</big></center><center></center>
<br />Where on earth or the Bible did Mr. Strong get that idea?</div><div><br /></div><div>Likely from Isaac. You should know Isaac, he was Abraham's promised son. </div><div><br /></div><div>You find what Isaac said in Genesis 28:3-4 when he was talking to his son Jacob before he left home. </div><div><br /></div><div>You should know Jacob too. On his way back 14 years later, he was blessed with a new name, it's Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Genesis, most Bibles today translate the blessing word as company:</div><div><blockquote>"May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company [qāhēl] of peoples. May He also give you the blessing of Abraham..."</blockquote></div><div>The original <a a="" href="http://site.graphepress.com/strongsgreekdownload.pdf" target="_blank">1890 Strong's Edition</a> has insight into the company, the called out assembly of peoples from that Greek word ekklesia (ἐκκλησία):</div><div>
<blockquote>
"ekklesia {ek-klay-See'-ah} from a compound of 1537 and a derivative of 2564; a calling out, i.e. (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both:--assembly, church. See Greek-- 1537 See Greek-- 2564<br />
<br />
kaleo {kal-eh'-o} akin to the base of 2753; to "call" (properly, aloud, but used in a variety of applications, directly or otherwise):--bid, call (forth), (whose, whose sur-name (was (called))." </blockquote>
Did you notice the "kaleo" surname connection?<br />
<br />
It's from the surname shared with common identity by the members of a family. </div><div><u><br /></u></div><div>There you have kaleo, <u>it's a family name!</u> The family name with a blessing. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Scripture the family of faith name, the assembly of God's children is Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>That identity, that name has not been replaced or done away with by a blank page or Acts 2.<br />
<br />Sometime after 1890, the James Strong concordance was amended and its been re-published several times since. The most recent edition I have was released in 2007, but the changes insert opinion and religious regulations. </div><div><br /></div><div>It adds in a modern explanation of ekklēsia that does not track too well with Mr. Strong's original or Israel: <br />
<blockquote>
"in a Christian sense: 1) an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting 2) a company of Christian, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order's sake 3) those who anywhere, in a city, village, constitute such a company and are united into one body 4) the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth 5) the assembly of faithful Christians already dead and received into heaven". </blockquote><div>It seems we have an ekklēsia problem.</div><div><br /></div><div>The reason, we now have a lack of understanding of what Jesus mean't when He said: </div><div><br /></div><div>“I will build my ekkelsia and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18</div><div><br /></div><div>Why was the concordance changed after Mr. Strong's death? </div></div><div><br /></div><div>We have to take notice that what started out in 1890 as coming from the surname of Israel "the called out ones" has been changed by today's church doctrine. But how did it morph from pulpit to the pew into: "religious rites, religious meetings, affairs, regulations prescribed" in a Christian sense? </div><div>
<br />Here's the paradox... <b>you can't find religion in the Bible.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>the Bible translators of the King James Version chose to use "ekklēsia" with its original root meaning "assembly." But believe it or not, it's only found in the KJV three times, just three. </div><div><br /></div><div>Check it out in Acts 19:32; Acts 19:39 and Acts 19:41. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, the word "church" is a replacement.</div><div><br /></div><div>A replacement that you can easily find throughout the back of most any Christian Bible. It replaces congregation and assembly.</div><div><br /></div><div>What's up with that?<br />
<br />
Thank goodness, we still have many of the 2,000 year old Greek manuscripts that track back to ekklēsia in the Septuagint that is a Greek translation of the original Hebrew Bible, the Tanach.</div><div><br /></div><div>While some 70 citations of the Newer Testament tie to ἐκκλησίαν aka ekklēsia there are only three instances of the Greek word Χριστιανός or Christianós aka Christians. </div><div><br /></div><div>Does that seem odd to you?</div><div><br /></div><div>Those three include references in Acts 11:26 referring to the disciples in the city of Antioch. Also in Acts 26:28 there's a reference to what king Agrippa had to say when Paul asked him: </div><div><br /></div><div>"King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul asked if Agrippa believed the prophets.</div><div><br /></div><div>The last but not least reference is in 1 Peter 4:16-17:</div><div><blockquote>"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?"</blockquote>The latest NIV Bible translates "ekklēsia" with its original Biblical intent. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's assembly in Acts 7:30 NIV. You'll see it as the Jewish disciple Stephen declared Moses' leadership of the "ekklēsia" noted in Deuteronomy 18:15 that Stephen was proud to be a part of as he emphasized the living words Moses passed on:<br />
<blockquote>
"This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people. He was in <i><b>the assembly</b></i> in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us. "</blockquote>
Why did the word "church" not appear here translated with the usual King James Bible replacement?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bPUpg1ZUqPI/UQVvGiZyJdI/AAAAAAAABNQ/n7wFlXQMBAM/s1600/KJV-King-James-Version-Bible-first-edition-title-page-1611.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bPUpg1ZUqPI/UQVvGiZyJdI/AAAAAAAABNQ/n7wFlXQMBAM/s200/KJV-King-James-Version-Bible-first-edition-title-page-1611.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>I think the reason may be that the sermons of the 17th century taught "the church" replaced the assembly of Israel and started a new religion in Acts 2. </div><div><br /></div><div>That teaching started with a church tradition around the 4th century.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, according to Stephen's words, there was no replacement, the assembly started at Mount Sinai. That was his witness, those are his last words before like Tyndale, he was taken out, martyred for his faith.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that, Moses words are still good to go according to Stephen's witness, there's no new religion or replacement theology.<br />
<br />
Considering the new view of the "church" that prevails today in the form of a new religion, I have to ask <u>a very difficult question</u> for many in the church.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have the translators actually "translated" or have they replaced the identity of the assembly of Israel along with the sojourners with them? </div><div><br /></div><div>The fact is they were called out together from Egypt by Almighty God with no "new" religion.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you ever noticed that church is never seen in the Holy Scriptures that Jesus read and taught?<br />
<br />
Before you slam the door or hit the exit button, open your eyes and keep reading from the 1611 version of the King James Bible that is based on the Textus Receptus and the original translation from William Tyndale written 85 years before the Church of England headed to the publisher.<br />
<br />
Those English translators that gave the world the 1611 King James Bible and may God bless them. They were appointed by none other than King James, the headmaster of "the church of England." </div><div><br /></div><div>So much for division of church and state. His team of translators in 1611 give us their word about "church" direct from the martyr Stephen's perspective.<br />
<br />
Just before Stephen was stoned to death, he declared these words as Moses was leading the wilderness "church" err I mean congregation assembly out of Egypt to Mount Sinai. Here's the original olde English version of <a href="https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611_Acts-Chapter-7/#36" target="_blank">1611 KJV Acts Chapter 7:36-38</a>: <blockquote><blockquote>"He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signes in the land of Egypt, and in the red Sea, and in the wildernesse fortie yeeres.</blockquote><blockquote>This is that Moses which said vnto the children of Israel, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise vp vnto you of your brethren, like vnto mee: him shall ye heare.</blockquote><blockquote>This is he that was in þe Church in the wildernesse with the Angel, which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who receiued the liuely oracles, to giue vnto vs."</blockquote></blockquote>
Hey, wait a minute... did they translate the 1611 King James Bible's book of Acts correctly... do the words of Stephen, the man of full faith actually define "the children of Israel" in those in the wilderness of Mount Sinai 1,500 years earlier as "the church" in the wilderness??<br />
<br />
Well, yes it does.<br />
<br />
<center>
<big>The children of Israel are the original church. </big></center><center></center>
<br />Mr. Strong you were right. The children of Israel are the ekklēsia assembly of people that agreed to God's covenant that followed and believed Almighty God. Some 3,000 fell short of the covenant in a matter of days with the Golden Calf sine, but others did not. </div><div><br /></div><div>The ekklēsia are those that do what God asks of His children to do, there's nothin new. </div><div><br /></div><div>The issue today is that word church has morphed and changed in meaning according into a new church replacement doctrine with a new religion tradition. </div><div><br /></div><div>You may have noticed the book of Revelation starts out describing seven churches. John was instructed to write letters to each of them, the problems of six of them are outlined and they are connected to six churches that have issues with Moses who wrote the words of Almighty God. </div><div><br /></div><div>How do we know?</div><div><br /></div><div>The one church that stands out is referenced like this in Revelation 3:7:</div><div><blockquote>"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one..."</blockquote></div><div>The last church noted is lukewarm Laodicea. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many church sermons use Revelation 3:20 to describe that the verse is a calling to non-believers, but the reality is this is a message to those in the church: </div><div><div><blockquote>"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."</blockquote></div></div><div>The revelation imagery is Jesus is standing outside the Laodicean church door knocking. </div><div><br /></div><div>The message is to that church's character and you can read it in Revelation 3:19:</div><div><blockquote>"Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent."</blockquote></div><div>The church has a problem is found in Revelation 3:16: </div><div><blockquote>"So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth." </blockquote></div><div>
What are we lukewarm about? </div><div><br /></div><div>The voice of Almighty God and faith in Jesus as His Messiah spokesman.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fast forward to Revelation 14:12 and you'll see it:</div><div><blockquote>"Here is the perseverance of the saints <u>who keep the commandments of God</u> and their faith in Jesus."</blockquote></div><div>Paul is misunderstood in Laodicea. He understood the Messiah ekklēsia mission:</div><div><blockquote>"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. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God... " Ephesians 2:17-19 </blockquote></div><div>The Exodus story is the beginning of the household, the ekklēsia. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Exodus is the proof that foreigners and sojourners of the nations can choose to be grafted in and adopted to follow and join the ranks of the chosen assembly congregation of The God of Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>The adoption picture began a few generations earlier with Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob adopted the boys. Their mother was an Egyptian and their descendants were among the mixed multitude that witnessed the plagues and feared the name of The Lord. They chose to walk with Moses and follow the God of Israel into the wilderness. </div><div><br /></div><div>This grafting included the mixed multitude of sojourners, strangers and aliens that left Egypt and chose to follow Jacob's family and join the exodus from slavery. </div><div><div><br /></div><div><center style="text-align: -webkit-center;"><big><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;">They all came up out of Egypt's slavery together</span>. </span></big></center><center style="text-align: -webkit-center;"></center><br /></div><div>
They all survived slavery whether native born, adopted, sojourner, alien or stranger. </div><div><br /></div><div>They all walked through the sea, gathered and stood together, united as one assembly at Mount Sinai to hear the shofar call.</div><div><br /></div><div>They all saw the thick cloud and consuming fire on the mountain top.</div><div><br /></div><div>The all said they would do what God would instruct them to to do before He said it.</div><div><br /></div><div>They all heard God's voice shake the mountain with the covenant of the Almighty Elohim of the universe.<br />
<br />
They all ate the same manna and drank the same water from the rock. </div><div>
<br />
<b>Whoa... wait a minute!</b><br />
<br />
This is worth a pause on any religious ground shaking under your feet.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's good reason to pause... the congregation, the assembly of Israel included the sojourners from the nations that left Egypt together, they all left believing the God of Israel saved them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bottomline, both natural and wild branches in faith are the one olive tree family of the God. </div><div><br /></div><div>That reality is seen in Zechariah's metaphor image of two lamp stand olive trees described in Zechariah 4:2-14 :</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And he said to me, "What do you see?" So I said,<br />
"I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold<br />
with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps<br />
with seven pipes to the seven lamps. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl<br />
and the other at its left." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Then I answered and said to him, "What are these two olive<br />
trees; at the right of the lampstand and at its left?" </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">
And I further answered and said to him, "What are these two<br />
olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two<br />
gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?" </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Then he answered me and said, "Do you not know what these<br />
are?" And I said, "No, my lord." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So he said, "These are the two anointed ones, who stand<br />
beside the Lord of the whole earth."</blockquote>
The restoration plan of the God of Hosts includes Moses and Yeshua.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua said Moses "wrote of me." </div><div><blockquote>"For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me." John 5:46</blockquote></div><div>Paul explained in his letter to the Romans there's both native born and adopted sojourner living in covenant with the God of Israel <b>as one new man</b> in the commonwealth Kingdom of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Revelation backs that up. That's not my interpretation, its exactly what Revelation 11:4 describes:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth."</blockquote>
The Kingdom constitution of The Lord of the universe is the same Torah outlined by the Ten Commandments that were heard by the whole assembly and written by the finger of God on stone. </div><div><br /></div><div>That table of ten contents was expanded by the instructions given to Moses that he recorded on the scrolls so long ago after the golden calf problem. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here's the thing, Almighty God's promise is that by His Spirit He will inscribe His Torah on our hearts!! </div><div><br /></div><div>That is the heart of the renewed covenant.<br />
<br />
Jeremiah is the prophet that was chosen by Almighty God to deliver this message. It was to be sung for Jacob but Jeremiah shouted out for all to repent. The promise is seen in the words from Jeremiah 31:31 but don't stop with a verse, read the entire chapter:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For thus says the LORD,<br />
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,<br />
And shout among the chief of the nations;<br />
Proclaim, give praise and say,<br />
‘O LORD, save Your people,<br />
The remnant of Israel. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,<br />
And declare in the coastlands afar off,<br />
And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him<br />
And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I have surely heard Ephraim grieving,<br />
You have chastised me, and I was chastised,<br />
Like an untrained calf;<br />
Bring me back that I may be restored,<br />
For You are the LORD my God. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD,<br />
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel<br />
and with the house of Judah,<br />
not like the covenant which I made with their fathers<br />
in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt,<br />
My covenant which they broke,<br />
although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But this is the covenant which I will make<br />
with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD,<br />
I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it;<br />
and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."</blockquote>
Whether recognized by Jew or non-Jew, Yeshua is at the right hand of God in authority as High Priest and Messiah King of the congregation of all Israel, both native born and sojourner. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>The cross was not the end.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we think the Torah was hung on the cross we miss the message in Leviticus. There we learn that sacrifice is not death. The sacrifice is the blood offering before the presence of The LORD, the death is before the offering of atonement.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the quickening miracle life giving power of our Creator God, Yeshua lives in resurrection power and He has overcome the death of Adam and lives interceding as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek just as the book of Hebrews describes. </div><div><br /></div><div>He kept and is keeping the Torah of God, in the High Priestly duty and privilege to enter the Holy of Holies of Heaven to expiate sins of the people of Israel wearing only white linen garments, forgoing the the elaborate priestly vestments just as Stephen saw him as Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies in the Sanctuary on High standing before the very Divine Throne of Glory:</div><div><blockquote>"But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55-56</blockquote></div><div>Nothing in His life was or is Torah-less. His death by Rome's guard occurred just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem, but the enemy's death plot failed in God's perfect plan carried out in the First Fruits' power of resurrection to eternal life given to Messiah Yeshua by Almighty God on the 3rd day. On the 40th day of the Omer count He ascended to the Heavenly throne room of the most Holy of Holies as High Priest King in the order of Melchizedek and he will return just as David declared in Psalm 110 as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>The reality is Jewish people have not seen Jesus as their Jewish Messiah because some early church fathers who claimed to follow Him replaced reality with a new church that Jesus warned about.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus said “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” in Matthew 7:23, as part of his Sermon on the Mount. He was warning his listeners that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those <u>who do the will of the Father.</u> </div><div><br /></div><div>He also said that many people will claim to have done miracles and wonders in his name, but he will reject them because they rejected the will of the father.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you read the book of Hebrews, how can anyone at church that says Moses is old and the Torah teaching of Almighty God was done away on a Roman cross be doing the will of the Father? </div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to understand reconsider what Stephen was saying in Acts 7 just before his death when "he saw the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the "right hand of God." </div><div><br /></div><div>Stephen did not talk about Acts 2, instead he recounted the Bible's account of the wilderness story and the ekklēsia there. Stephen was proclaiming that and his faith in Jesus as Messiah when he was stoned to death.</div><div>
<br />Bottom-line, Stephen never knew a new religion.<br />
<br />
You can read about Stephen's faith from the witness of the Hebrew Scriptures he spoke about: <br />
<blockquote>
And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; and <u>the congregation</u> ( `edah עֵדָה) was <u>assembled</u> (qahal קָהַל) at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Leviticus 8:4<br />
<br />
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the <u>assembly</u> (qahal קָהַל) of the <u>congregation</u> ( `edah עֵדָה) of the children of Israel. Numbers 14:5<br />
<br />
And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them [was written] according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of <u>the assembly</u>. Deuteronomy 9:10 </blockquote>
In these verses, the word "congregation" is the Hebrew word `edah עֵדָה and the word "assembly" is qahal קָהַל.<br />
<br />
If we look into the Greek version of these words of Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 18:17 we can see Yeshua's words are translated using the Greek term "ekklēsia" to describe the assembly and congregation `edah עֵדָה that extends from one end of the Bible to the other.<br />
<br />
As already noted, the Strong's concordance shows us that. The concordance matches the Hebrew word `edah 149 times and `qahal is seen 123 times in the Hebrew Bible.<br />
<br />
Wow!! There's a lot more to the Greek word "ekklēsia" than you may have thought.<br />
<br />The truth is seen in the first English translation of the Greek manuscripts of the Newer Testament we have today. As noted earlier, they were completed by William Tyndale. He was an amazing linguist who was gifted and fluent not only in Greek as well as Hebrew but also in French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish too.<br />
<br />
Tyndale's translation of available Greek manuscripts was the first to be printed in English in 1526... despite what you may have learned, the King James crew came on the scene many years later. Not only that, Tyndale's translation was the first to make use of a printing press despite what you may have heard. </div><div><br /></div><div>Tyndale's translation was completed in 1525 while he was in hiding in Germany and it was finally printed in Switzerland during the Reformation. In it, Tyndale introduced a new word to the English language, it is "Passover" from the Hebrew word "Pesach."</div><div>
<br />
Yes, believe it or not, William Tyndale gave the English speaking world the word "Passover" direct from the Hebrew Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, try this on for size: did you know that the word "Christian" only appears three times in the Greek manuscripts? It the word Christianos (Χριστιανός) and it's found in Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28 and 1Peter 4:16.<br />
<br />
Tyndale's Bible was published 85 years before The King James Bible of 1611, and the word church (Tyndale spelled it 'churche') only appeared two times as written by one of the world's greatest linguists. You can check his keywords in <a href="http://www.studylight.org/desk/?l=en&query=Matthew+1&section=2&translation=tyn&oq=Matthew&new=1" target="_blank">Tynsdale's New Testament thanks to the amazing people at StudyLight.org © 2002</a>. You can also read Tyndale's New Testament as it appeared in its original print format from <a blank="" href="http://www.bibles-online.net/1537/" target="">"The Matthew Bible".</a> <br />
<br />
"The Matthew Bible" also known as "Matthew's Version." It was published in 1537 by John Rogers, under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew." It combined the Newer Testament of William Tyndale, and as much of the Old Testament as Tyndale had been able to translate before being captured, in-prisoned and put to death by the church.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rogers added Myles Coverdale's translation of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha, except the Apocryphal Prayer of Manasses. "Matthew's Version" is a vital link in the main sequence of English Bible translations according to <a blank="" href="http://www.bibles-online.net/1537/" target="">Bibles-Online.net</a></div><div>
<br />
You can also view it online in a copy of <a href="http://www.bibles-online.net/1552/" target="_blank">Jugge's Tyndale New Testament</a>. The website Bibles-Online notes:<br />
<br />
"The 1552 Jugge's Tyndale New Testament. One of the earliest available New Testaments by William Tyndale. It is based on his final lifetime revisions. This New Testament was most assuredly the edition that the great reformers in Geneva would have used in preparation for the 1557 Geneva New Testament. The Jugge editions were printed during the brief reign of the reformer boy King Edward VI."<br />
<br />
Incredibly, Tyndale's translation did not have the word "church" in it as a name to reflect the believers of Messiah. Instead, his focus was on the "called out assembly" just as the Greek 'ekklēsia' intended. <br />
<br />
The church didn't like Tyndale. One reason is because he understood that the Greek "ekklēsia" linked directly to the Hebrew word "qahal." There's no word "church" except for two instances within Tyndale's translation in Acts 14:13 and Acts 19:37. But hold on to your church hat and grab a pew, because in both cases Tyndale's use of the word church isn't what you thought and it reveals why the church leaders of his day sought to destroy him:</div><div>
<br />
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<center>
<big>Tyndale referred to the word "church" </big></center>
<center>
<big>as an assembly of pagans, NOT believers in Messiah!!</big></center>
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<br />
<a blank="" href="http://www.studylight.org/desk/?sr=0&old_q=Matthew+1&search_form_type=general&q1=church&s=2&t1=en_tyn&ns=0" target="">Look for yourself... just click here</a>. There is a reason Tyndale did this, so don't give up on the first English Bible translator just yet. </div><div><br /></div><div>Tyndale translated the Greek word "<b>ekklesia</b>" meaning the "called out ones" simply as "<b>congregation</b>" and in the olde English of the day he spelled it as "congregacion."<br />
<br />
Tindale used the proper English way to translate "ekklesia" in 1525. Check this out:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"And I saye also vnto the yt thou arte Peter: and apon this rocke I wyll bylde my congregacion. And the gates of hell shall not prevayle ageynst it." Matthew 16:18 </blockquote>
Tyndale’s translation was condemned in England, the reason, the official Church of England disagreed.<br />
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By the way, the Church of England is never an identity found in Scripture, that's not a stone's throw, its reality. Like Tyndale’s own horrific murder, copies of his English translations were hunted down and burned in public places. </div><div><br /></div><div>The sad news is that Tyndale’s use of the word "congregation" challenged the authority, doctrine and name of the Roman Catholic "church" that claimed its new birth at Pentecost in Acts 2.<br />
<br /><br /><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><center><big>Tyndale's message got him burned at the stake. </big></center><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><br />
Tyndale's message was don't confuse "church" with the congregation, the "ekklēsia" of the true body of Messiah.<br />
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There is more to the story of his murder and you should know it. <br />
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Tyndale’s translation of the Greek word "presbuteros" as the word "elder" instead of "priest" also challenged the institutional authority of the "Catholic Church" because Tyndale's translation stripped away the power of Catholic priests granted by the "Church" hierarchy. </div><div><br /></div><div>The word "elder" showed that Catholic priests do not lead the "church." It was the role of the elders, which implied that the power rested in the hands of the people, the assembly of believers, the body of the Jerusalem Passover Messiah and His the congregation, not a religious order of men in Rome. </div><div><br /></div><div>Catholic Church doctrine was also challenged by Tyndale’s translation of the Greek word "metanoeite" which means "repent" instead the Catholic doctrine to "do penance" by the order of a priest in a black robe in a box.<br />
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Tyndale believed that it was through faith that one was saved, not through the penance of deed.<br />
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His translation differed from the views of "the establishment" of both the Catholic Church and The Church of England. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Catholic teaching was that salvation was granted by priests to those who believed in Jesus and lived accordingly to their "church" doctrine and manmade rules that required one to ask a priest for forgiveness, granted though penances and mandatory participation in seven Catholic sacraments "to earn" salvation granted in a new religion controlled by the establishment.<br />
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The Bible never teaches religious control roof the masses.<br />
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Religious control is a precept of men. It's much like the issue that Paul addressed in his letter to the Galatians. The reason, religious men involved are in a power play in Galatia. They were telling the former Gentiles that they had to be circumcised to be saved. They were saying that faith was not enough to follow the Torah teachings that Paul taught in synagogues every Sabbath that pointed to Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah of all Israel, whether native born or sojourner.<br />
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The religious in Paul's day had their own "house" rules saying the Galatians had to be circumcised to be saved and be accepted as a convert. </div><div><br /></div><div>The problem: God never said that, Moses never wrote that and Yeshua never taught that.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, Paul tried to explain Moses' meeting with God atop the mountain as the King of the universe explained His mercy and grace. Paul knew the truth and he was inspired to convey it from the Exodus story.<br />
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Just eight years before Tyndale's English Bible was produced, a German man also strongly disputed Catholic teachings. His opposition was focused on indulgences. Opposing the teaching of the Catholic church, Martin Luther did not believe that freedom from the judgment could be purchased with money by paying a priest. Luther wrote against the practice of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517 and five years later, in 1522 he too published his German translation of the New Testament. </div><div>
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Luther's writings that opposed religious church traditions caught the public eye in Germany and his writings contained truth, but he eventually mixed truth with lies and he too turned against the Jewish people. </div><div><br /></div><div>Luther hated the fact that the Jews of Germany wouldn't respond to his version of the gospel because they would not convert to a his Christianity that required they all give up their Jewish heritage from the Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>When his evangelical efforts at conversion failed, he became extremely bitterness that impressed the insanity of Hitler 400 years later. </div><div><br /></div><div>The thing is, Luther's form of gospel was not unlike the men that Paul labeled as the party of circumcision. Luther insisted that every Jew turn his back on his family heritage and convert to a new religion. In Luther's view, after conversion, they were no longer a Jew despite the fact that Jesus, rather Yeshua was a Jew, a rabbi and King of the Jews. Luther forgot the words Jesus gave the woman at the well:<br />
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"Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews." John 4:22 </blockquote>
To understand the protest of the "Protestant Movement" we have to look closely at Luther's essays and teachings against both the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, because in his anti-Semitism he began to write against the Jewishness of Jesus and people fell for it hook line and sinker.<br />
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Luther's words were so vehement, Hitler's Nazis quoted Luther as justification for the mass murder, genocide and grave tribulation of the Jewish people that we call the Holocaust (Ha-Shoah in Hebrew).<br />
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Luther's published "On the Jews and Their Lies" in 1543. In it he proposed the horrific, incomprehensible atrocities Hitler carried out including setting synagogues on fire, destroying Jewish books, prohibiting rabbis from teaching, confiscating Jew's homes, businesses and money.<br />
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Luther wrote these vehement anti-semitic words: "We are at fault in not slaying them" so the Nazi's carried them out.<br />
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Enough on Luther and Hitler, back in England the Greek words translated in William Tyndale’s English New Testament revealed that a believer had to repent of sin with a sincere heart, and God would forgive in His great mercy.<br />
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Tyndale's apostolic translations from available Greek manuscripts differed widely from John Wycliffe's translation from the Latin Vulgate that had preceded Tyndale's English translation by some 125 years. <br />
<br />As we've have seen, Tyndale's translation opposed Catholic tradition because his English Bible revealed to its readers that one did not have to earn salvation by conversion to a new religion, instead his translation revealed that salvation and eternal life is a promise given by God to all that believe in faith and choose to walk like Messiah walked, not follow new "church" doctrines requiring sacraments and indulgences. <br />
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The truth cost Tyndale his mortal life. <br />
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The question before us is what is the "church" and is it new? </div><div><br /></div><div>Let's look to more witnesses, this time from both the Strong's and Vines concordances that show us the word "ekklēsia" is derived from two Greek root words. They are: "ek" and "kaleō". So, just what do these words mean?<br />
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<a a="" href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1537&t=KJV" target="_blank">Strong's tells us</a> that "ek" means: "out of, from, by, away from."<br />
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Vines tells us: "The primary meaning of ek is "out of," e.g., Matthew 3:17, "a voice out of the heavens"; 2Corinthians 9:7, lit., "out of necessity." <br />
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<a a="" href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2564&t=KJV" target="_blank">Strong's also tells us</a> that "kaleō" means: <br />
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1) to call a) to call aloud, utter in a loud voice b) to invite <br />
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2) to call i.e. to name, by name a) to give a name to 1) to receive the name of, receive as a name 2) to give some name to one, call his name b) to be called i.e. to bear a name or title (among men) c) to salute one by name </blockquote>
To call out by name... and Vine's tells us that "kaleō" means: <br />
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Call, Called, Calling: derived from the root kal--, whence English "call" and "clamour" is used <br />
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(a) with a personal object, "to call anyone, invite, summon," e.g., Matthew 20:8; 25:14; it is used particularly of the Divine call to partake of the blessings of redemption, e.g., Romans 8:30; 1Corinthians 1:9; 1Thessalonians 2:12; Hebrews 9:15 <br />
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(b) of nomenclature or vocation, "to call by a name, to name;" in the Passive Voice, "to be called by a name, to bear a name." Thus it suggests either vocation or destination. </blockquote>
Together, the two Greek words at their root mean <b>the ones called out by name</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now let's look and see what "assembly" means in Hebrew, the language of the Bible. To learn, let's go back to the wilderness journey of the "assembly" whose destination was the land promised to Abraham.<br />
<br />The "assembly" in the Hebrew Bible is the word קָהֵל "qahal". Strong's says "qahal" means "assembly, company, congregation, convocation". Today, we also call this a "community." <br />
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Now, from a third witness: the Believer's Study Bible from Thomas Nelson, tells us, "the word...ekklesia....is a compound word coming from the word kaleo, meaning 'to call,' and ek, meaning 'out of.' Thus...'the called-out ones.' Ephesians 5:23, "This is the same word used by the Greeks for their assembly of citizens who were 'called out' to transact the business of the city. <br />
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The Greek word ekklesia occurs 115 times in the Greek New Testament and 74 times in the Septuagint and it refers specifically to the assembly of Israel, assembled before God,. The first use of ekklesia in the Septuagint is Deuteronomy 4:10, when all Israel and the sojourners with them were assembled at the rock of Mount Sinai to receive God's covenant. In Deuteronomy 9:10 and 18:16 this time is called "the day of the assembly." <br />
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So when we see that the Newer Testament tells us that Yeshua said "<b>upon this rock I will build My assembly</b>" in Matthew 16:18, we need to know Messiah did mean He would create a new religion. More than that, we have to realize Jesus was not talking about Peter but about what was revealed to the disciple:<br />
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Simon Peter answered and said, <b>Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God.</b> And Yeshua answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.</blockquote>
At the need of the day, the assembly of the people of God are built on the rock of Messiah the Son of the living God.<br />
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Now we can see that "qahal" and "ekklēsia" are in agreement, in community if you will.<br />
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Indeed, all of the Bible declares "the assembly" the "ekklēsia", the "qahal" was first seen at Mount Sinai just as Stephen professed. After all, Matthew tells us Jesus commanded: <br />
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"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, 'Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into [any] city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to <u>the lost sheep of the house of Israel</u>. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" Matthew 10:5-7<br />
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"But he answered and said, 'I am not sent but unto <u>the lost sheep of the house of Israel</u>'" Matthew 15:24 </blockquote>
Many gloss over the lost sheep of the House of Israel perhaps thinking there's a new Israel but if you deal with the fact that Jesus (Yeshua) is the Moses messenger, He is promised " prophet" that was raised up paying the price for the curse of sin at the crucifixion tree (Galatians 3:3) it may not be so difficult. <br />
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He is also the "One" that Stephen was talking about at the right hand of God. <br />
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Most Christians tend to call themselves Gentiles in a church building they call “the house of God” with an altar where the preacher stands to deliver a sermon. Yet Stephen tells us there's no building is required: </div><div><blockquote>"However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says: ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what will be My place of repose?" Acts 7:48-9</blockquote>Noah Webster reveals a problem with that word Gentile. His 1828 Dictionary sheds a bright light saying: <div><br /></div><div><span> </span>"GEN'TILE, noun [Latin gentilis; from Latin gens, nation, race; applied to pagans.]<div><br /></div><div><span> </span>In the scriptures, a pagan; a worshipper of false gods; any person not a Jew or a christian; a heathen."</div><div><br /></div><div>Mr. Webster points to the pagan problem of idol practice as being the key Gentile character distinction. They were linked to the heathens, the image-worshippers according to the 1880 McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia:</div><div><br /></div><div>"As to the religion of heathenism, it is "a wild growth on the soil of fallen human nature, a darkening of the original consciousness of God's deification of the rational and irrational creature, and a corresponding corruption of the moral sense, giving the sanction of religion to natural and unnatural vices."</div></div><div><br /></div>Does that still describe you? If not, are you a Gentile?</div><div><br />
Paul taught this asking: "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16<br />
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Let's look closer to Stephen's witness just before his death:<br />
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"He brought them out, after that He had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, <u>A prophet</u> shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in <u>the church</u> {a.k.a. the "ekklēsia", the assembly of Israel} in the wilderness with <u>the angel</u> which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and [with] our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us" Acts 7:36-38 </blockquote>
Wait a minute... what do we do with the sermons that preach that "the church" of called out ones is something "new" that started in an upper room at Pentecost 2,000 years ago? If we look closer, the Bible shows us much more... there is and has always been one body, one assembly, one faith, one family host of the God of Israel. <br />
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Indeed, as you have seen this is the exact perspective of Stephen the first martyr for His belief in the Messiah of Israel. <br />
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Paul wrote:<br />
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"Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Master, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Ephesians 4:3-6 </blockquote>
If we continue to look deeply into the Bible's storyline, we have to notice that Peter wrote to five (5) people groups that were living outside of the Promised Land. According to the King James, he called them "strangers". But again, if we look closely at the Greek, we can learn much more about the meaning and depth of the Bible. The word the King James translators used as "strangers" is the Greek word "parepidēmos". 1Peter 1:1: <br />
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“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to <u>the strangers</u> scattered throughout 1) Pontus, 2) Galatia, 3) Cappadocia, 4) Asia, and 5) Bithynia… </blockquote>
Remember, the Greek word is "parepidēmos". Strong's tells us it means: "the people that are living in a land that they are foreigners in." <br />
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Peter is writing to five people groups but he is not writing to people that are "native" to the areas of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia or Bithynia, but rather to people that were not originally from those regions of Turkey.<br />
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We must also consider the seven epistles from Paul. His famous letters were written to: 1) the Romans, 2) Corinthians, 3) Galatians, 4) Ephesians, 5) Philippians, 6) Colossians and 7) the Thessalonians. <br />
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There is a shared group that received these letters of encouragement. The Galatians received a letter from each witness to Messiah. These two letters were sent to those living in the land we now call Turkey, a land that also contained the ancient cities of not only Galatia but Ephesus, Pontus, Bithynia and Cappadocia. We may call it Turkey, but history calls it ancient Anatolia. It was founded by none other than the Hittites at the time frame of Abraham’s journey from Ur.<br />
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The Assyrians stormed into this area and took over about 400 years after the Hittites arrived… this happened near the time that the families of Jacob were baking bricks in Egypt. They were the 12 families that had descended from the 70 that had sojourned to Egypt as, you guessed it... "strangers".<br />
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So, if we look back to the time window of 722-734 BC when the “Assyrians” assaulted Northern Israel and took them captive as slaves… we have to ask just who were the Assyrians? Some of them were the ancient Hittites. But where would the Assyrians have taken their booty of slaves from the ten tribes of Northern Israel? <br />
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Back home, that's where. They would have taken them to the areas that Peter wrote his letters to. <br />
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Consider these words: <br />
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"Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." Romans 11:25 <br />
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"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into [any] city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Matthew 10:5-6 </blockquote>
Jesus, or rather "Yeshua", the Hebrew name that literally means "salvation" sent His disciples to the lost sheep, to the lost people of a congregation called Israel. <br />
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Salvation is to the Jew first (Romans 1:16), and it's clear, Peter was following the instruction of his Master, Yeshua the Messiah when he wrote his letters. <br />
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Many confuse the "fullness" of the Gentiles" thinking it only means a time of full measure or count of Gentiles. But is that a surface of Paul's deeper message as he taught of Jacob's prophecy about Ephraim in Genesis 48:17-20. <br />
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<big>Might the fullness of the Gentiles refer to those keeping the way, </big></center>
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<big>the Torah walk of the Jewish Messiah?</big></center>
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<br />Was Paul was revealing an amazing prophecy written by Moses of the time we are in today as the nations (aka non-Jews) are returning to the Jewish roots of their faith. After all, that word fullness in Greek is plērōma and a key meaning is “keeping” and <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=keeping&t=ESV#s=s_primary_5_1" target="_blank">in Deuteronomy</a> we see it 7 times as the Hebrew word shamar: to keep, guard, observe.<br />
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Today, a remnant among the nations are returning to their Jewish roots of the faith because:<br />
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“I ask instead: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says: "I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation without understanding." Romans 10:19<br />
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“I ask then, did they stumble so as to lose their share? Absolutely not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.” Romans 11:11<br />
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“I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.” Romans 11:13-14</blockquote>Was Paul's understanding a part of Jacob's blessing given to Ephraim? If so, that was not "a mystery" to Peter either. Peter was a part of the small group that asked Jesus… <br />
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"Is it at this time that you will restore the Kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6 </blockquote>
Notice that Jesus did not correct them and say He was creating a new religion or a Gentile "church." Believe it or not, Jesus did not inspire Peter or Paul to start a new religious system called Christianity. <br />
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Jesus said He came to gather lost sheep into the Kingdom of God, not lead a group to switch the Sabbath or a Sunday "church" service. The service we are to do is the service of Messiah as the body of Messiah wherever we are. That service in the wilderness of life, not just in a pew. <br />
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Please, please don't get me wrong, the mission of the Messiah, in His own words is to "restore" the assembly, the lost sheep, the people that God calls out in the name that He has given to them... "Israel", the people that have been scattered and lost in the wilderness around the globe, adopted back into the ways of The Lord Elohim, the God of Israel. <br />
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Yeshua is still calling the lost back into His Kingdom today across the globe. But this work is 24/7/365 and there is no building, no denomination membership or religion to accomplish it:<br />
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"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10 <br />
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“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel 36:26-27</blockquote>
Yeshua is calling the lost back to His Kingdom no to join one of the more than 30,000 different church denominations that in one way or another choose membership authority to believe they are “the Church” whether Catholic, Protestant or Evangelical. The book of Acts gives the picture, there's no division. The only authority is Almighty God, not a creed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Revelation 21:12 tells us there are twelve gates into "New Jerusalem" named after the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Think about that.<br />
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You can be a part of that "assembly" - the community of a faithful family to enter into the gates of the Kingdom. You can be a part of the called out ones, the elect of the God of Israel. It's an open invitation to everyone to follow Messiah and walk in His ways in spirit and truth just like Abraham. <br />
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You don’t have to fill out a membership form or give money. </div><div><br /></div><div>But you have to do is repent, believe, surrender your life to be set free to walk like Yeshua in the ways of The Father. There's no need to worry about choosing a denomination, you're set free in Messiah to follow His walk in God's will outlined in the Bible. </div><div><blockquote>"My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. </blockquote><blockquote> The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. </blockquote><blockquote>Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.... John 7:16-19 </blockquote>
The guidebook on how to be set free from religious slavery and have a real relationship with our Creator is the Bible, not a pastor, priest or denominational doctrine nor this website for that matter.</div><div><br /></div><div>The helper, the teacher you need to know is the Spirit of God: <br />
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"Seek out of the book of the LORD, and read…" — Isaiah 34:16</blockquote><p></p><blockquote>“It was for freedom that Messiah set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” Galatians 5:1 </blockquote><p></p>
The "book of The Lord" is our instruction manual for living in the Kingdom of God, so pick it up and read it every day and remember that when Jesus spoke these words, the New Testament had not been written yet: <br />
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"Search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." — John 5:39 </blockquote>
So, start at the beginning, search the Scriptures and walk in them just as we have been instructed to do. <br />
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If you choose in faith to follow the Savior and "walk" in the Scriptures that testify of Him, you will be a part of "the assembly" that seeks to follow God out of slavery to sin and be a good witness for Judah. To do this shows your love for Almighty God and what He has done. It is what the Apostle Paul and James wrote about:<br />
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"So faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1Corinthians 13:13<br /></blockquote>
<b><div><span style="font-weight: 400;">To top it off, the story of Joseph reveals when Judah will recognize his brother Joseph and Jacob's adopted sons. Sadly, there will be trouble in the land of Israel. Joseph will help Judah and Judah will see him for who he is.</span><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><span style="font-weight: 400;">Praise God, the hearts of many Christians began to believe their Bibles after WWII and they repented and return to the front of the Bible.</span></div></b><div><br /></div>
The authority we are follow as an assembly is revealed by the written Word and the living Torah. Over the span of 19 centuries since Yeshua walked and taught throughout Israel, the traditions of men have added in and taken away in replacement theology. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, the opportunity is to make a faith conscious decision to return to the scriptural lifestyle in action as a whole house assembly, humble before the God of Israel.<br />
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As Jesus taught in Matthew 5, the Torah still stands, the commandments are still valid and the Feasts of The Lord are eternal for God's ekklēsia.<br />
<br />Matthew 5 teaches we are to honor the Feasts described in Leviticus including the weekly Sabbath and even watch what we eat because God's instruction is there to protect us. For some it means its time to take a last look at Santa's Christmas and wave goodbye to the Easter bunny and Halloween. It means saying hello to the week long celebrations of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Sukkot. </div><div>
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The Torah declares there is one way for the ekklēsia, that includes the same Torah for the foreigner wishing to follow and worship God. </div><div><br /></div><div>All of us are worth a half-shekel, in essence, that means that there is no division in the Bible and there is no separate worship value for the Jew and the non-Jew. Ultimately, that means we are to become one new man, united and restored.<br />
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If you do not know Messiah, it is time for you to know Him. You can return to God's covenant, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp to show others how to do the same. Yeshua must not only be the man on a cross. He is the head of the ekklēsia.<br />
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Messiah is calling to build the House of Prayer ekklēsia, a “faith community” and as He builds, He uses us as “living stones” loving our neighbor being “built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua Messiah” (1Peter 2:5).<br />
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God is the almighty sovereign God of the whole house ekklēsia of Israel. <div><br /></div><div>Do you believe God? Do you love God? </div><div><br /></div><div>If you do, follow and seek to honor his Kingdom mitzvot was because you love Him and follow Yeshua the Messiah of Israel. If you seek to walk and talk like Him, you are a part of the congregation (ekklēsia) of the commonwealth of redeemed Israel, an assembly of faith and spirit.</div><div>
<br />And remember, the Feasts of The LORD are the set apart times which God has appointed for His people to assemble together for “holy convocations” (See Leviticus 23:2). The Hebrew word translated “convocation” (mikra), means a calling together.<br />
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The Father is a loving God and He has provided the way to offer His salvation and eternal life to you, your family and those you know. You can accept His gift of eternal life. </div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for you to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. </div><br />It means we need to know "<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/who-is-jesus.html" target="_blank">Who is the One Called Jesus</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div><div><br /></div>
Gather with others in a set apart assembly, an "ekklēsia" to worship God, study and do His word, it is the Book of Life.<br />
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For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20</blockquote>
Shalom.</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8674866410432004615.post-85639242956116699212012-12-28T19:44:00.138-06:002024-03-14T19:58:19.195-05:00The Feasts of The LORD<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aX8TrGDsfp4/ToJkjE8d-bI/AAAAAAAAAdY/a2iah67xNMg/s1600/New%2BMoon.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="270" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aX8TrGDsfp4/ToJkjE8d-bI/AAAAAAAAAdY/a2iah67xNMg/s400/New%2BMoon.png" title="New Moon" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by Michael Melford, National Geographic.</span></td></tr>
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<br />Have you ever heard the phrase, "God has a plan"?<div><br /></div><div><div>How about this one, have you heard, "God’s ways are higher than our ways"? </div><div><br /></div><div>In my Scripture studies I've discovered Almighty God has a plan higher and seemingly beyond comprehension, but the Bible reveals the outline and links it to The LORD's appointment calendar. </div><div><br /></div><div>What do I mean by that?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think I can best sum it up as The LORD loves us so much that He gave everyone the outline of His redemption plan. </div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that, He will carry out His plan on His gospel of God schedule.</div><div><br /></div><div>He also graciously tells us that schedule includes His <u>appointed times.</u></div><div><br /></div><div>We just have to open the Bible and our heart to uncover the big picture truth that's written plain as day to see it. </div><div><br /></div><div>For most of my life, I missed a part of it and didn't have a clue that Almighty God declared His gospel redemption plan with mankind long ago during the exodus from Egypt. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Sure, I believed God invented time, but I had missed out on the fact The LORD has an appointment calendar and He provides the outline of His season plan of salvation, redemption, judgement and restoration. </div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that, by reading and believing the Bible as the light of truth, I discovered that The LORD's appointed times (in Hebrew moedim) are so important that I realized He set our solar system in precise motion for us to keep track of them. </div><div><br /></div><div>I realized I had an issue with my Creator. I thought the front of the Bible was old and done away with. I had no idea what Genesis 1:14-15 meant or that the lights for signs and for seasons are for days and years to be revealed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Without knowing it I'd missed out on that fact and unwittingly inherited a lie, a divorce decree from a 4th century meeting organized by Roman Emperor Constantine in ancient Nicaea.</div><div><br /></div><div>Constantine is not my Emperor, and I am not a Roman citizen, yet he declared that Christianity as the official state or corporate religion of the Roman Empire. Nicaea was the spot for the first of many other so called councils that set forth religious church rules that put Constantine in charge of the Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>Those church rules forgot Moses and disinherited The LORD God Creator's calendar and His holy convocations, His appointed times by issuing a divorce decree against His weekly Sabbath and the Feasts of The LORD.</div><div><br /></div><div>They declared them as Jewish ignoring that The LORD said they are My appointments (Leviticus 23:2).</div><div><br /></div><div>Things changed for me when I began reading and believing the Bible from the beginning. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was then that I realized they called them Jewish because the Jewish people honored them. I also realized our Creator designed our solar system as His timepiece as signposts to track His seasons just like He proclaimed in the Genesis beginning. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was amazed to realized The LORD said that to help us stay on track of His. appointments with mankind's redemption plan. </div><div><br /></div><div>I discovered that the outline of the plan of Almighty God revealed at Mount Sinai not only declared the Ten Commandments but set aside some very special holy time observances for us that could not be negated by any Emperor or a church council meeting in Nicaea. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was also amazed to see that God set forth some of His planned appointments <u>before the golden calf sin had occurred</u>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Immediately after the Ten Commandments were given, you can read about them in Exodus 23:10-19. </div><div><br /></div><div>They include the Shemittah, the Sabbath and the big three celebration festival appointments:</div><div></div><blockquote><div> “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. </div><div><br /></div><div>You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. </div></blockquote><blockquote><div>Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. </div><div><br /></div><div>Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.</div><div> Exodus 23:14-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Not only that, it finally hit home that the Almighty LORD God says they are "His appointments" (Leviticus 23:2) and that He tells us that they are to be proclaimed publicly (Leviticus 23:4). </div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>So I'm doing that here and now</u>.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>There's been a lot of confusion about them. I know about that first hand. </div><div><br /></div><div>After all, in my own ignorance I'd ignored them until I was 45 years old thinking they were just for Jews. The reason was I'd fallen for a misguided religious tradition that started in Nicaea claiming the appointments that belonged to The LORD were old and done away at the cross because they were Jewish. I didn't realize that in itself, my believe was was anti-semitic, aka against Jews. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then I remembered, Jesus is Jewish.</div><div><br /></div><div><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><center><big>Thank God they were not done away with.</big></center><center><big>Had they been done away with at the cross...</big></center><center><big>Acts 2 would have never happened !!</big></center><center></center><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /></div><div><br /></div><div>I used to believe that The LORD God changed His mind. I'd heard that church council story line in plenty of sermons, but the simple truth I've learned from reading the Bible on the back shelf of my church pew is that <u>God does not change!</u> </div><div><br /></div><div>I came to realize that because He says so: </div><div><blockquote>For I, The LORD do not change... Malachi 3:6</blockquote></div><div>There's even a proverb with a warning for those that are given to change and a lack of reverence when it comes to The LORD:</div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>My son, revere The LORD and the king;</div><div>Do not associate with those who are given to change,</div><div>For their calamity will rise suddenly,</div><div>And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them? Proverbs 24: 21-22</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div>The outline of the God plan for salvation, redemption and restoration revolves around Almighty God's appointments for His children and that's never changed. </div><div><br /></div><div>What changed was religious replacement theology. It arrived on the scene veiled in an anti-semitic mindset along with a new church calendar that adopted some old traditions from Babylon in the land of Shinar. </div><div><br /></div><div>I decided to take a pass on Babylon and turn to Jerusalem. So, if you want to know the truth and understand God's unchanging plan for the planet and your life, its time to go back to the beginning and unlearn what you think you know no matter how sincere your own belief <u>if it is not the Bible</u>.</div><div><br /></div><div>That can take some time, so this is no short story!<br />
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The first appointed time I found in the Bible is a God time of rest for body, mind and soul. It's the weekly Sabbath, the seventh day revealed at the beginning in Genesis, the first lesson in God's handbook for living life in the Kingdom of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>The beginning is important because it sets the foundation. </div><div><br /></div><div>When the reality of The Lord's Sabbath and Feast Day appointments sunk into my heart and soul, I was shocked when I discovered I'd fell for doctrines that started with a divorce decree, not the Biblical truth that our Creator commands time and that He has a calendar with His scheduled appointments that He will keep no matter what we think about them. </div><div><br /></div><div>I no longer wanted to miss them. </div><div><br /></div><div>Let's repeat: The LORD's appointed times include His Sabbath and His specially appointed days and weeks that are linked to holy (set apart) convocations (gatherings). </div><div><br /></div><div>Actually, they are not all "Feasts" despite the fact that we like to call them that from reading most English translations of the Hebrew Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>I realized the Hebrew Bible is the same Bible that Jesus read and taught every Sabbath (see Luke 4:16). </div><div>It's the same Bible that reveals these holy days. I felt like those mentioned in John 12:20-21 that went to Jerusalem for Passover. Without a doubt, even the Greeks knew Jesus kept them because when they arrived in Jerusalem they asked Phillip to introduce them to Jesus. They knew He'd be there because He kept them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus kept them because Almighty God owns them and calls them His "appointed times." </div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, in Hebrew "appointed times" is from the Hebrew word mo`ed מוֹעֵד. </div><div><br /></div><div>After the chaos of slavery in Egypt, The Father declared His mo'ed calendar outline to those that followed Him out of Egypt's idolatry and oppression. There at Mount Sinai, God declared the Sabbath as His 4th commandment when He began His Kingdom instruction. By the way, the longest commandment is the Sabbath, read it for yourself for the proof.</div><div><br /></div><div>The assembly at Sinai was afraid and they asked that God only continue speaking to Moses as intercessor. God agreed and Moses heard and wrote down all the words of the voice of Almighty God about the Feasts of The LORD.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then the covenant was broken by the golden calf sin.</div><div><br /></div><div>After that the Levite priesthood was established and the Torah focused on the need for redemption.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone that listened to Moses, learned that three of the Feasts of the LORD are set aside as especially unique as pilgrimage festivals and years later, the Bible reveals that they are focused on God's appointed events in Jerusalem. </div><div><br /></div><div>Those big three are God's big days, but why Jerusalem? </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason is that our Creator chose that city as the place He would put His name to carry out His plan. In Jerusalem, God reveals His redemptive salvation, the gifts His Spirit and one day the planet will celebrate what He has done for to judge and redeem those that love Him.<br />
<br />It took awhile for me to realize all of The Lord's appointed times are declared in Scripture by El Shaddai's voice. Moses was the scribe, not the voice. That fact takes <u>no credit away</u> from Moses, after all despite his shyness or perhaps a speech impediment, <u>he was chosen</u> as the scribe and spokesman by Almighty God as his life mission. </div><div><br /></div><div>The scene and place was dramatic. Moses was called in the wilderness at the burning bush, and he was called up at Mount Sinai into the smoke and fire. There, Moses wrote what he heard exactly as Elohim God The Father declared His forever appointments. They are:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Passover</b> - it represents death and blood shed that will lead to a new repentant sin-free life evidenced by the the resurrection day of First Fruits.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>The Week of Unleavened Bread</b> - is the first week-long a lesson in righteousness. It symbolizes a decision to choose to follow God's instruction and remove sin, so that the God believer becomes a God follower ready for the Holy Spirit to dwell.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Day of Pentecost</b> - stands apart on God's calendar as the day we get to count seven weeks to the 50th day in which The Father keeps His promise to pour out His Spirit.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Day of Trumpets</b> - calls people to shout for The Lord and the return of Messiah King.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Day of Atonement</b> - memorializes God's righteous judgment for those that know Messiah shed His blood to remove sin and carry our iniquities away.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Feast of Tabernacles</b> - is the week-long bookend celebration about The Kingdom of God.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Last Great Day</b> - the eight day following the week of Tabernacles shows us the picture of eternal life and Almighty God dwelling with mankind as it was intended from the beginning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each of these Feasts of The LORD gives us a glimpse of God's master plan.</div><div><br /></div><div>These are the good days. They are the holy days in which our Creator instructs everyone that follows The LORD, whether native born or sojourner to take part and take time away from our busy work to set apart time for The LORD.</div><div><br /></div><div>His appointed days are a great blessing. <br />
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The appointments of The Lord are needless to say very special to our Heavenly Father. That's why they are called "holy" which means "set apart." For that reason, I like to think of the "Feasts" as the "Feats" of The Lord, and they do not stand alone, "<u>we get to" participate, and that requires a willing "I want to" heart</u>. </div><div><br /></div><div>They allow us to focus 100% on our Creator King and Lord God, to worship Him and to honor Him as The Father and like I said they give us a picture of God's plan. </div><div>
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You can find them in your Bible just like I did. They are summarized by Almighty God in the Leviticus 23 life lesson outline of God's plan. </div><div><br /></div><div>When ever something is repeated in Scripture, you should know that what is repeated over and again is really important to The LORD. The Feasts of The LORD are so important, the outline for the plan of God is repeated in Exodus 12, Exodus 34, Numbers 8, Numbers 29 and again in Deuteronomy 16 in Moses' final sermon series. </div><div><br /></div><div>They are intertwined throughout the so-called Newer Testament too, but often forgotten by many believers of Yeshua (Jesus) because they have been set aside as if they are old and done away with. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thank God they are not.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fact of the matter is that Yeshua's ministry including His death and resurrection zeroed in precisely on the Feast calendar of Almighty God. The truth is Easter isn't a part of the plan or the resurrection glory story, it's the appointed Day of First Fruits!</div><div><br /></div><div>Many that ask what would Jesus do, miss the fact that the Scriptural references in The Torah are prophetic connections about <b>the prophet </b>like Moses described in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. The portion of the Torah outlines Yeshua's ministry, it was His first trip assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>The prophetic themes are all there because God's plan has always had something amazing to declare about Yeshua of Nazareth.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you read what Jesus said you know that He declared something critical about prophets in Matthew 23:37 that links to reality. If you read the book of John you also know Yeshua fills the Feasts of The LORD with their prophetic purpose (see John 5:4-6). </div><div><br /></div><div>Our Lord God gave His appointments to the world to show us King Messiah's role and to set the record straight on God's character including salvation, deliverance, redemption, mercy, lovingkindness, grace, and restoration described in the Torah. That's why the Feasts of The Lord are woven from one end of the Bible to the other and embedded in the ministry of Yeshua of Nazareth. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the beginning of the Bible, Genesis set forth the first Sabbath (Shabbat). It's in Genesis 2:1-3 and you may have missed it, but the end of Revelation reveals another, it's called "the Last Great Day" (Hoshana Rabbah). It's in plain sight in Revelation 21 when the plan of God and His Feast day appointments with mankind are fulfilled. </div><div>
<br />As already noted above, God's holy appointments are so important that the design of the heavens above including the light of the sun and the moon's orbit are set in place in the solar system by the design of Almighty God to shine light on earth and to keep track of God's appointed days and years. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's well worth repeating, this astronomical fact that kicked time as we know it in motion for God's plan is established in Genesis 1:14-15:</div><div><blockquote>And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h4150/esv/wlc/0-1/" target="_blank">seasons</a>, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. </blockquote></div><div>One problem I had for years is that I did not realize that the early English Bible translators did not render the basic Hebrew word mo'ed מוֹעֵד as "appointed times." Since the King James Bible used seasons, many like me thought the Bible was speaking about spring, summer, fall and winter as we missed out on God's plan to give light to a dark world. </div><div><br /></div><div>The mo'ed מוֹעֵד appointed times of The LORD are set on His calendar because our Heavenly Father has had a plan from the beginning to keep us from stumbling in the dark for ever. </div><div><br /></div><div><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><center><big>The big question is... </big></center><center><big>Do you want to participate</big></center><center><big>in The LORD's plan</big></center><center><big>or continue to go your own way?</big></center><center></center><hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" /><br /></div><div>Take a look at how the Hebrew word "<a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h4150/esv/wlc/0-1/" target="_blank">mo'ed</a>" appears in these translations:</div><div>
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And God said, "Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark <b>sacred times</b>, and days and years... NIV<br />
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Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for <b>seasons</b> and for days and years... NASB<br />
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Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for <b>festivals</b> and for days and years. Holman</blockquote>The NIV and Holman got it right because our Creator is the God of order, not confusion. He is laser focused on precise order, yet as you can see a lot can be lost in translation so it's critical to return to the Hebrew Bible if we want to know what God has to say to us. </div><div><br /></div><div>Elohim God set the timing and order of His redemption plan with His appointment calendar that is tied to the waxing and waning of the moon above our spinning earth as we orbit the sun. When you stop and think about that amazing and mind-bending fact, you might just realize that all of The Lord God's engagements are provided as His gift for mankind's redemption. </div><div><br /></div><div>They are interconnected in the past, present and future of time that is seen in Heaven.<br />
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<big>The sovereign majesty of it all is overwhelming.</big></center><center><big>Once the truth is known...</big></center>
<center><big>How can we ever forget the appointments of The Lord?</big></center>
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The Lord's appointments are dimensional, they repeat in weekly, monthly and annual cycles as timeless reminders.<br />
<br />The reason Almighty God repeats important things in Scripture is because He made us and He knows how we learn, so I'll do the same here repeating over and again the awesome things I've learned from my Scripture studies.</div><div><br /></div><div>Praise God these profoundly amazing appointments WERE NEVER done away with, no matter what we may have heard to the contrary from a new church tradition.</div><div>
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Thank God the earth is still spinning, the sun is still shining and the moon is still orbiting our planet so <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=tittle&t=KJV#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">there's no jot or tittle that's been done away with</a> and there's much more on the prophetic horizon in God's heavenly plan of Fall Feast appointments for God's relationship restoration plan with mankind that did not end at the cross, it began.</div><div>
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God keeps all of His appointments, past present and future because His will is to restore mankind to His image. That process starts with something you can do. You can honor His weekly Sabbath, when you do your eyes and heart will be opened. </div><div><br /></div><div>Why on earth would you choose to miss out on your appointed Shabbat rest with the Almighty?<br />
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The so-called New Testament book of Hebrews tells us the Sabbath is an opportunity to be like our Creator and that remains true. This Hebrews fact has not changed one iota:<br />
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"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.” Hebrews 4:9-10</blockquote>
God's Sabbath appointment is a once a-week opportunity, take it.<br />
<br />After all, the weekly Sabbath and the appointments of The LORD are Almighty God's holidays, Holy Days set in time by our Creator. It may surprise you, but that means that the Feasts of The Lord are actually not just Jewish, although many like me have thought of them in that way because faithful Jewish people have kept them ever since the Exodus. </div><div><br /></div><div>They are The Lord's appointments, and thank God faithful Jewish people are God Believers!<br />
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The amazing mo'ed witness of many Jewish faithful is a rock solid fact. They have held fast and bound themselves in good times and bad to honor God's word. </div><div><br /></div><div>That faith fact is an amazing testimony to this form Jesus the Jew:</div><div><blockquote>You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. John 4:22 </blockquote>Sadly, most Christians have ignored this and God's appointments, thinking they are just Jewish and that The LORD's days are old and done away with at the cross. That's a dark lie embedded in Replacement Theology.<br />
<br />Take a look at the words Moses recorded in Leviticus 23 and you will see that it is Almighty God that takes personal claim to His divine appointments. He calls them my appointed feasts:<br />
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"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, <b>Concerning the feasts of THE LORD</b>, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even <b>these are my [<i>moed</i>] appointed feasts</b>." Leviticus 23:2</blockquote>That means we all have an assignment if we are made by our Creator.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's an honor, a privilege to proclaim them and participate in them set apart, holy convocations... they are God appointments. Do you want to miss another appointment with God?<br />
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Our Creator starts with His weekly Sabbath rest no matter who we are, native born or foreigner:<br />
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"Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places." Leviticus 23:3</blockquote>
Isaiah was given some special words of promise about this last weekday that can apply to you:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And <u>foreigners</u> who bind themselves to the Lord<br />
to minister to him,<br />
to love the name of the Lord,<br />
and <u>to be his servants</u>,<br />
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it<br />
and <u>who hold fast to my covenant</u>—<br />
these I will bring to my holy mountain<br />
and give them joy in <u>my house of prayer.</u>” Isaiah 56:6-7</blockquote>
Did you notice, the house of prayer if not Jewish either, it is a house call for "all nations." If you say you love The Lord, ask yourself a question. Do you want to serve Him and hold fast to His covenant and receive blessings of joy?<br />
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If you want get closer to God, change your schedule and align with God's appointments.<br />
<br />I've already alluded to it, but when we reconsider the term "Feast Days," the olde English word "feast" can seem a bit confusing. After all, <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H4150&t=KJV" target="_blank">the Hebrew word in the Bible is "Moed"</a> and that word means "appointed time." It's greater than any appointment you put on your calendar, this is much bigger, it's God's appointment.<br />
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Almighty God put His appointments on His calendar in the life giving invitation is yours to join Him.<br />
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When you have an appointment you can't miss, you'll write it down in advance and you will plan and prepare for it. God does the same and you don't want to miss out on any of His plans for your life. Not only that, these days are set apart as the outline of God's redemption plan for mankind!<br />
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Abba Father Y-H-V-H has appointed His times and seasons and planned them since the days of creation. They are the specific days God embedded in creation and on His calendar to meet with mankind to engage His seven-step salvation plan for the planet and the people on it.<br />
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For that reason, God tells the world through Moses that His appointments are to be observed and kept at specific times and seasons.<br />
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There is an amazing prophetic significance of each appointed day of rest in the schedule on God's calendar. The key is that His mercy, grace and lovingkindness is revealed through them and that is the story I pray you will find in here. The Moed make up God's prophetic outline and calnedar for the redemptive work of the Messiah. </div><div><br /></div><div>They show substitution, intercession and restoration.<br />
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If we would just honor these days as we are told to do by our Heavenly Abba Father, it will become incredible clear how Almighty God’s plan can make a big difference in our walk and relationship with Him and others. Those others include the Jewish people, our brothers and sister's that believe what God meant what He said when He said honor these appointments. </div><div><br /></div><div>Simply put, they believe God.<br />
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The Bible shows us Almighty God likes math too. He uses the number seven to point us back to Him. It is the focus of His weekly Sabbath on the seventh day of each week and seven is woven in the feast of Shavuot, the Moed many call Pentecost that arrives seven weeks after Passover. It is the second of the three festival days of joy to be spent in Jerusalem. It the big day Jesus told the disciples to be sure to not miss and be in Jerusalem to receive the outpouring of God's Spirit!<br />
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There is a Heavenly plan connection to the seven Moed of the Lord. The Spring Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts seven days and the Fall Feasts conclude with another seven day Feast called Sukkot. </div><div><br /></div><div>They work like Feast Week bookends to God's big plan.<br />
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The seventh Biblical Feast stands out big time because it is the grand finale of the annual appointments of the Lord that outline the redemption plan for humanity and there's an eighth day appendix to that final chapter called Shemini Atzeret, which is a separate holiday noted in Leviticus 23;36 representing the new heavens and the new earth first noted by Isaiah:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. Isaiah 65:17</div><div><br /></div><div>For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. Isaiah 66:22 </div><div><br /></div><div>But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2Peter 3:13</div><div><br /></div><div>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. Revelation 21:1</div></blockquote><div>Not only that, God teaches that every seventh year is a Sabbatical year, a Shemittah and after seven Sabbatical years, the restoration year of Jubilee arrives. When you see the Moed outline in God's restoration plan for the planet, you might just realize you "GET TO" participate in them and praise God for the gift of the Feasts of The Lord.<br />
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For that reason, they were never optional for Jesus. So, it time to do what Jesus did.<br />
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Get in sync with our Creator's plan, each Moed is a big part of the plan.<br />
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Oh sure, you may be like me. You may have missed prior appointments with The Lord in the past, perhaps not knowing much about them while ignoring the front of the Bible like I once did, or perhaps innocently thinking they were only for Jewish people, not knowing that they belong to The Lord God Creator of the Universe. The good news is, if you seek truth its not too late to make your next appointment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ask yourself, do you want to continue to miss God's appointments or celebrations?<br />
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I vote no, Heaven forbid, instead choose to join The Lord at the times He has set aside because you get to choose to be a part of the Bible and God's plan of redemption and joyful celebration.<br />
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Almighty God, the Creator embedded His appointments and seasons at creation:<br />
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Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons [moed] and for days and years..." Gen 1:14</blockquote>
King David declared the lights of Heaven that shine on earth mark the moed [appointments] of God:<br />
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He made the moon for the seasons [moed];<br />
The sun knows the place of its setting. Psalm 104:19</blockquote>
God integrated creation with His own set-apart appointments as a set-apart privileged time. The appointed seasons that He chose extend an invitation to His lovingkindness, grace and mercy. They are His seasons of joy and celebration for a troubled world to repent and be redeemed. The be covered and atoned from the iniquity condition that began in Eden and thankfully faithful Jewish people are still shining the light to the world about them, so pay attention, Jesus is Jewish.<br />
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To top off His appointment, Almighty God set aside three of them as pilgrimage Festivals in Jerusalem at the center of the homeland of the Jewish people. These are VERY special times. They are the "big three" and they are all about celebrating Messiah Yeshua, the Jewish messenger, the prophet promised to Moses:<br />
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“Behold, I send an angel [messenger] before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries." Exodus 23:20-22</blockquote>
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<big>If you consider yourself a Christian, </big></center><center><big>one that does what Jesus did,</big></center><center><big>imagine for a moment what you'd be called</big></center>
<center><big>if Jesus the Jew missed out on His</big></center>
<center><big>Passover appointment in Jerusalem?</big></center>
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You could not call yourself a Christian, you'd likely be a pagan. Thank goodness the first disciples and Jesus were Jewish!<br />
<br />And thank God, Jesus and His disciples kept the Feasts of The Lord.</div><div><br /></div><div>Had Jesus ignored God's instruction on Passover, He would have never given His life blood as the sinless, Passover lamb offering that was nailed to the wood of the tree and lifted up over Jerusalem for the sins of the world. </div><div><br /></div><div>Had the Jewish people not been in Jerusalem at Passover and during the following week of Unleavened Bread neither would Jesus, after all He is a Jew.<br />
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Without keeping Passover, Jesus would have never laid in the grave three days during the week of Hag HaMatzot (Unleavened Bread) and most certainly He would not have been resurrected in glory on the appointed Day of Yom Bikkurim (First Fruits) by Almighty God to overcome the penalty for death's iniquity brought on mankind by Adam and Eve's choice of betrayal to believe a deception in Eden with the tare of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua's victory over death by Almighty God's power in resurrection to the freedom of eternal life would not exist without Passover. Christianity would not exist. You could not call yourself a Christian.</div><div><br /></div><div>Folks it's not Easter for Heaven's sake. Yeshua was in that for grave three days not two fulfilling the sign of Jonah just as He promised. Believe it or not, good Friday does not fit in on God's calendar. Yeshua had to finish the transgression with righteousness and put an end to sin and atone for our iniquity. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's what Daniel 9:24 is all about. It's the prophecy of that Unleavened Bread week and it points forward to the Fall Feast of Yom Kippur when the iniquity of sin will be done away with in God's good judgment once and for all.<br />
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Without Yeshua's work during the Lord's Spring Feasts, there would be no journey for Paul the "apostle" and no new life resurrection promise described in Daniel 12:2 and Revelation 20:6, and no need for the Messiah to serve and return as Priest King to complete the Yom Kippur assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>The cross was not the end.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we think the Torah was hung on the cross we miss the Gospel message in Leviticus. There we learn that sacrifice is not the death. The sacrifice is the blood offering before the presence of The LORD, the death is before the offering of atonement outside the Tabernacle.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the quickening miracle life giving power of our Creator God, Yeshua lives in resurrection power and He has overcome the death of Adam and lives interceding as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek just as the book of Hebrews describes. </div><div><br /></div><div>He kept and is keeping the Torah of God, in the High Priestly duty and privilege to enter the Holy of Holies of Heaven to expiate sins of the people of Israel wearing only white linen garments, forgoing the the elaborate priestly vestments just as Stephen saw him as Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies in the Sanctuary on High standing before the very Divine Throne of Glory:</div><div><blockquote>"But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55-56</blockquote></div><div>Nothing in His life was or is Torah-less. His death by Rome's guard occurred just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem, but the enemy's death plot failed in God's perfect plan carried out in the First Fruits' power of resurrection to eternal life given to Messiah Yeshua by Almighty God on the 3rd day. On the 40th day of the Omer count He ascended to the Heavenly throne room of the most Holy of Holies now interceding as High Priest King in the order of Melchizedek attaining for sin and he will return just as David declared in Psalm 110 as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus did not come to start a new religion or change God's calendar to a new Sabbath. Think about that and this...<br />
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What if His disciples had elected to do their own thing and not keep the appointed Feast Day of Shavuot described in Acts 1? <br />
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They would have missed one of the most profound days in history, a day that started at Sinai with the giving of the Ten Commandments.<br />
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Had the disciples Jesus thought Jesus did away with the Torah on the cross, they would have not obeyed the Biblical instruction to be in Jerusalem just as God intended. They could have left the city and missed the appointed day when Almighty God sent His Holy, Set Apart Spirit to come down on them like fire in Jerusalem.<br />
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They would have never had the ability to spread the word in languages they did not know or do the healing miracles described about their good deeds in the book of Acts. Had they not been present in real time in Jerusalem at the Lord's (Pentecost) appointment, perhaps no one would remember what really happened some 2,000 years ago.<br />
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The gospel of the restoration of The Kingdom on this planet would have never spread across the globe like a wildfire. The Gentile world could have destroyed itself, lost in idol paganism without men empowered by the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.<br />
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Had faithful Jewish men and women not obeyed Yeshua's admonition to be faithful to the eternal, unchanging instruction of God 2,000 years ago, they would missed the cloud of glory and not seen Yeshua as He ascended to the right hand of God on the 40th day of the Omer count up to Shavuot.</div><div><br /></div><div>The term we call Christian that means follower of Messiah would not exist.<br />
<br />Now the big question: do we really follow Him? I ask because repentance and the gospel of The Kingdom of God that Yeshua preached about is not new, it's a return.</div><div>
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Thank God, the disciples followed the Torah instruction which was Yeshua's continual admonition to repent and obey the written Word of God. After all, He said it was written about Him (John 5:46-47). </div><div><br /></div><div>Praise God, those Jewish men and women honored and kept the pilgrim festival of Shavuot (Pentecost). </div><div><br /></div><div>They stayed the course and went to the place that God had chosen to place His name and reputation for redemption. That's the Temple Mount. There they did is what Yeshua said:<br />
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"Do not leave Jerusalem, but <b>wait for the gift my Father promised</b>, which you have heard me speak about."</blockquote><u>
Do you understand what you just read</u>?<br />
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If the disciples had not honored the appointed time of The Lord, then everything they learned from Jesus may had faded away and been lost in the dust of history, Christianity would be meaningless. They would NOT have been at the right place at the right time, they would have missed the gifts bestoyed from God from the former rain of the Ruach Spirit fire falling on them. Without that, the gospel writings we have today would have never been written and the resurrection likely forgotten.<br />
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If you call yourself a Believer, do what you believe.</b><br />
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Do you believe that you need to be in the right place, at the right time honoring God's teaching and instruction on His appointed Feast Days?<br />
<br />It's time for a new heart just as Jeremiah 31:31 describes. Think about this too, our Almighty Creator God does not run the universe by a Roman calendar or Pope Gregory's either, so its time to re-calibrate your appointments that align with The Lord's.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to make an appointment with your Maker.<br />
<br /><u>There's more to come</u>: there's a big day declared by the Prophets of the Bible is called THE DAY OF THE LORD. <div><br /></div><div>It starts with Trumpets Day and leads up to the appointed High Holy Day of the Lord which is the Day of Atonement to cleanse mankind from the iniquity sin condition of death that began in the garden. The day to come is for both native born and sojourner. Read it for yourself, that's the one reason God gave for Yom Kippur, the day of the last trumpet. You can read all about it in Leviticus 16:29-30:</div><div><blockquote>"And it shall be <u>a statute to you forever</u> that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. <u>For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you</u>. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; <u>it is a statute forever.</u>"</blockquote></div><div>It is announced ten days earlier by Yom Teruah (the Day of Trumpets). </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Yom Teruah is a very BIG deal.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Today, many call it Rosh Hashanah, meaning the beginning of a new year. It is the first day of the 7th month called Tishrei and according to an old rabbinic tradition, it's the day God leaves the Mercy Seat and heads for the Judgment Seat. </div><div><br /></div><div>Although the tradition of a Jewish new year beginning on Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on the first day of Tishrei, this month is actually the seventh month after the first according to God's voice and the written record of Scripture. The first month is Abib, which has been called Nisan since the Babylonian exile. </div><div><blockquote>“This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you." Exodus 12:2</blockquote></div><div>Abib is the month in which the Passover (Pesach) falls on the evening of the 14th day. In this manner, the Biblical year of God's cycle of appointed Feasts is set apart as the plan with Almighty God’s great redemptive act that began with the Exodus from Egypt's slavery and oppression that opened the door for the latter day redemption of all the nations of the world led by Messiah. He is the root of Jesse standard to gather those that seek to walk in God's ways just as Moses led the way in the first Exodus. Isaiah the prophet records God's voice on this:</div><div><div><blockquote>"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 He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. ... Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious. ... And He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Isaiah 2:2, Isaiah 2:4, Isaiah 11:10, Isaiah 11:12 NASB95</blockquote></div></div><div>From the evening sunset that starts the shofar blasts of Yom Teruah to Yom Kippur, Jewish tradition also marks those ten days with prayers of repentance known as selichot. They are called the ten days of awe because they are awesome.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>The Bible does not use the name Rosh Hashanah or make note any of its Jewish traditions. The Scriptures declare the day simply as the first day of the seventh month. The first day of each Biblical month is why God set apart every Rosh Kodesh new moon day. He did it so we would never lose count of God's schedule for the plan of redemption and restoration of His Kingdom on earth. </div><div><br /></div><div>The seventh month count is forever tied back to the Passover exodus from Egypt in the spring in the beginning of months. Following God’s calendar appointments, if we just count each month from Passover to seven like any child can, we count to the seventh month and the announcement of the Rosh Kodesh arrival day of The High Priest King Messiah Yeshua. </div><div><br /></div><div>Know it or not, Almighty God set the first day of each month in synchronization with the moon so everyone on the planet could literally see His plan unfold in Heaven. All we have to do is look up as a witness to each Rosh Kodesh evening that is set apart (holy) as a special holiday (no work day). </div><div><br /></div><div>On the 7th month, the shouting and the sound of shofar trumpets must be heard. That's the declaration of Leviticus 23:23-25, Numbers 10:10 and Numbers 29:1.</div>
<br />You may have noticed that the book of Revelation zeroes in on seven trumpet events! That's there for a reason, a good reason to point us right to the season. The trumpet scenes John describes point us up to the Day of Trumpets and the ten days of awe leading up to the Yom Kippur's white throne judgment followed by the celebration Feast of Tabernacles. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Most that read the book of Revelation miss the fact that it describes the Fall Feasts and zeros in on Yom Kippur.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The fact is Revelation <b><u>follows the order of the Torah portion known as Acharei Mot</u></b> which big surprise means "After the Death." Acharei Mot is found in Leviticus 16:1-18:30. It's there that the holiest day, Yom Kippur is placed in the Torah in the middle of the description of the profane. In doing so The LORD God not only informs His people what is right and wrong, but Almighty God gives us the reasons to resist sin, be patient and overcome.</div><div><br /></div><div>Revelation does the same thing showing us why Yom Kippur and what follows is the goal of everyone who believes. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because of the error of replacement theology many people have inherited lies and believe that Yom Kippur is just an old Jewish holiday. They are missing the forest for the trees. It's not true, Yom Kippur is for all God believers, always has been always will be because God does not change. </div><div><br /></div><div>Christians must not assume that just because one law (the law of death) was conquered by Yeshua's death and resurrection, the teachings in the Torah's constitution of life that He taught have been done away with at the cross. Yeshua-Jesus tells everyone if that were the case then planet earth, indeed the universe would implode according to the Sermon on the Mount. (see Matthew 5:17-19).</div><div><br /></div><div>The disciple John's prophetic Revelation vision graphically portrays the week-long celebration after Yom Kippur, it's called Sukkot or Tabernacles. It's <b>the ingathering celebration of joy </b>called the marriage supper of the Lamb described in Revelation 19:6-10. And hidden in plain sight, Revelation ends with <b>the graphic picture of Shemini Atzeret,</b> the eighth day of the assembly of God's people revealed in Revelation 21-22. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Scripture, numbers are important and seven is the number representing completion, but eight points to eternity, the ʿOlam Ha-ba of the world to come. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you missed the Feasts of The LORD while reading John's vision, <b>it's time to read it again</b> and it's high time to rewind your heart, repent and open your eyes to the Bible's unchanging message. It contains God's salvation, redemption and atonement plan for this planet from the iniquity of Eden to Shemini Atzeret and every day since in which we have ignored God's voice and turned ours backs whether in ignorance or by choice.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Shemini Atzeret is a BIG deal, i</b><b>t's time to know the Feasts of The LORD. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God starts the beginning of months with His Spring appointments that start with Passover followed by the seven days of the week of Unleavened Bread for good reason. Just like Tabernacles, there are actually eight days in the Passover week and in the end, eight days during Tabernacles.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to connect the dots and tittles that the creation in motion above us is connected to The Feasts of The LORD. The Heavens that NASA explores are the witness as the Bible describes a combination luni-solar calendar. The book of Exodus shows us the way to the first month in the redemption plan of Almighty God.</div><div><br /></div><div>A long time ago in Babylon, the month of Abib described in the Bible took on the Babylonian name Nisan. Abib marks the new year in the redemption plan of God. Aviv is the spring month of the barley harvest and we can see this month declared four times: </div><div><br /></div><div>Exodus 13:4 "This day came you out in the month Abib." The name is repeated in Exodus 23:15 and it's linked to Exodus 34:18 and Deuteronomy 16:1 by Passover followed by the week-long observance of Unleavened Bread that is proclaimed to point us to the need to turn away from the leaven of sin and slavery in Egypt.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The Torah calls the first day chodesh ha-Abib. We all need to know this day. It marks the beginning of redemption through Yeshua-Jesus and His First Fruits third day resurrection marks time for new life. </div><div><br /></div><div>Easter has nothing to do with the Bible. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know it's shocking but its name root sadly comes from neo-pagan links with Ishtar and Eostre, the Spring equinox and idol worship in the Bible.</div><div><br /></div><div>No need to take my word for it, you can do your own research. For now, we need to reconsider Easter and Good Friday and get back to the Bible basics in repentance. When we do, we will realize on the first day of Abib two weeks before the Passover exodus, Moses must have been looking up when he saw the crescent new moon as Almighty God - Abba Father said this to him: </div><div></div><blockquote><div>“This month shall be for you the head of months, the first of the months of the year.” Exodus 12:2</div><div></div></blockquote><div>That evening marked the appointment calendar given before the exodus from slavery and idolatry in Egypt. It's also the day the wilderness Tabernacle was erected by Moses on the anniversary of the second year of the Exodus. That day the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Most Holy place behind the veil, the showbread table, the menorah, the incense altar, the burnt altar and the water basin. (Exodus 40:17-33).</div><div><br /></div><div>It's the day the Menorah was lit and the day the Shechinah Glory of God covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. </div><div><br /></div><div>A year later on each of the first 12 days of this special month of Abib, each of the 12 tribes of Israel brought 24 celebration offerings as gifts for the Tabernacle sanctuary that the craftsmen led by Bezalel and Oholiab had made so that Moses could assemble the Tabernacle, anoint and consecrate it just as Yeshua, the prophet like Moses assembles and anoints each person entering into the body of Messiah. </div><div><br /></div><div>The gifts from each family were identical and each family leader presented them one day at a time (see Numbers 7). Those gift offerings represent a set apart Royal Priesthood service to The LORD with silver and gold, fine flour, olive oil and incense. The animals presented at that time demonstrate our requirement for blood sacrifice for sin. They are a prophetic picture of Yeshua.</div><div><br /></div><div>As always, Judah's family led the procession with the first gift. That fact connects the ultimate gift of life in resurrection and it points toward an Emmaus road stop. On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua told the two men He walked with that Moses wrote of Him for a reason. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we turn to the book of John, we see Yeshua called Lazarus from the grave. The story is in John 11. He was first anointed by Miriam, Lazarus' sister, He stayed two days then returned to Judea when Yeshua returned to Bethany, where Lazarus had been dead four days. Miriam met Yeshua outside the little village and He wept when she delivered the news. They then went to the tomb.</div><div><blockquote>So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." John 11:41-42 NASB</blockquote></div><div>Word of the restored life miracle made it to Jerusalem.</div><div><blockquote>But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish." Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. John 11:49-52 NASB</blockquote></div><div>When the last gift for the Tabernacle was presented Moses, he went into the tent of meeting to speak with The LORD. He heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat atop the ark of the testimony between the two cherubim.</div><div><br /></div><div>What God declared is recorded in Numbers 8-10 and it includes this:</div><div><blockquote>"Let the people of Israel <u>keep the Passover at its appointed time.</u> On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it."</blockquote></div><div>Thank God Yeshua kept it and fulfilled it.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the 12th day after the Tabernacle and gifts were complete: In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>All other months that God noted are <u>defined in Scripture by counting</u> from the month of Abib, there's the 2nd month, the 7th month, the 8th and so on as each month is marked by a new moon (Rosh Kodesh) then just as it is today. </div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, the <u>only day named in Scripture</u> is the seventh day, the Sabbath. Some of the other days noted in Scripture are counts from each new moon day, Rosh Kodesh: the 14th day, the 15th day, the 20th day and so on. Open your Bible and you'll see this.</div><div><br /></div><div>As already noted, the month to month names of today's Hebrew calendar came into being <u>during the Babylonian exile,</u> not the Exodus. That's why other than Abib, other month names found in the Bible date back to the 6th Century BC and the 70 year Babylonian exile and after that time. The counting of months continues in the writings of The Prophets such as the 8th month and the 11th month. Since that exile, the names of other Babylonian calendar months are found in the Hebrew Scriptures, but not before. They include the months of Zif, Chisleu, Elul and the month of Tebeth. Adar is the 12th month and the 3rd month is Sivan.</div><div><br /></div><div>The months tie to King David too when established the service times and the courses described in 1Chronicles 27:1 as: "chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their officers that served the king in any matter of the courses." Each month, the responsibilities from the king shifted to another leader over the "course" of allotted time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Needless to say, the month of Abib is very special and it is the focal point of Yeshua's humble first mission. </div><div><br /></div><div>At Passover, He overcame the death penalty brought into the world by Adam and Eve. He could do that because He never broke Torah, He never transgressed God's instruction and He was able to overcome death by men fom Almighty God's great power of life. Yeshua accomplished this in His First Fruits resurrection much like Adam was given life as God breathed into him.</div><div><br /></div><div>That ties to Israel and the sojourners that were saved from the slavery of Egypt in the first month: <br />
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1) <b>Passover</b> (Pesach). This is also the first of the big three pilgrim festivals in Jerusalem. It is the offering of the lamb, the Son of God but believe it or not, it's shocking for some it is not Easter! The evening of Passover falls in the beginning of months, the first Biblical month of Abib, now Nisan on most Hebrew calendars. </blockquote><blockquote>Esther 3:7 calls it "the month of flowers." On the evening of the 14th day (Leviticus 23:5) it is called the beginning of the appointed Feasts of The LORD (Exodus 12:2). The next appointment on God's calendar is the day of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6) also know as First Fruits. The seven day festival of Unleavened Bread immediately follows Passover evening after the 14th of Nisan.<br />
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2) <b>Unleavened Bread </b>(Chag HaMatzot). This begins the day after the evening of Passover on Nisan 15. It includes the three days and nights of Jonah's timeline for Jesus' time of mortal death in the grave. Yeshua is the personification of matzah, the unleavened bread from Heaven. This unleavened bread week marks victory over death as Messiah took the sins of repentant mankind to the grave with Him. The third day of this week is called <b>First Fruits </b>(Chag HaBikurim). It is the day revealing Yeshua's resurrection and restoration to eternal life. </blockquote>
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Leviticus 23:11 has this to say about First Fruits: "He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD <b>for you to be accepted</b>; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it." </blockquote>
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Next, the Bible instruct us to begin counting up to 50 days after the first Sabbath during the week of Unleavened Bread. After those seven weeks of counting, another anointment with God arrives as His Spirit came to gift, teach and comfort in Jerusalem. The assembly of disciples experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit on the same day the congregation gathered under the fire atop Mount Sinai many years earlier to hear the Ten Commandments from the fire atop the mountain.<br />
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3) After counting seven consecutive weekly Sabbaths following Passover, the second of three pilgrim festival days of joy in Jerusalem arrives. It is the 50th day following the weekly Sabbath after Passover and it is called <b>the Feast of Weeks</b> (Shavuot) for good reason. It is the Pentecost (50th) day marking the arrival of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem and the giving of God's covenant at Sinai to Israel and the sojourners there at the mountain.</blockquote>
Because of the prophetic latter day season in which we are living, many people are waking up and realizing that it is proper, good and it is pleasing to The LORD that everyone honors God's set appointments for mankind and celebrate the Holy Days that will all be fulfilled in Yeshua-Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>These are God's festival days for good reason!</div><div><br /></div><div>The future season includes the fall feasts to come that will be fulfilled in the Father's good timing.<br />
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If you desire to know more of God will and His plan for your life journey, then you can connect to His appointments, they are the outline of the new creation and your redemption. </div><div><br /></div><div>The good news is we that get to participate in God's plan like a rehearsal in His appointed calendar. Our journey with The LORD starts by remembering His Sabbaths. Our future begins with the weekly Sabbath, then Passover and doing what the Jewish Rabbi Paul said to do by keeping this Feast with unleavened sincerity and truth:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are <b>unleavened</b>. For indeed Messiah, our Pesach, has been sacrificed in our place. <b>Therefore let us keep the feast,</b> not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the matzah of <b>sincerity and truth</b>." 1Corinthians 5:7-8 HNV</blockquote>
If you will believe Paul, the Holy Spirit of God will show you much more about His plan of restoration in the celebration of each of His appointed times.<br />
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There is no legalism as you may think in honoring God's appointed, set apart days. No religion either because there is no salvation by anything you or I can do because unlike Yeshua, we will continue to transgress and sin no matter what prayer or statement of faith we might make. Iniquity is the death condition that results, but thank God, He has the appointed plan for our problem.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bottomline, the festivals of The LORD get to be kept out of love for The Holy One that declared them as His appointed days. </div><div><br /></div><div>Scripture shows us there is no salvation by a deed of keeping the days God has set aside for His redemptive work. It's not what we do on those days, it's what The LORD does. The work is God's alone on His appointed days, but we get to believe, remember and do them because its a matter of a heart of love for what our Father does for His children:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart."</blockquote>
Think about it! You "get to" honor these days to show God you love Him with all of your heart, soul and might. The Feasts of The LORD allow us to do something in return for God's grace and love. We get to show Almighty God we love and worship Him. You too can honor what He has done, is doing and will do for our redemption and the world's salvation. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bottomline, we get to participate in God's plan by keeping His appointments.<br />
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You get to remember God's amazing blessings in your own life, family and congregation assembly by celebrating in His appointments.<br />
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"Pesach" is the Hebrew name of the Passover evening offering on Abib 14, and it literally points the world to "the lamb" of God - Jesus the Jew and Messiah High Priest King. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua always walked in obedience to God's instruction. Jesus kept the Passover Feast, if you want to follow Him, shouldn't you?<br />
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Praise God, Pesach has been faithfully celebrated by Jewish people around the world for thousands of years commemorating the salvation of Israel and the sojourners from Egyptian slavery that prophetically points us all to the ultimate salvation of mankind from sin's slavery.<br />
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Exodus gives us clues about the big picture of the life saving Passover offering:<br />
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"In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover." Exodus 12:11 </blockquote>
This shows us that <b>we are to be ready</b> to follow God's instruction if we are to do it in faith and love.<br />
<br />If you count yourself in the family, as a child of God, it is time to join in the celebration of salvation offered to you by "the" anointed Lamb of God Messiah. </div><div><br /></div><div>If not, it's time to open your heart and celebrate your release from the death penalty of sin through the Passover lamb, the Jewish Messiah Yeshua born in Bethlehem. It's also time to walk as He walked.</div><div><br />
Yes, Jesus is a Jew and His Hebrew name is Yeshua. He is the King of the Jews, and He can be your King too if your a sojourner. Spread the good word and profess Him to others. If you follow Him, you can walk as He did following Him in The Father's instruction of celebrating His Feasts.<br />
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If you are as Paul says, "grafted in by faith" as a former Gentile into God's faithful family, the body of people the Father calls Israel, you are no longer a stranger or Gentile with an identity crisis about the Feasts because God's Holy appointments are for you. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you believe Paul and what he wrote, believe this: replacement theology is a lie and God never replaced Israel as His firstborn son:</div><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either." Romans 11:17-21</blockquote>
Today, is God's appointed time to reconcile Jew and non-Jew, binding us together by His Spirit and one day in truth about Messiah Yeshua. This restoration in repentance is critical because some 2,000 years ago, a Gentile "church" began to pull away from its roots distancing themselves from Jewish people, the Sabbath and Feasts of The LORD.</div><div><br /></div><div>But now, many are turning back to the ways and faith of Messiah and rejecting their saved sinner Gentile label. Tens of thousands around the planet are re-learning that we get to celebrate "The Feasts of The LORD" because it has always been God's plan. A part of that today is God's work to reunite Jew and Gentile as 'one new man' through Yeshua HaMashiach.<br />
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Yeshua is the Messiah who brings salvation first to the Jew and then others just as Paul said, because all nations must repent and seek redemption (see Isaiah 11:10, 42:6, Acts 2:39, Ephesians 2:11-18).<br />
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In the Older Testament (actually the Hebrew Scriptures known as the TaNaK) God provides an inspired record of all prophecies of the work of Messiah to enable both Jew and Gentile to recognize Him, if we only look for Him. By the way, in case you did not know it by now, every disciple or talmidim of Yeshua during His ministry was a Jew.... every one.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you accept Yeshua as Messiah you too can be grafted back into the family of Israel as a child of the God of Israel within the body of Messiah, no longer a Gentile. Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary sheds some light saying: </div><div><br /></div><div>"GEN'TILE, noun [Latin gentilis; from Latin gens, nation, race; applied to pagans.]</div><div><br /></div><div>In the scriptures, a pagan; a worshipper of false gods; any person not a Jew or a christian; a heathen."</div><div><br /></div><div>Mr. Webster points to the issue of idol practices as being their character distinction. They were linked to the heathens, the image-worshippers according to the 1880 McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.</div><div><br /></div><div>"As to the religion of heathenism, it is "a wild growth on the soil of fallen human nature, a darkening of the original consciousness of God's deification of the rational and irrational creature, and a corresponding corruption of the moral sense, giving the sanction of religion to natural and unnatural vices."</div><div><br /></div><div>Whether Jew or former Gentile, you can be "one" in the Messiah of Israel. Paul taught this in Romans 2:10, it's time to look at it and take it to heart.<br />
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Yeshua of Nazareth is the anointed Messiah of Israel and He fulfilled His first mission through the Spring Feasts. All the Scriptures of Torah speak of Him:<br />
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"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Luke 24:27</blockquote>In the first century, many tens of thousands of Jews believed that Yeshua was the Messiah, yet some put religious tradition before the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings and rejected Him 2,000 years ago. But ironically, starting with the Samaritans, non-Jews began to embrace Jesus the Jew as Messiah with the blessing to become grafted in as children of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>We don't know her name, but the woman at Jacob's well was not a Jew and Yeshua declared Himself as Messiah.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many think of a man named Cornelius as the first non-Jew to believe, but Yeshua started His witness personally with the Gentiles. After that the non-Jewish followers of Jesus starting with Cornelius were introduced by the Jewish disciples including Peter's witness to Cornelius that included an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them as well. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Samaritan's were foreigners (aka Gentile) yet Yeshua ministered to them. Do you remember the ten Samaritan lepers? </div><div><br /></div><div>Their story is in Luke 17:11-19 and one of them believed and gave glory to God:</div><div><blockquote>"Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. <u><b>And he was a Samaritan.</b></u> But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” Luke 17:15-18</blockquote></div><div>Yeshua told the Samaritan woman at the well who He was and she believed:</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. John 4:22</blockquote><div>She left Jacob's well and told her whole town about Yeshua and many believed:</div><div><blockquote>Now from that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” John 4:29</blockquote></div><div>After that, a "royal" official approached Yeshua in Capernaum about his sick son. That account is in John 4 as well. There's not much detail given, but the official may have been a Roman principal under Herod Antipas assigned there by Augustus.</div><div><br /></div><div>After Herod the Great died, the Roman emperor Augustus appointed Antipas as the ruler tetrarch of Galilee because the Galilee area a client state of the Roman Empire and the Romans ruled Galilee during the time of Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>The apostle John wrote: </div><div>
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"He came to His own and His own did not receive Him. But as many received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." John 1:11-12</blockquote>Paul wrote: "to the Jew first and then the Gentile, (see Romans 1:16).</div><div><br /></div><div>Peter received a old message about the Gentiles, then Paul. They both overcame traditional discriminatory thinking in prejudice against Gentiles as they began to believe the promises that Almighty God gave to Abraham as a blessing "to all nations." They remembered what was declared to Isaiah and the message delivered to the woman at the well.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can find the promises throughout the scroll of Isaiah. Here are just a few:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Isaiah 2:2 </li><li>Isaiah 5:26</li><li>Isaiah 11:10</li><li>Isaiah 42:6</li><li>Isaiah 49:6 </li><li>Isaiah 52:10</li><li>Isaiah 60:3</li></ul></div><div>Non-Jew Gentiles whether Greek, Roman or the Samaritan and all people in-between that turned from false worship experienced a spiritual new birth and became part of the family adoption taught by Paul in Romans 11 (check it out).<br />
<br />Peter and Paul were Jewish, but if you're not Jewish follow Jesus too. If you do, do what Paul did: <u>celebrate God.</u><b> That includes His Appointed Feasts!</b><br />
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Think of it Biblically as "grafting" your faith in. Part of that grafting is remembering and honoring Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits with the hope for Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles.<br />
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The Spring Feasts are beautiful. Yeshua offered His life "as the lamb" of the Passover offering. He was buried "sinless" pointing to the Feast of Unleavened Bread and He was resurrected "in glory" on the third day of First Fruits just as He said, like the promise of the sign of Jonah. </div><div><br /></div><div>There is much more for our Savior to do on when He returns in glory. The latter rain Fall Feasts of the "appointments" (mo'ed) of God remain to be fulfilled because they are the coming Feast Days of the returning High Priest King Messiah. These will engage the entire world I think they will soon happen in real time at Messiah's return to earth as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the King of the Universe and redeemer of "all" Israel whether native born or sojourner. </div><div><br /></div><div>Just as Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) fulfilled the appointed Spring feasts by filling them up with meaning in God's plan, the Fall Feasts will fulfill God's will to restore life, so it is time to rehearse.<br />
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Our Father set His calendar in Heaven at their appointed time and He will send Messiah Yeshua from the throne room bringing Heaven to Earth because...<br />
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"Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets." Acts 3:20–21 </blockquote>
A lot of people get excited and enjoy the "Final Four" in college basketball (I do), but its time to really get excited about God's finals, His Appointed Fall Festivals!<br />
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The real final four are God's set apart convocation days to be fulfilled by King Yeshua Jesus and they are:<br />
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4) <b>The Day of Trumpets</b> (Yom Teruah) the day of shouting and the awakening trumpets to announce Messiah's arrival as King. A High Holy day preparing us for what is to come.<br />
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5) <b>The Day of Atonements</b> (Yom Kippurim) the High Holy Day of Judgment and Atonement and the great trumpet shofar announcing that good and evil are separated. The death judgment for sin will be wiped off the planet once and for all.<br />
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6) <b>Tabernacles</b> is the week-long joyful celebration called Sukkot. It is a seven day party celebration in Jerusalem. It is the last of the three pilgrim festival and it is an appointment of the Father represented by the wedding of The King "tabernacling" with His people. </blockquote>
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Sukkot is HUGE. It represents the seven day wedding celebration of The Lamb and the Bride of Messiah and it points to the eight day, the day of eternity shown in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, shown by... <br />
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7) <b>Shemini Atzeret</b> the eight day, the set-apart day following the seven days of Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret literally means the assembly of the eighth (day). It is the grand finale, the eternal day of rest and the purpose of the Feasts of The LORD. This is the new beginning. </blockquote>
Eight is the Biblical number of new beginnings and the 8th day that Revelation declares as the transition to the world to come from the 1,000 years of the millennium after a 7,000 year ride on the rock we call planet Earth.<br />
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During Shemini Atzeret, time will move from linear into the eternity of God's realm in The Kingdom. The eighth day is 'the' day of the second creation, the restoration, the New Heaven and the New Earth when Heaven comes to Earth as it was intended in the beginning. </div><div><br /></div><div>As already noted the 8th day of Shemini Atzeret is described in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22.<br />
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Tabernacles aka Sukkot is shown to us in the prophecy of the scroll of Zechariah too. It is the Feast week that will continue to be celebrated as a time of worship during the millennium rest to come:<br />
<blockquote>
"Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain." Zechariah 14:16-17</blockquote>
<div><div>It was during Sukkot that the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Temple by Solomon:</div><div><blockquote>Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, which is Zion. All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim ("enduring"), which is the seventh month. 1Kings 8:1-2</blockquote></div><div>In the days of the first and second Temple during the seventh month, the Sukkot (Tabernacles) ingathering in Jerusalem included a wonderful tradition, the time of the water-drawing ceremony before the crowds gathered there. The good water drawing tradition likely came from the scene of the crowds shown in the book of Nehemiah.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Nehemiah 7-8 describes the day the descendants of the exiles gathered at none other than the Water Gate. It happened after the breaches in the wall around Jerusalem had been re-built and the gates installed on Elul 25. Have you ever noticed, the crowd of over 42,000 was led by 12 men?</div><div><br /></div><div>Sound familiar?</div><div><br /></div><div>They were at the Water Gate square when Ezra brought out the Torah as everyone stood with all arms raised and heads bowed. The Torah was read morning to noon on a wooden platform. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then Nehemiah told everyone to celebrate: "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our LORD. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”</div><div><br /></div><div>The reason for the joy of the LORD at the water gate was fulfilled 400 years later on the last day of the Sukkot festival. That's when Yeshua stood and shouted to the crowds declaring Isaiah's promise with a link to the water, wine and food for those who lack: </div><div><blockquote>"Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'" John 7:37-38</blockquote></div><div>He was referencing this:</div><div><blockquote>"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isaiah 55:1</blockquote></div></div><div></div><blockquote><div>"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. And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 12:2-6</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><b>So much for the Feasts... "being done away with."</b></div>
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God does not change. All appointed Feasts of "The LORD" are His "holy days" set apart and bookmarked in the Heavens on God's appointment calendar and inscribed in His unchanging Word for everyone to "see" the promise and glory of our Creator and the Messiah.<br />
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The "final four" of The LORD's moed days begin with Yom Teruah, a "day of trumpeting." Joel 2:1 also prophetically declares: <br />
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“Blow the the shofar בַּשֹּׁופָר [trumpet] in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand”</blockquote>
The importance of the Day of Trumpets is mind-bending. The Scriptures tell us in the end the Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet shofar again:<br />
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"And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the LORD God shall blow the shofar בַּשֹּׁופָר and shall go with whirlwinds of the south." Zechariah 9:14</blockquote>
It's time to reconsider what you may have learned about "this" trumpet.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The foundation story pointing toward the sounding of this shofar is found in Genesis 22:14. Genesis speaks of the need of a sacrifice, yet Abraham revels to his son that God will provide the ram to be offered up in place of Isaac on the wood. It's a picture of the the salvation work of Messiah Yeshua.<br />
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Remember, the ram's head was caught in the thicket of thorns by his horn. It is the same ram’s horn that is used after sacrifice for making the shofar. When we hear the sound of the ram’s horn, we are pointed back to the beginning and the faithfulness of God's covenant in providing what Abraham needed as a substitute for the death of his son Isaac.<br />
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God tested Abraham's faith in His promise to bless <u>all nations</u> , in that test Abraham was told to take his son to Mount Moriah to offer him there. Abraham had to rely on God's promise, not his own understanding. So, the sound of the shofar reminds us to remember the blessing Almighty God has provided for all people. That blessing is God's pardon on the Day of Judgment.<br />
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The ram is picture of Messiah, our substitute, our mediator before Almighty God in the same way the ram was Isaac’s.<br />
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Nehemiah 8 describes what happened on this same day years later when Ezra stood at a wooden podium in Jerusalem. He was there to read the Torah to the assembly gathered them after the 70 year diaspora in Babylon. </div><div><br /></div><div>Check out the list of the names of the men that stood there with Ezra as he shouted out on Yom Teruah. Their names are important to know and zero in on God's plan:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam on his left hand." Nehemiah 8:4</blockquote>
Ezra in Hebrew means "help." Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets is all about helping us hear and do (Shema) the Word of God that points to Messiah. Using the wold help we can see:<br />
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"Help" (Ezra) stood at a wooden podium and brought the Torah and opened the scroll before the assembly who could listen with understanding, on Yom Teruah, the day of shouting and the day of the shofar. It was the first day of the month before the square in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday.<br />
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Help is on his right hand the gift of Yah, hear Yah - He has answered, Yah is the light, my portion is the work of Yah. Yah is the short for the name Y-H-V-H.<br />
<ul>
<li>Mattithiah = gift of Yah</li>
<li>Shema = hear</li>
<li>Anaiah = Yah has answered</li>
<li>Uriah = Yah is my light</li>
<li>Hilkiah = My portion is Yah</li>
<li>Maaseiah = work of Yah</li>
</ul>
Help is on his left hand because Yah has ransomed who is what God is. my king is Yah is a rich, considerate judge, Yah remembers His friends.<br />
<ul>
<li>Pedaiah = Yah has ransomed</li>
<li>Mishael = who is what God is (this is Meshach from the furnice fire)</li>
<li>Malchijah = my king is Yah</li>
<li>Hashum = rich</li>
<li>Hashbaddanah = considerate judge</li>
<li>Zechariah = Yah remembers</li>
<li>Meshullam = friend</li>
</ul>
Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah explained the Torah.<br />
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Yeshua is salvation scorched, the right insidious. The sabbatical majesty, a work of Yah crippled. Yet Yah has helped, has endowed, he is merciful and Yah does wonders.<br />
<ul>
<li>Jeshua (Yeshua) = Yah is salvation</li>
<li>Bani = made</li>
<li>Sherebiah = Yah has scorched</li>
<li>Jamin = right hand</li>
<li>Akkub = insidious</li>
<li>Shabbethai = sabbatical</li>
<li>Hodiah= my majesty is Yah</li>
<li>Maaseiah = work of Yah</li>
<li>Kelita = crippled</li>
<li>Azariah = Yah has helped</li>
<li>Jozabad = Yah has endowed</li>
<li>Hanan= he is merciful</li>
<li>Pelaiah = Yah does wonders</li>
</ul>
Yom Teruah announces, prepares us for the coming of the King, the High Priest on Yom Kippur the great shofar day. It's the appointed day of The LORD that the "great trumpet" is blown, it tracks the one Jesus mentions in Matthew 24:31:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"He will send out his angels with a great sound of a shofar, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." Matthew 24:31</blockquote>
It's also about announcing the coming fulfillment of the promise of the final Jubilee.<br />
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There are three traditional trumpets blown in most any synagogue around the world on this great day called Yom Kippur. It has been a rehearsal for thousands of years by faithful Jewish people... the shofar called the first trump, is first blown on Shavuot (Pentecost). Check out Exodus 19:19.<br />
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Take note, Zechariah says "God shall blow." That's what happened on Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. He blew His Spirit wind on the disciples gathered there.<br />
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The seventh new moon trumpet is blown on the Fall Feast of Yom Teruah, it is the Rosh Kodesh (New Moon) day of shofar blowing in the countdown to the great trumpet (see Leviticus 25:1 and Revelation 11:15). The seven new moon trumpets are know known as the first days of these months on the Hebrew calendar:<br />
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1. Nisan<br />
2. Iyyar<br />
3. Sivan<br />
4. Tammuz<br />
5. Av<br />
6. Elul<br />
7. Tishri<br />
<br />But there is another trumpet to come. The last trumpet, the great trumpet will be blown to herald the mystery of the holiest day miracle on the Day of Atonement covering for those called from the four winds of earth to Jerusalem's high holy court of good judgment in the court under King Messiah Yeshua.<br />
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That shofar will be blown at the end of Yom Kippur to announce the Jubilee Year has commenced (see references in Leviticus 25:9-10 Matthew 24:31, 1Corinthians 15:52, 1Thessalonians 4:16 and Revelation 10:7).<br />
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That special high holy Yom Kippur Jubilee day is the "great trump," the mega shofar! </div><div><br /></div><div>This day will herald the mystery of the holiest day, the miracle of eliminating iniquity, the miracle of complete atonement and it will announce the grand Jubilee. It's the day Almighty God will use a shofar to call His own, whether native born or sojourner grafted in -- to Jerusalem. That final "great" trumpet will be the one that is blown to announce "THE" Jubilee of the King.<br />
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That trumpet will signal that all slaves to sin both dead and alive, will be freed from the iniquity condition we call death. By understanding this, we can realize that Yom Kippur explains the completion, the fulfillment of the work of Yeshua that began at Passover almost 2,000 years (two days ago). </div><div><br /></div><div>That shofar is called the Shofar HaGadol of Yom Kippur. It will be blown to bring in the Jubilee Year. That shofar will announce the arrival of the year the Promised Land will be fully restored as an inheritance just as promised to Abraham.</div><div><br /></div><div>Scripture does not seem to say that the Jubilee begins on the Day of Atonement, but that the impending arrival of the Jubilee Year is announced on the Day of Atonement. It will be the great trumpet call to live and worship The LORD in the land of Israel (see Isaiah 27:13).<br />
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This Jubilee is described in John's vision in Revelation 21-22 where he described it as the new heaven and new earth and the river of life. Even the tree of life is seen again as it was in the beginning. This is also declared in Matthew 24:31: "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."<br />
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Passover shows us what Jesus (Yeshua) did in public for mankind and Yom Kippur explains the hidden story of the priesthood work of Melchizedek that Yeshua will complete. We might begin to understand this when we realize the work of the High Priest takes place in the Tabernacle and the Most Holy Place. </div><div><br /></div><div>To get a grasp on that, we must realize that The Tabernacle with its Holy Place and Most Holy Place and it components made of gold represent the unseen reality of Heaven on Earth (for a refresher re-read Exodus 25:40).<br />
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On that future day, the Promised Land will be restored to all nations that make the choice to repent and seek God's Kingdom with The High Priest King fulfilling God's promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (see Leviticus 25:9, Revelation 7:9 and Revelation 20).<br />
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Its amazing, the so-called done away with Old Testament Feasts are not old at all, they are alive and well and they show us the good things, "the things to come."<br />
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They are critically important to honor and rehearse yet many do not get to because they struggle with the words of Paul and preachers that do not read his letters with the foundation of the Bible Jesus read because they have been taught like I was, wearing grimy Greek glasses instead of the crystal clear Hebrew lens of Scripture. <br />
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When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he was encouraging them to not accept criticism from those that did not understand they needed to celebrate the Feasts of The LORD, but many unwittingly reverse his Hebraic message today. Paul knew the new moon trumpets represent the substance of the amazing things to come and they that they belong to Messiah:<br />
<blockquote>
"Let no man therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or Shabbat, which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Messiah's." Colossians 2:16-17 HNV</blockquote>
Bottomline, Paul's advice to everyone is that the Feasts of The LORD must be front and center on your calendar, not just The LORD's because these are The LORD's days to to be fulfilled by the Messiah of Israel.<br />
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Like I used to, some Christians ask: “Didn’t Jesus render the Sabbath and the feast days obsolete? Doesn’t Colossians 2:17 say that these things were "<i>mere</i>" shadows?”<br />
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No. Look for yourself.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Greek manuscripts do NOT say "<i>mere"</i> shadows; the word <i>mere</i> is not found in any known Greek manuscript of Paul's letter. It was added by some translator's because of religious tradition that had turned their back against the Jewish people and the Bible.<br />
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The insertion of the word "<i>mere</i>" reflects a translator's misguided opinion, that is why it <i>appears in italics </i>in many modern English publications. At least the italics are honest to a degree. They show that <i>mere </i>was added in despite Moses warning to not add to or take away anything from God's word. Paul actually wrote this:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
"things which are a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."</div>
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Things which are a shadow of the glory to come shows us the eternal unchanging importance of the Feasts of the LORD, it gives them significance and Colossians 2:17 does not teach of a "<i>mere</i>" shadow. at all. It says they “<b>are</b>” a shadow of <u>what is to come</u> -- the substance of Messiah will be seen.<br />
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This is important if you say your are a follower of Messiah!! The <i>mere</i> truth shows us that Paul properly regarded the appointed days as a shadow picture of Messiah, and they are VERY real, still able to cast a shadow of the past, present and future.<br />
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The shadow of the Messiah is alive and well in His resurrection AND intercession as His Priest King. So, if we honor the Sabbaths, we get to honor the Feasts of The LORD and stand in the work of Messiah Yeshua.<br />
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At first, this can be frustrating if you have been taught another tradition by some old sermons of dispensational Greek thinking replacement theology (false doctrine). It can take some serious unwinding of inherited lies of the fathers, to unlearn tradition to see the light of truth.<br />
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The thing is, our Creator does not really care much for our "holiday" customs that we add to our Roman calendars. They are not on His. It can be hard, but among the "sacred stone" traditions of so-called holidays with Santa's Christmas tree and an Easter bunny's basket of eggs are found nowhere in the Bible Jesus read from and taught every Sabbath (see Luke 4:16).</div><div><br /></div><div><div>In the beginning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil looked good, but it was a deception. Adam and Eve ate the fruit despite the warning and were told to leave the garden. Today, Bible believers do the same when they decide to honor custom of the wrong tree. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's why Almighty God says... "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts." (Leviticus 23:1) and this:</div></div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>Thus says the LORD:</div><div> </div><div>“<u>Learn not</u> the way of the nations,</div><div>nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens</div><div>because the nations are dismayed at them,</div><div>for <u>the customs of the peoples are vanity.</u></div><div><br /></div><div>A tree from the forest is cut down</div><div>and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.</div><div>They decorate it with silver and gold;</div><div>they fasten it with hammer and nails</div><div>so that it cannot move." Jeremiah 1-:1-4</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div>Following Constantine's lead, hundreds of years after multitudes of Jewish people that had heard and believed Yeshua and witnessed His miracle healings, they followed Him as their Master Rabbi, but the early Gentile church fathers mixed-in vain customs from Rome with Scripture. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>They blended in some old Babylonian mythologies of the birth of a sun-god with the Roman festival of Saturnalia, honoring the Roman idol-god Saturn with gift giving during the winter solstice. In those days, it was rare for anyone to have access to the Hebrew Scriptures, so people rejected the Jewish people and the result was a global famine of the Word of God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Incredibly, antisemitism prevented the church fathers among the nations from knowing the truth. </div><div><br /></div><div>Over the years, the Jewishness of Messiah and the joyful purpose of Tabernacles was erased and replaced by timelines that were customs from ancient mainstream pagan tradition. The outcome was a newly rebranded holiday called the mass of Christ (aka Christmas).</div><div><br /></div><div>The truth if you ask your pastor, is what I heard growing up: there's nothing in the Bible that points to a Christmas birth. The story and timing of the priestly service of Zechariah in the book of Luke points to a birthday at Sukkot and that Yeshua was likely born on the first day and was circumcised on the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles.</div><div><br /></div><div>Praise God, people's eyes and hearts are turning away from years of old Roman customs and misguided theology. They are returning in repentance to a restored Biblical understanding of the Feasts of the LORD and their importance to our Creator God. Believers are learning through reading and believing Scripture to not bow and pay homage with gifts under trees decorated with silver and gold. They are learning to not deceive their children about a fat man coming down a chimney with a beard in a red suit too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua’s people are being called out by God's Spirit to be set-apart as a holy priesthood people cleansed us from the past sins of Rome infused with Babylon's traditions teaching their children and others the truth of when to celebrate The LORD's Feast Days.</div>
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Bottomline, our old customs need to change, we need to repent because new church holidays like Easter and Christmas are not a celebration of the holy days The LORD calls His own. Our ways, our customs and traditions are not His ways. Not even close, they are counterfeit, they look real like a tare that hides in the wheat, but they are nowhere in <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/messiahs-bible_31.html" target="_blank">the Bible that Jesus read and taught</a>.<br />
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It was mind-bending, no heartbreaking for me to come to the sense of reality that The LORD's Feasts were not my own because I had unwittingly disowned them. I now know the truth as fact: non-Biblical traditions and customs "appointed by men" trouble Almighty God deeply and they should trouble us as well. How do we know?<br />
<br />Our Creator God says so:<br />
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<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
<center>
<big>"... your appointed feasts my soul hateth: </big></center>
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<big>they are a trouble unto me</big></center>
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<big>I am weary to hear them." Isaiah 1:14</big></center>
<hr align="center" hr="" noshade="" size="8" width="75%" />
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The LORD's Feast Days are important to our Heavenly Father, because they are His. So much so He designed the solar system to declare them like a master timepiece.<br />
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Our traditions and customs distort God's purpose in His Feasts, so we need to be like king Hezekiah. If we will read 2 Kings 18:4 you will see that king Hezekiah knew what to do about improper worship: he removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah trees. You can too.<br />
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The book of life, the Bible is the good book Almighty God declares from Genesis to Revelation to reveal His love story and His plan for His appointments with mankind is outlined for His royal priesthood in Leviticus 23. Read and study it and you will discover every Feast is critically important in God's plan of redemption!<br />
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The King James translators called God's set apart days "Feasts" but as we have seen, the Hebrew word in the Bible is actually "moed." It means "appointed time." That Hebrew word is important, it adds clarity to God's calendar because the Feasts of The LORD are God's appointments and we get to rehearse them! <br />
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The King James translators also used the word "solemn" to describe the Feasts of The LORD and that can be confusing too in our "western" mindset. The truth is, the olde English word "solemn" did not just mean serious as it does today. When the King James Bible was written they got it right. At the time, the word actually meant "regularly appointed" and that means God's appointments <u>do not change</u>.<br />
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Mind blowing??<br />
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Yes, but don't let the truth discourage you! It should encourage you because the good news is that each of God's holy appointed, set-apart regularly appointed "moed" days on God's calendar have tremendous significance in His plan of salvation, redemption and restoration for you, me and the planet if we just believe The LORD and do something in faith and action about that belief. <br />
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Think of the Feasts as God's perfect plan that you can be a part of, right now. Don't be discouraged that you have not known the truth or believed a lie.<br />
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Every "believer" I know says they want to know God's plan for their life. If that describes you, a good place to begin that journey of discovery the royal priesthood (1Peter 2:9-10) is to start with the Creator's appointment calendar. </div><div><br /></div><div>We all need to be in the right place at the right time. In the first coming of our humble Savior as Messiah ben Joseph, we can see the first phase of God's salvation plan in the Spring Feast season.<br />
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Those appointments are the days Yeshua kept right on time to engage the plan of "salvation" for the Jewish people first and then the whole world. Yet, those Spring appointments that God set in time on His calendar are not the end of God's plan to wipe iniquity off His planet and out of our hearts, they are the beginning.<br />
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The Fall Feasts remain in Yeshua's resurrection glory to come. They will start with a shofar trumpet blast to alert the world to the call of repentance because the appointed Fall Feasts are the days that King Messiah will arrive to restore mankind so we will be able to stand near God's presence just as it was in Eden. Back then, our Creator God Elohim walked side by side with Adam and Eve before their fall into deception. They choose to believe the lie of a serpent, then they realized the truth.<br />
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The Fall Feast season arrives each year like a rehearsal during the seventh Biblical month called Ethanin (see 1Kings 8:2). Since the Babylonian exile, that holy month pronounced in Hebrew as "Aay-thaan" has been renamed Tishri by the Jewish people during their stay in Babylon, but God's Word calls it Ethanim and it means "enduring." </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to get ready for Ethanin.</div><div><br /></div><div>The seventh Biblical month is the enduring month. It's the month all of Israel (children of God) will assemble to the King in Zion at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like the celebration of a wedding rehearsal, each passing year gets us closer and to this holy month and provides us the appointed rehearsal time to prepare the royal priesthood assembly waiting for Messiah to arrive as the High Priest King of Israel. When He arrives, like Solomon say in 1Kings 8:14, He will turn around and bless all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly stands. I thinkYeshua will raise His scarred hands for all to see say and say these very words:</div><div><blockquote>"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26</blockquote></div><div>Each year the Fall Feast days arrive on God's calendar four months after Shavuot (Pentecost Day) and they portray the future new moon Trumpet's Day announcement arrival of the King of Heaven.<br />
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Revelation describes all of this harkening us back to the words of Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and other prophets. The final Feast of "Ingathering" reveals Messiah living on Earth as He did before, yet not as a humble Rabbi from Nazareth, but as Messiah King leading the restoration of Heaven and Earth.<br />
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Every detail of the Feasts of The LORD are critically important!<br />
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Even the four hot months of summer's heat between the Spring and Fall seasons play a vital role in God's plan when we repent and look back. Think about the words that Jesus (aka Yeshua) gave to His disciples. His message has deep significance. Like me, you may have missed it in past readings if the purpose of the appointed "Fall" Feast Days are not understood: <br />
<blockquote>
"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." John 4:35</blockquote>
The giving of the gifts of the Spirit of God at Pentecost (Shavuot) to the disciples that were there at the appointed time in Jerusalem empowered them with an amazing gift of Almighty God to speak languages they did not know in a Spirit filled reversal of the curse of the Tower of Babylon. Empowered with a gift, they were ready to engage the great harvest commission and change the world... to teach all nations, regardless of their language of the gospel of the Kingdom of Messiah and how to walk His walk.<br />
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It was the Feast of Shavuot when the gifts of The Spirit were poured out for all that believed. They were in the right place at the solemn right time. Ten days earlier they were given an assignment to wait before going out to the world to declare the Gospel of the Kingdom. They all needed to wait for Shavuot because it was appointed for the gift giving of the Spirit of The LORD to be able to speak the languages of the nations.<br />
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So they waited with obedience in Jerusalem and on that 50th Shavuot day in 30AD, the assembly in Jerusalem received the fire of the gifts of God's Spirit as it descended on them with the sound of a rushing wind (see Acts 2).<br />
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Some think that event was unique, something new, but it was seen before. There was another amazing Shavuot that preceded it when the Spirit was given and that place was Mount Sinai. Nehemiah tells it like it is:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst." Nehemiah 9:20 </blockquote>
There is another gift. That gift is time, after all it's been almost 2,000 years, and many "weeks" since the Shavuot arrival of the Spirit of God. The LORD describes Pentecost or Shavuot as the "Feast of Weeks" for good reason. The Spirit of God and His gifts have remained engaged over the weeks of 2,000 years even if you didn't know it!<br />
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Many people have inadvertently cut the great commission short saying" we are to teach others to "just believe" the Gospel message of grace, but Messiah Yeshua commands we are "to do" God's Word just like He did and abide in The Father's love!!</div><div><blockquote>If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. John 15:10</blockquote>Just alike the days of the Exodus, where God is, we need to be.<br />
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That place is in the assembly on His appointed days, because we do not want to miss His glory fire and His good Spirit. Shavuot is the holiday connecting the beginning from the end and it shows us we are to teach everyone its lesson, to observe "all things" and that includes The LORD's Feast Days.<br />
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Like Yeshua we are to "disciple" others in the appointments of our Holy God so I am glad you are here today. If you doubt the Jesus assignment, you are not alone, others have doubted before, including me: <br />
<blockquote>
"And when they saw him they worshiped him, <b>but some doubted</b>. And Jesus (Yeshua) came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father (YHVH) and of the Son (Yeshua) and of the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), <b>teaching them to observe all</b> that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."" Matthew 28:17-20</blockquote>
You may be like me, you may have 'innocently' missed the significance and timing of God's appointments, thinking they were done away with because like me you inherited some lies. But if we continue to do believe them, we must realize that when we turn our backs on the appointments of God and ignore His invitation to meet with Him, we are like the Roman Centurion that pierced Messiah (the living word) hanging on the crucifixion tree. <br />
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If we continue to stubbornly go our own way on a wide road and miss God's appointed times on the narrow road, we will miss a great blessing of the Bible and its amazing plan and promise. <br />
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Think of the Feasts (appointments) as the blueprint of God's redemption plan. Be a part of the plan.<br />
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As the Bible shows us, God's great plan has an outline in Leviticus. It includes God's key engagements, seven divine appointments established at Mount Sinai pointing to the Gospel promise of The Kingdom of God. They lead to the final appointment for mankind to meet with The King of the Universe. To understand that we need to reconnect with God's calendar, and not miss any of His rehearsals or we will end of like the five virgins with no oil and miss the wedding party.<br />
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When we take them to heart, we can understand the Feasts of The LORD are His appointments, when we take them to heart you will never want to miss them again if you love Him!<br />
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If they are done away with as so many have said, the future will be pretty bleak, but it's not. The Gospel of the Kingdom is the good news for a reason and a season. <br />
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One big key that helped me get a 'heart' handle on The Feasts of The LORD was to begin to understand that God gives us His teaching and instruction (Torah) for living because He loves us as our Heavenly Father.<br />
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The Father wants you to know His unchanging plan and His unchanging heart. He wants you to understand His unchanging plan. That is the baseline, like Nehemiah said: "you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love..."<br />
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When we "get it" the truth reveals that the Feasts of The LORD teach us about His abounding steadfast love, and we can finally know that the "change" needed is the change you and I need to make on our calendar because we "want to" return to "the faith which was once delivered" because we get to.<br />
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The Almighty is the King of the uni"verse" and He uses each letter and verse of His Word as a part of a steadfast love message to teach us when and how to hang out with Him and how to rest in Him.<br />
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That's why they are called appointments of The LORD.<br />
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Yeshua said: "<a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mat&c=11&t=KJV#30" target="_blank">my yoke is easy</a>". His light yoke is the same instruction given at Mount Sinai. It is shown to us as the way we get live if we love Him and desire to be near to The Father. And get this... it includes with a vacation plan from work so mark your calendar now. Yup, the Feast Days give us guidance, they are the days God gives us to be off from the difficult labors of life, a time to rest in Him, a time to celebrate and rejuvenate in God's plan.<br />
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It's the original message of the deceiver to fall for the idea that God does not mean what He says or that He changes His mind. Don't listen to that lie any longer!<br />
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I know this study may seem a bit long, but it only scratches the surface on the significance and meaning of God's prophetic, rehearsal days for His appointment time with you and there is much more to discover about His desire to forgive, be gracious and merciful, slow to anger and demonstrate His abounding in steadfast love.<br />
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The purpose of this Scripture study is to help you leave Egypt and get started in your own journey with Messiah into a restoration life into the Kingdom.<br />
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God knows we are only human, He know we need rehearsal, it takes practice to prepare.<br />
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That's why its up to you to participate in the rehearsals. Honor the festivals if you love The LORD because God will keep His appointments whether you are there or not. So keep digging in and learn to love to honor The Father. It's your purpose for life, just like Messiah. <br />
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If you have a heartfelt desire to learn more about your Creator God and His plan, to know His heart, that is probably why you are here today. Consider this prophecy that was foretold by God to Zephaniah: <br />
<blockquote>
<i>"I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts-- They came from you, {O Zion;} {The} reproach {of exile} is a burden on them." Zephaniah 3:18 </i></blockquote>
It is important to know that to grieve means that love comes first. It's time to love the Feasts and remember that <a a="" href="http://heartofwisdom.com/biblicalholidays/holiday-dates/" target="_blank">on God's calendar</a>, His "days" begin in the evening after sunset. That's nothing new, in the beginning, there was darkness before light.<br />
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"And the evening and the morning were the first day."</blockquote>
I know this may seem odd at first, but it just goes to show that some of us have been out of sync with our Creator and we never realized it.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8v3f-GlNtEg/SY22hqyEppI/AAAAAAAAAOk/uKm3SN-QiDU/s1600-h/fall_feasts.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300093026021189266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8v3f-GlNtEg/SY22hqyEppI/AAAAAAAAAOk/uKm3SN-QiDU/s200/fall_feasts.jpg" style="float: left; height: 122px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a>The Feast seasons are all synchronized with God's calendar by God's timepiece. Its big hand uses the moon. The 'new moon' marks the first day of each Biblical month's counting. The Psalms teach us all about this truth:<br />
<blockquote>
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. Psalm 81:3-4<br />
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The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. Psalm 89:11<br />
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It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. Psalm 89:37<br />
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He made the moon to mark the 'seasons'... Psalm 104:19 </blockquote>
The Hebrew word in Psalm 104:19 <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&c=104&t=KJV#s=t_conc_582019" target="_blank">is that word 'moed'</a>, look for yourself at any Bible concordance, and in the Psalm, the 'seasons' mean 'appointed times'.<br />
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All of the prophetic days in the time prophecies of Scripture, including those in the book of Daniel and Revelation will occur in the days set according to God's creation calendar. Not a single time or date mentioned in any Scripture is set by our own calendar! To know what God is up to, get in sync with God's daytimer.<br />
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Yet, the "deceiver" has another plan to erase all memory of God's Feasts and His appointment calendar from the minds and hearts of Believers that have heard a false testimony. In fact, many of us have shunned away from even looking up because the "deceiver" has polluted God's plan with the deceptive lies of astrology.<br />
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God hates astrology, but He created astronomy and He uses the Heavens to mark time for His Feast Days.<br />
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Interestingly, the Falls Feasts begin with Yom Teruah (Tĕruw`ah in Hebrew), the day of shouting or Trumpets Day in the 7th month. Tishrei always starts on a 'new moon'... always has, always will. The Bible calls each monthly new moon day a 'Rosh Kodesh' day. Since creation, the arrival of the "Day of Trumpets" has been set in Heaven above as a Rosh Kodesh new moon day and because of that it is referenced as the day that: "no man knows the day or hour."<br />
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Those words are from Matthew 24:36. They were well know in His day, but made famous by none other than the humble Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus) when he spoke of a future Day of Trumpets that will announce His return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, The King.<br />
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As you can see, there is a lot more going on than you ever expected in the Fall Feasts.<br />
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Why did Jesus say it would be a day no man knows?</b><br />
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Hold on to your hat, because for starters, Trumpets or Yom Teruah is the only holy appointed Feast Day of The LORD that arrives without a specific marker. It only arrives when you see it in the darkness of a new moon on the first day of the 7th month now called Tishre.<br />
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In antiquity, this new moon "day" was never precisely known until you actually saw it with your own eyes or heard the trumpet blast of someone that did. Think about that for a minute, and take off your Greek glasses and put in your Hebrew lens before you read on. <br />
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Ready? <br />
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OK, here's what's up, the 'Hebraic' thought behind Yeshua's statement is really amazing, but it does not fit in well with our western world of Greek thinking that says "we just can't know." The fact is <b><i>we can</i>.</b> That's why Paul wrote: "Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2<br />
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The new moon is the period of a dark or invisible moon as it sneaks up on you like a theif in the night as it transitions in its monthly cycle. That's a part of the mystery key. To understand, <u>we have to look up to God's creation</u>. Imagine that!<br />
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Today in 2011, thanks to NASA's computers and engineers, we now know with some precision that the calendar during this month potentially has two days in which the moon will be unlit by the sun in darkness as it transitions in new light to the third day. <br />
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By the way, does the lunar pattern sound like a prophetic message to any Bible students out there?<br />
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It is. It's a remembrance etched in creation of the 3rd day resurrection of Messiah and His return to life from the darkness of death after 2 days!! And regarding the two days, they are also a reference to the prophecy of Hosea 6:3 as well as Psalms 90:4.<br />
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Check it out! The disciple Peter validated this in 2Peter 3:8 2,000 years ago form the book of Psalms:<br />
<blockquote>
"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."</blockquote>
This two day lunar transition from night's darkness to light is due to the moon's orbital shape and alignment that was set by God during creation. Like God Almighty, it has never changed.<br />
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So if you consider it, the Trumpet's Day appointed arrival time is really only "known" with the actual sighting of the sliver of the new moon. <br />
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Simply put, within God's "purpose" in His creation design and by His own declaration, this Feast Day is not really "known" until it is seen - when the day and hour is "confirmed" (and known). But we can learn how to watch for it, we can learn how to prepare, and to do that we get to honor the annual Feast of Trumpets in the month of Tishre. After all, until Yeshua does return, it's a rehearsal.<br />
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When you consider the moon's location during the day, we can know it also affects our ability to see its crescent light. The ancient message that the day and hour is "unknown" becomes clearer and it points right at Trumpets Day, the day of shouting. One thing is sure, God knows which future Trumpet's day will be "the coming day" of The King's trumpet blast, the announcement of Yeshua's return.<br />
<br />
In Matthew 24 Yeshua privately said as He spoke to His talmidim (disciples) sitting on the Mount of Olives…<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels <b>with a loud trumpet call</b>, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."</blockquote>
So don't miss out on your chance to be a trumpet blower and a prayer warrior to shout out, rehearse and celebrate the coming day that will announce His return!<br />
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The account of Chronicles gives us a picture of the seventh month that begins with Yom Teruah.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in<u> the seventh month</u>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
All the Levites who were musicians – Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres..."</blockquote>
They were accompanied by priests sounding trumpets. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“He is good; his love endures forever.” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God." </blockquote>
That song verse “He is good; his love endures forever” came from David’s song the day he brought the ark to Jerusalem. It includes the words…<br />
<br />
Sing to the LORD, all the earth!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Tell of his salvation from day to day.<br />
Declare his glory among the nations,<br />
his marvelous works among all the peoples!</blockquote>
This speaks of Yom Teruah.<br />
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Check out David’s song in 1 Chronicles 16.<br />
<br />
"After that day Nathan was told to tell David that the promised kingdom household would be built by God. (Chapter 17).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build you a house. When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David."</blockquote>
This day is also known as the day of the awakening blast... by this we might see it is the day of gladness, the resurrection promised in Isaiah: <br />
<blockquote>
"But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise - let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy — your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead." Isaiah 16:19 NIV </blockquote>
We all need to know, and remember 'the former things' which are the pattern of God's appointments.<br />
<br />
We need to know them to understand God's plan for "the" fulfillment of His appointed Fall Feast days that start with the Day of Trumpets and declare the end (Fall) harvest of things "not yet done" to accomplish His purpose from the beginning to the end.<br />
<blockquote>
<i>"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, <b>remember the former things of old</b>; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, <b>declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done</b>, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose..."</i> Isaiah 46:8-11 </blockquote>
God's Biblical calendar has what seems to be oddly named months. One of them is called Elul, it’s mentioned once in Nehemiah. It translates as “nothingness” as in 'the void' of Genesis before creation. It’s the 6th month of the Biblical calendar.<br />
<br />
Check out Nehemiah 6. There you will read about the restoration of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. It was prophetically restored on Elul 25. <br />
<blockquote>
"So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth [<i>day</i>] of [the month] Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard [<i>thereof</i>], and all the heathen that [<i>were</i>] about us saw [<i>these things</i>], they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God."</blockquote>
That work was finished five days before the celebration of the Day Trumpets on Elul 25 because Nehemiah tells us that the wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt in 52 days. <br />
<br />
Many believe that Elul 25 was also the day that God began His creation week and if we believe that report, it means the wall was finished the day after Trumpets just as Adam was created on the 6th day, another Day of Trumpets arrival day.<br />
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Not only that, but through the centuries, Trumpets (Yom Teruah) has been traditionally called a “day of blowing” and for good reason, it's the day the Almighty blew the quickening breath of His Spirit of life into Adam. It's amazing to consider that nickname, a “day of blowing” because Adam was given life by God’s blowing into the dust of Adam on Trumpets Day, the 'memorial day of blowing'. It was a day of shouting... perhaps the same day... "God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."<br />
<br />
The great promise of Jesus given by Daniel is that He will give renewed life, resurrection to those in the dust at His return. <br />
<blockquote>
Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.</blockquote>
So, is it any wonder Paul wrote the Corinthians these words?<br />
<blockquote>
1Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. <br />
<br />
1Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.</blockquote>
As you rest in God’s love, consider the traditional events of 'the day' of Trumpets.<br />
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Yes, the Fall Feast days are awesome!<br />
<br />
From my Scripture studies, I have learned that God's calendar is based on both the moon and the sun is it is quite different from the singular solar calendar that we have grown up with. God's calendar began with His creation. In God's timekeeping, <strong>each month is marked by the moon, each day is marked by the setting sun and each week by the Sabbath</strong>. Every day begins at sunset instead of midnight as each day by our Creator's own definition, continues through the night to the next day's evening sunset.<br />
<br />
How do we know this about the day? One more time...<br />
<blockquote>
<i>"And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And <strong>the evening</strong> and <b>the morning</b> were <b>the first day.</b>" Genesis 1:5</i> </blockquote>
Think again about the basics given here.<br />
<br />
Let it sink in, "creation" began before there was light and before light there is darkness. God does not change, so it is the same with His definition of a day. It has never changed, not does He.<br />
<br />
To understand Scripture, and the Feast Days, we just need to start thinking like God does since "the beginning." The light of the 'final' day will be preceded by darkness and tribulation like the waters and void before the first day, but the good news is, the Light of The World is coming on the seventh day!<br />
<br />
In the same way, each week is always counted with the seven days given to us by God on His Biblical calendar and <strong>each week ends on His 7th Sabbath day of rest</strong>. The week ends with the Sabbath <strong>it does not</strong> begin there! </div><div><br /></div><div>God never changed a thing.<br />
<br />
It's mind blowing for some of us, but Sunday is a religious invention of men, a day that replaces God's Sabbath with our own. If you want to consider more on this, see my Scripture study: "<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/when-did-for-ever-simply-change.html" target="_blank">The Sabbath.... When Did For Ever Change?</a>". <br />
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Each month is recorded by the Creator's perfectly amazing and exact movement of His own creation <a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/p/gods-timepiece.html" target="_blank">timepiece</a>, <strong>the orbit of the moon around the earth and the orbit of the earth around the sun. </strong><br />
<strong><br /></strong>
This precise movement marks each Feast month as he planet rotates in God's keeping. Simply put, the beginning of all Biblical months begins with the new moon and that is why the new moon has a special placeholder in Scripture. It shows us God's timekeeping, His way.<br />
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In the Bible, all of God's set apart days, all of His "Holy" appointed days are in accordance with His creation calendar which combines the earth's rotation and orbit around the sun with the moon's rotation and orbit around the earth. The moon's axis rotation exactly matches that of its orbital revolution around the Earth. It is no coincidence. <br />
<br />
God's timekeeping is quite different from today's solar Gregorian calendar that ignores the creation of Biblical months and the lunar component of God's calendar. Out manmade calendar was introduced by none other than a fellow named Gregory... Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.<br />
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As we have seen, before we can understand the great significance of God's appointed fall rehearsals, His Feast Days, we must first look at the events of the fulfillment of His Spring Feast Days.<br />
<br />
We've already glanced at them, but we must understand truth from Scripture: the "fulfillment" of the Spring Feast Days were fulfilled by Jesus (or in Hebrew - Yeshua).<br />
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Like God's calendar, the Feast Days are cyclical, they repeat because their orbital mechanics are based on God's <a a="" href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/p/gods-timepiece.html" target="_blank">rotational and orbital timepiece</a>, they are not linear. So too, Messiah's mission to Earth is cyclical and two-fold. That is on reason the prophetic Feast Days are divided into two separate seasons, spring and fall.<br />
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In Hebraic thought, the spring days tie to His humble role as "Messiah ben Joseph", the suffering Messiah, the lamb. Like Joseph's story long ago, today many of His brothers reject him, but thank God that's not the end of Joseph's story, just a part of it. He was reconciled with his brothers.<br />
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The prophecy of Daniel 9:26-27 teaches us more truth of the one Messiah's two comings as seen in the Spring and Fall Feasts. In fact, Gabriel showed Daniel the exact timing of the future that Moses wrote of when describing the Feast Days. Daniel was told that "Messiah the Prince" will come on God's Feast Day schedule and He will be cut off. Yeshua fulfilled this prophecy right on time.<br />
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<strong>Passover</strong> <br />
<br />
Jesus was tried falsely and cursed by man and killed on a stake outside the city of Jerusalem. He gave His life willfully as a Passover offering. He lay in the grave on the day of Unleavened Bread and He arose in resurrection on the third day of First Fruits.<br />
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All of these days are described in the Bible. <br />
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Forty years later, the sanctuary of God, The Temple was destroyed in Jerusalem and it remains in that way today as “wars and desolations are determined until the end.” This tells us Jesus our Messiah will return again in a time of great trouble: <br />
<blockquote>
"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah [<i>and</i>] against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." Zechariah 12:2-3 </blockquote>
"In that day" before us Yeshua will reveal His role as "Messiah ben David," the King who will come in judgment of those that arise against Jerusalem. Even now, the stones of the Western Wall have become a burden for all the world to see. There is one aspect of the burdensome stone before us now. Jerusalem is a long-divided city. It has at its ancient center Islam's so-called third holiest site. It is the al-Aqsa mosque on top of the Temple Mount. Just a few feet away stands the Dome of the Rock and below the Western Wall remains, the stones of which right comprise the foundation of holiest site on the planet. <br />
<br />
Israelis and Palestinians both want access. Jerusalem is the cup of trembling where Yeshua was pierced and where He gave His blood for mankind before the very site that once held the two tablets of the Ten Commandments in the Holy of Holies below the Mercy Seat.<br />
<blockquote>
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced... Zechariah 12:9-10 </blockquote>
Yeshua was pierced as "The Lamb of God" as the Passover lamb foretold by Abraham and declared by John the Levite Baptizer. Think of John as the 'mikvah' man. After all, mikvah is the Hebrew word for baptize.<br />
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Messiah entered Jerusalem during the Spring Feast preparation days, the four days before the Passover riding a lowly donkey as foretold by Zechariah 9:9. According to Biblical teaching and instruction (the meaning of the word Torah), the Passover lamb was to be selected on the 10th day of 1st month, and Messiah Yeshua was hailed by the crowds on His triumphant entry into the gate of Jerusalem on that exact day, it was the 10th of Nisan. <br />
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The seven days that begin after the Passover are also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread:<br />
<blockquote>
Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people. John 18:28 </blockquote>
As prophesied by John at the river Jordan (in Hebrew, Yardén or garden) Yeshua was crucified as the "Lamb of God" at the time set at the first Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:2). According to the prophetic Biblical record, Yeshua shows us each part of His Passover story has great meaning in His plan of redemption and the coming resurrection.<br />
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I encourage you to celebrate and participate each Passover with a meal in your home with your family and closest friends just as Jesus did with His disciples. Here is a link to explain <a href="http://kosherfood.about.com/od/pesach/ht/sederplate.htm" target="_blank">How To Prepare Passover Seder Plate</a>.<br />
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The book of Exodus gives us the timing of the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread that begins and ends giving us two rest days from labor's work. The key word is of course "rest" aka no labor. Here's the appointment calendar given by YHVH God way back in Egypt in three verses:<br />
<blockquote>
"Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. <br />
<br />
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening." Exodus 12:15-18</blockquote>As we can seen, evening is important in the Bible, it has been since creation. Ever since Genesis, a day begins when the sun sets at evening. Perhaps this is because when the sun has set, you can look up and see the moon. It's a big part of God's lunar solar timepiece that connects the monthly orbit of the moon around the Earth and the daily rotation of the Earth on it axis! <br />
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If we want to 'get it', this requires a Hebrew mindset with a focus on the beginning with the week of creation if we are to begin to understand the Bible and God's plan. <br />
<br />
Consider the beginning of the Exodus journey from slavery.<br />
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There in the desert, God gave what seemed to be some unusual instructions for the priestly sacrifices. Like a parable, these foreshadows the life work and anointing ministry of Yeshua the Messiah.<br />
<br />
All the sacrifice offerings point to Yeshua in some way! Its up to us to seek Him in them because each gives us a unique revelation of God's redemptive plan - past, present, and future all pointing to Messiah.</div><div><br /></div><div>So let's go ahead and jump in the deep end of the water.<br />
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Matthew understood the sacrifice offerings point to Yeshua, after all he was a Jew. His Hebrew name was Matityahu, it means which means "Gift of Yahovah." The shadow picture he gives to us ties four sets of generations of men from Abraham to Yeshua in Matthew 1:1-17.<br />
<br />
If you carefully read the text you will notice that the Matthew does not specifically state that there are 42 generations. He states there are three groups of 14 generations to Yeshua but in reality he lists 14 from Abraham to David. He then lists 14 from Solomon to Jeconiah but then only thirteen generations are listed from Shealtiel to Yeshua and Mary is noted as His mother.<br />
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There is a reason. Yeshua Jesus was the 13th and 14th generation. He was born the son of Mary and and listed as the 13th generation. He was reborn as the 14th generation after offering His life as a sacrifice for mankind's sin in His 'new grain' First Fruits' resurrection.<br />
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Not only that, the hidden layer if you dig in is that the Feast Days all had required sacrifices and they point to Matthew's genealogy of thirteen.<br />
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Numbers 28:19-23 describes a offering teaching and instruction during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to include the offering of thirteen animals and two more by grain and oil as an offering:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls and one ram and seven male lambs one year old, having them without defect. For their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a bull and two-tenths for the ram. A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs; and one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you. You shall present these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering."</blockquote>
Numbers 28:26-31 shows the sacrifices on First Fruits day during the week of Unleavened Bread must include the offering of thirteen consisting eleven animals and two more in the bread (grain) and wine (drink) seen at the Last Supper and the sinless (without defect) life of Yeshua (to make atonement). Notice this day is after Passover:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Also on the day of the First Fruits, when you present a new grain offering to the LORD in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. You shall offer a burnt offering for a soothing aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old; and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs; also one male goat to make atonement for you. Besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without defect." </blockquote>
Leviticus 23:17-20 also includes the numbering of thirteen burnt offerings for the day of Shavuot (Pentecost), the day the gift of the Ten Commandments and the days of the gift of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On this day there were offerings of seven male lambs, one bull, and two rams, followed by a sin offering of one goat and a fellowship offering of two lambs. It was a day of sacred assembly. The primary focus of this and every Festival offering points toward Yeshua.<br />
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Numbers 29:1-6 also shows us thirteen offerings beginning on the Fall Feast of Trumpets, eleven animals and the grain and drink offerings:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets. You shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect; also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs. Offer one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you, besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD."</blockquote>
Numbers 29:7-11 shows us thirteen offerings on the Day of Atonement, again eleven animals and the two grain and drink offerings:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall humble yourselves; you shall not do any work. You shall present a burnt offering to the LORD as a soothing aroma: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old, having them without defect; and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs; one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings."</blockquote>
On the Day of Atonement, there is a days of old aspect. It is seen in the the timing of seventh month covering (kippur) described in the Torah if we'll just remember the former things of old. It's shown as the end of the flood (covering) of the earth and is noted in Genesis 8:4.<br />
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"So that in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." Genesis 8:4<br />
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We can only imagine the joy and celebration of Noah and the seven others with him. Remeber, the seventeenth day of the seventh month is the third day of the celebration of Sukkot. Noah's story should remind us of Hosea 6:1-3 and its great promise and a tie to rain:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Come, let us return to the LORD;<br />
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;<br />
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
After two days he will revive us;<br />
on the third day he will raise us up,<br />
that we may live before him. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;<br />
his going out is sure as the dawn;<br />
he will come to us as the showers,<br />
as the spring rains that water the earth.”</blockquote>
<div>
The Torah, aka God's teaching and instruction that points to Messiah shows that the third and final Pilgrim Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) caps off the others. During the celebration week, a total of seventy animals are offered, this points to the engagement of the symbol of the seventy nations of the world in the celebration and it points back to Genesis 10-11, where the seventy grandsons of Noah are named and each became the ancestor of a nation.</div>
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The eight day following the seven days of Sukkot is called Shemini Atzeret in Hebrew and it brings us back to the thirteen offerings and it points to something critical in Numbers 29:35-39 as there are appointed times for each of the appointed offerings.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work. But you shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect; their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. ‘You shall present these to the LORD at your appointed times...'"</blockquote>
Matthew's genealogy is instructive in other ways. It mentions five women and five points us to the five books of Torah: The women named are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. This is very unusual in Biblical genealogy, but then so is Yeshua!!<br />
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All of the women had a tarnished reputation in the view of men but found grace in the eyes of God. Tamar had her children from prostitution. Rahab was a former Gentile prostitute too. Ruth was from Moab, she was a former Gentile of the nations, a foreigner that repented and joined herself to Israel. Bathsheba had an adulterous affair with the king (David). The young Mary, a virgin was engaged to Joseph, but she was with the child by God's miracle, out of wedlock.<br />
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The number five represents the mercy grace and lovingkindness of Almighty God and this is displayed in these five women.<br />
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Several generations of kings are omitted in the genealogy of Matthew. Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah are missing between Jehoram and Uzziah. Jehoiakim is not seen between Josiah and Jehoiachin. Yet, this is not unusual in Jewish genealogy because a grandson can be considered a son, yet we do not know why these kings are not listed by Matthew.<br />
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The thing we need to understand is that this genealogy is a good record and it is written to be instructive. So, the facts are presented by Matthew in a way as to teach what God desires to teach us about Messiah.<br />
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Every Feast and their thirteen sacrifices points to Yeshua and His final generation heritage as the bread of life both past and future, offering His life blood filled with the Spirit represented by the oil. Take note too, the seven Feasts occur during the two seasons of rain each year across the planet. The Spring Feasts (former rain) and the Fall Feasts (latter rain). Hosea 6:3 tells us why this is significant, His going forth is certain and He (Yeshua) will come to us:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD.<br />
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;<br />
And He will come to us like the rain,<br />
Like the spring rain watering the earth.”</blockquote>
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God expects His people to recognize Him as Savior. That is why everything in the Torah; the Feasts and even the number of their sacrifices point to Yeshua and God's appointments in some way. Each Feast is critical, which is why Leviticus 23:37 says: "<b>each day’s matter on its own day</b>." So let us press on to know the Feasts of The Lord and Messiah.<br />
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Looking to the Bible, let's take a look at the mystery ashes of the red heifer and its purpose to point us toward Messiah's work.<br />
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First, the red heifer was burned 'outside the camp' just as Yeshua was killed outside Jerusalem. The heifer's death served a purpose to produce ashes to be mixed with living water as the "water of separation". A purification water to separate people from the unclean state of death. This is a graphic figure of the death of Messiah for eternal "purification of sin" because the wages of sin is death. The ashes have reference to God’s judgment of death being eternally overcome by Yeshua because once fully burned, something amazing and mysterious can be gained from the ash of the red heifer and the water... purification from death. <br />
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The red heifer ashes required that hyssop be used to sprinkle the water of separation mixed with the ashes. Once the priest did this, the priest became unclean so that the other person was no longer defiled by death. Amazingly, this is the scene at the death stake of Yeshua yet He overcame it in resurrection. The story includes a hyssop branch that was used by the Roman Centurion who soaked a sponge and put it on a hyssop branch (see John 19:29).<br />
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Paul describes the role of the red heifer and the water of separation. Think about his letter, Jesus had to become unclean for the person who had touched death (sin): <br />
<blockquote>
"For he (God) hath made him (Messiah) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2Corinthians 5:21).</blockquote>
The week of Unleavened Bread lasts for seven days because of the teaching of Numbers 19:11-16 which shows us that the offering on the Passover of Messiah also represents the behind the scene reason for the red heifer. Its ashes provide purification from the defilement of "death." This Biblical truth may not have been heard in many sermons, but the Bible shows us the beginning of this parable in God's instruction. It is tied to Messiah's taking on the sins of the world on Himself at the stake:<br />
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"He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days." </blockquote>
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"Whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields… shall be unclean seven days".</blockquote>
This has to do with all of us... we are "all" sinful and therefore we have caused the horrific violent beating and ultimate offering of Messiah, yet He arose in resurrection. Only God can save us!<br />
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The Bible describes that people who touched a dead body would be unclean for seven days. Because of that, they would not be allowed in the camp of Israel nor participate in any service of the Tabernacle until cleansed.<br />
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Passover is a miracle, the worst sunset evening in history marks "salvation." The first Passover marks the first time an entire nation was saved, yet they did not have to do a thing but follow God's simple instruction to use a hyssop branch to apply the blood of a lamb on the wood of each doorway. <br />
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In Genesis, 1:14 God tells us that He set the moon to mark seasons, the thing is, He is not talking about winter, fall, spring or summer, He is talking about the seasons of His own great works. The Lord set His moedim appointments as the Word shows us. You now know what moedim means, they are the appointed holy times of God.<br />
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The Feasts are 'signs' as declared from the beginning, this is shown in Exodus 13:9...<br />
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"And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt."</blockquote>
The Biblical message here is 'the hand' denotes 'doing" them and the 'memorial between your eyes' means remembering them.<br />
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Not doing so is another sign, a sign of disobedience to a faithful Heavenly Father and that brothers and sisters is a problem, a big problem. How do we know?<br />
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Read Revelation.</b><br />
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There in Revelation we are told of another sign, a mark of man that spells wrath:<br />
<blockquote>
"And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." Revelation 14:9-10</blockquote>
The big problem is that haSatan is the counterfeit of truth, he originated deception with the intent to defraud God's instruction. His fraud against mankind began in Eden and it continues today. <br />
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Many have been innocently deceived by a counterfeit. It's called Easter. Its origin is from Ishtar, the false-goddess of Babylon where pagan ways grafted themselves to the pagan Anglo-Saxons who held feasts in Eostre's honor and polluted YHVH's festivals replacing them as counterfeit days. Its time to return to the truth.<br />
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Easter is not a moed day. Moed is the word God uses in Exodus 13:10 about His instruction given at Mount Sinai to remember the appointed ordinances of Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread each and every year:<br />
<blockquote>
"You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year."</blockquote>
We have seen that Passover and indeed all "appointed times" are eternal and governed by God's calendar and that not only includes the solar cycle but the lunar cycle, the daily phases of the moon embedded in God's heavenly creation timepiece.<br />
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There is a simple reason that the moon is so critical in the creation story. You can look at the sun alone on any day you like and you will NEVER be able to tell what day it is! <br />
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In God's timekeeping, midnight does not determine the beginning of a day either, never did - never will. Mankind came up with that in our own reckoning of time but God does not think like we do. <br />
<blockquote>
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8–9</blockquote>
The day, by our Creator's definition given in the beginning of the Bible starts after the sun's set, the evening. <br />
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Do you want to know why? </b><br />
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Its simple: once again, first there was darkness, then light. <br />
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Understanding God's calendar seems a bit mysterious at first, but the reason is not too technical. It's easy, because when you look at the moon, anyone, anywhere, man woman or child, can determine the exact day of the month by its lunar phase if we just look up. After all, God wants us to know what day it is on His calendar.<br />
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All you have to do is commit the appearance of the moon each day to memory because the lunar phases, like God, never vary. The moon's phases work just like a dial on a clock, and wow what a big clock!<br />
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And the good news is, you can look see it. <br />
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During the Passover month of Nisan, the full moon is always seen 14 days after the sunset on the evening of the Passover from the sighting of the new moon and it will always be that way! That's why Leviticus 23:5 tells us:<br />
<blockquote>
"In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S Passover."</blockquote>
Did you know, the moon spins but you never see it turn on its axis because the moon's rotational spin is in perfect, total sync with the Earth each and every day? That is why we never see the dark side of the moon. <br />
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Each moon period (lunar month) starts with a new moon and each month ends with the final waxing gibbous phase. God's time clock has never ever varied, ever and the unchanging face of the moon is our witness. So, if you are timing things according to Pope Gregory's timeline you are out of sync with God's calendar, and I pray you are beginning to see its time to change that.<br />
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Science has proved it. The lunar timepiece that shows us the appointed times of God has no variation, no change and that must be recognized. Surprised? Don't be. God put it there in creation for the reasons He stated in Genesis One: for His times and seasons, His moed (appointments). <br />
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It's just like God to do that but we miss it because we are focused only on the sun and a stand alone solar calendar. Because of that, we lose track of time... God's time. So here it is one more time:<br />
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Passover always begins with a full moon on the 14th day in the first Spring month. Just like God says and astronomy shows us the dynamics, that full moon is always seen in the evening of the 14th day. The cool thing about that is how the 'exodus' people called 'Israel' could actually see in the night as they left Egypt. After all, a bright moon in the desert lights up everything!<br />
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All the subsequent Feast days rely on the unchanging evening of salvation which falls on the Passover full moon. What is hard to comprehend is not the timing, after all the moon visually shows us that. What was difficult at first for me was the fact that Passover is not Easter, they are not the same. Constantine and the Council of Nicaea promoted Easter in 325AD, but today many believers like me are repenting and walking away from Constantine’s creed’s that separated Christianity and Judaism and set them in opposition to each other. The battle ground was old vs. new, church vs. synagogue, cross vs. menorah divided in men's hostility.<br />
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Constantine’s decree for Easter law attempted to change the times and seasons away from Passover and the Biblical month of Nisan (Abib). The Emperor and his Nicaea Council took a left turn away from God's Torah in an attempt to establish a new religion, an authoritative substitution and supplanting of the teaching of the Word of God. Passover was soon outlawed throughout the Roman Empire. <br />
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In Roman tradition, Easter is timed on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox each Spring and to add to the Easter confusion, Orthodox Eastern churches use the Julian calendar to calculate Easter while Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, yet there is no mention of the vernal equinox in the light of Scripture.<br />
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The first Passover and every one since the Exodus have begun on the evening of Nisan 14. The first was marked by the blood of a lamb on the wood posts of every home that followed the instruction of The Lord. The ultimate Passover was marked in the same way by the blood of the lamb of God on the wood of for all the world to believe.<br />
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On Passover, we get to take the baked unleavened bread and wine. The unleavened bread has stripes and holes throughout. When broken it almost sounds like the snap of a whip, reminding us of the beating the Romans gave Jesus through the lashes. Crucifixion was an agonizing, torturous death, but Jesus endured the pain silently before He was ruthlessly nailed to the tree. We are reminded of His Passover scourging by the breaking of unleavened bread and the wine.<br />
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The Romans used a flagellum. It was a whip with several strands weighted with lead balls or pieces of bone designed to lacerate and cause bleeding. The weighed thongs struck the skin so violently that it tore and ripped it open. The bloody scene must have looked like the appearance of sacrifice as animals were slaughtered as their blood was thrown against the Altar. <br />
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The historian Eusebius of Caesarea recounts with vivid, horrible detail the facts about a scourging. He writes: <br />
<blockquote>
“For they say that the bystanders were struck with amazement when they saw them lacerated with scourges even to the innermost veins and arteries, so that the hidden inward parts of the body, both their bowels and their members, were exposed to view” (Ecclesiastical History, Book 4, chapter 15).</blockquote>
Roman law required capital sentences to be accompanied by scourging, but the final decision to scourge Yeshua was made before it was ultimately determined that he would be crucified. After the brutal beating, Pilate attempted to release him (John 19:1) at first. Perhaps by the urging of his wife, Pilate hoped that if he humiliated and beat Jesus to a bloody pulp, the sentence of blasphemy could be satisfied. But it was not.<br />
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Pilate stood before the scourged Yeshua who was wearing a crown of thorns and a robe. Pilate told the crowd, “Behold, the man!” (John 19:5). But the angry men in crowd had their way in His tribulation, had they not, unbelievably we would all be in big trouble. <br />
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They demanded his death just as we have by our sin.<br />
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Like everything else about his death, Jesus knew by Isaiah's words that he would be scourged. Yeshua predicted His suffering for the third time in Matthew 20:19. Jesus knew of His suffering before He offered His life as the Pascal lamb of God long before He died at the stake providing cleansing from death like the red heifer. He accepted those bloody blows, and his body was ripped and torn open bleeding for our sinful ways that oppose God.<br />
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Sin is defined in the Bible as transgression of the law [Torah] of God (1John 3:4) and sin is rebellion against God (see Deuteronomy 9:7 and Joshua 1:18). Paul wrote to those in Rome that the first man Adam brought sin into the world (Romans 5:12), and so death and expulsion from Eden was passed on to all men because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). That is what we all must come to terms with.<br />
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The good news is the Savior of the world took the beating for our sins so that we might not have to suffer the eternal consequence of our transgressions which is death and eternal separation from God. Most people call this hell. It's not torture for the living, its death eternal with no hope for eternal resurrection into life with the King and the restoration of Eden.<br />
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Truly, by His stripes we can be healed and today, we 'get to' participate in the joy of knowing that through the celebration of the seven days of Unleavened Bread.<br />
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On the day 'after' the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, according to Biblical instruction, an offering is to be made before God as a wave offering, a barley sheaf of the spring harvest before The Lord for you to be accepted (Leviticus 23:11).<br />
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According to the promised sign of Jonah that He declared, Yeshua was then raised from the dead on the, third day 'like' Jonah. Yeshua was resurrected three days and three nights after being crucified. <br />
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Sorry, but do the math for yourself to see if the story you have heard about a Friday afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday morning resurrection adds up to three days and three nights. If it does not add up, then the traditional rumor does not make sense. That's why learning that there is much more to know about the Feast days of The Lord is so important today in our lives as Believers. <br />
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You can't discard or ignore any of the Feasts of The Lord as you may have been innocently taught in the past.<br />
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Today, in our so-called modern culture, we have many traditional man-made holidays that have existed over the millennia, yet they move around on our man-made calendars. In the last few centuries, these have morphed into celebration by holidays not found in Scripture.<br />
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At the same time, the seven Feast Days declared by God that He said were to be set apart 'for ever' as appointed Holy Days throughout 'all generations' have been relegated in our minds as only 'Jewish' holidays. Yet, God's calendar and His holidays are set Holy Days for everyone not only the Jew. <br />
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It is time all of God's people emerge from a wilderness of tradition as one new man (Ephesians 2:15). <br />
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It is time for the restoration of God's appointed Feast Days under His ownership and leadership. It is time for renewed worship and celebration in purpose freed from the issues that divide and delay the return of Messiah. <br />
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It is time to say good bye to Emperor Constantine's Easter rule from the First Council of Nicaea. It is time to say good bye to Nimrod, Ishtar and Ēostre. There are no bunny egg hunts in the salvation story, no Easter ham in the redemptive plan of God but there is a lamb, and He is the <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=lamb+of+god&t=NIV#s=s_primary_0_1" target="_blank">Lamb of God</a>.<br />
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The eastern and western "Christian Church" is still divided between the schism of the Gregorian and Julian calendar to set the dates. So it is time to wake up and be restored to God's Biblical calendar and thank the Jewish people for honoring it since the beginning! <br />
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Perhaps Ripley should say, "believe it or not" Christians should look Jewish, set apart to the world. <br />
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It is time for “Christians” to begin to look and act like their Jewish Messiah. It is time to quit messing around, ignoring the instruction of the Father and the obedience of the Son. It is time to put away unBiblical tradition, it is time to stand and walk uprightly and follow the Son of God in obedience to the instruction of The Father:<br />
<blockquote>
"Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; <b>he can do only what he sees his Father doing</b>, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." John 5:19<br />
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"Very truly I tell you, whoever <b>hears my word and believes Him who sent</b> me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life." John 5:24</blockquote>
The Lord says, "<a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rev&c=18&v=4&t=KJV#s=1185004" target="_blank">Come out of her my people</a>". Its time to do that and go back to the heavenly days of unleavened bread and turn from our earthly traditions. It's no wonder God says: <br />
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"I hate your new moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to Me; I am tired of putting up with them". Isaiah 1:14</blockquote>
Our Father is tired of our own festivals when they DO NOT follow His instruction. The Easter bunny did not morph into the Passover lamb, God's appointment calendar did not change and there is certainly no Easter ham. Easter festival traditions with our baskets and colored bunny egg hunts are not a part of God's ordained worship despite good intention. The Easter bunny distorts the truth with a counterfeit, cuddly deception. It takes our hearts and souls off Passover. It's no wonder the dates we choose rarely coincide. So much so, we don't even know what time it is on God's calendar.<br />
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Passover is a holy, set apart Feast of The Lord, it arrives every Biblical year in the month we know as Nisan on the 14th day because God said so:<br />
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"The Passover to the LORD comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month." Leviticus 23:5</blockquote>
Jesus’ death provides the Passover offering required to cover the death penalty of sin for this world.<br />
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Yeshua entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan, He was inspected as the Lamb of God for four days. His crucified blood was on the wood on the 15th of Nisan and He was wrapped in linen and put to rest in the grave before the end of the day. He lay there behind the stone and after the third day and night, at the end of the weekly Sabbath, His death ended as He was quickened to resurrection life. He arose from the grave to stand before the Father on the day of First Fruits.<br />
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"God raised Him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it." Acts 2:24</blockquote>
Jesus is alive today, resurrected from death, exalted to the right hand of God. <br />
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“Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!” Acts 2:36</blockquote>
Now that you know that, Peter (Kepha) a disciple of Yeshua gives you and I our next step and a promise:<br />
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“Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39</blockquote>
The arisen Yeshua was first seen by Mary Magdalene before He ascended to the Father. Luke 24:13–31 tells us He returned to walk with the two witnesses on the road to Emmaus to explain how He is found woven throughout the words of the Torah and the prophets, giving eternal life to the Scriptures. (Luke 24:13-35) <br />
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He then appeared to ten unbelieving disciples like the ten lost tribes of Israel. Why just ten? Judas, who betrayed Him took his own life and doubting Thomas (called “Twin") was not there with the disciples when Jesus came because he did not believe, just yet. Thomas doubted Messiah and went his own way, so he missed out on the blessing when He arrived but he was given a second chance like the provision of the Second Passover provided the men that might be missing in the wilderness.<br />
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The good news is, even if you have missed The Lord on His appointed days you can do just as Thomas did and see the lamb of God for who He is. Perhaps that is a witness we can give our Jewish brothers and sisters.<br />
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Many think the Spirit of God did not come upon the disciples until Pentecost (Shavuot) but John 20:22 tells us that the 'Resurrected One' breathed on these ten men and said: <br />
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“Receive the Holy Spirit”. </blockquote>
Eight days later, like doubting Judah today, Thomas was found with the ten. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came in and stood among them and said:<br />
<blockquote>
“Peace be with you.”</blockquote>
Then he said to Thomas:<br />
<blockquote>
“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”</blockquote>
Thomas the Jewish disciple, answered him:<br />
<blockquote>
“My Lord and my God!”</blockquote>
Yeshua said to him:<br />
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“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”</blockquote>
These words are written so that you may believe Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name and be given the gifts of faith (see John 20:31). This record, prophetically and graphically describes all people and the future for Jerusalem given by Zechariah 12:10-14. <br />
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I pray you can now begin to see the Lord's work. It was Yeshua's Pesach. It was Passover and His appointed time. Messiah Yeshua kept the appointment and showed the world how to live, now it's time to do something about it.<br />
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The Torah and the Prophets point to Him. Yeshua is the unleavened bread, the wine and the spotless lamb of God without sin. For three days and nights, He took on the sin of the world into the grave of the earth. At the end of the glorious 3rd day as the sun was setting, He resurrected from death into new life glory. This is a part of the gospel of the Kingdom of God you must know, the gate of Eden is not closed, eternal life can be restored through the Messiah of Israel.<br />
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Yeshua of Nazareth said the proof will be seen in the three days and nights and the death of Jonah. The three days that Yeshua fulfilled from the prophetic sign of Jonah are: 1) Passover, 2) Unleavened Bread and 3) First Fruits.<br />
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Perhaps, these were the same days Jonah lay in the belly of that whale, if so we may need to adjust our thinking of Messiah, Jonah and the Passover.<br />
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For many, its time to get in sync with God's calendar and get busy with the true gospel of the Kingdom. Yeshua was raised in glory on the third day according to the truth declared (read the witness of Luke 18:33; Luke 24:7; Luke 24:21; Luke 24:46; John 2:1; Acts 10:40; Acts 27:19 and 1Corinthians 15:4).<br />
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We can have a clearer picture of the Biblical record of resurrection if we dig in, we can establish that Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey as promised to the world in Zechariah 9:9. That day was Nisan 10. It is the day that the "Lamb" was to be inspected according to Exodus 12:<br />
<blockquote>
Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb... Exodus 12:3</blockquote><b>What about the Last Supper?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Remembering Yeshua's last supper of bread and wine celebrates Him as the firstborn son and it links Him to to Abraham.<br />
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When Jesus said (John 8:56-57) “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” He was pointing back to the bread and wine that Melchizedek king of Salem brought out to share with Abraham. This is described in Genesis 14:18. </div><div><br /></div><div>It happened after Abraham rescued Lot.<br />
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Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him including the king of Sodom north of Damascus fought and that battle foreshadowed events in Egypt. During the meal with Melchizedek, Abraham participated in a shadow picture of Messiah and the Unleavened Bread tradition.<br />
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God begins and ends the cycle of His appointed days with rest allowing us to focus on His work not ours. If we love The Father and appreciate Him, let's show that we honor Him as our Father in Heaven. We get to do that by keeping His appointments and resting in them just as Jesus did because He always honored the Father's instruction. Jesus followed and taught His Father's instruction, thank God we can do the same thing!</div><div><br /></div><div>Did you know that some Jewish writings give us a reference to a Galilean tradition that may be tied to the "Last Supper." Much like a Passover Seder rehearsal if you will before the Fast of the Firstborn (Ta'anit Behorim) with bread and wine eaten in honor of those firstborn of Egypt that died as the full Passover moon lit up the Egyptian sky. The fast expresses honor for the life of Israel's firstborn sons saved from the tenth plague. </div><div><div><br /></div>We are not given details in the Biblical record, but that fast to honor and give thanks for the firstborn is still a Jewish tradition.<br /><br />Reference to it can be found in the Talmud in Soferim 21:3.</div><div><br />We do not know if that tradition is a part of the backstory to Last Supper, but we can know Jesus didn't start a new religion tradition with a eucharist wafer of bread and wine called communion. By the way, the word eucharist actually comes from the Greek word that means to give thanks, it's not a part of a mass. </div><div><br /></div><div>The traditional Jewish blessing for bread and wine goes like this as one blesses God for providing bread and fruit from the earth:</div><div><br /></div><div><div>"Blessed are you, LORD, our God, King of the Universe, who provides bread from the earth." In Hebrew: Baruch attah Adonai, Elohenu, Melek ha olam, Ha motzi lechem min ha-eretz.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Blessed are you, LORD our Elohim, King and Ruler of the Universe, who gives us the fruit of the vine." In Hebrew: Baruch attah Adonai, Elohenu, Melek ha olam, boray pre hagafen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Amen.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>The Passover story began long ago in Egypt, Jesus gave it great meaning as the Lamb of God in Jerusalem, but there's more, it's not over:</div><div><blockquote>And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it <u>until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God</u>." Luke 22:14-16</blockquote></div><div>As for me, I am grateful faithful Jews have kept good traditions and most importantly keep the Sabbath and the Feasts of The LORD. Jesus the Jew did the same and brought forth the promise of eternal life and forgiveness. His Passover story highlights the instruction that has been kept by the Jewish people that came from the command of The Father, Almighty God and Sovereign of the Universe:</div><div><div><blockquote>"And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening." Exodus 12:17-18</blockquote></div></div><div>Did you know the Last Supper Jesus ate with His disciples <u>was not His last?</u> </div><div><br /></div><div>It wasn't His last supper. Not only did Yeshua declare it will be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God, Luke 24 tells us Jesus shared a meal in Emmaus with two men after their encounter. Luke also tells us some time later He ate fish with the disciples:</div><div><blockquote>And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.</blockquote></div><div><b>Everything Yeshua did and does has order and purpose. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Order is the Hebrew word "seder" and in Jewish tradition the Passover seder includes not only unleavened bread, but four cups of wine shared during the seder remembering the promises of God given in Exodus 6:6-7:</div><div><ul><li>I will bring you out (Sanctification)</li><li>I will free you (Deliverance)</li><li>I will redeem you (Redemption)</li><li>I will take you as my own people (Restoration)</li></ul>Open your Bible and you'll find in Luke 22 that Jesus told His disciples that he would not drink the “fruit of the vine” until the coming of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps He was addressing the traditional fourth cup when Messiah returns at the Fall Feasts to restore the planet. That return will not be an imminent, anytime event, it will have seder order according to Scripture in line with the appointed Fall Feasts of The Lord.<br /><br />After the wine was shared at Passover, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn. It seems likely that their song was the historic Jewish Hallel known as the Psalms of Praise. The Hallel is the the singing of Psalms 113-118 and it has a very long Jewish tradition. It is also called the "Egyptian Hallel" for good reason. The record of their singing is found in Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26.<br /><br />We have much to be grateful to the Jewish people and Jesus is the first in line. <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">It is obvious that during Passover each year we can partake of the unleavened bread matzos, representing the unleavened Messiah without sin as well as the cup of blessing red wine representing His shed blood as our Passover lamb that is described in 1 Corinthians 5:7.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><b></b>Elohim God wants to honor what He has done on each of His appointed days. He wants be the focus of our heart, mind and soul especially on these days. </div><div><br /></div><div>Praise God, Jesus is the afikoman, the hidden bread of life, broken by our sins that can be found, representing Messiah's resurrection and return. </div><div><br /></div><div>I pray you can see why you should grab your calendar and mark out a vacation day from work for each day described as a day of rest from labor in Leviticus 23 so that you can show up and show God that you honor your Heavenly Father and respect His requests because you love Him.<br />
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To mark the proper days, you will need the help of a Hebrew calendar and you can thank the Jewish people for that too. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Passover month begins on the first day of Abib, the first month God declared in the Bible with the purpose to honor Passover when He outlined His seven point plan of redemption with His appointed Feasts.<br />
<br />As always, God declares the end from the beginning. The month of the Passover marks the beginning for salvation and redemption.<br />
<blockquote>
I declare the end from the beginning,<br />
and from long ago what is not yet done,<br />
saying: My plan will take place,<br />
and I will do all My will. Isaiah 46:10</blockquote>Passover has always been important. On the first day of the first month, the judgment of the flood ended, Noah removed the ark's cover. So God set the beginning of His calendar with salvation. On this same day, Ezra came out of Babylon just as Moses came out of Egypt. Do you see the theme?<br />
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The first day is the day we can begin get ready for our appointment with the Almighty.<br />
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In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark's cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. Genesis 8:13<br />
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“This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year." Exodus 12:2<br />
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“You are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month." Exodus 40:2<br />
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"They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of the LORD's temple. They consecrated the LORD's temple for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished." Exodus 40:2<br />
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"He began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month since the gracious hand of his God was on him." Ezra 7:9<br />
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"In the twenty-seventh year in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:" Ezekiel 29:17<br />
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“This is what the Lord GOD says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you are to take a young, unblemished bull and purify the sanctuary." Ezekiel 45:18</blockquote>
Reading from Ezekiel, we see that the prophet is describing a glimpse of the future Passover of Messiah. It includes another fullness of time celebration many may have missed. It is the offering of the red heifer described in Numbers 19.<br />
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Like the lamb, the red heifer is a spotless offering with no defect. Like Yeshua, it was not offered at the Temple. It was sacrificed outside the city, its ashes were mixed and sprinkled with clean water and a hyssop branch. Anyone sprinkled with it is restored from the unclean stain of death, but get this, the Priest that sprinkles it must take on the uncleanliness of death. The realm of death must be transferred, taken on by the Priest. Yeshua did that.<br />
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The red heifer is a picture the work of Messiah the Priest King that purifies and redeems mankind from death with His own. The red heifer provides the imagery of that blessing we need to see in the restoration promise of resurrection from death. Even the hyssop branch was there at the cross (see John 19:29 for the evidence).<br />
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Did you know Ezekiel also declares a prophecy that "The Prince" will provide offerings on behalf of Himself and all people during the week of Unleavened Bread that starts off with Passover?<br />
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You should also know that special Passover includes the sin offering by The Prince on the Altar?<br />
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“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you are to celebrate the Passover, a festival of seven days during which unleavened bread will be eaten. </blockquote>
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On that day The Prince will provide a bull as a sin offering on behalf of Himself and all the people of the land. </blockquote>
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During the seven days of the festival, he will provide seven bulls and seven rams without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD on each of the seven days, along with a male goat each day for a sin offering. </blockquote>
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He will also provide a grain offering of half a bushel per bull and half a bushel per ram, along with a gallon of oil for every half bushel. At the festival that begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he will provide the same things for seven days — the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil. Ezekiel 45:21-25</blockquote>Jesus is "The Prince."<br />
<br />He is why <b>we get to rehearse</b> God's appointment days as we await His return.<br />
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One day we will hear our Creator say: "I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Y-H-V-H your God, who delivered you..." Exodus 6:7 <br />
<br /><b>We need to be ready.<br /></b>
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There are seven appointed times in God's plan and thank The LORD they remain into perpetually, forever appointed days by our unchanging, all knowing Almighty Creator God and never done away with. </div><div><br /></div><div>Almighty God gives us holy teaching with some basic instruction. So, take His days off to honor your Heavenly Father.</div><div>
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There's a deeper story behind these words: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you." Exodus 20:12<br />
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The promise of prolonging days in the Promised Land is a prophetic promise from God, a teaching of resurrection and eternal life in God's Kingdom.<br />
<br />Elohim God the Father tells us how to honor Him, we all get a day of to do no labor's work on His annual appointed days. Among other verses about this read what He has to say in Leviticus 23:7; Leviticus 23:8; Leviticus 23:21; Leviticus 23:25; Leviticus 23:28; Leviticus 23:35 ; Leviticus 23:36 and Leviticus 23:39. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>These are the eternal words of your Creator, they are not old.</b><br />
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We need to see the light of Biblical truth and it is shining brightly if we just open God's instruction manual and follow our Father's advice.<br />
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The appointed Spring Feast Days pinpoint the exact days of the Heavenly Father's incredible plan of redemption offered by the humble "Prince of Peace." We get to rest in them and look forward to the Fall Feast Days of His return as King. They are our rehearsal cycle pointing toward each phase of His plan declared in the Bible.<br />
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Just as the Spring appointment days shown to us in the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms have been filled up with great meaning, the latter Fall Days will be fulfilled by "The Prince" on the appointed days too. That is why we should all participate in them. <br />
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The final four appointments conclude the seven Feasts of The Lord, they are: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1) Trumpets (Yom Teruah) it begins in the first day of the seventh Biblical month. It is the day of shouting and blowing the shofar. The next appointment on God's calendar is ten days later, theses are the 'Ten Days of Awe' because the next Feast is called...<br />
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2) Atonement Day (Yom Kippur). It is the great day of judgment when God atones, literally covers sin. Like the weekly Sabbath, this day is not like the other appointments, because it is raised to the status of Sabbath, not just a day of no labor or regular work. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">On this day, the last shofar will sound as a proclamation: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever” as shown in Revelation 11:15. The Day of Atonement covering, Yom Kippur is the big day before Sukkot and Shemini Azereth. Yom Kippur represents the promise of the day when God removes sin from before he comes to tabernacle and live just as He did in Eden and Sinai. This great day will be followed by an incredible wedding celebration. The party will last a week...<br />
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3) Tabernacles (Sukkot), like Unleavened Bread week, gives us two days off work, they serve like bookends setting the time aside, setting it apart for joy and celebration. The first day off begins a seven day celebration of ingathering, the second day off work is the day eighth day following the week long celebration. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">This coming prophetic time follows the season that begins with a shofar Trumpet to announce the coming of The King. Messiah will “send his angels with a shofar blast on Trumpets Day and they will call His elect from the four winds to prepare for Yom Kippur and the ingathering from one end of the earth to the other. Yeshua promised this in Matthew 24:31 so that God's people will be ready to meet Him in His tabernacle of a glorified, resurrected body. He will live among His people as King and Prince of Peace. </blockquote>
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To understand this we have to study the shadow pictures of the Feast Days given in the Torah. They shows us the reason for celebration. It's the Tabernacles theme: </blockquote>
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God living among His people. </blockquote>
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Long ago, God tabernacled among the tents of Israel and Messiah Yeshua did the same in the humble flesh and bone tabernacle of a man, not unlike the tanned rams and goat skins that covered the acacia wood frame of the sanctuary design shown to Moses at Mount Sinai:<br />
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"And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst." Exodus 25:8<br />
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The Tabernacle in the wilderness was made by man, but designed by God Almighty. He will return in bright blinding glory as Messiah High Priest and King of the universe. The wilderness Tabernacle gives us a shadow picture of the dwelling place of God among his people, the fullness of which is in Messiah Yeshua who was Immanuel God with us some 2,000 years ago. The wilderness Tabernacle, the "Mishkan" was filled by the Shechinah glory showing us the coming day to be fulfilled with God's Spirit of glory in the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven.<br />
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The frame work of the wilderness Tabernacle was covered in gold representing the perfection of God and the frame stood in silver sockets on the Earth. The silver represents redemption brought to the dirt of mankind and in fact the silver that was used to make the Tabernacles socket bases to support the gold framework came from an ofering. This gives a wonderful picture of God's purity (gold) coming into touch with the world (earth-dirt) through a redeemer Messiah (silver). The silver sockets show us that we, made of the earth can only draw near to God on Earth by the covering atonement of Messiah, who is God come to earth as a man, a living tent like us, a living Sukkah if you will.<br />
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The outer covering of the Mishkan (tent) was plain and just like the ordinary material from which other tents were made, likewise Messiah was a man of flesh on the outside, He came in the appearance of a man. God humbled Himself in the body of a man to destroy the reign of death against mankind on a tree. Inside this humble tent of man, this living Sukkah, He was different from all other tents (men), Yeshua was no ordinary man, He was God's Tabernacle in the form of a man... "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him." Colossians 1:19<br />
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The goats hair covering of the wilderness Tabernacle was dyed red underneath pointing to the atonement by Messiah's blood. The Tabernacle covering was staked to the ground outside with copper staves representing the judgment of the nails that pierced Yeshua and held Him to the wood. We can even be reminded of the bronze snake in the wilderness lifted up for sin as a shadow type of Messiah's fulfillment of this Scripture. </blockquote>
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It's also important to know all the Shittim wood was overlaid with the gold, but not only that the veil was there as a barrier between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place that protected men from God's shechinah presence. It allowed no direct approach to God because His power, His glory presence required a shield. The curtain had cherubim embroidered in it to remind us of the Cherubim that guarded the way to the tree of life as described in Genesis 3:24, just as the cherubim above the Mercy Seat guarded it. <br />
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It is no surprise to learn that the Israelites knew the veil by the name "Life." There were three entrances at the wilderness Tabernacle, they were:<br />
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a. the gate to the outer court (Exodus 27:16-19)<br />
b. the door to the Holy Place (Exodus 26:36/37 and 36:37/38) and<br />
c. the veil to the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:31-33)<br />
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The veil formed a barrier of protection to the glory above the mercy seat, just a the curtain represented the concealed glory of God within the flesh of Yeshua. When Jesus was asked "how can we know the way" he answered His question, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. No one comes to the father except through me." John 14:5-6. That shows us the outer gate of the courtyard of the Tabernacle and its white linen curtain walls as the WAY, the entrance to the Tabernacle within as the "TRUTH" and the inner sanctuary of the Most Holy as eternal "LIFE."<br />
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These show us how the Torah, even the minute details of the Tabernacle all point to the Messiah. <br />
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4) The eight day (Shemini Atzeret), the day after the seventh day of Sukkot. Sukkot is a holiday intended for all of that believes, all that are re-born, grafted into the assembly, the body of Messiah. When Sukkot is over, the Creator invites His children to stay with Him for eternity. It is the arrival of the eighth day, Shemini Atzeret the day of the inauguration of the Kingdom of Messiah in God’s eternal city, New Jerusalem from Heaven, the City of Gold.</blockquote>
These Fall Feast days bring a bright light focus to the Prophets that declared the "Day of The LORD" and they reflect Yeshua's return as Messiah ben David, the returning King, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.<br />
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For some 3,000 years, Jewish people have prayed for the coming of the Messiah. For 2,000 years, Christians have prayed the return of the Messiah. Are we not paying for the same redemption?<br />
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In the fullness of the latter time represented by the Fall Feasts, both prayers and hope will be realized when the King comes to redeem and restore Earth as it was in the beginning. <br />
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Hosea prophesied of two appearances of Messiah. Moses demonstrated it. He made two trips with the Ten Commandments in hand.</b><br />
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Both the Spring and Fall Feasts are tied to the spring and fall harvest times as well as the former and latter rain... which are the seasons that God has taught us about in Scripture. Messiah the King is the reason for the seasons, the 'moed' appointments of Almighty God! <br />
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In ancient times before modern irrigation, crop harvests of Israel were totally dependent upon the patterns of the spring and fall rains that only God provides. The "key" spring harvest crop has always been barley, its success depended on the "former" spring rains. The "key" fall harvest has always been the grape, its crop yield was dependent on the "latter" rains. If we just look, we can see these agricultural themes throughout Scripture. The grape is the fruit of the vine.<br />
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There's also a summer harvest of wheat. It occurred at Pentecost, aka Shavuot.<br />
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Remember the "end time" parable of the wheat and the tares? It is all about 'wheat' for a reason, the reason is the season, the summer harvest wheat!!<br />
<br />Without a doubt, Leviticus 23 reveals God’s plan to do great things and to meet with His people, the children of God that he calls Israel and those with them who have been grafted in through faith in Israel’s Messiah. Leviticus tells of the appointed times, Moses heard the voice of the Lord saying:<br />
<blockquote>
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘the Feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My Feasts.” Leviticus 23:2</blockquote>
God declares them as my Feasts, my appointments and Exodus 19 reveals the seemingly "hidden" plan of Messiah Yeshua, He will return to Earth after two days (2,000 years) after His first coming so get ready, time is about up. How do we know about the third day? Moses said so:<br />
<blockquote>
"And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people... Exodus 19:11</blockquote>
Hosea and Jeremiah wrote of Messiah's two missions as well. They are described as the former and latter rain. <br />
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The holy Feasts occur in two rainy seasons – the Spring Feasts (former rain) and the Fall Feasts (latter rain).<br />
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Rain is symbolic of the outpouring of God's Spirit on His creation, the Earth and Mankind.<br />
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Rain is key in the Feasts. It is really important <b>to honor the Father</b>... and to participate in His plan: <br />
<blockquote>
<i>"Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and <b>he shall come unto us</b> as the rain, as the latter [and] former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3 <br />
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Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, i<b>n his season:</b> he reserveth unto us <b>the appointed weeks</b> of the harvest. Jeremiah 5:24</i></blockquote>
<strong>Yom Teruah - The Day of Trumpets</strong><br />
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The Day of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) is unique in that it is the only Biblical Feast day on God's calendar that occurs on the first day of a lunar month, the day of the "new moon" (in Hebrew - Rosh Kodesh). Trumpets Day arrives on the first day of the seventh Biblical month. Today, it's called the month Tishrei. <br />
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The Word of God tells us that in God's creation the heavens govern the timing of The Lord's Feast days. Without an eye toward the heavens we cannot know the season nor the signs or the wonders of God's plan as foretold by this appointed Fall rehearsal day. Leviticus 23 and Number's 29 reveals The Father's appointment plan for the day three passages dealing with this special New Moon day. They are Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 10:1-10; 29:1-6.<br />
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Numbers 10:1-10 reveals that Yom Teruah is called as the day of your gladness and it features two united in the sound hammered silver trumpets to cause us to be remembered in redemption before our God!<br />
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In Biblical times past, the new moon declares each new month. Fortunately, God's word, His Torah is wonderfully precise in His instruction of how we are to participate in observance of this day by blowing trumpets announcing the coming Messiah King. We know this because 2 Samuel 15 and 2 Kings 9 tell us that the shofar is blown when a king of Israel was coronated.<br />
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It might be easy to lose sight of the instructions of our Father if we think of them as done away with, after all, many may think that the "Feast Days" were somehow only for those living in the so-called "Old Testament" times. I used to think like that in ignorance... actually I did not think at all about them at all, but I know now <strong>we must not</strong> ignore the observance of any of God's teaching. </div><div><br /></div><div>After all, Jesus (Yeshua) himself declared this. <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Mat/Mat005.html#17" target="_blank">Matthew 5:17</a>: <span style="font-style: italic;">"Think not that I am come to destroy the law [<em>Torah</em>], or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." </span><br />
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With this instruction from our Messiah, we must understand He has not changed His mind. </div><div><br /></div><div>The goal here is to show why this is true and to address the meaning and imagery of His holy days and the prophetic significance of this appointed rehearsal, this "set apart" (holy) day.<br />
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Our focus should be on how to honor and celebrate God's days and to rehearse them with the teaching and instruction found in the words of Scripture. We need to know first of all that God's "mikra" or convocation days are to be "rest" days which occur during each of the seven feasts of The LORD. They do not necessarily fall on the weekly (seventh day) Sabbath day.<br />
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In Scripture, God identifies these appointed convocation days with easy to do instruction, “do no work".<br />
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To better understand this, begin by reading the instruction given in the Word of God in order to begin to comprehend the foreshadowed "principles" of each Feast Day and their relation to what you know about the Messiah. This is important so that we can honor each day according to God's Word. </div><div><br /></div><div>We get to celebrate "Trumpets Day" as set apart and holy. Let's search some key words in Scripture relating to this special day to find the passages that reveal to us how we can celebrate it.<br />
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The first time we learn about "Yom Teruah", The Day of Trumpets is in the Scriptures of Torah in Leviticus 23:24-25. Leviticus is misunderstood, but it graphically portrays the redemptive planning manual of God so pay close attention to every detail, they all symbolically portray imagery of The Messiah! Let's take a look at what this allegorical passage says about this prophetic day of gladness that Messiah Himself refers to as "<strong>the day no man knows</strong>", the Day of Trumpets - Yom Teruah.<br />
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<i>Leviticus 23:24-25: "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the <strong>seventh</strong> month, in the <strong>first day</strong> of the month, you shall have a rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein: but you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD."</i> </blockquote>
There are five books, five scrolls of the Torah as recorded by Moses, and by no coincidence whatsoever we can see that there are five principles of this holy, "set apart" day:<br />
<blockquote>
1. It is to be in the first day of the seventh month.<br />
2. It is a rest day.<br />
3. It is a memorial day of blowing the shofar.<br />
4. It is a day of holy convocation or assembly.<br />
5. It is a day to make offerings to our Father, God.</blockquote>
The shofar blast gives us God's call to freedom and liberty. We can also see this as the shofar is to be blown in the Year of Jubilee to announce freedom to all (see Leviticus 25:9-10) on Yom Kippur. Isaiah also speaks of the shofar being blown when God gathers the House of Israel to Himself in the Land He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:<br />
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"It will come about also in that day that a great shofar will be blown and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered out to the land of Egypt, will come and worship YHVH on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem." Isaiah 27:13</blockquote>
Trumpets is a one day "Feast" and it is critically important to remember that our Heavenly Father tells us <strong>to not add or take away</strong> from any of His words of instruction as He expressed in Deuteronomy 12:32. <br />
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So let's celebrate it because we love God! </b><br />
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He is God after all and He determined the way that we should walk if we truly want to love and follow Him. With the Spirit of truth from Messiah Yeshua, we can honor His appointments and walk in His ways of worship that He gave to us. As we celebrate His Feasts we are proclaiming our love for God for what He has done and will do for us, and we are witnessing to the world that we are His children. <br />
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We are also learning and experiencing His ways as we look forward to His return. The Day of Trumpets points us to several prophetic promises of the last days. The Mount of Olives points us to the Day of Trumpets. It is the very spot Messiah Yeshua ascended from and it will be where He returns in His full Glory and fullness at a great shofar blast, His glory was shown at the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1–9).<br />
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The prophetic trumpet return is shown to us in Zechariah 14:4 as the earth shakes as He returns:<br />
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"On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south."</blockquote>
Micah provides a witness to this dramatic change in Jerusalem's landscape at the blast of Heaven's shofar:<br />
<blockquote>
"In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Micah 4:2-3</blockquote>
This is repeated in Isaiah 2:2<br />
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"In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it."</blockquote>
Let's look to see what the Israelites experienced when they first heard this commandment of keeping a "memorial of blowing trumpets" for the first time after their Exodus from Egypt. Scripture reveals that the commandments in Leviticus 23:24-25 were given one year after leaving Egypt and the instructions found in the Book of Leviticus are given to Israel after the time reset month known as Aviv. </div><div><br /></div><div>For more details please read <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Exd&c=40&v=1&t=ESV#top" target="_blank">Exodus 40:1-17</a>.<br />
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If you search for the words "trumpet" which is "shofar" in Hebrew or "trumpets" online at <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=trumpets&t=KJV" target="_blank">BlueLetterBible.org</a> you will find four verses contain these words prior to Leviticus 23:24-25. </div><div><br /></div><div>The verses that contain the word "trumpet" or "trumpets" relate to events when God "descended" upon Mt. Sinai. Other verses are contained in Exodus Chapter 19 which tells the story of God's descent upon Mt. Sinai to give the Ten Commandments. The four specific verses are Exodus 19:13,16,19 and Exodus 20:18. <br />
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Let's review Exodus 19. These trumpet blasts don't just contain history but they represent the future as well:<br />
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<i>Exodus 19: 1-25 In the <strong>third month after</strong> the Israelites left Egypt--on the very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God, and <strong>the LORD called to him from the mountain</strong> and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how <span style="font-weight: bold;">I carried you on eagles' wings</span> and brought you to myself. Now <span style="font-weight: bold;">if you obey me fully and keep my covenant</span>, then out of all nations <strong>you will be my treasured possession</strong>. Although <strong>the whole earth is mine</strong>, you will be for me <span style="font-weight: bold;">a kingdom of priests</span> and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">We will do everything the LORD has said</span>." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.</i> </blockquote><blockquote><i>The LORD said to Moses, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me</span> speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said. And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and <strong>consecrate them today and tomorrow</strong>. Have them <strong>wash their clothes</strong> and <strong>be ready by the third day</strong>, because <strong>on that day the LORD will come down</strong> on Mount Sinai <strong>in the sight of all the people</strong>. Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' <span style="font-weight: bold;">Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."</span> </i> </blockquote><blockquote><i>After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. Then he said to the people, "<strong>Prepare yourselves for the third day</strong>. Abstain from sexual relations." On <strong>the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning</strong>, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and <strong>a very loud trumpet blast</strong>. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.</i> </blockquote><blockquote><i>Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because <span style="font-weight: bold;">the LORD descended on it in fire</span>. The smoke billowed up from it <strong>like smoke from a furnace</strong>, the whole mountain trembled violently, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder</span>. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. <strong>The LORD descended</strong> to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. Even the priests, <strong>who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves</strong>, or the LORD will break out against them." Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.'" The LORD replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them." So Moses went down to the people and told them.</i> </blockquote>
The people of <strong>Israel and the sojourners that traveled with them assembled</strong> at the base of the mountain. They both <span style="font-weight: bold;">came out of</span> Egypt and were <strong>gathered together</strong> headed for the Promised Land. </div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps, the most memorable prophetic event is the commandment to keep a memorial of blowing trumpets is that God physically <strong>descended in fire</strong> upon Mount Sinai while the trumpets sounded louder and louder. </div><div><br /></div><div>That is why the main theme of Yom Teruah (Trumpets) is a "celebration." </div><div><br /></div><div>One day it will mark the celebration of Yeshua's return. As seen in the three biblical witnesses of 1) the Creation week described in Genesis 1:11 when harvest life was created on Earth on the 3rd day, and 2) as promised by Hosea 6:2:</div><div><br /></div><div>"After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence" </div><div><br /></div><div>3) Check out the message of Luke 18:33, we all (Israel and sojourners with them) have been given two days (2,000 years) from Yeshua's lamb of God Spring Feast to prepare, to consecrate ourselves for His return at The Fall Feasts as the King, the Lion of Judah. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here is a key to understand Biblical days in God's prophetic redemption calendar: <br />
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<i>Psalms 90:4 For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night. <br />
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2Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.<br />
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Ecclesiastes 6:6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice [told], yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place? </i> </blockquote>
<b><div><span style="font-weight: normal;">The thing about this time cycle, it's not a concentric circle, it's more like a vortex that follows the picture of the whirling mass of flame, the pillar of fire seen in the wilderness above the Tabernacle. Prophecy shows us that in the end, the appointments of God give us a picture like the Fibonacci golden ratio spiral seen in creation that links to prophecy as it winds tighter through time.</span></div><div><b><br /></b></div>Are you ready for the Trumpet and the smoke and thunder in the vortex of the third day, The Day of The Lord?</b><br />
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If not, you can start your preparation by reading <b>The Ten Commandments</b> which are first recorded in Exodus 20 and commit to the I will do them. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Biblical narrative reveals that Mount Sinai continued to smoke, thunder and display lightning as the trumpet of God sounded. See Exodus 20:18. It will happen again. If you ask me, Yeshua will descend in the cloud covering Mount Sinai at Shavuot before He returns to stand on the Mount of Olives on Yom Kippurim.</div><div>
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It is critically important to know that in the Biblical seventh month, <b>exactly ten days</b> after Yom Teruah or Trumpets Day, the holiest of all days arrives. It is Yom Kippurim, the Day of Atonements is to be honored with a fast, it is not a day to feast. This "Day" is significant because Yom Kippurim or coverings is synonymous with "atonements" the great gift of God that cannot be earned, only received as a gift of His mercy and grace. <br />
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Jewish scholars believe the Yom Kippurim, the Day of Atonements in the 10th of Tishri marks the day Moses carried down the second set of Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai following the golden calf crime after Shavuot. The first set of stones are thought to have been written by God's hand on Shavuot fifty days after the Passover Exodus from Egypt. The Rabbi's also believe this shows how God judged 3,000 and then forgave the purposeful sin of image idolatry against God.<br />
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The atonement "covering" message of Yom Kippurim can be seen when Moses made his final trip down Mount Sinai with the second set of tablets and a message of forgiveness and mercy for the sin of the Golden Calf. With that we can truly begin to understand that mercy and grace abound within the heart of the Torah. </div><div><br /></div><div>God's throne is often called the Mercy Seat for good reason. </div><div><br /></div><div>Grace did not start in the New Testament, this is shown by God's own words in Exodus 33:19.</div><div>
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Before the smoke clears the message of Yom Kippur aka the day of Atonement, check out the front of the Bible. There, you'll find the Acharei Mot scroll portion that describes Aaron's Yom Kippur 'mystery' assignment in Leviticus 16:12-13. It's about Aaron's job to fill the room with smoke at Yom Kippur.</div><div>
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The thing is Aaron's incense fire and smoke assignment was a rehearsal.<br />
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In the Acharei Mot portion of the Torah scroll, Aaron was given instruction from God through Moses so that he could come into the Most Holy Place and not die before God's consuming glory.<br />
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Aaron was told he had to take a pan of glowing coals from the altar of incense and two handfuls of sweet incense and put it on the fire at the incense altar while standing in front of the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle. In that way, the smoke from the incense would cover the Mercy Seat above the Ark of the Covenant and keep God from his view, protecting Aaron from God's consuming fire glory.<br />
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After all, no one with sin can look at God and live. The incense was the original smoke screen and it likely protected Aaron.<br />
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If we check out the back of the book, we can see breaking the 7th Seal reveals the ultimate Yom Kippur assignment described in Acharei Mot:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"> Another angel [messenger], who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God's people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Revelation 8:1-5 </blockquote>
Revelation reveals that Acharei Mot is a big deal and likely a big part of the reason why we are all told... "You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 18:4<br />
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Had Aaron forgot the little detail of the incense, he would have been toast. Remember...<br />
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Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and "the faith" of Jesus. Revelation 14:12 </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The world must learn that I love the Father and <u>that I do exactly</u> what my Father has commanded me." John 14:31 (Easy to Read Version)</blockquote>
Have you ever thought about the fact that Yeshua (Jesus) never had to make a decision for repentance. That means the faith of Yeshua always includes walking in God's instruction just as as Yeshua did because we love The Father!<br />
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Remember, Yom Kippur and Acharei Mot will come to pass.<br />
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"And the whole multitude were praying outside at the hour of incense." Luke 1:10 </blockquote>
As we have seen, the Fall Feasts begin on Trumpets Day.<br />
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You should search the Scriptures for yourself on the key word "trumpet" or "trumpets". </div><div><br /></div><div>I like to use <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm" target="_blank">Blue Letter Bible</a> as an easy to use resource and offers several translations.</div><div><br /></div><div>A key verse in the Torah that explicitly relates to Trumpets Day (Yom Teruah) is found in Numbers 29:1. <br />
<br />You'l. find the word "trumpets" in Numbers 10:10 too, but it not just about Yom Teruah. So let's start with Numbers 29:1:</div><div>
<blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you."</span></blockquote>
Now, take a look at Numbers 10:10:<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"Also in the <u>day of your gladness</u>, and in your <u>solemn</u> days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God."</span></blockquote>If we search for the word "gladness," we learn that in one way it relates to "gladness" in celebrating the "Feast Days" because they are THE Biblical set apart, holy days (see 2 Chronicles 30:21-23). The phrase "day of your gladness" also point to the appointed Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles), which has other titles including "The Feast of Booths" and "The Season of our Joy" as well as "The Feast of In-gathering." </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, try a search on the word "solemn," it relates to "solemn" assemblies, ingathering in the "Feast Days." </div><div><br /></div><div>These Biblical hints are obvious and point us toward a future fulfillment, so don't ignore these days any longer!<br />
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The LORDS's teaching in Numbers gives the instruction to sound the trumpet at the beginning of each month, it's like a countdown to the first day of the millennium Kingdom. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yom Teruah is the first day of the seventh month, a new moon and a memorial blowing of the trumpet that links to our Creator coming down to the mountain at Mount Sinai to give His covenant and it points to Messiah Yeshua's return. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's not much explanation written by Moses about Yom Teruah. Yet from this passage, we need learn about the trumpet at the beginning of months when the light of the sun sets and the new moon is seen. </div><div><br /></div><div>Why? We need to be in tune, in rehearsal so that we will be ready for the day no man knows - it counts down to the day no one but The Father knows (see Matthew 24:36-42).</div><div>
<br />Yeshua was teaching on what is boldly proclaimed in Zechariah:<br />
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"On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish. It will be a day known only to YHVH, without day or night, but there <u>will be light</u> at evening." Zechariah 14:6-7</blockquote>
There is light because: <br />
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"On that day YHVH will become King over all the earth — YHVH alone, and His name alone." Zechariah 14:9</blockquote><div>If you have not read all of Zechariah 14, you should now. </div><div><br /></div><div>You have time, it's a short passage, yet it shows the world how important keeping appointments at the right time and the right place are to Almighty God. If ignored, the Fall Feasts carry a drought... </div><div><br /></div><div>"Should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, rain will not fall on them." </div>
<br />Yom Teruah is a BIG day reserved for the new moon day of the seventh Biblical month. </div><div><br /></div><div>Seven is a very BIG number in the Bible. Whenever you see seven - pay attention to the context, because God's plans for the future are in the clues that God gives. </div><div><br /></div><div>Trumpets day points to the day of assembly when people gather to The LORD in resurrection glory, a future day remembered by shouting and blowing a trumpet as a memorial for covenant given by our Heavenly Father. <br />
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So, what are you going to do? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>My suggestion is to buy a shofar and blow it! </div><div><br /></div><div>This day will mark the return and you'll want to know what you are supposed to do!<br />
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It's important to God to understand the purpose of blowing a shofar in order to appreciate and rehearse this special day. Yom Teruah is one of the appointed days where we are to gather in fellowship for praise, prayer and intercession with others because Scripture reveals it is a day of "holy convocation" or "assembly." </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Yom Teruah is a prophetic instruction.</b> The trumpet will sound for the arrival of the King. We don't you want to be silent without a trumpet or a shout when He returns!<br />
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Scripture also reveals this day is a day to make an "offering made by fire" to Almighty God. Because the Temple and the altar are now gone, the principles of the Scriptures show us that our "offerings" to our Father - God today are our praises, prayers and worship. </div><div><br /></div><div>As we rehearse the Day of Trumpets, we can offer our shouts of celebration anticipating His return!<br />
<br /><b>Yom Teruah is both a prophetic and a past celebration marking the arrival of The King in the season of God's plan. </b><br />
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Trumpets also sets the stage for the beginning of the long day. The thousand-year day, the future big picture 7th day, the "millennium day" of rest. </div><div><br /></div><div>This day of 1,000 years is the end time God's children no longer live outside the presence of King Messiah. The reason for the celebration season is a Bible basic. Yom Teruah is the trumpet and shout announcement for the King. </div><div><br /></div><div>The season of the Fall Feasts of The LORD God are a foreshadow of the end of the time that Gentiles no longer trample the Torah as if it were done away with, nor divide Jerusalem and claim the Temple Mount as a mosque for a false god. </div><div><br /></div><div>It points to the end, the undoing of the adversary deceiver's six day (6,000 year) authority of death which began in Eden with a lie. </div><div><br /></div><div>Just as the 7th day of the week is the Sabbath, it is symbolic and point to the 7th millennium. It's focus is the 7th month of the Biblical calendar and it starts with a shout, a shofar call on the Day of Trumpets, the day no man knows... yet. <br />
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The time-line cycle of creation and The LORD's feast days reveal the redemption plan for mankind and earth unfolds at 7,000 years. That is seen in Exodus 34:21. It points to the Messianic Kingdom of rest on THE 7th day millennium:<br />
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"Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest."</blockquote>
The millennium of 1,000 years represents the day of rest before God's re-creation on the 8th day of Shemini Atzeret. That is the promised day for the eternal New Jerusalem. <br />
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If we look we can find six verses in Scripture that contain the words "new" and "heaven", they are: 1) Genesis 27:28; 2) Daniel 4:15; 3) Daniel 4:23; 4) Matthew 13:52; 5) Revelation 3:12 and... <br />
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6) "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. " Revelation 21:1 </blockquote>
There is a good reason for the season that the Day of Trumpets is "the day no man knows."</div><div><br /></div><div>Just ask a Jewish rabbi or maybe an astronomer, or just look at the sky for yourself because the heavens declare God's glory. (Psalm 19:1) <br />
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The new Moon cycle varies slightly from month to month because it does not line up with our Pope's calendar on the wall, but the phase of the moon is consistent in God's time keeping. </div><div><br /></div><div>From our view on earth, the new moon can appear after two days of darkness, even three depending on the alignment of the lunar orbit that has been precisely set by God. So, now you know the riddle's answer about the day of return. Without the help of NASA's mathematics perhaps first set in motion by Sir Isaac Newton's formulas, no one can really know when the sliver of the moon will be seen until you see it because it varies. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>But... God knows.</b><br />
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About 2,500 years ago, the prophet Daniel was told that in the latter days, knowledge would increase. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you ask me, that means the calling of God's Word (Torah) and understanding of His creation would point us back in repentance to the beginning of His word and the Genesis account. </div><div><br /></div><div>Consider this example, in the 1990's, physicists began to describe the new discovery of so-called dark matter, but Genesis 1:2 already did that thousands of years ago. And more recently, a group of theoretical physicists have explained that sound pervades the universe, yet Psalm 19:1-4 did that already, again thousands of years ago.<br />
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<b>So what can we learn? </b><br />
<br />Yeshua (Jesus) was giving everyone a simple clue about the day no man knows from the Hebrew Bible.<br />
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Look at Genesis 1:14 "And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be <b>for signs and for seasons</b>, and for days and years". </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus (Yeshua) was referring to the appointed Feasts and a future Day of Trumpets with the arrival of the new moon (in Hebrew, Rosh Chodesh). </div><div><br /></div><div>His message points us to watch. We need to know the signs and season of the Feast Days.</div><div><br /></div><div>They have noting to do with our calendar or our manmade holidays.</div><div><br /></div><div>The ancient words, the Scriptures of the Torah, the Writings and the Prophets are Yeshua's witness. He is indeed found among them, like a signpost. The Torah gives us all the clues about Messiah. The Torah's Feast days are day of the assembly, the days of gathering.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>They gives us the clue to these words:<br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."</span> Matthew 18:20</blockquote>
Today, thanks to NASA, we have access to everyday computer programs that can mathematically and graphically model when the new moon will occur at any location on earth at any time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Knowledge has increased. But prior to these fantastic new technologies, ancient man looked up, watched the sky and waited for the new moon not knowing the exact hour or know the precise number of days the new moon would last in the sky. </div><div><br /></div><div>As you can see, in Hebrew thought and time, only the new moon is seen on the "Day of Trumpets." </div><div><br /></div><div>It's future fulfillment is truly the day no man knows, only The Father because His return could be on any one of the 7th month days of the new moon, we <u>just don't know which one</u>. </div><div><br /></div><div>At the same time, Daniel points us to watch and return in knowledge to God's words in the latter days. <br />
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As we have seen, contrary to modern pulpit teaching, Paul taught that the body of Messiah <b>are not to let others</b> obstruct our observance of <b>God's instruction.</b> That includes a Biblical good food diet and our <b>celebration</b> and rehearsal of the days of The LORD:<br />
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Colossians 2:16-17 "<b>Let no man therefore judge you</b> in meat, or in drink, <b>or in respect of an holyday</b>, or <b>of the new moon</b>, or of <b>the sabbath [days]</b>: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ."</blockquote>
Messiah Yeshua warns us to watch, so we need to repent: </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Rev/Rev003.html#3">Revelation 3:3</a> <em>"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. <b>If therefore thou shalt not watch</b>, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou <b>shalt not know what hour I will come </b>upon thee."</em> <br />
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Let's review: according to Scripture, once the new moon arrives each month it signals a count by a re-newed Biblical month on God's calendar. Yom Teruah is the 7th new moon after the 1st trumpet is blown. The trumpet count from Nisan to Tishre is seven trumpets. </div><div><br /></div><div>That 7th Rosh Chodesh day has extreme significance for this planet. </div><div><br /></div><div>Think about it, there are seven new moon trumpet blasts from the Spring Feasts to the Fall Feasts. </div><div><br /></div><div>It doesn't take a calculator to figure the front of the Bible mirrors the back. </div><div><br /></div><div>So it's time to re-read Leviticus Numbers 10:10 and reconsider Revelation 8- 11. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's a reason for the new moon days, and a reason to celebrate each new moon as a countdown. </div><div><br /></div><div>Numbers 10:10 ...at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpet over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings.</div><div><br /></div><div>We are to watch and wait with anticipation for THE Trumpets Day to be revealed, as we rehearse and wait for Messiah's return to be announced by a blast and shout on the day of Trumpets! </div><div><br /></div><div>If we just look, King David gave us a subtle hint of this coming great day when he told his friend Jonathan:<br />
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"And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow [is] the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third [day] at even." 1Samuel 20:5 </blockquote>
Here we see a hint at the length of the new moon's darkness. David knew it would be "at least" three days. After all, the darkness of a new moon period can last up to three days. Then in an amazing visual above, the moon is resurrected.<br />
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Don't forget the patterns God gives to us. When He created the earth remember He did not create the moon until the after the third day. The new moon Day of Trumpets is about King Messiah's return and resurrection, that is why Hosea declares:</div><div>
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After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Hosea 6:2</blockquote>That time is soon it's been almost two days (2,000 years) since Yeshua taught God's word about the Kingdom of God in Israel. The sun is setting on the second day, soon it will be the third. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our Creator Father uses numbers throughout His word to teach us more about Him. For example, there are three recorded resurrections in the Older Testament and three resurrections found in the Newer Testament prior to that of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). His resurrection was the seventh. Seven is the Biblical number of completion and perfection. I believe that it is possible that our generation may be a witness to the resurrection of mankind when the Trumpet sounds as we approach the beginning of the third day since His first coming.<br />
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As I pray you can now see, understanding the sayings embedded for us in Scripture is critical to obtain an understanding of the "gathering of the saints" on the coming days of Tabernacles. Perhaps, one of the most important concepts is seen in Jewish tradition where the three trumpets blasts of God each have a name. For thousands of years, these three trumpet blasts have been called the 1) "<span style="font-weight: bold;">first trum</span><strong>p,</strong>" 2) the "<span style="font-weight: bold;">last trump</span>" and 3) the "<span style="font-weight: bold;">great trump</span>." </div><div><br /></div><div>Don't let the names confuse you, the great day of The Lord is reserved for the great trump of the seventh month. The sequence of shofars blown on the Fall Feast Days are a very big deal! Understanding these trumpet blasts by their name and timing opens up the prophecy of the Scriptures and the book of Revelation which is a summary of the Fall Feasts. They are not done away with.<br />
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<strong>Are you beginning to see that understanding the fall Feast Days are today so critical? </strong><br />
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The "last trump" in Hebrew is the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tekiah HaGadol</span> and it is blown on the Day of Trumpets. <br />
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With an understanding of the actual name of this "trumpet blast" we can understand what a famous Jewish rabbi that studied in Gamaliel's yeshiva. The Apostle Paul was the student and he wrote this in 1Corinthians 15:51-53: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at <span style="font-weight: bold;">the last trump</span>: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."<br />
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Paul was confirming that the Book of Life resurrection of the dead will occur. On Yom Teruah, after the shouting and the blasts of the shofar are blown, the final shofar blast is the loudest and the longest. It is called the Tekiah Gedolah.<br />
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The blowing of the trumpets signifies not only resurrection, but it also serves as a wake-up call to the coming day of reckoning Great White Throne Judgment. See Acts 17:29-31, Hebrews 9:27 and Revelation 20:11 and remember there's nothing new there.<br />
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The Tekiah Gedolah trumpet-sound is the most likely candidate for the famous trumpet noted in 1Thessalonians 4:16 - "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet (Tekiah Gedolah) of God: and the dead in Messiah will rise first" also see "the last trump" of 1 Corinthians 15:52.<br />
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But, this Tekiah Gedolah is not to be confused with the Shofar HaGadol of Yom Kippur, the "great" shofar blast. The Tekiah Gedolah and Shofar HaGadol have two different meanings on two separate occasions.<br />
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The Yom Terurah Tekiah Gedolah is the last trumpet blast in the series of seven new moon trumpet blasts from the first month of Passover to the seventh month. These are seen in John's vision in Revelation 8 through 11. The Yom Terurah Tekiah Gedolah will bring forth God's elect from the earth to begin preparation for Yom Kippur's final judgment with Messiah as King (see Mark 13:27 and Zechariah 12:10-14).<br />
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The blowing of trumpets and this long blast (Tekiah Gedolah) is on the day of assembling together to meet King Messiah in His magnificent return and to participate in the earthquake of resurrection and the in-gathering of His people into His eternal Kingdom reign.<br />
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Moses was the first to describe a prophecy of this great in-gathering, it's in the Torah.<br />
<blockquote>
Deuteronomy 30:3-6 <span style="font-style: italic;">"then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live."</span></blockquote>
The prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah provide a second and third witness to confirm the words Moses.<br />
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<i>Ezekiel 36:24-27: I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put 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 cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>Jeremiah 31:7-10: For thus says the Lord : "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O Lord , save your people, the remnant of Israel.' Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the Lord , O nations, and declare it in the coast-lands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'</i></blockquote>
<b>The fulfillment of Messiah's <u>revelation is in</u> the Fall Feasts.</b> Don't think for a minute they're old and done away with. If they are we all have a big problem unless we don't want Yeshua to return.<br />
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They point us to the day of resurrection. The resurrection of the righteous. There is a rapture all right, but it is no secret unknown day. The Lord does not come like a thief to His followers. Resurrection will occur on the fall harvest day of His people. We just don't quite know "which" coming Feast Season that will be or at what hour He will choose to blow the "Last Trumpet." <br />
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<strong>Yom Kippur is actually Yom Kippurim - The Day of Atonements. </strong>As we have seen, the Messianic teaching on Yom Kippurim begins in Leviticus 16:29-34. This great day is a "convocation" and the conclusion of the "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Ten days of Awe</span>" that follow Yom Terurah, the Day of Trumpets. Can you imagine "the awe" of those coming ten days when the redeemed of earth will be transfigured to the glory of Eden and mankind in the image of God through resurrection? It will happen at the arrival of The Lord's glory at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel?<br />
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Yom Kippur is the day that that Messiah will reap the grapes of His harvest. It will be the day of separation of light and dark, just as one goat received redemption and the other was cast out to the wilderness. <br />
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This Feast Day is described by Ezekiel as the "Fat Sheep and Lean Sheep" judgment of Ezekiel 34, the same "Sheep and Goats" separation described by Matthew 25. To learn more about this day, we all need to read and study every bit of Leviticus 16 just as Jesus did. This chapter reading is about the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippurim is a solemn day of fasting and prayer for good reason. Yom Kippurim is even called the "Sabbath of Sabbaths." It is also called the holiest day. There's a reason.<br />
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Let's look at Leviticus 16 and see what it says to identify what principles there are to rehearse what we can on for this coming Day of Atonement.<br />
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Leviticus 16:29-34: <span style="font-style: italic;">"This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work--whether native born or an alien living among you-- because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites." And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses."</span></blockquote>
Daniel 9:24 ties the mystery instruction and promise of Yom Kippur’s everlasting atonement for iniquity, sin and transgression as shown in Leviticus 16:21 to Yeshua. Look for yourself:<br />
<blockquote>
“Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. Leviticus 16:21<br />
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“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. Daniel 9:24</blockquote>
Exodus chapters 25-30 address the setting up of the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle) shortly after Moses returns from the top of Mount Sinai for the first time before he sees the "Golden Calf" sin described in Exodus chapter 32. Exodus 30:1-10 covers the set-up for the "Altar of Incense." Key words in the phrase in Exodus 30:10 state: "Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement..." this gives us understanding that this verse is about <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Day</span> of Atonement. After searching the Scriptures for verses containing key words such as "atonement," "tenth," "seventh," "deny yourselves," Other verses that address the "Day of Atonement" appear again in Leviticus 23 where the fall Feast Day is described.<br />
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Leviticus 23:26-32: <span style="font-style: italic;">The LORD said to Moses, "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath."</span></blockquote>
Just as with the Day of Trumpets, much like the five books of Torah, there are five principles that apply to celebrating the Day of Atonement:<br />
<blockquote>
1. It is to always be on the tenth day of the seventh Biblical month.<br />
2. It is a High Sabbath Day.<br />
3. It is a day to deny oneself (this is considered by most to be a day of fasting).<br />
4. It is a day of sacred assembly.<br />
5. It is a day to make offerings to our Everlasting Father and make intercessory prayer.</blockquote>
When digging in to the Scriptures on Yom Kippur, they show us a sacrifice and a life is given. In that way, every aspect of the Yom Kippur day points us to the solemn work of Yeshua as He gave His life to redeem ours as the High Priest. On Yom Kippur no one could bring an offering of sacrifice, only the High Priest. There's a reason.<br />
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Not only that, if we look at the whole of Torah - we can see a life offering is only given where God has appeared or where His messenger has instructed it be done. Yeshua accomplished both. Its is a mystery, but the atonement offering by fire is about food (life giving) that's one reason why our Savior teaches us:<br />
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'I AM' the bread and the wine.</blockquote>
In an amazing way, we can see Leviticus teaches us this coming holy day is the day that only our High Priest Messiah can make atonement for our sins as a people called Israel. We are told to do no work of any kind, and afflict our souls, so do it.<br />
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Yom Kippur is the day Yeshua, our High Priest King who will one day come to judge and cleanse, so the word of God shows we have to be still, quiet in humble prayer and in thanksgiving as the High Priest will do His work on this day and we need to teach our children that important lesson. No matter how young, they need to know He is coming back soon and when. <br />
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Literally, our chance to repent and ask for forgiveness is before that day. Now is the time to be humble, repent pray, seek God, seek others and ask God and man to forgive us on these days of awe leading up to The Lord's Day. Because once it arrives, it is the day we must appear as we are before the Lord... and it's too late to do anything else. and the time of repentance will have expired. The court will be in session. <br />
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Yom Kippur foreshadows the 7th day, last day millennium trial at the end of the 1,000 years of peace on earth. The scene includes the accuser against the saints, the children of God and it is shown for us in Revelation. Check out Revelation 11 and notice the narrative as the evidence like a court room video replay is presented all the way to Revelation 20. <br />
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That coming Fall Feast court appointment on the final Yom Kippur judgment day trial will begin with the last trump of the Yom Kippur shofar as the King of the Universe enters His court and sits on His throne ready to conclude His judgment. <br />
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Thunder will sound and lightning will start flying as the earth shakes just like it did at Mount Sinai when The Lord descended... <br />
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"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Revelation 11:19<br />
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"And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled." Exodus 19:16</blockquote>
It will be the final judgment of the old Azazel goat, the deceiver that claims God changes at THE Yom Kippur described in Revelation. <br />
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What a blessing the Fall Feast trial was shown to John in a vision to tell us about it. <br />
<br />John was privileged to watch the preview of the witness of the twenty and four elders in the throne room of God as Yeshua was coronated as the worthy King. We can't know just who these 24 elders are, but 1Chronicles 24:7-17 gives us a possible clue as to their identity. Here, the Scriptures tell us that Shemaiah, the son of Nethaneel was the scribe appointed to record the names of those chosen by lot before King David and the High Priest Zadok. The lot was cast for 24 Levites that were appointed from the households of Aaron's sons Eleazar and Ithamar. Only these families of the sons of Aaron were chosen as the governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God because Nadab and Abihu died before their father. <br />
<br />Nadab and Abihu died because they like Cain, did not follow the Lord's instruction for a proper offering, an offering of blood life. Not only that, they brought a fire to the Altar that was not from God, it was a manmade fire.<br />
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All of God's instructions are critical for life, yet Nadab and Abihu brought a strange fire to the altar. The word 'strange' is translated from the Hebrew word 'zuwr' <b>זוּר</b>. It was not from the eternal fire from God that burned at His altar. It was from manmade, a foreigner to the Altar. Their offering was much like the cheat offering of Ananias and Sapphira described in Acts 5:1-11. <br />
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If you study Leviticus, you'll notice that God told the priests to only keep the fire burning (see Leviticus 6:12-13. He never told them to start one of their own and bring it to the Altar. Assumptions are dangerous when it comes to the Most Holy One. The fire that was to consume the offerings made at the Altar must be holy, set apart and provided by Almighty God.<br />
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Ananias and Sapphira just like Nadab and Abihu died, and great fear came upon the both assemblies that witnessed their deaths and that fear also fell on all who heard of their deaths. Each tried to short change The Lord's work. Only God can make something holy.<br />
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The scenes and visions of the final Yom Kippur is described in Revelation and the images are amazing. They unfold much like a video and show us the accuser will be taken from Temple and cast down in the ultimate sentence of transgression.<br />
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In the end, the deceiver, the accuser of the children that follow God will lose in the trial on his evil works. <br />
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Those he accuses on the fulfillment day of Yom Kippur "as breakers of the covenant and law of God" which were recorded on the tablets and scrolls at Sinai will be defended. They will be covered (atoned) by the blood of the living word of God by His great offering as our sinless Messiah Yeshua, the lamb of God. <br />
<br />In Revelation, Yeshua (Jesus) alone is authorized to break the seals of testimony and present the evidence of truth at the fulfillment of the Feast Days of YHVH.<br />
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From a Biblical interpretation, we must take a literal approach to His teaching and instruction to John and not be like Abel assuming that an offering with no fire or life given will suffice. Here's the connection:</div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>"The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways". Deuteronomy 28:9</div><div><br /></div><div>"Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus." Revelation 14:12</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Most especially, on the rehearsal of His appointed Feast Days and Yom Kippur His highest day, we must honor it to show our Father how much we love Him. It's the same for all Feasts.</div>
<br /><b>Yom Kippur is HUGE in Almighty God's Gospel plan.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The instruction in Leviticus shows us that the Jubilee Year begins on the 50th Yom Kippur. The Jubilee is about restoration. It is in the same pattern as Shavuot. The Jubilee is a picture of returning things to the way it once was. The 'last trump' of the shofar is blown on Yom Kippur consecrating the 50th year, the 'yovel'. Shavuot and the Jubilee are related to the creative cycle and reminds us of the three-fold lesson of the Sabbath Day: 1) God is our Creator, 2) God created the world in six days and ceased that work before the seventh day, and 3) God proclaimed the Sabbath as a time that people should continually observe just as He does.<br />
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Yom Kippur is a solemn day of rest and a day of affliction, so the tradition is to fast. If we look closely we can see that Paul wrote about Yom Kippur in 1Corinthians 15.<br />
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The Jubilee Year is tied to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a picture of life in the Garden before Adam and Eve gave away their kingship of the planet in sin and unbelief. The big revival, the restoration and restitution 'of all things' is coming and both the Jubilee and Yom Kippur are a part of the restoration to come on the Day of The Lord. <br />
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Acts 3:21 tells us:<br />
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"Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets."</blockquote>
As Believers, we must repent and say: let the rehearsal begin, and may it begin with a careful watch on the Word of God. Nadab and Abihu teach us the lesson three times in the Torah, so its really important and the message includes the fire of YHVH. <br />
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When we dig in on Yom Kippur, the words of our Father given in the Bible shows us fire to the Lord for any tribute offering without blood (minchah) or sacrifice with blood (korban) can only be made from the continual fire of YHVH. Leviticus 6 talks about this. And the Torah scroll of Leviticus, the constitution of the Kingdom on Earth teaches that we are not to make an offering except at the place that He chooses. <br />
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Notice too, God's word also shows us that an altar may only be in a place that God has been seen. <br />
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The Torah, the teaching of God YHVH also requires that a clean offering only can be accepted as He alone has ordained by any offering at His place of an altar. <br />
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Remember... every aspect of the day of Yom Kippur points us to the solemn and exclusive work of Yeshua, our Savior as He gave His life to redeem mankind. His work alone is the ultimate work of the High Priest at Yom Kippur.<br />
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If we look at the whole of Torah, we can see the fire of YHVH and an offering is only given where God has first appeared or where His "messenger" has instructed it can be done. Any fire, from our own altar at our place of choosing is a strange thing and not acceptable to YHVH. <br />
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An offering place shown by a "messenger" (mal'ak מַלְאָךְ) is rarely seen in the Bible. As far as I know, this only happened with King David when the angel (messenger of God) told him to offer at the threshing floor, the location of today's Temple Mount in Jerusalem.<br />
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Our blessing today, is to know that Yeshua accomplished all of these including the 'minchah' and the 'korban' offerings. Mincha means "present" or "gift" and is the meal offering which come from wheat or barley that is cut into a measure for the Mincha offering as well as the grape which provides wine for offering and the olive which provides the oil, representing the Spirit of God. <br />
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Korban is the life 'blood' offering of a lamb, goat, bull or dove, a clean animal. They were not presented for reasons of salvation as many suppose but for they were presented for consecration. The five Korban offerings are the burnt offering, the peace offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. An olah animal blood offering could only cover (atone) the sin, not remove the guilt. That is the role of Messiah.<br />
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We are far from the time of the Tabernacle, so it's much like a lost key, but the atonement offerings by fire are uniquely all about life. Food represents life, because it gives life nourishment for living. That's the reason why our Savior teaches us, 'I AM' the bread and the wine before He gave His life as the ultimate offering to restore life.<br />
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In an amazing way, we can see Leviticus and the book of Hebrews teaches us this future but last High Holy day of Yom Kippur is THE DAY that our High Priest Yeshua will return to judge and the decision will be to make atonement.<br />
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On this set apart day, we are told to do no work of any kind, and afflict our souls. There's is no legalism intended here, just caution because as we approach and get nearer to THE ultimate Day of The Lord. The awesome thing is that we can rehearse this by fasting on each Yom Kippur day. So, we do need to be seriously careful unless we REALLY know what we’re doing. Remember, no strange fire offering is acceptable. The Temple altar has been destroyed, but it will be restored by Messiah one day.<br />
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Here's another important thing to know... Yom Kippurim is 'the day' of Yeshua. He is our King and our High Priest who will one day come to judge and cleanse. The word of God shows us that on Yom Kippur we should be still, quiet in humble prayer and in thanksgiving as the High Priest will do His work on this day. We need to teach our children this message. They need to know He is coming back and what will happen. They need to be prepared. <br />
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Yom Kippur teaches us what any "fire and brimstone" revival preacher has taught. That literally, our chance to repent and ask for forgiveness is now, <u>before</u> the Great Day of Judgment. Now is the time, before the Day of The Lord, it is the time to be humble, time to repent, to fast and pray and to worship God. It is time to seek others and ask both God and man to forgive us. This message is the shadow picture shown in the 'Days of Awe' leading up to The Lord's Judgment Day. <br />
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Because once it finally arrives, so will the fire and brimstone for those that purposefully oppose YHVH. It is the day we must all appear "just as we are" before the Lord's white throne... and once that Yom Kippur arrives, it's judgment day. <br />
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So, the opportunity to turn from our sins is now so that when we arrive at the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur at His return we can be clean as white linen standing in honor at the right hand before our Lord to receive His reward.<br />
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Revelation graphically shows us the big picture many forget: <br />
<blockquote>
"And, behold, I come quickly; and <b>my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work </b>shall be. I am Aleph and Tav, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. <b>Blessed are they that do his commandments</b>, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:12-14</blockquote>
The prophetic word for this promise is shown first to us first in Leviticus after we are given the words: "the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD". <br />
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The word 'anoint' is then given by Moses, it's where we get the title Messiah, it's 'mashach' the annointed. On Yom Kippur, the grapes, whether the olive that is pressed for oil or the grape that is crushed for wine are gathered to the barn. Yom Kippur points to Jesus who comes in His Father's stead, making atonement at the harvest time. The gospels even show us He put on the white linen garments at the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1–9, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36).<br />
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"And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments." Leviticus 16:32</blockquote>
It's pretty awesome that King David wrote to us all that the Messiah would be this 'One' spoken of by Moses and Revelation: <br />
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"I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, 'You are My Son; Today I have begotten thee. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.' " Psalm 2:7-8 </blockquote>
And Zechariah showed us that He is the Priest clothed in majesty on God's throne: <br />
<blockquote>
"And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." Zechariah 6:12-13</blockquote>
Yom Kippur's going to be a bad day for those that rejected the Priest in the order of Melchizedek standing at the right hand of God before the day of The Lord:<br />
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"The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries." Psalms 110:4-6</blockquote>
Our prayer should be that God will bless us as we humbly honor His day, His way. <br />
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And may we all pray every Yom Kippur: </b><br />
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"Reveal to us the Messiah who is the righteous one. There is none other who justifies us. He carries our sins and crimes and was wounded for our transgressions."<br />
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Amen and Hallelujah, may Tabernacles soon begin. COME LORD JESUS, REVEAL YOUR GLORY TO US!!<br />
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We must take the opportunity before us to go into the day of Yom Kippur clean as white linen by the blood of Messiah so that we might be standing in honor before Him to receive our reward when He comes. <br />
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The sequence of many end time events and our salvation is clear in the Fall Feasts. It's time to rehearse them now because Yom Kippur shows us it is the day of judgment and the day of atonements since there is no salvation apart from the wood and the blood of Messiah on it for all. It also points us toward the coming week of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the wedding Feast of the Lamb.<br />
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The Bible describes a number of burnt-sacrifices for the week of Sukkot and whether taking each offering by itself or all of them together, each is always divisible by the number seven, God's number of completion. Scripture for the Sukkot week describes 70 bullocks, 14 rams and 98 lambs or altogether 182 sacrifices (that's 26 × 7), to which must be added 336 (48 × 7) tenths of ephahs of flour for the meat offerings. The Feast of Tabernacles lasts seven days and takes place during the seventh month and it has the number 7 impressed throughout.<br />
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<b>Amazingly, the views offered in the Jewish Talmud is that these sacrifices are offered, not for Israel, but for the nations of the world:</b><br />
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“There were seventy bullocks, to correspond to the number of the seventy nations in the world.”<br />
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It is difficult to imagine that the Jewish sages would embed the prophetic character of this feast without something inspired from Heaven here.<br />
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Peter tells of the grace that will be brought to the redeemed at His return. This will occur at the Fall Feasts. His return is not an imminent any day of the year even as taught in many pulpits, we just don't know which season of Fall Feasts will be the revelation day of The Lord: <br />
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<i>Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1Peter 1:13</i> </blockquote>
The vision of Revelation was given as a gift to John and all those that would read it as the summary of the plan of God for Yeshua to fulfill the Fall Feasts of YHVH. The Fall Feasts must be studied for the book of Revelation to make sense. <br />
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Many today may think that it is a cryptic book because they do not study the Feasts of The Lord. The Fall Feasts Days are the "key" to unlock the meaning of the Revelation story of Messiah Yeshua - Jesus Christ the King. <br />
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Revelation describes these events in their sequence of the Fall Feast Days which are the Day of Trumpets when we see the return of Messiah in His Glory through to the wedding feast week of Tabernacles which includes the restoration of God's people to the Promised Land for the "Marriage of the Lamb".<br />
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It will be the 'Greater Exodus' and just as it was with the battles when Joshua entered Canaan with the twelve tribes of Israel, there will be a great battle for the land as the nations come against Israel. <br />
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Revelation gives us the sequence of major events relevant to the 1,000 year reign of Messiah from Jerusalem. In the beginning of that earthly reign, Satan's power, the "power of death" will be taken away as he is imprisoned until the end of the day (1000 years). <br />
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Just as the Day of Trumpets will announce Messiah's return, the "first resurrection" will occur for the elect through time that have chosen to follow God and to follow Messiah. It will include those from "Tribulation" which "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Messiah Yeshua" (Revelation 12:17). They will rule the planet under His direction for the 1,000 years. These overcomer's who are raised in the "first resurrection" just before the 1,000 years will be transfigured the image given to mankind at Eden, covered by the light of God immortal and incorruptible. These people will include all who have overcome "in Christ" throughout time as well those still alive through the tribulation. <br />
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These faithful people will be given the gift of eternal life and restored by God to the perfect physical condition of Adam and Eve at creation as Yeshua was at the transfiguration and His resurrection. They will rule as priests with Messiah for the 1000 years. This is the advantage, the reward of the first resurrection. <br />
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All other survivors through the battles described in Psalms 83 will continue to be mortal through the 1,000 years, which means they can of course still die like Adam and Eve if they willfully sin against God's instruction and His Kingdom. In the end many will rebel with the deceiver is released as he was in Eden to lie.<br />
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This is proven by the fact that when the rebels from among them attack the Holy City at the end of the 1000 years these wayward people are "devoured" by fire from heaven when Satan is released and inspires a final rebellion against God at the end of the 1000 years, which will be promptly put down and the rebels of God and Magog will be destroyed. Then...<br />
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"Death will be no more" after Messiah's fulfillment of the second resurrection at the Feast of Trumpets at the end of the millennium age and the Day of The Lord, the final Yom Kippur is concluded, which is called the Great White Throne Judgment when Satan, his demons and mankind, those goats and tares that openly reject God are judged in the Lake of Fire. <br />
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After this judgment, all God's people whose names are written in The Book of Life may enter into the eternal state of the New Heaven and New Earth on Shemini Atzeret during "the assembly of the great eighth (day), (Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 prove this). They are the ones that are "blessed" as they do his commandments" and sin no more. They alone have the "right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" which is the "New Jerusalem", Eden restored on the 8th day of Tabernacles. <br />
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<b>Tabernacles aka Sukkot is the big celebration. </b>Sukkot follows judgment and marks 'the' harvest time, and we need to be ready according to Zechariah when the Bride of the millennial kingdom are called to celebrate the wedding of the bride at the fesitval of our joy, the ingathering in Jerusalem:<br />
<blockquote>
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." Zechariah 14:16</blockquote>
Sukkot is the seven day wedding reception after the atoning of Yom Kippur. <br />
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The first day of Tabernacles (Tishre 15) is another day off work and the festival week is closed with Hashanah Rabbah (Tishre 21) followed by a picture of eternal forgiveness and New Jerusalem on Shemini Atzeret, the 8th day, another holy set apart day of rest. The prophet Haggai describes Tishre 21:<br />
<blockquote>
"On the twenty-first day of the seventh month (Hashanah Rabbah), the word of The Lord came through the prophet Haggai." Haggai 2:1</blockquote>
Next, Almighty God declares this on the 7th day of Sukkot.<br />
<blockquote>
"This is what The Lord Almighty says: "In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory," says The Lord Almighty. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’” Haggai 2:6-9</blockquote><b>
Sukkot is a very BIG deal.</b><br />
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All families have things to celebrate, so it is the time we get to rehearse this coming celebration because it is the goal of what the once sinful woman, the atoned 'Bride' has embraced in God’s Covenant, His Kingdom Gospel of forgiveness through lovingkindness and the restoration of God's Tabernacle in Israel as the husband's response to His love for His wayward bride. <br />
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Like Jesus did on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Hosea lays it all out, 'the Feast' is not done away with:<br />
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“I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD. <br />
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‘It shall come to pass in that day that I will answer,’ says the LORD; ‘I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil; they shall answer Jezreel. <br />
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Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’” Hosea 2:19-23</blockquote>
Back in the days of the Temple, everyone traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot as well as Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost). One of the daily highlights of the Sukkot festival was the 'Simkhat Bet Ha-Shoeva' (Rejoicing of the Water-Drawing House). <br />
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Back then, on each day of "the feast" once the daily offering made by fire was made at the altar, the priest would pour out water drawn from the pool of Siloam (remember the blind man), and then the priest would pour wine over the side of the altar. <br />
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The ultimate life offering was made at the altar (crucifixion) when our High Priest (Yeshua) poured out water and wine from His body... <br />
<blockquote>
"But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out." John 19:34." </blockquote>
We are honored to know the fulfillment of this last or 7th day of Tabernacles when the great I Am cried out to the crowd assembled for the water pouring, so lets celebrate just as He did then. John 7 is the witness Yeshua's words on the 7th day called Hashanah Rabbah (the great Hashanah:<br />
<blockquote>
"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38</blockquote>
It's amazing what the officers of the Temple Court said after they heard Him:<br />
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“Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” <br />
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The next morning (on Shemini Atzeret) he forgave the adulterous woman, at the court of The Temple as He told her: <br />
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“I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”<br />
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Tabernacles, or Sukkot also known as the Feast of Booths is the feast of "In-gathering". Get it? The ingathering, no wonder it concludes with Shemini Atzeret. <br />
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Sukkot's instruction tells us about how we get to celebrate the seven day celebration of forgiveness in the seventh month at the end of the Biblical Year, this is found in Leviticus 23:34-43. The first day is a holy convocation, a 'mikra' and the celebration lasts seven days and it is followed by the eighth day to rest in The Lord.<br />
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The second time this is seen in the Torah is in Numbers 29:12-40. The third time we learn more about the Sukkot is in Deuteronomy 16:9-17. The verses in Leviticus focus on a general outline for observing the celebration Feast of The Lord. The verses in Numbers focus on the type of offerings to be made at the Feast, like a gigantic family reunion BBQ feast. The verses in Deuteronomy reveal who gets to celebrate in this mega picnic.<br />
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Sukkot has another amazing name, it is called the "<strong>Feast of In-gathering</strong>" and is one of three appointed days or festivals (the other two are Passover and Pentecost or Shavuot) where "thy males appear before <b>God thy God </b><strong>in the place which he shall choose</strong>..." (Exodus 23:14-17, Exodus 24:22-23, Deuteronomy 16:16).<br />
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This "pilgrimage" instruction to be in Jerusalem is ultimately why God chooses this city for His name. This is due to the fact that He appointed these "chag" celebrations as the days Yeshua (Jesus) would actually be there in person to fulfill His complete plan of salvation, redemption and restoration for all believing mankind. He was there in Jerusalem at Passover almost 2,000 years ago as were all the witnesses around the world that journeyed there to Jerusalem. God's Spirit was there at Shavuot and Yeshua will return there when Tabernacles is fulfilled.<br />
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That why the big three festivals are called chagim because chag mean "festival".<br />
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So, it is a time to spend outdoors in the beautiful fall night sky so that we may behold God's creation in the night sky that declares His gospel to the planet. If we are not outside looking up we certainly will not see the sign of Messiah first hand that He promised us in Matthew 24 because this is the appointed season of His second coming. If we are not looking up, soon we will not see the sights described in Revelation 12 sign.<br />
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There's a great message of the glory of Tabernacles in Matthew. Did Moses enter the Promised Land? No wait, he did... an awesome picture is given to us by our Lord. Our Savior met with him and gave him a great reward, acknowledging him before The Father as well as Elijah and three witnesses! <br />
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Moses entered through the invitation of mercy and atoning grace of our Messiah Yeshua alone. <br />
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Matthew points us to this happening "after" six days, it was most likely the day Hashanah Rabah, the 7th day of Tabernacles, the 21st of Tishri. And now we can know the day after, the 8th day is Shemini Atzeret שמיני עצרת "the Eighth [day] of Assembly" the last holy day and the grande finale. <br />
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Hashanah Rabah is the 7th day of Tabernacles and it means "the great salvation." Another saying in Hebrew, “Hoshiah Na! Save now! This is what the crowds were shouting about when Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey colt 2,000 years ago.<br />
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Matthew's account points us to Hashanah Rabah as the day that Moses met with Messiah on the mountaintop. It was after the 6th day that Moses received victory from his grave 'outside' the land to be seen with Elijah by Peter, James and John as witnesses with Messiah Yeshua on the mountain 'in' the Promised Land. <br />
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This 'after the 6th day' points to Hashanah Rabah as "the Great Salvation" day and the day of promise. It will be the same for all inscribed in the book of life acknowledged by the Lamb of God shown in Revelation: <br />
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"The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels (messengers)." Revelation 3:5</blockquote>
Check out the story in Matthew, look at the themes. It's cool to read the account with Hebrew names. Jesus showed Moses he too would enter in and be acknowledged before His Father and his messengers (disciples) because his judgment was only until the Glory of Jesus was witnessed.<br />
<blockquote>
After six days, Yeshua took with him Keefa, Ya`akov, and Yochanan his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as the light. Behold, Moshe and Eliyah appeared to them talking with him.<br />
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Keefa answered, and said to Yeshua, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let's make three sukkah here: one for you, one for Moshe, and one for Eliyah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." When the talmidim heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid. Yeshua came and touched them and said, "Get up, and don't be afraid." Matthew 17:1-7</blockquote>
It can be your promise too. The great salvation day is coming. Hoshiah Na! <br />
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When the disciple Peter (Keefa) asks to build three tents (sukkah), we need to know what is happening and when. Sukkah in Hebrew means “booths”. The word tabernacle simply means to “dwell in a tent.” Sukkah refers to the temporary dwellings that faithful Jewish people have built annually from branches and leaves to remind themselves of the 40 year journey in the wilderness with Moses when they were entirely dependent on God’s provision. <br />
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Yeshua gives us a parable about Tabernacles shown earlier in the book of Matthew: <br />
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<i>He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.</i> Matthew 13:37-43 </blockquote>
Yeshua (Jesus) had to be there in Jerusalem of on Passover for His crucifixion and His resurrection on the day of First Fruits.<br />
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Fifty days later, God sent His Spirit there on Pentecost to indwell the believers and disciples so that they could literally preach the gospel to all the nations in their own tongue (languages). That is why we hear the term "speaking in tongues." It was the gift of the Spirit giving ability to speak in another language so that the Gospel could instantly spread around the nations around the world from those that were there in Jerusalem at the Feast of Shavuot.<br />
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This tells us one reason you don't want to forget the Feasts.<br />
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The world still speaks all of the languages (or forms of them) that God gave to mankind at the Tower of Babel. As Scripture says, He will return there in Jerusalem to begin His reign as King of the Universe on Tabernacles, and at that time I believe that He will fully restore His pure language (we call it Hebrew today) so that we can all worship Him in one unified voice as He told the prophet Zephaniah.<br />
<blockquote>
<i>For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.</i> Zephaniah 3:9: </blockquote>
To better understand the celebration of Sukkot (Tabernacles), let's look again back at the Book of Exodus. By reflecting on the Exodus account, we know that the children of Israel and the sojourners with them were a part of the first Passover in Egypt.<br />
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It was the month of Aviv (Abib), the first month of the year (see Exodus 12:2). Exodus 12:37 reveals that the children of Israel then encamped at Succoth after their departure from Egypt in the month of Aviv. The next few chapters tell the story of the crossing of the Red Sea (baptism/mikveh) between the first (Aviv) and second (Iyar) months. Exodus 16:1 describes the 15th day of the second month after the "exodus" from Egypt when the children of Israel walked to the wilderness of "Sin".<br />
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Do you see the hidden message in the story?<br />
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While in Sin, they were given manna by God (representing the bread of life). The manna saved them from starvation when they could do nothing to help themselves. They had to rely 100% on God and He provided. After camping in Sin, they journeyed on and camped in Rephidim next (this Hebrew word means "resting places". Here where they received water from the Rock (Exodus 1 7:1). This water represents the Spirit of God. Finally, in the third month (Siwan) they arrived at the mountain, Mount Sinai where they heard God's voice as the earth shook (Exodus 19:1).<br />
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Remembering the journey of the children of Israel helps us better understand our journey and the future fulfillment of the Feast of Sukkot. Our Everlasting Father God, expressly tells us why we are to observe Sukkot in Leviticus 23:42-43.<br />
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It is a "memorial celebration" to remember that God provided for the children of Israel and instructed them to dwell in "booths" (tents or tabernacles) when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. The dwelling of God's people in booths is fundamental to celebrating the seven day Feast of Tabernacles. It shows us that God will provide.<br />
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From the 15th to the 22nd of the seventh month it was and is a time of great rejoicing for the people of Israel and those that sojourned with them out of Egypt. This is because it will be the future "appointed time" of celebrating Messiah's reign as King, what a celebration! <br />
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In the Scripture reading, we also learn that both the <span style="font-weight: bold;">first day</span> and the <span style="font-weight: bold;">eight day</span> following the seven days of Sukkot are His <b>holy convocations</b>. Much like a weekly Sabbath, they are days that we are to do no work. The are God's vacation days with us, so don't miss them like a work-a-holic.<br />
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It was a crowning festival of the fall Feast Days and it will be that again.<br />
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Israel was commanded to build tabernacles and live in them during the feast days. This commemorated how God brought them out of Egypt through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. Secondly, they were to cut off branches of palm trees and wave them, rejoicing before the Lord. This eight day Festival holds a wonderful future promise. In the Messianic Kingdom to come, when the other festivals have indeed been shown to have served their purpose in Messiah, Tabernacles will continue to be celebrated since praise and thanksgiving to God as our King will never end. That is the meaning of the eight day. It represents eternity. <br />
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Zechariah tells us of this time when all the nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to participate in the Feast of Tabernacles. Jews today recognize that the Feast of Tabernacles points to and looks forward to the Kingdom of Messiah. Zechariah 14:16-21 states clearly that after Messiah sets up His Kingdom His people, the children of God will celebrate the joy and blessings of the Feast of Tabernacles as a yearly memorial in Jerusalem.<br />
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Yeshua (Jesus) was there in Jerusalem at the appointed days of the Feast of Tabernacles. He was in the Temple during the Feast's water libation ceremony on the 7th day just as He was front and center on all the pilgrimage days. These focus His plan of redemption. Read the words of John 7:37-38 that describe Hashanah Rabah, the seveneth day:<br />
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"In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" </blockquote>
He was there the next day too while the torches of the ceremony still burned at The Temple above the city on Shemini Atzeret -- the "Eighth Day" of Simcha Torah.<br />
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Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12 </blockquote>
Trust God's word, you don't want to miss Him at this Harvest celebration of in-gathering when He returns giving the water of eternal life as the light of the world!!<br />
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The Torah is God's Word, Yeshua is the Living Word, the Torah resurrected in the flesh. In Him, all The Feast days will be fulfilled (see Matthew 5:17).<br />
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And consider Revelation 7:9-17 as it describes the saints who have come through the "great tribulation." This scene will take place at Tabernacles and it describes the day following the seven days of Sukkot aka Shemini Atzeret. This day is the day to "rejoice in Torah" to rejoice in Messiah at His inauguration as King Messiah. <br />
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The storyline of Revelation that tracks with the Falls Feasts is preceded by "the" grand celebration with the saints waving "palm branches" during Tabernacles. Why are the "saints" of Revelation waving palm branches?<br />
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They are celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles which represents the great marriage supper feast that will soon take place. It is a Feast which will last for seven days until the big day which represents "eternity on" when death is swallowed up in victory. For more, see Isaiah 25:6-9. This is the greatest day of all celebrations following the marriage feast of the Lamb when the elect, redeemed people, "the bride" will say "I do". <br />
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This same great celebration was foreshadowed by the supper with God on the mountain in the wilderness when Moses, his brother Aaron and Aaron's <b>"two sons" </b>were invited with the <b>"seventy"</b> elders of Israel to the top of Mount Sinai to celebrate The Giving of Covenant in the presence of Almighty God. This future appointment is prophetically described in Exodus 24. <br />
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There below the King's throne at Mount Sinai these 74 men celebrated <b>after everyone</b> said "I do" and accepted God's covenant when they said they would "do" all of His words: <br />
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<i>"All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do."</i> Exodus 24:3 </blockquote>
God's use of "Seventy" here represent all the nations and peoples of mankind that also accept Yeshua's covenant of grace and mercy. Amazingly, these men ate and drank there in full sight of God. The Scripture says they saw Him. This "<strong>seventy</strong>" and the "<strong>two</strong>" sons symbolize what is seen when Luke describes that Yeshua (Jesus) appointed "seventy two" disciples of the "harvest LORD" to spread His gospel of the Kingdom in every city of and place. <br />
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After this <em>the Lord appointed <strong>seventy-two</strong></em> others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go." Luke 10:1 </blockquote>
This assignment likely occurred while they were gathered in Jerusalem with Messiah during the great celebration of Tabernacles. I only imagine that this divine mission given by the Master at the end of Sukkot to the seventy-two took place immediately after the seven day celebration on the one of a kind day called Shemini Atzeret. After all, the assignment give to Israel was to be a royal priesthood to minister to the planet: <br />
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And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation... Exodus 19:6 </blockquote>
Let's look back again carefully at Exodus 24:1-18: <br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-style: italic;">"Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.” When Moses went and told the people all the Lord's words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.” Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.” When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights."</span> </blockquote>
The Feast of Tabernacles shows us the future great celebration following the "in-gathering", that many call the rapture, but it is the resurrection event that will bring people to celebrate Messiah's return, some will come that are living and many will come, arisen from death. The resurrection will occur before The Lord's celebration at the Feast of Tabernacles. I will not be surprised if this celebration will occur at the very spot where Yeshua (Jesus) took Peter, John and James to witness His "transfiguration" and the appearance of Moses (representing the Torah) and Elijah (representing the Prophets).<br />
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Messiah Yeshua as well as Peter, John and James were prophetically and thematically represented in the meal at the top of Mount Sinai some 1,500 years before Luke recorded his story. These three are prophetically seen in the persons of Moses, Aaron and his two sons. In each occasion, we the Bible gives us a glimpse into the future of the Tabernacles celebration. This is why Messiah says in Luke 9:27: <br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-style: italic;">"But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God." </span></blockquote>
Think about it, after the future trumpet day of the resurrection of the saints before Tabernacles, many people will be standing there in that very spot.<br />
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Unless we study and consider the instruction we receive in the Bible, we cannot possibly understand the great meaning and implication of the future days of celebration during Tabernacles or the other fall Feast Days of The Lord. Simply put, one of the greatest prophecies of the Messiah cannot be known because so many of us have not been taught to anchor our understanding of His words in the Torah. Unless we study His word, all of it, Bible students will skim over and read past this magnificent promise. <br />
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To understand these Words of Yeshua (Jesus) is to recognize that He was prophetically talking about the climatic celebration and rejoicing of the future saints that are to be gathered and standing with Messiah. Perhaps there at the place Peter, John and James stood during the seventh month and the conclusion of the seven day Feast of Tabernacles! All the details are important! And <span style="font-style: italic;">"...Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah..."</span> Luke 9:33<br />
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We have the same instruction Peter understood from Leviticus 23:40; 41 and 42: "...<span style="font-weight: bold;">you shall rejoice</span> before the Lord your God seven days." "...It is <span style="font-weight: bold;">a statute forever</span> throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month." "..."You shall dwell in booths..."<br />
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We must consider it a great privilege to know that Luke's fantastic narrative of this story many know as the "Transfiguration" actually occurred at Tabernacles. <br />
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This story also hints of the resurrection (awakening from death) with the foreshadowing language that they were heavy with "sleep". Here are the words of Luke 9:32: "But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and <span style="font-weight: bold;">when they were awake, they saw his glory</span>, and the two men that stood with him."<br />
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Following the events described by Luke which were witnessed by Peter, John and James, the Master also made a grand appointment just like <span style="font-weight: bold;">the seventy</span> at Sinai that were there with Moses and Aaron to dine with them and Aaron's <span style="font-weight: bold;">two sons</span>... The Lord, Yeshua (Jesus) likewise appointed seventy-two.<br />
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This is well worth repeating and critically important to understand in this context from Luke 10:1-3: <span style="font-style: italic;">"After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly [is] great, but the laborers [are] few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves."</span><br />
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After the future <strong>"in-gathering"</strong> (harvest) of the saints in Jerusalem for <span style="font-weight: bold;">THE</span> fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles which is the marriage supper of the Lamb, the celebration will conclude at the end of the seventh day - the rest of Messiah's 1,000 year reign over all the earth. We will then have the eighth day. That eighth day represents completion and marks the beginning of the New Jerusalem! <br />
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We are instructed us to do no work on this eighth day of Tabernacles, instead much like a wedding rehearsal, we are to rehearse for this great celebration following the wedding day, The Feast of Tabernacles!<br />
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We have to understand the eight day reference recorded in Luke 9:28 leads us straight to a greater understanding of Shemini Atzeret... <br />
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<i>"And it came to pass about <span style="font-weight: bold;">eight days after</span> these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and <strong>went up into a mountain</strong> to pray."</i> </blockquote>
Luke clearly show us that this happened on that awesome eighth day following the week of Tabernacles, almost 2,000 years ago!<br />
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It is critical that we realize that just before this eight day of Shemini Atzeret nearly 2,000 years ago, Messiah <strong>fed the multitude of followers</strong>. They had supper with The Lord, another witness and foreshadowing of the great wedding feast <strong>of His people to come</strong> and a reflection of the great feast that occurred at the top of Mount Sinai. The feeding of the multitude of the 5,000 described in Luke 9 has significant metaphoric ties to the Torah.<br />
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Like the 5,000, the <strong>five books</strong> of Torah in this miracle story teaches us <strong>five truths</strong>: <br />
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1. There were five loaves of bread - they represent the five books of Torah that feed the way of life!<br />
2. There were two fish - we also have the Writings and the Prophets and the restoration of Judah and Israel!<br />
3. Yeshua blessed them and gave them to the disciples - He gave His words to the disciples to be fishers of men!<br />
4. The multitude were filled - We are to read and study ALL of His word!<br />
5. Twelve baskets of leftover fragments were taken up - the scattered twelve tribes of Israel will be regathered and reunited so that All Israel may be saved.</blockquote>
For more on the scattered twelve tribes and he restoration of Judah and Ephraim see the post <a href="http://myscripturestudies.blogspot.com/2008/08/lost-sheep-scriptures.html">Lost Sheep Scriptures</a>.<br />
<blockquote>
Luke 9:13-20: <span style="font-style: italic;">"But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. And they did so, and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets. And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? They answering said, John the Baptist; but some [say], Elijah; and others [say], that one of the old prophets is risen again. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Messiah of God." </span></blockquote>
The great thing about this miraculous story from Luke is that out Messiah taught the crowd in the town of Bethsaida. Surprise: Bethsaida is a fishing village on the west shore of The Sea of Galilee, the home of Andrew, Peter, Philip and John. Bethsaida means "house of fish". When we understand the Feast of Tabernacles we can also understand that His teaching there was prophetic. Jesus (Yeshua) spoke to them <span style="font-style: italic;">"of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing".</span><br />
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A second miracle is told about the feeding of 4,000 hungry people. We see this miracle in Matthew 15:32-38:<br />
<blockquote>
"Then Jesus called the disciples and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way." The disciples said to him, "Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?" Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They replied, "Seven - and a few small fish." After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Not counting children and women, there were four thousand men who ate." </blockquote>
The numbers are different here, there are: 3 days, 4,000 people, 7 loaves of bread and 7 baskets of broken pieces.<br />
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This story also reflects on the Feast of Tabernacles and the promise of resurrection. <br />
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The crowds had been with Yeshua three days and the place was desolate. Hosea speaks of the third day. <br />
<blockquote>
"Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him." Hosea 6:1-2</blockquote>
This promise is first given in Exodus 19:16 where we see the great trump:<br />
<blockquote>
"So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled."</blockquote>
It's been two days (2,000 years) since Jesus taught in the desolate place and fed the multitude, reviving their strength with bread. Remember Hosea, after the second day...<br />
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The seven loaves of bread in this story point us to the noted time period of 7,000 years for the restoration of mankind's relationship with our Creator. In the creation story of Genesis, creation lasted 6 days and on the 7th day, the Sabbath day, God rested. This represents the day of Messiah, the millennium of Messiah's rest "tabernacling" with mankind when He returns to Israel. <br />
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The seven Feasts of the Lord of Passover, First Fruits, Shavuot, Trumpets, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles and Shemini Atzeret speak to the appointed work of Messiah. The first coming shows us what He redemption in the first 3 appointed Spring Feasts. Yeshua came to accomplish these things on the 4th day (4,000 years since Adam).<br />
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The four Fall Feasts speak to the work of Messiah the King to be accomplished after two days (2,000 years). As we know by creation and our calendar the prophetic week of mankind has seven days. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshua will restore the Tabernacle of David in the appointed Fall Feasts. <br />
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As we have already shown, Zechariah tells us that Tabernacles and Messiah's teachings are inseparable. But this one is well worth repeating: <br />
<blockquote>
<i>"Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and <b>to keep the Feast of Booths</b>."</i> Zechariah 14:16</blockquote>
Isaiah too is talking of Messiah's teaching as He will certainly tabernacle here on earth with us: <span style="font-style: italic;">"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord , to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, [Torah] and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."</span> Isaiah 2:2-3<br />
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The fall Feast Days are intertwined and tied to the Jubilees and God's calendar. This fall we will again celebrate Tabernacles with some great backyard camping. <br />
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God told Noah before the judgment of the flood in Genesis 6:3: <br />
<blockquote>
<i>"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be "<b>an hundred and twenty years</b>."</i> </blockquote>
You see the unique thing is that the word translated in every Bible I have as "year" is actually the Hebrew word "shaneh". Translating Hebrew, the word literally means "divisions of time". It is the same Hebrew word that is used in God's announcement of the Jubilee "year" in Leviticus 25:10.<br />
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Considering the flood judgment, like most I think that the 120 years is mentioned in connection with God’s patience wearing thin before His impending judgment by water. But as to man's timetable, I think that there is a solid tie to 120 Jubilees, not to individual human life spans... after all no one I know of lives to be a 120 years of age. <br />
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The great flood was possibly at the onset of a Jubilee cycle, perhaps the 30th fifty-year cycle since creation. That would timestamp the flood some 1,500 years after creation. Scholars vary a bit on some of the dates but many agree that a straightforward reading of the Bible indicates the "flood" must have taken place sometime around 2500 BC.<br />
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The Exodus from Egypt (following the 10 judgments) likely occurred around 1,500 BC, this would have been about the 50th Jubilee since creation which means that the Sodom and Gomorrah judgment would have occurred somewhere around the 40th Jubilee or 2,000 BC. Not surprisingly we see 40 as a time of judgment throughout Scripture.<br />
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Here's how Moses recorded God's instruction about the 50 year cycle of the Jubilee:<br />
<blockquote>
Leviticus 25:8-10 <span style="font-style: italic;">"You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. "Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. "And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan." </span></blockquote>
Continuing on, we might consider that the life and times of Jesus would have occurred around the timeline of the 80th Jubilee since creation. Luke records an amazing story when Yeshua's ministry began at a synagogue in Galilee: <br />
<blockquote>
Luke 4:18-19: <i>"The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, <span style="font-weight: bold;">To preach the acceptable year of the Lord</span>."</i> </blockquote>
He taught about the future of His Kingdom and the fulfillment of the Jubilee.<br />
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Fast forward to the description of those that wait for the final Jubilee... Ddi you know that the Greek word “kai” καί is translated as the word “and” in Revelation 14:12?<br />
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But did the translators perhaps just miss something in the meaning of this word? The depth of the word means “indeed”... <br />
<blockquote>
<i>“Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, [<b>indeed</b>] the faith of Yeshua.”</i> </blockquote>
<b>Indeed we are to walk like Yeshua walked and keep God's commandments.</b><br />
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A big part of the commandments are the set aside days of The Lord. If you'd like to learn more about the Feasts of The Lord, I can recommend a few great resources: 1. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feasts-Prophetic-Calendar-Calvary-Kingdom/dp/0785275185/ref=pd_sim_b_23" target="_blank">The Feasts Of The Lord God's Prophetic Calendar From Calvary To The Kingdom</a>, 2. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/%20Gods-Appointed-Times-New-Understanding/dp/1880226359/ref=pd_sim_b_4" target="_blank">God's Appointed Times</a>, and 3. <a href="http://heartofwisdom.com/biblicalholidays/?p=75" target="_blank">A Family Guide to The Biblical Feasts</a> and my favorite: <a href="http://kodpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=8" target="_blank">Israel's Feasts and Their Fullness</a>.<br />
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There's no need to be in the dark:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>"For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. <b>While people are saying,"There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them </b>as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. <b>But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.</b> For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober." </i> 1Thessalonians 5:2-6</blockquote>
The Fall Feast begins with the Day of Trumpets so consider this... what day is John calling The Lord’s Day in the Book of Revelation?<br />
<blockquote>
<i>I was in the Spirit <u>on the Lord's day,</u> and heard behind me a great voice {the Greek word here is actually phōnē… yup it where we get the same word, in Greek it also means tone}, as of a trumpet. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega {in Hebrew Aleph Tav {which literally means “strength of the covenant"}, the first and the last {nothing changes with God} Revelation 1:10</i></blockquote>
Paul tell us in Romans that former Gentiles are grafted into the faith of olive tree of God's people, whose root is Messiah and Paul calls them Israel. Today, like yesterday, there is an identity crisis (who is Israel?), but according to Paul there is no difference between Greek and Jew that are grafted into the family of God, the God of Israel. <br />
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To be a fruit bearing part of the root, the wild branch has to be grafted into the tree. When that happens the wild branch becomes a part of the tree, it is no longer separate and it bears the same fruit.<br />
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The same was true in the exodus wilderness journey, the sojourners and those aliens with them were went with Israel and heard the voice of God and followed His shechinah glory. They all received the same covenant promise given Abraham. Israel is the identity that God YHVH gives those who are the chosen, the elect, the saints and the name that God chose to call His children.<br />
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The new covenant is that Torah (God’s word and teaching) in the minds and written on our hearts, a gift of God's indwelling Spirit. Romans is clear – those that are scattered and lost, can be adopted, grafted in and be a part of the olive tree, the tree of life - God’s “People House.” To be grafted in gives the wild branch life in the tree, it receives life and gives fruit, and that tree of life is all Israel in Messiah. So, join in the celebration of the Feast Days!<br />
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The Psalmist tells us:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>But I [am] like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done [it]: and I will wait on thy name; for [it is] good before thy saints. Psalms 52:8-9</i> </blockquote>
As a part of the tree, a part of the remnant by grace, we also need to be ready for the coming shaking, the fire, ready with lifted voice to glorify our God for the coming harvest in the day in which some will not be ready… our job is to tell them of the promise of grace.<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Romans 11:5</i> </blockquote>
A strong tree survives the harvest shaking, but it is needed for the harvest of the fruit. By no coincidence of God’s intent and creation, olive trees are harvested in the Autumn at the end of September matching with God’s fall feasts. By no coincidence, the only way to grow good olives is to graft in branches of other wild olive trees and the only way to harvest the fruit is by shaking the boughs of the whole tree. But remember, the expert harvester never bruises the fruit of the tree.<br />
<blockquote>
<i>When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, [there shall be] as the shaking of an olive tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice {in Hebrew, qowl sound (of instrument)}, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, [even] the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. Isaiah 24:13-15<br />
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The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, [and] of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. Jeremiah 11:16</i></blockquote>
Today, "all Israel" both native and stranger must know their identity because understanding Israel as a people is a part of our mission, our goal is Israel’s full restoration, and it’s ALL about ONE House... one people united in Messiah, it is about the identity of the people God calls out to Himself. After all, “Israel” literally means God Prevails!<br />
<br />Paul called the Ephesians “former Gentiles”… <u>you once were separate</u>, excluded "strangers" from Messiah and the identity of none other than… Israel!<br />
<blockquote>
<i>“Therefore remember <u>that formerly you, the Gentiles</u>… remember that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” Ephesians 2:11-12</i></blockquote>
God recruits, He calls people into His commonwealth Kingdom under the very name He chose to give Jacob for His chosen, the whole family. We need to know He calls all believers, all that follow Him -- by the name “Israel” -- they are His chosen, both native and stranger! And Israel has a servant duty to be priests to all nations. To draw close to God and to spread the good news of His plan of salvation and redemption to all mankind.<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, [of] the tribe of Benjamin. <br />
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Ephesians 3:14-15 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named</i>… </blockquote>
Is it hard to celebrate God's appointed days of celebration with Him? No it is not.<br />
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If you love Jesus, you can celebrate His appointed days because you get to, because you love Him. They are a sign of that love.<br />
<blockquote>
“Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.” Ezekiel 20:20</blockquote>
We have seen that the source Scriptures for the seven Feasts of The LORD begin in Leviticus 23:2 "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts."<br />
<br /><u><b>
Let's summarize them once again</b></u> and plug in the new beginning, a new heaven and new earth, a new Jerusalem that is described in Revelation 21-22:<br />
<blockquote>
1. <b>Passover - Pesach</b> (Leviticus 23:4-5) the evening of the 14th day of the 1st biblical month.<br />
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2. <b>Unleavened Bread - Chag HaMatzot </b>(Leviticus 23:6-8) lasts 7 days beginning on the 15th of the 1st biblical month. "And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work" <b>which includes Firstfruits</b> - Bikkurim (Leviticus 23:9-14) the waive of the harvest harvest which falls on the first day after the weekly Sabbath following Passover.<br />
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3. <b>Pentecost - Shavuot</b> (Leviticus 23:15-22 ) the Feast of Weeks of the wheat harvest, which falls seven weeks from the day after the weekly Sabbath following of the Passover. "Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.... On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live."<br />
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4. <b>Trumpets - Yom Teruah</b> (Leviticus 23:24-25), falls on the 1st day of the 7th month. "On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the LORD."<br />
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5. <b>Atonement - Yom Kippur</b> (Leviticus 23:27-32), falls on the 10th day of the 7th month. "Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the LORD. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath."<br />
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6. <b>Tabernacles - Sukkot</b> (Leviticus 23:34-44), for 7 days beginning on the 15th day of the 7th month. The 8th day is shown in verse 39. "The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work.<br />
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7. <b>Shemini Atzeret</b> - At last comes the most joyous day of all, the day point us to Simchat Torah, rejoicing in the Torah. Simchat Torah is celebrated on the twenty-third of Tishrei, or the day following Shemini Atzeret. Once again, it should be noted that the Hebrew word Torah means "teaching or instruction" for it teaches us our way of life, the kind of life God wants us all to have with Him in the end. This is the day we see in Revelation 21.</blockquote><b>
The Lord God gives us a second chance.</b> He proves this with Passover.<br />
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Look at Numbers 9, here our Holy Father provides a "Second Passover" (Pesach Sheni). "When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they are still to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, but they are to do it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight." <br />
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Bottomline, we get a second chance with God.<br />
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Amazingly, the seven Feasts of YHVH are much like His seven days of creation. Isaiah gives us a hint of the former things of creation and the new things of His plan for mankind through His appointed Feast Days:<br />
<blockquote>
Thus says Elohim, YHWH,<br />
who created the heavens and stretched them out,<br />
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,<br />
who gives breath to the people on it<br />
and spirit to those who walk in it:<br />
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“I am YHWH; I have called you[a] in righteousness;<br />
I will take you by the hand and keep you;<br />
I will give you as a covenant for the people,<br />
a light for the nations,<br />
to open the eyes that are blind,<br />
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,<br />
from the prison those who sit in darkness.<br />
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I am YHWH; that is my name;<br />
my glory I give to no other,<br />
nor my praise to carved idols.<br />
Behold, the former things have come to pass,<br />
and new things I now declare;<br />
before they spring forth<br />
I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:5-9 ESV</blockquote>
In the beginning of His ministry Yeshua walked in the void of the wilderness for 40 days, then He walked in the darkness of the seas of people teaching the light of Torah and the Kingdom to every face before Him.<br />
<blockquote>
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was hovering over the face of the waters.</blockquote>
Passover: Yeshua, full of the Ruach Spirit of God died on the stake saving mankind as He separated darkness from light, death from life.<br />
<blockquote>
3 And Elohim said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And Elohim saw that the light was good. And Elohim separated the light from the darkness. 5 Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.</blockquote>
Unleavened Bread: Yeshua was buried and separated Himself from Heaven in the grave.<br />
<blockquote>
6 And Elohim said, “Let there be an expanse [canopy] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And Elohim made [fashioned] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And Elohim called the expanse Heaven [sky]. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.</blockquote>
First Fruits: Yeshua, the first fruit of resurrection to new life in the form of glory.<br />
<blockquote>
9 And Elohim said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 Elohim called the dry land Earth, [land] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And Elohim saw that it was good. 11 And Elohim said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.</blockquote>
Pentecost: The light of the fire tongues from heaven on men to give light on earth.<br />
<blockquote>
14 And Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,[appointed times] and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And Elohim made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.</blockquote>
Trumpets: God Elohim spoke. God's voice is likened to a trumpet in Scripture. His first words of instruction to the life brought forth out of His creation. His words are like the great commission, go forth, be fruitful (proclaim the gospel to the whole creation), baptizing with water, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, By this commission the disciples will multiply and fill the waters in the seas of mankind.<br />
<blockquote>
20 And Elohim said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds [flying things] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So Elohim created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. 22 And Elohim blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.</blockquote>
Yom Kippur Atonement Covering: Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, literally the covering of the living. When covered by the mercy and grace of Yeshua, we can be filled with the Spirit of God and renewed, a new person in His image, His likeness, covered, and in dominion over sin, and behold, The Way is very good.<br />
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The Seventh Day, Tabernacle Rest is blessed and made holy: <br />
<blockquote>
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day Elohim finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So Elohim blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it Elohim rested from all his work that he had done in creation.<br />
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These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that YHWH Elohim made the earth and the heavens.</blockquote>
The Feasts will transform your mind about worship. Paul wrote this:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1‑2</blockquote>
<b>There are some Scripture readings to help in your journey with the Big Three Feasts declared in Deuteronomy 16:16-17:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I. Unleavened Bread reading:</b> Song of Solomon. For the Second Passover (Iyar 14, 15‑21) Reading: Numbers 9:6‑14; 2 Chronicles 30. The Lord's Passover offering (Nisan/Aviv 14) and the Seven-Day Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan/Aviv 15‑21) Reading: (Genesis 19:3) Exodus 10:24–15:21; 23:14‑19; 34:18‑20,23‑26; Leviticus 23:4‑8; Numbers 9:1‑5; 28:16‑25; 33:1‑5; Deuteronomy 15:19–16:8,16‑17; Joshua 5:10–6:27; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Chronicles 23:27‑32; 2 Chronicles 8:12‑15; ch. 29; 31:2‑3; 34:13–35:19; 2 Kings 22:1‑2; 23:21‑23; Ezra 6:19‑22; Ezekiel 45:21‑24; Luke 2:41‑52; John 2:13‑25; 6:1‑7:1; Matthew 26‑28; Mark 14‑16; Luke 22‑24; John 11:55‑20:31; Acts 12:1‑19; 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5 (v.7‑8); 11:17‑34; Hebrews 11:28‑31. First Fruits Day of Wave Sheaf Offering.<br />
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<b>II. Shavuot Pentecost Reading:</b> Every word of the book of Ruth. The Feast of Weeks (50th day after the Passover Reading: Exodus 19–20; 23:14‑17,19; 34:22‑24,26; Leviticus 2:12‑16; 23:9‑21; Numbers 28:26‑31; Deuteronomy 16:9‑12,16‑17; Joshua 5:10‑12; 2 Chronicles 8:12‑15; 15:10‑15; 31:2‑3; Nehemiah 10:32‑33; Ezekiel 45:16‑17; Acts 2; 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8; Hebrews 12:18‑29.<br />
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Feast of Trumpets (Tishri 1) Reading: Leviticus 23:23‑25; Numbers 10:1‑10; 29:1‑6; Joel 2; Zephaniah 1:14; Psalm 81 (Genesis 41:46); Psalms 98; 150; Ezra 3:1‑3,6; Nehemiah 7:73–8:12; 1Chronicles 23:27‑32; 2 Chronicles 2:3‑4; Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:51‑58; Hebrews 1:10; 4:1; ch.8–9; 10:7; 11:15.<br />
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<b>III. Tabernacles Reading: </b>Ecclesiastes, yup all of it. Seven-Day Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 15‑21); The Eighth Day (Tishri 22) Reading: Exodus 23:14‑17; 34:22‑24; Leviticus 23:33‑44; Numbers 29:12‑40; Deuteronomy 16:13‑17; 1 Chronicles 23:27‑32; 2 Chronicles 2:3‑4; ch.5‑7 (7:8‑9); 1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 8:12‑15; 31:2‑3; Ezra 3:4‑5; Nehemiah 8:13‑18; 10:32‑33; Ezekiel 45:25; Haggai 2:1. The eight day of Shemini Atzeret (Tishrei 22). It is Simchat Torah and marks the new beginning of Heaven and Earth and it is commemorated by starting the reading of the Torah anew each year. Shemini Atzeret Reading:<b> </b>Deuteronomy Chapter 14.<br />
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"You shall tithe all the seed crop that the field gives forth, year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord, your God, in the place He chooses to establish His Name therein."<br />
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<b>Honor these Feasts of The Lord, they are His!!</b><br />
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<b>Update October 13, 2014:</b> I hope you enjoy this Sukkah video that shares our joy and celebration during God's vacation Feast of Tabernacles!<br />
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<br />If you are a Newer Testament believer, its time to wake up to believe the Bible Jesus taught. The appointed Feasts of The Almighty LORD God your Creator. If you are Jewish, keep them as you always have but look to Messiah!<br />
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The Feasts of The Lord are not done away with, the earth is still spinning, the sun and the moon are still shining.<br />
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Whether you believe the words of Isaiah or the disciple Peter and the promise given John regarding the restoration of the planet as it was in the beginning, take heed of the words of The Lord:<br />
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"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;<br />
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind." Isaiah 65:17</blockquote>
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“For just as the new heavens and the new earth,<br />
which I will make, will endure before Me”<br />
this is the LORD’s declaration —<br />
“so your offspring and your name will endure.<br />
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All mankind will come to worship Me<br />
from one New Moon to another<br />
and from one Sabbath to another,”<br />
says the LORD." Isaiah 66:22-23<br />
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"But based on His promise,<br />
we wait for the new heavens and a new earth,<br />
where righteousness will dwell." 2Peter 3:13<br />
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"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,<br />
for the first heaven and the first earth<br />
had passed away, and the sea no longer existed."<br />
Revelation 21:1</blockquote><div><b>What does this all mean? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's an appointed time. Time for you to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. </div><br />It means we need to know "<a href="http://www.myscripturestudies.com/2008/08/who-is-jesus.html" target="_blank">Who is the One Called Jesus</a> who said:<div><blockquote>"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17 NASB95</blockquote></div><div>Consider a prayer: Please, God guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do about this because it's time to repent.</div><div><br /></div><div>Time to return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your Feast Day assignment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. </div><div><br /></div><div>For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.</div>Shalom.</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3